Kevin O'Connell waived

In a surprise move, Kevin O'Connell, 2nd QB who kind of looked like Tom Brady, was cut.

Not traded. Cut.

Some people have expressed surprise about this since even though he looked awful against the Redskins on Friday, we have a tradition of keeping those guys around. Consider how Matt Cassel looked last pre-season, then everything turned out to be okay. But apparently not with O'Connell (although he looked seriously bad on Friday night...two interceptions in two straight drives is not exactly promising).

This move has lead to speculation that the Patriots might acquire an experienced QB as back-up. It could also be noted that we already have two other QBs, Andrew Walter and Brian Hoyer. Walter is experienced, coming to us from the Raiders.

At least one commenter on Reiss' blog also assumed that Brady's shoulder injury is far more serious and he isn't going to play, so we need an experienced QB now. Panic mode comes to the Patriots and we haven't even started the season yet!

Matt Cassel takes icky injury to his leg

After what was reportedly an awful hit, Matt Cassel will probably miss 2-4 weeks with the Kansas City Chiefs. He has an MCL injury in his right knee, which is not the worst thing that can happen to you and does not require surgery to heal. This is not their first QB to go down. Someone might want to bulk up that O-line.

Tedy Bruschi to retire

Linebacker Tedy Bruschi is apparently having a press conference this morning to announce his retirement. He did great things with the Patriots, the least of which was coming back from a stroke to play. Although admittedly, last year was not his strongest and he missed a lot of training camp this season.

Still, sad day!

Red Sox keep everything very interesting

Yesterday there was cause for PANIC in Red Sox Nation because Wakefield was scratched from the rotation. Even I was feeling a bit of the panic mode over that one because I feel that we will need him playing well to get us to the post-season.

Then out of nowhere, and I literally mean nowhere, Paul Byrd shows up and shuts out the Blue Jays for 6 innings. Remember him? We signed him last year as a potential add to our pitching staff, then didn't really need him. Apparently he was sitting around until July or something, then got a call and came back, playing some games in the Gulf League (in Fort Myers, FL) and Pawtucket. Suddenly, he goes in for a start and blam. Chalk up a win for him. Oh, and we brought in our new acquisition Billy Wagner as well, who shut them down in the ninth to end the game. Red Sox win 7-0 and sweep the Blue Jays.

I don't really know what to make of the Red Sox pitching situation anymore. Take Tazawa. He shuts down the Yankees - the Yankees! - at Fenway Park. Then gives up 7 runs in two innings to the White Sox in his next start. Beckett, who has been looking very strong all year, begins giving up lousy hits and seems unable to win against power teams. Out of nowhere, Paul Byrd pitches a shutout. I've always said that I like the Red Sox because baseball is rarely boring with them. The pitching over the past week may be a new height of not-boring for this team.

In good news, Wakefield (who has -- strangely enough -- been the most consistent pitcher this season) is getting a cortisone shot tomorrow, so may be back soon.

I have a crazy theory

Last night, in the pre-season game against the Washington Redskins, Tom Brady was hit and landed on his right shoulder. He appeared to have, in the words of the announcer, 'tweaked' it and was shown doing a bit of readjusting on the sideline after the hit. This occurred near the end of the first half; in the second half, he came out to the bench, then went to the locker room.

These events have led to no lack of speculation about whether he is injured, whether he will be able to start the season, whether he will be out forever, etc.... The word 'pussy' has also been bandied about by people who have, undoubtedly, never been hit by a 250-pound NFL professional, much less work at a job that requires them to do this on a regular basis.

Here is my crazy theory: Tom Brady, indeed, tweaked the aforementioned shoulder. However, it is probably not serious. But because the Patriots' staff did not want other problems to develop and because it was a pre-season game, they decided instead that it made more sense to look at it right away. Hence why he went to the locker room. Insane, I know. So crazy it just might be true.

Red Sox Nation is in PANIC MODE

So I don't know how I missed this, but the Boston Globe did a survey back on August 17 to see how Red Sox fans felt about post-season chances this year. The results:

52.7% voted 'It's OK. As Jason Bay joked after Sunday's loss: "We should probably just pack up the season and call it a year, huh. Half-game back, might as well fold the tent."'

47.3% voted 'It's over. We're only going backwards at this point. Didn't Brady look great Thursday vs. the Eagles?'

Yay on Jason Bay's quote.

PS - Brady didn't look so great against Cincinnati. He even said so himself. I mean, apart from the fact that he just looks great in general, of course.

PPS - I don't know what's up with the font change (I mean, I know I changed it to try and get it uniform in this post, but no idea why I can't get it to match the blog in general). This one is called 'Georgia,' which seems about right since this week is also my 'Georgia Pies Tribute Week.' Long story.

Much better!

Last night Wakefield had a great outing, allowing only one run in 7 innings. So glad that he is back! And even Daniel Bard did fine (Ramon Ramirez not so much, but okay, we still won). Great night for pitching!

Then Papi got a home run -- his second of the game -- to win it in the bottom of the ninth.

Crazy. Let's hope they can keep it going!

In other news, Gagne of the Year has been released. That's right. No more cringing because it is Brad Penny's night in the rotation. We've also acquired Billy Wagner from the Mets as a semi-closer. Let's hope that he doesn't need a Gagne of the Year nomination...