But Gomez, a 37-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, feels that the current team isn't the same as it was just a few years ago - or even a few months ago. With no Pedro Martínez and no Manny Ramírez, with Julio Lugo on the disabled list and possibly headed for the bench whenever he does return,Gomez and other Latino fans see a team that looks a lot less like them.
"We feel like we've lost something personal in our team," Gomez said recently, cutting hair at the Fernandez Barbershop in Jamaica Plain, where many Latino Sox players come to get haircuts. "It's a big community, the Latinos. It makes us feel proud to at least have representation."
"I've always been a Red Sox fan. That's not going to change. I want to be a Red Sox fan," said Javy Fernandez, a 22-year-old Dominican-American who owns a market in Dorchester. "But I get more excited when I see my people - people of my ethnicity - play on my team. It makes you feel like you're playing on the team also."
Jed Hoyer, the Red Sox's assistant general manager, declined to comment specifically on any of the recent moves, but he stressed that all decisions are based on a player's talent, not ethnicity. When making personnel moves, such as not re-signing Pedro in 2004 or trading Manny in July, Hoyer said club officials are only considering one thing: what's best for the team.
[+]
So much is wrong with this article.
Apparently they didn't have enough to report on today. A poor population of mostly illegals, only in Massachusetts (a far cry from the Dominican) because of the free benefits offered by the state, latches onto a local team because a few Dominicans happen to be on it. They identify with the team and then with the city, celebrating two World Series victories (read: millionaires dancing around like morons who care nothing for the fans or the city in which they play - sounds kind of like illegal immigrant populations to me, no wonder they love the athletes so much). Suddenly they feel like "part of the team" (uh, sound a bit like a 7-year-old idolizing Mickey Mantle?) and are disappointed when a few of them leave for greener pastures (greener meaning more money). The sad part is they don't realize, or have tricked themselves into believing, that they wouldn't do the same thing. Like there aren't enough Latinos in LA (Manny Ramirez) or New York (Pedro Martinez) that these athletes can defraud into thinking they're part of the Latino community.
The Red Sox are racist because their Latino population is dwindling! Off with their heads!
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Monday, September 08, 2008
Patriots may lose Brady for season; the dumbed-down herd celebrates
As I continue to cleanse my life of bullshit, clarity ensues, and it's easier every day to see through the true motivations of poseurs who are merely part of the crowd.
A perfect example of this is professional sports. The most recent story which is provoking reaction across the web is that Tom Brady may be out for the entire NFL season after the New England Patriots quarterback suffered a significant knee injury during yesterday's 17-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Brady hasn't missed a start since taking over for Drew Bledsoe in Game 2 of the 2001 NFL Season. After the Spygate fiasco last year, I shared my thoughts on the NFL, the media, and 99.9% of the fans in the league who love the idea of parity because it mirrors what they want in their own lives: forced equality so no one is overly successful, which would highlight the shortcomings of certain individuals.
To recap, the Patriots' coach was caught taping defensive signals from a sideline, which is a violation of NFL rules. The media cried "cheaters!" even before most Patriots' fans realized what was going on. The hype ensued, and for the rest of the season, the Patriots' had a chip on their shoulder - winning every game, some by large margins, before eventually losing in the Super Bowl - due to the fact that everyone wanted to jump on the back of a championship team and bring them down to everyone else's level.
Few things to highlight here, as I did in my original post:
A perfect example of this is professional sports. The most recent story which is provoking reaction across the web is that Tom Brady may be out for the entire NFL season after the New England Patriots quarterback suffered a significant knee injury during yesterday's 17-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Brady hasn't missed a start since taking over for Drew Bledsoe in Game 2 of the 2001 NFL Season. After the Spygate fiasco last year, I shared my thoughts on the NFL, the media, and 99.9% of the fans in the league who love the idea of parity because it mirrors what they want in their own lives: forced equality so no one is overly successful, which would highlight the shortcomings of certain individuals.
To recap, the Patriots' coach was caught taping defensive signals from a sideline, which is a violation of NFL rules. The media cried "cheaters!" even before most Patriots' fans realized what was going on. The hype ensued, and for the rest of the season, the Patriots' had a chip on their shoulder - winning every game, some by large margins, before eventually losing in the Super Bowl - due to the fact that everyone wanted to jump on the back of a championship team and bring them down to everyone else's level.
Few things to highlight here, as I did in my original post:
- Former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson admitted to sending personnel in to opposing head coach's hotel rooms the day they checked out to search through trash barrels for playbooks or play sheets
- Former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher defended Belichick, as did the entire Steelers organization
- Former New York Jets coach Herm Edwards didn't believe there was a big fuss to be made over a tape of a defensive signal
- St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz had said he wasn't really interested in whether or not a Patriots' tape of a walkthrough of their practice before Super Bowl XXXVI existed, only that if it did, it would be a "bit disappointing"
Seeing a trend yet? NFL coaches live in their offices and study for hours, trying every which way they can to get an edge over other teams. Because Bill Belichick doesn't like the media very much and is generally not very personable as a football coach, people wanted to bring him down because of his success. As a result, the herd saw an opportunity to pounce once they were caught breaking a taping rule, and suddenly the floodgates opened. The media even found an idiot golf pro in Hawaii willing to make up stories so he could get his fifteen minutes of fame.
Fast forward to May of 2008. Finally, the Patriots are cleared of charges that they taped a Super Bowl practice walk through, and we can finally move on - right? Wrong. Still, bitterness exists from the crowd, and still, they insist on labeling the organization "cheaters" so they have something to feel good about when the Patriots come into town and roll over their team.
Now it's Game 1 of the NFL season. Brady drops back to pass and goes down with a knee injury. All the bitter fans from the rest of the country love that Brady is likely out for the season because they can start shouting about "karma", "just desserts", and the like.
So why have I decided I'm done with professional sports? Everything sports-related is hyped and melodramatized to a ridiculous degree, giving fodder to the herd that wants everyone down at their level. Television coverage, internet coverage; it all focuses on the individual when the Patriots were always about team. They weren't a media-friendly organization and likely won't be one in the future. Yet they set a shining example of what an NFL team should do, with a misstep along the way being blown way out of proportion and being the unfortunate cross to bear for the rest of Belichick's tenure as head coach.
The last year or so of following professional sports has taught me a lot about the modern day fanbase and media. Instead of looking toward the fans as an excuse for following the sport, now I find most of them even more reprehensible than the billionaire owners who insist on public funds for infrastructure to keep teams in certain cities, and moreso than players who make way too much money and are in it for themselves instead of the team. I should have learned that lesson a long time ago, but when you're brought up following sports in New England or New York, it can be tough to separate sports from one's life. I'm just about there.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Nine year old pitcher told he's too good to play
Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is a good baseball player - too good, it turns out.
The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 miles per hour.
He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch anymore.
When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear, and left, his coach said.
Officials for the 3-year-old league, which has eight teams and about 100 players, said they will disband Jericho's team, redistributing its players among other squads, and have offered to refund $50 sign-up fees on request. They said Jericho's coach, Wilfred Vidro, has resigned.
But Vidro says he did not quit and the team is refusing to disband. Players and parents held a protest at the league's field Saturday, urging the league to let Jericho pitch.
[+]
When someone becomes too good for the comfort of the sheep around him, and is obviously a much better talent than most in the crowd can handle, the crowd attempts to shuffle that talent away instead of allowing it to develop. The modern logic is this: "He'll strike everyone out and hurt my kid's precious ego. He'll be the biggest and brightest star in the league, and there will be no room for anyone else to be king for a day while they're in this league. I can't have that, even if it's an important lesson for my kid - I'd rather he face similar talent and never know that there are better players out there, so he has hope until he's about 18 and realizes he's not all that special after all."
Maybe that's not what these mothers and fathers tell themselves before going to sleep each night, but if they looked into their subconscious, this is exactly the type of bitter jealousy they would find, buried deep down.
This isn't about one kid who's better than the rest, and it's not as if he can skip a grade like a superior intellectual talent in public school. You can't just take this kid and promote him to a better league - there is no better league until he grows big and tall enough to play against a different age group. This is it, his only chance to shine right now, and he's being told that it's better he handicaps himself at second base and not do what he does best, for the benefit of the morons around him who aren't as good. The lesson he's learning right now is that it's better to hide your talent away until you can get paid millions of dollars to show it off. Otherwise, it's shameful to strut yourself out on that mound and strike everyone out.
What happens if another kid comes along next year with a 40-mph fastball? Do the parents forfeit those games, too? What if there are two or three within a few years, and the talent level is obviously increasing among some kids in a certain age group, but not others? Does the entire league disband?
This is a great mirror for modern logic as it pertains to evolution. We don't want to admit, for example, that certain recessive traits are desirable, so we shuffle away anyone who tries to show us why they're desirable, and change the rules accordingly so that people can continue believing that we're enlightened and fully evolved, even though nothing could be further from the truth. This type of passive-aggressive behavior, forfeiting games and playing the victim just because your team isn't talented enough to hit a ball (hint: coach them to hit a faster ball instead of keeping a kid down because he's really good!), is typical of society's attitude: Me first, and if anyone shows they are better than me, I'm going to take them down, because the word humility isn't in my vocabulary.
In trying to make everyone equal and yet a unique little snowflake simultaneously, we deny reality, and in this case, the victim is Jericho Scott: a rising young talent who will always remember this experience, and as such, make millions while laughing at the crowd he's paid to entertain. One wonders how many professional athletes are jerks because they were always told they were hot shit, and how many had experiences like this and end up jerks because of the people around them when they were just trying to get ahead.
The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 miles per hour.
He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch anymore.
When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear, and left, his coach said.
Officials for the 3-year-old league, which has eight teams and about 100 players, said they will disband Jericho's team, redistributing its players among other squads, and have offered to refund $50 sign-up fees on request. They said Jericho's coach, Wilfred Vidro, has resigned.
But Vidro says he did not quit and the team is refusing to disband. Players and parents held a protest at the league's field Saturday, urging the league to let Jericho pitch.
[+]
When someone becomes too good for the comfort of the sheep around him, and is obviously a much better talent than most in the crowd can handle, the crowd attempts to shuffle that talent away instead of allowing it to develop. The modern logic is this: "He'll strike everyone out and hurt my kid's precious ego. He'll be the biggest and brightest star in the league, and there will be no room for anyone else to be king for a day while they're in this league. I can't have that, even if it's an important lesson for my kid - I'd rather he face similar talent and never know that there are better players out there, so he has hope until he's about 18 and realizes he's not all that special after all."
Maybe that's not what these mothers and fathers tell themselves before going to sleep each night, but if they looked into their subconscious, this is exactly the type of bitter jealousy they would find, buried deep down.
This isn't about one kid who's better than the rest, and it's not as if he can skip a grade like a superior intellectual talent in public school. You can't just take this kid and promote him to a better league - there is no better league until he grows big and tall enough to play against a different age group. This is it, his only chance to shine right now, and he's being told that it's better he handicaps himself at second base and not do what he does best, for the benefit of the morons around him who aren't as good. The lesson he's learning right now is that it's better to hide your talent away until you can get paid millions of dollars to show it off. Otherwise, it's shameful to strut yourself out on that mound and strike everyone out.
What happens if another kid comes along next year with a 40-mph fastball? Do the parents forfeit those games, too? What if there are two or three within a few years, and the talent level is obviously increasing among some kids in a certain age group, but not others? Does the entire league disband?
This is a great mirror for modern logic as it pertains to evolution. We don't want to admit, for example, that certain recessive traits are desirable, so we shuffle away anyone who tries to show us why they're desirable, and change the rules accordingly so that people can continue believing that we're enlightened and fully evolved, even though nothing could be further from the truth. This type of passive-aggressive behavior, forfeiting games and playing the victim just because your team isn't talented enough to hit a ball (hint: coach them to hit a faster ball instead of keeping a kid down because he's really good!), is typical of society's attitude: Me first, and if anyone shows they are better than me, I'm going to take them down, because the word humility isn't in my vocabulary.
In trying to make everyone equal and yet a unique little snowflake simultaneously, we deny reality, and in this case, the victim is Jericho Scott: a rising young talent who will always remember this experience, and as such, make millions while laughing at the crowd he's paid to entertain. One wonders how many professional athletes are jerks because they were always told they were hot shit, and how many had experiences like this and end up jerks because of the people around them when they were just trying to get ahead.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Harkleroad (who?) poses nude for Playboy Magazine
On one level - sure, this is hot.
[+]
On another, isn't it hilarious to listen to an athlete who decides to do something "controversial" to gain some attention? Apparently this woman wants to be the next Anna K. - nice eye candy for the masses, not that great a tennis player. This woman should just give up her day job and start filming pornos if she's more comfortable in front of a camera without any clothes on - why work so hard to play tennis when you can make just as much money on your back?
[+]
On another, isn't it hilarious to listen to an athlete who decides to do something "controversial" to gain some attention? Apparently this woman wants to be the next Anna K. - nice eye candy for the masses, not that great a tennis player. This woman should just give up her day job and start filming pornos if she's more comfortable in front of a camera without any clothes on - why work so hard to play tennis when you can make just as much money on your back?
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Sports Update: James Posey scores huge contract with Hornets, Celtics decline to match
Of course it was fun seeing a team that seemed bound for decades of obscurity, bounce back & win the NBA title with some savvy front-office moves by Danny Ainge.
Professional sports is a show of millionaire athletes who normally care very little for what they do. However, seeing certain Boston athletes in recent years take pay cuts, or take not as much money to stay with a winning team, has been a unique experience. It's not just that the Celtics, Red Sox, and Patriots have enjoyed winning titles, it's the way in which it has been done; strong, closely-knit organizations winning in the best way possible: with teamwork, and with guys who want to be here and care about the fans & the experience of playing in Boston.
Here are some examples:
Professional sports is a show of millionaire athletes who normally care very little for what they do. However, seeing certain Boston athletes in recent years take pay cuts, or take not as much money to stay with a winning team, has been a unique experience. It's not just that the Celtics, Red Sox, and Patriots have enjoyed winning titles, it's the way in which it has been done; strong, closely-knit organizations winning in the best way possible: with teamwork, and with guys who want to be here and care about the fans & the experience of playing in Boston.
Here are some examples:
- Randy Moss (NEP) took far less money than he could have made in the open market, despite a heartbreaking Super Bowl loss, to stick with the team for a few more years. Keep in mind this player was known as being extremely seflish and unlikeable before he was signed to New England, and he took far less money than he could have made elsewhere just to come here. And what did he do, but break the touchdown reception record in 2007?
- Mike Lowell (Sox), after winning a World Series with the team in 2007 and entering free-agent status, took a bit less and accepted a lower contract to stay with the team for a few more years instead of bailing with his ring and taking more money to play elsewhere.
- Tom Brady (NEP) signed a five-year, $60million or so deal to stick w/ the Patriots; the guy is the ultimate competitor and the only player who comes close to him in terms of talent & ability is Peyton Manning - who signed a $100million deal a year or two beforehand.
- Paul Pierce (Celtics) has struggled his entire career for reasons to stick around (beyond money); came in wide-eyed and full of expectations in 1998 about the future of the Celtics. After years of futility and a few regime changes, he was finally ready to bolt town last year after one of the worst Celtics seasons in history & no hope on the horizon (see NBA Draft Lottery June 2007 for details). Once the Celtics signed Kevin Garnett in the offseason, he got his chance to shine, and he did - all of last season and through the playoffs, bum knee and all in the Finals.
And now we get to James Posey. The general consensus is that he's not worth the $25million contract he just signed with New Orleans. It would have been one thing had the Red Sox, for example, thrown a ridiculous amount of money at Mike Lowell just to make him stick around. They didn't; they offered him what they felt was market value, and it surprised a lot of people when Lowell took the deal. The Celtics would have had to overpay by at least $10million to keep Posey around and they didn't - so good for them; they now have more money to go out and sign other players. Sure, Posey was an important role player, but $25million for that? No, thank you - and thanks to Danny Ainge (if he even had the cap room to sign Posey in the first place), we'll hopefully be able to focus on other players who will help us out just as much, if not more, than Posey.
Edit 7/22/2008: And to prove the point, the Celtics re-signed Eddie House & Tony Allen for two -year deals.
Monday, June 23, 2008
F1 check-in - French Grand Prix, 6/22/2008
We're a little less than halfway through the F1 season, and Ferrari's 1-2 punch of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa is paying off. Massa leads the driver's standings and Ferrari leads the constructor's standings after the Massa/Raikkonen combo took 1st and 2nd place yesterday at the French Grand Prix. Raikkonen is in 3rd place. Raikkonen was on his way to an easy 1st place finish when the exhaust on his Ferrari came loose and slowed him down, allowing Massa to pass him.
Italy loses to Spain on PK's, ending their Euro 2008 bid
Really a shame, because they could have easily taken Russia to get to the final match had they made it past Spain. Their defense was typically excellent, but they couldn't get it together on offense despite some late runs. Shame...now they need to focus on World Cup 2010. I like Donadoni so I hope they don't blame this loss on the coach. They need to get younger during the qualification rounds (starting in August 2008) and develop some of their better, younger talent in order to become a force again two summers from now.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Italy advances to Round of 16 with win over France
Soccer is tough for most Americans to watch because we grew up with baseball. Hmm, wait...isn't baseball also a game of anticipation? Regardless, soccer never quite caught on here as a professional sport, which is a shame considering there are many quality players worldwide. Soccer was really invented in England; baseball and basketball (and American football) are sports that were created right here, so it's no surprise that we favor our own pasttimes.
In any case, even many Americans would be surprised at the quality of play in a tournament such as Euro 2008, and it may even make a fan or two out of them. The MLS is okay, but it's not nearly the quality of play one sees every day in the Premier League, Serie A, even La Liga. Maybe it'll get there, but it would take a 500% or so increase in fan involvement and sheer number of fans. Americans as soccer fans would also never give the atmosphere required for a truly great soccer experience. I think the grunge era destroyed any possibility that we'd ever see Americans jumping up and down in unison and chanting fight songs while any team in any sport was playing a regular season game, short of something special happening like a 100-point game in basketball or a 20-strikeout game in baseball. That's part of the fun with soccer, of course; you see fans go absolutely batshit during even meaningless games, so you can imagine the euphoria of seeing an important tournament with national pride on the line. See Celtics Game 6 at the Garden the other night for what was probably the best American sports crowd I've ever witnessed - chanting songs with 5 minutes left to play; willing their team's reserves to fast breaks and dunks; tasting a championship and becoming as involved as fans can be in that experience. Short of that, go to a rock concert here and then go to one in Europe - the fans in American stadiums don't even get up to clap; in England, their favorite rock bands are showered with applause from the beginning of the set.
But I digress. Euro 2008 is a great tournament even for the most casual soccer fans. Italy, fielding the oldest team in the tournament's history (1960-present, every four years), lost to a motivated and young Netherlands team to begin the group stage, tied with Romania, and then beat old rival France 2-0 in regular time to advance to the quarter-finals. They face Spain, another young, well-coached, motivated team, and that may be their toughest test of the tournament. Italy usually loses the "head" game - meaning, they lose to a France or Brazil in a major tournament because of the mentality behind facing the opponent, regardless of the talent of that particular opponent in that year. For example, no matter how great Italy's team is in a World Cup, Italia fans will always, always be deathly afraid of Brazil because Brazil has one more world cup title and always seem to get the better of Italy. They've already played those trap games in this tournament, and should be prepared to take the tournament if they can get past Spain, a team no one expects them to handle very well with Gattuso and De Rossi sitting out due to yellow cards in the last game.
Regardless, it should be a fun tournament, and we could all learn a bit as American sports fans by watching it - forza Italia!
For more on the Euro 2008 tournament, check out Tony's Azzurri blog.
In any case, even many Americans would be surprised at the quality of play in a tournament such as Euro 2008, and it may even make a fan or two out of them. The MLS is okay, but it's not nearly the quality of play one sees every day in the Premier League, Serie A, even La Liga. Maybe it'll get there, but it would take a 500% or so increase in fan involvement and sheer number of fans. Americans as soccer fans would also never give the atmosphere required for a truly great soccer experience. I think the grunge era destroyed any possibility that we'd ever see Americans jumping up and down in unison and chanting fight songs while any team in any sport was playing a regular season game, short of something special happening like a 100-point game in basketball or a 20-strikeout game in baseball. That's part of the fun with soccer, of course; you see fans go absolutely batshit during even meaningless games, so you can imagine the euphoria of seeing an important tournament with national pride on the line. See Celtics Game 6 at the Garden the other night for what was probably the best American sports crowd I've ever witnessed - chanting songs with 5 minutes left to play; willing their team's reserves to fast breaks and dunks; tasting a championship and becoming as involved as fans can be in that experience. Short of that, go to a rock concert here and then go to one in Europe - the fans in American stadiums don't even get up to clap; in England, their favorite rock bands are showered with applause from the beginning of the set.
But I digress. Euro 2008 is a great tournament even for the most casual soccer fans. Italy, fielding the oldest team in the tournament's history (1960-present, every four years), lost to a motivated and young Netherlands team to begin the group stage, tied with Romania, and then beat old rival France 2-0 in regular time to advance to the quarter-finals. They face Spain, another young, well-coached, motivated team, and that may be their toughest test of the tournament. Italy usually loses the "head" game - meaning, they lose to a France or Brazil in a major tournament because of the mentality behind facing the opponent, regardless of the talent of that particular opponent in that year. For example, no matter how great Italy's team is in a World Cup, Italia fans will always, always be deathly afraid of Brazil because Brazil has one more world cup title and always seem to get the better of Italy. They've already played those trap games in this tournament, and should be prepared to take the tournament if they can get past Spain, a team no one expects them to handle very well with Gattuso and De Rossi sitting out due to yellow cards in the last game.
Regardless, it should be a fun tournament, and we could all learn a bit as American sports fans by watching it - forza Italia!
For more on the Euro 2008 tournament, check out Tony's Azzurri blog.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Celtics win 17th NBA Championship
While sports have degenerated into modern-day Gladiator matches (think idiot crowd chanting for either the Gladiators or the tigers; fixed matches; lots of money changing hands - sound familiar?), the local teams still pull on the ol' heartstrings when something special happens. Watching the Celtics win their 17th NBA championship at home, by an astounding score of 131-92, once again kept me from rejecting professional team sports altogether.
The Celtics won with defense and a great team identity. From the perspective of a younger Celtic fan who hasn't really experienced the glory days, it was special. I just remember flashes of Bird, McHale, and Parish together on the floor while they celebrated the championship in 1986, as well as a surprisingly vivid memory of attending a Celts/Lakers regular season game in 1988. I also remember McHale's last game as a Celtic when he threw in an alley-oop from out of bounds with 0.3 seconds on the clock against Charlotte in Game 4 of a first-round playoff game, and Dee Brown getting mugged on that play with no foul called...an abomination, knowing it was McHale's last game. I remember Sherman Douglas being our main guard for way too long during the mid-90's, culminating in an ill-advised fall-away three in the closing seconds of the final game at the old Garden - which I attended; a Game 4 loss to the Magic in the 1995 playoffs. I remember the last Lakers/Celtics match up in the old Garden and Dino Radja tying the game with almost no time left, but just enough time for Van Exel to win the game with a last-second three-point heave. I remember being in Italy and calling my friend Kevin from abroad in the summer of 1993 just to talk to him, and finding out that Reggie Lewis had died, after falling down during a game just a month or so earlier - a double-blow (er, no pun intended) considering that Len Bias had died years earlier and the two could have carried the torch from Bird, McHale, and Parish well into the 90's, and maybe even challenged some of those Bulls teams. The most recent great memory I have of the Celtics, prior to this season, is attending the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals Game 3, last row of the "new" Garden, but feeling happy just to be there, when the Celtics came back from 20 down in the 4th quarter to take Game 3 from New Jersey. That was followed, of course, by the disappointment in Game 4 when they had a chance to take a 3-1 stranglehold and couldn't quite get it done in the closing stages. These are the things that happen when Tony Battie is your big man on the court and a Celtic misses a crucial free throw (he nearly tapped it in but it didn't quite go).
There were a lot of disappointments, and the NBA went through drastic changes during the 1990s. Somehow GM Chris Wallace just didn't know how to handle those changes (and a few lottery ping-pong balls didn't fall our way). I mean, Eric Montross? Pierce was on bad team after bad team, until finally Ainge came to town, made the team even worse with some very questionable moves (getting Antoine Walker BACK...?), and finally decided to try and tank the season toward the end of the 2006-2007 campaign. Even after securing a great lottery pick, the Celtics came out of it with the worst possible scenario (a #5 pick), promptly traded it away along with a lot of their young talent, and managed to keep Pierce around for another year when he saw he'd be surrounded by quality veterans with a real chance to make a run. I'm not sure if he believed at that point that the Celtics could win a championship, but I'm sure Garnett's attitude and intensity gave him some hope that this could be the year - finally, a veteran that worked as hard as he did, with real star power, to help share the load.
KG being called "the counterfeit Ticket" by the very definition of a hack journalist, Peter Vescey, as recently as yesterday. Jemele Hill indicating that "rooting for the Celtics is like supporting Hitler" (I'm parapharasing; read an article here - hey Jemele - ich liebe meinen Celtics!!!!). Most of the media choosing the Lakers over the Celtics, in surprising fashion, believing that somehow the best defensive team in the league was softer than LA because it took them forever to mesh in the playoffs (as well as some questionable coaching by Rivers, but hey, he's a nice guy, so we'll let that go for now). The championship was just that much sweeter because of those words.
The Celtics, having won 78 games this season prior to the start of the Finals, didn't need any extra motivation to win, though Garnett's threats that he would rip every one's heads off if they watched LA celebrate a title was probably motivation enough. Despite that, they got all the motivation they needed from the media. They also got it knowing Red died witnessing the worst team the Celtics ever put on the floor. They got it seeing Belichick, Cousy, Havlicek, Russell, and other Boston celebrities hungry for a championship. And they probably got it from Pierce; this was the very definition of the grizzled veteran without a title, struggling through tough times (stabbings, bad moves by the GM, a few coaching changes, a couple of disappointing playoff runs), doing everything possible through two ownership groups, the patriarch of the franchise dying, less than 5,000 people in the seats at certain points - to think that even in a me-first league like the NBA, that the other guys on the team weren't 100% happy last night to allow Pierce to get his and hoist that MVP trophy along with the championship trophy would be ludicrous.
Great win, great series, great team. Credit Ainge for finally pulling the trigger at the right time after an embarrassing lottery disappointment - looks like ultimately, the ping-pong balls did fall the Celtics way for the first time in a long time.
The Celtics won with defense and a great team identity. From the perspective of a younger Celtic fan who hasn't really experienced the glory days, it was special. I just remember flashes of Bird, McHale, and Parish together on the floor while they celebrated the championship in 1986, as well as a surprisingly vivid memory of attending a Celts/Lakers regular season game in 1988. I also remember McHale's last game as a Celtic when he threw in an alley-oop from out of bounds with 0.3 seconds on the clock against Charlotte in Game 4 of a first-round playoff game, and Dee Brown getting mugged on that play with no foul called...an abomination, knowing it was McHale's last game. I remember Sherman Douglas being our main guard for way too long during the mid-90's, culminating in an ill-advised fall-away three in the closing seconds of the final game at the old Garden - which I attended; a Game 4 loss to the Magic in the 1995 playoffs. I remember the last Lakers/Celtics match up in the old Garden and Dino Radja tying the game with almost no time left, but just enough time for Van Exel to win the game with a last-second three-point heave. I remember being in Italy and calling my friend Kevin from abroad in the summer of 1993 just to talk to him, and finding out that Reggie Lewis had died, after falling down during a game just a month or so earlier - a double-blow (er, no pun intended) considering that Len Bias had died years earlier and the two could have carried the torch from Bird, McHale, and Parish well into the 90's, and maybe even challenged some of those Bulls teams. The most recent great memory I have of the Celtics, prior to this season, is attending the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals Game 3, last row of the "new" Garden, but feeling happy just to be there, when the Celtics came back from 20 down in the 4th quarter to take Game 3 from New Jersey. That was followed, of course, by the disappointment in Game 4 when they had a chance to take a 3-1 stranglehold and couldn't quite get it done in the closing stages. These are the things that happen when Tony Battie is your big man on the court and a Celtic misses a crucial free throw (he nearly tapped it in but it didn't quite go).
There were a lot of disappointments, and the NBA went through drastic changes during the 1990s. Somehow GM Chris Wallace just didn't know how to handle those changes (and a few lottery ping-pong balls didn't fall our way). I mean, Eric Montross? Pierce was on bad team after bad team, until finally Ainge came to town, made the team even worse with some very questionable moves (getting Antoine Walker BACK...?), and finally decided to try and tank the season toward the end of the 2006-2007 campaign. Even after securing a great lottery pick, the Celtics came out of it with the worst possible scenario (a #5 pick), promptly traded it away along with a lot of their young talent, and managed to keep Pierce around for another year when he saw he'd be surrounded by quality veterans with a real chance to make a run. I'm not sure if he believed at that point that the Celtics could win a championship, but I'm sure Garnett's attitude and intensity gave him some hope that this could be the year - finally, a veteran that worked as hard as he did, with real star power, to help share the load.
KG being called "the counterfeit Ticket" by the very definition of a hack journalist, Peter Vescey, as recently as yesterday. Jemele Hill indicating that "rooting for the Celtics is like supporting Hitler" (I'm parapharasing; read an article here - hey Jemele - ich liebe meinen Celtics!!!!). Most of the media choosing the Lakers over the Celtics, in surprising fashion, believing that somehow the best defensive team in the league was softer than LA because it took them forever to mesh in the playoffs (as well as some questionable coaching by Rivers, but hey, he's a nice guy, so we'll let that go for now). The championship was just that much sweeter because of those words.
The Celtics, having won 78 games this season prior to the start of the Finals, didn't need any extra motivation to win, though Garnett's threats that he would rip every one's heads off if they watched LA celebrate a title was probably motivation enough. Despite that, they got all the motivation they needed from the media. They also got it knowing Red died witnessing the worst team the Celtics ever put on the floor. They got it seeing Belichick, Cousy, Havlicek, Russell, and other Boston celebrities hungry for a championship. And they probably got it from Pierce; this was the very definition of the grizzled veteran without a title, struggling through tough times (stabbings, bad moves by the GM, a few coaching changes, a couple of disappointing playoff runs), doing everything possible through two ownership groups, the patriarch of the franchise dying, less than 5,000 people in the seats at certain points - to think that even in a me-first league like the NBA, that the other guys on the team weren't 100% happy last night to allow Pierce to get his and hoist that MVP trophy along with the championship trophy would be ludicrous.
Great win, great series, great team. Credit Ainge for finally pulling the trigger at the right time after an embarrassing lottery disappointment - looks like ultimately, the ping-pong balls did fall the Celtics way for the first time in a long time.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Italy, Celtics - Sports Roundup 6/9/08
Italy loses 3-0 against Netherlands in opening Euro 2008 Finals match (group stage).
(Don't wanna talk about it.)
Boston takes 2-0 series lead to LA after nearly blowing 24-point lead in 4th quarter.
(Do wanna talk about it!)
(Don't wanna talk about it.)
Boston takes 2-0 series lead to LA after nearly blowing 24-point lead in 4th quarter.
(Do wanna talk about it!)
Friday, June 06, 2008
I went to a baseball game and a hockey game broke out...
Bad blood had been boiling from Wednesday night's confrontations between Crisp and Joe Maddon, Crisp and Jason Bartlett, Crisp and Akinori Iwamura. Sure enough, the second pitch to Crisp from Rays starter James Shields in the second inning last night struck the batter's upper right thigh. For a second, Crisp hesitated. He dropped his bat.
Then he dropped his helmet and rushed the mound. Crisp's head snapped back, Matrix-style, as Shields swung and missed with a right. Crisp landed a punch. The benches then cleared, and in the center of it all, Crisp was at the bottom of a pig pile. Dioner Navarro wrestled him to the ground, and Jonny Gomes and Carl Crawford started firing punches, Gomes pounding away from atop Crisp.
Crisp stood by his locker after the game, smiling, with the remnants of the brawl on his face. He had scratches on his forehead and a red abrasion under his left eye. His nose looked slightly swollen.
"The scratches on my face are from people trying to scratch like we're playing football or something," he said. "Like little girls, trying to scratch out my eyes."
[+]
Who needs NBA Finals basketball when you can take your kid to see millionaire athletes duking it out in a non-contact sport? Still, I have to say the entertainment value here is very high, and goes to show just what type of people are paid crazy salaries for the sole purpose of our entertainment every day.
Then he dropped his helmet and rushed the mound. Crisp's head snapped back, Matrix-style, as Shields swung and missed with a right. Crisp landed a punch. The benches then cleared, and in the center of it all, Crisp was at the bottom of a pig pile. Dioner Navarro wrestled him to the ground, and Jonny Gomes and Carl Crawford started firing punches, Gomes pounding away from atop Crisp.
Crisp stood by his locker after the game, smiling, with the remnants of the brawl on his face. He had scratches on his forehead and a red abrasion under his left eye. His nose looked slightly swollen.
"The scratches on my face are from people trying to scratch like we're playing football or something," he said. "Like little girls, trying to scratch out my eyes."
[+]
Who needs NBA Finals basketball when you can take your kid to see millionaire athletes duking it out in a non-contact sport? Still, I have to say the entertainment value here is very high, and goes to show just what type of people are paid crazy salaries for the sole purpose of our entertainment every day.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Celtics-Lakers rivalry to begin anew Thursday night
While the NBA is a shadow of its former, 1980s self, it's nice to see two old-time rivals play in the NBA Finals. The NBA had become a bit of a thug sport throughout the late 90s and early 2000s, but with new rules in place, the league finally embraced a running game and athleticism over hockey-style defensive trapping and plain old jump shots. That mentality resulted in poor quality play and low scores.
During that time, and even during the Bulls dynasty of the early nineties, the Celtics epitomized mediocrity in the NBA. Twenty years removed from its last championship appearance, many in the stands recently had only attended for the corporate hand-shaking and cool factor of being at an entertainment event, instead of being there to watch the Celtics play. I write from the perspective of someone who grew up going to see Bird, McHale, et al play the game the way it was supposed to be played, along with attending the final Celtics games at the Boston Garden - the last Celts/Lakers match up in the Garden during the 1994-1995 season, which ended with Nick Van Exel's last-minute 3-pointer, heartbreaking after a Dino Radja tip-in layup to take the lead; the last regular season Garden game, and last playoff Garden game with the Celts losing to Shaq and the Magic in 1995 - all great experiences. And I'm not even thirty years old - the standard for basketball in this city for those a few years older than me is just that much higher.
So of course, it's nice to see the Celtics go 66-16 during the regular season, and struggle through the playoffs a bit before finding their groove when it matters. The 2007-2008 Celtics have won with good defense as well as timely offense, and a decent running game, particularly against older teams or teams with injuries. They won Game 6 vs. the Pistons with defense, but it was also the steals and the running down the floor at times that helped wear the Pistons out - so much so, in fact, that with 15 seconds remaining (an eternity in the NBA) and the series on the line, the Pistons gave up and didn't bother fouling to go for missed free throw rebounds and last-second desperation threes.
This Boston-LA rivalry, which will be rekindled Thursday night in Boston, has been on hiatus for twenty years now. In anticipation of what should be a great Finals series, here are some links and facts:
Boston - number of championships: 16 (leads NBA all-time)
LA - number of championships: 14 (including 4 in Minneapolis before the team moved)
Red Auerbach, Boston: most coaching titles - 9
Phil Jackson, LA: most coaching titles - 9 (tied)
Celtics championships vs. Lakers: 8
Lakers championships vs. Celtics: 2
(note - the Celtics avoided what probably would have been an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Lakers in 2002 by choking against the Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals, 4-2, after being up 2-1 due to an improbable 4th-quarter comeback in game 3).
By the way, it's pretty amazing that two teams are about to meet for the 11th time in an NBA Finals series. The league has only been around in its current form since about 1947 - this isn't like two baseball teams going at it for the 11th time in a hundred years; this is effectively twice as much.
[Celts/Lakers - Wiki]
I barely remember this, but as McHale was my favorite player in the 80s, this little bit of 1984 NBA Finals history is particularly memorable for me (games 4 and 5):
The game was also marked by Celtic forward Kevin McHale's takedown of Laker forward Kurt Rambis on a breakaway layup which triggered the physical aspect of the rivalry. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would go after Larry Bird later on in the third quarter, and 1981 Finals MVP Cedric Maxwell further antagonized the Lakers by following a missed James Worthy free throw by crossing the lane with his hands around his own neck, symbolizing that Worthy was "choking" under pressure. In Game 5, the Celtics took a 3-2 series lead as Larry Bird scored 34 points. The game was known as the "Heat Game", as it was played under 97-degree heat, and without any air conditioning at the infamous Boston Garden
During that time, and even during the Bulls dynasty of the early nineties, the Celtics epitomized mediocrity in the NBA. Twenty years removed from its last championship appearance, many in the stands recently had only attended for the corporate hand-shaking and cool factor of being at an entertainment event, instead of being there to watch the Celtics play. I write from the perspective of someone who grew up going to see Bird, McHale, et al play the game the way it was supposed to be played, along with attending the final Celtics games at the Boston Garden - the last Celts/Lakers match up in the Garden during the 1994-1995 season, which ended with Nick Van Exel's last-minute 3-pointer, heartbreaking after a Dino Radja tip-in layup to take the lead; the last regular season Garden game, and last playoff Garden game with the Celts losing to Shaq and the Magic in 1995 - all great experiences. And I'm not even thirty years old - the standard for basketball in this city for those a few years older than me is just that much higher.
So of course, it's nice to see the Celtics go 66-16 during the regular season, and struggle through the playoffs a bit before finding their groove when it matters. The 2007-2008 Celtics have won with good defense as well as timely offense, and a decent running game, particularly against older teams or teams with injuries. They won Game 6 vs. the Pistons with defense, but it was also the steals and the running down the floor at times that helped wear the Pistons out - so much so, in fact, that with 15 seconds remaining (an eternity in the NBA) and the series on the line, the Pistons gave up and didn't bother fouling to go for missed free throw rebounds and last-second desperation threes.
This Boston-LA rivalry, which will be rekindled Thursday night in Boston, has been on hiatus for twenty years now. In anticipation of what should be a great Finals series, here are some links and facts:
Boston - number of championships: 16 (leads NBA all-time)
LA - number of championships: 14 (including 4 in Minneapolis before the team moved)
Red Auerbach, Boston: most coaching titles - 9
Phil Jackson, LA: most coaching titles - 9 (tied)
Celtics championships vs. Lakers: 8
Lakers championships vs. Celtics: 2
(note - the Celtics avoided what probably would have been an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Lakers in 2002 by choking against the Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals, 4-2, after being up 2-1 due to an improbable 4th-quarter comeback in game 3).
By the way, it's pretty amazing that two teams are about to meet for the 11th time in an NBA Finals series. The league has only been around in its current form since about 1947 - this isn't like two baseball teams going at it for the 11th time in a hundred years; this is effectively twice as much.
[Celts/Lakers - Wiki]
I barely remember this, but as McHale was my favorite player in the 80s, this little bit of 1984 NBA Finals history is particularly memorable for me (games 4 and 5):
The game was also marked by Celtic forward Kevin McHale's takedown of Laker forward Kurt Rambis on a breakaway layup which triggered the physical aspect of the rivalry. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would go after Larry Bird later on in the third quarter, and 1981 Finals MVP Cedric Maxwell further antagonized the Lakers by following a missed James Worthy free throw by crossing the lane with his hands around his own neck, symbolizing that Worthy was "choking" under pressure. In Game 5, the Celtics took a 3-2 series lead as Larry Bird scored 34 points. The game was known as the "Heat Game", as it was played under 97-degree heat, and without any air conditioning at the infamous Boston Garden
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Yeah, Belichick rules
The man himself...
Belichick was there Wednesday night, 5/28, for the Celtics' latest postseason home win. They now lead the Eastern Conference Finals, 3-2. The last time the Celtics were this close to the NBA finals was, you guessed it, in 1987 playing against Detroit. The C's won in 7 and went on to lose to the (gulp) Lakers in 7 games in the 87 finals. Guess who's up 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals right now, possibly clinching the series tonight? Yeah, that'd be LA.
I don't believe San Antonio can win three in a row against LA, but they did come back from a 2-0 deficit against a New Orleans team that I believe deserved to be there and should have beaten the Spurs. In any case, maybe the Spurs can be good enough to tire out the Lakers by forcing a least a game 6, and maybe even a game 7, while the Celtics - hopefully - get their second road win of the playoffs tomorrow night in Detroit, and earn a few days rest before the Finals. I'd love to see the C's clinch on the road, if only to shut up that goddamn announcer..."DEEE-TROIT...BASSSSKETBALLL...". Ugh.
Anyway, it's awesome to see Belichick make the public rounds - is this his chick of the week, his new wife? Who the hell is that woman? Does it matter - she's blonde and not young enough to label Belichick "creepy" for being there with her. So yeah, he's pretty much the man, to bookend this little post.
Edit 5/29/2008 - apparently the woman in queston is his new girlfriend, Linda Holliday.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Spygate over for those of us looking forward to kickoff
Like I said in my last post about this matter, those who live in a fantasy world will continue to claim the Patriots did something that no other team in the history of professional football has ever done. All the while, we have plenty of reports from other team employees and entire organizations (including the rival Colts) which feel the Patriots did nothing wrong, and the little they did do to bend the rules was met with harsh enough punishment.
Now that this story has met its end, we can say with certainty that the most recent developments include:
Now that this story has met its end, we can say with certainty that the most recent developments include:
- Matt Walsh kept a tape of a San Diego cheerleader and little else
- The Boston Herald admitted that it published a false story with zero credibility two days before the second-most watched TV program in history (oops!!!)
- Roger Goodell came out in defense of the Patriots by stating that the Patriots were not punished for taping any signals, but rather for doing it from the sideline - the only question here was the location of the camera, not the actual taping of signals.
Suddenly, all of the maniacal anti-Patriots ranting has ceased on most of the message boards out there. The Patriots are a team that, since 2001, has brought its fans an unparalleled amount of classic moments (as well as some heartache - see the Colts game from January 2007 and of course, Super Bowl XLII). They are without a doubt the team of the decade, and as was the case with the Yankees of the late-1990s, people look for excuses as to why the Yankees are so good and their teams cannot succeed at the same level. Of course, in Major League Baseball, an entire team worth of all-stars can be purchased, and when an ownership group from a division rival allows a team like the Yankees to buy their best players or trade for their best minor leaguers, the owners throw their hands up and say, "we're doing the best with what we've got!" All the while, the accountants in the back room are figuring out just how much they need to spend to keep asses in the seats. And yes, I do realize that the Red Sox are pretty much doing the same thing these days.
In the National Football League, there's a fairly hard cap such that any expenditure over the cap results in severe luxury taxes and penalties. The reason for success here is slightly different from the Yankees as they have been operating at about the same salary level as all other 31 NFL teams. So when Brady finally gets decent receivers - despite winning three Super Bowls without an all-star receiving corps - and puts up tons of points, people forget that Peyton Manning has been doing the same thing for years, as did Kurt Warner during his time in the limelight a few years back. The Patriots were just that good, that well-prepared, and that hard-working during the 2007 season (and most of the other seasons from 2001 onward).
All the passive-aggressive internet Pats haters can go back to their Mom's basement now and wait for their own teams' training camps to begin.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Patriots ready to be indemnified against further wrongdoing
As I've stated elsewhere in this blog, the idiot masses love to bring down the best in society because in our multicultural, tolerant-everyone-or-be-labeled-a-Nazi society, extreme success reminds most people of how little they succeed every day. Never mind the fact that people are brainwashed into chasing after money and materialism, so when they see rich people succeeding (athletes or whomever), it irks them even more.
Thankfully, truth has finally reigned in the debate over just how much of an advantage the Patriots may have had when taping a few defensive signals here and there throughout the course of Bill Belichick's tenure as head coach.
[click]
This article seems to prove without a doubt that Mr. Walsh was just trying to gain some attention and cause an uproar among the masses, who now care nothing of the merit behind their original claims of "cheating", despite the fact that Walsh has nothing to offer that the NFL didn't already know and to which Belichick hasn't already admitted doing.
We need to stop pointing the finger at the successful individuals in our society, turn that finger back around, and figure out what we can do to make our own lives better every day. Stop hating on the successful among us who are dedicated to their profession and live your own life, not the lives of others!
Thankfully, truth has finally reigned in the debate over just how much of an advantage the Patriots may have had when taping a few defensive signals here and there throughout the course of Bill Belichick's tenure as head coach.
[click]
This article seems to prove without a doubt that Mr. Walsh was just trying to gain some attention and cause an uproar among the masses, who now care nothing of the merit behind their original claims of "cheating", despite the fact that Walsh has nothing to offer that the NFL didn't already know and to which Belichick hasn't already admitted doing.
We need to stop pointing the finger at the successful individuals in our society, turn that finger back around, and figure out what we can do to make our own lives better every day. Stop hating on the successful among us who are dedicated to their profession and live your own life, not the lives of others!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
2008 New England Patriots schedule
In modern society, we love our heroes to fall, so we can feel better about our miserable lives - why should this or that guy succeed, just because he can throw/coach/hit well? So it was no surprise that everyone was reveling in the Patriots' failure to capture a fourth Vince Lombardi trophy in seven seasons, after a monumental regular-season build-up.
The Patriots are run by a man who feels he has no responsibility to be courteous to the media, so the media fills in the blanks with how he's "cocky", "mean", "arrogant"; any kind of adjective that, in today's society, are used to describe a hard-working individual who has the courage of his convictions behind him and little else. This is a man who has been working for forty-plus years of his fifty-five years at a certain sport, and has excelled to the top of his game (no pun intended). One can imagine what this individual - Bill Belichick - could have accomplished had he set his sights on politics, much like the creative forces behind Google. In any case, each game is a battle, and so he's fine with admitting that the final responsibility for wins and losses rests on his shoulders - but of course, the media spins this, too, into something entirely different, for the entertainment of the idiot masses. He is a hard but fair man, and loves his organization more than his own bank account or reputation.
Many Patriots fans are unable to get past Super Bowl 42 even two months later, but I, for one, have made my peace with it. Firstly, we're talking about a business; football is pure entertainment. However, once in a lifetime, a very special combination of an extremely intelligent player and the best coach in the league will come together and accomplish amazing things that transcend the business nature of the sport. Tom Brady himself took much less money than he could have received to stay with the Patriots; we saw Mike Lowell do the same thing this off season to stay with the Red Sox. In a parity-driven league designed so that owners cannot exceed certain spending limits, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick rise above and work harder than anyone else. Since these two individuals can't do everything alone, they will not win every game, every year - but they have come pretty damn close during most seasons.
Given the expected quality of competition on the below schedule, the Patriots may have a chance to attain perfection again this season. Sixteen-and-oh regular season or not, they certainly look like the favorite to win it all yet again. We can only hope they capture that Lombardi trophy again this season to take the sting out of the disappointing Super Bowl loss last season.
Here's the 2008 schedule:
Week 1: Kansas City Chiefs (1PM) - Sept 7th
Week 2: at New York Jets (4:15PM) - Sept 14th
Week 3: Miami Dolphins (1PM) - Sept 21st
Week 4: Bye week
Week 5: at San Francisco (4:15PM) - Oct 5th
Week 6: at San Diego Chargers (8:15PM) - Oct 12th
Week 7: Denver Broncos (8:30PM, Monday Night Football - Oct 20th
Week 8: St. Louis Rams (1PM) - Oct 26th
Week 9: at Indianapolis Colts (8:15PM) - Nov 2nd
Week 10: Buffalo Bills (1PM) - Nov 9th
Week 11: New York Jets (8:15PM) - Thursday - Nov 13th
Week 12: at Miami Dolphins (1PM) - Nov 23rd
Week 13: Pittsburgh Steelers (4:15PM) - Nov 30th
Week 14: at Seattle Seahawks (8:15PM) - Dec 7th
Week 15: at Oakland Raiders (4:15PM) - Dec 14th
Week 16: Arizona Cardinals (1PM) - Dec 21st
Week 17: at Buffalo Bills (1PM) - Dec 28th
The Patriots are run by a man who feels he has no responsibility to be courteous to the media, so the media fills in the blanks with how he's "cocky", "mean", "arrogant"; any kind of adjective that, in today's society, are used to describe a hard-working individual who has the courage of his convictions behind him and little else. This is a man who has been working for forty-plus years of his fifty-five years at a certain sport, and has excelled to the top of his game (no pun intended). One can imagine what this individual - Bill Belichick - could have accomplished had he set his sights on politics, much like the creative forces behind Google. In any case, each game is a battle, and so he's fine with admitting that the final responsibility for wins and losses rests on his shoulders - but of course, the media spins this, too, into something entirely different, for the entertainment of the idiot masses. He is a hard but fair man, and loves his organization more than his own bank account or reputation.
Many Patriots fans are unable to get past Super Bowl 42 even two months later, but I, for one, have made my peace with it. Firstly, we're talking about a business; football is pure entertainment. However, once in a lifetime, a very special combination of an extremely intelligent player and the best coach in the league will come together and accomplish amazing things that transcend the business nature of the sport. Tom Brady himself took much less money than he could have received to stay with the Patriots; we saw Mike Lowell do the same thing this off season to stay with the Red Sox. In a parity-driven league designed so that owners cannot exceed certain spending limits, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick rise above and work harder than anyone else. Since these two individuals can't do everything alone, they will not win every game, every year - but they have come pretty damn close during most seasons.
Given the expected quality of competition on the below schedule, the Patriots may have a chance to attain perfection again this season. Sixteen-and-oh regular season or not, they certainly look like the favorite to win it all yet again. We can only hope they capture that Lombardi trophy again this season to take the sting out of the disappointing Super Bowl loss last season.
Here's the 2008 schedule:
Week 1: Kansas City Chiefs (1PM) - Sept 7th
Week 2: at New York Jets (4:15PM) - Sept 14th
Week 3: Miami Dolphins (1PM) - Sept 21st
Week 4: Bye week
Week 5: at San Francisco (4:15PM) - Oct 5th
Week 6: at San Diego Chargers (8:15PM) - Oct 12th
Week 7: Denver Broncos (8:30PM, Monday Night Football - Oct 20th
Week 8: St. Louis Rams (1PM) - Oct 26th
Week 9: at Indianapolis Colts (8:15PM) - Nov 2nd
Week 10: Buffalo Bills (1PM) - Nov 9th
Week 11: New York Jets (8:15PM) - Thursday - Nov 13th
Week 12: at Miami Dolphins (1PM) - Nov 23rd
Week 13: Pittsburgh Steelers (4:15PM) - Nov 30th
Week 14: at Seattle Seahawks (8:15PM) - Dec 7th
Week 15: at Oakland Raiders (4:15PM) - Dec 14th
Week 16: Arizona Cardinals (1PM) - Dec 21st
Week 17: at Buffalo Bills (1PM) - Dec 28th
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Celts still crazy-good
The Celtics are, as of today, still the only 50-win team in the league - after a huge comeback win in San Antonio Monday night and a thumping of the Rockets. Twenty-two is the magic number this week so far - they came back from 22 down in the first half to beat the Spurs and stopped the Rockets' win streak at 22. It doesn't mean much, right, because this is still the regular season? Well, when you consider that the team is 21-4 against the Western Conference this season, the Finals this year, IF the Celtics can make it through a seven-game series against one or both of the Cavs and Pistons, should be just the last stepping stone to eventual glory for the C's this season.
Even though the Pats choked in the Super Bowl, they still went 16-0 in the regular season and Brady & Moss still looked like Montana & Rice all year. Plus, the Sox just won a championship, something called the World Series, back in October. A 17th banner in the TDBankNorth Garden would right the ship after that damn Super Bowl...and with the way the Pats are adding corners and safeties to their roster even ahead of the draft, don't be surprised if they hoist the Lombardi again next year.
Damn, I wish more Jets fans read this thing.
Even though the Pats choked in the Super Bowl, they still went 16-0 in the regular season and Brady & Moss still looked like Montana & Rice all year. Plus, the Sox just won a championship, something called the World Series, back in October. A 17th banner in the TDBankNorth Garden would right the ship after that damn Super Bowl...and with the way the Pats are adding corners and safeties to their roster even ahead of the draft, don't be surprised if they hoist the Lombardi again next year.
Damn, I wish more Jets fans read this thing.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Just some Pats stuff I wanted to keep here...
This space for rent. These snippets were on the following website on 2/21/08, regarding league reaction to videotaping procedures by the New England Patriots this past season:
http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/
~~~~~~~~~~~
Martz interested in Walsh
INDIANAPOLIS -- San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who was the head coach of the St. Louis Rams team that lost to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI, said he is interested in seeing whether Matt Walsh comes forward.
Walsh is the former Patriots employee who has hinted he has potentially damaging material, including an alleged tape of the St. Louis Super Bowl walkthrough prior to the Patriots' 20-17 win in 2002.
"Of course, I'm interested. I was involved in that," said Martz to a group of reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine who asked about Walsh. "It was my responsibility. I was responsible for a lot of people in that game. I am interested. But I'm going to assume, like anything else, that this is totally false. Until it proves differently, there's really not much to talk about."
When asked whether he was surprised that one of his former St. Louis players, Willie Gary, was named as a plaintiff in a $100 million lawsuit filed last week against the Patriots, owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick stemming from the alleged taping, Martz demurred.
"I'm not going to go there. When this is all over with and the investigations are finished I hope that Bill is exonerated and this didn't happen, so we'll see."
However, Martz did say that if the Patriots did tape the walkthrough it would have to be considered cheating.
"First of all, I doubt that this happened, I really do," said Martz. "I'll only say this, and I'm not going to talk about it anymore. I don't think the point is ever whether they got something out of it. The whole point is, were they cheating or not? Isn't it? Isn't that really the point? I think so.
"When you say he took some steroids that did help or didn't help. ...that's never the point. The point is to all these high school coaches and high school kids and college kids, if they did cheat, I think that's the point, not whether it was effective or ineffective. I guess that's what is being glossed over.
"But I'm going to choose to believe this is all not true. I just have too much respect and admiration for Bill, and I just don't think it's true. But I guess when I hear people say it didn't affect [the game], well, it probably didn't. No, it probably didn't affect it at all. But that's really not the point, now is it?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Competition Committee on Patriots
INDIANAPOLIS -- Members of the NFL Competition Committee just addressed media members here at the combine. Co-chairman Rich McKay indicated that the committee received details regarding the Patriots’ taping procedures.
“This morning, we spent a lot of time on the issue of the New England tape situation, just getting a briefing, an understanding of the procedures and everything that went into it,” McKay said.
“They took us through the investigation, what they did, and what transpired and what they found. They asked our opinion on the penalty, and if there were any suggestions we had that we needed to do from a rules perspective to address it.”
Members of the committee seemed to agree that there was nothing from a rules perspective that needed to be further addressed to avoid the situation in the future.
Another member of the committee, Colts president Bill Polian, shared his opinion on the NFL’s investigation of the Patriots.
“From my perspective, that was a thorough, fair, efficient process with lots of integrity,” he said. “I think it’s fair to say we [as a committee] were satisfied with the explanation, satisfied with what was done, and at least I am anyway. It’s behind us. It’s time to move forward.”
Giants co-owner John Mara also shared his thoughts of the Patriots’ taping procedures.
“I can’t speak for everybody else, but I’m just tired of hearing about it,” he said. “I think we’re all satisfied that it was thoroughly investigated.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Lovie on Super Bowl 36:
INDIANAPOLIS -- Bears coach Lovie Smith answered questions from media members this morning. Smith was the Rams defensive coordinator during Super Bowl XXXVI and was asked about a Feb. 2 Boston Herald report that stated a Patriots official taped the Rams' walkthrough the day before the game.
Some of the Q&A:
Did you ever feel that the Patriots had information that helped them be a step ahead?
"No. Not at all. Again, I'm having a hard time remembering last year's [Super Bowl]. To think back to St. Louis, that's definitely harder for me. What I recall is that we were beaten by a good football team that year. It was an excellent football game. That's about all I remember."
As a coordinator and coach, what type of precautions do you take to protect signals?
"Signals, we take all type of precautions. Most teams have wristband calls, and things like that. I don't spend a whole lot of time. Most of my effort goes into trying to find a way to be successful on the football field, doing it the right way, we spend most of our time on that. We have precautions in place to guard against that on game day. That's how we've always done it."
What were your inital reactions when you heard about the report that the Patriots might have taped the Rams' walkthrough?
"I don't go into accusations an awful lot. I think it's dangerous to do that. Of course, I was aware of what was going on [with the report]. Whenever you have people accusing guys of doing things like that, it's just hard for me to fathom that anyone would do anything like that. Those were my thoughts right away. I trust our NFL office and I'm sure that if there is something to it, No. 1, that will come out later on. Time has a way of taking care of all things. Again, during that time, I was more interested in watching a great game which I saw. I have this picture of the Chicago Bears being back in Tampa next year in that same environment."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Gene Upshaw has strong feelings on videotaping
Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, shared his feelings on the Patriots' videotaping procedures following a meeting at the downtown Westin. His thought is that the impact of the videotaping has been overblown. "It's absolutely ludicrous to believe it affects a play," he said. "Look at the play in the Super Bowl, you can have all the film in the world but Eli [Manning] still gets out of the pocket, sheds those tackles, and throws that ball. Then go back to the Super Bowl against St. Louis, do you think filming had anything to do with Kurt Warner's fumble?"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Can we finally put this thing to rest now...for Christ's sake, the COLTS GM, Polian, is running to the Pats' defense...do we need even more of a signal to remind us that this isn't really that big a deal...?
http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/
~~~~~~~~~~~
Martz interested in Walsh
INDIANAPOLIS -- San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who was the head coach of the St. Louis Rams team that lost to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI, said he is interested in seeing whether Matt Walsh comes forward.
Walsh is the former Patriots employee who has hinted he has potentially damaging material, including an alleged tape of the St. Louis Super Bowl walkthrough prior to the Patriots' 20-17 win in 2002.
"Of course, I'm interested. I was involved in that," said Martz to a group of reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine who asked about Walsh. "It was my responsibility. I was responsible for a lot of people in that game. I am interested. But I'm going to assume, like anything else, that this is totally false. Until it proves differently, there's really not much to talk about."
When asked whether he was surprised that one of his former St. Louis players, Willie Gary, was named as a plaintiff in a $100 million lawsuit filed last week against the Patriots, owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick stemming from the alleged taping, Martz demurred.
"I'm not going to go there. When this is all over with and the investigations are finished I hope that Bill is exonerated and this didn't happen, so we'll see."
However, Martz did say that if the Patriots did tape the walkthrough it would have to be considered cheating.
"First of all, I doubt that this happened, I really do," said Martz. "I'll only say this, and I'm not going to talk about it anymore. I don't think the point is ever whether they got something out of it. The whole point is, were they cheating or not? Isn't it? Isn't that really the point? I think so.
"When you say he took some steroids that did help or didn't help. ...that's never the point. The point is to all these high school coaches and high school kids and college kids, if they did cheat, I think that's the point, not whether it was effective or ineffective. I guess that's what is being glossed over.
"But I'm going to choose to believe this is all not true. I just have too much respect and admiration for Bill, and I just don't think it's true. But I guess when I hear people say it didn't affect [the game], well, it probably didn't. No, it probably didn't affect it at all. But that's really not the point, now is it?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Competition Committee on Patriots
INDIANAPOLIS -- Members of the NFL Competition Committee just addressed media members here at the combine. Co-chairman Rich McKay indicated that the committee received details regarding the Patriots’ taping procedures.
“This morning, we spent a lot of time on the issue of the New England tape situation, just getting a briefing, an understanding of the procedures and everything that went into it,” McKay said.
“They took us through the investigation, what they did, and what transpired and what they found. They asked our opinion on the penalty, and if there were any suggestions we had that we needed to do from a rules perspective to address it.”
Members of the committee seemed to agree that there was nothing from a rules perspective that needed to be further addressed to avoid the situation in the future.
Another member of the committee, Colts president Bill Polian, shared his opinion on the NFL’s investigation of the Patriots.
“From my perspective, that was a thorough, fair, efficient process with lots of integrity,” he said. “I think it’s fair to say we [as a committee] were satisfied with the explanation, satisfied with what was done, and at least I am anyway. It’s behind us. It’s time to move forward.”
Giants co-owner John Mara also shared his thoughts of the Patriots’ taping procedures.
“I can’t speak for everybody else, but I’m just tired of hearing about it,” he said. “I think we’re all satisfied that it was thoroughly investigated.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Lovie on Super Bowl 36:
INDIANAPOLIS -- Bears coach Lovie Smith answered questions from media members this morning. Smith was the Rams defensive coordinator during Super Bowl XXXVI and was asked about a Feb. 2 Boston Herald report that stated a Patriots official taped the Rams' walkthrough the day before the game.
Some of the Q&A:
Did you ever feel that the Patriots had information that helped them be a step ahead?
"No. Not at all. Again, I'm having a hard time remembering last year's [Super Bowl]. To think back to St. Louis, that's definitely harder for me. What I recall is that we were beaten by a good football team that year. It was an excellent football game. That's about all I remember."
As a coordinator and coach, what type of precautions do you take to protect signals?
"Signals, we take all type of precautions. Most teams have wristband calls, and things like that. I don't spend a whole lot of time. Most of my effort goes into trying to find a way to be successful on the football field, doing it the right way, we spend most of our time on that. We have precautions in place to guard against that on game day. That's how we've always done it."
What were your inital reactions when you heard about the report that the Patriots might have taped the Rams' walkthrough?
"I don't go into accusations an awful lot. I think it's dangerous to do that. Of course, I was aware of what was going on [with the report]. Whenever you have people accusing guys of doing things like that, it's just hard for me to fathom that anyone would do anything like that. Those were my thoughts right away. I trust our NFL office and I'm sure that if there is something to it, No. 1, that will come out later on. Time has a way of taking care of all things. Again, during that time, I was more interested in watching a great game which I saw. I have this picture of the Chicago Bears being back in Tampa next year in that same environment."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Gene Upshaw has strong feelings on videotaping
Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, shared his feelings on the Patriots' videotaping procedures following a meeting at the downtown Westin. His thought is that the impact of the videotaping has been overblown. "It's absolutely ludicrous to believe it affects a play," he said. "Look at the play in the Super Bowl, you can have all the film in the world but Eli [Manning] still gets out of the pocket, sheds those tackles, and throws that ball. Then go back to the Super Bowl against St. Louis, do you think filming had anything to do with Kurt Warner's fumble?"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Can we finally put this thing to rest now...for Christ's sake, the COLTS GM, Polian, is running to the Pats' defense...do we need even more of a signal to remind us that this isn't really that big a deal...?
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Boston.com post regarding Matt Walsh
Obtained from http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm
A CLOSER LOOK AT MATT WALSH
While the NFL world still waits for something to happen regarding the indemnity impasse between the league and the attorney for former Pats employee Matt Walsh, more and more of our readers and friends have been tracking down information about Walsh.
A couple of them found this slideshow from Walsh's 2004 wedding. Two of the photos caught our eye.
In the first one, Walsh is in what appears to be his bedroom, with a collection of Super Bowl posters. The irony is obvious, given that many in the media believe that he was/is the source for the story that appeared in the Boston Herald regarding alleged cheating by the Patriots in connection with Super Bowl XXXVI. Here it is:
The other photo, shot in the same room, shows a bunch of official NFL footballs that Walsh likely didn't buy off the shelf at a local sporting goods store. And unless the Pats routinely give multiple footballs away to low-level employees, videotapes might not be the only thing he "borrowed" from the franchise when he left:
Also, as to the 31-year-old Walsh's claim that he played golf at Springfield (Mass.) College, this link to the historical rosters of the team contains no one named Matt Walsh in 1997, 1998, 1999, or 2000. It's possible that he played in 1995 or 1996; those records aren't available on the page linked above.
Does anyone of this have anything to do with whether he knows something incriminating? Nope. But to the extent he isn't able to tell a clear and persuasive story, any evidence of embellishment or outright fabrication will hurt him.
The guy robbed all kinds of crap from the Patriots...its incredible!! You all have to see this!! Arlen Specter...you, Matt Walsh and your sucky Eagles will burn in hell.
And people wonder why Commissioner Goodell has said Walsh has all the immunity he wants IF he tells the truth. For some reason that isn't good enough for Matt Walsh's lawyer, who wants full immunity no matter what. So the lawyer wants Matt Walsh to be able to fabricate a story to damage the Patriots, with no jail time for lying in a court of law...? That makes a lot of sense. Typical passive-aggressive behavior; a golf pro living in Hawaii, embittered about being released by the Patriots, bringing up a fabricated story about more videotapes from 2001-2002. I'm glad Belichick finally commented on all this, stating he couldn't "pick Matt Walsh out of a lineup".
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