Minor activities and scheduling thoughts

Friday night in Frederick, MD, a short drive from the Smith homestead, is going to be a fun one. Frederick is the home to the Single A Frederick Keys - part of the Carolina League, and opponent to the Salem Red Sox, who happen to be in town this weekend.

When I first moved to the area the Wilmington Blue Rocks were the Red Sox affiliate that played the Keys, and then the Blue Rocks changed their major league affiliate, leaving me sans Sox prospects to watch. This weekend I get to watch five of the Sox top 20 prospects - Ryan Kalish, Luis Exposito, Yamaico Navarro, Che-Hsuan Lin, and Kyle Weiland - as well as Jonathan Paplebon's brother Josh.

I'll be at the game at Harry Grove Stadium on Friday night with the family, but will probably leave long before the end of the game (hard to stay till the end with a 20-month old), but it's always a fun time. My seven-year old loves the kids' zone with the carousel, and my wife loves the fact that the stadium serves beer from both of the town's brew pubs.

It'll be my first time to the stadium this season. For those of you baseball fans who have never made it to a minor league game, I highly recommend it.

Pats Schedule...

As I mentioned yesterday, I believe that the strength of schedule that people talk about at this time of year is a faulty way to view the difficulties of the coming season. It has no bearing - before last season the Dolphins were a one win team, this season they go in having won 11, the previous season was no predictor of future success.

Based on last season's results, the Pats have the third hardest schedule in the NFL. That said - Miami is sneaking up on no one this season, and while it's possible they might repeat their 11 win performance that won them the AFC East last season, I don't think that they're going to surprise anyone with the Wildcat offense in 2009 and they'll slide. The Jets currently have no quarterback, and key players on the Bills are going to start the season suspended, putting Buffalo into an early hole. And that's just the AFC East. There are definitely issues with some of the other teams as well - are Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan going to have surprise seasons again? I don't think so.

I could go on, but I'm going to address another interesting quirk in the schedule. What happens when the Pats hit the bad weather months of November and December? Let's look at the schedule...

After the bye week at the beginning of November in week 8, the Pats play out the string as follows:

Sun 11/8/2009	1:00 PM	vs	Dolphins	WBZ / CBS
Sun 11/15/2009	8:20 PM	@	Colts	WHDH / NBC
Sun 11/22/2009	4:15 PM	vs	Jets	WBZ / CBS
Mon 11/30/2009	8:30 PM	@	Saints	WCVB / ESPN
Sun 12/6/2009	8:20 PM	@	Dolphins	WHDH / NBC
Sun 12/13/2009	1:00 PM	vs	Panthers
Sun 12/20/2009	1:00 PM	@	Bills	WBZ / CBS
Sun 12/27/2009	1:00 PM	vs	Jaguars	WBZ / CBS
Sun 1/3/2010	1:00 PM	@	Texans	WBZ / CBS

So - in New York, at home, in Houston, at Indy, at home, at home, in New Orleans, at home, at Buffalo.

With the exception of the game at Buffalo in December, the bad weather games the Pats really face are at home in December against the Panthers, and Jaguars, and maybe the November contest against the Jets. Otherwise the Pats are playing in warm climates, or domes. At first glance that might not seem to be important, but for anyone that remembers the way the Pats passing game slowed down at the tail end of the season during their 16-0 run, they might want to think about how Tom Brady and the receiving corps might thrive in some of these late-season contests.

Fewer late season games in cold and wind might mean for a more prolific late season offense, helping to keep the defense off the field.

War of Attrition

It was an ugly win, but I'll take it.

The New England Patriots are tied atop the AFC East with the Jets and Dolphins after a much tougher game against the Seattle Seahawks than almost anyone could have predicted. The team's struggles from last week continued as the offensive line often seemed over-matched by a mediocre defense, Matt Cassel returned to some of the poor decisions that plagued him in the first couple of weeks, and the defense, while it did some good things, it continued its deterioration.

The line and the quarterback both struggled with the blitz. Cassel sometimes tried to run when he should have just loaded up and overthrown a receiver on the sideline. Moss continues to be plagued by the dropsies - a season long problem (and don't tell me that one was good defense; the ball hit Moss on the hands and ricocheted off his chest without the defender ever touching it on the one play). The defense made Seattle's offense look like the second coming of the Greatest Show on Turf on the Seahawks' first two drives.

Injuries haven't helped this season, but they still have to go out and perform.

I want to see the Patriots in the post season, make no mistake about it. That doesn't mean I believe they can actually do anything in the post season should they get there.

Admittedly, the fact that they are still in position to possibly win the division given what this team has gone through is nothing short of amazing.

The team played their first game without Kevin Faulk, Stephen Neal, Nick Kazcur, and largely without Tom Brady. Ty Warren has missed games and when he's played it's been obvious that he's injured.

The list of regulars that have missed multiple games, or have been lost for the season -

Neal
Kaczur
Brady
Warren
Rodney Harrison
Adalius Thomas
Laurence Maroney
Lamont Jordan
Sammy Morris
Ben Watson
Lewis Sanders
Kelley Washington

And other players who have missed at least one game, or a significant chunk of a game...

Tedy Bruschi
Vince Wilfork
Wes Welker
Pierre Woods

I'm sure I've missed somebody in all that mess, but this is what it comes down to - the team has played significant portions of the season without:

• The starting right side of the offensive line
• The starting quarterback
• The leader of their defensive backfield
• Half the starting linebacking corps
• The top three half backs on the depth chart
  

All of that and 8-5 with three weeks to go. No way I would have believed it if someone had told me at the beginning of the season that the team would have experienced this sort of attrition.

The Angry Fan presents the TAF All-Patriot Team, wide outs

I want to throw this out to my handful of readers. In light of Matt Cassel's sudden morph for the past two games into the best characteristics of Steve Grogan, Drew Bledsoe, and Tom Brady, I wanted to address my all time team. Below I've picked out my nominees for each position, and the total number that will, in the end, be named to the team.

Also, feel free to do write in candidates - however, keep in mind, you have to make your argument for why that player deserves consideration, and you need to get votes from your fellow readers.

One last note before I get into the nominees - typically one season wonders will not make the list, unless that season was particularly special. Active players are considered on the list, but it will skew away from them as the body of their work could still take a turn for the worse. Also, I am going with individuals, not tandems. You want to look at some of the top tandems, you need to look here.

And onto the nominees, who were all solely at my discretion...

Wide Receivers (5 will be named) -

Troy Brown 80 - Not the most prolific nor talented receiver to ever play for the Pats, Brown might have been the hardest worker. A draft pick in a round that doesn't even exist, Brown went on to become the all-time leader in receptions for New England not because he repeatedly racked up 90 catch season, rather because he weathered the grind and fought harder than anyone else to get there. His record is a testament to perseverance, particularly when it's taken into account that he left receptions on the field by playing defensive back when the team needed him on the defensive side of the ball (most summaries will be shorter than this). Until Wes Welker became the new Troy Brown, Brown also held team record for receptions in a single season.

Gino Cappelletti 20 - The monster from Minnesota, Cappelletti fails to receive the Canton consideration he deserves. The wide receiver/place kicker was a five time AFL All Star, and dominated the AFL. Consider the following from Wiki regarding his career -

"Cappelletti led the American Football League in scoring five times and led or tied the NFL in scoring 5 times as well. He had two of the top five scoring seasons in pro football history – 155 points in 1964 and 147 points in 1961 (14-game seasons). Nicknamed the "Duke", he is the all-time leading scorer in the American Football League. Cappelletti is among the AFL's all-time top ten receivers, in yards and in receptions. He is the Patriots' third all-time leading receiver with 292 catches for 4,589 yards."

That's just the short of it. I could go on, but we would be here all day.

Stanley Morgan 86 - A burner, Morgan averaged over 20 yards per catch for his career, including 24.1 per catch in 1978. Morgan was a four time pro-bowler who is only now beginning to garner some much deserved attention by HOF voters. The four time pro-bowler still leads the team with 10,352 receiving yards for his career.

Randy Vataha 18 - Like Brown, Vataha is not what anyone would call a high draft pick. According to the team's 1976 media guide -

...rookie year earned him a spot on UPI's AFC all-rookie team, a Gipper Award for receiving and the Johnny Unitas Award ... tied the club record with 51 catches in 1971, set new marks with 88-yard TD catch and 872 yards as he played in all 14 games ... thigh bruise forced him to miss two games during 1974 season, first misses since junior high school days ... led club in receiving in 1975...

Jim Colclough 81 - Cappelletti's battery mate, Colclough, like Cappelletti, doesn't get the love he deserves due to playing his entire career in the AFL. One of the original Patriots, this is his summary from the team's 1968 media guide -

...ranks behind only (Lance) Allworth and Dubenion in best all-time AFL average gain with passes caught (17.6) ... ranks ninth in top ten of all-time AFL pass receivers ... has caught 275 passes for 4865 yards in his eight years of AFL play ... was traded to Jets in 1965 for John Huarte but Pats traded later to get him back ... knows his way around ... had 16 catches for 284 yards in '66...

Deion Branch 83 - Realistically, Branch's regular season stats pale in comparison to the rest of the crew here. He never put up solid number one receiver numbers. He was seldom healthy. but he was a beast in the post season. Occasionally he was the fly in the ointment against teams here and there during the regular season. And those things are worth something.

Randy Moss 81 - It's hard to keep a guy off the list that set the single season record for touchdown receptions with 23 to go with a 1,493 yard season. Without Brady under center, he's still on pace for 1,100 yards.

Wes Welker 83 - The other 83. In two seasons (including the current) the durable Welker is the king of the catch and run. The king of the bubble screen, Welker has likely caught more balls behind the line of scrimmage than any other receiver in the league. In spite of that, he has higher average per catch than a 10 yards. Currently he has 192 receptions and over 2,000 yards receiving in 27 games for New England.

Mass-destruction and a fond farewell

The last time any region has experienced a decade with as much dominance over the professional sports scene was probably in the 1960's when Massachusetts saw titles in the NBA practically every year, closed out the decade (1969-70 season) with a Stanley Cup, and sent the Sox to the 1967 World Series and the Patriots to the 1963 AFL Championship (both lost).

From 1961 until 1970 the city was home to nine titles in the big four of professional sports...of course eight of those came from the Celtics.

With the '08 baseball season in front of us still, we're looking at three more seasons before the end of the decade (starting from '01) and Boston already has six titles spread over three sports.

While there were more titles in the 1960's, by virtue of where the titles have come from - the Patriots (3), the Red Sox (2), and the Celtics (1) - and how much of it happened.

Consider - since 2001 the Patriots finally rose to prominence, becoming the most dominant football team of the decade, winning three Super Bowls, appearing in a fourth, and amassing the two longest regular season winning streaks in league history including the only undefeated 16-game regular season.

Move into baseball and you have the Red Sox who have swept their National League counterpart in the World Series twice - the first of the Championships after turning the table on the arch-rival Yankees. En route to delivering their first Series Title since 1918, the Sox became the first team to ever overcome an 0-3 deficit in the ALCS and had a hand in dealing the worst meltdown in the history of the post-season to their rivals. It was a thing of beauty. Add to all that the fact that the Sox are the only team to win two since 2001 and the Yankees are 0-2, it's only icing for the members of Red Sox Nation.

That brings us to the Celtics.

For the better part of the decade the Celtics have been awful. I mean, brutally bad. Not Knicks bad - they weren't carrying either the payroll nor the highly touted talent - but they were scraping the bottom.

In delivering this year's Championship, the team was part of the NBA's biggest turn around ever, extended their league leading number of championship banners to 17, and prevented Phil Jackson from passing Red Auerbach as the coach with the most Championships. Putting together this season's edition, Danny Ainge positioned the team to compete for the rest of the decade.

On the periphery, taking the place of previous Boston area teams that got to the Big Dance, but not able to seal the deal has been the New England Revolution. The Revs have been the runners up to the MLS Cup four times ('02, '05, '06, and '07).

Of the six major league sports now represented in Boston (including the Major League Lacrosse Boston Cannons), New England/Boston has made appearances in the finals of five of the leagues, missing out on only hockey. The Cannons lost by two goals in the 2004 championship game.

In the combined seven seasons since the inception of the 2001 seasons there have been 41 potential titles (hockey missed one due to labor strife). The teams from the Boston Bay area has had teams compete for 12 of those (29.3 percent) and won close to 15 percent of the titles.

By any account, those are impressive numbers.

Speaking of impressive numbers and the post season...

While he hasn't officially announced retirement, Curt Schilling is done. His shoulder is cooked.

It's been a fun ride while it's lasted. I haven't always agreed with Schill's opinions - but as someone who makes his scratch as a reporter, I can tell you, he's a reporter's dream. An absolute quote machine and a clutch performer.

He's the sort of person that I think I would not get along with in a personal relationship - but he'll always get a pass for bringing Boston their first World Series title since Babe Ruth was on the team.

I wish him well recovering from his shoulder surgeries and in whatever his subsequent career is.

Buying the hype, selling the fertilizer

Just some random thoughts as we go into Super Bowl week...

There has been a lot of talk about the non-story of Tom Brady's ankle. If Brady was carted off the field after his ankle was rolled on in the game against the Chargers eight days ago, I would be concerned. But today I see it as a non-story.

In 2001 Brady was lifted from the AFC Championship Game against the Steelers when his ankle was twisted under him in the first half. Drew Bledsoe came in and marched the Patriots down the field for a score and captained the Patriots to victory, creating a quarterback controversy going into the game against the Rams a week later. A WEEK LATER.

This year Brady has had two weeks to recover and never had to be removed from the Chargers game. As a matter of fact, he was 7 for 7 passing after the sprain. He was 15 of 26 before.

Thought two -

The New York Giants are the chic pick among a lot of the pundits. So much so that I think I have heard more of the national talking heads pick the Giants than the Patriots. The reasoning - they have the defense and the running game to cause the Patriots problems...or...The Patriots have to lose sometime...or...The bye helps the Giants to plan for the Patriots...or...Look who the Giants had to beat to get there. The Patriots had an easier road...or...Because of what they did against the Patriots in the final regular season game, the Giants know they can win.

I don't know that I would lay money on the Patriots, given the spread. However, I think the Patriots are the likely winners in this contest.

Yes, the Giants have a great running game, but so did Dallas, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, and Pittsburgh. And yes, the Giants D has been great, particularly in the post-season. However, the last time I checked, neither Bays - Green and Tampa - have the offensive weapons of the Patriots, and neither does Dallas (and for anyone who wants to try to argue that, tell me - who would you really rather have at QB? Romo or Brady?).

Then there's this -

In his time with the Patriots, Belichick is 24-4 when facing the same QB for the second time in a season (I might be off on that number, but I think it's right). Coughlin is 1-3 following a bye with the Giants. Belichick is 13-7 (including with the Browns) after a bye, but has won his last ten straight.

As for who the Patriots beat - the Jaguars, according to the talking heads, were supposed to be the strong defensive team with the powerful running game that was supposed to topple the Patriots from their perch. Now they're a "who did the Patriots really beat" team.

Everyone out of New England is talking about how the Colts would have given the Patriots a better game, but they struggled mightily against the banged up Chargers team that eventually faced the Pats.

As for the last point. The bottom line is that the Giants couldn't hold the Patriots off late in the game, and then Eli turned the ball over at the least opportune of times while trying to mount a late drive.

I'm not saying that the Giants don't have a chance. I just don't see solid logic behind the reasoning that I'm hearing from those predicting a New York win. I do think it's gonna be a helluva game.

And this from a New York paper...

This

is

delicious...

http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/ny-spjets1212,0,3978329.story

It has been confirmed that the Jets were taping in Gillette last season. The Jets claimed they were doing so with the permission of the league and the Patriots.

The league has no knowledge of the incident, or at least it has been reported that the league was unaware of it.

The Patriots removed the Jets employee from the stadium. Interesting definition of "permission" the Jets must have.

The line from Newsday - "Tuesday night the Jets admitted that they did videotape the game and their employee was confronted, but said they had permission from the Patriots to film from that location."

Once again, I ask, if they had permission to film from there, then why was the Jets employee removed?

I think this reaction from New York Newsday's response page sums it up best -

"So, the JETS catch the PATS videotaping and inform the league. The PATS catch the JETS and don't tell anyone, just remove the guy? If that's the case, it really makes Mangini seem low. Was it the game we won? Maybe that's the reason we won 10 last year and stink this year. After ratting on the PATS, the JETS stopped also.
"Great.
"It just gets better. "

-Frank, East Brunswick, NJ.
East Brunswick, NJ

Recent history and selective memory...

It's what the pundits have in backing their arguments.

Those arguing that the Steelers will end the Patriots perfect season this weekend, present the following thoughts - the Steelers are physical like the Ravens and Eagles, but better than either; the Pats are vulnerable against the run, and Steelers tailback Willie Parker is second in the league in rushing; the Pats offense has been in a slump the last two weeks while being pressured by these physical defenses; the Steelers defensive scheme is meant to cause confusion and will cause problems for the struggling Pats offense.

Let's look at each argument -

The Steelers are better than either the Ravens or Eagles. That's a fact. It is also a fact that they are physical with their linemen, but, as I mentioned in a previous post, not great with press coverage from their corners.

Yes, the Pats have struggled against the run this season - particularly as of late. However, as good as Parker has been, he put up 87 yards and a 3.1 per rush average against the defense deficient Bengals, 81/3.4 and two fumbles against Miami, and 52/2.5 against the Jets. Those teams are respectively 23rd, 32nd, and 29th against the run. That would be Parker's last three games - a total of 220 yards and an average of three yards per rush. Not exactly numbers that blow you away.

During the Patriots' offensive slump, they have averaged 29 points per game. The rest of the league is averaging 21.1 points per game. Wow. Twenty-nine points per game are gonna lose you a lot of games...really. On top of that, the last three games haven't exactly been sterling for the Steelers either. Yes they won two out of three, but, as previously noted, they played the Jets, Dolphins, and Bengals - losing to the Jets by two, and barely getting a three point win (at home, mind you) against Miami...horrible, horrible Miami.

As for the shock and awe of the Steelers zone-blitzing defensive attack...I seem to remember that the Patriots lit them up in the playoffs with lesser talent than they now have on offense. And correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time I checked, current defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau was running the defense that got lit up then.

Before Steelers fans get up in arms, I'm not guaranteeing a Patriots win, but I am pointing out that the arguments are weak as to why they will end the streak. It could very well happen - the Pats have looked vulnerable recently, but no more so than the Steelers.

House of cards...

Until the Patriots beat Dallas and Indy, the comment was, "who have they really beat so far?"

It was almost the mantra of New England's critics.

Now the Steelers are supposed to give the Patriots a run for their money. They have the number one defense in the league. Number one against the pass, number one against the run.

Like the Eagles and the Ravens, they play a physical brand of football - they want to push the opponents around at the line of scrimmage, and make receivers pay after the catch.

Unlike the Ravens and the Eagles, they play a zone blitzing scheme, because their corners are not great cover corners, but are good in space. If they play up on the line and try to get physical with the Pats receivers and whiff, then you're talking about a lot of targets running free for Tom Brady all day. But that's not really what I want to address.

What I want to address is, who have the Steelers forged their defensive ranking against?

They have wins against only two winning teams - the Browns and the Seahawks. The Seahawks only have a winning record because they play in the doormat division, the NFC West. The pass-happy Browns gave the Steelers everything they could handle - even with ineffective play from their quarterback.

Of the twelve games, only four opponents, the Browns, Cardinals, Seahawks, and Bengals have an offense in the top half of the league - fourth, ninth, twelfth, and seventh respectively. Of the ten total opponents, five are ranked 25th or worse in total offense. The average offensive ranking of the Steelers opponents through to this weekend's game? 18.8...in other words, the Steelers have pretty much made their reputation against losing teams with an average of the 19th ranked offenses in the league.

All three of the Steelers losses have come on the road - Cardinals (9th in offense), Broncos (19th), and Jets (24th). Their sole road win was against the Browns (now ranked fourth) in the season opener when the Browns had Charlie Frye at quarterback. They nearly dropped the rematch at Heinz Field.

The Patriots offense has already faced five of the defenses in the top half of the league, including the third ranked Colts D. New England has beaten those teams by an average of 19.2 points - including the three-point games against Indy and Philadelphia (12th overall). Overall, the average ranking of the 11 defenses faced by the Pats is 18.7, only marginally better than the 18.8 for offenses faced by Pittsburgh.

One of the big differences, however, is that of the teams Pittsburgh faced, only the Seahawks and Browns are close to locks for the playoffs. The Cardinals and Bills are fighting for wild card positioning. The Pats have cut their offensive teeth against the division leading Chargers, Colts, and Cowboys as well as wild card hopefuls Cleveland and Washington.

What does all of this mean?

Absolutely jack, if the teams don't come out and play the way they need to. However, if the rest of the season is any indication, the Steelers have had trouble coming out and playing the way they need to when on the road.

The 360

The Sparta of America.

I'd like to be able to say that I came up with that...the Sparta of America.

It is a great description. But I have to give credit where credit is due. Thank you for that one Frank Deford.

As for the number?

53 players on the Pats
25 players on the Sox (not going with the 40 man roster)
15 players on the Celtics
22 players on the Revolution
24 players on the Bruins
25 players on the Cannons (Major League Lacrosse)
99 players on Boston College Football
97 players on Harvard University Football

Of the above, only the Cannons (5-7) have been unsuccessful during the most recent season. Others might have fallen short of expectations, but this is what each of the following has done in its most recent or current season -

Patriots - Season in progress, 12-0 with a chance at an undefeated season.
Red Sox - Won the World Series for the second time in four seasons, sweeping the National League Champion Colorado Rockies.
Celtics - Season in progress. With a newly minted "Big Three," the C's are 15-2 and on a blazing 72 win pace. Paul Pierce, rejoice.
Revolution - Four the fourth time in six seasons, the New England entry to Major League Soccer ended their season in frustration on the pitch in the league's championship game.
Bruins - After a down season, the Bruins are in sixth place in the East, a respectable 14-9, and only three games behind first place Ottawa in the win column. If they keep up their current pace, they will finish 50-32 and in the playoffs.
Cannons - See above.
BC Football - The Eagles finished up a solid season with a 10-3 record, including a loss in the ACC Championship game against Virginia Tech. While knocked out of contention for the national title, they still have a chance to bring home a bowl trophy and run the 2007 record to 11-3 if they can beat Michigan on December 28.
Harvard Football - The 8-2 Crimson went 7-0 in the Ivy League and handed 9-1 Yale their only loss of the season while bringing home the IL Title.

Of the teams that have pretty much wrapped their seasons - Sox, Cannons, Revolution, Eagles and Crimson - Boston area teams have appeared in league championship games four times (out of five), and brought home two titles. Of the remaining teams playing - the Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins, all are likely to at the very least make the playoffs in their respective sports.

The combined record of these teams for the 2007, 2007-08 seasons is 176-96,with 7 ties, which translates to a .631 winning percentage...even with the Cannons losing record thrown in.

Has any other city experienced this sort of success in the athletic arena? Ever?

Say it with me Boston sports fans...

WE

ARE

SPAHTA!

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The Patriots won last night.

As a New England fan, that's pretty much the good of it.

I suppose you can throw in the following facts as well - when the chips were down, the Pats came up big while the Ravens made the mistakes that lose you games. Even when the Pats made mistakes, they turned them to an advantage - like a late penalty before the snap that negated a fourth down play that would have given the Ravens the ball back with less than a minute-and-a-half to play. Instead, it was fourth and six, and Tom Brady scrambled for a first down.

Oh...and the forced fumble by Kevin Faulk after Brady was intercepted just before the half was probably worth at least a three point swing in the final score of 27-24.

As for the bad and the ugly...well, there was a whole lot of that in this game.

This was, for Brady and the wideouts, a bad game. Brady completed less than 50 percent of his passes, including a couple of poor throws (the interception at the end of the first half and the ricochet off a Raven helmet in the red zone late in the game come to mind). The receivers dropped a number of balls that hit them on the hands - Randy Moss had at least two and tight end Ben Watson one. Of those, at least two of them would have accounted for touchdowns and an 11 point swing (Watson's unforced error in the back of the end zone turned into a field goal attempt).

Asante Samuel was bad. He was picked on, and he made few plays. The biggest play he made was for the Ravens when he misplayed a 15-yard sideline pass into a 50+ yard reception in the first half.

The refereeing was bad as well, although I would say not as bad as the Colts game. The refs left calls on the field against both teams. I will even grant that the Pats touchdown to Jabar Gaffney was borderline, but I also don't believe there was enough to merit overturning the call on the field. Of course none of this matters since Raven Bart Scott was undergoing a meltdown which would have given the Pats the ball with four fresh downs on the Raven two yard line.

As for the Ravens public claim that the officials were trying to give the game to the Patriots, they might want to re-watch the film of the bomb at the end when the official kept the flag in his pocket in spite of the fact that Derrick Mason did not play the ball. Replays clearly show that Mason threw a block on Asante Samuel, the closest defensive back to receiver Mark Clayton who came down with the ball. Not only did Mason hit Samuel, he then wrapped the corner from behind, aiding Mason in making the reception that almost won the game for the Ravens.

Yeah, refs conspiring to get the Patriots an undefeated season are going to ignore that every time, I'm sure.

As for the ugly...

The Patriots run defense was ugly through most of the game, as Willis McGahee carved up the Pats (at least until the game was on the line late in the fourth quarter). The Pats secondary was also carved up for the second week running by a career second string quarterback.

That the Ravens can't come to terms with the fact that their own mistakes killed them is ugly.

What could possibly have been the ugliest is what the Ravens allege about one of the refs calling Sumari Rolle "boy," throughout the game...were the ref white. Head linesman Phil McKinley, a black man and former player in the late sixties and early seventies (ie: the man grew up during segregation and the Civil Rights Movement). Given the background of the "name caller" I would say that Rolle and his teammates are looking for any reason to try and discredit a mediocre officiating staff just because they don't want to accept responsibility for melting down in their loss.

On a different note - the time of year has come again for the annual weight loss contest. Husband and wife teams: me and my wife, my wife's sister and her husband. Whichever pair drops a combined 40 pounds first, or whichever pair has the greatest combined weight loss by May 1 wins. I weighed 188.5 yesterday. Let the games begin.

Superman wears the number 80

A hearty welcome back to Troy Brown.

For over a decade Troy Brown has been everything for the Patriots - special teams demon, slot receiver, third-down threat, number one receiver, pro-bowl receiver, nickel corner, third string quarterback (and Kordell Stewart was nicknamed Slash?!). Today he was activated when Rosevelt Colvin was shut down for the season.

With Colvin shut down, the Patriots resigned Chad Brown and, as I previously speculated would happen, released rookie defensive lineman Kareem Brown (expect Brown to be signed to the practice squad, if possible).

Superman is back for what may be his last hurrah before going off into that sunset.

Coincidentally, Troy makes his return to a team that is already six deep at wide out with Randy Moss, Dante Stallworth, Wes Welker, Jabar Gaffney, Kelley Washington, and Chad Jackson. However, for those watching Sunday night's game, it might have been noticed that the defensive backfield was a little strapped with career special-teamer Eddie Jackson seeing significant time.

Don't be surprised if the Patriot's elder statesman goes out with six guns a blazing from the nickel or dime corner position, covering opponents' slot receivers rather than catching passes.

Welcome back Superman. Hope to see you on the field this Sunday.

The Seven Deadly Sins

Pride and Lust -

Barry Bonds was indicted on perjury charges yesterday.

Dave over at the Coffin Corner already has this pretty well covered, but I did want to cover a few things in regards to this.

According to the AP report, Bonds started taking the cream, clear, and anabolic steroids the year after the "magical" steroid induced home-run race between Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa in 1997. Pride and lust took over. It wasn't enough for Bonds to be considered among the best players in baseball. He wanted everyone to call him the best period.

He clamored, yelled, and screamed for the love of the fans and the louder he yelled, like a five year old pitching a fit, the more we looked at him as a petulant little child. He lusted for our approval, and couldn't get it outside of his home stadium.

Now he has a federal prosecutor to deal with - those with the 95 percent conviction rate. And that's after those who settle without going to court.

I've run the numbers before, and it turns out that people that beat the rap in federal court comes to somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 out of every 1000 cases. Five. This is what pride and envy has gotten Bonds.

Of course, comically, Bonds has threatened to boycott the Hall of Fame. With the way this is coming down, don't be surprised if he never gets there.

Gluttony and Greed -

Alex Rodriguez and Scott Boras rolled the dice believing that they could get $350 million over the next year from some chump. Boras called that figure a starting point for negotiations, meaning he believed that he could have gotten his client more than that. The positive spin that is put on this is that A-Rod has signed, consecutively, the two biggest contracts in the history of Major League Baseball.

However, it can't be overlooked that Boras overestimated his client's worth by a minimum of $80 million, and possibly more. That translates to $8 million per year or a total of 29 percent of the overall contract's average annual worth. That's a huge mistake.

Envy -

As the Patriots batter their way closer to an undefeated season, the 1972 Dolphins from Don Shula down through the players are handling the threat to their record with something considerably less than class and aplomb. If anything, Shula is coming off as envious of what is happening, firing preemptive strike after preemptive strike - pretty much calling the Patriots season tainted and claiming his 1972 Dolphins as the best team ever.

I find it funny that someone whose own team was fined a first round pick for tampering talks about someone else doing something outside of the rules, and then claims that his team - one that played the third weakest schedule in the history of the NFL during the Super Bowl era - was the "best ever."

I respect what the Dolphins accomplished, but let's face it, they did it against the weakest competition of any Super Bowl winner - and to start shouting "look at me, we were better," does nothing but tarnish the 'Phins' legacy.

Sloth -

Adam "Pacman" Jones applied for reinstatement to the NFL and was turned down. Part of Jones' enforced off-season during which Roger Goodell told the troubled corner that a shortening of his suspension would be based on how he handled the time he had off.

Jones, who has had to perform community service in relation to one of his many arrests, gave inner city kids in Atlanta tickets to his pay per view wrestling event in the hopes of satisfying his community service requirement. For a guy trying to show his employers that he's working to do the right thing, that's about as lazy as it gets.

Wrath -

The fans outside of New England are angry. It is frustrating to be a fan of sports in other cities, and I do not fault the fans out there for that (but at least talk intelligently about the teams - don't just sit there and yell "they suck," it belittles you and the team you root for). The Red Sox wrapped up their second World Series title in four seasons, and look like they will be the team to beat in the AL East for at least the next couple of seasons.

The Patriots are in the middle of what could be a run at history, the Celtics are off to their best start since 1972, the Revolution is on the verge of a possible championship, the Bruins look like they might be able to contend, and Boston College is looking like a lock for a bowl game in spite of recent struggles.

There have been a lot of comparisons to New York and the Yankees, but let's face it - no city, not New York, not San Francisco, not Atlanta, not Dallas, has ever played host to such a serendipitous convergence of excellence from its sports franchises.

And that seems to have pissed off the rest of fan-nation.

C'est la vie.

One last note -

Am I the only person who sees the irony in the fact that three years ago the Ravens drafted a young quarterback in the sixth round named Derek Anderson, yes, the same Derek Anderson who has led the Browns to second place in the AFC North, and had a chance, in spite of a bad game, to maneuver the team to a tie for first against the Steelers last week, while the Ravens can't find a quarterback that can do jack. How does that happen with an "offensive genius" like Brian Billick? How does someone like that so grossly underestimate the talent at the team's keystone position?

I don't know how good Anderson is going to be, but let's face it, he's better than anything the Ravens have.

D-Fence

Living in the greater Washington, DC area I am hearing a lot about how this weekend is going to be telling for the Patriots. I remember a couple of weeks ago a lot of people talked about how the Cowboys were their first real test. The Dallas D was not up to the task.

All the people saying this is going to be a tough game for the Patriots point to the Redskins 5th ranked defense as to why. Sports writer Kevin Blackistone said Washington is, "the best defense they will be facing all year."

What none of these people are doing is looking at who Washington has done this against -

Miami (0-7) - 15th in yardage (333.1 ypg), 12th in scoring (22.3 ppg)

Philadelphia (2-4) - 8th in yardage (349.3 ypg), 21st in scoring (19.3 ppg)

NY Giants (5-2) - 9th in yardage (347.7 ypg), T-6th in scoring (26.7 ppg), (beat Washington 24-17)

Detroit (4-2) - 16th in yardage (328.5 ypg), 10th in scoring (23.3. ppg)

Green Bay (5-1) - 11th in yardage (339.3 ypg), 9th in scoring (23.7 ppg) (beat Washington 17-14)

Arizona (3-4) - 12th in yardage (337.0 ypg), T-14th in scoring (21.0 ppg)

Currently the Patriots are first in both categories with 432.9 ypg and 39.9 ppg. The 'Skins haven't faced a team like this yet. They haven't face receivers, an O-line, or a quarterback playing on this level yet.

The only winning team that the 'Skins managed to beat? Detroit, whom I still don't buy as legit. The two teams that beat them still came within a score of their average ppg. The teams they have beat each have major problems - the Eagles barely have a passing game, Miami barely has wideouts and is pitiful on defense, not to mention issues at quarterback. And of course Arizona has its own images at quarterback.

The Patriots have none of those issues.

Let the games begin.

So, that's what an off game looks like...

Patriots 34, Bengals 13.

Tom Brady had his lowest completion percentage of the season at a gaudy 78.1.

Randy Moss had his lowest yardage total at 102.

The offense put up only 34 points.

For other teams these offensive numbers would increase the respective averages associated with each. On the Patriots its bringing the overall numbers down.

And, oddly, in spite of the 21-point loss, the Bengals defense did appear to slow down the Patriots a little. Of course the only time Cincy really stopped them they had 12 men on the field.

A lot can happen between now and the end of the season, and the Patriots have yet to face their toughest opposition, but could 16-0 really be within reach? Not something I would normally put out there, but with this team you have to wonder.

Some quick thoughts...

How is it the Red Sox can dismantle a solid pitcher like Mark Buehrle and then five games later make a mediocre Roger Clemens look like he's vying for the Cy Young award?

Imponderable - If Indians fans are "on the reservation," Red Sox fans are part of "Red Sox Nation," and Phillies fans are "phanatics," does that make Padres fans "pod people?"

A couple of comments on Peter King...

Peter King this week took issue with the NFL's pre-season, noting that football's exhibition season should be shortened from four weeks to three for several reasons. On ESPN radio this week he noted that the Giants suffered severe injuries in last week's game to four players that were likely to make their roster.

In general, I like Peter King - I don't always agree with him, but he tends to put a lot of thought behind his arguments. This was not one of them.

He talked about how the pre-season should be shortened to three games in order to avoid these injuries, using the Giants as an example. Of course the Giants injuries came in the third game rendering the argument...shall we say impotent?

Personally, I'm one of the few freaks that genuinely likes this time of year. I like to see the guys on the bubble, sometimes find somebody to root for to make the team. I will have my butt parked on my couch tomorrow night with the channel tuned to the NFL network to catch that last Patriots pre-season match-up with the Giants.

Also at SI.com, King listed what he felt were the top 500 players in the NFL - approximately the top 30 percent. Interesting read - 21 of the Patriots 22 starters made the list (T. Brady, Watson, Light, Welker, Moss, Stallworth, Koppen, Neal, Mankins, Maroney, Seymour, Warren, Wilfork, Vrabel, Colvin, Bruschi, A. Thomas, Hobbs, Samuel, Harrison, Wilson). Go over there for the actual rankings.

Little more than a week to kick-off. Can't wait.

Monday morning riffin'

Stupid is as stupid does. And people paid $30.00 to watch that.

The current numbers on Eric Gagne in a Red Sox uniform - seven runs in four innings over five games. Incredibly, that means that Gagne managed to lower his ERA for his time in Boston from 16.20 to 15.75 yesterday.

The Yankees certainly got hot at the right time - getting healthy against the bottom feeders over the last month, and then having games against struggling Indians and Tigers clubs. Of course it helps that the Bommahs are currently facing off against the only division in the American League against whom they have a winning record.

Approximately eight weeks ago the Yanks trailed by 14.5 games. Today that lead is four games. Sox fans can thank the Central for that as against the East (21-23), and the West (12-13) combined the Yankees are three games below .500 - the Central (23-7) on the other hand is having trouble buying wins against the Yanks who have a gaudy .767 winning percentage against the home division of the reigning AL champs.

Note to Vince Young - you're supposed to be the team leader. Team leaders don't get suspended from exhibition games.

Props to former Cardinals pitcher and current Cards outfielder Rick Ankiel - four games played since rejoining the club. During that time - 16 AB, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 6 K's and an on base percentage of .417. While it's pretty much impossible that he could keep this pace up over an entire season, right now this is how that translates over 500 at bats - 94 HR, 188 HR, 188 K's. The man's on fire right now, but will cool off. I just thought it was appropriate to recognize the tear he's on since his call-up.

A few bright things from Friday's exhibition match between the Patriots and Buccaneers after noting that the defense - starting and back-up alike - struggled against the run. Hopefully that works itself out. As a whole, really, it's a chance to get a look at the young talent and begin guessing who has a shot at making the team and who doesn't.

In extended time the following looked good -

Mike Wright appears to be continuing his progression as a reliable back-up, finishing the night with four solo tackles and a sack for a seven yard loss.

Linebackers Justin Rogers and Oscar Lua were active and combined for 11 total tackles (four and five solo tackles respectively) and one sack (Rogers).

Willie Andrews continues to progress, and late round draft pick Mike Richardson went step for step with one of Tampa's wide outs, almost making a highlight reel interception on a jump ball put up along the left sideline by Bucs back-up QB Bruce Gradkowski.

Just a guess at this point - but I would say keep an eye on Rogers, Lua, and Richardson.

Separating fact and fiction

I've been paid to write about sports.

I have been very fortunate, meeting Bela Karolyi, interviewing NFL Films president Steve Sabol, Olympians Shannon Miller, and Kate Sobrero, even talking to the Red Sox front office (that was back in 1996). One of the hardest things, I think, for a good sports journalist to do is to separate personal feelings as a fan from the truth of what is happening on the field.

As fans we can be either hyper-critical or hyper-sensitive about our teams, favorite players, or even executives associated with said team.

I try very hard, and with some difficulty, to look at my favorites with a jaundiced eye. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. In order to prove a point to those of you who took exception to my analysis of your favorite teams or players in my NFL Questions segments, I will give a breakdown on my favorite NFL franchise from top to bottom - identifying strengths, questions, and areas that could be weaknesses -

The New England Patriots -

Bill Belichick, HC - As head coach and pretty much the last man standing in personnel decisions, Belichick generally gets the benefit of the doubt due to the Super Bowls and the multiple playoff berths. It's hard to fault a HC who has been at the head of the class in the NFL since 2001.

Josh McDaniels, OC - Still has some serious development issues as an offensive coordinator, as evidenced last season in a game against (I believe either) the Chargers (or the Dolphins) where McDaniels would call an abundance of runs in the red zone, but largely abandoned the run between the 20's in spite of the fact that the Patriots showed no ability to get the passing game working during the contest. During this game, McDaniels showed no ability to adjust to what was either working for the Patriots, or not working for their opponent. This is an area that needs attention.

Dean Peas, DC - Not much to complain about on the defensive side of the ball when your team allows fewer than 15 points per game (14.8).

All positions will list the players I believe are likely to make the team for both offense and defense.

Offense (up to 26)-

Quarterbacks (3) - Brady, Cassell, Testaverde

• Last season Brady was erratic, although you wouldn't be able to tell based on numbers. His completions and yards were not outside of normal. However, watching the games, Brady often threw short of his receivers and his completion percentage was helped by receivers coming back on underthrown balls. A lot was made about the fact that Brady was getting used to a new wide-receiver corp. If that is true, then why should he struggle any less this season when the projected top three wideouts on the team will be three brand new receivers?
• Cassell will be listed as second on the depth chart and is still a largely unknown commodity.
• Testaverde will primarily be a clipboard holder and a sounding board for the younger quarterbacks. If Testaverde is in a game, the Pats are likely already running away with the contest and Belichick is just trying to get him one more TD pass for the consecutive season record. Either that, or something catastrophic has happened to the two who are ahead of him on the depth chart.

O-Line (9?) - Light, Mankins, Kopen, Neal, Kazcur, O'Callahan, Mruczkowski, Elgin, Hochstein

• While the strength of this line lies in the middle with Kopen, Mankins, and Neal - Matt Light had a strong season last year - particularly against some of the speed rushers that he has traditionally struggled against, shutting down the likes of Dwight Freeney, but continued to struggle against his nemesis Jason Taylor. During the contest with the Dolphins, Miami moved Taylor around and he ate up the Patriots right-tackle-by-committee. The Patriots need one of the right tackles to step up and take the job. Right now tackle is the most likely point of attack for an opposing defense.

Receivers (6?) - Moss, Stallworth, Welker, Gaffney, Washington, Brown, (Jackson - IR)

• On paper they look great. In reality - two burners (Moss, Stallworth) who have had trouble staying on the field, both due to hamstring issues, a reasonably well regarded slot receiver (Welker), a Texans bust (Gaffney), a speedster whose routes are raw even after several seasons in Cincy's receiver land (Washington), and a slot receiver who has lost a step (Brown). This group, to my thinking, is a total crap-shoot. If Moss and Stallworth can stay on the field this can be the strength of the team - Gaffney coming off the bench represents better value than having him as a starter. I gave Washington the nod over Caldwell only because he has special teams value - but I would not rule out Caldwell over Washington just because of the year in the Pats system. Brown will continue to have value to the team as a special teamer and a reserve corner.

Tight ends (4?) - Watson, K. Brady, Thomas, Kranchick(?)

• With a fondness for creating mismatches with a big receiving tight end, Belichick will try to get the ball to Watson a lot. Unfortunately, unless he has worked on his hands, Watson was prone to drops and fumbles, many of which hurt the team on the scoreboard last season. If he has corrected that problem, then Watson becomes a strength - if he hasn't, then he is a definite problem. Brady is considered one of the best blocking tight ends in the game, and that's what he will be expected to do. Thomas showed signs of being a factor in the passing game last season and could develop into a legitimate weapon.

Running backs (4)- Maroney, Evans, Faulk, Morris

• Evans and Faulk are known quantities, their jobs defined. Maroney needs to prove he can stay healthy carrying the load as the primary back after getting banged up while sharing it last year. Morris will likely be used as a change of pace from Maroney.

Defense (up to 25) -

Line (6?) - Seymour, Wilfork, Warren, Green, Wright, K. Brown

• The strength of the defense, these guys take the punishment in order to allow the linebackers to make plays. The team can survive injuries to any one of their top three linemen, but there is a much more noticeable drop-off if two go down. Health is imperative here, as is the continued development of back-up Mike Wright.

Linebackers (10?) - Bruschi, Vrabel, Thomas, Colvin, Seau, Izzo, Alexander, Woods, Mays, Lua

• A lot is being made of the age and the possibility that some of these guys may have lost a step. The bigger concern is health. Vrabel and Bruschi played less effectively last season due to being banged up, and Seau was lost for the season after a horrific broken arm. That was three of last season's top four 'backers. The Patriots need some of the younger linebackers to develop at a quicker pace in order to give the older guys breathers and minimize their chances for catastrophic injury.

Corners (4) - Hobbs, Gay, James, Andrews

• For whatever reason, injuries have killed this position for the Patriots in recent years. With Samuel holding out, Hobbs jumps to the top of the depth chart and Gay gets the chance to prove he can stay healthy. Tory James, a long time starter provides depth as does wide-receiver Brown. Andrews makes the team primarily for his special teams contributions. Safeties Hawkins, Wilson, and Merriweather also have experience on the corner. Still, this is an area where the Patriots have the potential to be exploited.

Safeties (5?) - Harrison, Wilson, Sanders, Merriweather, Hawkins

• Like corner, this has been a position hit by injury over the last couple of seasons. They are a better defensive team with Harrison on the field than without. As such, it might be worth limiting his workload to passing downs in order to try and keep him on the field. However, his injuries have allowed Sanders to develop, and Hawkins is better at safety than expected. Merriweather is still a largely unknown commodity that was drafted to eventually be Harrison's replacement.

Special teams (3)

Punter (1) - Miller

• When uninjured, Miller is an excellent directional punter with the now rare ability to coffin-corner his punts. If he is not completely recovered from last season's shoulder issues, look for the Pats to go in a different direction.

Kicker (1) - Gostkowski

• After a strong rookie campaign, Gostkowski needs to avoid a sophomore slump. If he struggles, the Pats faithful will give him an earful.

Long snapper (1) - Paxton

• Solid, gets the job done and gets down the field quickly on punts.

Gunners - Andrews, Washington

• Washington performed this roll in Cincy and Andrews acquitted himself nicely in this role in Foxboro last year.

Thanks Don Pardo, now tell us what he won....

Asante Samuel - a chance to put his lack of money where his mouth is. Yesterday was Samuel's final chance to come to a long-term deal with the Patriots. Failure to do so means that Samuel and the Patriots cannot come to a long-term deal until after the 2007 season.

The sticking point - Samuel wanted Nate Clements San Fran money through the first three years of the deal. The Patriots offered, based on the contracts of Dre Bly and Nathan Vasher, fair market value for a corner of Samuel's career numbers.

To put it in a nutshell - Samuel wanted the Patriots to do something idiotic, the Patriots said no.

Now we get to see if Samuel will really hold out and lose a fair chunk of $7.79 million, or if he will make the business savvy decision and get his butt into camp and play out the season (keeping in mind that last year has been the only year that Samuel remained healthy through a full season - likely another of the Patriots' sticking points).

Kason Gabbard - Three wins in three decisions and five starts (four in place of the injured Curt Schilling) and a chance for a longer look from the big league club for the Red Sox rookie. Gabbard is currently 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA and averaging just under six innings per start. Opponents are batting an anemic .206 against him right now.

The man whose seat Gabbard is keeping warm - 4.20 ERA and batters are hitting at a .288 clip through 15 starts.

Baltimore/Washington Eagles - Higher expectations. Winners of Division II at the Nationals in Las Vegas last year, the Australian football club has started off 3-0 with two wins against the North Carolina Tigers and the Boston Demons, both Division I teams last year. The hot start has seen the Eagles rising in the polls to number five.

With a match looming at the end of August, when the team comes off its summer break, against Eastern powerhouse and the third ranked New York Magpies, the Eagles have their work cut out for them.

L.A. Galaxy - A lingering ankle injury. Giving the term "Bend it like Beckham" a different meaning, the British soccer star's injured ankle is likely to delay the premier of the $250 million man. Not exactly the auspicious start that American soccer fans had hoped for.

Back off, man

According to a report that hit the Boston papers this weekend, sources close to Asante Samuel say the corner-back is unlikely to go through with his threat to sit out the season.

I think this is called, in the parlance, "blinking first."

According to this source, it has "occurred" to Samuel, that he would be better able to showcase his abilities over the course of a full season...and would be more likely to avoid a catastrophic injury by being in "game shape." This reasoning all seems quite familiar to me.

Of course, this also means that, with this source close to him going public, his source has destroyed any of what little negotiating leverage Samuel may have had with a hold-out - which I still think was none at all.

Hubris and David McDade -

Anyone who reads my blog knows I have been posting here about the travesty that is the Genarlow Wilson case in Georgia - the then 17-year old convicted of child-molestation and serving ten-years for receiving a blow-job, freely given, from a then 15-year old at a party. Recently an appeals judge ruled that the punishment didn't fit the...crime, for lack of a better word (and I refuse to call our society setting an arbitrary age at which a person can legally consent to sex a crime).

The judge, in essence, changed the ruling to a misdemeanor and granted Wilson time served. For more details, see my other posts on Wilson - there are several.

Douglas County District Attorney David McDade, the DA who originally prosecuted Wilson, has appealed the ruling. Until the appeal is hear and ruled upon, Wilson will continue to languish in jail.

McDade is making no friends with Georgia law-makers according to a recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His philosophy seems to be all or nothing, and that the law should have no gray area. It might just be me - but it strikes me that that philosophy is about to bite him on the ass based on the following passages from the AJC:

Douglas County District Attorney David McDade violated federal law when he distributed a videotape from a rape and child molestation case to legislators and journalists, the U.S. Attorney in Atlanta said Wednesday.

U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said in a statement that federal law prohibits the distribution of the Genarlow Wilson videotape because it depicts minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He warned that people who had received it would be in violation of federal child pornography laws

Federal law prohibits the distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography in most circumstances, Nahmias said...

McDade told the Associated Press that he was required to release the tape under the state's Open Records Act because it was introduced as evidence at the trial.

Nahmias, though, said federal law trumps any contrary requirement of the open records law.

Nahmias said that his office issued the statement to end further distribution of the videotape and advised those who possessed it to destroy or return it. His office, under federal policy, would neither confirm nor deny whether it was investigating the distribution.

State Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur) has called for an investigation to determine whether McDade violated federal law in distributing the videotape in response to requests under the open records law.

On Tuesday, Jones characterized the videotape as child pornography and called it "an absolute, utter disgrace" that a videotape of the raunchy party in a Douglasville hotel room that led to the conviction of Wilson on aggravated child molestation charges has been given to reporters and legislators.

Now, it might just be me, but - if you're a lawyer, isn't it just common sense that you wouldn't be able to distribute any sort of visual recording of teenagers having sex? No matter what the public access laws are? I mean, even I knew this dude was in trouble when I heard that the tape had been distributed based on public requests. Also, does it sound like the legislator wants to put the screws to McDade, the way McDade has been to Wilson? This isn't just an investigation. He's calling for the DA to be investigated for distribution of child pornography.

As the DA has supplied tapes to news outlets outside of Georgia, we're talking federal investigation and a sentence of at least 21 months, possibly longer, from the federal statutes that I have found. Once again, maybe it's me, but it seems to me that the legislator, in his own subtle way, is telling McDade to back-off.

In honor of Friday the 13th - 13 Thoughts...

1. Halfway house - The Yankees won last night to get to .500 with a 43-43 record. Right now, at ten games behind the Red Sox, they are halfway between first place and last. The Devil Rays are 20 games back.

With 76 games left the Yankees would have to go 47-29 just to get to 90 wins and 52-24 to get to the commonly acknowledged number of 95 for a legit shot at the post-season. That's a .618 winning percentage from now until the end of the season.

To put it a different way - on a team where the starting pitching has accounted for 30 of the team's 43 wins and 30 of the team's losses, the Yankees need their starting pitching to come up with quality starts in three out of every five starts, bare minimum, and enough offense to win those starts. Is there anyone who doesn't have pinstripes seared into their minds that believes the Yankees can do this?

2. Smells like...desperation - The Yankees gave Alex Rodriguez an ultimatum...promise not to opt out of your contract and we'll work out an extension with you. If you don't, we won't be part of the off-season A-Rod sweepstakes. Yeah, I wouldn't have accepted that either.

In essence, the Yankees have told one of the few bright spots in their otherwise moribund season to give up all negotiating leverage. The bottom line is that the Yankees were willing to pay more while Texas was picking up part of the tab and they're not so sure they want to spend gobs o cash on their third baseman.

Unfortunately, they're over a barrel. They have no one in the minors, and right now their other option would be to overpay for Mike Lowell if the Sox don't extend him. Who else will be on the market this winter that the Yanks would be interested in?

3. Fed up - I have been cycling since I was in high school. When I say cycling, I'm talking water bottles, Trek, Cannondale, Biancchi, spandex, and the Tour De France.

I have even followed le Tour with more than a passing interest in a number of years, but this year there's a bad taste in my mouth. That bad taste has to do with the Tour, and the last three American winners which make up, in toto, half the winners of the last 20 Tours - Greg LeMond (2 X's, three if you go back 21 years), Lance Armstrong (7 X's), Floyd Landis (once).

LeMond, who to this day, had one of the greatest single days in the history of sports when he came from almost two minutes down in the final time-trial in 1986 to beat Laurent Fignon of France seems to have his own agenda. Armstrong and Landis have both faced doping allegations - Armstrong from teammates that had nothing to gain by outing him, and Landis with a failed test during last year's Tour.

All might be guilty of something, and it's possible that none are guilty of anything. Let's face it, if the Tour really wanted to clean up the sport, they wouldn't rely on an incompetent lab, and they certainly wouldn't let the rag of a newspaper, L'Equipe, have access to "anonymous" test samples in order to discredit riders. And all this is just a tip of the disorganized iceberg that is the mess the Tour has going, and it makes it hard to take anything that the Tour officials claim as being the truth since the newspaper appears to have an agenda - and treating the riders fairly does not seem to be part of that agenda.

4. Depth Charges - Listening to ESPN Radio's Sports Bash on the way home yesterday, the host made an interesting...and accurate point about the Red Sox this year. Last year the team had a better record and the team had "better balance."

It's hard to argue that the line-up was better last year - Nixon was better last year than Drew has been this year, shortstop has been a down-grade, and both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz have been scuffling at the plate. However, Varitek is having a better season, as is Youkilis, Mike Lowell, and even Coco Crisp, not to mention Pedroia has been an upgrade at second.

The real key, however, has been that last season the team didn't weather injuries to the pitching particularly well, and other than Jonathan Papelbon, had a pretty mediocre bullpen. This season Okajima and DelCarmen have been spectacular on a Papelbon-like level, and others like Kyle Snyder and Brendan Donnelly have been solid. To top it off, the Sox have starters ready for the Pawtucket to Boston express a-la Kasson Gabbard for whenever the Curt Schillings of the world are done.

It's unlikely that the Sox will experience a late-season skid like last year when inning-eater Tim Wakefield went down with a rib injury.

5. The Boomer and Moss- David Wells recent suspension getting him in the news reminded me of what I thought when the Sox signed him. I realized that when I heard the Patriots had traded for Moss, that I emotionally had the same reaction...I really hate this guy, did my team really need him that badly?

6. Just a couple of weeks - While I am a Red Sox lifer, I have to admit, I am first and foremost a football fan. I was that guy watching NFL Europa. I am happy to remind everyone - pads get strapped on for two-a-days in just about two weeks.

7. Predictions - I don't generally like to do preseason predictions, except for in the NFL. However, I did some for bitterfans.com and predicted that the Brewers would finish in first in the NL Central. While they have struggled of late, the team still holds a 4.5 game lead in the division after the All-Star break, and has a legitimate shot of winning what's a fairly weak division.

In all honesty, the Brew-crew was my dark-horse pick. I'm just as surprised as anybody else.

8. Of human Bond-age - Will some pitcher just bean this man already? Nobody outside of San Francisco or ESPN's Connecticut campus wants to see the non-stop Bonds coverage by ESPN.

And on that note, ESPN and their on-air personalities should be ashamed for taking Hank Aaron to task over his choice to not attend the grotesque charade that is Bonds' pursuit of Aaron's record. If anyone has earned the right to do something for his own reasons, it's Aaron, and who the Hell are we to question him? For that matter - why should Bud Selig be present? If the man thinks Bonds cheated, isn't that then just sending the message that he continues to condone the cheating in the sport.

Maybe it is a little disingenuous of him to turn his back on Bonds after years of turning a blind eye to the problem, but wouldn't it be worse if after committing to cleaning up the game he did something that could be construed as condoning one of the league's biggest cheaters?

9. Meet me in St. Louis - I've seen championship teams take a dive following their championship season, and heard all the questions that accompanied the fall, but this one is amusing to me. People are talking like St. Louis has had the precipitous fall from last year, but this team went 83-78 - the third worst record in the history of the sport for a play-off team.

What we had was a team that got hot for the post-season. Think long and hard about the fact that they got quality starts out of Jeff "Let's Throw Some Batting Practice Every Fifth Day" Weaver in the post-season, and then tell me whether or not they were the best team, or just the best at the right time.

This right now is no surprise to me.

10. Hey baby, what's your sign - Can anyone out there tell me what's going on with ESPN and the sexual harassment suits? Anyone?

Who wants to place bets on how long it will be before Isaiah Thomas works there?

11. 20,000 Leagues under the Seahawks - Anyone out there know what the over-under is that Vegas is putting on the two new professional football leagues that are supposed to start up over the next couple of years? With the United Football League already attracting investors such as Mark Cuban, and the fact that they are looking to play ball in the Fall, my money is on the UFL to be the one to show any sort of longevity.

You know...get into the second half.

12. Tennis anyone - Wimbledon has come and gone and the most I saw were some highlights of matches featuring the Williams sisters, Maria Sharapova, and Daniella Hantuchova. All told, I watched less than ten minutes of tennis.

Growing up I used to watch Wimbledon and Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Chris Everett and Martina Navratilova. I even watched when it was Michael Chang, Ivan Lendl, and Boris Becker.

It occurred to me that I couldn't name a single men's player on the current tour without some sort of hint. Yup, I'm one of pro tennis' lost viewers. Oh well.

13. Better for some sports - Throughout the years, Hollywood has often looked to sports to provide storylines. There have been so many sports movies that they are sometimes considered their own genre. I have addressed the movies before, but what I have never asked here is why some sports seem to generate better movies than others?

For example, cycling has produced the classic Breaking Away and the well received Flying Scotsman, but it has also given us American Flyers and little else. Football has given us Remember the Titans, North Dallas 40, and the original Longest Yard but it has also given us Necessary Roughness and Little Giants.

I put it to you, my readers - other than baseball (Field of Dreams, The Natural, The Bad News Bears, Bull Durham, A Soldier's Story, Bang the Drum Slowly, Major League, Eight Men Out, Fear Strikes Out, and Cobb off the top of my head), can anyone come up with a top ten of movies for any given sport? Football? Basketball? Hockey?

Or at least explain to me why sports like basketball end up with more films like Juwanna Mann and Air Bud, than like Hoosiers?