I think they plan it this way...

I think some of the professional sports teams in New England plan it this way.

I mean, c'mon...the Red Sox are down 3-1 in the ALCS, they've just lost 2 games AT FENWAY, to the Rays. This game has Dice-K being benched after giving up multiple runs. And they still squeak out a wak-off-win, 8-7.

I think they do this just to keep us fans still caught up in the Playoffs. What other explanation could there be???

Even if the Red Sox go no further in the Playoffs...this was the game of their year. It really was. Because now we face 2 games IN Tampa Bay, to win our way to the World Series again. I guess we shall see...

It's been awhile!

Whoa! It's been over 2 weeks since my lazy ass has posted something new! I apologize for that, for the 2 of you who read this blog (I think I have 2 readers now! Yay me!).

Let's talk Patriots. After Brady went down, and some marble-rolling around in my brain, I still called for the Patriots to go 11-5. That would put them winning all the games they "should" win, and allowed for winning and losing one each that would leave people saying, "Huh???". The Dolphins probably would have beat the Brady-Pats, if the Defense still allowed them to use that play against us over and over again. I picked us winning that one, and we lost. So there's the one "gimme" that we lost. The game against the Chargers was the 1 game that we were supposed to lose, that I thought would be our "Huh???" game...especially in the way the Chargers had been playing the last few weeks! But they proved me wrong. However! That still statistically lines up an 11-5 season.

But...I digress. Even being a tried-and-true Pat's fan...I don't see it happening. Offense and Defense plays spotty. Cassell, who I still hold on to a string of hope to be a good QB, is not producing. He's holding the ball too long. But is that all is fault? If, A: He has no open receiver to throw it to, or B: He's getting rushed by the Defense within a second of the ball being snapped, what is he to do??? OK, sure...Brady will stay in the pocket until 1 millisecond of him being steamrolled by 900 pounds of Defensive Linemen...but if he doesn't have the time, and his receivers can't get open...the same results happen. Is this Cassell's fault? Or is this the Offensive Line's fault???

Last year's Superbowl proved, once and for all, that if you rush Brady, then he's not the same Superstar as he is if you try to triple-team Moss. So every team is coming full-bore at our QB this year. And the O-Line isn't stopping them. At all. I, like everyone, can't wait to see Brady be back to full health, and leading this team. But I still don't think that Cassell is the "little backup that thought he could". I think he can. Given the right situation.

The Pat's Defense sucked, too. How many times did Phil Rivers throw down the field? We know their running game is in a state of uncertainty...yet it seems that we were all for defending the run. So Rivers threw the ball all day long.

Oh well...game is done, the Bronco's are next. This is one of the games that I had called for the Patriot's to win. I honestly think that this is the game that decides the fate of the 2008 season for the Patriots. Monday Night Football. You still have a winning record. You're going against a 4-2 team (that hasn't yet had their Bye). And, as I just read, you may be going into this game without 2 of your starting Offensive Linemen, Matt Light and Nick Kaczur. If Cassell thought that he had to scramble last week, just wait 'til this week!

I've officially called of trying to call a season-record for the Patriots. A good friend, and devoted NFL, and also Patriots, fan, has told me 9-7. I'm witholding predictions until after this weekend's game against the Bronco's. I need more info...ie: I need to see how they do this weekend to make sure last week wasn't just a "fluke".

No matter what...I'm still a Pat's fan.

And as much as I hate to admit it...when I drafted my 2 Fantasy Football teams, I didn't draft any Patriots players. Both by draft pick selection, and whatever else I called it...I just didn't. I'm not totally feeling the pain from THOSE decisions, although I'm feeling the pain of a number of my OTHER choices...ie: Joseph Addai, Willie Parker, Brian Westbrook (who's on-again and off-again), and T.O. (who's been mostly off-again this year). Oh well. Such is life. I still have a 5-1 record thus far!

The Winner of Week 4 of the 2008 NFL Season

Bret Favre threw 6 TD passes. The Redskins beat the unbeaten Cowboys. The Bills lead the AFC East, undefeated, for the first time in like 700 billion years (or is that how much money I have to pay to bail out the economy???). One of the Ohio NFL teams has finally scored a Win. The Patriots didn't lose (jump on the Bandwagon, HATERS! I stand by my predictions. After the embarrasing THRASHING that the Patriots received by the Miami Browns...er...oh, wait, that was Ronnie Brown. I meant, Miami Dolphins...do you not think that the SF 49ers shouldn't consider themselves Bill Belicheck's personal Red-Headed-Step-Child???).

The real, true, and only winner in Week 4 is Matt Bryant, the Placekicker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Really??? Did he kick a 76 yard Field Goal? Did he place a Kickoff in the parking lot? Did his coach decide to try using him as a Wide Receiver, and he score 27 Touchdowns? No. None of that happened. Here's what happened:

This past Wednesday morning, Matt and his family woke up to find his 3-month old, Matthew Tryson Bryant, dead in his crib. Autopsy Reports are FOO FOO. It doesn't matter what the cause. This family found their infant dead. There will be a million questions going through their minds, about whether they put him in the crib in the right position, did they make sure he couldn't roll over, did they burp him correctly after his last bottle? I can't even imagine. And don't want to imagine.

Matt Bryant buried his son on Saturday, and then played in Sunday's game. Should he have played? I have read a number of Sports Writers that think it was ok that he did, and a number that think he shouldn't have. Who are any of us to judge any one else for the way they deal with this type of loss?

People deal with death in many different ways. There's no right or wrong way. People deal with death in THEIR OWN way. Matt Bryant chose to be surrounded by his family. Both on and off the field, his "family" was all with him, supporting him.

I declare Matt Bryant as my Winner of Week 4 of the 2008 NFL Season. For all the reasons previously stated.

Oh, yeah, by the way...a fact that really means very little...he kicked 3 PAT's and 3 Field Goals, including the game-winning Field Goal.

The following is an article written by Roy Johnson of Yahoo Sports Blogs:

A kicker's mind is supposed to be clear.

They live by rituals – preparing exactly the same way before each kick. They often stand at the same place on the sidelines; ask that the holder places the ball just so; take the same number of steps backwards to get into place, then – only when they're ready – will the action begin.

Then the kicker thinks about nothing except swinging his leg.

No one yet knows what was on Matt Bryant's mind today. But every parent can imagine what burden was laying upon his heart.

On Wednesday, Bryant, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' placekicker for the last four seasons, and his family awoke to discover 3-month-old Tryson Bryant dead in his crib. As of now, there has been no announcement as to a cause.

Matthew was the youngest of Matt (shown with Melissa and son Tre prior to Sunday's game) and Melissa's two sons. His funeral was Saturday.

And yet there was Matt, trying to keep a clear mind, trying to adhere to his rituals on Sunday at Tampa Bay's Raymond James Stadium against Green Bay.

Going into the game, Bryant was one of the game's most accurate kickers. He'd not missed a field or or PAT in five and eight tries, respectively. He remained perfect Sunday, hitting three PATs and field goals of 23, 36 and the game-winner from 24 yards during a 31-20 victory.

There may be some who criticize Matt for playing on Sunday. I am not among them. Nor do I think any parent would be.

They can only imagine his pain. And they never want to imagine his grief.

Grief requires peace. Grief requires finding a place where one can make sense of the senseless.

Grief requires finding a place in the mind that can be clear while the heart tries to mind.

Everyone has a different place. For some, it's a place of solitude. For others, it may be a place that holds 65,857 people.

Matt Bryant's place of peace and clarity was where it always is – on the football field.

A place where every parent's prayers were with him.

And, here's another gut-wrenching article about Matt Bryant. It's as special as any:

Matt Bryant hits game-winner amidst tragedy

By Chris Chase

One day after burying his three-month old son, Matt Bryant kicked the game-winning field goal for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After the kick sailed through, giving the Bucs a 23-21 lead over Green Bay, Bryant blew a kiss skyward with tears in his eyes. Holder Josh Bidwell embraced Bryant in a bear hug after the kick, and the rest of Bryant's Buc teammates joined in a subdued celebration too.

Bryant's son, Tryson, unexpectedly died Wednesday morning. Jon Gruden told the press that afternoon that Tryson "just didn't wake up."

Watching Bryant attempt the kick today was a truly gut-wrenching scene. I was watching the game with three friends, none of whom could care less about the outcome of the Bucs/Packers tilt, but we all celebrated when Bryant hit the kick.

That Bryant was even playing today is amazing. The NFL has no roster exemptions for bereavement, meaning that if Bryant didn't play, the Bucs would have had to have cut another play in order to sign a replacement. It's a terrible rule, especially considering that teams can make roster exemptions for suspended players. Hopefully, Bryant's tragedy will force the NFL to reconsider.

Dolphins 38, Patriots 13

OK all you Haters...let's hear it. OK all you Bandwagoners...hop off. Do what you need to do. I'm not worried.

I still stand by my predication of the Patriots going 11-5 this season. Built into my prediction was a loss that nobody could imagine. I'm picking today as that loss. I had picked last week as a loss to the Jets, and they won. So maybe it's a wash. Maybe it's coincidence. Maybe I'm 0-2 in my predictions of the Cassel-led Patriots so far, so you should tell me I have no idea what I'm talking about and stop reading my Blog (I hope you both don't stop reading!).

And don't you dare blame this loss only on Cassel (bring it on, Haters!)

I'm not worried. In October of last year, a flurry of articles came out about the Media entering the Patriots locker room at Gillette Stadium to find all of the players wearing gray t-shirts, and they all said the same thing on them. On the front, it said, "I eat it". On the back, it said, "Humble Pie".

I'm hoping those t-shirts are still hanging around. Because today the Patriots ate a huge slice of Humble Pie. A la Mode. Or should I say, "A la Brown". After Ronnie Brown THREW for a Touchdown pass, I sent a txt message to my good friend Greg, who was at his home watching the game, and my txt said, "Hey...when does the bus carrying the Patriot's Defense arrive at Gillette? They're running late." WTFO??? How many more times did Pennington have to line up as a Wide Receiver (isn't he usually a Wide Passer?), and the Dolphins direct-snap to Ronnie Brown, for the Patriots Defense to pick up on it??? I'm more worried about the Patriots Defense than I am about Matt Cassel. They played like shit. Like dog shit. Did they prepare like Pennington was going to throw the ball all night and forgot about Williams and Brown?

But wait! With me...sitting on my couch...Sunday-Late-Night-Quarterbacking...did you think that I was NOT going to comment on the Patriots Offensive Line??? How many times was Cassel sacked? Knocked down? Hurried? I don't care what you say...but that has very little to do with the Quarterback! That's all to do with the guys that protect him. The Patriots O-Line has always been heralded (up until last years SuperBowl). So where are they? If anyone thought that the Defense had to step up now that Cassel was calling the shots...did they not think that the Offensive Line had to step up as well? Where's all the Pro-Bowler Offensive Linemen? If the QB, no matter who he is, doesn't have time to grab the ball before he has loudmouth Joey Porter grabbing his shirt, then how can he perform?

Remember last year, when one sports-writer wrote: "Brady has enough time in the pocket to txt on his Blackberry to his WR's who he's going to throw to". You know what? You did that for Brady...but Brady's being massaged by Giselle. Now it's time to step up, and do that for Cassel! If the O-Line would step up and give Cassel the same amount of time...he'd be throwing bombs to Randy Moss all day long.

I'm not worried. But I'll leave you with this question:

Given the way that in these 3 games, the Offensive Line and Defensive Line have played... how well would Brady be doing?

RIP: George Shields

My wife's Uncle, George Shields, died suddenly the other day. He had been playing golf, one of his favorite past-times. No one can argue that dying, while doing what you love to do, is a bad way to go.

George was an incredible guy. He always had a smile on his face, he provided for his family, he loved to cook, go fishing, hang with his family, and enjoyed an occasional drink or two. He had recently bought a new cottage in Maine, to be used mostly for fishing.

George left us very quickly...not expected by anyone. He is someone who will be sorely missed by so many. RIP, George. We'll fish together again some day. I promise. I hope.

Patriots 19, Jets 10

OK...so I'm fine with calling this as a Patriot's LOSS. I'm still on track to call that Patriots season as 11-5. This just leaves me with a little "wiggle room" for them to lose a game that I thought they'd win. But who knows? Maybe, given their schedule and Cassell's improved confidence...they could finish better? But I'll stick by 11-5. Today's game against the Jets, however, just even more locks the Patriots into winning the AFC East, even though the Bills are now 2-0.

Cassell played well. Not incredible, but he played well. He threw a lot of short passes (playing right into Wes Welker's motif), and a couple of long balls (Hey, Moss, can you hold onto the ones that you catch???). They ran the ball alot...but then again, that's what everyone expected them to do now. Run the ball, because Brady's not behind Center. And HELLO Lamont Jordan! It's almost like he was brought here for a reason? Cassell is working towards proving that he's an acceptable Replacement to Brady. Like he said, "I'm not Tom Brady, I'm Matt Cassell". And I think this week, he started proving that. It won't be overnight. There's 3 types of fans when it comes to the Patriots. There's those of us who are true fans. We're here, every year, good or bad. Then there's the "Fair-Weathered Fans"...who most likely live in Western MA, Southern CT, or VT...and can "legally" claim their allegiance to either the Giants or Jets, depending on how the Patriots are performing (are they really worthy of true Patriots fans???). Then there's the PATRIOTS's HATERS. You can hate the Patriots for a number of reasons. I'll list these reasons in no particular order:

1. Bill Bellicheck was caught stealing signals from the NY Jets. OK...so he was caught doing something that a lot of teams did. But, even if no one else did this...can you not see the irony about Eric Mangini being the one blowing the whistle on this??? Is he, on his own, such a fucking BRAIN-CHILD, that he figured this out all on his own??? NO! He had worked under Billicheck for years...and, oh, yeah, accepted what was done. Of course, when he became head coach somewhere else, he needed to get an edge. So he blew the whistle. How's his team done since then compared to how that Patriots have done?

2. Because the Patriot's Haters, who jumped on the "Hey, Bellicheck cheated and got caught, so we MUST hate every aspect of the Patriot's team" bandwagon, actually CHEERED when Brady went down with a season-ending injury??? Well, my response is: You should all be FUCKING ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!!! Who woul actually be HAPPY to see another human being hurt, and unable to perform their job?

I'm a Patriot's fan...tried and true. But if the Jet's QB (currently Brett Favre), was slammed, legally, and suffered a season-ending injury, I would not be CHEERING it!

The only solice I find is that...when all is said and done...I don't think that the Patriots will suffer such a humiliating season as most of you HATERS would wish for. Such is life.

Patriot's THIS SEASON!

OK...so so much has changed since my last posting!

Yes, as everyone in the world knows, Tom Brady is out for the season with a left knee injury (not even Bellicheck will say exactly what is wrong, and what surgery he is having. Is that a shock?). Matt Cassell, the less-than-stellar backup, the "Professional Backup", if you will, is now driving this ship. Yup, the same Cassell that pretty much sucked in the Pre-Season.

I'm still not "too" worried. About the Patriots. Want to know why? I'm standing by what I've always said about Matt Cassell since he joined the Patriots: I think, given the chance for him to play, he would be a very good QB. Well, now it's time to put my $ where my mouth is, because he's got his chance. Some would say that this is Cassell's chance to prove to the Patriots that he is a worthy backup. I don't agree. I say that this is Cassell's "Season-Long Job Interview". Think of it...the Patriots drafted a QB this year. Guttierez is back on the team since Brady's injury. Let's say Cassell went on to win the Super-Bowl. Do you think that Tom Brady would then, next season, have to COMPETE with Cassell for his job back? We're not talking about Drew Bledsoe here! So...I say that this is Cassell's chance to land himself a permanent Starting Quarterback position for another team next year. If he can pull off a good season this year, then he'll have an almost guaranteed Starting position somewhere next year.

The Patriots Defense needs to, in the next few weeks, keep teams from scoring a lot of points against them. Cassell needs some consistent practice and game time, to get into a rhythm. And I think he's hungry. I think he's been sitting on the sideline, "holding the clipboard", for far too many years. He hasn't gotten lazy. He's gotten HUNGRY! This is his chance. To shine. To prove to everyone that he's for real. And I honestly don't think he will dissapoint. I truly don't.

So, I am here...in front of you now...or whenever the 3 of you read this...and I am ready to make my statement about the 2008 future of the New England Patriots...

I say they end the Regular Season with a record of 11-5. They'll make it to the Playoffs, they'll win the AFC-East. Even while Brady is having surgery, recovering, having Giselle play nurse, and working out his knee back into MVP shape...I think the Patriots, as a TEAM, will move forward.

Here's how I see the rest of the season panning out...and again...this is just MY very "Jaded Diatribe":

Week 2: Loss to the Jets (Who do you think is under more pressure to win this game? Matt Cassell or Eric Mangini? The Patriots have owned the Mangini-Jets (along with just about everyone else recently), but this is the one game that he faces the Patriots, WITHOUT Tom Brady! This is Do-Or-Die for Mangini.) But I think the Jets win this game. I'm not sure Cassell is up for the task just yet. I think it will be close, but I put the Jets as winning.

Week 3: Win over Miami. Chad Pennington, you're good for the Dolphins. The Dolphins just aren't good for you.

Week 4: BYE WEEK! Was that bad luck? It looks like it wasn't. That should give Cassell 2 wins and 1 loss, and a week's respite. To practice and drink even more of the Bellicheck Kool-Aid.

Week 5: I put the Pat's still beating the 49'ers.

Week 6: I'm torn between seeing the Pat's, led by Cassell, ready to beat the Chargers, and them pulling a major upset. I think the Chargers will win, but it's almost the 5th full game that Cassell has led the Pat's, and by now he should be in his groove. I think the Pat's Defense can somewhat control LT(who currently has a bum toe) and Phillip Rivers, but they'll still score points. And I'm not sure that Cassell will fully be in his rhythm just yet. So I say the Chargers win this. For Now.

Week 7: Denver. I'm torn again. But I'm going to simply say that the Broncos win. I think that this game is a turning point for Cassell. Win or lose, he'll have almost 6 games as Starter under his belt. I'm giving this one to Denver. For now.

Week 8: I think the Rams could become Cassell's "Red-Headed Step-Child", especially if the Patriots lose to both the Chargers and the Bronco's. He's for real now, and he's hungry.

Week 9: He's hungry, but he needs some motivation, and to be humbled. And by week 9, Peyton Manning should be in full stride. The Colts take this one, but losing 3 out of 4, should be even more motivation to Matty Boy, and he'll damn-sure be ready for his next 3 weeks.

Week 10: Buffalo's getting better. And by week 10, they could be ready to go all the way. But I don't think so. I think the Patriots will demolish the Bills in this first Inter-League meeting of the 2 teams. This will be Cassell's redemption (to himself more than anyone else), after possibly losing 3 of his last 4. He'll be hungry. And angry. And there is no scarier person than an angry hungry person! (trust me, I know!)

Week 11: Bellicheck will be the hungry one this week. To bury Mangini's Jets after losing to them in week 2. I think that in the 9 weeks between these games that Bellicheck will be working on some new plays that nobody's ever seen, with Cassell, so that he can stick it so far up Mangini's ass that it's scraping his pancreas. Patriots are now 6-4. And this is where Cassell's resume gets padded.

Week 12: Pennington should be on IR by now, and the Dolphins should be like Fish out of water.

Week 13: The Steelers. I'm putting this as a loss to the Patriots. I don't have any good reasons other than to say that I think the Steeler's Offense will score too many points, and the Patriots won't catch up.

Week 14: By this late in the season, I think the Seahawks have either completely fallen apart, or have kicked ass. Even with their mediocre schedule, I think they're in the toilet. This should be an easy, and late-season ego building, win for the Patriots.

Week 15: The Raiders. Bellicheck let's O'Connell get some game-time in the 2nd half. 'Nuf said.

Week 16: The Cardinals don't win much on the road. I don't see that changing for this game.

Week 17: By now...the Bills will either be the Team to Beat, or will be looking at their 2nd loss of the season, again, to the Patriots.

Las Vegas Bookmakers have spoken, however! The Patriots are now facing 20-1 odds to win the Superbowl this year, with Cassell at the helm. I won't be against them...but I think and hope that Cassell will prove to everyone that he is for real.

I'm putting the end of the Patriot's season at 11-5. That leaves me a little wiggle-room for that one game that shocks everyone, be it a win or a loss. But I stand by them winning the Division, and making the Playoffs.

I'll end this Jaded Diatribe with the following 2 quotes, this week, of Sports-Writers. They cracked me up.

1st: Yahoo Sports Blogger MJD wrote: "If Cassel turns into a superstar, we're going to have to move beyond accusing Bill Belichick of cheating via videotape and accuse him of witchcraft."
I love it! The Haters say that this is the Patriots first REAL year of play, without cheating. I'm just waiting for the NFL to outlaw witchcraft. I'm sure by February, Bellicheck and the Patriots could be being fined for it. Because they'll again be the ones that were caught.

2nd: Matt Cassell, when taking over Brady's interview on WEEI Radio in Boston on Monday, said: "I'm not trying to be Tom Brady. I'm just trying to be Matt Cassel...I don't know where that's going to take us." Brady right now is being Brady (waiting for surgery on his injured knee). Cassell is being Cassell. Why don't we all be what we say that we are: New England Patriots Fans!!! I, for one, am a fan and a believer. Let's see where the season goes.