Mon - September 19, 2005

Where have you gone Chuckie Weiss - New England turns its lonely eyes to you 




There's a pink elephant in the room, New England Patriots fans, and no one is mentioning it. After two performances that can only be characterized as lackluster or worse, the Pats are sorely missing former offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss, now head coach at Notre Dame.

The evidence is everywhere. Who exactly was calling the plays in Sunday's debacle against the Carolina Panthers? With the opposition defense blitzing everything but the kitchen sink and swarming to attack the line of scrimmage, where were the screen passes, the trick plays, the misdirections for which Master Weiss was so rightly famous? And it used to be the Pats who made smart half time adjustments to get the offense on track. Not this Sunday. In the last 56 odd minutes of the game, the Pats offense scored three points. No running game at all? And unlike the defense, the Pats don't have any player personnel excuses on O. The return of big, fast tight end Ben Watson was supposed to make Tom Brady's life easier. That hasn't happened as Big Ben has a total of 3 catches for 62 yards. Of course, Bill Belichick is a smart guy. Maybe he'll figure all this out -- and quick.

Meanwhile over at Notre Dame, even with Saturday's 3-point overtime loss, Charlie is kicking you know what...

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Posted at 07:30 AM    

Tue - April 19, 2005

Armstrong's announcement and some fine sports writing 




Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong yesterday declared that this year's race would be his last, disappointing his many fans and probably his team's new sponsor, the Discovery Channel, as well. But no one can take anything away from his amazing and unprecedented accomplishments. The announcement also prompted some fine columns about Armstrong and cycling.

Bonnie Desimone for the hometown Houston Chron sets the scene as Armstrong made his decision public at the start of the Tour de Georgia race in Augusta. Sam Donnellon, writing in the Philadelphia Daily News, compares Lance to Pelle and frets that the sport of cycling is about to take a big dip in popularity. And in the Guardian, William Fotheringham reminisces about meeting the young Armstrong for the first time in 1992.

ps Props to Google News, which I used to catch up on the wide variety of stories written about Lance's decision.

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Posted at 06:21 PM    

Thu - April 14, 2005

Ah, the beauty of Fenway on opening day 


I was lucky enough to attend opening day on Monday at Fenway Park to bear witness to the unveiling of the World Series banner and ring presentation ceremony, the parade of former Red Sox stars and then the sweet slamming of the Yankees, a game which included Tim Wakefield's dazzling knuckler, a towering Doug Mirabelli home run and a critical error by Alex Rodriguez to boot. Other highlights included Mariano Rivera laughing when he got a big ovation from the crowd, Yaz and Pesky putting up the banner as some hokey singer sang "This is for Billy Buckner -- it's okay, it's okay, it's okay," and some guy sitting behind the Yankee dugout waving a purse every time A-Rod came up.

I saw nothing to dissuade me from my opinion that the 2003 Yankees = the 1988 Boston Celtics, an aging dynasty that made its last appearance in the championship for many years.







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Posted at 08:08 AM    

Tue - April 5, 2005

"Panic" strikes some Red Sox fans -- please 


Repeat after me -- the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox. Apparently this needs to be repeated around these parts. On my drive home from the train station tonight, I managed to hear fans calling in to the local sports radio station freaking out that the Sox have dropped 2 games in a row to the Yankees. Hello, people -- so what!!! Remember, it was always the Red Sox who were in first place in July and second place by October? Wake me when we get to the summer.

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Posted at 09:06 PM    

Mon - February 7, 2005

No, Patriots win hard 


I am a spoiled fan of the New England Patriots, I admit it. No, correct that, I am a VERY spoiled fan of the New England Patriots. I found Sunday's 24-21 win -- their third Super Bowl win in the past 4 years -- a bit uninspired. Coach Belichick said before the AFC championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers that the Pats would have to play their best game of the year to win. They did and they won handily. I'm sure it was no coincidence that Belichick never said any such thing about playing the Philadelphia Eagles and, sure enough, the Pats played sloppy but well enough to win. For the second consecutive year, a starting safety left the game with an injury, but the boys in red, white and blue managed to hang on. Nicely done.


 

Posted at 02:08 AM    

Sun - February 6, 2005

Patriots win easy 


It's Super Sunday (finally!) and the pundits are all over the place calling for the Eagles to upset the Patriots. Won't happen. How is that Andy Reid, the coach who couldn't win an NFC championship game three years running, is now some kind of genius, Donovan McNabb is better than Peyton Manning and Brian Westbrook is Marshall Faulk, Edgerrin James and Marcus Allen all rolled into one. Pleeze -- spare me. Can you imagine what the hype would be if the Eagles hadn't rested their starters in their last 2 games and their stats were even more impressive? Pats by 11 or more. 

Posted at 10:49 AM    

Wed - January 26, 2005

Almost missed this Aratson nonsense 


Yesterday's New York Times had the pathetic spectacle of Harvey Aratson trying to compare the Patriots dynasty to the Yankees from 1996 to 2001 when they won 4 World Series titles. Let me get this straight, a team that wins by buying the most expensive talent available and spending multiples more than the rest of the league is worthy of being compared to success under a strict salary cap and draft system that is designed to create total parity. A manager who makes a few decisions a game and is generally a rah-rah guy is worthy of being compared to a coach (and his assistants) to have to develop a full battle plan every week and are able to do so more creatively than any of their competition. And worst of all, a whiny, overpaid shortstop is comparable to a humble, young QB? The Times is getting worse...

p.s. it also brought to mind, more pleasantly, George Carlin's brilliant routine Baseball vs. Football:
Baseball has no time limit, we don't know when its going to end. Football is rigidly timed and it will end even if we have to go to sudden death. In baseball, we're just trying to go home. In football we're down in enemy territory reaching for the end zone. In baseball, you make an error. In football, you pay a penalty...and so on. It's available on iTunes. 

Posted at 07:27 AM    

Mon - January 24, 2005

Columnists getting on board with the Patriots  


A week after limiting the quarterback who posted the best regular season ever without a TD, the Patriots put up 41 points against the best defense in the NFL. Nice. Also prompted some nice writing around the country, including a real gem by Selena Roberts in the New York Times and other good stuff by Bill Plaschke in the L.A. Times and Mike Wise in the Washington Post. 

Posted at 10:03 AM    

Mon - January 17, 2005

Manning managed, Colts manhandled - told ya 


So much for Peyton Manning, league MVP and holder of the record for most touchdown passes in a season. Without arguably their two best defense players, Ty Law and Richard Seymour, the Patriots bottled up the Colts high-powered offense and held them touchdown-less. Final score: Pats 20 Indy 3.

Among the various and sundry reasons cited by the "experts" about why the Colts were a sure thing was the renewed emphasis, as the NFL likes to say, on the rule that bars a defensive player from touching a receiver more than 5 yards from the line of scrimmage. Colts apologists blamed last year's loss on the Pats supposed over-aggressiveness. Didn't make any difference at all and the worst penalty called on a defensive back was on Colts cornerback Nick harper for hooking Pats receiver David Givens. In the end the point of emphasis change was like those ratty French cycling dons trying to make the Tour de France route hard on Lance Armstrong -- just provides 'em with more incentive to win.

As Pats linebacker Tedy Bruschi asked after the game: What rules are they going to change now?

He or Belichick might as well have quoted evil archeologist Dr. Rene Belloq, who once told a guy named Indy: Again we see there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away.

p.s. What is up with the (aptly named) New York Times writer Damon Hack, whose miserable story about the vulnerable Patriots ran on Thursday? His coverage today was again all wrong. Oh, Peyton Manning played so badly. Oh, the Patriots were breaking the rules against hitting receivers again. Oh, it's so hard to play in the snow. What about the great play of running back Corey Dillon? Fifteenth paragraph. Bill Belichick and Romeo Crennel's masterful defensive game plan? Never mentioned. Pats humility and Colts hubris? Never mentioned. Embarrassing. 

Posted at 06:33 AM    

Thu - January 13, 2005

Peyton Mania 


From reading the national press, you'd think it was Peyton Manning who was the MVP of two Super Bowls. Like: "The only way the Patriots win is if Manning misses the team bus," Sean Salisbury tells the L.A. Times. Or the New York Times headline : "Changing Times and Titles Make The Patriots Vulnerable." Definitely taking the Pats in this one, Ty Law or no Ty Law.


 

Posted at 12:37 PM    

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