fairweather fan

Saw this on the Patriot Planet website, but the article was a quote from the cited ESPN site. New Book - Halberstam's 'The Education Of A Coach' Preview By ESPN's Seth Wickersham http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/magazin...hive?id=2040361 Belichick's Revelations Got an early copy of best-selling author David Halberstam's new book, "The Education of a Coach," a collaboration with Bill Belichick. I didn't read it cover-to-cover, but I read some the chapters from recent years and a few things stood out. 1. According to the book, Drew Bledsoe went to Belichick before the 2002 playoffs (for the 2001 season) and told him that "the team needed an experienced quarterback for the playoffs, that they could not win in the playoffs with a rookie quarterback." 2. After the Pats beat the Rams in the Super Bowl, Belichick told Ernie Adams, a college friend and football teammate of Belichick's at Wesleyan who remains a football sounding board for him", Can you believe we won the Super Bowl against the Rams with this team?" 3. Belichick thought the reason the Pats almost lost the Super Bowl to the Panthers in 2004 was because of his own bad coaching. "The truth is, I thought I did a crappy job," Belichick said. "I made a stupid mistake. I cut corners on how many defensive linemen I was going to carry, and I got caught doing it. ... Your players wear down. Especially the defensive linemen, they're the first to go." Also, before that Super Bowl, he told Adams, "Can you believe we're here? We can't run the ball, we can't punt the ball, and we can't snap for the field goals."

I followed the AFC since it started in 1960, and IMO Madden was the greatest coach in that league/division. Most people believe that Madden gave up football coaching due to the Stingley incident, and the type of players that Davis was signing. Even from the sidelines, Madden could pick up on what each and every player was doing after the snap. And he might have been one of the greatest college coaches ever, if Al Davis hadn't picked up on the job he was doing with (I believe) San Diego State.

Greg Easterbrook on NFL.Com rating the Cowboys today (Tue, 8/23/05) Dallas: The 'Boys place their fortunes in the hands of Drew Bledsoe. Last fall this space described Bledsoe's career as "over," and I am standing by that assessment. For the past two seasons only Bledsoe's name, certainly not his performance, has kept him on the field. His accuracy is a thing of the past. Watch old Buffalo tape and behold numerous instances of the ball striking the synthetic grass-like substance at receivers' feet or sailing over receivers' heads. For the past two seasons Bledsoe has looked exclusively at the receiver he intends to throw to, and safeties have figured this out, let me assure you. In 2004, the Bills played four of what TMQ calls "authentic" games -- high-pressure contests against quality opponents. Two tilts with New England, one game at Baltimore and the season-finale home date against Pittsburgh in which the Steelers rested starters and a victory would have put Buffalo into the playoffs. The Bills lost all four authentic contests, and Bledsoe was just utterly awful in every one. In those games, Bledsoe threw a mere one touchdown pass while committing 11 turnovers on interceptions and lost fumbles, with three of the turnovers returned for touchdowns. That is, when the pressure was on Bledsoe produced more touchdowns for his opponents than he did for his own offense. TMQ will be surprised if Bledsoe is the Dallas starter past United Nations Day, and the hook may come sooner -- though even if Bledsoe plays only a while, he stands a chance of moving ahead of Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana on the all-time passing yardage list. Now consider the overall transaction ledger for the big 2004 trade between Dallas and Buffalo and the Bills' decision, based on obtaining quarterback J.P. Losman in that trade, to waive Bledsoe. In effect the bottom line is that Buffalo got Losman (using the draft pick obtained from Dallas) while the Cowboys got Marcus Spears, Julius Jones, backup tight end Sean Ryan and Bledsoe (using the choices obtained from the Bills, plus signing Bledsoe after he became expendable in Buffalo). If Losman is a bust, Dallas will be seen as the huge winner in this deal. If Losman becomes a star, Dallas will be the huge loser. Conventional wisdom assumes that had the 'Boys kept their 2004 first-round pick, they would have taken running back Steven Jackson. Why assume that? Given Dallas' desperate need for a young quarterback, Tuesday Morning Quarterback assumes that had the 'Boys kept their 2004 first pick, they would have selected Losman. Either way, Dallas remains desperate for a young quarterback. Last year the Cowboys' most apparent problem on the field was that their pass defense dropped from first in 2003 to 20th. But the team's core dilemma remains lack of quality at quarterback, where the deflating Bledsoe is backed up by Drew Henson (18 career pass attempts) and Tony Romo (no career pass attempts). Should Losman become a star, 'Boys faithful will be tormented by the fact that they might have snagged him.

This is just another press release created by the movie publicity department to push the merchandise, like the 4 star ratings by fake reviewers which Sony had to pay the papers who got scammed.

Quite Frankly, the show itself is not bad, and the information I received from guests is better than the clips used on the other ESPN networks.

Winnie Cooper also writes "how to" books for students in high school and college taking Math subjects. I bought her book on Calculus about a year ago (I am an old fart who still likes math puzzles and problems.)

Don't know if it was posted, but this was from Gregg Easterbrook's TMQ mock draft on NFL.com 2. Miami: Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist philosopher. Maybe he could lure Ricky Williams back. 8. Arizona: Vicente Fox, president, United Mexican States. Now that the Cardinals play a home date in Mexico the question is, will more people attend this game than all other Cards' home games combined? 18. Buffalo (from Minnesota): Projected trade: Bills trade third choice in 2005, first choice in 2006, seventh choice in 2008, fifth choice in 2009, second choice in 2010 and sixth pick in 2011 to Vikings for Minnesota's first choice in 2005, fourth choice in 2008, sixth choice in 2009, fourth choice and 2010 and seventh pick in 2011. League fax machine fails while printing out terms of deal. With the pick, Bills select the Pittsburgh Steelers' practice squad. The Steelers' practice squad beat the Bills' first string in the season-finale game that cost Buffalo a playoff invitation. 32. New England: Some guy no one has ever heard of, who will become an instant star.

Cleveland, and he was pissed at the pats in an interview last night. They only offered a million, and he's rejoining his defensive coord/head coach for 2 mil.

Mike Vanderjagt is a dome kicker. Look at the kick that would have tied the Patriots in the first game of the season.

I read "Shotgun Golf". If that was what Hunter Thompson's Brain Cells were left to conjure up, it was time. I enjoyed Hunter during the late 60's and 70's, but he got to be a huge pain in the ass during the the last 20 years. I had two poet friends who were about the same age, and offed themselves when drugs and dissapation finally took their toll. One called me from a mental institution, and when our babysitter wouldn't take the collect call, went to the roof and jumped. Life is not fair, it just is, and at least Hunter had his 15 minutes, although the last 5 minutes were hard to bear for some of us.

I grew up in Iowa, and the Green Bay Packers was my team in the 50's. I was on the bandwagon before Lombardi. When I moved to the Boston area in the early 60's, I adopted the Patriots, with Babe Parilli, as all good Packer fans hated the Giants. Early in the 70's, I was excercising with a spring loaded excerciser while watching the Patriots, who had a 24 point lead over the Dolphins at the half, lose on a final drive touchdown. I jumped, the excerciser flew into the ceiling, and the plaster ceiling came down. I said to myself, "They are making $200,000 per year, they don't care about me, and now I have to replaster a ceiling because I gave a sh--." I didn't follow another pro team until Flutie, who I had followed from his freshman year at BC, came to the Bills. I was now living in Western Mass, and got Bills games instead of Patriot games. I became a Bills fan because of Flutie, and because the Bills had the only fan forums which showed intelligence. I now have a divided loyalty, because we had to move back to the Boston area when my wife became disabled, and because Tom Brady and I share the same Great Grandfather on my mother's side. But I still try to follow the Bills, and was po'd at the result of the Bills/Patriots games this year. Don't take it too seriously, it is still just a business to the NFL, even though it seems like war to us.

Honda, Nissan, Toyota are probably the best, but the Caravans, based on the amount you want to spend, are probably the best buy, because you will be able to get a newer one for the money. I have driven Caravans for about 10 years, and have had no transmission problems, but had a Ford that had to have two transmissions in 20,000 miles. I haven't met many owners of the GM minivans, but have talked to a few who were not satisfied.