fairweather fan
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Posts posted by fairweather fan
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I watched the first half of the Packers/Patriots preseason game. My brother has season tickets for the packers. I E-Mailed him, telling him that he is lucky that Bears and Lions are in the same division, as it gives the Pack a chance to win four games.
A photo of the Cal quarterback draftee against the Patriot rush should be placed next to the "Deer caught in the headlights" quote in a thesaurus.
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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."
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I read a story once about the whole Darryl Stingley episode. Stingley stated that when he came to in the hospital bed (apparently he was in a come of sorts), the first thing he heard was a man crying. When he opened his eyes, it was John Madden. Some say that Madden was never the same after this.
Coach Madden is a sensitive guy who cared about the players and fans. I like his thing with the Thanksgiving turkey every year. Imo, it is part of the holiday tradition.
Yeah, the NFL owes a ton to this man, and I am floored that it took him this long to get in.
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.
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Off air HD reception.
I don't have Direct Satellite TV, and now can't afford $500 for the Dish Network HD receiver. Two years ago I purchased a Sanyo 42” HDTV monitor for $850. I got a returned HD receiver for $150. I am in a condominium which does not allow outdoor antennas and my attic did not have enough room for a rotating outdoor antenna. attached antennas for off air local station HD reception: the closest transmitter is 44 miles from my house, and the average distance is about 50 miles. Using the Terk antenna website, I got antenna directions from my town, and after trying and returning about 12 antennas, set up three Radio Shack HD amplified indoor antennas (@50 apiece), aligned for ABC, CBS, and Fox stations (all for football) using the compass directions from the Terk website, then put all three outputs into one cable (using a splitter to merge signals, instead of splitting them) going down into my basement rec room to my High definition converter. I got every football game, world series game, NBA final game and the final Stanley Cup series in 04 (I think it was on ABC) in HD. HD is fabulous, I never could see a penalty before replay, now I can call it as it happens. HD could be the salvation of Hockey, you can follow the puck which you can't on regular TV. Because Comcast is the new hockey network, I will no longer see hockey in HD unless our local UHF station picks up some games in HD.
The 2004 Olympic broadcasts from Greece in HD were great, and were not using the same broadcast as the regular NBC feed (which I checked by having a regular TV hooked up.) FOX HD was using a (barely) HD format, which was like watching regular TV, but switched late last year to a format which gave me much more detail.
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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.
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Re my attic indoof HD antenna post, the closest transmitter is 44 miles from my house, and the average distance is about 50 miles.
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Don't have direct TV, (have Dish) and can't afford to $500 for the Dish HD receiver, so three years ago, I attached antennas for off air local station HD reception: I am in a condominium which does not allow outdoor antennas and my attic did not have enough room for a rotating outdoor antenna. Using the Terk antenna website, I got antenna directions from my town, and put three Radio Shack HD amplified indoor antennas (@50 apiece), and aligned them for ABC, CBS, and Fox, using the compass directions, then put all three outputs into one cable (using a splitter to merge signals, instead of splitting them) going down into my basement rec room to my High definition converter. I got every football game, world series game, NBA final game and the final Stanley Cup series in 04 (I think it was on ABC) in HD. HD is fabulous, I never could see a penalty before replay, now I can call it as it happens. HD could be the salvation of Hockey, you can follow the puck which you can't on regular TV. I guess because Comcast is the new hockey netwerk, that I will not see hockey in HD except for our local 38 which picks up some Bruins games in HD. The Olympic broadcasts from Greece in HD were great, and were not using the same broadcast as the regular NBC feed (which I checked by having a regular TV hooked up.) FOX HD the first year was using a (barely) HD format, which was like watching regular TV, but switched last year to a format which gave me much more detail.
I found that the amplified Radio Shack HD indoor antennas were best, by buying about 12 different setups and returning them (including a $120 Terk). It works for me.
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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.
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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.
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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.)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Another Reason even some NFL coaches are morons...
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
From Bill Simmons, ESPN Page 2, 9/9/05
Are the Pats a little worse than we thought, or are the Raiders a little better than we thought? It's one or the other. Any time you're the defending champs, you're playing at home, you throw for over 200 yards in the first half, get a turnover inside the other team's 20, go three quarters without turning the ball over or giving up a sack, and the other team commits a whopping 14 penalties (including three more that were declined) ... and you're still sweating out the game in the final four minutes, that's a little scary.
Three things worried me about the Patriots:
1. The linebackers. Even without the two Teds (Bruschi and Johnson), and even though the situation looked dire in the preseason, every Pats fan was leaning on the old "Belichick will figure something out" approach. But they were using too many gimmicks last night. For instance, Rodney Harrison is a safety. He's always been a safety. If he's cheating up into the linebacker spot and playing the run in lieu of an actual linebacker, that's not a good omen for the next four months. Also, the two Ted replacements (Chad Brown and Monty Beisel) looked a step slow and a second late for much of the game -- the right kind of power running team (like Atlanta or Denver, two road games in Weeks 5 and 6) would have eaten Thursday night's defense alive.
Fortunately for Pats fans, Belichick has four weeks to figure this out. But we all know that you can't win a Super Bowl unless you can stop the run. And while we're on the subject, the running game (both Corey Dillon and the blocking) looked terrible in the first half, at least until the dinosaurs on Oakland's D-line started sucking wind in the second half. Then things opened up. But what will happen next week against a younger, tougher Carolina defense that won't be fading down the stretch? I'm worried. Just like you can't win the Super Bowl without stopping the run, you can't win without running for four yards a pop, either. And yes, I know it's early. Just pointing out some red flags.
2. The play-calling ... yikes. I don't mind that Charlie Weis is gone. If anything, I thought he suffered from a healthy dose of Martzitis -- he wanted to win, but only on his terms, and with as many gimmicks and splashy plays as possible. He overcomplicated things at times. And yes, I realize that I'm complaining about a guy who called plays for a team that finished 34-4 over the past two seasons. At the same time, the new offensive coordinator ... oh, wait, we never hired one. Last night, the QB coach was calling in plays with a "holy crap, Brady actually ran the play I just called in, maybe he really is listening to me!" look on his face. And there were some doozies in the second half -- like the near-catastrophic series before the blocked punt, when the Pats gave Oakland an extra 90 seconds of time when the Raiders didn't have any timeouts left. And yes, I know it's early. Just pointing out some red flags.