Treat Teammates Like Family

When it doesn't go perfect out there, everyone wants to jump on Randy. It's all of us, and we all have to do a better job."-Tom Brady

When I first heard the comments from Panther cornerbacks Chris Gamble and Chris Harris badmouthing Randy Moss for supposedly giving up in last weeks game, I knew how the Patriots would react. You can say what you want about the Patriots or Boston sports in general, but they will defend their teams to the death. Brady, Belichick, and even the owner Robert Kraft stood up for Moss saying it was unfair criticism and that Moss was still one of the most dominant players in the game. Moss certainly did not have one of his best games, and admittedly does have a tendency to give up at times. But a teammate should never call out one of their own.

This is how a class organization like the Patriots handle things. However, this speaks to a larger issue in sports. Too many times these days players use the media as a platform to discuss what should be a private matter. From Larry Johnson tweeting about his distaste for his head coach, to Heinz Ward calling out his quarterback, there seems to be less and less team loyalty these days.

So, why is this? It could be that in the era of free agency, everyone is out for themselves. Players hop from team to team trying to get as much money as they can. Winning is still the number one priority, but for some teams and players, making money is a close second. Or is it the media and technologies fault? If the Internet and the 24 Hour News cycle existed back in the day would we have the same type of problems? Would Larry Bird and Robert Parish be bad mouthing each other through Twitter?

I really believe professional sports players should treat their teammates like family. I mean in essence isn't that what they are? Players often see their teammates more than their own families. They have to trust each other and believe in each other to succeed. If one of your own makes a mistake, it is the responsibility of the teammate to forgive and back them up.

If you look at the successful teams in sports, they all have tight bonds. My beloved Celtics are a perfect example of this. Have you ever seen any tension on this team? They all seem to genuinely like each other and go about their business as professionals. Even if this isn't really how it is, perception is huge in life. If you can outwardly portray a certain image and deal with things internally you will be more successful.

Look, just like families, teams have issues too. The important thing is to protect your own and not throw one another under the proverbial bus. I was proud to be a Boston fan on Monday. By backing the Patriots it reflects the loyal city that Boston is.

The Tiger Woods scandal: A Microcosm of Society

During the last week or so every major news network in the country has been covering the Tiger Woods scandal like it was the presidential election.  The scandal of course, is Tiger's involvement with at least one, and possibly many other women outside of his marriage. The reaction to this story has been mixed, especially between males and females. Not surprisingly females seem to have harsher criticism for Woods than males.


I think I fall somewhere in between total disgust and understanding. On one hand, though I don't condone it, I can see the temptation a person like Tiger Woods would have to venture outside his marriage. On the other hand, the fact that not only was he married, but he cheated on his wife while she was pregnant makes me have no sympathy for the guy.

The fact is this isn't the first nor will it be the last time an athlete cheats on his wife. So I ask you, why is this story bigger than the war in Afghanistan and the Health Care debate right now in America? The logical reason is that Tiger Woods is the most famous athlete in the world. Sure, that is part of it, but not the real reason. Michael Jordan had about 6 girlfriends on the side and no one really seemed to care.

In my opinion the real reasons this story is so big is two-fold. One is the death of journalism. There is no such thing as news journalism anymore. TMZ has replaced World News Tonight as Americans primary media source. We'd rather watch The Real World Cancun than our Nightly News. Sex has always sold, but never to this extent.

With the internet and the 24 hour news cycle, there is no time to write a well thought out article, because the next story will have already happened. This isn't the media's fault, it is the consumer's. You want real news start watching real news. Remember the media is a business just like anything else.

Second is perception. Tiger Woods has always kept his private life to himself, so we judged him as a person by what we saw on the golf course. 99.9% of us have never spoken or seen Tiger Woods in person. We assume he is a certain way because he has never gotten in trouble and hugs his wife and kids after every golf tournament. We see his carefully crafted image and assume that is just how he is. The difference with him and Jordan is that Jordan never pretended to be a family man.

This story shocked me at first, simply because Tiger has had such a spotless past. The real losers in all this are not Tiger or his wife, but his two small children. Tiger should never have gotten married and Elin should have been weary that a person of Tiger's stature might cheat. I'm sorry but if you are a spouse of a famous athlete you are in denial if you don't think your husband might cheat on you.  I think there really is something to be said for professional athletes to wait until their playing careers are over to get married, because this seems to happen way too much.

Also, for all those holier than thou people out there saying they would never do what Tiger did, I will say this to you. Most of us could never imagine what it is like to be Tiger Woods. While there is no defense to what he did, don't try to say you wouldn't do something when you really couldn't comprehend the situation. The real issue here is that we as a society care so much about this situation, when we really shouldn't be concerning ourselves in the private lives of other's. Thanks for reading everyone!

Give credit where credit is due Boston Fans

I'm a Boston sports fan for life, but I have to admit that there are no bigger "Homers" than Boston fans. They never give credit when credit is due, and always put blame on their own team for not playing well.  It's okay to stick up for your team, but don't be ignorant.

The Saints simply dominated the Patriots in every facet of the game last night. Look, the secondary played a terrible game, but that was also a product of the Saints being such a great offense. The Saints have 4 guys on the outside that can beat you, not to mention the best quarterback in the game today, Drew Brees. Say what you want about Manning, Brady, and Favre, but Brees is the MVP hands down. He's the only one without a Pro Bowl receiver or running back. Favre is having a great season, but that Vikings team is probably 8-3 with Jason Campbell as the quarterback.

I don't get why last night's game was a surprise to anyone. The Saints came in undefeated playing on their home field on Monday Night. That usually is good for at least 7-10 points right there. Plus, the fact that the Patriots are hurting on the offensive line, have lacked a solid pass rush all season, and haven’t won a road game on US soil all year. The problem people have is that they just assume tradition trumps the present. If you look at how the two teams have played this year last night's result isn't surprising at all.

I jinxed the Pats secondary by saying they were playing pretty well this year, and for the most part I think they have been. However, last night they looked like the Redskins secondary letting receivers get way too wide open. A poor performance by the secondary is directly connected to a poor performance by the defensive line. Brees had way too much time to throw last night and it translated to 5 TD passes. On the other side, Brady looked as bad as I've seen him look since the Denver game. I'm hoping this is just an aberration and he gets back on track quick.

As a Patriots fan, I think it is important to look at the glass half full. Now we will be the underdogs again as a 3 or 4 seed and the pressure will be off. The Saints and Colts can go undefeated for all I care; I wouldn't wish that kind of pressure on my team again. Also, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop on Brett Favre, but it doesn't seem like it is going to happen anytime soon. He fell into a perfect situation and has been playing lights out football. I feel really bad for Packers fans.

To conclude, I really respect and find there is a lot to like about the Saints. With the Redskins out of contention, I will be pulling for them to go to the Super Bowl and hopefully set up a rematch with the Pats in February. Thanks for reading everyone!

The Redskins aren't as bad as you think

Washington D.C isn't normally recognized as a championship-starved city like Cleveland or Detroit.  But the reality is, it has been one of the the worst major sports cities for awhile now.  The last championship to come through DC was in the early 90's.  Even Cleveland got to the NBA finals 5 years ago.  The fact is, people in DC could care less how the other teams do as long as the Redskins do well.

Redskins fans are some of the most die hard and loyal following out there.  Their loyalty is truly being put to the test with all the terrible front office decisions made by Darth Snyder.  Still they keep coming out to support their team.  People can make fun of the Redskins all they want, but I really don't think they are that bad.

The Redskins have four major problems.  They have an inexperienced, below average coach in Jim Zorn.    They have an owner that cares about dollar signs more than the product on the field.  Their offensive line is terrible, both because of injuries and because they refuse to draft anyone or pick up anyone in free agency.  Finally, they have a quarterback that isn't bad but isn't good either. Jason Campbell is the defintion of average, and in today's game average won't cut it.

This may seem insurmountable, but I don't think it is.  Look, even with all these problems the Redskins almost beat the NFC East division leaders yesterday without both their running backs. Not to mention the two interceptions they missed,  and the two field goals missed by Suisham.  Cowboys fans really shouldn't gloat after that win.  I really think any game that ends with that low a score shouldn't even be counted. 

The Redskins defense is one of the top 10 in the league, if not better.  They made a mistake dumping all of their money on a player who barely sees the field, but I really like the D as a whole. Don't get me started on Jim Zorn's decision to kick a field goal at the end of the first half.  Losing teams kick field goals in that situation.  You can say what you want about Belicheck's call on 4th and 2 last week, but at least he has the balls to try to win games.

The saddest part about this Redskins season is that the NFC East is so mediocre.  This was the year the Redskins could've made some noise.  When will they realize that you can bring in all the high price free agents you want, but if you don't have a good coach, quarterback, and offensive line it is all for not.  This Redskins team is good enough to be 8-8 this year, but they will probably finish 5-11.  Redskins fans are used to the saying wait till next year, and unfortuantely they will have to again.

In other news, the Patriots beat the hated Jets. Now Rex Ryan is complaining that the Patriots "disrespected them" by throwing a deep ball late in the game.  I'm sorry Rex, but weren't you the person that talked smack about the Patriots early in the season.  This is the NFL, you get paid to beat people up. Brett Favre continues to defy the odds.  I still dislike him  for all he has done the past few years, but the guy can still play.  He fell into an ideal situation and has made the best of it.  It's weird to me that Jacksonville is 6-4.  You can't always judge a team by their record, because I'm pretty sure the Redskins could beat the Jags if they were both healthy.  Thanks for listening to me ramble.  Keep your head up Skins fans.  Zorn is only coach for 6 more games!

Belichick made the right call

As Patriots fans we live by the phrase, "In Belichick we trust." Why wouldn't we? He has three Super Bowl wins in four appearances, and has been the leader of the most dominant team of the decade. Everyone is calling his decision to go for it on 4th and 2 idiotic, and that is understandable. But, would those same people be calling it gutsy if they had converted that 4th down?  That is what I always get so frustrated about with both the media and the fans. Their opinions often change based on the result.

My first reaction was the same as many of yours. Are they really going for it? Or, well they must just be trying to get them to jump offsides. I was crushed. We had dominated the Colts for most of the game and now our chance at home field was gone. This morning on my drive to work, I realized that this was really the only call he could have made. Does anyone think Manning wouldn't have driven 60 yards for a touchdown? He had two drives that quarter of equal or more yards, one which took less than 2 minutes. Sure, one of those drives was aided by a suspect pass interference call, but I think Belichick knows his defense well enough to know when they are out of gas.

Also, they had one timeout plus the two minute warning to work with. The Patriots were down  two defensive linemen and their best rushing linebacker Tully Banta-Cain. If you add that to the fact that Manning has gotten to the point where he always scores touchdowns in these situations, you can see why Belichick might have made the decision he did.  Would it have been more difficult than going the 30 yards? Of course. But I still think it was the right call for that situation.

Though I defend Belichick's decision to go for it on 4th and 2, he made plenty of other mistakes in the game.  His first mistake was using up all of his timeouts too early. Even though I think Faulk did come up short, it would've been a play to challenge, and without the timeouts he did not have that luxury.  Also, I don't understand why they called a timeout on first down after the kick off.  Lastly, though Kevin Faulk is probably my favorite player in the league, why not go to Wes Welker on that 4th and 2? He was doing basically anything he wanted the entire game and is the best slot receiver in the league.  Sometimes I  think Belichick is over confident and just expects the chips to fall in his favor every time.

What makes Belichick so great is that he is willing to take chances, but sometimes these risks backfire. I understand both sides of the debate, but at the end of the day it is easy to make opinions after the fact. The Patriots are still going to win the division and be a 2 or 3 seed in the playoffs. They aren't scared of the Colts at all, but I will admit Manning is in Belichick's head. Belichick showed the ultimate respect to Manning by going for it on 4th and 2. Peyton showed how great of a quarterback he is by virtually winning the game by himself, with the absence of a running game. I think he has developed into the equal of Brady in terms of being clutch, at least in the regular season.

The bottom line is this; Belichick made the call and has to live with the consequences.  The game is over so there is no use in mulling over what could have been. If you can't make 2 yards, maybe you don't deserve to win the game.  These two teams will most likely meet again in the playoffs on the same field, and I fully expect the Patriots to win that game. Remember hate him or love him, Belichick always will get your attention.

Down with the haters

I've always been amazed how intelligent people become ignorant when their sports teams come up in conversation.  Sure, some of these people are just dumb in general, but a vast majority are hard working, decent individuals in every other aspect of life. However, as soon as their rival team comes up in discussion it's,”I hate this team" or " I hope this guy gets injured." Whatever happened to just rooting for your team and enjoying the game?

Yesterday I was at a bar watching the Patriots game. The bar also happened to be hosting the Miami Dolphins DC game watch event. By the way, Dolphins fans are really obnoxious. When they weren't celebrating a 4 yard gain, they were cursing at the Patriots players, and even clapping when a Patriots player would go down injured. Look, you can dislike a team all you want, but celebrating or wishing injury on someone else is out of line. Also, what does yelling and screaming at the refs on TV do anyway? It just makes you look like an idiot.

Don't blame the Yankees, Blame Baseball!

I can't hear you Royals fans!

As a Red Sox fan, seeing the Yankees hold up their 27th World Series title last night was not the most pleasant experience of my life. However, they need to be congratulated for a great season and a great postseason. Let's stop with all the, "well the Yankees bought the championship" complaints. You know what, maybe they did, but so would your team if they could. I hate when people claim that their team would never do what the Yankees did, or that the Yankees have no soul. The truth is they would love their team to do the same thing if given the opportunity. This is not the Yankees fault, but baseball's fault for not having a salary cap.


If you are a Red Sox fan you have nothing to complain about. First off, you have the second biggest payroll in the league, and assembled a team full of corporate robots similar to Yankees teams of the past. You have the opportunity to win a championship every year and have won two in the last five years. Yet you complain that the Yankees are bad for baseball. No, the system baseball has in place is bad. When you have the Marlins with a $36 million payroll and the Yankees with a $200 million dollar payroll, it just doesn't add up. The argument could be made that some owners have the money but choose not to spend it, and that is a valid point. But the fact remains if there was a salary cap, teams like the Reds, Pirates, and Royals would feel like they have a chance.