Red Sox to Get New Stadium- in Tampa Bay

Let me start by saying that I have no clue how a team that is only ten years old can possibly need a new stadium, especially a team whose best year was winning 70 games. But for all of the Red Sox fans who find it cheaper to fly to Tampa Bay, pay for a hotel and tickets to see the Red Sox play the Devil Rays in Tampa than Boston, there is good news: the Devil Rays are building a state-of-the-art stadium with a retractable roof made of weatherproof fabric that will be pulled along cables suspended on a central mast structure that sticks straight out of the ground. The bad news is that the architect who desinged the ballpark was smoking crack, drinking vodka and shooting up when he drew up the plans.

Somehow the architect has also convinced team ownership, MLB officials, local governing bodies and even the Florida Governor himself that this is a good idea. Umm, did they see the design for this thing yet? I guess they were going for the yatch look with the way that the roof is going to be retractable. Having that nice white metal pole sticking out of the ground as the mast also looks like it will make a nice addition to the downtown skyline. I mean, really, who doesn't like a nice big white pole sticking a few hundred feet out of the ground. And when the roof is open, it looks kind of like the Leaning Tower of Tampa Bay. That could end up being a huge attraction for the large Italian population in Tampa Bay.

The new stadium will hold approximately 34,000 people, which is just about the number of Red Sox fans who travel from Boston to the stadium when the Sox are in town. And at a price tag of only $450 million it seems like a bargain compared to the new stadiums that the Yankees and Mets are building, which are both expected to top one billion apiece. Somehow the Devil Rays think they can have this thing open for the 2012 season, which is only four years away. Ownership also thinks that the facility will require no new taxes or the reallocation of existing taxes. Good luck with that one.

Here's some more bad news about the stadium: to protect the majestic views of downtown Tampa Bay and the waterfront, it won't be a true retractable roof. Instead, the roof will act more like an umbrella, allowing for an open-air stadium fell with climate control techniques that will lower temperatures in the stadium by 8-10 degrees. So when it's close to 100 degrees outside, it will be a cool, comfortable 92 inside. Do the Devil Rays really think it's a good idea to have all of those old people sitting around in 90 degree heat for three hours? I guess if you're smoking crack, drinking vodka and shooting up, this plan sounds like a great idea.

W Pays Tribute to Red Sox

Well, the Red Sox made their way to Washington, D.C. yesterday to pay a visit to W as the 2007 World Series Champions (I love writing that) for the second time in two years (I love writing that, too). For those of you who have been stuck on a deserted island after your Oceanic Airlines plane crash and haven't heard the news, the Red Sox did a serious beat down on the Curse of the Bambino and won the World Series in 2004.

Here's some of what transpired during W's comments to the Red Sox at the White House:

∙ "So Tim Wakefield’s batterymate is Doug Mirabelli. Mine is the vice president."

I had no clue that Dick Cheney was still alive. And he was there at the ceremony, no less. How often are the president and vice president in the same place at the same time? And there's even photograph evidence to prove it, just like Roger Clemens being at Jose Canseco's party! All I can think is that it must have been a really slow day for two of the (supposedly) most powerful men in the world to have time for a little fun with the World Series Champions.

∙ "Red Sox Nation extends beyond the South Lawn, extends beyond New England - it obviously goes to the Caribbean and even the Far East. So we welcome Japan’s Daisuke here to the South Lawn. His press corps is bigger than mine. And we both have trouble answering questions in English."

I love when the president rags on himself. I think it's even funnier because it's so true. And because Daisuke had no clue what W was talking about. All he heard was 'blah blah blah Daisuke blah blah blah blah."

∙ "I’m sorry Manny Ramirez isn’t here. I guess his grandmother died again. Just kidding. Tell Manny I didn’t mean it. But I do want to quote him. He said, 'When you don’t feel good, and you still get hits, that’s when you know you’re a bad man.' I don’t know what that means. But if bad man means good hitter, he’s a really bad man, because he was clutch in the World Series and clutch in the playoffs."

I think it's hilarious that W is bashing Ramirez for his grandmother dying again and the fact that he has no clue what Ramirez is talking about in his famous 'bad man' quote. Don't worry, George, no one else has a clue what Manny's thinking, either. As it turns out, Ramirez didn't attend yesterday's ceremony. Just out of curiosity, what was he doing instead? The photo above of Manny was taken yesterday while his team mates were at the White House. Mark my words, this will be the first of many Manny Being Manny moments of the year.

∙ "And how about Jonathan Papelbon? The guy pitches almost as well as he dances. And I appreciate the dress code. Thanks for wearing pants. Good job, and congratulations."

W obviously didn't write this speech because it was actually funny. I do have to admit that I was a bit disappointed in Papelbon's sober behavior yesterday. I expected Papelbon to do some type of drunken Irish jig on the front steps of the White House as President Bush looked on in horror before deciding to join in the festivities, similar to how Ty Law got Bob Kraft to dance at one of the Super Bowl parades a few years ago (I hate the Giants).

∙ "And so the ownership gets a lot of credit, the front office gets credit, and so does a really fine manager in Terry Francona. Laura and I had the honor of having Mike Lowell and Mrs. Francona and Terry for dinner earlier this month, earlier this year. And what I was impressed about was the values of this guy, and the fact that he honors his family as the first and foremost thing in his life. And I think the ownership made a good deal in signing him to a new contract."

Nice to see the president recognize the little people but I do have to wonder, doesn't the President of the United States of America have more pressing things to do than honor a sports team for winning a championship or even hosting players and managers for dinner? This story is all over the news and yet, I wonder how injured soldiers feel lying in a hospital bed or how families who have lost a son, daughter, father, mother, husband or wife in one of the many wars we're fighting around the globe feel. I hope that they're recognized in some way by the president for their sacrifices because those are the true heroes, the true champions and the one's that we should honor every day.

If you missed the ceremony, here's some of what transpired:

Red Sox Extend Terry Francona

The Red Sox have finally taken care of manager Terry Francona by signing him to a three year contract extension in the neighborhood of $12 million. The contract also has club options for 2012 and 2013, which would make Francona the second longest serving manager in Sox history if he gets those extra years. The only Red Sox manager with a longer tenure was Joe Cronin, who held the job from 1935-47, just a few short years before my time.

With the new deal, Francona is now closer to new Dodger manager Joe Torre as baseball's highest-paid manager. Torre signed a $13 million, three-year deal this offseason after spending the previous 12 seasons as manager of the New York Yonkees. Just as a side note, I don't see Torre excelling in La-La Land. Actually, I'm sort of looking forward to the Dodgers having an awful year.

In addition to a multi-year, mulit-million dollar extension, Francona also received something else during the negotiations- a touching love e-mail from general manager Theo Epstein.

"It was just personal about what we've been through since the very beginning. It meant a lot to me. He means a lot to me." Umm, I thought there was no crying in baseball. Seriously, pull yourself together there, Terry. And please try to remember that this is the same Theo that walked away from you and the organization two years ago to go hang out with Pearl Jam in Brazil.

I do give Francona a ton of credit for the job he's done. He's led the Red Sox to two (yes, two!) World Series Championships and has done an incredible job of handling the Boston media and the players. Not to mention that he has to deal with the annual Manny Being Manny episode. In fact, I think it's written in the new contract.

For his Red Sox career, Francona has a .579 regular-season winning percentage (375-273), which is the second-best in club history among managers with at least 350 games. His .710 winning percentage (22-9) in postseason games is the best in major league history among managers with at least 20 games and he has the most World Series wins (eight) without a loss. Did I mention that the Red Sox have won two World Series Championships with him as manager? Yes, two!

In my opinion, Francona shouldn't have to buy another drink or another meal in Boston for the rest of his life. So if you see him around town, take care of his tab for him because he's only make four million a year.

Dwight Howard Wins "Dunk" Contest

I realize I'm about ten days late with this post but I was just able to track down some half decent video of Dwight Howard's Super Man dunk at the All-Star game that won him the Slam Dunk Contest. After watching Howard's dunk, though, they should rename this contest the 'See how far away from the hoop you can get and chuck it as fast as you can and see if it goes in' contest.

Seriously, Howard never even comes close to dunking this ball. Yeah, the shot went in but his hands were never within five feet of the rim. Shouldn't you at least have to touch the rim for it to be considered a dunk? Or does Howard think the rim is kryptonite and he shouldn't get too close to it?

Just out of curiousity, if I jump at the three point line, throw the ball as hard as I can and I'm lucky enough to have it go in, is that considered a dunk, too?

Red Sox Sign Huge Tub of Goo

Well, I woke up this morning to hear that the Red Sox have signed Bartolo Colon to a minor league deal. My first thought was to go out and stock up my food pantry before he arrives in Boston and cleans out entire grocery stores in a single visit. At first, I was a little surprised because the last I heard, Colon was going to sign with the White Sox but apparently he likes red better. And who can blame him for not wanting to be coached by Ozzie Guillen. That guy is just plain nuts. If nothing else, this signing gives 300 pound men all over America a glimmer of hope that their dreams of pitching in the big leagues can come true.

I wasn't sure if this was a good move but then I found out that it's not going to cost the Red Sox much. In fact, if he doesn't make the roster, the Sox owe him nothing. If Colon does make the roster, it will be for a minimum salary with performance bonuses built in. And I'm just going out on a limb here and guessing that the Red Sox didn't include any type of weight clauses in this contract like they did for Curt Schilling. This may be the only time in history when I would believe a baseball player if he held out for more money because he had a family to feed. For a guy that has had a rough couple of years with injuries, he sure hasn't done much to stay in shape, unless eating cookies and donuts is his idea of a good workout.

From what I can tell, the White Sox, Cardinals and Astros were also interested in Colon. It was also rumored that Colon was close to an agreement with the Mets earlier this winter but they backed off out of concern for the condition of his pitching arm. Apparently the Mets only like young left handed studs who are in shape and throw 200 plus innings a year while totally dominating their division.

For the record, El Guapo Part Deux pretty much stunk last year with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orange County of California because of injuries, going 6-8 with a 6.34 ERA, which was the worst of his career. During his 11-year career, Colon is 146-95 with a 4.10 ERA. He's won 20-games twice in his career, as well as the Cy Young Award in 2005 with the Angels. So let's hope we're getting the Colon of 2005 and not the Colon of 2007. Somehow, I doubt it, though.

If I owned a grocery store near Fenway Park, I'd start stocking up on food now. From a financial standpoint, my only concern if I were the Red Sox would be if Colon does make the roster, it will probably cost them more to feed him than it will cost to pay him to pitch. Anyway, welcome to Boston, Bartolo.

Some Links That You May or May Not Enjoy

Barry Bonds still a slugger without a team. I get great pleasure knowing that no one wants Barry Bonds anymore. Although, I wish this had happened before he broke the real home run record, which is still 755 for anyone keeping track at home.


This seems a little extreme. I know that this whole SpyGate this has gone on longer than anyone could have possibly imagined but did we really need to blow up one of Bill Belicheat's satellite's to put an end to his spying?


Coco Crisp would prefer to be traded. And the down side would be. . .? Seriously, this guy has stunk since he got here and now he wants to be traded. After watching Johnny Damon play centerfield for the Red Sox, I never thought I would see a weaker arm than his. And then, amazingly, along came Coco Crap and I think I could throw it farther than him with both hands tied behind my back. If I were Theo Epstein, I would trade Coco to the first team to give me a pack of gum.


The best at putting the pieces together. Speaking of Theo, he was rated the top GM in all of Major League Baseball by this columnist.


DebbieClemens.com back up and running. Phew, I sure am glad that her website's back up and running. I don't know where else I could have gotten my personal trainer advice from had the site been out of commission much longer.


NBA follows the lead of the NHL. The NBA is set to play an outdoor exhibition game on October 11, 2008. I said it when the NHL played outdoors and I'll say it for the NBA: there's a reason that you play in a stadium with a roof over it for a reason.


I think this is why I'm not a big basketball fan. Seriously, $4.3 million to do absolutely nothing? I would have done it for $1 million. Actually, I'd probably have done it for $100,000. Okay, you're right, I'd probably do it for ten bucks.


Inside the depositions. Tom Verducci does a nice job outlining ten key points from the steroids hearing that we may not have heard. My favorite is number four.


Several NFL teams face QB quandry. This makes me all the more happy that we have Tom Brady at QB, even if he has turned into a bit of a girly man.


Is there photographic evidence that Roger Clemens is lying? Really, you think Clemens would lie? I can't believe it. He's been such an honest, stand up guy his whole career. Caught in a web of his own lies? Say it's so, please!


Speaking of Roger Clemens (a.k.a. The Syringe), I would be doing myself and everyone else a huge disservice if I failed to share my new favorite song with everyone:

Who's The Joke On?

A lot of people are talking about the video of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick getting punked by teammate Brett Myers. Myers went out of his way to pull off the prank, going so far as to bring in the manager to break the trade news to Kendrick and several members of the media who asked questions about the trade, which was to a Japanese team for a pitcher named Takeru Kobayashi. Yes, that's the same Kobayashi that has won the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest six times. I feel sick just thinking about that guy chowing down whole hot dogs.

Anyway, Kendrick certainly doesn't seem like the brightest bulb in the socket because he doesn't recognize the name Kobayashi or even realize that American teams aren't allowed to trade players to Japan. For that matter, he was never once concerned that his agent never called to tell him about the trade. So he sort of had it coming.

Here's the video in case you've had your head buried in the sand and haven't seen it yet:



Anyway, after watching the video a few times (works been kind of slow), I realized that the joke is actually on the Phillies because Kendrick looks jacked and pumped to be getting traded. Yeah, he'll be getting a big raise but I think he also realizes that he's getting out of that dump called Philadelphia and Japan can't be any worse. He's even wondering if they have good food in Japan. So, congratulations, Philly, you've got yourself a pitcher who would rather play for Japan than your team.

As a side note to Myers, he's a total loser and that's being way too nice. The Phillies came to Boston two years ago and Myers was walking down Boylston Street with his wife when he decided to start punching her and dragging her by the hair. So I have no clue why Myers would want to draw any type of attention to himself with a stunt like this. I just wish that when people mentioned the fact that Myers is a real club house clown that they'd also mention the fact that he beats his wife. Here's one of the hundreds of articles that was written at the time: Visiting Player Hit Wife

New Study Confirms That Jeter Sucks

It turns out that researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have scientifically determined what every Boston Red Sox fan has known for years: Derek Jeter sucks.

The announcement was made during a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which is in Boston (gee, there's a surprise).

To determine the rankings, researchers looked at every ball put in play from 2002 through 2005 with the ability to field fly balls accounting for 33 percent of the score, while line drives made up 25 percent of the score, and ground balls making up the remaining 42 percent of the score.

I've got to be totally honest here, I have no clue what those percentages mean in determining the fact that Derek Jeter sucks and place no validity in this study, especially considering that it was announced in Boston. However, anything that makes Derek Jeter look bad is newsworthy to me.

Based on the numbers, Clint Barmes of the Colorado Rockies was the best fielding shortstop in the game over that time period, with Stray-Rod coming in second and Jeter finishing dead last.

But you know what really sucks about this study? I would totally take Jeter over Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo any day of the week and twice on days we're playing a double header. I hate the Yankees.

Here's the full article, if you're interested. And just as a side note on the New York Post article- nice job getting totally meaningless quotes from Yankee homers.

Webster's Dictionary to Add "Misremembers" to Next Edition

It's taken me a few days to digest the testimony of Roger Clemens on Capitol Hill earlier this week and I'm still not quite sure what really took place. Do we know any more than we did when the Mitchell Report was released? Yes, we know more details but we're not really much closer to the truth or a resolution. This appears to be a classic case of he said, she said. And yes, I'm referring to Roger Clemens as a she. In my opinion, he can't take enough public humiliation and I believe that he has no one to blame but himself. As I stated in my article on Rodney HGHarrison earlier in the week, Clemens could have just admitted his use, paid the penalty, apologized and tried to move on. Now he just looks like he's completely ruining his entire reputation, the reputation of his wife, former friends and even his mother and former nanny. Although, I'm really, really confused about the party at Jose Canseco's house, the testimony of the nanny, and how that plays into this whole thing. I will say that parties at Canseco's house sound like lots of fun, though.

During the hearing, Clemens was constantly caught up in his own words (or lies, as I like to say), twisted logic and a timeline that rewrites our numerical system. And this was all before Andy Pettitte's testimony was brought up. And before I even knew that Andy's wife's name was Laura- that was some pretty damaging testimony from her. In his defense, all Clemens said was that Pettitte "misheard" and "misremembered" the story. And Clemens didn't even stray near Laura Petitite's testimony that Andy told her of the conversations at that time and the stories haven't changed.

I'm a New Englander, born and raised, which means that I was born with the 'I hate the Yankees' gene, which I hope to pass on to my children and grandchildren. Having said that, I could see myself going out and buying an Andy Pettitte jersey so that I can celebrate the man who helped bring down Clemens. It just seems appropriate.

Here are more of my thoughts on Clemens and the hearing. And believe me, I want nothing more than to never hear the name Roger Clemens again.

∙ The basic argument that Clemens wants us to believe is that when Brian McNamee said he injected Andy Pettitte with HGH, he was telling the truth. When McNamee says he injected Chuck Knoblauch with HGH, that was also true. Clemens now admits that McNamee also injected Debbie Clemens, as well as a dozen or so other people in his inner circle. But somehow we're not supposed to believe McNamme when he says that Clemens used steroids and HGH, as well. To me, this is some of the most damaging evidence against Clemens becuase he never addressed why he thought McNamee was telling the truth about Pettitte, Knoblauch, and others but lying about him. Better yet, Clemens never addressed why Pettitte would lie at all.

∙ A lot of people are saying that McNamee also took a beating in the hearing but I'm not buying it. Time after time, Clemens was caught in a web of his own lies. By comparison, McNamee was only called out on his prior lies, not the issues pertinent to this case. Yeah, McNamee seems like a relative of scum of the earth but you know what? His story hasn't changed. How many times has Clemens' story changed since the Mitchell Report came out?

∙ The strongest opponent of McNamee turned out to be Representative Dan Burton of Indiana who said to McNamee, "This is really disgusting. I don't know what to believe. I know what I don't believe and that's you." Those seem like awfully strong words coming from a guy who got his girlfriend pregnant and doesn't see his son for years at a time. I guess that's not too bad, except that Burton was married when he got his girlfriend pregnant. Nothing good can ever come of having a wife and a girlfriend.

∙ Can we come up with a new nickname for Clemens? The Rocket just doesn't cut it any more. How about The Syringe? Or Balloon Head? Donkey's behind works good, too.

∙ Boy, it seems like a long time ago that I was a young, impressionable kid who saw Roger Clemens pitch and wanted to be just like him. So much so that I even went out and bought Zest soap that he was the spokesperson for. Do you remember the tag line? "You're not fully clean unless you're Zestfully clean." Perhaps Roger could use some Zest! I would, however, like my money back:



∙ People watching around the world have to be laughing at American government. We have a military presence in more countries than I can count, all in the name of Democracy. And this is what we're spending taxpayer's money doing? Yeah, they probably wouldn't want to look into how Exxon just released figures showing the largest quarterly profit EVER, for any company. And coming up with a plan to help fix the health care crisis in this country just seems like a waste of time. Crumbling school systems? Nah, but boy, we sure gotta get to the bottom of this Roger Clemens thing.

∙ What's the deal with Congressman Stephen Lynch completely misrepresenting the grand state of Masschusetts? He was given ten minutes to confront both Clemens and McNamee and then spent nine minutes asking his question. However, Lynch did bring up some important information that was never explained by Clemens or expanded upon by anyone else, namely that you have a leading physician saying that, based on Clemens' MRIs from his days in Toronto, he would conclude that the mass on his buttocks was caused by repeated injections of steroids.

∙ Did you see North Carolina Representative Virginia Fox at the end of the hearing? Yup, that was her holding Roger Clemens' arm and hugging Debbie Clemens after the hearing. Do my taxes go towards her salary?

So there are some of the highlights (or lowlights) of the testimony. And you know what? It hasn't brought us any closer to the truth, other than everyone saw the real Roger Clemens. Yeah, you know the one I'm talking about. The selfless one who asked out of countless games, the grandstanding teammate who always played by different rules, the head hunter, the fuzzy mathematician who thinks Toronto is closer to Texas than Boston is, the guy who unretired several times to fleece teams out of millions of dollars, the total and complete liar who seems to be the one "misremembering" the facts of his own sordid tale. During his career, it was all about Roger, his stats, the Cy Young, the records, the World Series rings. And in the end, it's still all about Roger, even if he has to drag his mother's name and his wife's name through the mud to futher aid his sketchy trail of lies.

Luckily, it looks like Clemens might get what he deserves and that's a shot to be left out of the Hall of Fame. And nothing would tick him off more than knowing that all those years that he played by his own rules are now catching up to him. Along with a Federal Grand Jury Indictment.

And while Roger may not have been very up front during the hearing, he was able to speak the truth later in the week:


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Some Links That You May or May Not Enjoy

What a difference a year makes. This time last year, the Celtics were eyeing the number one pick in the NBA Draft and purposely trying to lose games. A year later, they have the NBA's best record and Doc Rivers (yes, Doc Rivers!), is coaching on the All-Star Team.


These Sox built to last. Here's another one of my favorite columnists. While Theo has made some questionable trades and signings, mostly to do with pitchers, I've got to give him credit for developing a good young crop of talent.


At long last, spring training is upon us. The sun is shining, WEEI is starting its weeklong broadcast from Fort Myers next week and Jonathan Papelbon is shooting his mouth off. Things are really starting to look up.


Debbie Clemens must be feeling the pinch of the economy. Hmm, I wonder why her website isn't up and running any more?


Clemens admits the truth. Unfortunately, it's Debbie Clemnes coming clean and not Roger.


Livan Hernandez finds a new home. If you're a Twins fan, you can't be happy about getting a box of Cracker Jacks and a bag of balls for Johan Santana. And now your hometown team goes out and signs Livan Hernandez to replace him. Look for the Twinkies to finish near the bottom of their division this year.


One of the craziest traditions in sports will continue at its new home. And to think I was losing sleep over the possibility of the big apple not coming to the new ballpark for the Mets.


Did the Giants cheat? Here's a nice little pictorial of the New York Giants holding several New England Patriots on the play where Eli Manning escaped a sack and heaved a miracle pass to David Tyree that he caught against his helmet. I feel sick. Oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be moving on.


Clemens campaigns on Capitol Hill. Can someone please explain to me how this can happen? Is this even legal? You know, when Clemens was mentioned in the Mitchell Report, I only wanted for him to come clean and maybe not get into the Hall of Fame. Now there's talk that he may face prison time if he's found guilty of telling lies under oath, and that kind of makes me happy. For all of his public campaigning, things certainly aren't going his way. I'll have more on this over the weekend.


Getting serious about steroid testing. At least someone is taking steroid testing seriously. I just wish it were relevant to the real world.


In honor of NBA All-Star Weekend, I went back to the vault to watch the greatest of all time:


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Bill Belicheat Hearts Rodney HGHarrison

I have to admit that I was mildly surprised to hear that 35-year old Rodney HGHarrison was coming back for his 15th year of NFL action as a safety for the New England Patriots. I had no doubt that he wanted to play. I was just surprised that Bill Belicheat would want him back after he was constantly frustrated by HGHarrison's (lack of) on field play last year.

“Everyone’s asking me about retirement," said Harrison. "I don’t know what to say about it. I haven’t said anything publicly about wanting to retire or anything like that. I’m very hungry to get back to working out and be a part of this team, and try to win another championship.”

I for one, am glad he's coming back because no one likes late hits more than me. I just wish he'd make his late hits a little less obvious. I mean, if he were any later on some of his hits, he'd have to hit some of the guys as they walked back to the huddle. And it's always fun to root for a guy that everyone outside of New England hates. Heck, after last year, there are even some people in New England who hate him.

After missing the first four games last year and changing his last name to HGHarrison, he managed to have 70 tackles, 56 of which were solo, two sacks, one forced fumble and one interception. I don't know if they keep track of this type of thing or not but I would be interested to see how many penalties he got last year, too. My guess is at least 20 and that's a low estimate.

My concern with HGHarrison coming back is that he's down right old for an NFL defensive player, especially considering that the entire defensive unit is aging pretty quickly. Let's also keep in mind that since joining the Patriots, he's played in a lot of regular season and postseason games and has been injury prone the last three years. And if you saw his tackling in the last half of the year, it was also apparent that he's not on any type of steroids, which may not be a good thing for him because he looked like he was constantly beat to the ball, out muscled on some plays and run over by power backs coming up the middle. But I guess all the late hitting evens things out a bit.

Just as a side note on HGHarrison, it's interesting that all the news reports I've heard on Rodney's return have failed to mention that he missed the first four games last year because of his drug suspension. When confronted with the issue of his own HGH use in training camp last year, Rodney admitted his use, apologized, served his suspension, paid his fine, asked for forgiveness and moved on. Just wondering what Roger Clemens would be doing right now if he took a similar path with this steroid scandal. He could have gone the Andy Petite route and admitted he tried it a few times and didn't like it and then never used it again. Instead, Clemens has now dragged his own name through the mud and now his wife's name, as well. I just thought it was interesting that Harrison admitted the truth and it's worked out for him just fine. By all accounts, Clemens has pretty much screwed himself over the last few months and now one has to wonder if he'll ever be elected to the Hall of Fame. Kind of ironic for a guy we thought would be debating which hat to wear on his Cooperstown plaque. Turns out, he may never have a Cooperstown plaque.

It's Time To Move On

In the words of the most famous hooded one (no, not Yoda), Bill Belichick, "It's time to move on." And so I'm moving on. . . at least, I think I'm moving on. It's been over a week since I've been hearing the name David Tyree in my nightmares and I did get a refund for my '19-0: The Perfect Season' book from the Boston Globe already. So, yeah, I'm moving on. And moving on means looking ahead to baseball.

With that in mind, this past weekend was the Annual Moving Day at Fenway and that can only mean one thing: yup, you guessed it, Larry Lucchino is back in business selling ad sponsorships on the side of a moving truck. I mean, who the heck puchases ad space that will only be seen for a few hours on the side of a moving truck? How much do you think CVS paid for that ad? Actually, I don't think it matters because whatever they paid, it was too much. And could they have made the logo any smaller or did they think it was going on an 18 foot U-Haul truck instead of an 18 wheeler? These are just a few of the thoughts I've pondered while trying to move on.

An even better question is who the heck comes out to watch the movers load the truck? Well, according to the Boston Globe and Boston Herald, about 50 people showed up to watch the festivities (movers sweating, lots of boxes with names on them and there was even a report of Wally the Green Monster walking around). Sounds fun, if standing out in the cold watching people move boxes is your idea of fun.

Anyway, I'm moving on (for now). And part of my post Super Bowl therapy calls for some light reflection on the past, as well. So here's a little reflecting that I rather enjoy:

Some Links That You May or May Not Enjoy

New York sticks it to Boston, again. Not only did the Giants defeat the Patriots in the Super Bowl but the Mets came out of no where to land Johan Santana. Was Theo Eptstein partying with Bill Belichick and Jessica Simpson in Mexico when this deal went down?


Is Curt Schilling's career over? This has not been a good week to be a fan of the Red Sox. First we lose out on Santana and now Schilling's career may be over. Schilling's doctor was on the radio this morning describing his most recent shoulder MRI as three strands of spaghetti and said that Schilling couldn't even open a door with his pitching hand. That can't be good. Can someone please remind me why Theo didn't want Santana?


Perfect ending. I've pretty much come to loathe the 1972 Dolphins. I don't see that ending any time soon.


Martinez and Marichal like cockfighting. I'm not sure why everyone is getting so bent out of shape about this story. Yeah, cockfighting is pretty nasty stuff. But cockfighting is also legal in the Dominican, not to mention that the stadium is called The Rooster Coliseum, the nation's largest cockfighting arena.


Bob Knight resigns. Apparently he was so upset over the Patriots' Super Bowl collapse that he quit his job.


A tale of two stories. At least I still have Roger Clemens to kick around.


Dax Crum. If you think you're having a bad day, remember this kid.


Should we change the playoff structure. An interesting idea posed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell while pondering what to do over Spy Gate.


Johnny be good. Can't stand him since he traded his Sox for Pinstripes but I'll give credit where credit is due: Johnny Damon's doing some good things.


Eli Manning chimes in. As if things aren't bad enough, I have to be subjected to hearing about Eli Manning making jokes (that are actually kind of funny) about Bill Belichick's early Super Bowl departure.


Here is David Letterman's Top 10 list of New England Patriots excuses for losing Super Bowl XLII. I'm gonna be sick (again):

State of Patriots Union

Yesterday afternoon, Bill Belichick held his annual State of the Patriots post season press conference. . . via conference call. After losing the Super Bowl two days ago, he didn't even have the courtesy to address the media in person, not that it would have mattered. His address to the media lasted 13 minutes and, in my opinion, was one of the poorest excuses for anyone to call themselves a member of the media.

Here's a sampling of some of the hard-ball questions that were asked of Belichick, two days removed from being completely outcoached in the Super Bowl:

1. Have you watched film of the Super Bowl yet?

2. What are your plans for the offseason?

3. Is it difficult to find the positives in a team that finished 18-1?

4. Do you expect the same coaching staff back for next year?

5. Are Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi retiring?

You'll have to excuse me for being offended at that line of questioning. Are people actually getting paid to ask him those questions? Do you feel good about calling yourself a journalist when you ask those in-depth questions? When you were just outcoached and your team outplayed in the Super Bowl, I'd like to know a little bit more than if you think you'll have the same coaching staff next year or about your offseason plans.

I was actually shocked to hear Belichick answer (sort of) two questions:

On if he considered challenging the play where Pierre Woods appeared to recover a fumble. “The officials ruled that there wasn’t any clear-cut possession and Mike Carey was standing right there in front of it. I can’t imagine that he would have ruled it any differently than the way he did when he’s standing right on top of the play. So I really didn’t give it much thought.” Well, I sure am glad that the head coach of a Super Bowl team didn't give a potentially controversial call much thought because it looked like Woods initially had possession and could have been ruled down by contact before losing the ball in the pile. Is it so hard for Belichick to believe that an official would miss a call?

On why he left the field, and his team, with one second remaining on the clock. “Basically, on that last play I wasn't really sure of the time. Everybody started on to the field and then I got over there and I wanted to congratulate Tom. There really wasn't much left at that point.” Sorry but I don't buy that explanation. The referee clearly told you that the Giants had to make one more play to officially end the game and you ignored him.

And that's pretty much it. There were no follow up questions that could have given more insight into the game and his coaching, such as if the referee told him to go back to the sideline. No one even brought up the decision to go for it on fourth and 13 instead of kicking a 48 yard field goal or about his lack of adjustments to the Giants constantly putting pressure on Tom Brady. How about the play call selection on their last possession. Was it really necessary to throw three deep bombs when you only needed a field goal to tie the game and had all of your timeouts?

And no one even had the backbone to ask any questions relating to the ongoing spying scandal, which looks like it's not going away any time soon with Congress now getting involved and rumors of the Patriots taping games and workouts dating back to 2001.

Luckily, we did get this insightful gem from the hooded genius, "It's pretty much over. Time to move on. I'm not going to sit here and dwell on anything good or bad. It's over," said Belichick. "It is what it is. We played our last game of the '07 season."

Gee, thanks for clarifying that the season is over. Now I'd like some real answers to some real questions.

David Slays Goliath

Well, it's taken nearly two days for me to come out of my shock-induced coma and start to formulate some type of coherent response to the total and complete destruction of the almost-greatest-team-ever. And you know that if you have to say almost-greatest-team ever, then you're not the greatest team ever. And the Patriots put that on full display Sunday night in Super Bowl XLII. I give full credit to the New York Giants for winning this game. They came in as huge underdogs with very few people picking them to even stay close in this game. By all accounts, the game was viewed as more of a coronation for the Patriots than an actual contest. And yet, the Giants controlled the tempo from their opening drive, implementing an incredible game plan and completing a two minute scoring drive that I'll probably be subjected to see for years to come, similar to the ball going through Bill Buckner's legs. I feel sick.

Here are my thoughts on the game while wondering if I should have turned off the TV after my son threw up on my Red Sox Championship shirt in the middle of the fourth quarter:

∙ I saw zero emotion on the Patriots as they were introduced and that had me worried right away. You've got Alice Cooper blaring over the loud speakers as you're being introduced for the biggest game of your life and you come walking (yes, walking) out of the tunnel like you're on your way to the gas chamber. I remember back at the 2001 Super Bowl how prior to being introduced as a team Tom Brady was standing in the tunnel, jumping up and down and then he inexplicably starts headbutting one of the players next to him and everyone is getting fired up, including the guy he's headbutting, which turned out to be Drew Bledsoe. I saw none of that type of emotion before or during the game. Brady did have a nice new haircut, though. Is it just me or is he kind of a girly man?

∙ That was an incredible opening drive by the Giants. While they only scored three points, they held the ball for more than nine minutes or 15 percent of the entire game. Again, they cut to Brady on the bench a few times and he looked totally emotionless. His hair still looked good, though.

∙ Belichick definitely could have benefited from having an illegal video tape of the Giants' walk through practices because he was totally and completely out coached in this game. Did he spend the two weeks before the Super Bowl in Mexico partying with Jessica Simpson? Seriously, what gives with his game plan and in-game coaching? That was by far one of the worst coaching jobs I've ever seen. It rivals Grady Little leaving Pedro in the game in the 2003 ALCS against the Yankees. Let's have a recap of some of his blunders:

1. Going for it on fourth and 13. Statistically, fourth and longer than 10 yards is successful 18 percent of the time. Statistically, kicking a 48 yard field goal is successful 55 percent of the time. Why not attempt the field goal on a dry field, indoors with no wind and a kicker who was booting them from 55 yards prior to the game. That's poor coaching with a little bit of arrogance mixed in. When you do stuff like that, you deserve to lose by three points.

2. I guess if your original game plan is to establish a running game that's fine, even though I don't understand why you would do that with Brady and company. But after the first half when your team and, especially your quarterback, was taking a beating, I think you need to start making some adjustments. I saw nothing different in the game plan in the second half, which is fine if you're playing to lose. In all, Brady was sacked five times and knocked down an additional 18. Yes, 18. While the fault lies with the offensive line, it would have been helpful to come out in the second half with a different approach, like possibly using the tight end to block or going more to the shotgun offense where you only need a two or three step drop to get rid of the ball. I can't even remember the last game that Belichick was so completely outcoached.

3. Hey, I understand that the Giants technically had too many guys on the field during the Patriots' punt but he had absolutely no bearing on the play. That's just petty on Belichick's part. When you do stuff like that, you deserve to come away with zero points.

4. What the crap is Ellis Hobbs doing defending Plaxico Burress in single coverage on the winning touchdown? Either someone missed their assignment or that's poor coaching. Hobbs should never be man to man and now more than 97 million people know why.

5. The Patriots take the kickoff with 35 seconds remaining. Why not let the ball go into the end zone and take your chances from the 20? Instead, Laurence Maroney runs it out of the end zone, hits two of his own guys and then gets tackled, at the 26 while waisting six seconds. And on their final sequence, with three timeouts, why are the Patriots throwing deep? Why not try a few crossing routes to Welker or Faulk that go for 15-20 yards each? Remember, we didn't need to score a TD there. We just needed a field goal. Although, with Belichick passing up on the previous field goal, I'm seriously wondering if they even activated him for the game.

6. I've never seen Belichick wearing that red shirt before. What was he thinking? Where was the hoody? Red may work for Tiger on Sunday but it doesn't work for Belichick. Not to mention that he looked ridiculous in it.

7. The only explanation that I can think of for Belichick leaving the field, and his team, with one second remaining is that he's a sore loser. He was clearly told to go back to the sidelines for the final play and he ignored the referee. On a night when he was clearly out coached and his team clearly out played, Belichick was also out classed. If the situation had been reversed and Tom Coughlin pulled that stunt, the Patriots would be talking about how disrespectful it was for decades to come. That was flat out classless.

∙ The officiating crew did an exceptional job in this year's Super Bowl. There can't be any finger pointing, plays that could have been called either way or phantom calls that cost one team the championship.

∙ I've seen enough of Peyton Manning to last me a lifetime. Seriously, did we need to see him after every one of Eli's complete passes? I'm not sure if it was Joe Buck or Troy Aikman but I also don't believe that Peyton is happier watching his brother win the Super Bowl than he was winning it himself last year.

∙ The Giants drive that won the game was pretty unbelievable. The Patriots had three chances to pick off Manning, the easiest one being dropped by Asante Samuel. I still have no idea how Manning escaped the grasp of several Patriots to get the pass off to David Tyree. More importantly, I have no idea how Tyree comes down with that catch.

∙ Wow, Tom Petty as the half time entertainment. I didn't even know he was still alive until they announced him. How about 'Free Fallin' as the new theme song for the 2007 Patriots?

∙ In general, the game had very little flow to it and the fault lies with the NFL and the network, FOX. Case in point, at the end of the first quarter, there is a four minute commercial break. The Patriots score from the one yard line on the first play of the second quarter, followed by the extra point. Then there's another four minute commercial break. After this break, the Patriots come back and kick off to the Giants. Following the kickoff, there's another four minute break. That's a total of three plays that took a combined 20 seconds mixed in with 12 minutes of commercials. That's a ridiculous amount of time between plays and the NFL needs to step in and fix it. And please don't tell me that advertising revenue is at stake when every third commercial is for a show that airs on FOX.

∙ The Giants were 8-16 on third down conversions. Third downs have been the Patriots' Achilles heel all year and they couldn't step up and shut down the Giants on third downs in the Super Bowl, either.

∙ In the past, people have watched the Super Bowl for the commercials. And if that's the case, you have to be disappointed. I don't understand the selling point of half of these commercials and have a hard time imagining an ad agency being able to convince an executive team that screaming squirrels would make a good ad campaign. I don't recall seeing one commercial for a product that I purchase and that makes me kind of happy.

∙ Those Giants sure are a resilient group. Thanks for giving me the definition, FOX.

∙ I have a feeling that the Patriots will be a much different group next year. I'm even thinking that Randy Moss won't be back. He was pretty non-existent in the playoffs and only had a TD catch in the Super Bowl because the defender fell down. And when was the last time you saw him coming across the middle of the field, like Wes Welker? Donte Stallworth will certainly be cut because of his salary cap number and I'm not sure they'll bring him back at a reduced cost. Asante Samuel, who I think is over rated to begin with, may have purchased his ticket out of town with the dropped interception on the Giants' last scoring drive. Rodney HGHarrison, Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi are all getting old, have a ton of regular season and post season mileage and they may have played their last games for the Patriots. Mix in the fact that the Patriots' secondary wasn't very good to begin with and they have some serious rebuilding to do.

∙ The Patriots are already 2-1 odds to win the Super Bowl next year, the Giants are 10-1. I can easily see the Giants going the route of the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers, who won the Super Bowl and then missed the playoffs the following year. The Giants play in a tough division and I have a hard time believing that all will be peachy keen with Coughlin, Manning and the New York fans and media again next year if they get off to another 0-2 start.

∙ Somewhere, Don Shula and his 1972 Miami Dolphins are still sipping champagne.

∙ Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in two weeks. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Stay tuned in the days and weeks ahead as I continue to relive the current misery and begin the countdown to the start of America's past time.

Super Bowl XLII Preview, Part IV

Well, I was going to try to get to Part XLII of my Super Bowl coverage but IV is as far as I'm taking it. I'm not a Giants fan by any stretch of the imagination (as if you couldn't tell) and even I'm feeling depressed for the whupping that I believe the Giants are going to be taking come Sunday night. I've compared the quarterbacks, the defense and the offense of each team and the Patriots have an edge in each of those categories.

Now I'm going to give some general thoughts on the game that don't quite fit into any one category, as well as my Super Bowl prediction at the end of this column. Just a hint: I'm not picking the Giants.

Let's start with the strength of schedule for each team. The Giants played teams that were a combined 132-124 this year, which is pretty impressive. However, the only team that they beat with a winning record (9-7 or better) were the Washington Redskins 24-17 in week three. They later lost to the 'Skins near the end of the season. The Giants also lost to Dallas two times, Green Bay and the Patriots. Basically, they didn't beat any good teams during the regular season. And no, I don't believe that the Redskins count as a good team.

By comparison, the Patriots played teams that were a combined 120-136 (hey, they can't help it if they have to play the Dolphins twice a year). As you may recall, the Patriots won all 16 of their regular season games against teams like San Diego (38-14), Washington (52-7), Dallas (48-27), Cleveland (34-17), Indianapolis (24-20), Pittsburgh (34-13) and the Giants (38-35). That's seven wins against quality teams for the Patriots as opposed to one win against a quality opponent by the Giants. Record aside, who's played best when it's mattered the most against quality opponents? I'd say the Patriots have by a margin the length of the Mississippi River.

So now let's take a look at the coaching matchup, where Tom Coughlin comes in as a career 103-89 coach for a .536 winning percentage and 7-6 in the playoffs over a twelve year span. Bill Belichick's coaching career spans 13 years with a 127-81 record for a .611 winning percnetage. However, in his last eight years with New England, Belicheat is 91-37 for a .711 winning percentage and is 14-2 in the playoffs, including three Super Bowl titles. Equally as important, since coming to New England in 2000, Belicheat has a 12-2 record when coaching after an off week. Those two losses came in the 2001 and 2002 seasons, meaning that the Patriots have won seven straight games under Belicheat when coming off a bye week.

I'm not sure I'm buying into the whole argument that the Giants almost won the season finale when these two teams met in the New York so they only have to make a few less mistakes to pull off the upset of the century. Don't the Patriots also have the same amount of extra time to correct their mistakes, as well? And how long do you think it will be before the Patriots realize that nearly all of their recievers can basically outrun the Giants secondary? Are you confident that with two weeks to prepare for a rematch against the Giants that Belicheat isn't going to draw up some ridiculous play that you've never seen before that will ultimately be the dagger in the Giants' back?

Oh, right, I forgot, the Giants almost beat the Patriots the last time they played. Are you sure? The Patriots turned a 12 point second half deficit into a ten point lead in the fourth quarter before giving up a late TD. And the Patriots ended the game by taking a knee on several straight plays. On their last five possessions of the game, the Patriots punted once, scored three touchdowns and ran out the clock as time expired. Are you sure it was that close of a game?

In their last meeting, it should also be noted that Laurence Maroney ran 19 times for 46 yards in one of his worst showings in the second half of the season. But do you know one of the reasons his output was so low? You're probably thinking it was because of a tenacious Giants defense but it's not. It's because three integral elements of the Patriots rushing game were inactive for that game, including the entire right side of the offensive line, Nick Kaczur and Stephen Neal, as well as tight end Kyle Brady, a blocking specialist. And it should also be noted that the Patriots held Giants running back Brandon Jacobs to 67 yards in that game, as well.

I've heard a lot of people compare this Giants team to the 1985 Patriots team. For those of you who don't remember, the 1985 Patriots went on the road and won three playoff games against the New York Jets, Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins. They had no business winning any of those games, especially in Miami where they traditionally played terrible. That was the start of the Squish the Fish phrase, which came with a complete line of clothing, as well. Picking the Patriots to win in Miami in the 1980s was sort of like expecting the current New York Giants to go into Green Bay two weeks ago and win. That's how big of a win it was for the Patriots. My, how the Dolphins have fallen. The Patriots later played the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl, in a game that was over by half time, and ended up losing 46-10 to a team that was far superior to the Patriots in nearly every facet of the game, much like the current matchup.

I've searched high and low for a silver lining that would allow that Giants to pull off the huge upset and the only thing I can find is an eery similarity between the Giants and the 2001 New England Patriots, who shocked the world by winning the Super Bowl over the greatest show on turf, the St. Louis Rams. I remember how everyone was picking the Rams to completely blow out the Patriots but then the team refused to be introduced by name before the opening kickoff, opting instead to be introduced as a team and then we stayed with the Rams for the first half and then we were neck and neck in the second half. We had the ball with under two minutes to play and John Madden was telling the Patriots to run out the clock and take their chance in overtime. But there was Brady, leading the Patriots down the field with the calmness and accuracy of Joe Montana, players were making insane catches while diving out of bounds, the clock was ticking and before we could even fathom what was happening, Adam Vinatieri was kicking a 48 yard field goal to win the Super Bowl and we were all standing on Boylston Street in the freezing cold waiting for the team to drive by on Duck Boats.

Does Eli Manning, the guy who threw 20 INTs this season, have it in him to pull off this upset? Can Tom Coughlin, the coach who was almost fired after an 0-2 start to the season, come up with the blueprint to beat the Patriots and stop this record breaking offense from going down as the greatest team ever? Will Plaxico Burress back up his 23-17 Giants win statement with the game of his life while playing with a swollen knee and bad ankle? Can the Giants pass rush get to Tom Brady and repeatedly force him to make mistakes? Can the Giants defense stop the numerous offensive weapons we have? I say no, emphatically. And if an eery similarity to the New England Patriots team of 2001 is the only thing you've got going for you, I don't see this game ending well for the Giants.

NEW ENGLAND 41 New York 21

Super Bowl XLII Preview, Part III

I've gone through the quarterbacks and the defense of each team in my last two Super Bowl preview posts and, in my opinion, the Patriots come out with the advantage in both categories. However, you're entitled to be wrong by having your own opinion if you so choose. Now I'm going to break down the offense of each team and there's one phrase I'm going to continue to repeat throughout this post (and it's not a good thing if you like the Giants): record setting offense.

On the regular season road to 16-0, the Patriots racked up offense like no team in NFL history. They set the single season scoring record by a team with 589 points, they set the single season touchdown record by a team with 75, their quarterback set a single season TD record, their wide receiver caught the most TDs ever by a wide reciever in one year, and they set the most records ever set in one season. I think that they also set the record for number of 1972 Miami Dolphin players that have embarassed themselves by commenting on the Patriots season.

By comparison, the New York Giants have. . . Ummm, . . . Well, they've. . . ahh . . well they did score 373 points this year. Oh, that's probably not a good example because the Patriots scored over 200 points more than that. Wow, that's a lot of points to score over another team in only 16 games. To be precise, the Patriots actually score 13.5 points more per game than the Giants. And you were wondering why the early Las Vegas lines had the Patriots as +12 favorites. In fact, during the regular season, the Giants outscored their opponents by a combined total of just 22 points. Yes, 22 points over a 16 game schedule. The Patriots, by comparison, outscored their opponents by 315 points. And no, that is not a misprint.

Similar to my observations on each team's defense, I'm going to break down each offense by four categories and their rankings in each category: yards per game, rusing yards, passing yards and average points scored per game. Maybe if you're a Giants fan you don't want to look at these numbers:





Again, sorry for the fuzziness but it's the best I can do. I can't even believe that I'm going to talk about the running game of the Patriots when we have MVP Tom Brady throwing TDs left and right but we have actually developed a legitimate running game lately. Laurence Maroney in the last five games, including the two playoff games, has rushed for 550 yards, an average of 110 per game. In the other 10 games he played this year, he rushed for 529 yards total, for an average of 52.9 yards a game. Double his earlier average and you still don't get to the 110 yards rushing that he's been averaging lately. And that's not even counting the threat that he is out of the backfield on short screen passes where he's able to use his explosive speed more effectively because there are less of his own team mates to run into.

I won't lie to you when I say that the running game of the Giants is a concern to me. Their two feature backs, Brandon Jacobs (1,009 yards rushing with four TDs) and Derrick Ward (602 yards rushing with three TDs) are a formidable duo that have rushed for more than 1,600 yards combined this season. But let's keep in mind that the Patriots, in the last two games, have held Jacksonville, the league's second best rushing team, to 80 yards rushing and then they held San Diego's seventh best rushing attack to 104 yards.

The Giants also have Ahmad Bradshaw out of the backfield and he's somewhat of a wildcard. The Giants mainly use him in the second half of games in the hopes that a defense will be tired down and more likely to miss tackling the semi-elusive Bradshaw. You know what I think, though? There's a reason that he's not the starting running back and it's because he's not very good. The Giants didn't even begin relying on him until the second to last game of the regular season in a snow game in Buffalo. And if the Giants are down by 10 or more, do you really think that the Giants are going to be running the ball?

For wide recievers, the Giants feature Plaxico Burress (70 catches, 1,025 yards, 12 TDs) and Amani Toomer (59 catches, 760 yards, three TDs). I know that Burress had a monster game against the Packers in the NFC Championship Game with 11 catches for 151 yards. But he never found the end zone in the game or any of the Giants' three playoff wins. In fact, in the other two playoff games combined, Burress only had five catches for 43 yards. Burress also has a bad ankle, as well as swelling in his knee, that has prevented him from practicing this week. But apparently his mouth still works because he spouted off about the Giants winning the Super Bowl 23-17. Maybe his brain is also broken because the Patriots haven't scored fewer than 20 points in a game all year. Does he think a suspect defense, one which gave up 38 points to this same team a few weeks ago, is going to somehow contain this offense to 17 points? And he's also assuming that we will be employing the use of a field goal kicker in his final score. I'm not even sure the Patriots invited Stephen Gostkowski, their field goal kicker, to the Super Bowl.

By comparison, the Patriots record setting offense features Randy Moss (98 catches for 1,493 yards and a record setting 23 TDs), Wes Welker (league high 112 catches for 1,175 yards and eight TDs), Donte Stallworth (46 catches for 697 yards and three TDs) and even Jabar Gaffney (36 catches for 449 yards and five TDs). Whew, that's a lot of catches, a lof of yards and a lot of TDs.

I understand that Randy Moss has been completely neutralized in the first two games of the playoffs and that has me a little concerned. But the goal isn't to make sure that Moss gets thrown the ball a certain number of times. The goal is to win and the Patriots have done that, convincingly.

Tom Brady said that, "I thought San Diego played extremely well. I think Jacksonville did a great job. I'm sure that Randy was a big point of emphasis. I'm sure for the Giants he'll be a big point of emphasis . . . but I never lose track of him." That's right, he never loses track of him. Look for Moss to go deep early and often in the Super Bowl because we all know that the Giants don't have the speed or talent to keep up with him.

And, just for fun, let's say that the Giants do limit Moss during the Super Bowl. Who's stopping Welker? Who's stopping Stallworth? Who's going to guard against Maroney, who's had a huge month? Who's going to keep track of Kevin Faulk and make sure he doesn't stick a dagger in your back when you're not looking? Who's going to keep track of Jabar Gaffney, who has caught some huge touchdowns for the Patriots this year? Who's going to stop Mike Vrabel when he lines up as a tight end? Did you know that the Patriots also have one of the best tight ends in all of football in Benjamin Watson? Who's going to guard Watson while the rest of the defense is running around like chickens with no heads trying to figure out if they should cover Moss deep or let him go in the hopes that it's a play designed for Welker coming over the middle? Pick your poison because this team has too many weapons to be stopped by a middle of the road defense. Case in point:



Now I know that you're thinking that the offense of the Patriots has trailed off recently and you know what? You're right. In their first nine games, they scored 355 points, which was by far the most in the league and nearly as many as the Giants scored the entire year. However, over their last nine games, including the playoff games against Jacksonville and San Diego, the Patriots scored 286 points, down significantly from their first nine games but still best in the league over that time frame. Know what else? Every single one of their last nine games was played outdoors, in the Northeast, where rain/sleet/snow/wind/cold played a factor in almost every game. Super Bowl XLII is being played in Arizona in a stadium with a retractable roof that features what the league is calling a fast track, meaning the speed of New England recievers is going to be put on full display. If I were the Giants, I would be afraid, very, very afraid.

So now that we've established that the Patriots have the much better quarterback, a better defense and a far superior offense, I'll be breaking down some intangibles in the next Super Bowl XLII Preview where I'll even make my pick and scoring prediction. Stay tuned.