Beantown Sports Guys

Does America care about soccer?

How sad is it that the New England Revolution just played in their third Championship game, and it seemed as if no one cared?

Even more sad, it’s because we really don’t.

Soccer isn’t an American made sport, it’s history goes back much further than our country’s. I don’t know if it will ever reach the height it is in other countries, but it could if we embraced it.

MLS recently created a rule called the David Beckham Rule which allows teams to have salary caps, but a “special cap” for overseas superstars like Beckham and Ronaldinho. This cap is basically an open cap so the MLS teams can attract high priced star players and fill more seats in the stadiums. It’s a good way to attract more fans to the game I think, especially since there are so many rabid fans around the world. Sometimes getting tickets overseas for a game costs more than flying over here to see an MLS game with their favorite star. That won’t always be the case, but it’s a certainly great marketing angle.

Would it have been nice to have another New England sports championship? Sure it would. Especially for owner Bob Kraft, easily the best most down to earth owner for any sports franchise in any sport.

A lot of people thought the 3^rd time would be the charm, but it wasn’t. Maybe next year? We’ll see but will we even notice?

Winning the lottery...?

It’s not breaking news that the Red Sox won the bid at a whopping $51.1 million to try and sign Japanese Seibu Lions pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. It’s reportedly $10 million more than the next closest club, and I’m not shocked the Yankees didn’t try to trump it.

Position players and pitchers from foreign countries are many times hit or miss. The last time the Yankees went hard after a foreign pitcher they went up against the Sox and “won” by getting Jose Contreras. He never reached the level with the Yankees he has with the White Sox. Perhaps all that media pressure got to him, and he went on to be the man in Chitown. A lot of pitchers. Foreign and domestic, that come to New York respond the same way. Look at Jeff Weaver, going from New York and landing in St. Louis to lead the Cardinals to a World Series Championship. Look at Hideki Irabu. Look at Kaz Matsui.

On the other side of the coin, look at Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, and Tadahito Iguchi. You get both kinds, and that isn’t just from foreign players, you get the same results with guys that are stars in the minors and we expect them to be stellar in the big leagues and they just can’t transition and handle it. It’s a shame, especially when you think about it in the context that this is what they have built their lives around and for.

Rewind back to Matsuzaka. Do I think that Over $51 million is a good price. Personally, I was shocked that bidding went over $25 million, so this is a pretty hefty price tag that will come with considerable expectation. Coupled with the fact that Scott Boras is his agent makes matters a bit more tenuous to boot.

He can throw 5 pitches extremely well, including the mysteriously famed gyroball that comes over the top and swoops in on right handed hitters. He can top over 100 mph. He’s thrown over 16 complete games, including one where he pitched 11 innings and threw 150 pitches. Because of the lack of traditional pitch counts in Japan, some are concerned about wear and tear on his shoulder. He’s still young, but highly experienced. At 26, Boras will be looking to get the Sox on the hook for a 3 year deal so he’ll be a free agent before he is 30. I’m sorry, but when a team is on the hook for over $51 million just for the bidding rights, you need a 4 year deal with a 5 year team option, but that is just me.

With this kid coming in, teamed with Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Jonathan Papelbon, and the mighty sturdy Wakefield (when we hit for him) we could have the best pitching staff in the major leagues. Time will tell though, let’s just hope the Sox and Boras can punch out a contract that is fair and good for both parties so I can rush to the store and buy a Matsuzaka shirt.

You Can Always Go Home

Bob Kraft is quite the owner. He’s responsive, he’s decisive, he’s deliberate. He responded quickly to moaning and groaning about the state of his football stadium’s field. Everyone knew it was “grass” that in parts was painted green. Unfortunately, the color green does not make it sturdier, more stable footing. It’s all about the sod.

And for that, Kraft made a huge decision in almost no time at all: converting from natural grass to FieldTurf.

This may not seem like a monumental decision, but it is. Kraft is an old school football fan, a purest in many forms. But the oldest form of a football fan is winning, and he’ll do just about anything to keep that happening.

As I write this, the Patriots field looks like a barren wasteland. All the grass is gone, bulldozed out, and the FieldTurf will be installed before their next home game against the mighty Chicago Bears on November 26^th.

If you’ve ever played on FieldTurf, it’s a dream. It’s a little bouncy, which surprisingly is good for preventing injuries. If your leg is trapped under a pile, rather than getting stuck in one spot, you have a little more flexibility with the Turf than grass or even it’s very nasty and evil predecessor AstroTurf.

The differences between AstroTurf and FieldTurf are astounding The skinny of it is AstroTurf is basically green carpet that is rolled over a thin (and I mean thin) layer of foam, which is laid onto concrete. It looks like the turf you play mini golf on and feels just like a brillo pad when you are tackled on it. It leaves everlasting scars on you like you wouldn’t believe. This turf is never in one giant sheet, there are seams. If you catch a seam with your cleat, you can get what is called Turf Toe. This is an excruciating injury, as basically it is a major toe stub where you almost fold your big toe in half. This is a result of bad turf. You can get it on grass fields as well, it’s just an injury guys would get but they never had a common name for it, hence Turf Toe.

In many instances, FieldTurf can come in one giant sheet. Not all the time, but it does, and the minor seams it can have are nothing like the AstroTurf. The blades of “grass” on it are about an inch and a half long, dark green, and the field is filled with tiny rubber pellets that cushion the entire field. Being tackled on it actually feels a hell of a lot better than on regular grass, and slower players are faster on it with a little extra spring to their step and faster players are even faster. It’s a product that can withstand the test of time, weather, and anything else you can throw at it. It’s been installed around the country in over 2200 parks, stadiums, and fields. It’s an amazing product.

It’s not called homefield advantage if you aren’t winning on it and can barely run on it. Kraft listened and responded. If even a quarter of any major sports teams owners responded the way Bob Kraft does, sports as a whole would be much better off.

Getting back the aura

I was watching ESPN the other day and Michael Irvin was asked if he thought the Patriots have lost their aura, and he said he thinks they had. After watching the Jets game this past weekend, I am inclined to agree…but that doesn’t have to be a terrible thing.

You see, the Patriots could easily be undefeated this season. All 3 losses are at home, a place where they could do no wrong at one point for 22 straight games. All 3 losses were games that could have been won. They lost to Denver on a couple blown coverages and just couldn’t seem to get much going but they weren’t blown out.

Against the Colts, Adam Vinatieri missed a game winning field goal, giving the Patriots one more shot at upsetting the mighty undefeated Colts and ruining their game. It never happened, as Brady over threw a short Kevin Faulk who tipped the ball up just like when you practice tip drills and Cato June sealed the deal with a untimely and highly costly interception.

Just this past weekend against the Jets, it looked like the Pats were out of it, and they scored a TD in 31 seconds. They held the Jets to a punt, and got the ball back, only to have a 3 man pass rushing unit somehow force Brady to fumble, ending the game.

These were all winnable games that the Pats previously would have relished as they walked off the field victorious. So what is the difference this year?

As Michael Irvin would say, they lost their aura.

But they can get it back. They need to scratch and crawl back and take control of teams they should beat, and beat teams they shouldn’t be beating. They need to do it with all 53 players and coaches, playing and competing as one cohesive unit. When they do that, they will win those games again and get their aura back.

If you don’t believe me, just look at the Bears and Colts right now. Look at their games, and you’ll see plenty both teams should have lost, but right now, they have the aura, and that is the most powerful thing to have.

Patriots Superbowl bound again thanks to Brady’s performance against Colts?

The Colts beat the Patriots last night. Let’s get this out in the open and out of the way:

It’s not the end of the world.

We had 5 turnovers, and still had a shot at the end. Every year we have won the Superbowl, Tom Brady has thrown 4 INTs in a regular season game. It just took him to midway through the season to get it out of his system.

His timing with the receivers seemed to have been getting a lot better in Minnesota. Our running game has been a notch below outstanding. Everyone knows the Colts have a porous run defense, so why did we stop running the ball in the 2^nd half?

To tell you the truth, I have no idea.

We could have easily set the pass up with our run, as it was there, and Maroney was starting to show his flashes of speed and escapablity. Dillon was pounding the ball and the Colts had a tough time stopping him. Do I think Dillon fumbled? I don’t. His wrist and elbow were both down on the ground, even if you believe his knee didn’t hit the grass.

At times, Brady looked out of sync, but I’m find with that, as long as it happens now and not in January.

Our defense was average to above average, and the entire game was lost on field position. The Colts special teams came to play and we couldn’t stop their return men. At one point, Larry Izzo bit it, landed on the ground after he went for the wedge, and got up, only to run downfield and be the 2^nd guy to catch the ball carrier. Talk about hustle and instincts and angles of pursuit. We just needed to execute a lot better in all aspects.

The Colts really don’t have many challenges ahead of them. They have Buffalo, Dallas, Philly, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Cincy, Houston, and Miami. Sure, just about any of those teams could beat them, but Jacksonville looks to be the most likely, and if Dallas can get it together they could as well. Philly has been playing awful lately, and even though Miami beat the Bears, it was Chicago’s time to lose.

The Pats don’t have a rough schedule either, as they play the Jets, Packers, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Houston, Jacksonville, and Tennessee. Slightly more difficult than Indy’s schedule because of Chicago, but I can’t see them doing worse than 12-4 for the season.

A lot of people talk about walk-up call games. This should be one of them. The Patriots have what it takes to win another Superbowl this year, they just need to put the pieces together, and one of the biggest pieces on the squad is Rodney Harrison. Seeing him go out with an arm injury made my stomach flip. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious and he’ll be back this week against the Jets, as the Pats are an astounding 46-6 with Rodney and a mere 9-7 without him.

I won’t go into detail about how wrong it looks to have Adam Vinatieri not only in a different uniform, but in that God awful Colts uni. He may have given us 3 Superbowl wins on his right foot, but that doesn’t mean he is going to get too many Christmas cards from New Englanders.

In the end, this game matters about as much as a preseason game. The Patriots don’t need homefield advantage to win in the playoffs. Just look at our regular season record: 6-2. Where were those two losses? At home. Sure it’d be nice to bring a warm weather or dome team to Foxboro in subzero temperatures, but good teams don’t need to rely on the weather or anything else to get them to the big game. I’m sure Peyton Manning would give up all of his stats and wins (2 and counting) against the Patriots for just one of our rings.

But he can’t, and he’ll have to go through the Patriots to get one it looks like.

Sorry again, Peyton. See you in January.

Throw in the towel?

Is it too early to give up on the Bruins this season?

They have a whopping 4 wins, supposedly cleaned house, got their man in the GM chair and behind the bench calling the shots, and brought in some scorers and rough and tough defenders.

Sure, it will take some time to gel, but the Bruins don’t just lose, they lose in high fashion. The other night they were up 3 goals with 8 minutes left in the game, and sure enough they let up 3 goals, and lose it in a shootout.

Since the shootout was brought as an OT killer, the Bruins seem to have lost at least 90% of them, maybe more. I just know as soon as it goes to a shootout, the B’s better hope and pray the goalie falls on his ass or the other team can’t find the net.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Bruins, I’ll always root for them, I’ll always go to their games when someone offers me tickets. They are always entertaining to watch, and hockey is a fantastic sport. It’s just disheartening to hear all this buzz about new coaches, GM, players, and have to wonder why Joe Thornton, the face of your franchise, is playing on the other coast. There’s just something innately wrong with that.

Garnett to the Celtics? Why not?

Every year the Celtics gear up, I get excited. I always like our chances, no matter what castoff we seem to get from another team (ie: Vin Baker, Tom Gugliotta, and company to name a couple).

For once I’d love to see the C’s pull off a blockbuster trade.

I love how young the C’s are with Rondo, Telfair, Al Jeff, and Kendrick, but Wally and Pierce aren’t getting any younger. Ainge needs to somehow make a deal that McHale can’t refuse and pry Kevin Garnett away from him. Send him Theo Ratliff, Al Jeff, and Tony Allen, and cash. We’d have a proven big man with guys that can score, and some fast break kids that can control the floor.

I’ve never been so enamored in what a player could do for the Celts in a realistic manner, other than Tim Duncan. Garnett has always been on a team that has a lot of shooters, but not necessarily good shooters. Wally and Pierce give him that. He’s never been on a team, where if ignored, his point guards can score at will and even rebound. Delonte could give him that.

Don’t confuse what I’m saying: yes, we’re raw, we’re young, but we’re talented. In Doc We Trust, right? We have to expect Rivers to pull this together, and I can’t see him having a good time with it all without a proven big man pulling double teams left and right, and opening up the floor.

Maybe it’s a pipe dream, but this rumor pops up every year, and why wouldn’t it, especially with Ainge and McHale being such good buddies. They’ve helped each other out on draft day, so why not help each other out again?

Seems logical to me, especially since Red was the kind of guy that loved big men controlling the floor. That is the kind of player he gravitated to, one that could pull defenders, score, rebound, do whatever it takes. I’d like to think that Red would have loved Garnett in Celtic green.

Things to get off my chest

I have a list of things that have no real category, but more of the 'things i need to get off my chest nature'.

• I cannot stand how the NFL has turned into the No Fun League. I think the celebrations in the endzone are funny, creative, and brings the players closer to the fans. As long as they are not offensive or in a direct taunting manner to the opposition, I see no issue with this.
  
  
• I cannot stand when a player makes one normal, run of the mill play, and celebrates like he just had his first baby. Act like you have done it before. This isn't about scoring a TD, this is primarily about guys that tackle a guy for a 5 yard gain and jump up and down as if he made a play that forced the other team into 3rd and 50. Seriously. We don't need to see you jumping up and down after every single play. Score a TD, and then celebrate.
  
  
• I am sick and tired of receivers that cannot catch balls that I know I could. Could I play in the NFL? Probably not. But you can be damned sure if I was in the NFL I wouldn't let balls that hit both my hands just get tipped into the hands of the defender, or slap into their hands and drop to the ground. You are getting paid to play a kids game, so at least make it look like you're trying to do your job.
  
  
• I have never understood the "Wide Receiver that is really fast but just can't catch a ball" syndrome. Every single team has one of these guys. For the Patriots it's Reche Caldwell. No one is afraid of the guy stretching the field, because everyone knows he can't catch the ball. I guarantee if you picked any NFL team, you would easily find one of these guys on each and every single team. Guaranteed.
  
  
• Someone needs to explain this rule to me, because I've gone over it 1000 times with my good buddy James, who plays football with me: if a running back plows into the endzone, as soon as the tip of the ball breaks the plane, it is a TD, and if he doesn't maintain control of it after, that is fine; however, if a player catches the ball on the sideline (including the endzone sideline), has the ball controlled, both feet in bounds, falls out of bounds, and loses it when he hits the ground, it is ruled an incomplete pass. So let me get this straight, you need to have control of the ball after you fall out of bounds? For how long? I've never understood this rule, I don't think I ever will.
  
  
• One more thing that makes me insane is when a team scores and they come back from commercial break, they show the team kickoff (all of 4 seconds) and then immediately go back into another commercial. Seriously, how about we just wait extra long during the first TV timeout? Totally mind numbing.
  
  
• I wish cable TV would allow you on a weekly basis to pick and choose the games you see on TV. If they are showing 3 games, you get to pick any 3 games during those time slots. I just hate seeing games where you have two teams that are 1-5 or 2-9 "battle" it out. Just doesn't make much sense to me.

These are just a handful of the things that confuse me or drive me up a wall on a weekly basis. The NFL seems to be the only sport that has such a long list, as I can't really think of too many off the top of my head for baseball or basketball.

That said, the NFL season is a lot more fun to watch in my opinion, but you can always make a good product better, right?

A quiet cog in the wheel we call Patriots Nation

Troy Brown quietly became the leading all-time receiver for the New England Patriots tonight against the Indianapolis Colts. He's done everything that has been asked of him on the field, any role we've needed him in. He's been a go to guy when the going gets tough, and some games he is barely noticeable...

...but he's there.

His presence is always felt. Because when he is missing, that is truly when he is noticed.

Troy Brown is the consummate professional: he never takes a play off, always steps up to the task and does everything the coaching staff needs from him, be it the slot receiver, returning punts, or even playing an entire game as a defensive back. Occasionally he will now help our secondary out as Nickelback, but for an entire season he was the man in there. He played both ways and was constantly on the field.

For that very reason, I am proud to wear my Troy Brown jersey. He's not the flashiest player, he doesn't command double teams, and he's not the biggest receiver on the field, ever.

But he always stands out. Because that is who Troy Brown is. He's gone from being Drew Bledsoe's go to receiver when Ben Coates left, and he is the safety valve for Tom Brady when he can't find the open man. He always goes to Troy when he needs an outlet, because troy wills himself open.

In his 14th year, Troy Brown still looks like a kid playing street ball, with those big eyes and an even bigger smile to go with them. He almost seems timeless, and makes me proud to be a Patriots fan.

The NFL would be a better league if even 1% of the guys that suited up on Sundays were like Troy Brown.

Then again, maybe that's why he is so special.