Archive for December, 2008

Let’s cut right to the point, I hate Brett Favre. I always have hated Brett Favre. My wife actually has a scary level hate of Brett Favre which dates back to the Super Bowl that the Pats lost to the Packers. We were watching the game with a bunch of people rooting for Favre and the Packers, while there were about three of us rooting for the Pats. With every completion by Favre she got more and more irate. I knew my love for her was real right then and there.

But back to Brett Favre. I mean how bad was it having to root for that dude this afternoon and hoping that the Jets could pull one out for the Pats? I’d say it ranked up there with hoping the Yankees could win a game, or Kobe and the Lakers. You hate yourself for three hours because you want the mortal enemy to do well, but it’s supposed to serve the greater good, right.

But of course Favre didn’t come through. Worse yet he teased us so badly for the entirety of the game. When the Jets scored to open the second half I felt like maybe we had a chance, but of course it was not to be.

It was so fitting that he’d take the team down the field late in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie the game, and then throw a stupid interception to sew the game up for the Dolphins. How many times in the latter half of his career have we seen Favre make a stupid decision that cost his team the game. Of course most announcers will tell you that’s Brett being Brett, the riverboat gambler. He’s not afraid to make high-pressure plays, they say.

He’s a bad decision-maker, plain and simple. He has been for a long time. Sure Brett Favre has a cannon arm and the ability to do things that few on the planet could, but he’s spent the last six or seven years hucking the ball up for grabs in bad spots, and it is quite appropriate that if that’s his final NFL game (we probably won’t know until August because he’ll draw out the process, which means countless SportsCenter stories over the next six months) that it ended with him throwing a stupid pick.

As for our Patriots, it’s hard to be angry with a team that won 11 games and took its last four in a row. Sure they could have won a couple of more, but if you win 11 games you usually get in. This is only the second time in the history of the NFL that a team has gone 11-5 and missed the playoffs.

Matt Cassell exceeded all of our expectations. The team overcame a ton of injuries to be in a position to make the postseason. I have no ill will towards the Pats. They did the job they were supposed to do, and did it better than I thought they would after Tom Brady went down with the knee injury. When he got hurt I figured they’d be lucky to win 8.

Nope my ill will is reserved for Favre and the Jets. In the words of Danny Noonan’s girlfriend “thanks for nuttin.”

Welcome to the neighborhood Hank and Hal.

My goodness, the Yankees were determined to make a splash this offseason in preparation for breaking in their new digs in the Bronx, and have they ever. All day on Tuesday I had people asking me if “we’re getting Teixeira?”

Nope, the Yanks bought him and you can be sure that it will be a nice Christmas in the Tex household this year. PlayStation 3s and widescreens for everyone.

Teixeira wanted to play at home, in Baltimore, but $140 mill wasn’t enough for him or Scott Boras. The Yanks swept in at the last minute and out-bid everyone and bought themselves a gold glover with a great bat. It hurts if you’re a Red Sox fan, and if you’re reading this chances are you probably are, but let’s not hand the division title to the pinstripes just yet, okay.

My buddy Brian Guest, sitting up here in the press box at the FHS hockey game, made a nice point. The Sox have proven that you don’t have to buy good players. The American League MVP made about $400K this year playing second base for your Red Sox.

On top of buying Teixeira the Yankees added CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett to their rotation. The three free agents cost them $424 million in salaries. That’s a hefty price, even for the Yankees. The Steinbrenners obviously didn’t like finishing behind everyone but Baltimore this year and are going to do all they can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Of course Sabathia is a cheeseburger or two shy of about 300 pounds, and he’s got his contract so he won’t be cutting back at the Sizzler buffet, and Burnett is about as durable as an 88 Datsun. The guy breaks down.

But we know the Yanks are playing for keeps. Spring training is only about six weeks away, and it can’t get here fast enough.

I know it’s been a while since I wrote anything, but this is a very insane time of year around these parts, and I’ve been using my idle time to infect my brain with gamma waves provided by gaming systems. For some reason a couple of days ago I got a hankering for some Madden Football. I hadn’t really busted out the PlayStation in quite some time, but I decided to break it out and play Madden NFL and it’s been quite addictive. The only problem is that the most recent version I have at the house is 2006, the one with Donovan McNabb gracing the cover, so I’ve had to make some upgrades to the Pats roster. I’ve created uber-Welker, traded my first round pick for Randy Moss and created a running back, Rye Maclone, who may be the next coming of Jim Brown.

The funny thing is the players I have on defense. I still have Asante Samuel, which is nice, but Ty Poole is the other corner. Rodney Harrison is in there, which is cool because it’s Rodney before he got caught using HGH. The linebacking group is a bit suspect as I have old Willie McGinnest, Chad Brown, Mike Vrabel and Ted Johnson. Somehow I lost Tedy Bruschi to free agency. Oh well.

So I spent all that time getting back into Madden and then we celebrated Christmas at my parents over the weekend. Much to my surprise I opened up a new Nintendo Wii, which is probably going to change my life. I’m addicted to the bowling game, it’s fantastic. I scored a 268 this morning, which is about 100 pins higher than I’ve ever gotten in real life. The boxing is fun, the tennis is a workout. The golf I’m not loving, but overall the Wii experience is pretty cool.

My brother already had the Wii. He got Madden as a gift and now I’m waiting for his report on the game before deciding to upgrade to the Wii version or stick with PlayStation. From looking at the manual with him it seems that Madden on the Wii is a lot of work. I’m guessing that I might be staying with Sony for that game, but time will tell.

In the meantime, I’ll be playing quite a lot of video games over the next few weeks before I get bored of them again. Until then, game on.

How many Red Sox hats do you own? Me, I own about four of them. I have the traditional blue one, a red one, a blue/white one and a green one (I’m Irish, what can I say). If you’re like me you’ve got a couple at least. Hey, we’re Red Sox fans, it’s what we do. I don’t like the New Era caps, because they sit too high on the head. Me, I prefer the Twins Enterprises Franchise caps. They feel better and look better.

It seems that all of my Red Sox hats are now outdated, though. The Sox made a horrible decision today, driven purely by the marketing department, to switch to the “hanging Sox” logo. What the heck?

For the entirety of my lifetime, and probably yours too, the Sox have had that distinct ‘B’ on the front of the cap. It looks professional. It’s classic, timeless.

Now that hat is gone for more than half the games, and they’re going to rock the hanging Sox. I hate the decision. H-A-T-E it.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate the “hanging Sox” logo. But it doesn’t belong on the front of the cap. It should be on the sleeves. It’s a secondary logo when it comes to the uniform. I could understand if they broke out the alternate caps for Sunday games, or something like that, but to make it a primary part of the uniform is a bad decision. It seems so bush league. They are the Boston Red Sox, one of the premier franchises in all of sports. That hat is a big part of their identity, and to muddy it by using another is a mistake.

I do like the new road unis. They remind me of the 1980s, with a little more style. They’re pretty sweet looking, actually. But the Red Sox hat should have been left alone. This is not a good thing.

I expect that there will be plenty of “Red Sox Nation” that’s pretty ticked about this whole thing. Time will tell, but marketing people often find ways to make things that work bad. New Coke anyone?

It might not have been pretty, but that was a nice job by the Patriots yesterday to escape Seattle with a win. Down 10 in the fourth quarter, and coming out with a win, yeah, we’ll take that. Great job by Wes Welker all day long as No. 83 shook off that cheap shot from last weekend to have a great game (12 catches). Cassell continues to develop, but like I said before, its going to be tough for him next year in Detroit.

Instead of going through everything, I implore you to check out my buddy Chris Price’s post at metrowest daily. Chris used to be the sports dude at the Barnstable Patriot and is a really nice guy. He also knows his stuff. It’s worth checking out.

Usually you’d be furious if you learned that one of the best players from your country had decided to play for another country in an international setting. If LeBron James somehow decided to follow some Spanish ancestry, we’d all go crazy. If Sid Crosby decided to play for the US instead of Canada in the Olympics you’d have a country full of crazed Canucks.

So why am I not angry that Alex Rodriguez has decided to play for the Dominican Republic instead of the United States? Probably because he’s A-Rod, a selfish (expletive of your choice) that I can’t stand rooting for.

That’s always been the hardest part of international competitions for me, rooting for guys that I usually can’t stand. It pained me to pump my fists when Kobe Bryant was landing huge three-pointers in the Olympics.

This is perfect though. We don’t have to say “Come on A-Rod, hit one outta the park” when he comes up in a big spot. And, on top of that, we all know that A-Rod shrinks into a AAA backup infielder when he’s up in a big spot, so this is truly addition by subtraction for Team USA.

And, if the Dominicans would like to keep him down there for all of 2009, I don’t think any of us would mind. Heck, there are probably millions of Yankees fan that would applaud them.

I mean, he’s always been a man without a country in terms of his fan base. Think about it, how many NY fans do you know that actually like him? You can probably count them on one hand, without straining your pinkie or thumb.

And perhaps the best part of this is that there’s a good chance that this could open up a spot for Kevin Youkilis to play third base for Team USA.

This is getting better all the time.

Two signings yesterday have to have local fans smiling. The first one made big news, Dustin Pedroia inked on for a long-term deal that will keep at Fenway for a long, long time and makes him a pretty rich dude. Well done Theo and Company. Pedroia The Destroia is someone that has more than proven his worth (hello MVP, Silver Slugger, Rookie Of the Year) and makes things go for the Sox.

The other deal inked wasn’t one that was for the long-term, but sure helps in the short term. Roosevelt Colvin is back in a Pats uni this week and will be trying to add to Matt Hasselbeck’s list of aches and pains on Sunday.

Colvin never lived up to the hype when he signed with the Pats, but he did help them win a ring and was very serviceable. He may not be the best pass coverage linebacker in the world, but he can get to the QB and is an okay run-stopper.

The signing was a good move because the Pats are so banged up at LB right now. Pierre Woods hurt his jaw on Sunday and backup Vince Redd, who I’ll admit I’d never even heard of before last weekend, also got hurt. Adalius Thomas is still on the mend and probably won’t play Sunday.

They needed someone and brought in a guy who knows the system and schemes. And he’s a pretty good dude to boot.

You gotta like both deals.

The National Hockey League is not what it used to be. If you’re like me, there’s a good chance that you have no idea who the top players on the west coast are, and couldn’t name more than one or two coaches in the league to save your life. Basically the NHL has left the front pages and is lucky to be in the sports section at all these days.

So if your league is publicity hungry why would you suspend one of your best players for inflammatory remarks, about his ex-girlfriend and the hockey player that is dating him? Especially when she is a public figure, arguably more famous than all but the top three-percent of your league?

Sean Avery, of the Dallas Stars, was suspended indefinitely yesterday for remarks pertaining to Elisha Cuthbert, who “24″ fans know as Jack Bauer’s daughter Kim, a girl that has a tendency to get herself into sticky situations. She may be the only character in the history of television to be stalked by a mountain lion.

Avery’s comments happened yesterday morning after the morning shootout around in Calgary. The Stars would go on to beat the Flames 3-1 last night.

“I’m really happy to be back in Calgary; I love Canada,” the Ontario native said. “I just want to comment on how it’s become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don’t know what that’s about, but enjoy the game tonight.” He then walked out of the locker room.

Avery’s ex-girlfriend, actress Elisha Cuthbert of the television show “24″ and the movie “Old School,” is dating Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf; she had been romantically linked to Mike Komisarek of the Montreal Canadiens. Avery also dated Rachel Hunter, the former Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model and actress who is now the girlfriend of Los Angeles Kings center Jarret Stoll.

For a league that needs an identity, and needs its players to be recognizable, suspending Avery is asinine. Here’s a guy that is setting himself up as the “Bad Guy,” a player that would sure to draw boos the second he steps on the ice in almost every city in the league. In pro wrestling parlance, he had gotten “cheap heat,” saying things that are certain to strike a chord with people and make them vocalize their disdain.

How is that a bad thing?

The NHL needs characters. They’ve got Sidney Crosby, the poster boy for the league, who is unquestionably a superstar and a joy to watch. But let’s face it, the majority of the rest of the elite players in the league are faceless Euros that may have plenty of style and skill, but lack cache and marketability.

What Avery said was not that bad, either. It was bottom shelf and low class, and probably not the type of thing that most people want to draw out into the public eye, but it’s not like he said anything misogynistic. What he did was basically take a shot at his ex, and another one at her current boyfriend. Big deal.

Guys have been doing that for as long men and women have been dating. Boy dates girl, couple breaks up, boy makes fun of girl’s new boyfriend. Heck I still take the occasional jibe at my wife’s ex, and they last dated when big hair and flannel shirts were all the rage.

The NHL is supposed to be a manly league in which tough guys play a physical sport and test their mettle each night on the ice. To suspend a player for a comment about his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend does nothing for the league except admit that it is trying to manage conflict and wussify a league that has already cut down on many of the physical confrontations that made it connect with its core base back in the day.

It’s pro sports, not first grade. Does the league improve if everyone plays nice?

Where to begin with the idiocy committed by one Plaxico Burress?

By now you know that the NY Giants star receiver shot himself in the leg, and as my boss pointed out, he’s quite lucky that the bullet didn’t stray a tad higher, although that may have done the world some good as it would have kept him from producing future Darwin Award winners.

Plax, who caught the game-winning TD for the NY Football Giants in the Super Bowl, went out with some buddies, including teammate Antonio Pierce, and grabbed a sidearm, and used his sweatpants as a holster, which according to Eagle One is never a good idea. EO also told me that most likely Mr. Burress was not strapped with a gat that included a safety, which is probably why he shot himself. As EO told me, what most likely occurred is that the gun slipped — because sweat pants aren’t equipped with much holding power — and he tried to grab the gun before it hit the floor and embarrassed him. But as he grabbed for it, he most likely grabbed the trigger and evacuated the chamber in his leg.

Ouch.

It’s just another case of a stupid athlete trying to keep up his street cred, and look what it got him, a trip to the hospital, a trip to the police station, a trip to court, and a trip to the Giants doghouse, oh, and a trip to Roger Goodell’s office in the near future where they will discuss his impending suspension from the league, which will cost him quite a bit of money.

The dude had recently signed a contract worth $21 million. Why is he going out with a gun? He thinks he looks tough? Well, if the gun’s just for protection, no one’s going to see it unless you draw it, right? And if you’re in a place that you might need to draw a weapon, why are you there in the first place?

It’s not like these guys can’t afford to hire a little muscle. An off-duty cop would offer protection for like $60-100 an hour. Sure that could be costly if you’re going out for like seven or eight hours, but how much is the suspension going to cost him? Let’s round things off, shall we. Twenty-one mill, divided by three years is $7 million per season, divided by 16 paychecks is a little under $500,000 per game, before taxes.

So the guy is probably taking home a little over $300,000 per week. Not bad work if you can find it, right.

So a couple of hundred to a cop to watch your back doesn’t sound so ridiculous does it? I mean, you’re going out and want to avoid your relaxation from making headlines. But instead you throw a pistol under the seat and then grab it before you head into the club.

A little common sense could save a lot of these guys a whole lot of headaches. Oh, and other aches too.