Now That The Hurricane is Over

I'm not sure about you but I could go without another storm for the rest of the year. I've been away covering Hurricane Rita and now it's time to get back to sports. Fortunately, since our last post, the Red Sox are now tied with The Yankees again and I'm ready for some football with The Patriots Facing The Steelers today.

With an ailing secondary, the Patriots are going to have to step it up if they want to come out of week 3 at 2 and 1. The Steelers are usually one of my favorite teams to play against during the season. I just happen to have plenty of friends and relatives from Steelers country and they seem to be about as rabid and loyal as ex-pat Red Sox fans anywhere outside of Boston.

My sense is that the Patriots will come out swinging and the Steelers will make them work for it. This game is going to come down to a FG or less but the Patriots will come out on top. My other predictions for the game?...Brady will be sacked in every quarter, Troy Brown will make a big play in at least 2 of his 3 areas of the game and Dillion will rush for a touchdown in the first half.

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The Panthers Did Not Win...

...the Pats just plain lost the game. Talk about sloppy play and just no real passion to win the game - which the panthers had plenty.

Where the New England Patriots out partying all week and the forgot to practice before the game? They just did not bring it for this loss. We're just not used to loosing anymore. Which is probably for the best that it's the second game of the season and will hopefully shame the Pats into getting keisters into gear.

And it was a bad day all around for Boston Sports with the Red Sox loss to Oakland keeping them only 1.5 games ahead of the Yankees.

On a separate note - I just love football season. Today was the first game I could just scream at the TV again - I, for example spent a few minutes screaming that variable did stripped the ball before Davis was down.

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Sox Playing it Close

No matter what David Hasehoff encountered on Baywatch one thing was for sure, his hair was always perfect. So it is with Johnny Damon. I know he is coming back from being hurt but regardless of his play, his hair...it sure looks great, doesn't it? Welcome back Johnny.

As for the Red Sox, I think it's going to be an up-and-down roller coaster for the remainder of the season. Tonight, the Red Sox will beat Oakland and loose the next game. It will come right down tot he wire and we'll love every second of it. And with the Yankees now within a game and half , what will this mean for the folks in Boston? Those last few games of the season against the Yankees at Fenway will be the hottest tickets in town! I will get them come hell or high-water.

If you want to see if there are tickets available for any of those games - start searching now before they go nuts as for price.

But moving forward to tonight we have, as many of you know, my favorite Red Sox player. Tim Wakefield will save the day and win it for them tonight. His control has been spot on and the A's should not show any way of learning how to crack that knuckleball code.


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Should I Start to Get Nervous?

When the Red Sox won last night in the extra innings tie break, I was nervously happy. It just feels like they are holding on by a thread right now. Now that the Yankees may have decided they know how to beat the Devil Rays with a 17-3 win in FL, it stings.

I've started the countdown to see if the Sox can squeak by and make it - but why? They Red Sox are in the lead right now. I think it is just my conditioning as a Boston Fan to think the worst event if your team right now is, on paper, in the lead. But with shaky, inconsistent pitching, who can blame me. Let's hope that Wells can deliver the bacon tonight.

And what's up with Foulke? I'm hoping he pulls a Schilling and finds his mojo again in one of his next appearances.

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Bledsoe Still Lives On....

Admit it...you still follow Bledsoe, you still love him.

It's very reminiscent of another key Boston Sports figure that had a flash of brilliance and meant something to the hordes of faithful in New England. Someone who, went placed in the US major leagues, never seemed to be able to seal the deal here in New England. Yet over the years we would still perk-up and listen to any news broadcast that mentions his name and pay attention. We would route for the ultimate scrappy under-dog in games against other teams. You know who I am referring to because he's playing for the Pats again this season...

Somehow, with Bledsoe, we'll always have the pre-championship era Patriots when DB made us believe that it could happen. The Patriots could win a championship and if the Pats could do it then maybe the Red Sox?

Special note for the younger generation - after the mid eighties, championships were hard to come by in New England and it was one of the things that united patriots and Red Sox fans alike!

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Do I have a Crystal Ball?

As I mentioned this morning, I thought that the result would be a 1 run game...and guess what the Yankees beat the Red Sox in a 1 run game. I did predict 2-1 for the Sox but my main prediction was that after a back-and-forth slop-fest for the Red Sox and Yankees the third game is always a 1 run affair.

If you were like me, you were screaming at the television in the 9th waiting for Rivera to give it up - close, but no cigar. I guess now we will have to go to regular baseball games.

It must really suck to pitch a career game with the most strikes in your career (11?) and still loose the game by a 1 run shut-out. In any case, Wake had a stellar game keeping the Yankees to a 1 run game. So did RJ, keeping the Sox to zip.

Wake's job today echoes my thought that he is one of the all time best Red Sox (at leasts modern era)...Again a topic I will pick up on another day.

Blogger for Word

On a separate note, I just found the Blogger for Word plugin, which would make posting so much easier - although I would suppose that I have to login to the web version to actually post pics with the blog.

I have a LiveJournal blog that I have begun using their MS application and it makes life so much easier.

Cheers!

The Schill is Back

How cool is it that Curt Schilling returns to power within the house that Ruth built? Had to listen to most of the game while driving yesterday but it worked out just the same.

The Red Sox beat the Yankees 9 - 2, which I did predict. I should have posted my prediction but if one of these teams beats the pants of the other in the first game of the season, the second game goes to the other in the same manner. Keeping with this theory, today will be a close game. I think it will be the Red Sox over the Yankees by 1. Probably even a low score (2 - 1).

And with Wakefield (who I think should be listed as one of the all-time greatest Sox, but that's a topic for a different day) and RJ on the mound, it should be a good game.

I did like the Red Cross stickers on the sides of the Red Sox batting helmets.

...I would not be opposed to having the Yanks win today (Sept. 11)

Strike One - Yanks Over Sox...a Sloppy Joe Fest

Ok the first game of the series has gone to the Yankees. I was hoping that David Wells would keep his power going and have a good showing in front of his old team but it looks like he was humbled by it.

To show you how fickle the media is, have you read today's Boston.com article Gaining Momentum? Just the title of this article is the problem...didn't the Yanks just get beat-up by Tampa Bay? The rest of the article mirrors what actually happened - the Red Sox were sloppy and gave this one away. Johnny Damon is too concerned about his hair and was probably thinking about changing conditioners when he made that pathetic error.

Anyway, despite of what I said about being over the rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees, this loss does pinch just a touch more than a loss to other teams and probably feels great to the fans in NYC.

Let's see how the game goes tonight?

Red Sox vs. Yankees...Not the Same as it used to be.

Now the focus switches from the New England Patriots season opener to the much under-anticipated Red Sox vs. The Yankees in the Bronx. Probably the best story is David Wells starting of the series for the Red Sox. However, as a Red Sox Fan, I have been struggling with an identity crisis all season long. Somehow the rivalry just just not have the same flare that it used to after the World Series win and the fact that the Red Sox lead in the standings.

The reason I bring it up is that the memory of being picked on by the Yankees fans when the tables were reversed is still acutely etched somewhere in my brain. Why is it that we in Red Sox nation do not feel the same need to run their noses in it they way we used to get it from them?

How many of us remember Yankees fans cheering "1918" or the Yankees game lead AT Fenway. I never liked the "Yankees Suck" cheer on our side. Partly because they did not (at least at the time) suck but because it did not capture the true essence of the rivalry - Yankees "Fans" Suck. Especially at the games, the Yankees fans seemed to establish their identity on the ability to easily drive a few hours and pick on us. You could easily get a Yankees fan to start drilling into stories of failure on the Sox part and, as the conversation would continue, they just could not let it go.

It will be interesting to see what the tone of the Yankees fan will be if the current standings hold. I myself will just enjoy where we are and look forward to October

Cheers!

Dave

30 - 20....We'll Take it!

Not a solid game by the Pat but we'll take the W. How pumped do you think Vince Wilfork is to have that interception and touchdown? Tom Brady had 306 yards in the air and 2 touchdowns!...I guess he's ok (at least according to the national press).

Good game (notice how I am not mentioning the red sox loss)

Dave
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Right Back at Ya'!!!! - Field Goal Pats

On the second drive of the game this Ben Watson (TE) is looking pretty good - especially on his second catch grabbing a good amount of yards after the catch!

Although just a FG.

Dave
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OH NO!!!!....It's Just the Start

The Oakland Raiders just scored a touch-down on a drive that made the Pats look foolish.

Could there be a correlation without Bruschi? The Pats look like a rusty nail up against a new hammmer. If I were a typical Boston fan I would already start picking on the PATS but this is just the first minutes of the season.

The next drive will be all PATS.

Dave
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A Little Over the Top...Too Much Lip synch

Ok, I admit it...I was impressed when the propped out Ozzy Osbourne for Crazy Train at the end of the show but to have no-less than 3 aging rockers is a bit much. The Rolling Stones were not bad, Santana (minus Rob Thomas) was good as well.

But all of the Lip Sync is getting very old and looks very silly. And while we are on it, did you notice the "crowd" that they had in front of Santana and Michelle Branch. How much do you think they paid them to bounce like that for 15 minutes.

It's starting to remind me of the NFL half-time shows of Old...again KAYNE.

Dave
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Are You Ready for Some Football!!!!!!

Waiting for the pats game to start tonight and watching the pre-game. BOOOO KANYE!!!! Ok - I has to get that out right away but I'm sure there's more than one of you out there thinking the same thing!

I'll check back during the game (or after) with thoughts

Dave
NFL Team Schedules on a Map
New England Patriots Schedule