The fact that Matt Walsh proved that he really didn't have anything new - much less a Rams walkthrough - won't be enough to stop the ignorant from flapping their gums.  Or clicking their fingers on the keyboard.

Harvey Araton of the Times can't possibly be this dense. I realize he's playing to the crowd, but c'mon. "Now that the “totality of conduct” for which Belichick was cited by Goodell has officially expanded to the length of his tenure in New England, shouldn’t he be further punished as a serial offender." Problem is there Harv, the league KNEW this when the discipline was meted out. Nothing new here. My goodness gracious, it makes my head spin. I think I would be far more tolerant if I really thought these people didn't get it - I'm having a hard time with the idiots that deliberately don't get it.

John Clayton has A perspective on the matter - I'm not so sure I buy the WHOLE perspective, but he's right generally. This was avoidable, but he makes Walsh seem like an unwitting dupe in the whole matter. This is was not. And he presents the issue as though it would have been much less controversial had Roger Goodell stated what Belichick had done, which would have been able to lead Walsh into a place where he could just say "nothing to see here."

Well, not exactly. The Patriots knew they were missing tapes - so Goodell did the only thing he could do: destroy that which was given him so that they could not be leaked out and be parsimonious with the details, just in case someone came up with tapes that demonstrated something OTHER than that which the Patriots had already admitted. Kind of like when you're watching Law & Order and they withhold information from the newspaper to see who the crackpots are vs. the people who have real information? Yeah, kind of like that.

While I'm on the subject of John Clayton (I'm not really, just happen to be talking about one of his articles is all), is it just me or does he bear a striking resemblance to the MASH character Frank "Ferret Face" Burns?

Frank Burns	John Clayton

Just sayin'

Each week, we tune in to watch our favorite NFL teams take to the gridiron to engage in 60 minutes of contained, controlled hand-to-hand combat. Some games are decided well before the last ticks of the clock. Others aren't decided even then. This is the story of the longest games in the history of the National Football League. As it happens, the longest games in NFL history are playoff games - during regular season action, a game remaining tied after a15-minute overtime ends in a tie. Since...

Read More "5 Longest NFL Games"

Rule 11, Section 5, Article 1, Paragraph c of the Official NFL Rule Book states, "The entire ball must pass through the goal. In case wind or other forces cause it to return through the goal, it must have struck the ground or some object or person before returning." In week 11 of the 2007 NFL season, we saw two such instances of a field goal attempt striking "some object" and returning through the goal. Instance 1: Cleveland Browns v. Baltimore Ravens The "New"...

Read More "When Is A Field Goal Attempt Good?"

Washington 72 - New York Giants 41 Dateline: Sunday, November 27, 1966. 50,439 pack the stands at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. 7-seconds remain in a 69-41 football game between the Washington Redskins and New York Giants. This was already the highest scoring game in professional football history. And it was about to get uglier. The most bizarre play of a most bizarre game came with 7-seconds remaining on 4th down, the Giants lined up on their 23 yard line. Quarterback Tom Kennedy apparently...

Read More "The NFL's Highest Scoring Game: November 27, 1966"

According to the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), the average career for an NFL player is about 3.5 seasons. A player can be injured, cut, or simply retire. The wear and tear of the game on the individual is great. Of NFL Players, kickers have the shortest average career length of the positions, yet of the three men who have the longest careers in the National Football, two were/are full time kickers and one...well, one was one of a kind, but was also a kicker among a great...

Read More "Football's Longest Careers"

Despite the relative labor peace and the long, sustained increase in the NFL’s popularity, the owners may be heading on a different tack. In February of this year, it was reported the Owners were considering opting out of the current collective bargaining agreement, which would put the league’s salary cap in jeopardy for the 2010 season due to their belief the arrangement agreed to in March 2006 has created a financially untenable situation for the league.

In 1993, the National Football League and its Players Association – the NFLPA – agreed to terms on a successor collective bargaining agreement that included a salary cap. In the years since, competitive balance in the league has changed such that season-to-season changes in the success of previously unsuccessful franchises has made for an increase in popularity of the game and league, which has had the effect of increasing revenues. Increased revenues – the criteria on which the salary cap is based – has led to increased player salaries.

At the time of the March 2006 agreement, the owners and players agreed to an increase in the sharing of qualified league revenues to 60%, ostensibly to maintain the salary cap. Now, it seems the League and some owners are publicly taking the position a salary cap is not absolutely necessary, although it is the preferred approach. The NFLPA, for its part, has said that if the salary cap is allowed to expire, it will never accept another. 

While the owners are publicly taking the position that the salary cap may not be that important, the NFLPA has some internal unrest upon which the owners are likely to be seizing. 

NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw is scheduled to leave office in 2010 with some apparent movement on his part to influence succession planning and with some internal dissention as to organizational status of some positions within the NFLPA.

Currently the Players Association is looking at the various scenarios which could be at play if/when the owners exercise the option to cancel the collective bargaining agreement: negotiating a successor agreement, strike vs. lock out, and decertification. If the players were to decertify the NFLPA as the exclusive bargaining agent of the players, the NFL could be in violation of anti-trust statutes.

The NFLPA has already decertified once in 1989, which led to player anti-trust suits and eventually to the 1993 collective bargaining agreement granting free agency rights in return for a salary cap.

The Tenneseean reports that Detroit, Oakland, Kansas City, Houston, New Orleans and New England are among those to have expressed at least some level of interest in...wait for it...Pacman Jones. I have but one word for New England, "No." I don't think I could be more emphatic. No. no. no no, no. This is not a Corey Dillon, this is not a Randy Moss. Both of these guys had their issues, for sure. Both of these guys came to Foxborough with baggage. I get that. Neither of these...

Read More "Just Say No to Pacman Fever"

By my account, there were 521 NFL Free Agents available at the start of the NFL Year on February 29, 2008. As of today, March 4, 2008, 135 of those players have been signed to contracts. When you consider there are about 1700 active players in the league at any one time, that's a lot of movement. Of the 11 franchised Free Agents, 10 will be back with the team that franchised him. Just after midnight on February 29, the Browns traded a second round pick to Green Bay for Corey Williams. Cleveland...

Read More "NFL Free Agency"

Super Bowl XLII: Prediction Accountability SUPER BOWL XLII February 3, 2008 University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale Arizona New England Patriots vs. New York Giants Prediction: My prediction: Patriots 31 - Giants 20. Final Score: Giants 17 –Patriots 14 In the end, all of the pieces that should have worked for the Patriots didn’t and all of the things the Giants needed to do to win, they did. And they didn’t even play “the perfect game.” If I read...

Read More "Super Bowl Prediction Accountability"

We know the locations of the next 3 Super Bowls: Tampa, Miami, and Arlington, TX. Up for grabs when the owners next meet in May – the location of Super Bowl XVLI in 2012. Bids are due April 1. Two cities have announced their intention to bid on the Super Bowl: Houston and Indianapolis. At least two more cities are likely to bid on the game.  The list of requirements for Super Bowl XVL included the host committee commitment to secure 27,000 hotel rooms, practice facilities...

Read More "Two Cities Bidding for Super Bowl XVLI"

The computer simulations are in and the New England Patriots have won Super Bowl XLII. Well, not exactly – the one that counts is played on Sunday, February 3, and everyone knows anything can happen.   The SportSims.net simulations were run 500,000 times. In the end, their prediction is Patriots 34 – Giants 24. The average number of points scored was Patriots 28.6 – Giants 20.3. In the 500,000 simulations, the Pats won 79% of the time: in the games...

Read More "The Sims are in: New England Wins"

How much does Tom Brady mean to the New England Patriots? The former 6th round draft pick – 199th overall in the 2000 NFL draft – came into a 2001 week 2 match up against the Jets when Drew Bledsoe was injured and the face of the Patriots was never the same. As noted by the Cold, Hard Football Facts, in the 14 seasons between 1987-2000 the Pats won 98 games of 232 – they were 95-128 in regular season play, and 3-6 in postseason including the run up to Super Bowl XXXI....

Read More "How Much Does Tom Brady Mean to the Patriots?"

Week 21. The Super Bowl. The apex of the NFL season. The Championship of the World on the line. This year, the stakes are higher than a trip to DisneyWorld: The Perfect Season, The World Championship, The Greatest Team Ever – the Patriots vs. Team of Destiny, Upstart, Spoiler – The Giants.  For a brief overview of the various rounds of the NFL playoffs on the road to the Super Bowl, my article "A Beginners Guide to the NFL" Playoffs"...

Read More "Super Bowl XLII: Pre-Game Look & Prediction"

I can see it now: sitting in my living room, reading a book, and all of a sudden a space station crashes through the roof. Crap. That’s gonna cost me. I can see it happening - Just before kick off, KERASH! Lands right on top of my HDTV. Suck. It’s a week now before Super Bowl XLII. This is the longest two weeks on any calendar. All I’m getting is falling satellites, reasons the Giantscan win, reasons the Pats can’t lose, Brady’s foot, Brady’s Girl,...

Read More "Tick Tick Tick - Is it kickoff yet?"

ABSTRACT The author posits that the type of name taken by a professional football team indicates chances of success in the Super Bowl. Based on a highly scientific methodology, the author demonstrates naming a football team for an animal limits opportunity to win an NFL title. Introduction Team nicknames have always interested me. In football, we root for teams with names such as “The Bears,” “The Giants,” or “The Raiders.” In baseball, a much more...

Read More "Team Name Type as Predictor of Super Bowl Victory"

Arriving at the Super Bowl is the apex of most professional football players’ careers.  The attendant hype with the biggest football game of the year is enough to distract even the most casual football fan, and these aren’t the people who participate in the game.   It can be enough to drive players into distraction and out of the game, and experience with distraction can be a competitive advantage.   Since 2001, the NFL has instituted a 2-week gap between...

Read More "Super Bowl Distractions & the Patriots"

Read More "Brady Bunch True Stories"

The New England Patriots were first to punch their ticket to Super Bowl XLII by virtue of the earlier start to the AFC Championship game and a 21-12 victory. AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME It was a cold day in Foxborough – 23 degrees – but no where as cold as it would be later on in Green Bay, Wisconsin where it would be -2 at gametime.  In what was expected to be an offensive slugfest, it was the defense that advanced the Patriots – holding the Chargers to 4-field goals and...

Read More "Road to Super Bowl XLII: Patriots"

The San Diego Chargers have advanced to the AFC Championship Game for the 9th time in their history, with the first 5 coming in their first 5 years in existence – from 1960 to 1965 in the then new American Football League’s championship.  They have won the game twice – once in 1963 to become the AFL’s League Champion, once in 1994 to go to their only Super Bowl.  In 1963, they defeated the Boston Patriots for their only title; in 1994 they were destroyed by the...

Read More "A Look at the AFC Championship Game"

The scene: Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough MA 4:00 PM AFC Championship Game Section 304, Row 11, Seat 23 The New England Patriots vs. The Jacksonville Jaguars The day before a friend gave me a call, "Hey, you wanna go to the game tomorrow?" uh.... yeah. I still have the ticket stub hanging on my wall in my man room, framed. Every time I head down the stairs, I see Bruce Armstrong, Chris Slade, Willie McGinnest, Ted Johnson and Pio Sagapolutele standing there, frozen in time on...

Read More "January 12, 1997"

I have a little habit not too many people know about. It’s not an addiction – I can most certainly control it. I’m not talking about hunting clothes nor those worn by monks or nuns. To cop one of the Wikipedia definitions, I refer to an act done repeatedly, sometimes for leisure. It’s not one of those odd little things we all do, but are completely unaware of – you know, like biting your finger nails, or tapping the table when making a point to...

Read More "It's a Habit Alright"

Week 19 of the NFL season kicks off on Saturday, January 12 with the Divisional Round of the playoffs. For a brief overview of the various rounds of the NFL playoffs on the road to the Super Bowl, my article "A Beginners Guide to the NFL Playoffs" should answer your questions. Before beginning with the Divisional Round Predictions, we'll start with accountability for the "Wild Card Weekend" predictions. National Football Conference (NFC) Games Giants at Buccaneers Prediction:...

Read More "Divisional Round Picks; Wild Card Accountability"

Perhaps a bit of overcompensation for having been noticeably quiet over the last week or so. Perhaps coming out of a personal sort of funk, perhaps just something of interest to write about. Dunno. Earlier, I talked about 16-0 not meaning much in the greater scheme of things. Apparently, someone decided that I was either hating on the Patriots (and anyone who knows anything about Mo's Tavern knows this is not the case) OR thought I prepping for a Giants win and trying to denigrate it...perhaps...

Read More "Anyone have Mercury Morris' Number? "

The New England Patriots - the team that I rooted for through 2-14 campaigns, 5-11, 1-15 - is on the brink of becoming not the worst team ever (as was so often the case in my younger days), but becoming the first team in NFL history to go 16-0 in the regular season. Okay, there was also the Miami Dolphins at 14-0. the 1948 Cleveland Browns (seems '48 was a good year to be a Cleveland fan went 15-0 in the AAFC, eh?). According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame the Browns were so good, fans...

Read More "Pats Going for 16-0"

The Miami Dolphins prevented tying the futility mark for an NFL season by winning an overtime game against the Baltimore Ravens, 22-16 in Week 15. The overtime period, of course, was instituted in 1974, to limit the occurrence of the dreaded tie game.  The New England Patriots, at the other end of the spectrum, became only the second team in NFL History to go 14-0, the first being the 1972 Miami Dolphins. In 1972, the season was a 14-games, so we’ll never know what the outcome...

Read More "NFL Week 15"

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the field (for it is in Foxborough that our scene lies), rattling along the luxury boxes, and fiercely agitating the flags on the uprights that struggled against the wintry mix. Holy smokes it was a nasty day today. There wasn't enough underarmor or compression shorts to keep the elements away. While Mrs. Mo and Toddler Mo were at the Tavern...

Read More "New England v Jets"

Bush league. A general term used to describe an action or thing as being amateur, inferior or crude.   Earlier this year, there was some controversy about A-Rod yelling something to the effect of "GOT IT" or whatever to the Toronto Blue Jays fielders.  People were bent out of shape because it was "bush league."  Amateur. Here's a "bush league" play that really makes you wonder. IN case you missed last Monday's football game, here’s...

Read More "Pats/Steelers: How Bush League is the Fallacy of the Predetermined Outcome?"

Unlike life at the online market, life at the Mo household is a little more complex. At the marketplace, we have an aluminum Festivus pole. At the Mo house, we have a Christmas Tree and a 150 years of ornaments with which to adorn it. (Okay, not really 150, but you get it). We used to get real trees, but a few years ago we went out and dropped a few bills on an artificial tree..."they" call it artificial, I call it "fake." Anyway, the thing I enjoy about Christmas,...

Read More "Christmas Cheer"

It seems Pittsburgh's Anthony Smith has guaranteed a win against New England - sort of. He's basically said he guarantees a win if they "come out and do what [they] got to do. [If] Both sides of the ball are rolling, and if [their] special teams come through for [them]" the Steelers "have a chance to win." Okay...he kind of starts of with a bold statement, then gets into truisms. Not a good idea. On the flip side, the Patriots took an unusual Wednesday day off. Belichick...

Read More "Patriots-Steelers"

“Streaks.” Wikipedia defines a winning streak in terms of three consecutive wins. Extending that logic when discussing streaks for winning seasons, the number would be three consecutive winning seasons. The undisputed king of professional football in terms of streaks for a winning season is the Dallas Cowboys. 20 consecutive seasons above .500. The next closest? The San Francisco 49ers with 16. The next closest active streak: the Denver Broncos with 7 and for that streak...

Read More "NFL Streaks & Streakers"

I've recently published several detailed articles on Associated Content on the history of the National Football League and the oddities that occur within the game.  For instance, a recent article dealt with the November 27, 1966 Redskins/Giants game in which 113 total points were scored and the circumstances under which the last 3 points of the game were scored.  Final score: Redskins 72 - Giants 41.  It was the single highest scoring game in NFL history and the highest score ever...

Read More "NFL Roundup"

This is probably the worst topic to write anything on, which is probably why I found precious little material. I mean, with a 72-41 game (Redskins-Giants) there's a boatload to write about. With a 3-0 game, what are you going to write? About the mud? Mud's the same anywhere, really. Might come in different colors, but I digress. Nope, the one thing to write about is how those lonely 3 points came to be. Then there's the last 0-0 tie in the NFL. Ugh, how many words are you going to get out...

Read More "3-0 Games in the NFL"

Week 12 of the 2007 NFL Season saw The New England Patriots became the earliest team to clinch their division since 1978, when the NFL went to a 16 game schedule. They went into their Sunday Night Football game already having clinched on the strength of a loss by the second place Buffalo Bills earlier in the day without having played a down of their Week 12 match up.  They clinched the AFC East with a record of 10-0.  At the end of the day, the Patriots sat at 11-0, after having...

Read More "Pats Clinch; What happened to the other 3 teams to clinch so soon?"

The Pats put on a clinic last night, winning 56-10. The criticism of running up the score continues. However, Brady was out of the game in the 4th quarter. I cannot think of any situation in which you start pulling your guys before the 4th quarter. I do try to maintain a level of class and dignity. I've invested a lot of emotional energy into teams that ultimately fail, and man do I hate having my nose rubbed in it. Stay classy in victory, keep moral high ground in defeat. I get upset...

Read More "56-10: What do you do?"

The Patriots - yes, the team that currently sits undefeated at 9-0 - is looking at the possibility of having, if not the first overall draft pick, a first round draft pick in the Top 5 slots.  Given that "Camera-gate" stripped the team of a first round pick if they make the playoffs (does anyone really think this won't happen), the question arises how is this possible? If they run the table and go 19-0, how could the best team in NFL History wind up with a Top 5 pick in the draft? It's...

Read More "Football: Draft Picks and Parity"

Excerpted from my Associated Content Article:

Parity.  This is a word we’ve grown accustomed to hearing regarding the National Football League.  The concept was simple: create a largely competitive league where any team could conceivably become champion.

For the sixteen years between 1982 (Super Bowl XVI) and 1997 (Super Bowl XXI), the National Football Conference (NFC) won all but one of the contests – 1984’s Super Bowl XVIII, when the Los Angeles (previously and once again, Oakland) Raiders smoked the Washington Redskins 38-9.   We saw 2 repeat Champions in that decade and a half – the San Francisco 49ers (Super Bowls XXIII, XXIV) and the Dallas Cowboys (Super Bowls XXVII, and XXVIII).  In fact, the only thing separating the Cowboys from stringing together 4 consecutive Super Bowls was that same San Francisco 49ers team – the 49ers went on to play in and win Super Bowl XXIX, while the Cowboys were back as champs the next year, 1996, in Super Bowl XXX.  During that period, the league saw only 4 champions who had not previously won.

For the complete article, please visit my Associated Content article.

The game is well in hand in the forth quarter – actually well before the second half has even started the score was 31-0.  In the fourth, not one but two touchdowns are thrown, and not some middling throws either – throws of 51 and 39 yards respectively.  The game ends 52-0.  In the two weeks previous, they had beaten their opponents 30-16 and 23-0.  The vanquished opponent had won 2 games up to that point and finished the season near the bottom of the NFL in...

Read More "* for an Undefeated Season??"

I’m curious to see what comes of this issue. Phil Simms noted at some point in the broadcast yesterday that the Colts fans raised the level at the appropriate times and lowered it appropriately, and suggested they had been "trained well."

The home team cannot post signs like “NOISE,” but apparently the squeaky clean Colts don’t have a problem with piping in artificial crowd noise…unless, of course, you call a defective disk a problem (why wouldn’t they use an MP3?? Now THAT’S Mickey Mouse).

Check THIS OUT or a nice video link is available on youtube.

The NFL wrote:

I wonder how come that little clip didn't wind up on the Indy Star. So Bill Polian and the Colts aren't really "GOOD" in the "Good vs. Evil" thing I guess; stay classy Indianapolis.

Also interesting that I can only find 1 mention of it on mainstream media. Although about an hour after having written that sentence (I've been working on this for a while), I’m seeing it everywhere: Yahoo, MSNBC…boy that’s sweet.

Now the fact is, the Fake Noise doesn’t really matter, but it also means that all that “good vs. evil” crap should probably stop. I don’t want to hear all kinds of stuff like the Colts should be fined, lose a draft pick, whatever. It’s just the Colts organization isn’t “winning with integrity” as some of the signs at the game would suggest. It means you can't say stuff like this and be taken seriously, or if you are going to say that stuff, you'd better be squeaky clean. It just gives ammo to jokers like me with my own little blog to poke at your morality balloon with a needle.

It’s really hard to feign moral outrage about this one, but it is quite easy to smirk about. (That's me, smirking).

I don’t want to hear anything about Harrison being gimpy. I didn’t hear that stuff when the Colts were up by 10 in the 4th quarter; I didn’t hear about it for the first 50 minutes. Then to hear Manning make that okay in postgame…it made me crazy. Here is the true story of the game, and it comes from Baltimore of all places:

David Steele wrote:

Mr. Steele also notes what I noted, “The Colts had two healthy wide receivers most of the game (no Marvin Harrison at all, no Anthony Gonzalez for most of it) and a backup protecting Peyton Manning's blind side, but for 50 minutes they made it work.” No complaining then. That’s just being sore.

The scene: an office in the recesses of Gillette Stadium, 4 AM Monday, October 22, 2007. An unnamed blogger hides undetected behind a ficus in the furthest corner of the room. This is what was revealed. The office window contrasts with its surrounds as it is the only light on in the stadium and in any stretch of Route 1 for miles in either direction. A group of 14 men, Mr. Belichick included, gather around a 30 cup coffee urn and are sitting on the upholstered furniture. They are clothed...

Read More "Patriots Planning Meeting for Redskins Game Revealed"

ll kinds of Patriot haters running wild today all over the message boards. I'm even reading stuff like, "I hope someone takes out Brady's knees." It's one thing to talk smack, it's another to advocate assault and battery. I've started to come around, I've been slowly convinced, that Belichick is running up scores in a bit of a Flying Fickle Finger of Fate, emphasis on finger, to the NFL. On the one hand I agree, "if you want to keep the score down, stop me." On the other,...

Read More "Are the Pats Running up the Score?"

"On any given Sunday..." the cliché goes, "any team can beat any other." In the cases of the following games illustrating that not only can any team beat any other, they can do it in the most interesting and inexplicable ways. And not just on Sunday, but any given Monday or Thursday, as the case may be. These are five improbable wins, with improbable circumstances and situations resulting in five memorable football games. There are 2 Monday Night Football Games, 1...

Read More "5 Ways to Lose in the NFL"

I've read a few things lately about the Pats that have gotten my dander up.   I get extremely riled up when someone born in 1986 tells me I'm on a bandwagon because I'm a Pats fan; in 1986 I was sitting on those aluminum benches while he was pooping his diapers. What gets me is just crap like all Pats fans are band wagoners, etc. So for giggles, I went back over a listserv archive I moderate and found the following set of posts. For those who wish to throw stones about Bandwagon...

Read More "On the Pats Bandwagon"

This football season marks a milestone – Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers passed Dan Marino’s National Football League (NFL) record for touchdowns thrown in a career, a record he had held since November 26, 1995 when he hit Keith Byars against the Indianapolis Colts.  Interestingly enough, Keith Byars caught the record breaking pass for most completions in a career as well five weeks earlier against the same Indianapolis Colts.

 
This article looks at the other three men making up the Top 5 list of most prolific touchdown passers; Fran Tarkenton, John Elway, and Warren Moon.

Well, this was one of the two games I expected the Patriots to lose this year – and this is one of the times I don’t mind being wrong. It was the first time I’ve picked against the Pats and I won’t be doing it again unless something goes dramatically wrong. Pencil me in with a “W” in the Pats for the rest of the year. I came out at the end of last weeks game wondering if the Pats were really that good or the Jets were that bad. I am now firmly on...

Read More "We Don't Need No Stinkin' Video"

Someone Else made me hip to this T-shirt. How cool is that? "Home of the Flaming Moe?" I'm not sure I know how to take that. Those in attendance at Mo's last weekend were confused by the Patriots wearing their home blues at the Meadowlands against the J-E-T-S. I think today I'll wear my alternate jersey - for my 31st Birthday, my dad gave me silver Drew Bledsoe jersey...first time I wore it was at the start of the 2001 season, just in time for Drew to get mauled by Mo Lewis....

Read More "Patriots Mojo"

No, I'm not talking about the historical event or "non event" as the case might be. I'm not talking about the fact I'm out of peanut butter. I'm not even talking about the fact it may wind up raining on pneumonia-pony's trip to Fenway. I am disappointed in some of the things I've read about the Pats and Belichick. For starters - everyone who reads this knows it - I'm disappointed in Belichick. I'm disappointed that the rules were broken. It casts a pall over the organization...

Read More "The Great Disapointment"

As I suggested yesterday, Belichick is not without a plan and there had to be an end game strategy there for the time if and when the camera was captured. The rule book apparently says that filming is not allowed of coaches and coordinators for use during the game. The defense, then, is that the film was not for use during the game. Okay, point taken. But according to the Boston Globe while NFL guidelines prohibit the use of any video recording device on the field for the use...

Read More ""Beligate" Analysis and a Rant"

Man, I hate having to be intellectually consistent when it means taking to task one of my favorites, but on the other hand I hold these two points to be true: 1) American professional sports are closed corporations, with each team a franchise of the larger corporation. This is tantamount to cheering for the McDonalds on the East bound side of the Massachusetts turnpike to outperform the McDonalds on the West bound side. 2) Professionals do not get to declare success without accountability,...

Read More "Intellectual Consistency"

It’s back to work in earnest, this day after Labor Day. I hope and trust everyone had an enjoyable and safe holiday. It was a glorious day yesterday here in New England. It was a solid 75 degrees with something close to zero humidity. Made for a wonderful day to sit around doing nothing approximating “labor.” So what’s going on? If I told you there was a game last night between Boston and Toronto that ended 13-10, you might be forgiven in thinking the Boston Patriots...

Read More "Sox & Pats Chatter"

Well, since a fortune cookie espousing Sun Tsu has set my mind at ease regarding the Red Sox, I can set my mind to worrying about the Patriots. My plan was to write some smack mouth, trash talk about how if the Pats don't go 14-2 I'll be disappointed and all that. But this post is to call out one of my favorite players. I've been quite vocal calling out Leonard Little, Tank Johnson, Pacman Jones, Shawne Merriman and JR Smith. All quite easy for me, given I have little to no emotionally invested...

Read More "Rodney Harrison's Mea Culpa"

A man with raw physical gifts transformed himself into a gold medialist in the Olympics and a Super Bowl Champion died young - almost without recognition from the sport he played for 11 seasons. To this day he holds Dallas Cowboy receiving records and possesses career numbers that should have found him in the Professional Football Hall of Fame. Yet, the NFL effectively disowned him and the sport effectively forgot the man. Save for a fleeting display of honor granted him by the Dallas Cowboys...

Read More "The Tragic Story of Bullet Bob Hayes"

As we begin the start of the 2007 football season, we should harken back almost 80 years to remember the NFL Champion.  In today's NFL, we have The Steelers, Ravens, Jaguars, Raiders, and Panthers. There are teams in Pittsburgh, Miami, Houston, and Indianapolis. Imagine if you will a time where the monikers were Maroons, Legion, Stapletons, Jeffersons, Bulldogs and Steam Roller and the host cities were Kenosha and Racine Wisconsin, Rochester New York, and Canton Ohio...and Providence, Rhode...

Read More "The Providence Steam Roller - 1928 NFL Champions"

It is official. Drew Bledsoe is pulling the plug on his NFL Career. While not entirely surprising – Drew is known for a certain degree of pride and he has been clear that if he could not be a starter, he was not going to play – it is a bittersweet day for this New England Patriots fan. Let me explain why. In my opinion, Drew Bledsoe is one of the three most important characters in the history of the New England franchise. He may not be a hall of fame quarterback, but what he did...

Read More "Drew Bledsoe Retires"

According to the Seattle Post Inteligencer, Seahawks Tight End Jerramy Stevens was arrested for DUI and possession of marijuana in Scottsdale, Arizona. He reportedly stated he had “four or five margaritas.” According to the report, he weighs 265 pounds. Now, according to intox.com (a DUI lawyers website), if he had 4 margaritas in an hour, his blood alcohol content would be 0.061. By this measure, in most states a person can be convicted of driving under the influence at this...

Read More "A Guy Looking For a Deal, A Guy Who Doesn't Like The Deal He's Got"

Nothing important happened today.... Scene I: Buffalo New York Staff Member: "I'm working on next month's Oscar nominations, any preference?" Cancer Man: "I couldn't care less. What I don't want to see is the Bills winning the Super Bowl. As long as I'm alive, that doesn't happen." Staff Member: "Could be tough sir, Buffalo wants it bad." Cancer Man: "So did the Soviets in '80." Staff Member: "What are you saying, you rigged...

Read More "Musings of an NFL Blog Writing Man..."

"Commander. The earth repopulation program has begun... Yes, it does seem Mr. Brady's deal with Mr. Scratch has been altered somewhat, perhaps due to some erratic payments. We have commenced an accelerated payment schedule and the plan will be much more smooth going forward....No sir, we have not confirmed that Anna Nicole Smith's baby is actually Mr. Brady's.

However, everything else is going according to plan, sir. To increase his exposure, we have put him in the spotlight off the field as well. This will be certain to have even more of the female humans desiring him. 

It will not be long, sir, before the entire American continent will be entirely populated with Brady Super Soldiers . It will be then when our plan comes to fruition....yes, indeed sir. The United States of Brady does have a certain ring....

I must terminate this message. The Syndicate is watching. The truth is out there...."

For all you sad sacks sitting there just now realizing today is not only February 14, 2007, but it is also...um, how do you say it? Oh yes...VALENTINE'S DAY, I have got some helpful hints for you. Of course, if you actually make the time to read that link, you've got issues, pal, and you may just want to file the info away for next year. Set up a reminder in Outlook, sync it up with your BlackBerry or Palm pilot with a yearly reccurence with at least a 24 hour reminder. Can't fail...unless you...

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This is Mo reporting from just outside Mo’s. It’s been an adventure here at Mo’s Superbowl Media Day! Earlier we were evacuated due to the Turner Broadcasting System conducting a guerrilla marketing campaign around the place. It turns out there were hoax devices planted in the men’s room and in the gift shop advertising “My Boys” on opposite the Superbowl. In a statement just released by TBS, they “regret any misunderstanding" that their...

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The Patriots lost three days ago and I'm finding it hard to move forward.  For sure, there's plenty of things to do at work and, of course, there is the rest of life to live, but there is this empty little hole where in Patriots Super Bowl frenzy should be.  Alas...nothing. A little disheartening.  I looked at the injury report earlier in the week and had seen Troy Brown listed as "doubtful" because of the flu, and I had my questions - this is actually, you know, contagious,...

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Greetings, this is Mo and we’re here at Mo’s  where Coach Belichick will be making his annual “State of the Patriots Nation” speech. Today’s speech will likely discuss several aspects of the Coach’s vision for next season as well as how his vision for this past season played out. Of specific interest will be his discussion of the “Guest Receiver” program trotted out this year or of the “NPLB” or “No Punter Left Behind”...

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On my TSN Blog, I'm running a "group prognostication" for this weekends NFL Championship games, based on The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations by James Surowiecki, and specifically the opening anecdote: Francis Galton's 1906 visit to a county fair in which the crowd accurately guessed the butchered or the "slaughtered and dressed" weight of an ox when their individual...

Read More "Adam Vinatieri vs. The Patriots "System""

Well, I’m sitting at my notebook, watching Jeopardy (which, by the way, I totally scored on final Jeopardy – I knew Defense was the only federal department not to use the “.gov” TLD) and my cell rings. “Private Number.” Mrs. Mo says, “Just answer it,” so I do. Some guy is looking for (get this….wait for it….) “LEFTY.” LEFTY! Ack! People are actually called “Lefty”? Needless to say this was a wrong number, but apparently my cell isn’t too far off from Lefty’s. As long as I don’t get a subpoena...

Read More "Call for Lefty, Saving Money, The Borg, and More"

So the Patriots have advanced to the AFC Championship game and currently stand at 14-4.  The Patriots quietly returned despite the talk this year that they are no longer an elite team in the NFL or that the men running the team have allowed arrogance to catch up with them.  David Givens signed with the Tennessee Titans after getting a boatload more money than the Pats were offering.  Deion Branch demanded to be traded when the Patriots offered decent money, but refused...

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          From NFL.COM: The San Diego Chargers gave Tom Brady one chance too many, and that’s exactly what the three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback needed. Brady and the New England Patriots shocked league MVP LaDainian Tomlinson and the Chargers on Sunday, winning 24-21 to move within one win of their fourth Super Bowl trip in six seasons. The Patriots will play the Indianapolis Colts next Sunday at 6:30 in Indianapolis for the AFC Championship...

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So the Colts get a chance to suck the life out of Baltimore again.  Before the largest crowd ever in Baltimore, the Indianapolis Colts wiped the Baltimore Ravens out of the playoffs 12-6.  In what could have been a exorcism for the city, and for the new generation of Baltimore football fans, history beckoned and came back to haunt the old school Baltimore football fans.  I can imagine there being a significant dichotomy in the city between those probably about 38...

Read More "Ravens Fail to Excorcise Ghosts of 1984"

Refered by Boston Sports Media Watch, I found John Tomase's Boston Herald piece discussing the Patriots against "young" QB's - operationally defined here as having less than 3 years of experience - that haven't fared well against the Patriots over the last 5 years:   "Twenty-two times over the last five years a quarterback with fewer than three years experience has faced the Patriots for the first time. The Pats have won 17 of those games, including six...

Read More "Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics"

The New England Patriots have been a dominant team in a league of parity over the last ten years, and certainly the most over the last 5-6. A lot of that is on the line this weekend when they travel to San Diego for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. The last time the Pats played the Chargers (last year) they were shellacked 41-17. The first time the Pats played San Diego in a playoff game was the 1964 AFL championship game. That didn’t end well for the Patriots. The only time the...

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The Playoff football this weekend was a bit of a mixed bag. The Seahawks/Cowboys game demonstrated that the NFC may have reached parity, but I have to say it looked a lot more like mediocrity. The Indianapolis/Kansas City game was one of the most boring, and dare I say worst coached games I've seen in a long time. The New England/New York game, however, was a very good game from my perspective. Okay, so I'm a homer, I make no excuses on that, but I think New England demonstrated that they...

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