Five Good Scoring Drives

No, my blog has not been hijacked, well, not in any sort of harmful way (that post has been deleted, I'll give you 2 guesses as to who wrote it).
Well, I've been away ever since I said I was going to the Bruins game, and yes they have a propensity to going to overtime but the game didn't last until today, i've just been lazy apparently. But to make that up to my loyal readers (or reader?), I've decided to give you more than 10 minutes today, I'll give you the entire Pats game with my running journal. It turns out to be five good scoring drives...

12:50 pm
A few quick thoughts to start out before the game: Is Meghan going to watch? After a morning of doing nothing I think the collective boredom level is already high and the two of us planted on the couch for 3 hours doesn't seem to hold a lot of potential. Potential for what you may ask? Just potential. Also, I hate being sick. Today is the first day of my cold. I've had 3 days of a morning/evening cold, and now today is the first day of the whole day cold. And the windows are open because something smells funny (I hope its not me...) but i can't smell because of the cold, and now i am physically cold, and this is all getting quite not to the point of the football game ahead...

12:52 pm
Calling today's game: Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorff. Oh, I'm sure we're gonna be in for a couple doozies by the end of the game.
The Pats are playing without Eugene Wilson, Asante Samuel or Rodney Harrison. That'd be like the Red Sox having to play with relief pitchers in the outfield. I hate this. I hate the idea of losing a 3rd game in a row, to a bad team, just because we don't have a secondary.

12:55 pm
Brady v Farve is being hyped before the game. At least it isn't a week of Brady/Manning, but shouldn't the real story be "Can Farve Remove the Fork From His Back?" Sure Green Bay has 3 wins in its last for games, but this guy is more well done then Tom (the Turkey, not the quarterback) will be on Thursday.

1:00 pm
Meghan enters the room. Peyton Manning appears on her TV. Meghan leaves the room...

1:05 pm
Just an idea, but what about naming a trophy after Troy Brown? I mean, I know he's not one of the all time greats, that he'll never have the best wide receiver award named after him, but what about a trophy to the guy how each year goes above and beyond the call of duty? The NFL should seriously consider this.
The NHL has an award for best Defensive Offenseman. It generally goes to a quasi-defensive offenseman who should have scored more goals during the year so the league gives him an 'atta boy pat on the ass and the Selke award. So even if the NFL doesn't like my idea for the award because no one else plays like Troy Brown, they could just give it to a guy who should have had more yards and TDs that year, but dropped to many passes, and they'll give him the trophy because he was a nice guy and had some nice blocks on bootlegs and screen plays. This year the award should naturally go to Troy Brown, but I'm sure the league will see it fit to give it to Hines Ward.
On a completely unrelated noted, why did the Pats take a time out before a PUNT???

1:07 pm
This week on David Letterman: Dave's Mom!!
Wait, she's still alive?? Put her down on your 2007 people who won't outlast the year list.
Oh, and the Pats had too many men on the field. Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2006-2007 Boston Bruins! Er...

1:10 pm
FUMBLE! But the Pats got it back. Let's hope they're just getting it out of their systems...

1:12 pm
4th down, 1 yard for the 1st down, 2 yards for the TD...
Go... Go... GO!
Brady play action and TOUCHDOWN! Nice play, 7-0 Pats.

1:16 pm
Here's a question, what can you get at Staples that you can't get somewhere else? Higher prices? Really, what is the point of staples? I mean i know it has all of your office supplies, so its quasi-convenient, but isn't it just a little crazy to pay their prices for paper when its cheaper at Target, or their prices for electronics when they're cheaper at Best Buy? And why do they always have that random aisle that has corporate sized snack boxes on one side? Does anyone go into staples thinking, Jeez, I really need a 5 pound tin of popcorn? Please, if you've recently had a necessity that was satisfied only by staples, tell me about it, because i just don't get it.

1:20 pm
Meghan and I get a good look at the new Playstation 3. Freaky commercial, the thing is like bleeding graphics. But I think Sony is NUTS, they have the most popular system ever (the PS2) and they threw everything out the window with a $600 system that they spent 3 billion dollars developing the processor for and are losing $300 a unit for all 400,000 that made it to the states. And they have yet to prove to me that they haven't put something in it that will eventually blow up, ala their laptop batteries. If you want a new system, and the 360 isn't for you (there's no shortage there), then get the Wii. You'll have more fun.

1:28 pm
Brady just ran for 8 yards but didn't get the first down. Meghan follows this up with her usual "They Suck", which is the perfect way to defend yourself from being disappointed (or at least REALLY disappointed) at the end of a loss. But I can't do that. I'm not wired that way. Oh, she's chosen to exit, again.

1:30 pm
The Pats secondary is hurting, and it looks it, but they're holding.

1:34 pm
The talking heads on TV always mention the quarterbacks "progressions", where the QB will check and see if their receivers are open. Well, I don't usually see that, but on this play, I literally saw Brady check off on 2 or 3 receivers from his right to left before throwing it to the open man on the left. Nice play. Lots of time to get the ball away.

1:35 pm
Meghan re-enters to see the Pats run an unsuccessful Flea-Flicker. "What was that?" She asks. "A Flea Flicker," I respond, "where they hand the ball off, then the runner flips it back to the quarterback and they pass it". She considers this for a moment. With a disapproving look on her face, she simply states "It didn't work". I'll be sure to remind Bill this week when I run into him at the store. Just a heads up, Patriots, don't run plays that don't work. Meghan disapproves.

1:38 pm
After a Corey Dillion fumble, he is redeemed by a GB missed field goal. I don't have anything interesting to say about this, I'm just happy for him.

1:42 pm
The end of the first quarter. At this rate they'll be finishing this one up at 5:00. I don't think the network would appreciate that...
And through 1 quarter, not a single John Mellencamp sighting. OH HAPPY DAY!

1:46 pm
The Pats just had Maroney lined up at the QB spot and Brady lined up at Wide Receiver, before adjusting and going back to a "normal" formation. That was the sound of NE hospitals seeing a 10,000% increase in heat attacks this weekend.

1:47 pm
In case you are wondering, Meghan is bored (I'm still mildly entertained). The Pats go for it on fourth down. They make it, again. Dan Dierdorff says that he loves the quick snap on 4th down, because it catches the defense off guard". He also enjoys poetry and long walks on the beach and would be happy to meet you in the woods of Blue Hills for a "rendezvous" on your lunch hour if you're interested.

1:48 pm
Two guys that have recently fumbled for the Pats (Gabriel and Dillon) haven't been allowed to play. I'd hate to work for Bill Belichick, I'm pretty sure he'd bench the towel boy if the towels weren't folded properly.

1:52 pm
Mike Vrabel catches the nicest non-reception of the year, almost for a touchdown. Pretty, pretty play. He gets the Reverse-Troy-Brown award.

2:03 pm
1 hour. Still no Mellencamp...
there's hope...

2:06 pm
The Packers commit a "Neutral Zone Infraction". This helps the Pats, but sparks the ire of the Romulans.

2:14 pm
Farve sucks today, but they've been talking a lot about his ailments. Luckily they haven't said he was "probable for the game with an ankle"... I hate the way they do that now. But I was thinking about being sick, and if I call out, how I could tell my boss that I'm "Out with a cold"... and then I realized that that sentence made sense and I'd have to exaggerate and say "I'm out with a flu". There, that's better.

2:17 pm
Ladies and Gentlemen, Meghan has left the building! Where has she gone you may ask? She didn't say. I wish I could take bets on this. Shopping for shoes was high on the list until she said she'd be gone for only 15 minutes... now all bets are off.

2:19 pm
Touchdown Patriots! Beautiful play by Reche Caldwell from Tom Brady. 21-0 Pats.

2:22 pm
Dan Dierdoff just said that the "Middle of the field is the Patriots bugaboo". WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN????
Still no Mellencamp, but we have a Peyton Manning commercial... blah.

2:25 pm
Meghan is back. In unrelated news Green Bay got its second first down of the day. Ouch.

2:27 pm
Farve just got knocked out of the game. It was like watching the fall of Cesar... he got hit, and hit again. Et Tu, Bruschi?

2:32 pm
Halftime!! Finally!! Talking with Vallone... his superbowl of suckiness approaches with Black Friday this week. Everyone say a small prayer for him.

2:47 pm
Games back, and Meghan's making cookies from scratch! Woo hoo! I wish I could be on the chances of getting a beater to lick the batter off of. I'd bet against though... maybe make some money on my misfortune.

2:57 pm
Charlie Rogers of GB wears Brady's number... #12. I'm surprised that Dierdorff didn't call it his "Mojo-juju" or some other insane term.

3:02 pm
I'm officially bored.

3:04 pm
A small bit of excitement when Greg Gumble calls Bruchi "Ted". Meghan disagrees with this act. I'm scared and hide behind a throw pillow...

3:08 pm
2 hours and counting, still no Mellencamp. It would ruin my day at this point...

3:13 pm
I wonder if Maroney and his mom argue about cutting his hair so that no one pulls it. I can see an NFL mom being worried about this sort of thing. Yes, that's where my thoughts have taken me at this point...

3:14 pm
TOUCHDOWN! Nice catch by Watson.

3:15 pm
I may not be able to smell much, but i can tell you the cookies are baking!!!

3:17 pm
Meghan is perplexed that its still only the 3rd quarter. For someone who routinely yells at the TV during a Pats game, this is the most worked up she's gotten all game. Its just that sort of day.

3:20 pm
Meghan makes a great point about Dunkies... if you really have an "alarm clock catastrophe" like in the ad, is the best place to be STANDING IN LINE FOR 20 MINUTES AT DUNKIES???
I didn't think so either.

3:26 pm
ANOTHER FUMBLE? SWEET MERCY.

3:36 pm
Kevin Faulk receiving a punt. In the immortal words of Matt Vallone... Don't Fumble Don't Fumble Don't Fumble

3:38 pm
Maroney TD! He took the pants off the defender without even touching him. That was a GREAT move.

3:43 pm
Gumble mentions the potential. Yep, we're screwed.

3:46 pm
Ladies and Gentlemen, Matt Cassel!

3:49 pm
We get an in depth discussion about the Patriots offensive line, Tom Brady, and facial hair. If you didn't know the score and just turned the game on, you might be inclined to think this is a blowout.

3:51 pm
The Pats finally FORCE a fumble. Amen. Nice, nice, nice day by the defense. They get to keep their nearly-cursed shutout.

3:55 pm
Ladies and Gentlemen, Vinny Testaverde! When was the last time you saw a game with FIVE quarterbacks??

Well, that's it. Maybe it was a boring kind of Pats game, but a 35-0 win, well, "It Works", in the words of my Father in Law. Now its time to find a way to cure the collective boredom.

Things to ramble about on Hump Day when you aren't Humping

Yes, I missed yesterday. It apparently took 4 days before i missed one. And you probably didn't miss anything.
A few random thoughts as that's all i've got:

1) Matt Vallone has an interesting post on his blog about what the Dems should do now that they're in power, a sort of priority list. nhdemocrat.blogspot.com. Cool if you can read PoliGeek. But it makes sense.

2) I hate the MBTA. It can suck me. And I know that 1 million people in the greater boston region feel the same way, so i'm preaching to the choir on this one, but it really does suck. I'm sick of paying $2 a day to park, and then over $125 a month to ride an overcrowded train for 20 minutes each way, when the conductors don't do their job and there are frequent delays. All of this is bad enough without the rate hike, but the rate hike just basically solidifies their positions as the biggest douches in the universe. Well, they're close.

3) If I came off as seeming that I thought I watched some of the best shows on tv with my list the other night, I sincerely apologize, as that was not intended (I don't think I came off that way but i'm covering all my bases). There are some shows that I wish I had gotten in on the ground floor, and instead I don't watch them at all, with the notion that I will watch them on DVD one day. These shows include:
The Office
CSI: (which I'm now two seasons through)
The Sopranos (I've watched about 3 seasons but its a long time ago now)
... among others. I just like the little schedule that I have for shows these days.

4) I have a slight addiction to The Colbert Report right now.

5) I haven't been feeding my coffee addiction this week. And my coffee addiction has been kicking my ass for it.
5a) Back when I worked at Fidelity, Sebastians, the catering business they owned, operated the coffee shopee type thingy there as well as the caf, and it served Seattles Best coffee. For sheer energy the double iced mocha was one of the best ways to get through a long day. Today I was dragging, and I knew that even a turbo iced at Dunkies wouldn't suffice, so I made the ultimate betrayal, I went to starbucks (lacking a Seattles Best stand) and got an (single) iced mocha there. It saved my day and probably my job.
5b) It was good. I feel like Judas.

6) Meghan scored Bruins tickets for tomorrow night. SWEET! I can't wait to go. You'll probably have to listen to me drone on about the Bruins tomorrow (or Friday, if I decide to skip another day...)

7) BC v. Maryland is meaningless this weekend without and Wake Forest L. I never thought that that sentence would be printed, but there it is. I'm now going to slam my head against the desk.

Happy Humping.

Justice Gets Served

So growing up I watched a lot of TV. And I didn't do a lot of homework (my friend Katheryn can attest to this for the first 15 years of my life, and I'm sure anyone that knew me senior year can vouch for at least the second half of the statement...). I probably shouldn't have watched so much TV, so many cartoons, so many TGIF shows, so many "late" nights trying to catch Cheers when I was really young, but I did.
Well, my TV watching has certainly changed over the years. I watch the networks so seldom, I kind of forget that they exist outside of the world of the Simpsons and Family Guy and sports. But they do.
Why do I mention this?
Because I've been watching them again. I've finally remembered them.
Meghan and I don't have HBO (which, after having it for a couple years in Manchvegas, I learned has some of the best programming available), so I've dedicated myself to a few shows. It probably all began when everyone was infatuated with CSI: (and I suppose still are), and I wanted to get in on it; Meghan and I got into Numb3rs on CBS. Thats right, Numb3rs, I'm not ashamed to type it. I love it. Its possibly the best show on television. No, not possibly, it is. And you have to know me, and Numb3rs, to understand that statement.
The next season I devoted myself to Prison Break. I was 2 for 2.
And going WAY back to junior year, I watched quasi-network shows with Meghan like Gilmore Girls (ok, well, not 'like' Gilmore Girls, just Gilmore Girls. She would rope me in for an episode or two). I was roped into the OC and Greys in much the same way - I don't know how, but just watch a couple episodes of any of these and you'll realize there's something to like. Most of the time...
This season, I gave two shows fliers - the absolutely fantastic Studio 60, and the now cancelled Justice.
I'll talk about Studio 60 some other time; it deserves my time and full attention.
Justice is not allotted much of either, except this:

Justice, I will not miss you. I gave you 2 more episodes then Meghan did, and that was 4 too many. You were just plain awful.

This was a show that basically displayed the reason that I hated network tv for so long; no, not being shameless and filthy (that's why I LOATHED network TV for so long), I just hated network tv for being formulaic. Justice was so predictable, and boring, and stupid, I was quite surprised that it didn't get cancelled sooner. Everything about it made me want to like it, and everything about it made me hate it. Goodbye Justice. Forever. I hope i don't see you in Best Buy as "Justice - the Complete Series" - you don't deserve it. Even if one of your main characters was a clone of Ian, or the other way around.

So we're left with:

Monday - Prison Break (My Show), Studio 60 (Meghan & I, usually DVR'ed for being on so late)
Tuesday - Gilmore Girls (Meghan - I'm usually watching the Bruins)
Wednesday - Once Justice, now a midweek void
Thursday - Ugly Betty (Meghan, certainly not me. Not my cup of Spanish Fly), Grey's Anatomy (Meghan's show, my guilty pleasure)
Friday - Numb3rs
Saturday - Come on, I have to party one day a week, right? heh...
Sunday - Simpsons/Family Guy, if I catch it (and I should more often)

Yep, I officially watch network TV again. Just not on Wednesday nights.


I've run over my allotted time by 2 minutes... and its probably cutting into one of my shows, gotta run.

Sunday's Not-So-Best

Meghan and I were down in Taunton @ Target today when I got a call I didn't think I would - it was her dad, offering me a ticket to the Pats game today. At 1. It was 11:30. I had to get from Taunton to Canton to Quincy so we could make it to Foxboro in an hour and a half. Well, he might pick me up... but that wasn't the important part...
He has a friend that takes his clients to the Pats games through season tickets, and when the clients back out of a game last minute, he takes Bill. So already the line of succession to getting these tickets is a bit long, but you have to consider that I'm not exactly at the top of Bill's list (rightfully so) - well he got tickets last week too and took Michael (Meghan's brother) and this week he was taking his friend Kevin, but an extra ticket was allocated apparently... so I became the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the last, least likely person to find themselves in the presidency... or at least going to the Pats game with hella good seats (mind you on a rainy day).
I drove like the dickens to get home. I had to make this game. I haven't been to a Pats game since Foxboro stadium with my brother Paul. I think it was in 95 or 96 (at the latest), dunno exactly when, but it was a long time. I was really excited.
When I got in the door to get ready to go, I got the opposite of "The Call" (when you find out an hour before hand that you are getting tickets), I found out that the client had called back begging to go... Bill, Kevin and I were all out of luck.
From the dry comfort of my own living room Meghan and I got to watch the Pats falter. Again. This is getting annoying. Really, really annoying. I mean losing to the Colts is one thing, losing to the Jets is a whole other. Still, there's the chance we can go 7-1 in the division and 12-4 on the season, and that'd be fine by me. That's playoffs in this league.
But the whole day left a bad taste in my mouth. It sucks when everything is looking up, way up, for just a few minutes, and then the whole day falters. Oh well. Tomorrow is a new day.

Grades for this week:

Pats Offense:
Brady C - again he was WAY to inconsistent
Dillon/Maroney B - Solid game, but it didn't go to them enough
Receivers B - Played a decent game, but its not like the old core
O-Line D - They got injured and played poorly, letting too many men through
Defense D - You can't let the Jets play like that against you, not at all
Belichick Dg - his grading is a bit different - G is the best (god), then Dg (demi-god), and L (Lombardi). And Finally dG (not Dg), for Denny Green.

And just in case he ever forgets that he can fall to dG status, "The Jets are who we thought they were, and we let them off the damn hook".

Saturday Morning

This has to be about the best Saturday morning in a while. Meghan doesn't have class, so we slept in, and now ok we have to get the cars worked on (Meghan's needs brakes and mine needs an oil change) but really, its been relaxing. Tonight we're going to see BC beat up on Duke. Too bad they lost last week, this game would be a lot better if next week's meant something, but i guess either way its the Dukies. And they suck (and their Lacrosse players are bad people. To put it nicely).

From last night's theme of Way-To-Be-With-The0-Times, we finally saw The Departed. Wow. Just, wow. Very good. I'm sure you've seen it, but in case you haven't i won't say anything about it except wow. Or as Meghan put it, "That was a STUPID movie". I hope that gives you an idea of how good I thought it was...

For those studying for the SAT, or GMAT, or similar standardized test:

Denny was to Grey's Anatomy as:

a) Rutgers is to the BCS
b) Oliver was to the OC
c) Andrew Laney is to Black
d) Healthy is to my present Coffee Addiction

The correct answer is B, btw. Because both Denny and Oliver are in the past, where as my coffee addiction is real and present, and Rutgers is still slutty and winning football games, and yes, Andrew Laney really isn't black, but it just doesn't fit. Oh well.

Song thats playing while I type this: Breathe by Fabulous. Got to love ITunes when its not on shuffle. You hear some interesting things when the songs play in order and you go from Evanescence to Fabulous. I'm pretty sure John Foggerty is next. Well, maybe not...

What I'm really doing right now is avoiding having to go clean out my car before going to jiffy lube. I really don't want to do that. I have a blanket in my car from when we went up to NH a month ago, and Halloween costumes from two weeks ago, yeah, its a huge mess.

PS... Down with Deval. Down I say.

Ten Good Minutes

As you probably know, I've tried to blog before, and I've usually failed. This probably makes Andrew Laney happy, but really, this is the kid that didn't get a cell phone until he was like 84 years old (and that's in human years, not andrew laney years, where he'd actually be like 453). Well, I'll try a new approach here, instead of long ramblings whenever the muse strikes me, I'll try to give you 10 good minutes... I'd like to say daily, but really, just as often as I can. And yes, you might have to listen to me talk about hockey once in a while, but i'll try to keep it to a minimum, as well as other things i'm prone to ramble about, like talking about my blog. We won't have an overriding theme here, is basically the gist of what i'm trying to say. Being a jack of all subjects, a master of none is the main idea of what i'm trying to convey. Ok, I'll stop ripping off the family guy now...

of course, as some of you may point out, mainly Vallone, that 10 good minutes is really just a ripoff of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, and its segment 5 Good Minutes, where the hosts stop arguing and interview someone relevant for 5 minutes. Well, yes, if this is a ripoff, than be it so. But I figured I'd declare it now before you called me out on it.

Other than that, I don't have much to say. Meghan and I are off to see the Departed tonight, I'm looking forward to it. I think pretty much everyone has seen it at this point, so i'm a late bloomer here, but thats ok. I hear its on the Boondock Saints side of goodness.

Now for something completely different - apparently the Red Sox might be the highest bidder for that pitcher in Japan that's supposed to be really, really good. Well, great. We bid up to $45 million dollars just to spend $100 million dollars. That'd be like... well, i don't know if there even is an analogy for that. Its just crazy. don't get me wrong, i'm happy about having a great pitcher in Boston, but can you imagine spending $40 million on the right to maybe spend a lot more, or otherwise prevent the Yankees for doing so? Does anyone remember 2004? We're still in the 5 year grace period people.

A note to those who are not: Watch Studio 60. Please. Its a really good show, and often times talks about how good shows get cancelled and bad shows stay on the air, when that may be the case for the show itself. Please watch it, it is good. Please.

I'll admit, I'm watching the OC again. I quit after that weekend a couple years ago (can you believe that its on season 4??). Meghan made me commit, she said it was going to be good again and it actually is. For me its like the last two seasons never happened, a) because they sucked, and b) because I saw maybe 4 episodes from them total. If you liked season 1, go watch the new season. All you need to know is that Marissa is dead, and Ryan is still brooding, and that they're still all 30 years older in real life then on tv. Great stuff.

Song I'm digging right now: Wet Sand by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Talk about a late bloomer to that album... wow. If you haven't heard it, give it a listen, Stadium Arcadium. I'm sure 90% of people that would like it heard it 6 months ago, and the other 10% heard it a month later when they were told about it, but if for some reason you've been living under a rock for half a year, go listen.

Times up. See you soon. Or so we think...