_Patriots Sneak One

If you have not seen the Monday night game with the Bills Vs. the Patriots then you will need to know that the Pats are lucky.  Tom Brady had a pretty good game.  He threw for close to 400yds but until the last few minutes of the 4th quater his team was not leading in the most important category.  Points.

Here is my take.  First off it is week1, so I am not surprised by anything.  Secondly, Brady played in the preseason but has not played in ‘real’ over a year.  Sure he is tentative, nervous about his knee, rusty…but when it mattered the most he got the job done by getting 2 scores in under 2 minutes.

I am not concerned about Brady.  He is and will be fine.  His receivers need to ‘catch’ the ball.  But…there are ALOT of new faces on D.  No more Bruschi, Vrabel, Seau, Seymour etc.  Our corners are new, linebackers new and sprinkle in some rookies, it makes you not as sure was you once were.  The line is still solid, Jarvis Green, Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren are pretty damm good but it is the linebackers that were always our strength.  Adalius Thomas needs to step up and be a beast.  Jerod Mayo needs to keep being what he is..real good.

Let’s wait until week 4 before we make any judgements.

_Fantasy Football Draft Tonight

That is correct.  For year 9 I will be in yet another Fantasy Football League.  This year we will be using ESPN.  We moved away from FOX Sports which was one of the worst web leagues ever.  The content was pretty bad too.  So far we have been impressed with ESPN rankings and customization.  It is almost on par with the “pay” leagues like CBS.

I have 9th pick in the Snake Draft so I will be waiting a long time after my second pick.  That is my dilema.  I am going to grab a running

back (hopefully Drew is there still) then is it a QB or WR for second pick.  Who knows…

_I Want to be Michael Vick

Not really. That was supposed to be sarcastic. What I mean is, I still don’t understand what is happening with him. First let’s recap. Michael Vick explodes on the NFL scene as a premier player in the league. He has a world of talent and fame and fortune. He eventually get’s mixed up in a dog fighting ring that he is running and gets 2 years in jail and kicked out of the league during that time.

At the beginning of this summer his probation ends and the commissioner, Roger Goodell reinstates Vick. Vick gets picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles and now has a job again.

Here is where it gets tricky, I feel I am pretty talented and do great work. My co-workers like me and feel I am valuable. My company likes what I do and knows I can get it done. All of which can be said about Vick. Now, If I led a dog fighting ring, got arrested and put in jail for 2 years AND declared bankruptcy during that time, would my company or any company give me my job back? I am going to say no. I would think it would be pretty hard for me to climb back up the ladder again. But it was pretty easy for Vick.

Hey – I am all for second chances, especially when it is something stupid or preventable but it just makes me wonder how and why these guys get so much more treatment than us.

And now the NAACP is doing a ‘pro’ Vick rally? Why? What is unjust about Vick? Wrongfully convicted? No. He admitted it. Spent way too much time in jail? Not really, they let him out early. Wronged by the public? No again, he was able to get a job when he was on probation with a construction firm. Cannot get his old job back? No, again…he is on a team now. Why are they marching…in any case Vick got more than he deserved.

_A.J. Burnett Victim of Bad Hitting

A.J. Burnett started 25 games for the Yankees and he has a 10-7 record.  My big questions is 10 wins?  Really?  Carl Pavano has 11 wins.  Jamie Moyer who is 75 has 11 wins.

In Burnett’s 25 starts the team went 16-9.  So why does Burnett only have 10 wins..why not 16 or 15?  Let’s look at those no decisions with a result of a win.

In 3 of the 6 no decisions he left the game when it was tied and given up an average of 3 runs.  In the other 3 the team was down, at most, 2 runs and he still did not give up more than 3.  It is hard to tell what would of happened if he was left in with the ties, but there were 3 wins that were on the table.

Let’s look at the losses.  All of them.

First the no decisions losses.  There were only 2, one of which he gave up 8 runs the other 3.  The one he gave up 3 runs, the team was down by 3.

His straight up losses, he gave up 9, 3, 7, 1, 3, 5, 5.  Giving up 1 run and loosing…ouch.

In my estimation he had 3 ‘bad’ games.  The most recent against the BoSox giving up 8 runs.  The 9 run game against Boston early in the year, and a 7 run game against the Chicago White Sox in early August.

Not that bad.  I think pitchers are allowed a few ‘blow-outs’ it is just surprising that he only has 10 wins with a team that has so much offense.