Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff
Isn’t life a you-know-what?
For whatever reason, Bill Belichick can barely stand the sight of Eric Mangini. Their post-game handshakes, especially after disciple has beaten mentor, are as warm and fuzzy as an Academy Awards show where Jennifer Aniston would be forced to congratulate Angelina Jolie on her Oscar.
So in perhaps the irony of ironies, “The Genius” needs “Manginius” this weekend to help secure the Patriots place in the playoffs for a sixth consecutive year. The formula is really quite simple: to get the final Wild-Card slot, New England needs to beat Buffalo (very likely) and have Baltimore lose against Jacksonville (not very likely). But to win the AFC East AND host a playoff game, the Pats need that same win over the Bills and the Jets to beat Miami at The Meadowlands.
Fortunately for the Patriots, the Jets will have something to play for either way. Even with a New England win in their 1pm game against the Bills, New York could sneak into the Wild Card slot by beating the Dolphins and having the Ravens lose to the Jaguars in contests that kickoff at 4:15pm. Imagine if Mangini and company had nothing to gain by winning, while knowing full well a tank job against the Fins would cost Belichick and the boys a post-season berth?
What would you give to have a spy camera in place for that pre-game speech!
Admit it…you’d feel a lot more confident in the Jets squishing the fish if Brett Favre wasn’t around to throw the ball up for grabs 5-10 times a game. Honestly, I know the guy’s a first-ballot selection based on the numbers, but has there ever been a Hall of Famer who makes so many careless throws in life and death situations? Seriously, there are third-string high school Quarterbacks who wouldn’t dream of making such boneheaded plays.
The man who brought down Junior Seau on the Gillette Stadium sideline during the Arizona game showed more interest in tackling a Patriots player than the Cardinals did all day.
You have to hand it to the NFL. The league sure does have its priorities in order. There are players drawing paychecks who shoot themselves with guns, make it rain in strip joints and sucker-punch their chaperones in bathroom stalls. Yet Wes Welker draws a penalty for making a snow angel after a touchdown.
Right about now, Scott Boras must feel like the guy at the World Series of Poker tournament who went “all in” while sporting an off-suit 9 and 4. The Red Sox and Angels called his Mark Teixeira bluff on the Flop, and unless the Orioles or Yankees deal him a straight on the Turn and the River, the uber-agent will look mighty foolish.
Of course, what does Boras care? He’s only playing with Mark Teixeira’s money.
I’m afraid Patrice Bergeron is going to join Pat LaFontaine and Eric Lindros on the list of NHL stars who saw their careers cut short by concussion. Unlike LaFontaine and Lindros, however, the talented Bruins forward might never get to realize his potential and become a household name across North America.
There isn’t a boys basketball team in the Merrimack Valley Conference, or maybe the entire state, that can touch Central Catholic this year.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
Agreed on the Favre thing but if he doesn't watch himself Tony Romo is going to join Brett as the most likely QB to cost his team a game with a bad INT. Luckily for Romo he has a better defense to lean on when he makes a boneheaded INT but the guy plays (especially in December and January) as if the guys in the other jersey are also Cowboys...
It's a shame that the Cardinals (and Chargers or Broncos) are "playoff teams" while much better teams with much better records will be sitting out the playoffs. Maybe the NFL could go to a 2-division system in each conference (an East and a West). Win your division and you get home field in the first round with the top team in the conference also having home field in the championship game (if they make it). The wild cards would simply be the best records left in the conference regardless of division. Then you could change the schedule so that you play all teams in your division and, say 2 or 3 in the other division- the rest can be games vs the other conference based on your (and their) prior season's record. Makes more of a college "play each team once" schedule but I think this sort of thing would get the "best" teams in the playoffs - isn't that the point of playoffs??
Boras should get coal in his stocking from Mark Tex!
Shame about Bergeron. At least this time it was on a clean hit but, honestly, I think any player who had taken that hit could've gotten a concussion. The plus with this team is they were winning without much from Bergeron so he can spend whatever time he needs to get healthy again and then leave it up to him when/if he wants to try to get back to the team.
Is Pacman still hosting bashes or thinking about a playoff push?