Flesh Colored Kaleidoscope

(That is what is seen when sitting in a well lit room after drinking too many beers while watching a football game (!) and holding one's head in one's hands... you can see out through the cracks between the fingers and admire the way gravity is keeping things relatively still.)

They say a parent giving a kid a pet is giving the kid their first lesson in heartbreak and loss. Weelll. So goes some football games. The Patriots, honestly, have been pretty near perfect in their opiate-like status. I am rather shocked at how bad I felt. It is just a game.... but no it isn't. With Super Tuesday and politics and global warming and the economy... I wish I vicariously held the euphoria of a Super Bowl win. I'm experiencing withdrawal right now. Man. That Pats locker room must've been a mess. If I were to write a post game speech for BB it would go something like this:

"That was a sh*t tough game. We lost. We lost after playing the full game with everyone doing their part...... a grueling game after a grueling season..... (the ".... " is for BB to ad lib hopefully better than I.).... The most extraordinary record breaking season I have ever witnessed, and am proud to be a part of. You are not perfect. We are not perfect. But you never stopped playing you never stopped... and we are pretty damn good. Thank you for the experience. See you this time, next year, this time we'll get the trophy."

Oh BB can mention that the Giants played well if he must. And I'm sure he would give a much better speech. The only locker room speech I remember is one a basketball coach gave our team before a game against Mountainburg. She said "Mountainburg beat Westfork." Westfork was the only team that could beat us. We went on the court hyped with fear and blew them away. (Well, I went to the bench, hyped with fear...) After the totally lopsided game in which even I played, the coach said "I lied."

Why the New England Patriots Will Win the Super Bowl

THE reason the Pats will win the Super Bowl is NOT Tom Brady's efficient targeting Maroney's explosive ball carrying Moss' scoring dunks Gaffneys clutch plays Harrison's accommodating interceptions Mankin's beard Neal's goatee Samuel's paycheck OR Wes Welker's... what's that called? When you try to tip something over and it keeps springing back up?

It's none of those. No. It's....

"The team (Patriots) prides itself not only on scoring the most points ever this season, but also on having the lowest wait time for women’s restrooms in the NFL."
http://blogs.bnet.com/harvard/?p=201

Yep. The Pats will win. Sorry Giants fans.

SUPER BOWL PATS!

I left the bar last night because the guy next to me was a Packers fan, and I'd had enough beer, and my rear needed a change of scenery. I'd stayed for a little bit of the Giants Packers game to see what's up in a couple of weeks. Now. I liked the way the Giants played the Pats in week 16... it was great. Good competition but the Pats won anyway with a couple of record breaking TD throws. Absolutely perfect. Couldn't have choreographed it better myself... And since then I've been rooting for the Giants as they played the Cowboys and last night... I asked the fellow next to me so are you just a Packers fan or a big Packers fan? He said he was BIG... grew up in Green Bay and everything.... I'm like hmmm. *May the best team loose.*

I think a good team won. The question remains... will the Giants be perfect patsies for the Pats again?

For the record... my fingers and toes remained uncrossed... hair unbraided... I honestly didn't think the Chargers would win. (I read somewhere their name is after a charge card company? Is that true?* If so they are doomed.) Even though that weird and funny play where they had Moss run out of the backfield on a double reverse sort of typified the game... Even though the Pats won in a totally uncharacteristic manner.... running the ball and maintaining possession. (They had the ball for 21:35 of the second half.) Even though Brady threw THREE interceptions....

Which is why Belichick winning the coach of the year award is so totally justified. If I, maybe a bit of a neurotic and a fan, am feeling a shade complacent (the Chargers being pretty good despite their name)... Putting a team out there that wins and keeps winning... *that's so incredible*

Everybody else can win next year. Perfection might not be perfect but hey its good enough for me... Let this be the year of the records... GO PATS!


*Apparently it is not true that the Chargers' name has anything to do with a charge or credit card company. I still say they're doomed!

Run?

One of the reasons I keyed into this story, was the amount of change George Martin had found so far on the side of the road. The blurb I read said 48 dollars, with about a third of the distance walked. George Martin is a retired NFL player who spent 14 years with the New York Giants and was co-captain to the 1986 Super Bowl team. He is walking from the George Washington bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge to raise money for the medical needs of the first responders of 9/11. The first responders entered an environmental cesspool on 9/11 in their desire to do the right thing.

George Martin started his walk on September 16, 2007. He's hoping to raise 10 million dollars. I figure, that also means about $150 from the side of the road. But I wonder, is he picking up pennies. I pick up pennies. If you run into the guy (figuratively speaking), lemme know. I don't think he is.

But. Is it just me... but. Like, vote. Yell at your representatives, and vote. The first responders entered that cesspool to do the right thing for their country and their country isn't doing right by them. They should have hesitated. Asked, whose going to pay if we get sick. (Since, of course, this is the one country without some form of universal healthcare.) Who's going to help us out. Who is going to walk the mile....

And as a not-so-side note I wonder if he watched the Giants Pats game. Good game. (Might not have felt so if the Pats lost, but, can now lean back a bit in appreciation...)

Our Team

This just cracks me up. Really it does. The NFL and all sports franchises make money off of the concept of "our team," or "our players." And then they cry business and just leave us alone to make more money when the fans cry foul! Its not just a business, and they should know... 'CAUSE THAT'S HOW THEY MAKE MONEY! A fan wants to be able to watch THEIR team. When THEIR team is in a record setting season, a perfect so far season, a quarterback and receiver breaking records, they want to see the freakin' game. They are not viewing it as a business transaction.... If it were, they might not pay the bucks to go to Foxboro and watch a Patriots game. They might instead buy a sofa or get the car fixed or go to Disney land. I don't know how many people I've talked to that say oh I remember when the Pats were terrible... They've watched them over the years not out of "brand loyalty" but because its THEIR TEAM.

On top of this is the anti-trust exemption that the NFL (network? league?) has. I know when Bush built a new stadium for the Texas rangers, he did it with tax payers money. I do not know all the tax breaks and tax supported projects the NFL has enjoyed, but I do know they are choked with money. They are a billion dollar industry... that is a business... a hugely profitable business... that is acting like a spoilt child. I know I am not the most irritated fan over being denied access to the Pats Giants game this Saturday... Just look at the politicians getting involved! Their message boxes must be stuffed! But its like talking logic to a spoilt child... the child just does not get it. Just does not understand where you're coming from.... If the NFL wants to be treated like a "business" FINE! BUT LEMME SEE THE FREAKIN' GAME FIRST! Broadcast it? Like, in an accessible way?

Jeesh! and MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU TOO!