mr. blackandwhite

It's f-ing cold out dude

Hey what's up everybody? Apologies to the five or six people that still read this site. I was doing pretty good on the updates for a while there but things got insanely busy in September, and in October, when I thought things might calm down, things got even busier!

It was kid activity insanity pretty much 5 nights a week for a little while there and when I wasn't doing kid related activities I was taking care of all the other stuff that wasn't getting done because I was busy with the kid related activities! Crazy. But that seems to be over with now, thank goodness.

I have to be honest, although this is assuredly one of the known 'kiss of death' things to say on your site, posting on here is not really that high on the priority list right now.. I'm shooting for once or twice a week right now, if possible.

I really try not to post anything from work, unless I am insanely bored with nothing to do, and, since I sit in front of a fucking computer all day at work, when I get home I usually don't feel like doing more of the typity-type thing. When I have free time at home I'd rather apply my finger work-outs to the fret-board, not the key-board. So there you go. There's my lame, 'I don't have time or feel like updating the site' site update for ya.. har.

Just because I have not been writing about the Patriots, that does not mean I have not been watching them. The last two weeks were pretty sweet with victories over The Broncos, a team that regularly makes life miserable for those of us in Patriots Nation, and enjoys doing it I might add, and the Rams, a team that always brings back fond memories of Superbowl 36 whenever we play them.

This week's game vs. The Colts in the Oil Dome or whatever it's called, should be interesting. Will the roof on the dome be open or closed? I predict it will be closed because it's getting cold out (I had to wear my winter coat for the first time today, blah.) and being cold is not something The Colts like to be.

The Pats will face a Colts team that is in unfamiliar territory with a sub-500 record and trying to avoid a potential three game losing streak. The Colts may not be tearing up the league this season but they are still a dangerous team that is desperately looking to keep it's playoff hopes alive this week, especially considering that next week won't be any easier for them as they'll face The Steelers.

At 5-2, you really can't complain that much about where the Patriots are right now. They are right in the thick of things and are actually in 3rd place in the conference as we approach the half-way mark in the season. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Although I miss Tom Brady terribly, (Hope you're feeling better Tom! Love ya, mean it, no homo.) I think Cassel has done a good job considering the situation he came into. My only real complaint about him is that he continues to hang on to the ball too long, but that seems to be getting better week by week as he continues to gain experience. Matt! Matt! He's our man! If he can't do it... um, Bill Belichick will find someone who can, goddamn right he will!

In Bill We Trust.
GO PATS

/lamest post evar?

See ya!

(Don't forget my drop. It's cool.)

Pats / Chargers - One word: Ugly

Wow. I thought the Miami game a few weeks ago was bad, but THAT was just plain ugly last night. 

After The Patriots failed to score a TD from one yard out on four successive tries early in the 3rd quarter, all four wheels came off the cart at the same time. Instead of narrowing the score to a seven point lead that would have kept the game interesting, the Pats got nothing and the Chargers took the game and ran away with it after that, literally. 

On the following drive, the Chargers took over at their two yard line and careened down the field in 4 plays to go up 24 - 3. For all intents and purposes, it was game ovar for The Pats at that point. The Patriots couldn't seem to get anything going on offense as San Diego's defense just pinned their ears back and brought the house on inexperienced Pats QB, Matt Cassel. 

After The Chargers went up 24 - 3, I commented to my Wife, 'This game is going from worse to worse-er.' 

A few moments later, play-by-play man extraordinaire Gil Santos commented to should be Hall of Famer Gino Cappelletti, 'This game is going from bad to worse.'

'You two are on the same wavelength,' my Wife noted. 

'Unfortunately,' I replied dejectedly.

It really felt like all the life came out of the Patriots after failing to score from the one. They looked and played like a demoralized team from that point on. Late in the game it appeared that some individual players such as Ellis Hobbs and Richard Seymour had dusted themselves off and were playing for some personal pride, and safety Rodney Harrison never seemed to give up, but it was too little too late by then. 

I am not going to pick on Matt Cassel, but I will say that if there is one thing that he is clearly lacking it is the ability to get rid of the ball quickly and that is what was killing him last night, at least from this armchair coach's perspective. 

It is bothersome how little Randy Moss seems to be involved in the offense as well. I know that Moss is continually double covered, but you would think that Cassel would be able to find him for more than a paltry three receptions. 

If there was one bright spot last night, I thought it was the ground game. Sammy Morris and Kevin Faulk really did a great job moving the ball last night. Of course, the Chargers were more than content to let The Pats kill the clock while they moved the ball on the ground.

Despite getting shellacked last night, I'm really not that upset about the loss. With newbie Cassel running the offense and a secondary featuring Ellis Hobbs as the #1 cornerback, this year's team is going to go through some growing pains. I do want to point out some of the good things too and in that vein, rookie linebacker Jerod Mayo continues to be very impressive. He seems like he could really be a special player. 

So The Pats fall to 3-2. Hopefully the team can learn from this game and pull things together. 

Parity has definitely returned to the entire league this year and in the AFC East, the division remains very much up for grabs, which only highlights how important these upcoming divisional contests are going to be, for all the teams involved. From the 4-1 Bills to the 2-3 Fish, the AFC East is still anybody's division to take. The Pats need to stay in the hunt. Let's hope they keep one of their last remaining streaks going next week against Denver..

GO PATS

Still all over the place...

Well a week has past and it seems that I am still all over the place. In fact, I actually started writing this post two days ago and still have not finished it! 

This month has proven to be pretty much the same as last month as far as the busy-factor goes and this week has been one of the busiest. There's something going on every night and I leave work early, rush home, rush into the house, say 'Hi' to my Wife, change out of my work clothes, say 'Bye' to my Wife and then run right back out the door with a kid in tow for some kind of child-related activity. Sometimes if I've got an extra minute in there I have time to make a half a PB&J sammitch. Sometimes I skip dinner all together.. It's not bad, I enjoy doing stuff with the kids, it's just, busy!

The Pats win over San Fran last Sunday was very satisfying. I had written earlier that I thought that the San Fran game would show us a lot about what this year's Patriots team was going to be like and if this is what we can expect, then I think we will be in good shape. It wasn't perfect, but The Pats got the job done. Do I expect there to be rough patches and some bumps along the road? Of course. But I think the Pats showed a lot on Sunday, coming from behind, playing solid defense against a good offensive 49ers team, and moving the ball on the ground and through the air. 

It seems like the Pats made a great decision in staying on the West Coast rather than traveling back East between the San Francisco game and the San Diego game. Let's hope it pays off come Sunday night vs. The Chargers.

Switching gears to the Sox, I didn't really write too much about the ALDS and too be honest, I didn't see a lot of it. Those West Coast games were a killer and then there was the marathon Game 3... The only game I saw in it's entirety was Game 4. Yup, I'm a wuss. 

Whatever. It was great to see The Sox finish it in 4 and avoid the trip back out West for a Game 5. 

The Rays are going to be tough in the ALCS. Mission: 8W

Last but not least, the Bruins open up their '08 season tonight out in Colorado. Although I will be watching the game, I don't know how much of it I'll really get to see since it starts at 10 PM. 

Hmm, is there a theme developing here? 

I'll get to see the puck drop on the season at least. 

I know I don't write about the Bruins all that often, but I am glad that hockey is back and I am very optimistic about this upcoming season for the Black and Gold.

See ya!

All over the place..

It's October? I am completely blown away at how fast the month of September went by. It was probably the busiest month we've ever had since the kids were born. There were weeks when we had something going on every single night; soccer, cub-scouts, brownies... stuff I don't even remember. Things will start to calm down in October. There will be a brief lull for a few weeks near the end of the month for us to catch our breath before things gear up again for the crazy holiday time of year. My Wife is already buying X-Mas presents!

I don't know if anybody cared about the posts I had written about the economic bailout recently. I'm just going to say that this issue is being voted on in the U.S. Senate today and I would urge you to contact your Senators and let them know your thoughts about it. I would also urge you to contact your U.S. Representative as well and tell him or her what you think about the bailout plan, as well as anything else you have on your mind! THEY WORK FOR US.

Mission 11W: The '08 version. It's kicking off tonight in Anaheim. I expect this will be a good series. The Angels pretty much owned the Red Sox during the regular season and the Sox will come into the series with some key players dealing with some nagging injuries. In the end, as always, it will come down to pitching and with Jon Lester, a.k.a. Red Sox Ace 1A, taking the mound tonight, I think the Sox are in a good position to come out of the gate strong. A Game 1 win for the Sox would be huge and would mean there would be at least 2 home games at Fenway. Mission: 11W. GO SOX.

The Patriots week off is over and there's thirteen games left to play. The Pats will start October off with two back-to-back West Coast games, starting in San Francisco this weekend. San Fran lost to the Saints last week but have shown that they are a team that can move the ball down the field. I think this upcoming game may show us a lot about the '08 Patriots as we start the 2nd quarter of the season. Lets hope that the week off did the team some good. Time to get down to business. GO PATS