WIll the Pats even make the playoffs????

Answer: Yes. Stopping here would be futile for my blog, so I will explain. Remember in 2003 when the Patriots lost their first game to the lowly Buffalo Bills 31-0? They would go on to win their next two games, putting them in the same position record wise as they are now. The only difference? Tom Brady. Yea that's kind of a big deal, but regardless of what may appear like capable football teams, the AFC East is full of wannabes. The Jets? Well, we actually already beat them in Cassell's first start since high school. Miami?? Yes, it may have been a loss, but realize what happened in that 2003 season where we played Buffalo again in the final regular season game. Result? Same score, 31-0, but this time the goose egg belonged to the Bills. What will happen when New England travels to Miami at the end of November when the team has worked together for several months? I expect a big win. Lastly, there are the Bills, who are currently 3-0. This will be the Patriots only obstacle to the postseason, but in my opinion Trent Edwards leading the Bills to the playoffs is far more unrealistic than Cassell taking the Patriots into January.

Why is this? Everyone puts so much emphasis on the quarterback. Rightfully so, however even good quarterbacks can't win by themselves. Key example, Zack Mills 2002 Penn State quarterback had a QB rating of 128 with 17 TD's and 10 INT's. He was a sophomore. The next two years Mills would total 15 TD's and 17 INT's with a significantly lower QB rating. This was due to the players around him. Larry Johnson and Bryant Johnson (both 1st round picks) helped Penn State's offense and helped Mills be a better player. Without them, and with a weaker line, Mills was punished by opposing teams. So for Matt Cassell...no he's not Tom Brady, but the players around him will turn him into a better player. Once he learns to use Randy Moss' height and speed, Welker's quickness, and a promising running attack, the Patriots will be a top level team. This also relies on their defense, which is a main reason they were embarrassed by the Dolphins last weekend.

They are old, and they are young. Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel...they seem to have been around forever, but although they have lost a step, these are all elite football players. How did Miami beat the Pats? With speed, and a college style running game where Ronnie Brown took several direct snaps. Clearly unprepared for this package, New England gave up huge chunks of yardage and were fooled on a halfback pass where we all learned that Ronnie Brown is a lefty. In my opinion, Miami has blown its load and the next time around I see a better Patriots team and a less shocking offensive gameplan from Miami. The development of Mayo and Merriweather is vital for the Patriots since these two young first rounders need to step up and make plays with their terrific speed. Mayo already playing a significant amount looks great, while Merriweather, a second year player who I have never been too fond of (really think the Patriots should have drafted Paul Posluszny with that pick), still looks raw - typical of a player from the University of Miami.

What do the Pats need to do to contend? Well this isn't going to be anything like last year where New England won its first 18 games (although we all thought it would be before Brady got ACL-season-ed), but this feels like the Pats of old, and by old I mean when they won their 3 Super Bowls with players like Troy Brown, Kevin Faulk, Christian Fauria (Boom-Boom), and other not-so-great-fantasy-players that contributed to the team concept. These teams were underdogs and always managed to win the tight game and foil the Goliaths like the Colts and Rams who had their high profile players and unstoppable offenses that the media drooled over. Well we are back...back to being underdogs, and this time with an experienced team, and with some superstars on offense...just not at quarterback. Cassell is a smart guy and he has good arm strength and precision when he is given time. Teams will blitz unrelentingly, and he will need to learn to stay in the pocket and deliver like Brady has done for years. Unlike Brady when he won the 3 rings, Cassell has two of the best receivers in the game to throw to. Look for the Pats to make an addition to their defense in the near future, and I predict a 10-6 finish, taking the AFC East from the Bills who will finish at 9-7. Biggest game of the year? December 28 @ Buffalo, last game of the year, with both teams heading into it with 9-6 records.

This may not be the year for the Pats' fourth Super Bowl, but it will be a fun season, and a welcome return to being the underdog.

I miss Manny

So it has been over a month since I last saw Manny in a Red Sox uniform. Little did I know that on that Wednesday night at Fenway Park, I witnessed his final game in Boston. I understand that Manny isn't a great clubhouse influence at times and occasionally it has appeared that he wasn't putting forth his full effort, but regardless...he is one of the best hitters to play the game and he was a Boston icon. With his departure the people of Red Sox Nation turned their back on him completely disregarding the pride and joy that he had brought them over the past 8 years.

Enter Jason Bay. Canadian, emotionless, and a former Pittsburgh Pirate who never played a meaningful game of Major League Baseball in his career. I will admit that he is a good player who has All-Star potential, decent speed, and plays good defense. That being said, he in no way replaces the offense that left with number 24. Of course in his first games in Boston, Bay hit a clutch triple and homerun allowing the near-sighted Red Sox faithful to forget about Emanuel Aristides Ramirez, MVP of the 2004 World Series. Over this month, in which I have endured a loss that I put somewhere between the death of a pet hamster and a parent telling you that "you were a mistake", Manny and Bay have both put up terrific numbers. Bay with the Sox has hit .305 with 4 HR's and 29 RBI's while Manny has taken his game to another level with the Dodgers and smacked 10 HR's driven in 29 while swiping 2 bases and hitting a whopping .407! The main difference between the two besides the batting average (which I personally feel to be an overrated statistic) is the on base percentage. Over the month Bay has walked just 9 times while striking out 30 times (an average of more than one per game), and Manny has walked as many times as he struck out, 21 times. The OBP for the two players .356 for Bay, .500 for Manny. Keep in mind that Julio Lugo's season OBP is .355.

In an offense like the Red Sox the name of the game is get on base. Not only is Bay not getting on at a rate that replaces Manny, but he has not even taken the clean up spot which has been mainly delegated to Kevin Youkilis, who along with Pedroia, are the reason the Sox are going to make the playoffs. With a healthy JD Drew and Mike Lowell (expected in the next week or so), where does Bay fit in? Does he hit 6th? 7th? Although this may not seem like a major issue since he would undoubtedly be the best 7 hitter in the league, but take a step back...you got rid of Manny, you're unstoppable 4th hitter not to mention a great OF prospect in Brandon Moss and RP Craig Hansen....for someone who is hitting 7th in your lineup. When the trade was made I will admit that I shed some tears, but more than anything I was confused why we made that trade. It made no sense to me. It wasn't like trading Nomar for Orlando Cabrera, where we got a healthier more reliable shortstop (although once again I was pretty upset at this trade...but that's why I have waited a month to write this). Here we got a worse player in almost every aspect. Manny's defense in my opinion is above average despite what most think, and I actually have adopted some of his principles in my own outfield play like getting the ball in to a cutoff man as soon as possible and playing a shallow position to take away bloop hits. Bay is an athletic guy, very capable in the OF, not a great arm, but solid. That's how you describe this guy...he's solid. Nothing great, just good, and a very professional player...but we've got enough of those...where's the fun!?!?

So there goes Manny. My Manny. The very man my rabbit is named after. There goes his antics that many complained about, but he is an entertainer. He made us laugh, he made us cry, he brought home two World Series championships and brought fans to their feet almost every night from April to October. He is the most unique player in the game, possibly of all time, and someone we will never figure out completely. Jason Bay may help the Red Sox win a World Series this year, but I am positive that we would be better off with Manny in left field at Fenway. But it's not all about winning and losing sometimes. It's about being able to turn on the TV, watching the Sox and loving every minute of it, staying up until 1:30 am on a night before work in a game that had been decided an hour earlier just to see Manny's final at bat hoping that he hits one out of the park and stands at home plate long enough to make sure that it has been deposited onto the parking garage across Lansdowne Street. Wednesday July 30th, 2008 sitting in the bleachers courtesy of Raytheon, I watched my childhood hero play his final game for the Boston Red Sox not knowing the devastating news that my mother would relay to me at 4:32 pm the next day.

I wish Manny all the best over the rest of his career and hope that when Cooperstown comes knocking, that he puts the Red Sox jersey on one last time.

Welcome to Atlanta where the fanhood is whack

My entire life I have resided in Massachusetts and I have spent the last 4 years at school secluded in central Pennsylvania. Now here I am, in one of America's largest cities...Atlanta, and I am sorely disappointed. I have been spoiled all of my life, being 45 minutes from what I consider to be the greatest city on Earth (not that I have really been to that many cities, but I'm smart...I just know), however this city of Atlanta really has no identity. The sports teams are all marginal/bad, there really is nothing holding it all together. I go a few blocks away from the Georgia Tech campus and there's nothing around that even indicated there is a sizable university a stones throw away. Again, coming from Penn State where the town revolved around the school, this is to be expected, but still...there's no passion between the city and anything! It's depressing! There is no Georgia Tech bar, or a store that just sells Georgia Tech clothing...not one! Half of the stores in State College merely sold PSU apparel, and they keep popping up. Another annoying example of this lack of fanhood is that there is no information anywhere about how to get student football tickets at GT. I could ask someone, but I decided to browse the internet and found nothing. Penn State emails its students informing them of the ticket policy in June. I may complain about these athletic issues at GT, but so far the academic aspect has definitely proven to be a challenging and rigorous atmosphere, and I guess that is why I am here. Regardless, this city has failed to meet my expectations, but with the state of their professional teams, it is no wonder. I miss my old homes where fans were more devoted to their teams than Jesus was Jewish. I miss seeing 40,000 Penn State shirts a day, and the largest football stadium in the world loom in the horizon. I miss seeing an assortment of Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots shirts worn on nearly every person walking the streets of Boston, the bar TV's all showing a Sox game, nothing else. But here I remain until Christmas in a city that has no identity, overpriced bars, a lack of fanhood, and a 14 lane highway 3 blocks from my apartment. I look forward to meeting up with roughly 300 fellow Penn State fans every Saturday at the Penn State bar in Atlanta starting August 30th to root on the team who has faithful followers and a town that will forever support it. People may want to go to college in a city...I don't recommend it. The college town is where it's at.

Penn State football preview part I

Although I will have more in depth previews of each game before they happen, and reviews of games after they happen, I will enlighten the world by giving a rough overview of the 2007 campaign starting with the offense.

I expect great things from this offense that returns almost all of its skill players. The holes to fill are big ones however with the loss of one of the best offensive lineman in recent PSU history in Levi Brown. Another major loss is Tony Hunt who carried the load for Penn State the past three seasons putting up under-appreciated numbers. The loss of BranDon Snow could be harmful as well since he was a terrific lead blocker, but now with Matt Hahn taking over full time, it will give PSU another passing option. All of the receivers return, but it will take better performances from them this year to beat teams like Notre Dame, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Drops, bad routes, and lack of size hurt this group last year. A real flaw in the offense was in the red zone where a mix of bad playcalling and a lack of a go-to receiver led to terrible production inside of the 20. Now with the emergence of Chris Bell and the newly transformed WR in Brent Brackett, it seems that PSU should have some better options. Austin Scott and Rodney Kinlaw should perform fairly well in the offense with more speed than Hunt had, but the tough yards will be missed. Look for a lot more passing this year as Morelli goes into the season with a lot of confidence after having one of his best games in the Outback Bowl victory over Tennessee. The offensive line will be anchored by center A.Q. Shipley. Overall the line will have more experience, but it lacks the automatic blocks of Levi. The offense has the ability to look like the '94 squad and put up a lot of points through the air and on the ground, but it all comes down to players like Derrick Williams, Anthony Morelli, and Austin Scott who came into college with the highest expectations. If they can emerge to become what we all expected, then the sky is the limit. The defense will always keep this team in ballgames so it will simply be a matter of scoring more points than the other team, as John Madden likes to say.

Is Gagne Worth it?

Since coming to the Red Sox, Eric Gagne has given up 7 earned runs in 4 innings. In 4 of his 5 appearances for the Sox, he has given up at least one run, and the only outing of the five that he did not allow at least two baserunners, he gave up a game tying homerun to Miguel Tejada. Things are just terrible for Eric, but Boston is going to stick with him. And they should. Gagne has been one of the most dominant closers over the past five years, and in 2003, he converted all 55 of his save opportunities and had 137 strikeouts in just 82.1 innings. He was named the NL Cy Young award winner in 2003 and had a string of 84 consecutive converted saves. Since then he has battled arm issues, and has been limited to just 56.2 innings over the past three seasons.

The Sox obtained Gange in a trade with Texas where they sent rookie pitcher Kason Gabbard, and two minor league outfielders to the Rangers. Gabbard had pitched extremely well for Boston in the 41 innings he saw, going 4-0 in seven games and holding opponents to just a .196 average. After seeing Gagne struggle, many fans are upset by the trade feeling that Gabbard would have been better to hold onto, but this hindsight is misled. Gabbard pitched out of his mind for the Sox and most likely would never have continued that trend. Boston used to high stock to snag a guy that may not still have the dominance that he had with the Dodgers, but someone that could provide some quality late innings relief and take some of the load off of Okajima who currently has thrown more innings than in any other season in his career. Gabbard has reasonably good stuff, but his fastball peaks out around 88 mph, and will probably end up a lifetime 3rd or 4th starter. The reality is that he pitched well, but he just doesn't project well in the future. Julian Tavarez pitched well for a stretch of about 7 games, but he's back in the 'pen where he belongs.

As for Gagne, yes he has struggled, but the guy has proven (even this year with Texas) that he can get it done. This is a new role for him, but maybe now after blowing save chances as a setup guy, he will realize the importance of his position. I think that it is good for him to get these bugs out of his system so he can get the right mentality to go out there and dominate. From what I have seen, it seems like he's throwing his pitches lackadaisically and he is missing his spots and leaving pitches up in the zone. Some of it is even good hitting by the Orioles. In the game where he surrendered 4 er's, a lot of the pitches that were hit were scooped off of the ground and driven to right field...simply good hitting.

Look for Francona to continue to stick with Gagne and also look for Eric to gain some confidence. The playoffs aren't far off, and that is why he was brought in. He has done it in the past, and I fully expect him to shape up into what everyone expected in the next few weeks.

Barry Bonds

What do I think of Barry Bonds? I think he's an asshole and a cheater just like most of the country. Somehow, however, the city of San Francisco just ignores the steroid allegations because, as so many people say, there is no proof. Unfortunately it is hard to definitively say that Barry did steroids, and proof is what our legal system relies on. Not logic. A guy that looked like Alfonso Soriano somehow went from stick figure to elephant man. Yea sure, he works hard, but so does every professional athlete, and they don't look like him. "Well he works the hardest". From my knowledge, Manny Ramirez is a very dedicated worker and works out about as hard as any in the league and his physique hasn't changed since he broke into the majors over 10 years ago.

My point here is that Bonds has defied the aging process (which will come back to haunt him since I expect him to cease walking at the age of 50), and he has defied the natural tendencies of baseball players. Has there ever been another major leaguer to go from excellent to the best after the age of 35? No, and there is a reason. It doesn't happen. Unless you start taking steroids and there we are.

Barry Bonds was one of the best players in the league when he played with the Pirates. He could do everything (except throw out Sid Bream). He was electric on the basepaths and still hit monstrous home runs despite being just a little guy. He was headed for the Hall of Fame without a question and the way he was hitting, it was probable that he would hit over 500 home runs. He had quick hands, good plate discipline and great knowledge of the game thanks in part to his father. Today he remains one of the best hitters in baseball. Steroids don't make you a better hitter, they make you stronger which allows you to hit with more power, which allows you to use a smaller bat (32 inches!!) that gets through the zone faster, allowing you to hit inside pitches with greater ease and control your bat all without sacrificing power since you are a man-beast.

Basically it's cheating. Barry isn't the only one doing steroids, and it is thought to be very prevalent in the majors. From the standpoint of a guy trying to make it in the majors, I can understand the use of steroids. In that situation, the player needs to do something to keep his job, and although he could just work hard in the offseason and hope for the best, why not take a risk and take steroids and come back twice as strong? What has he got to lose? His job? It's already on the line, but in Barry's case...why? Why taint a career that was heading for Cooperstown? Is it not enough to be in the Hall of Fame?

He holds all sorts of records from the most HR's of all-time, the most HR's in a season, the most walks in the history of the game, and on and on and on. But there are no World Series rings on his fingers, there are millions around the world that simply hate him because of his deceitfulness and greed, and now there is talk about whether voters would even send him to the Hall of Fame. He has dethroned a man in Hank Aaron whose name has been spread in households across the country for thirty years, a man who was a symbol of persistence and determination. Fans jumped out of the stands to run by his side and shake his hand as he eclipsed the Babe. The nation embraced their new home run king, a worthy man.

No one jumped on the field when Barry circled the bases, of course if someone had it would be assumed that they might be trying to hurt him and probably would have been sniped before they got off the warning track. Millions watched at home and cringed when he hit that 84 mph fastball, I know I did, because he cheated Major League Baseball, he cheated Hank Aaron, and he will forever be in the history books with an asterisk. One day Alex Rodriguez will become the new home run king, and it will be a glorious day. Even if he still is a Yankee, every Red Sox fan, every baseball fan, will stand and clap and nod their heads because he did it the right way. He did it with honor and respect, and he will rightfully go into the history books without one of these: *.