NFL Week 11 - Pats Prediction

Pats Prediction:

Last week: I can't figure out the Patriots this year. For the second straight week they abandoned the run against a team with a poor run defense. I've heard people defend the team by saying they are adjusting to the defense, but I don't buy that excuse. I don't care if the Colts or Jets put 8 guys in the box - run the damn ball! The Jets beat the Pats 17-14 last week, dropping New England to 2-3 at home. For the first time in four years the Patriots lost two games in a row. Let's all hope that the new FieldTurf improves the Pats' chances at home rest of the year.

Season record: 4-5 straight up, 2-6-1 against the spread.

Week 9 Favorite: New England (-6)

I hope that Patriots can continue their success on the road this year (4-0). I honestly don't know what to expect today, though. I hope (think?) they will play with a purpose today and get a much needed win before playing the Bears at home next week.

Prediction: Patriots 27, Packers 20

NFL Week 10 - Pats Prediction

Pats Prediction:

Last week: The Colts beat the Pats legitimately this year. Brady had terrible numbers with 4 INTs, but played better than that. Three of the four INTs were tipped. Kevin Faulk cost the Pats a chance to tie the game when he couldn't hold onto a short pass over the middle. The Colts managed a 27-20 victory. At least Vinatieri missed two field goals.

Season record: 4-4 straight up, 1-6-1 against the spread.

Week 9 Favorite: New England (-10.5)

I have no doubt that the Pats will beat the Jets today. I don't think they will cover the spread, though. A ten point spread in the NFL is a lot to ask any team. Mangini has proven to be a pretty good coach this year, but the Jets don't yet have the talent to match the Patriots. Belichick needs to redeem himself after screwing up the gameplan in the second half against the Colts last week.

Prediction: Patriots 24, Jets 16

NFL Week 9 - Pat's Prediction

Pats Prediction:

Last week: Wow. The Pats beatdown the Vikings in Minnesota. I heard a caller on WEEI last Friday afternoon say that the score would be 31-10 in favor of the Pats because the Vikings had no chance to keep up with the Pats. That guy was a lot closer than I was. The final score was actually 31-7. New England’s game plan was simply brilliant. Score another one for Bill Belichick and his staff. A tough 0-2 week for me, although I'm happy to be wrong.

Season record: 4-3 straight up, 1-5-1 against the spread.

Week 9 Favorite: New England (-3)

Strangely enough the Colts don’t scare me this week. Facing a defense that is allowing a whopping 5.2 yards per carry I could probably hold my own as the featured back in the Patriot’s offense this week. I expect the Pats to come out throwing the football because everyone thinks they will pound the ball on the ground. After they knock the Colts back on their heels with the aerial attack I expect them to unleash Dillon and Maroney. I think Belichick can (and will) coach circles around the very overrated Tony Dungy. Dungy and Brian Billick are two coaches who were erroniously granted “genious” status because of the schemes and personnel they had as coordinators. In addition to the gameplans in place Peyton Manning has never beaten the Pats in a meaningful game. He can have last year’s victory; it was a hollow win against a depleted Patriots team without Harrison and Seymour among others. I think the Pats will control the clock and the game without much trouble.

Prediction: Patriots 34, Colts 24

NFL Week 8 - Pats Prediction

Pats Prediction:

Last week: Oops. My bye week lasted an extra week. Blame it on my flag football league, the DFFL, which plays on Sunday mornings and business travel. I went to Philly and back for a site audit on the 20th and was slightly frazzled all weekend. I hate flying to Philly or Newark because the return flights to Boston never leave on time. I forgot to post the Pats Prediction last Saturday and I don’t have the chance to do so on Sunday mornings. By the time I get home the 1PM games are underway.

I’m not even sure what the spread was for last week’s game. I’m going to guess that the spread was between 4 and 10 points and that the Patriots were favored.

Here’s where you have to trust me; I am an Eagle Scout, after all. I would have taken the points last week, but said that the Patriots would prevail. The Bills’ defense gives Brady trouble (they did have three sacks) and the Pats were on the road. I still felt, correctly, that the Pats were a far better team than Buffalo. The Bills need at least one more year to be contenders in the AFC East. They need to shore up the offensive line, get a possesion receiver, and let Losman progress naturally for the remainder of this season. I would not have expected the blowout, though.

Season record: 4-2 straight up, 1-4-1 against the spread.

Week 8 Favorite: New England (-2.5)

The Monday night game this week scares me a little bit. The Vikings are a very good team. They aren’t truly a great team yet because they have let a couple of games slip away. They do play very well at home and the Metrodome is a very loud stadium. If this game were being played in New England, I would pick the Patriots outright. This game isn’t being played in New England and I have a hard time predicting the outcome. I can see several possibly scenarios: a low scoring defensive game (favoring the Vikes), a high scoring shootout (favoring the Pats), or something in the middle. I’m hedging my bets on this one and predicting something in the middle, a game that could really go either way.

Prediction: Vikings 24, Patriots 23.

Shame on "the U"

The brawl that occurred between the University of Miami and Florida
International University football teams last Saturday night was a
black eye on the face of college athletics. The brawl was so raucaus
and nasty that it was more like a broken nose with the complimentary
pair of black eyes. Not surprisingly, the melee resulted in 31
players receiving at least a one game suspension.

FIU did the honorable thing and held its players accountable for their
actions. Some of the FIU players received increased suspensions, were
kicked off the team, or had their scholarships revoked.

Meanwhile, "the U" took the low road and maintained its much deserved
public image of a university more interested in coddling thug football
players than in preparing the youth of America for life after college.
Miami President Donna Shalala should be ashamed and embarrassed by her
actions this week.

Shalala failed to take any significant action after the brawl. In
fact, the only action she took was to avoid watching the tape of the
incident. How can the head of a major university do her job by
sticking her head in the sand? Shalala caved to boosters and the
football program when she decided to ignore the problem.

At an absolute minimum Shalala should have expelled the player who was
swinging his helmet at FIU player's heads and Brandon Merriweather,
the defensive captain, who was stomping on at least two prone FIU
players with his cleats.

Donna Shalala is a joke of a leader and should be fired. Head Coach
Larry Coker should follow her out the door. Miami needs to start at
the top with this housecleaning.

NFL Week 5 - Pats Prediction

Pats Prediction:

Last week: Bengals were favored by 6. I said the Bengals would beat the Pats 30 - 20. I was very happy to not only be wrong, but to be way off base. The final score was 38 - 13 New England.

I would like to thank my wife for helping the Patriots win in Cincinnati last week. She left the room and the Pats scored their first touchdown. She fell asleep for 10 minutes and the Pats scored their second touchdown. She went for a walk with my mother and the Pats scored 24 unanswered points in the second half.

Season record: 2-2 straight up, 1-3 against the spread.

Week 4 Favorite: New England (-10)

Prediction: Pats 27, Miami 20.

Miami looks terrible so far this year. If Culpepper sits in favor of Harrington this week, the Dolphins offense might actually be better than it has been to date. The last time a team that wasn't playing well faced the Patriots was the loss to Denver at home. I'm not convinced that the game will be a cakewalk today. I'll take the points but the Pats will win.

Money Can't Buy Me Love...

...and it can't buy George Steinbrenner a championship. All $200+ million dollars of Georgie Porgie's payroll couldn't buy the 27th world championship for the New York Yankees.

Celebrate tonight, but do it safely. It's always a good day when the Yankees lose and it's always a great day when they are elminated from the playoffs. Good luck Tigers fans.

NFL Week 4 - Pats Prediction

Pats Prediction:

Last week: Pats were favored by 7. I said New England would beat Denver 31 - 27. The actual outcome was 17 - 7 Broncos.

Season record: 2-1 straight up, 1-2 against the spread.

Week 4 Favorite: Cincinnati (-6)

Prediction: Bengals 30, Pats 20.

The Bengals are rolling offensively. They can run the ball and have one of the best passing offenses in football. They are ball hawks on defense. This is my first predicted New England defeat of the season.

Don't get me wrong, I'm completely rooting for the Pats, but my head says the Bengals are too good, especialy at home, for the Pats this week.

NFL Week 3 - Pats Prediction

Pats Prediction:

Last week: Pats favored by 6.5 points. I said 24 - 20 Pats over the Jets. The actual score was 24 - 17 New England.

Season record: 2-0 Straight Up, 0-2 Against the Spread

Week 2 Favorite: New England (-7)

Prediction: 31 - 27 New England over Denver


Mike Shannahan has had success against the Patriots in the past so I expect this game to be a high scoring affair. Jake Plummer has really struggled this year and has had difficulty against Bill Belichick in the past. I think the net result is another Patriots victory. I'm glad that Pats get to face Denver at home and I'm glad it's early in the season before Denver has put everything together. This was a game I indentified on the schedule that could be a loss.

NFL Week 2 - Pats Prediction

Pats Prediction:

Last Week: Pats favored by 10 points. I said 27 - 13 New England over Buffalo. The actual score was 19 - 17 New England.

Season Record: 1-0 Straight Up, 0-1 Against the Spread

Week 2 Favorite: New England (-6.5)

Prediction: 24 - 20 Pats over Jets

A Close Shave, A Pruned Branch

The Buffalo Bills defense came to play yesterday. So much for my predicted score this week. I'm now officially 1-0 straight up and 0-1 against the spread. The more predicitions I make the happier I am that I'm not a gambler.

Both teams played a sloppy game yesterday. Losman looked rattled and confused. Brady looked just plain bad at times. I don't know how much of Brady's trouble stemmed from poor offensive line play, but his fourth quarter interception was a poorly thrown ball no matter what Phil Simms says. Watson beat the safety and should have made a huge gain on the play. The ball simply didn't travel far enough; it was short and to the inside and the safety made the easy play.

Deion Branch was traded to Seattle today for a 1st round draft pick. It will be interesting to see what the Patriots do with two first round picks next year. I'm actually surprised they managed to get a first round pick. I think the Seahawks made a knee-jerk reaction to their poor play yesterday. Start rooting for the Seahawks opponents this year. There is a streak of Super Bowl losers (the last six or so) failing to make the playoffs the following year. I hope it continues.

I still think Branch's agent, Jason Chayut, is a complete idiot. Branch and all parties involved would have been happier if he could have agreed to an extension with the Patriots. Now Branch stands to be exposed as a top 25 to top 35 receiver. It seems Chayut has convinced Branch that he's a top 10 receiver. In reality Branch is probably somewhere in the 15-25 range. He should have accepted one of the Patriots' offers.

NFL Week 1 - Pats Prediction

The NFL season shifts into high gear tomorrow at 1PM. I can't wait!

I'm also playing flag football tomorrow morning in an organized league. I can't wait to start the first game of the season. I don't know how I'll sleep tonight.

I decided to predict the Patriots results each week straight up and also to include the spread. This will give me two chances to be right (or wrong) each week. I'll use Bodog.com for the spread on Saturdays unless otherwise noted.

Pats Prediction:

Last Week: N/A

Week 1 Favorite: New England (-10)

Prediction: 27 - 13 New England over Buffalo

So, as you can see, I'm predicting New England straight up and I'm predicting they cover the spread. I'll keep track of the two results separately for the season.

I'm Ready For Some Football

Since I'm ultra-confident that I'll successfully defend my Fantasy Football crown this season, I figure I'm well qualified to predict the outcome of the NFL season. Here's my prediction by division. Wild card winners for each conference are in italics and have a * after the name.

AFC EAST
12-4 New England Patriots
10-6 Miami Dolphins *
5-11 Buffalo Bills
2-14 New York Jets

The Pats could go 14-2 this year. I don't buy into the Miami hype, but they do have a relatively favorable schedule. The Bills and Jets are awful.

AFC NORTH
11-5 Cincinnati Bengals
9-7 Baltimore Ravens
8-8 Pittsburgh Steelers
7-9 Cleveland Browns

The AFC North could have a dogfight at the top of the division as the Bengals, Steelers, and Steve McNair-led Ravens team all have a shot at the division. I think injuries to McNair and Roethlisberger will derail the Ravens and Steelers, though.

AFC SOUTH
12-4 Indianapolis Colts
8-8 Jacksonville Jaguars
6-10 Houston Texans
4-12 Tennessee Titans

The Colts run away with the division. The Texans make a baby step forward. The Vince Young era begins in Tennessee.

AFC WEST
10-6 San Diego Chargers
10-6 Kansas City Chiefs *
9-7 Denver Broncos
5-11 Oakland Raiders

The Chargers ride their defense and LT to the division title. Likewise, the Chiefs ride LJ and an improved defense to the playoffs. Broncos fans get to see Jay Cutler a little earlier than they had hoped.

NFC EAST
10-6 Philadelphia Eagles
9-7 Dallas Cowboys *
7-9 New York Giants
6-10 Washington Redskins

The Eagles got rid of clubhouse cancer Terrell Owens and can't possibly get hit with the injury bug as hard as they were last year. Meanwhile the afformentioned T.O. behaves enough during his first year in Dallas to earn a playoff berth. The overrated and overhyped Giants and Redskins fall by the wayside.

NFC NORTH
9-7 Chicago Bears
8-8 Minnesota Vikings
6-10 Detroit Lions
6-10 Green Bay Packers

The worst division in football allows the Bears defense to once again rise to the top of the division. Brett Favre will wish he had retired.

NFC SOUTH
11-5 Carolina Panthers
9-7 Tampa Bay Buccanears
8-8 Atlanta Falcons
6-10 New Orleans Saints

The Panthers are very good team but I don't think they will completely outdistance themselves from the pack. The Buccanears are the tough-luck team in the NFC. Michael Vick and Reggie Bush compete for highlight reel plays, but not for the playoffs.

NFC WEST
11-5 Seattle Seahawks
10-6 St. Louis Rams *
7-9 Arizona Cardinals
5-11 San Francisco 49's

The Seahawks lost guard Steve Hutchinson to the Vikes, but they still have a great offense led by Hasselbeck and Alexander to compliment a top-notch defense that added some key players this off-season. The Rams have the talent to be a very good team this year. The Cardinals don't have the offensive line or defense to get to the next level yet. Good luck, Alex Smith.


I like the Pats over the Colts in the AFC Championship Game.

I think the Panthers beat the Seahawks in an NFC Championship Game rematch.

I think the Pats will beat the Panthers in Miami in February in some really important game.

We're Not Dead Yet

I can't even count the number of times that I planned to write a column titled "R.I.P. 2006 Red Sox Season" in the last two weeks. I'm an optimist, I think it helps me get through life on a relatively even keel. So when I thought the season was over for the Sox, you know the team was in dire straights. After two great pitching performances in a row, first Freddy Kreuger and now Kason Gaba-gaba-hey, the team is not only clinging to their slim playoff chances, but is showing a glimmer of hope. The return of Varitek this week is huge. Getting Papi, Nixon, and Gonzalez back into the lineup doesn't hurt, either. Hopefully Papelbon and Schilling won't be on the mend for too long.

I'm planning to write my NFL season preview tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Pats Prediction

Good thing it's only the pre-season as I failed to post a Pats Prediction last week. I had gone to see the Brockton Rox game last Saturday and forget to throw up a score before I left in the afternoon.

Here is tonight's prediction:

24 - 20 Pats over Redskins

Both teams have potential top 10 defenses but the Skins will really miss having Clinton Portis tonight.


I was in Toronto this week for business so I didn't post anything. I managed to see the Blue Jays play the Athletics on Tuesday. I'll post pictures and details soon.

Rotten Apple, Good Music

I'm definitely not an Apple person; I hate Macs and find them totally unnecessary. I like the internet image that shows a series of baby toys and the Mac one-button mouse with the tagline, "Macs, simple computers for simple people". Several years ago Macs served a purpose in graphical design and computer animation but those days are long gone. The new television commercials showing a middle-aged guy in a tweed jacket as a PC and a young punk as a Mac are clever but they work against Apple. Consumers sympathize with the PC and recognize the "Mac" as representative of its fanbase, smarmy spoiled loyalists.

The one thing that Apple has done right is the iPod. It's a wonderfully designed device. The execution is nearly, if not totally, flawless. The device is compact, simple to operate with one hand, and intuitive. I never read the manual for my iPod; I charged the battery and simply started using it. I am a manual-reading kind of guy, too. I'll spend the time to read the manual for even basic devices just to ensure that I have learned all the little tips and tricks. The iPod didn't require any reading.

Many detractors don't like the iPod because of the forced association with iTunes. Until today I never understood what the fuss was about. I installed iTunes a couple of years ago without any trouble and had not updated the software since. I read about the changes that Apple continually implemented in the digital rights management (DRM) of later versions of iTunes and I avoided all updates like the plague. As a result, I had no complaints. I could purchase music cheaply and easily without going to the store and subsequently burn music CDs for the car or stereo and then rip them back to MP3 format if I need to edit the files for ringtones or other purposes. The DRM had little effect on my music and use of it.

Today I wanted to purchase the new single from the Killers, "When You Were Young". I decided to pre-order the new album since "Hot Fuss" was so good and the new single is great. I heard the new single on the radio yesterday and immediately recognized the artist as the Killers.

When I tried to pre-order the new CD, "Sam's Town" iTunes forced me to upgrade to version 6. I was happily running version 4.7, thank you very much. I begrudgingly went to upgrade my iTunes version and was forced to install Quicktime 7(.1?), too. I'm sick of Apple's pathetic attempts to force the use of Quicktime upon iTunes users and iTunes upon Quicktime users. The only time I ever use Quicktime is if I want to view movie trailers at the Quicktime website. It's totally useless otherwise. Windows Media Player 9 and 10 support High Definition and offer more versatility.

After waiting 15 minutes for the Quicktime portion of the install to complete I shut down the install operation. I had to relaunch Windows and run the entire install again. Way to not piss me off, Apple. If you're going to bundle your crappy software, at least make sure the installation configuration is robust enough to work on PCs. In case you haven't heard, Apple, PCs dominate the market.

Time will tell if the new version of iTunes will really muck up my DRM and use of the software.

I've got my Killers single now and I'll have to wait until October 3rd for the rest of the CD.

I did buy the Angels and Airwaves (AvA) CD, "We Don't Need to Whisper" that I mentioned a few weeks ago. Simply put, this CD is one of the best I've ever heard. I'd be remiss to not mention it and explain it.

I don't for a second believe that "We Don't Need to Whisper" will be, or should be, universally praised and loved as much I love it. I understand the difference between something that will sell 10 million copies and something that might achieve a gold record. The beauty of this CD is that for those people who enjoy the genre of music it should really resonate. It struck a major chord with me.

Tom DeLonge clearly spent months crafting the CD. The major themes are repeated lyrically, as is the case on many a CD, but also musically, sort of like a movie score. There are hints of melodies that are contained in multiple songs. The end result is that the whole CD is simply brilliant. I can't remember another CD that made my spine tingle so much on the first listen.

Again, Tom isn't the world's best singer. The music isn't the most complicated or technically adept. The hooks are incredible though, and the emotion shines through.

I would recommend that anyone who likes alternative rock, rock, power-pop-punk, or similar check out the website at http://www.angelsandairwaves.com/ . You can watch the videos for "The Adventure" and "Do It For Me Now" at the site. If you enter the main site you can listen to "The Adventure" and "It Hurts". For some reason, the "Enter the Site" link will spawn new windows to clothing sites Tom is affiliated with. Click it a few times and you'll get into the site.

If you like the three songs you can hear on the site do yourself a huge favor and pick up the CD (even if you have to use iTunes).

I Like Mike... One Way More Than the Other

I watched a little bit of the Monday Night Football game on ESPN this week. I wanted to see how Tony Kornheiser would do in the booth. While he's not as bad as Dennis Miller, he's not a whole lot better. He seemed tentative to me and he didn't add anything substantive to the broadcast.

I'm actually somewhat annoyed, nay, peeved, that ESPN broke up the Mike Patrick - Paul Maguire - Joe Theismann combination. I really liked those guys as a team. I like Mike Patrick's voice and I have no problems with his calm and excited tones. Paul and Joe provided a "point-counterpoint" type of argument during games while sharing their experience and opinions.

I'm not a fan of Mike Tirico. I don't like his voice; he's too excitable and not even-keeled. He also seems to always have an agenda. I'm not convinced that he's a totally neutral observer.

Another MNF bummer is that Hank Williams Jr. is still going to provide his annoying pregame introduction song. I was hoping that he would be lost in the transition to ESPN. He's going to incorporate all kinds of different guest stars this year. >sarcasm< Woo hoo! >/sarcasm<

The Pats didn't quite live up to my lofty pre-season expectations ("Oh, a sarcasm detector, that's a real useful invention!"), but they did some things well. I was very pleased to see a Corey Dillon reminiscent of the 2004 version. He looks healthy again and appears ready to be a bruiser for the Pats. Laurence Maroney looked awesome last week. He reminded me of St. Louis' Steven Jackson, displaying speed and power (and dreds). I coveted Jackson in the draft a couple years ago, so I hope Maroney is even better.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

It's a Friday night party!

The NFL pre-season continues tonight as the Patriots face the Atlanta Falcons at 8PM on CBS. This is the first pre-season game for the Pats. They should provide a pleasant distraction from the suddenly pathetic Red Sox.

I was happy to find that the St. Louis / Indianapolis game was broadcast in HD on FOX last night. FOX has been showing Saturday baseball games in 16:9 standard-definition. The baseball games look absolutely terrible. I figured FOX might try to pull the same garbage on the fans during the NFL pre-season.

I have no idea if the game is in high-definition on CBS tonight. I hope so.

The NFL pre-season signals the start of many fantasy football leagues. I must admit that the NFL.com fantasy football commercials are pretty funny. I've seen two and they were both memorable. In the first ad one guy is telling the new player that kickers are drafted early and that running backs aren't important because you can always trade for one. He ends by telling the new guy that he's the new guy's friend. In the second ad a guy is trying to draft WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, but he can't pronounce "Hoosh-man-za-da".

And now for a new feature at Digital Sox, the "Pats Prediction". I will predict the outcome of every Patriots game this year.

Pats Prediction:
20 - 13 Pats over Falcons

Brady leads the team to a TD in his only series and the Falcons don't do much until Matt Schaub enters the game. Beyond that, nobody really cares as long as no one gets hurt.

Come On Baby, Light My Fire

The Sox dropped a game they should have won last night. That makes
four straight losses to the D-Rays and Royals, also commonly known as
"the two worst teams in the American League".

The losses are tough enough on their own merit. What bothers me more
than losing games against very bad teams is that no one on the Sox
seems to really care. Even Schilling commented on the fact that the
team maintains a very even keel. That was a positive in Schilling's
eyes.

Well, the laid back approach isn't working.

It's time for someone to light a fire under the Sox' collective backside.

On any other team that guy would be the manager. GL2:EB is too much of
a player's manager, though. By not chewing out the team he's affirming
his nickname (Grady Little 2: Electric Boogaloo, for the uninitiated).

In the absence of a fiery, gutsy manager, the Captain should seize the
opportunity to contribute from the DL. Varitek could light the much
needed fire behind closed doors and get the team pointed in the right
direction.

Be the guy who popped Slappy McPurplelips in the kisser when it was necessary.

We need that passion.

Moblogging, Mo Problems

Rejoice, rejoice, for this is my first ever moblog (mobile blog). I
just got the very awesome Cingular 8125 smartphone. It really is a
great cellphone and a great PDA. More on the phone at a later date.

I want to rant about Shaw's tonight. I enjoy the finer things in life
(at least when time allows). I don't ask much of this world (most of
the time). I only want three things from my grocery store.

1. The ability to redeem bottles and cans.

2. The ability to cash in my loose change.

3. The ability to buy fresh food.

Shaw's managed to pull an 0-fer tonight.

The bottle redemption machine wouldn't take the beer bottles from the
anniversary party we just had for my in-laws. At first I thought that
maybe it was a Crudweiser machine because it said that Sam Adams'
bottles weren't accepted. When it didn't take Crud Light bottles I
knew that Shaw's was starting to piss me off.

Then I dumped my jar of coins onto the sorting tray of the Coinstar
machine. I look up at the screen and notice it says the machine is not
ready for service and please see a manager. As I'm picking up my
change an employee walks by and says the machine is "closed". What.
The. Hell.

So I'm buying my groceries and I'm nearly finished when I pick up some
cottage cheese. I happen to see that said cottage cheese expired FOUR
DAYS AGO!

I used to like my local Shaw's, but now I'm not so certain.