Seth Wickersham "beginning of the end" piece proves sports world revolves around Patriots

ESPN's Seth Wickersham's "Beginning of the end" piece on the Patriots claims there is a power struggle at the highest level of Pats' leadership: among the owner, the GOAT coach, and the GOAT quarterback. True or not, what the report conclusively proves is that the sports world is obsessed with everything the Patriots do.

Many of the pieces to Wickersham's puzzle seem to fit. I can imagine Bill Belichick grumbling about being coerced to trade Jimmy Garoppolo. I can imagine Tom Brady being worried about the security of his position as starter. I can imagine Robert Kraft interfering in an effort to alleviate tensions and to make his star QB happy. So there's a possibility it's all true.

But there's more than a possibility that the Patriots are the center of the sports world. That's an absolute certainty.

Even when they don't play, they're the top story. Just a whisper of dissension in Foxborough, and it's breaking news. The narrative of Garoppolo's success in San Fran is told as a Patriots' story. DeflateGate was national network news, not just sport news, and it endured for months. Compare that to the brief amount of time spent discussing the Seahawks violating concussion protocol (the media spent less time on that than Russell Wilson spent in the medical tent). People are obsessed with everything the Patriots do.

So while other New England fans might fret about tension behind the scenes, while other New England fans start blaming Bill or Tom or Bob for a breakup which hasn't happened yet, I'm just going to enjoy the fact that the sports world orbits around Foxborough, that Gillette Stadium is the center of the football universe. I'll enjoy it, because 20 years ago the Patriots were barely relevant, and 2 years from now the same might be true again.

Patriots-Ravens Drinking Game: Christmas Cheer Edition

Only a few days until Christmas. Many people have already started their holiday drinking. Here's a drinking game to play during this afternoon's Patriots/Ravens game.

Anytime a commentator says...
"Rivalry" = take 1 drink from a beer
"Foes" = 1 drink
"AFC Championship" = 1 drink
"Revenge" or "vengeance" = 1 drink
"Rematch" = 2 drinks
"Hoomanawanui" = finish your beer
"Injury" = 1 drink
"Ray Lewis" = take a shot of liquor
"Holidays" = 1 drink
"Season" = 1 drink
"'Tis" = 1 drink
"Merry" = 1 drink
"Christmas" = drink for 10 seconds
"Happy" = 1 drink
"New Year" = 1 drink
"Balmy" = drink an entire beer
"Winter" = 1 drink
"Rain" = 1 drink
"Thunder" = 1 drink
"Lightning" = 1 drink
"Suggs" = 1 drink
"Bulletin board material" = 1 drink
"Ho" = 1 drink per ho


Anytime this is on screen...
Highlights from previous Patriots/Ravens games = drink until the highlights are over
Rob Gronkowski getting injured = 1 drink
An injured Patriot on the sidelines or in a suite = 1 drink
A video, list, or graphic of Patriot injuries = 1 drink per injured player
Anything related to the weather = 1 drink
Chandler Jones and his brother Arthur Jones = 1 drink
Something stupid Terrell Suggs said = 1 drink
Cheerleaders dressed in Christmas attire = 1 drink
Anyone dressed as Santa or an elf = 1 drink per costume
Bill Belichick and The Grinch = finish your beer
A fireplace = drink as long as it's on the screen
A player or coach wishing happy holidays/merry Christmas = 1 drink
Bill Belichick giving season's greetings = drink a whole beer
A member of the broadcast crew wishing HH/Merry Xmas = 1 drink
A stocking = 1 drink per stocking
Christmas ornaments = 1 drink per ornament
Reindeer = 1 drink per antler point
Fake snow = 1 drink per flake
Robert Kraft = 1 drink
Bob Kraft talking to someone = drink the until he's done talking


Anytime this happens...
Tom Brady gets frustrated at himself = 1 drink
Brady gets frustrated at a receiver = 2 drinks
The Patriots fail to score a TD in the Red Zone = shot of liquor and half a beer (just a shot for a field goal)
A Patriots tight-end is thrown to = drink for 10 seconds
A Patriots tight-end catches a pass = drink for 30 seconds
Stevan Ridley carries the ball and doesn't fumble = 1 drink
Ridley fumbles = 1 shot
Matthew Slater makes a special teams tackle = 1 drink
Slater catches a pass = half a beer
Dont'a Hightower looks lost or gets beat in coverage = 1 drink
Hightower makes a tackle on a rushing play = 1 drink
Announcers mention that Chandler Jones and Ravens' defensive lineman Arthur Jones are brothers = 1 drink
Brady says "Aplha Milk" = 1 drink from spiked eggnog
Kickoff touchback = 1 drink
Kickoff return = drink until return is over


Merry Christmas, Happy Festivus, Happy Saturnalia, Happy New Year, and get lubed up responsibly.

Jeremy Jacobs Is the Anti-Robert Kraft

Patriots owner Robert Kraft is frequently credited as being instrumental to bringing the NFL owners and NFLPA together last year during the NFL lockout. This year, Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs seems to be playing the opposite role. While Kraft assumed the role of mediator and conciliator, Jacobs has acted as the opposite. Jacobs has been divisive, uncompromising, and argumentative. He is the wedge that has driven the owners and players apart.

It's almost as if Jeremy Jacobs didn't want there to be a 2012-13 NHL season.

Jeremy "Scrooge" Jacobs continued his avaricious agenda by getting into a shouting match with Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller.

Can you imagine an owner of any other team in any other sport getting "heated" with an individual player? Can you envision Robert Kraft or John Henry getting into a shouting match with Peyton Manning or Derek Jeter? Only the most absurdly hardline owner could lower themselves to argue heatedly with labor.

But that's what Jacobs is. He's hardline. Which doesn't make sense because he makes most of his money elsewhere. The Bruins are just a small part of the Delaware North empire which he commands. Delaware North pulls in $2.6 billion in revenues, so why is Mr. Jacobs so adamant about a few hundred thousand dollars in revenue?

Well, I think he's just an asshole. He's always been an asshole. We forgave and forgot him being an asshole when the Bruins won the Cup, but tigers can't shed their stripes. He is a bona fide, world-class asshole.

He doesn't care about the game. He doesn't even care about money. He cares about pride and spite. He is an embodiment of the Seven Deadly Sins, specifically Pride. And he, more than any other person on the planet, is killing the game of hockey.

Why the NFL Referee Lockout Needs to End

Well, we all saw last night's debacle. I'm not going to blame refs for a Patriots loss. Because the refs sucked both ways. The main point is, they suck in general.

My favorite Ref Lockout moment was when the officials called a timeout to measure a ball that was over a yard from the 1st down line. The time it took to do so allowed John Harbaugh's staff ample time to view every single replay and then decide to challenge the spot of the ball.

Of course, the replacement refs got the spot horribly wrong to begin with. Harbaugh was right and the spot was wrong. Qualified officials wouldn't have made the mistake that started all this.

I understand the NFL's position in this dispute. We'll all watch the NFL next week, even though the refs suck and might be affecting the game. So if the NFL isn't losing money, why should it pay money to retain properly trained officials?

The NFL might not be losing money, but these games are losing legitimacy.

And at some point, the loss of legitimacy will affect the number of people watching the sport. See: Black Sox Scandal in 1919. It might take a long time, but it will happen. In 1919 baseball was as popular in this country as football is now. And it was facing a legitimacy crisis because some Chicago White Sox players took money to throw the World Series. Baseball was king but even it was threatened by a loss of legitimacy.

And how long can owners of Super Bowl contenders tolerate the shoddiness of officiating? Bill Belichick has already grabbed an official and will likely be (justifiably so) disciplined for it. How long until Robert Kraft lobbies for a settlement with refs to avoid further rankling?

I have never seen Bill Belichick so enraged as he was during that game last night.

Oh and don't forget these games are taking longer, and that's a problem for TV networks and their ratings. So these poor officials might be having a financial impact on the game after all.

The ultimate consideration for me is legitimacy. So many Patriots fans will be griping about the refs this week. I disagree with them and think the Pats are the most responsible for their defeat, but the lack of legitimate refs has resulted in the lack of legitimate wins. So whoever does well this season won't receive proper and just praise, because people will blame the low-rent refs for dictating who won and who lost in the 2012 NFL.