Bruschi Attacks Ochocinco

Tedy Bruschi and now Rodney Harrison, both retired Patriots turned media members, have criticized Chad Ochocinco for his tweeting and lack of impressive play. The particular tweet in question is this:

"Just waking up after a late arrival,I've never seen a machine operate like that n person,to see video game numbers put up n person was WOW"

Which seems fairly innocent. Bruschi and Harrison are criticizing Ochocinco for being amazed by what the Patriots did Monday night. And I'm kind of with them on that. Brady wasn't amazed, nor was Gronkowski surprised or Branch bewildered. Did Belichick look like he didn't expect the Pats to score so much?

To be fair to Ochocinco, he's been on the Bengals' sidelines for a decade. The whole notion of prepare, then execute, then win is something foreign to him. He seems to be in a state of shock, he's struggled to learn the playbook, and he also might be afraid of making a mistake, and slowing down this mesmerizing machine.

He's had trouble with the preparation part, but I don't think Twitter is the problem. And if effort is the problem, isn't that up to Coach Belichick to enforce?

I love Bruschi and Harrison, but if a member of the media attacked one of their teammates when they were on this team, they'd rally around him and dismiss everything as an internal Patriots matter. Which it is. If Twitter's a problem, then let Belichick handle it. If Ochocinco isn't putting the effort in, let Belichick handle it.

Belichick is the coach, Ochocinco is the player, Bruschi and Harrison are the external entities now. Some of us expected Ochocinco to be amazing here, and that hasn't been the case. His on-the-field performance of 14 yards and 1 reception wasn't dazzling, but it didn't exactly hurt the offense either. Belichick will find a way to utilize Ochocinco. Bruschi is entitled to his opinion, but he's not the coach, he's on the outside.

One thing I do like is that none of the Patriots have given much of a response to this. And neither has Ochocinco.

School of Bard Knocks

Remember when Daniel Bard was a strength and not a liability? It seems like ages ago. Three of his 5 blown saves have come in the last two weeks, which is doubly painful because wins are at a premium for the Sox lately, and he's literally blowing them away.

Five appearances for Bard in September, 4.2 innings, 9 earned runs (19.29 ERA), 3 blown saves, 3 losses. The only person happy with Bard's September is Jonathan Papelbon's agent.

How often do you get a tolerable start from Lackey? How rare is it for him to give the Sox a chance to win? And Bard wasted it. The Sox got some nice timely hitting as well, enough to drive 4 runs in.

In a pennant race that's been heating up, it's a shame to waste wins like that.

And it better not continue this weekend. The Rays are 4 games behind in the Wild Card, and they come to Fenway for 4 games. A split would be huge for the Sox. A 4 game deficit with 14 games left is comfortable. But if the Sox lose 3, it's tight, and if they get swept, it's as tight as it can be.

Kyle Weiland vs. Jeremy Hellickson. These guys are 25 and 24 years old, respectively, and they're pitching in the middle of a pennant race. They'll have millions of Red Sox fans and a few dozen Rays fans watching their every move.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

#200 For Wakefield

If you're not from around here, you might not get why Tim Wakefield's 200th career win is such a big deal for Sox fans. Wakefield's been with this team since 1995. That was when Roger Clemens, Aaron Sele, Jeff Suppan, Mo Vaughn, Mike Greenwell and Jose Conseco were on the team. Wakefield helped that team win the AL East with a 16-8 record.

After '95, the Sox entered one of the darkest periods in their recent history. Clemens went to Toronto, and suddenly returned to greatness. We saw the Yankees win the World Series, with Wade Boggs. And to be blunt, Tim Wakefield was a big part of that mediocrity.

My two biggest memories of Tim Wakefield are when he was on the mount when Aaron Boone hit his homerun in 2003, and it was Wakefield who pitched 3.1 innings of relief in Game 3 of the '04 ALCS, which saw the Yankees win 19-8, and Wakefield allow 5 runs.

But at least he ate those innings, saving the bullpen and preserving it for the marathon Games 4 and 5 that followed.

Look, Wakefield's not a great pitcher. He's not even very good. But he was there. He was there when things were good in '95, there when things got worse, there when they got better. He's familiar to us here in Boston. So it's nice to see him reach a modest milestone.

And you know what, nobody pitching in Major League Baseball today has more wins than him.

Last night's win was much needed for the Sox. Ellsbury continues to sizzle, and Pedroia exploded out of his slump with 2 homers, 2 doubles, and 5 RBI. Unfortunately, Ortiz was a late scratch due to back spasms. The Sox simply cannot afford any more injuries so hopefully that's a minor issue.

John Lackey opposes Ricky Romero this afternoon. The Sox have been able to score against him this season, so hopefully the offense can carry Lackey to win #13.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Baylor Trying to Save the Big XII

The SEC voted to invite Texas A&M to join their ranks. But before the Home of the 12th Man can be the SEC's 13th member, they're going to have to go through Baylor. One contingency of the SEC's invitation is that there be no legal challenges or roadblocks stopping A&M or any team the SEC decides to invite. Baylor, however, has decided to mount a legal challenge.

It makes sense for Texas A&M to join the SEC, especially with the threat of Oklahoma and Texas joining the Pac-12. It makes sense for the SEC to invite A&M, who has quality programs in multiple sports, and would also help open the state of Texas to SEC recruiters.

Baylor's decision to try to stop this also makes sense. The Big XII is about to be ripped apart, and Baylor will likely be one of the leftovers remaining. They'll likely be invited to the Mountain West, which is respectable, but it's not the BCS. The money that bowl games and TV contracts give to BCS conferences is ridiculous, and that money gets divided evenly by all members of the conference.

To be blunt, Baylor's been getting paid big money thanks to the likes of Texas and Oklahoma. I know they want to keep that money coming, but the reality is that TV dollars now dictate conference alignment, not geography and tradition.

Manny Being Arrested

Manny Ramirez was arrested last night in Weston, Florida and was charged with battery. Allegedly, he slapped his wife Juliana in the face, which also caused the back of her head to strike the headboard of their bed.

Manny reportedly told deputies that he'd grabbed his wife by the shoulder's, "shrugged her" and that's how she hit the back of her head. However, Police say that she had bruising in the back of her head, as well as "red welling" on her face.

None of this story surprises me. We've seen Manny slap a teammate in public, we know that he tried using PEDs, even after being caught and harshly punished. Quite simply, he lacks that voice in the back of his head that says "Don't do that." He's a child that doesn't understand punishment.

And it's sad, because his on the field performances were the stuff of legend. And now he's a cautionary tale.

Brady Drowns the Dolphins

There was a point in this game that I was worried. It was when it was 14-14 just after halftime. The Dolphins defense had been pressuring Brady, and I had a not-so-good feeling that the Pats would lose 24-21 or something. But a 10 play, 73 yard drive that ended with a 2 yard pass from Brady to Welker alleviated all my concern.

The Patriots' offense is just too good for most teams in the NFL to handle. As much as Jon Gruden was on Cameron Wake's junk, the Dolphins' defense simply could not fathom what Brady and his receivers and tight ends were doing to them.

Brady's numbers tell the whole story. 32 for 48, 517 yards, 4 TDs, and an interception that wasn't really his fault. 8 different Patriots caught passes. Four of those guys had over 80 yards receiving.

Defensively, the Patriots had a few agonizing drives. There were some big 3rd down and 4th down plays that reminded me of last year's 3rd down horror shows. But there was something different this time. There were some quality plays in big situations, especially from the defensive front. The raw power of Haynesworth pushed the defensive line back so many times.

This defensive line won't accumulate many sacks. But I don't mind that. I like seeing QBs make bad throws because they're afraid of being sacked. That's when they throw incompletions on 3rd and long, that's when they throw picks.

Just some notes on Tom Brady's performance: This was his 35th all-time 300 yard game, which is the 11th most in NFL history. John Elway is 10th with 36, and Drew Bledsoe is 9th with 37. Brady's 517 yards is the most for a New England QB. Brady now has 265 career TD passes, which is 10th most all-time, only 8 behind Joe Montana.

It wasn't perfect. Ochocinco was invisible except for one catch and a procedural penalty. Edelman was a bit too eager to return the ball even when it would have been better to take touchbacks. McCourty could have hauled in an interception. These were exceptions, though. This was a good win on the road in the division. I'll take it.

The Chargers come to town 4:15PM Sunday.

MLB Once Again Taking Itself Too Seriously

A few weeks ago, the Washington Nationals wanted to pay tribute to our armed forces by wearing hats representing the five branches of the military (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard). But Major League Baseball said that the Nats would be out of uniform, and squashed the tribute.

Now MLB has once again taken its uniform policies too seriously, and in doing so has really pissed me off. The Mets wanted to wear special hats to honor the first responders to 9/11, the NYPD and FDNY.

But Major League Baseball said they wanted to keep policy consistent throughout baseball. In other words, every team has to wear the same type of hats. Over the weekend, teams wore hats with small American flags embroidered on the side. Joe Torre (MLB's executive VP for baseball operations), said of the policy: "Certainly, it's not a lack of respect."

No, it's just a lack of common sense.

In September of 2001, the Mets wore hats given to them by NYPD and FDNY. I don't see what the big deal would have been if they were allowed to do so last night. The NFL allowed individual players to alter their uniforms yesterday. Yet baseball can't allow the New York Mets to change their hats for a game?

There are some uniforms that should be taken seriously, even revered. A military uniform. A police uniform. Those uniforms have meaning, and should be respected. But a baseball uniform is just cloth.

College Football Summary: Week 2

I wasn't particularly excited about the slate of games on this weekend's schedule. But the beautiful thing about college football is that you never know which games will be entertaining to watch, and there were plenty of those on Saturday. Here are the highlights:

FOOTBALL IS BETTER AT NIGHT
It was Michigan's first home night game and they'll probably host a few more after their 35-31 victory over the Irish. Night games are just better. The crowd is more amped (and drunker), the players have all day to get pumped for the game. It's just better.

OHIO STATE IS PROTECTED BY THE NCAA

I'm not normally a conspiracy theory guy. But OSU got a slap on the wrist even though their head coach failed to report violations. On Saturday, they're down 22-21 to Toledo, and fail to score on a 3rd & goal. Instead of being forced to kick a field goal, a ref throws a flag for defensive holding. The Big Ten Network doesn't show a replay, but on my DVR I watch the "penalty" and see a tight-end running into a safety and grabbing him. OSU gets a fresh sets of downs, and then a touchdown. Instead of a 24-22 Ohio State lead, it's 27-22. With 3 minutes left, Toledo drives to the 17, but can't just kick a field goal. They wind up turning the ball over on downs.

Ohio State gets away with everything. They might have lost to Toledo if not for a very bad call. I hate them more than any team in the country.

THE BIG XII CHAMP WILL BE FROM OKLAHOMA OR TEXAS (BUT NOT AUSTIN)
Oklahoma State demolished Arizona on Friday. Oklahoma became the first team to be voted #1 in the AP Poll 100 times. Meanwhile, Texas barely beat BYU 17-16, Missouri lost to Arizona State. ITexas A&M and Baylor were both idle this week, but they're probably the best two teams in Texas, perhaps TCU is on that level too. My point is, The University of Texas is the #4 team in Texas.

WILL ANYONE SURVIVE THE SEC WEST?
LSU should be ranked #1. Alabama went to State College, PA and left with a convincing win. Mississippi State is a darkhorse in the division, but they couldn't beat Auburn on the road. There are 5 legitimately good teams out there. Can any team run that gauntlet and not lose 2 games?

NOTRE DAME WAS OVERRATED

There wasn't much factual evidence to support Notre Dame's preseason rankings of 16 (AP), and 18 (Coaches'). And now everyone else in the country knows what I knew before the season started: Notre Dame sucks. They might start 0-3 as they host Michigan State next.

BC WILL NOT MAKE A BOWL GAME
It's been 13 years (1998) since BC did not make a bowl game. But after the Eagles' 30-3 loss to Central Florida of C-USA, it's hard to imagine them winning the required 6 games. BC has no ability to score. They only had 141 yards of offense against UCF. Chase Rettig was 10 for 23 for 70 yards and 2 picks. BC should beat Duke and UMass at home, but now games against the likes of Wake Forest seem like daunting challenges.