Bill Belichick Causes Freak Injury

Rob Gronkowski got hurt and I'm angry! And it's Bill Belichick's fault!

Why was Gronk in there? It was a meaningless PAT in a meaningless part of the game and it resulted in a very meaningful injury. Belichick should have taken him out. He should have gone up to him before the PAT, said "Rob, you're more important than your teammates, stay on the sidelines where it's safe."

I know PATs usually aren't dangerous, but why take any risk at all? Gronk is an important part of the team, more important than his teammates, and the best thing for the team was for Belichick to point out to the team that Gronkowski is separate from and above teammates.

I know Belichick has won some Super Bowls here, and he drafted guys like Tom Brady, and Gronkowski, and so on and so forth. He's a good coach. But I'm getting tired of all the "In Bill We Trust" people who blindly support everything he does. I'm allowed to question and even criticize him. I'm tired of me, the sports media, and thousands of fans being silenced. All we have to voice our opinions are newspapers, blogs, sports radio, Twitter, and Facebook. Somehow, we will be heard!

Look, I obviously don't want Belichick to be fired. I just want him to change what he does and how he does it. It clearly doesn't work, because if it did, Gronkowski wouldn't be injured right now.

What Belichick should have done, for the good of the team, is to tell an individual player that he was more important than his teammates. That he was precious, and must be preserved and protected. Then after the game, give a speech to the team about how important Rob Gronkowski's health is, and how dangerous PATs are.

Nothing builds a team mentality better than putting individual players on a pedestal, and dividing the team into two groups: important stars, and expendable laborers. That, along with an intense fear of injury, are how winning teams are built.

End Sarcasm.

BC Hockey Comes Back Against Merrimack

#1 ranked Boston College continued to roll, beating Merrimack 4-3 Friday night. The Eagles fell behind by 3 goals in the 2nd period, but erased that deficit in less than 5 minutes, also in the 2nd period. Then in the 3rd, Steven Whitney's 6th goal of the season gave the Eagles their 8th win, and coach Jerry York's 922nd career victory (the record is 924).

After Merrimack went up 3-0, Whitney started the scoring for BC in the 2nd. So far this season the senior from Reading, Mass. has been BC's secret weapon behind Johnny Gaudreau. Gaudreau assisted both Whitney's scores. Patrick Wey and Danny Linell scored BC's other goals.

The Eagles shot the puck 42 times, and barely missed on a few scoring opportunities in the 1st period. BC didn't figure out Merrimack goalie Sam Marotta until the 2nd.

BC hosts Dartmouth on Saturday in a non-conference game, then it's the annual home-and-home against BU on the 30th and December 1st. Jerry York can tie and break the all-time record for college hockey coaching wins in those rivalry games, which would be quite fitting.

Maryland and Rutgers to Big Ten

When the SEC went to 14 teams, the other BCS conferences watched to see if it would work. It did work, and now the Big Ten is expanding. They're reportedly going to add Maryland, as well as Rutgers, taking them from the ACC and Big East, respectively.

Both teams would add an East Coast presence for the Midwestern conference. And Rutgers would help the Big Ten infiltrate the New York media market. The Big Ten already has a juicy TV contract with ESPN, as well as their own network, so adding teams in general only increases the content they can provide.

I'm getting a little tired of this musical chairs in college sports. I want it over with.

In 10 years or so, it will all be sorted out. There will be three major conferences, with 16 or 18 teams each: The Big Ten, the Pac-16, and the SEC. The ACC and Big East will combine as a 12 team league just below the Big Three.

And in Webster's Dictionary, the Big Ten will pay for the meaning of the word "ten" to be changed to "any number between nine and twenty." "Ten" will become an approximating word like "several."

BCS Mess

Both Kansas State and Oregon lost, catapulting Notre Dame to #1, and bringing Alabama back to the BCS title game as #2 after only a 1 week absence.

However, there's no way that Notre Dame is the best team in the country. If they do play Alabama, who would you bet on? If they played Oregon, who would you bet on? And how razor thin was their margin of victory over Stanford? They are just waiting to lose.

When Notre Dame lose to USC, which they will, there will be a BCS mess for the #2 team in the country. Alabama will rightfully assume the #1 spot, then there will be Georgia, Florida, Oregon, Notre Dame, Kansas State, Florida State, Clemson, et cetera.

In other words, it's good that we'll have a playoff next year. But are 4 teams enough? I think 6 or 8 would be best. But progress is progress.

Patriots Tame Colts

I like Andrew Luck. I liked him at Stanford. And as much as I also liked RG3, I felt like Luck was a better NFL QB because he was a better decision maker. And maybe someday that decision making ability will come to fruition. But not yesterday. Yesterday, Mr. Luck was a walking turnover.

The much-maligned Patriots defense turned this game around in the 2nd quarter. They forced a 3 and out which led to Julian Edelman's punt return TD. Then Vince Wilfork's pressure influenced Andrew Luck to thrown an INT, which Aqib Talib returned for another TD.

In the 3rd quarter, the Patriots offense stepped up. Right after half-time they flawlessly drove downfield and scored. Then after Rob Ninkovich forced an Andrew Luck fumble, Brady hit Rob Gronkowski in the end zone. And the game was essentially over.

Alfonzo Dennard's pick 6 was icing on the cake, and the Patriots won the 4th quarter 21-7. He and Talib are actually legit CBs, and that's nice to have once again.

But already I can hear the armchair coaches out there. "Why was Gronk still in there?" "Why were we still scoring?" "Why do we have star players on PAT?"

Folks, it's a 60 minute game. And injuries are always a risk. You play 60 minutes, even with a big lead, so when you need to play 60 tough minutes you're accustomed to it. Please leave your amateur coaching strategies where they belong, inside your brain, along with your theories about traffic on 128 and how you can do a better job than your boss.

Some people are already complaining about this 5 score victory. This Yahoo recap moaned about the Patriots defense being "suspect" and allowing 448 yards. Um, the defense also scored twice, forced 4 turnovers, that's a good day for a defense. Regardless of how many yards they allowed.

Let us be cheerful. The Pats have a 3 game lead over every AFC East team. They're playing the Jets on Thanksgiving, and it's an opportunity to all but eliminate the NYJ from the divisional race.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Patriots-Colts Drinking Game

So Colts/Patriots is once again relevant as a rivalry. But now it's Brady/Luck not Brady/Manning. Here's a drinking game to play during today's game.

Anytime a commentator says...
"No-huddle" or "high-octane" = 1 drink from a beer
A pun or play on words with "Luck" = drink beer for 7 seconds
A "Luck" pun involving horseshoes = drink for 11 seconds
"Guru" = 1 drink
"Peyton Manning" = drink for 18 seconds
"Turkey" = 1 drink
"Thanksgiving" = 1 drink
"Gobble gobble" = 1 shot of Wild Turkey
"Stanford" = 1 drink


Anytime this is on the screen...
Adam Vinatieri's game tying 45 yard FG against the Raiders in the snow = drink beer for 45 seconds
Vinatieri's game winning 23 yarder against the Raiders = drink for 23 seconds
Vinatieri's game winning 48 yarder against the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI = drink for 48 seconds
Vinatieri's game winning 41 yarder against the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII = drink beer for 41 seconds
A graphic with Vinatieri plus: Richard Seymour, Ty Law, Asante Samuel, or any other big name Patriot castaways = shot of cheap liquor, Mr. Boston vodka would be best
Fall foliage = 1 drink from a beer
Fall foliage from Vermont = 1 drink from a beer plus a shot of maple syrup
Cranberries = 1 drink
Cranberry bog = 1 Cape Codder (vodka and cranberry juice)
A turkey (animated, live, or cooked) = 1 drink
Pilgrims = 1 drink
Plymouth Rock = drink as much as you can in 16 minutes and 20 seconds (16:20)
Bob Kraft = 1 drink
Bob Kraft talking to someone = drink as long as he's talking
Bill Belichick pulling something from his sock = 1 drink


Anytime this happens...
Tom Brady yells "Alpha Milk" = 1 drink
Brady points out the "Mike" = 1 drink
Patriots get a first down = 1 drink
Patriots go no-huddle = 1 drink per snap
Colts go no-huddle = 1 drink per snap
Patriots allow a 15+ yard pass play = 1 drink
Devin McCourty gets beat on a pass (even if incomplete) = 1 drink
McCourty forces a turnover = 1 shot of liquor
Vince Wilfork tipped pass = 1 drink
Wilfork recovers turnover = 1 shot
Wilfork returns turnover for TD = 1 shot, 1 beer, 1 turkey leg or mutton joint
Rob Gronkowski spikes the ball = 1 drink
Gronk doesn't spike after TD = 1 whole beer
Kickoff touchback = 1 drink
Kickoff return = drink until the return is over


Please get lubed up responsibly.

Miguel Cabrera Wins MVP, Stats Geeks Can't Quantify their Rage

Had Mike Trout won the AL MVP, I wouldn't have agreed with it, but I would have understood. He had a great season. But Miguel Cabrera winning the MVP has incensed a sect of baseball nerds that worship numbers and believe that stats are the only thing in baseball that matters.

Here's why Miguel Cabrera won:

1. He won the Triple Crown, which is a statistical rarity in this sport. Hitting for power and hitting for average is a tough balance.

2. He performed well in the clutch. He had a 1.032 OPS in September when the Tigers needed to win to make the playoffs. Throughout the season he hit .356 with runners in scoring position, and .420 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs.

3. He was more valuable.

He was just better than Trout. Deal with it. All your WAR and UZR and your numerology mean nothing. At the very least, he and Trout are on equal footing. In which case, give deference to the player whose team made the playoffs. And give deference to the player who won the Triple Crown.

The arguments against Cabrera are shallow. The numerologists argue that a certain set of stats can accurately determine what a players value is? Really? Because the designation "Most Valuable Player" brings so much ambiguity with it. It requires subjectivity and human opinion in order to determine which player is the most valuable.

There is no objective, statistical measurement of value. There is no empirical way to determine which player is more valuable than another. So any argument based solely on stats is incomplete, and invalid.

Miguel Cabrera is the MVP, and the baseball stat gurus are crying their imaginary numbers (i's) out.

Red Sox Shouldn't React to Blue Jays Trade

The Toronto Blue Jays and Miami Marlins agreed to a massive trade yesterday. Toronto received Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, John Buck, and Emilio Bonifacio. And while the deal certainly makes Toronto a better team, it should not affect what the Red Sox do in any way.

I'm worried that the Sox, in response to this move, might seek to make a splash of their own. This would be unwise. Let the fans whine and moan about the Sox being the 5th best team in the division (which they already were in 2012). The Red Sox should stick to their plan, worry about themselves, improve as much as they can this off-season without sacrificing their ability to continue to improve.

It's going to take more than one off-season, and more than one or two moves to improve the Sox. They're a 69 win team and finding 25+ additional wins will take some time. Likely more than one off-season.

So calm down, Red Sox Nation. It's your panic that can trigger Larry Lucchino to call Ben Cherington and say "we need to do something."

There really isn't much out there for the Sox to acquire. I'd like to see Zach Greinke here, but he might be too expensive. Mike Napoli doesn't impress me. I wouldn't mind Josh Hamilton, especially with Jacoby Ellsbury getting his luggage ready.

The Sox have money, but that's no excuse to spend carelessly. They need to be prudent. I'm reminded of The Simpsons episode with the monorail.

The Sox need to listen to Marge and fix Main Street's potholes before investing in a shiny mass transit system.

Although I wouldn't put it past Lucchino to build an elevated monorail line that encircled Fenway Park, with stops at the Monster, the bleachers, the Bud Deck, and Yawkey Way.