Sometimes I wonder...

Are the Glory Days Behind Us?

Yes.

7 years ago when the Patriots were hoisting the 3^rd Lombardi Trophy in 4 years I wonder what my reaction would have been if you had said that in 2012 that the Brothers Manning would have 3 rings as well. Or what if you said that Eli Manning would beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl twice and that Peyton was actually packing up his bags and leaving Indy. I can’t fathom what that reaction would be.

I hate to say this, but I haven’t had confidence in Brady since the 2007 loss. He went from Boy Wonder to pompous asshole. He started wearing Yankees hats all around Boston, New York and LA.  He lost his high and tight and got a pony tail. He traded in sneakers for Uggs. He went from doing local ads to taking his sleaves off with goats in Stetson ads. He traded in his place in Marina Bay for a mansion. He traded in Briget Moynahan from Gisele. He went from sliding Super Bowl rings on his fingers to sliding around water parks. He probably gave away a golden retriever and bought a Pomeranian.  He essentially turned from Matt Damon into Ben Affleck. He sold out.

He has also turned into Brett Favre.

That is probably the cruelest thing I have ever said but it is true. That loss was on Brady. It has nothing to do with the receivers drops, contrary to Gisele’s opinion.  The safety was unacceptable but the interception to Chase Blackburn was inexcusable. It was a 1^st and 10. That play had all the makings to be amazing… Brady actually squirms out a sack?! I have never seen that. I immediately thought of Eli/Tyree when I saw that… and then he just cocked back and threw it up. Maybe a healthy Gronk hauls it in, but it was 1^st and 10 and we were winning. That was the game.

He did the same thing in the AFC Championship. Fresh off a turnover he just loaded up and threw a bomb into the endzone and Pollard tipped it to Webb (I think) for an amazing pick… but again.. Throw. The.  Ball. Away. Tom is not the ol’ Gunslinger. He is known for slicing apart defenses with precision passing and making D coordinators look foolish.  Not anymore.

It saddens me to see that Peyton is leaving Indy because it really is the end of an era… and it means that our time with Brady is on the downhill. Brady hasn’t won a Super Bowl since ’04 and, as Eric Wilbur of the Globe put it, he is turning from Joe Montana to Jim Kelly.

The Pats need to go back to what got them here in the beginning. They need a defense. Belichick needs to stop being a draft weirdo and actually use his allotted draft picks on players. Because I am PRETTY sure that oh let’s say Ryan Kerrigan would have put a little better pressure on Eli on Sunday than 2 5^th round picks in 2017.

Yes offense is good, and you need to score points… so we have Brady obvs. Resign Welker for the money he deserves and bring in 1 more WR that is a deep threat. Brandon Lloyd. Guy is McDaniels boy and he would be a decent mid price range fit. Aside from that, build a defense. Draft a Suggs/Kiwanuka style Linebacker who can play DE. Draft another LB.

They do those things and they will be right back where they belong.

And on a side note… I’ve been reading a lot about how people are so bent out of shape about the Patriots partying after the game and Gronk with his shirt off etc… whatever dude.

It is just a game. People need to realize they care A LOT more than their favorite athletes. The Patriots went to work on Sunday, they did not have a good day at work, and they went out afterwards. It happens. If fans think that they are going to weep in their hotels rooms and not open their curtains until Wednesday, they are crazy. This wasn’t a week 6 loss to Buffalo or something. This was the Super Bowl. You never know when you are going to get back to it, if you ever do so go have fun. Parties were going on all week and they were focusing on the game. They are entitled to blow off steam afterwards. I would much rather have them rage on Sunday then soliciting a prostitute or running away to Tijuana on the eve of the Super Bowl (both have happened in the past 15 years).

Although it sucks, it is just a game. No one said it better than Ray Lewis after their loss to New England. It was a game where the Giants were better. 

I Want Bridget Back

Believe it or not, Tom Coughlin is the Reason I Love Football

19 years ago on November 20^th 1993 I fell in love with football. My friend’s parents were having a party and everyone was gathered around the TV as top ranked Notre Dame was chipping away at what seemed to be an insurmountable 38-17 Boston College lead.  Notre Dame tied it up on a 4^th and goal with a minute left and Coughlin’s Eagles, behind the arm of former Jets’ great Glen Foley marched down into field goal range. As time expired David Gordon kicked a 41 yard field goal to beat Notre Dame for the first time in the history of the Holy War, but more importantly, ruined Notre Dame’s National Championship hopes.

Notre Dame was fresh off becoming the #1 team in the country after beating Florida State the week before in a game that was touted as the Game of the Century. The year prior to this game BC had lost in South Bend 54-7 and Rudy was filmed during halftime. That’s why if you watch closely in the end of the movie when ND is playing Georgia Tech, there is a sea of Maroon and Gold.

That BC/Notre Dame game in 1993 changed a lot of things. It made me watch football religiously… no pun intended. I vaguely remember watching Patriots games with my dad prior to that, but the Pats sucked when I was a kid. I don’t remember the 1985 Super Bowl run. All I remember is that home games were blacked out because we couldn’t fill the stadium, Hugh Millen was our QB, and the kicker was known as Missin’ Scott Sissen. So football wasn’t as big in my life as the Bruins or the Sox. It put BC on the cover of Sports Illustrated, which still hangs on my wall in my parents’ house. It catapulted Tom Coughlin’s career, for he left BC to go to the NFL to coach the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars. It also marks the last time that Notre Dame was #1 in the college rankings.

Because of what Coughlin did against Notre Dame and what he did for BC, he has always been on my radar. I feel that he has always been extremely underrated. He took the Jags to the AFC Championship game against the Patriots in 1996/97. That was the year that Broncos were supposed to win it all but Coughlin and Mark Brunell came into Mile High and beat Denver. Then they came into Foxboro and the Pats rolled and I believe there was a power outage. He also led them to a 14-2 record in 1999 but lost to Tennessee in the AFC Championship game.

He was named the Giants head coach in 2004 and he beat the Patriots and their perfect season in 2007. Although that stung so bad, I admire Coughlin because he is a lot like Belichick… and not nearly as respected. Well, the past 2 weeks he has gained some press, but before that it seemed that he was always one seat away from the hot one and that players didn’t like him because of his rules. He and BB are both cut from a similar piece of cloth.. BB’s being terry cloth and Coughlin’s being a nylon Starter coat. I always picture him in a Starter jacket for some reason. Coughlin would get crapped on because he would ask players to be on time, and on time in his eyes is 10 minutes early. I respect the hell out that because if I am anal to a fault with timeliness. If I need to be somewhere at 8 I’ll aim to be there at 7:45 and if I think I am not going to there at 7:45 I get anxiety. It is probably a serious condition that I need meds for, but whatever, everyone has issues. I digress. Players would bash Coughlin because of his strict rules. Oh I’m sorry, you get paid over 5 million dollars a year to play a game… show up on time.

There were even mumblings this year after the Giants started of 6-2 and then were 6-6. They won a one game playoff so to speak with Dallas and finished 9-7 and are now playing in the Super Bowl against a 13-3 team. And which team do I think is better right now? Unfortunately, the 9-7 team.

They are rolling the same way that the Packers were last season and they have overcome all of their major injuries and are clicking on all cylinders.  I’m by no means giving up on the Pats because they are on a mission from Myra right now, but it will definitely be one hell of a game and I am not walking around with the swagger that I had in 2007, I’ll tell ya that much.

The other thing that I love about Coughlin is that the Giants are made up of BC kids. His daughter is married to offensive lineman Chris Snee, he had Mathias Kiwanuka, who was by far my favorite player ever in NCAA football on PS2, he has Will Blackmon and the best story of all, he signed cancer survivor Mark Herzlich. I could write for hours on that alone.

I am a Patriots fan and that will not change, but if the Giants are to win on Sunday I will not be bitter. Their win would give a cancer survivor that didn’t know if he would ever play again a ring, it would give Eli twice as many rings as Peyton (which is ok in my book) and it would give a great coach the credit he deserves. If anything I am just happy that the guy who made football relevant in my life has a chance to do what only a handful of coaches has done. That being said, go Pats.