There, I feel better..

After last night had to get some aggression out of my system.

Look, no whining here about the phantom roughing the passer call, or the non-pass interference call in the end zone which would've given the Patsies first and goal from the one yard line. None of that here. Anytime your team can't hold a 21-3 lead with three minutes left in the first half, well, you deserve to lose the game.

But... I'll be rooting for the Bears in two weeks. Not because I'm sore the Colts beat the Pats, heck, even the Red Sox eventually beat the Yankees, these things happen. But because I'm worried about that guy in the Enterprise car ads who rents a decent car for his high school reunion, you know, "Moose". What's going to happen if Manning actually wins a Superbowl? He's already on 37.8% of the advertising shown on television (ramped up to 87.6% during the playoffs). If he actually won, there'd be no work for anyone else in advertising. What would the Geico cavemen do?

And, to top it off, he's apparently an ingrate. According to SI.com's Peter King, Manning's been playing silent with the media:

The words cut and sting, and I'm sure one of the reasons Manning has cut out almost all of his one-on-one TV interviews this season is because during almost every one of them in the last couple of years, if the TV person is doing his/her job, the question about not winning a National Championship or Super Bowl is asked. And so why should Manning subject himself to weekly reminders of the pain? I totally understand his refusal to deal with the the amiable but persistent grilling."

But he's okay subjecting me to fourteen ads per hour of television? Well, screw him.

So, my fellow football fans, unite behind the underdog Chicago Bears and maybe, just maybe, we'll regain our airwaves from the dorky "6 foot five, two hundred fifty pound quarterback(s) with laser canon arms"...

Gack.

Un-be-freaking-lievable...

If I was a San Diego fan, well, that game would have been as horrifically unsatisfying as last year's New England meltdown in Denver. Every break seemed to go New England's way today, but... But at the end of the day, experience wins out. Experience winning, knowing how to win -- knowing not how to lose.

Cases in point:

New England driving in the third quarter. Third and thirteen, and Brady is sacked and fumbles. The Patriots recover the fumble, but far short of a first down, and probably out of field goal range. And Charger's CB Drayton Florence commits an absolutely stupid unnecessary roughness penalty, giving the Pats a first down. The Patriots subsequently kicked a field goal to close the game to one point.

Also, fourth quarter. Less than seven minutes left in the game, Chargers up by eight points. The Chargers have the Patriots at fourth and five, at the San Diego 41 yard line. Brady throws his third interception of the evening, right into the arms of SD defensive back Marlon McCree. Now, it's fourth down. If McCree drops the ball, it's San Diego's ball on the 41 (McCree is around the 25 yard line). But McCree decides to run with the ball, into a crowd of Chargers and Patriots players. The ageless Troy Brown, from his sitting position on the field, reaches up and strips the ball from McCree, and the Patriots recover. Brady has his second touchdown pass five short passes later, and the score, after a two-point conversion, is tied.

The funny thing is, the whole "drop the fourth-down interception" thing (which even I, a dumb lineman, remember from high school football practice) is mentioned in a book I'm reading, "The Management Secrets of the New England Patriots", where the writer gives this very thing as an example of the football intelligence of the Patriots. Marlon McCree is going to have a long off-season, waking from nightmares screaming "just drop the ball"...

Look at the Chargers. Who was their best defensive player? Inside linebacker, 11 year veteran, Donnie Edwards had nearly a dozen tackles and an interception. Shawne Merriman? Who had 17 sacks during his shortened (four games suspended for steroid use) season? Merriman: two tackles, one sack. In the playoffs, experience wins out.

So, Indy next. A replay of the 2003 season AFC Championship, where the Pats intercepted Peyton Manning four times, or the 2004 Divisional round, where the boys in Silver, blue and red held the ball for 37 minutes and beat the Colts 20-3.

But man, these Colts looked good over the past two weeks...

I wish I had some nails left to bite...

Well that was a close one...

Wifeypooh, who doesn't get herself all worked up over football, likes to say that the Patriots give you your money's worth; a Patriot's game always lasts 60 minutes and the outcome is usually in doubt for most of the time.

And the Chicago Bears are a quarterback away from being one of the best football teams I have ever seen. Even with Rex Grossman, the Bears are one of the two teams I think could be the NFC representative in the Superbowl. The drama in Dallas, with Romo playing Tom Brady to Drew Bledsoe's, well, Drew Bledsoe, creates the other viable storyline to satisfy the football gods.

Every Patriots game is like watching Saw and Saw 2 back to back. They seem on the verge of losing every game, and find new and exciting ways to cough up the ball and snatch near-defeat from the jaws of easy victory.

But this is always how they've been; the three Superbowls in four years were won by a total of nine points. And yesterday was no different.

They bears came to town to play on the new rug (not bad looking), and punched the Patsies around. And the Patsies punched back. Ten turnovers between the two teams weren't because of wet balls or inept play, rather two very aggressive and opportunistic defenses playing their hearts out.

It was another costly game for the Patriots; two weeks after losing Rodney Harrison to a broken shoulder, Junior Seau left the field with an arm looking appallingly like Harry Potter's after Gilderoy Lockhart "fixed" it. It jiggled.... Ugh. Couple more weeks like this and I'll get to suit up for the hometown team. Heck, I am younger than Vinny Testaverde...

As you may recall, there was a friendly wager on the game, with me proposing to RW and Gino, two Chicago supporters, that we put our respective blogs where our mouths were, and have the losing teams supporter(s) write nice things about the winning team, and winning team supporter(s) blog.

Well, RW was a good sport about the whole thing and wrote a wonderful post acknowledging the dual greatnesses of Kal's World and the New England Patriots, although it is possible that he might, just maybe, have been a little sarcastic with some of his praise. "A portly intellect"? Hmm...

The way the game was going I had started thinking of superlatives for RW and Gino by half-time. I spent the entire second half watching from the kitchen, as every time I ventured into the living room bad things happened to the home town 22 (we Irish are a very superstitious people...)

But thanks to Asante Samuel's (man, is he a hot dog... just shut up and play man...) third pick of the night, the honor of Kal's World was preserved.

Here's to hoping we can renew this bet come February in Florida.

Bring it on!

Well well well. You Bears fans are feeling pretty good about yourselves, aren't you? Nine and one. Not bad. Two straight wins on the road too...

Yup, pretty good. And you're coming into Foxboro where the (ahem... Three Time World Champion) New England Patriots have reverted to the Patsies of old, going only 5 and 3 and dropping three horrid games to the Broncos, Colts, and Jets. The very same Jets you guys blanked last week...

Well. So. Like your chances, eh?

You know who I'm talking to, yup, that's right: you, RW and you, Gino.

Well Gents, feel like putting your blog where you're mouth is? What do you say about a little wager, eh? Little friendly action?

Here's what I propose gents: my Patsies win, you owe me a post about the brilliance of my Patsies, and, well, yes, my blog too. And your Bears win (roll eyes here), and I owe you two a post about the brilliance of your Bears and your respective blogs.

Well, you in?

Update: My take on last night's game may be found here

It's almost enough to make you want the Sox playing again...

Bye week... I hate bye weeks.

Your (three time World Champion) New England Patriots have the week off and the Sox are sitting home watching the playoffs... It was a lost weekend in Boston.

Oh yeah, supposedly hockey is back in town again... Hockey? Pfftttt.... Screw hockey. I hate hockey. Can't follow hockey. Can't understand hockey players (eh?). Can't skate.

(And I mainly put this in about hating hockey to rile up Mossy. He hasn't commented on the blog in like forever. Gotta wake him out of his school induced stupor. See now why I didn't go back to school Moss-man? Would've taken away from precious blog-time... And, well, how cool is it to say: "oh, yeah, I got into Harvard, but I told them to go take a hike..." (you just whisper that part about "cause I didn't have $43,000 for the tuition...")

Anyway, here's a little "Tessie" from the Dropkick Murphys to tide you over until baseball season starts again in six months (and do yourself a favor, let it load-up while you have it paused so you can skip the band introductions, goes a bit long...)



And since we're in a Murphys mood, here's the ever-popular Spicy McHaggis jig for you...



Oh, what the hell. Got the whole crabby Irish thing going full bore (it is, afterall, oh-dark-thirty), so why don't we throw a little House of Pain at'cha...



Oh, and thanks to Google I now know what the hell Everlast is talking about when he says "grab your bozak". Again, we're a family blog around here, so feel free to Google that for yourself, but don't say I didn't warn you.

There, don't say I never gave you nothin'...