1. Manic Depression - In just one short week, we saw the football psyche of New England soar to manic heights and then plummet to the depths of utter despair and hopelessness. Now, the sense of dread extends far beyond what happened last Sunday. The past is not as it seemed. The future is devoid of promise. Such is the life of a football fanatic.
2. The Education of a Fan (Things I Did Not Realize until Just This Week) - Once the Gostkowski field goal attempt sailed off toward Cundiff territory, the Conventional Wisdom quickly galloped off in heretofore unexplored directions. To wit:
Tom Brady is a system quarterback who could never throw the deep ball, has lost his formerly uncanny (but perennially overrated) field vision, pocket awareness and decision-making ability (not to mention his will to win) and who is now consigned to living out his existence in shallow, meaningless, Uggs-clad wealth and wretched excess.
Bill Belichick is a fraud, an incompetent coach and talent evaluator - manipulative as Machiavelli and paranoid as Nixon - who apparently cannot tell the difference between Marlo Thomas and Donald Thomas; and who would have won at least 12 or 13 consecutive Super Bowls had he not arrogantly screwed up to such an extent that he allowed the sublime talents of Brady (Ed. Note – one must ignore contents of previous observations ever so briefly here) to be callously frittered away for the sole purpose of enabling the coach to settle petty personal grudges and gain vengeance on those who in any way disrespected him or disagreed with him at any time.
Sigh. I am truly sorry about all of that. So is it just the Patriots or does this happen to every team that has the misfortune to lose to Arizona?
3. Yo Soy Siesta - The education of young Mr. Gronkowski continues apace. While he has no doubt made his share of mistakes on the football field, he has enjoyed a rare level of success over his first two seasons. That Gronk stepped in it - big time-– not once, but twice during the ill-fated last drive, has to be more than a little bit humbling. I remain optimistic (if that’s still allowed around here) that the free-spirited but big hearted tight end will bounce back. But there remains the faintest hint of a nagging doubt about the wisdom of bestowing untold riches upon the larger than life Gronk persona.
4. Self Preservation - I’m by nature a pacifist who doesn’t see much point in physical violence outside of the realm of athletic competition. However, over the weekend, I’ll be shopping for Tasers, grenade launchers, explosives and various automatic weapons which - I swear – I WILL USE on anyone who approaches me saying they have a
theory about Wes Welker.
5. The Uncertainty Principle - In any organization, a lack of clear lines of authority, accountability and responsibility can be debilitating. This may not be immediately apparent when things are going well but is all too readily revealed when times are tough. New Orleans was dealt a pretty difficult hand losing head coach Sean Payton for the season. The Saints may have compounded the problem by having not only an
interim head coach but also an
‘interim’ interim head coach. When things aren’t going well, players will quickly sense uncertainty and doubt. It’s a lot to ask of Aaron Kromer to pull the team out of the ditch when the players know he’s HC3 and only has the car keys for another couple of weeks. Similarly, in Cleveland, where players know that the new owner has Mike Holmgren and Coach Pat Shurmur on a very short leash, a bit of adversity might cause the bottom to fall out.
6. Roger Over and Out - Tough times for the intrepid Commissioner Goodell (see rare action footage of the Commissioner here -
Dudley Do-Right - YouTube). The labor situation with game officials continues as a huge league-wide embarrassment. And Roger remains beset upon by Bountygate lawsuits and related turmoil. Goodell’s inability to institute fair and open processes to evaluate such situations has created an environment of distrust. In addition, his black and white view of complicated issues, with harsh consequences for those he rightly or wrongly regards as wrongdoers, is not serving him well with the rank and file NFL players who now regard the powers granted to the Commissioner’s office in the CBA as problematic. But those of us who reside here in New England pretty well knew this already.
7. Rozelle at Peace - The late Pete Rozelle, the man who taught football fans the meaning of the word
parity, is resting comfortably in his grave after week 2 of the 2012 NFL season, with no less than 20 of 32 teams having a 1-1 record.
8. Sunday Night is but another fork in the road for the Patriots where victory will revive talk about playoff seeds and byes but a loss will leave a devastated region wallowing in a sea of gloom. Last week was the Reverse Lock of the Year with fans and pundits alike thinking that the Cardinals’ trip to New England was an enormous waste of jet fuel. Will the Patriots rebound? And will I survive an entire evening of listening to the smarmy Chris Collingsworth butcher another NFL game? I guess time will tell.
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This and That (Manic Depression)
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