connoisseur series500

Thanks Everyone! I've got to make it back to Baker's. For sure! Got a chemistry quiz at noon today on my birthday--yuck! For those who might not know: I decided to return to school after 23 years. Go Pats!

Change of subject for a second here: Don't you HATE the idea of teams playing in throwback jerseys? I couldn't identify the Pittsburgh Steelers in last night's games with that circus outfit they were wearing. Will the NFL please trash the throwback jersey idea? It's stupid.

I also couldn't care less about the propriety of "running up the score". However, I do think that any psychological advantage that is gained against future opponents by obtaining such blow-outs is outweighed by the concern for injuries. If Brady or Moss gets injured during the fourth quarter of a game that is well in hand, Belichick is going to look like an idiot - the Patriots suddenly become very beatable. Moreover, wouldn't it be beneficial to try to gain valuable experience for the Patriots' backups during the fourth quarter of these games? Excellent point. I believe Rodney Harrison got hurt last season during a game where some starters could have been rested. Belichick tends to play his starters in meaningless games, presumably so they don't get stale for the playoffs. Dungy, on the other hand, tends to rest his players. He was criticized the year that Pittsburgh upset the Colts for resting his starters and they appeared stale.

http://www.nbcsports.com/portal/site...tcurrchannel=1 Officiating questions abound following Colts-Pats game By Tom Curran NBCSports.com Updated: Nov06, 2007, 01:18 PM EST The NFL needs to realize it’s on a slippery slope. The three hot button topics emerging from the biggest regular season game ever played have been… 1) The one-sidedness of the officiating 2) Allegations of pumped-in crowd noise 3) Jammed radio frequencies Suddenly, there’s an air of doubt among casual and even more rabid fans about the legitimacy of the product. And there’s rampant skepticism that everything is always on the up-and-up. It all has its roots in the Patriots Week 1 sin at the Meadowlands where they got busted for using a video camera on the sidelines against the Jets.

kinda like these guys. Patriots' linebackers:

Total sour grapes by Shula. It's doubtful that any of the spygate activities helped the Patriots in any real way. It certainly didn't help them this season. Again, it's the American way to topple down those who have overachieved.

Not quite. Dallas will trade those two first rounders in order to move up to #5 in the first round from NE. This is the current projection for San Francisco's spot, which was traded to the Pats last year. If the Cowboys could get Darren McFadden by doing that, I'd be all for it. Pardon me, It's actually the fourth pick. UPDATED 2008 1st-ROUND DRAFT: SELECTION ORDER November 6, 2007 (Ed. note: Selection order based on current record and combined W-L record of all opponents.) # Team W-L Opponents' W-L % 1 St. Louis 0-8 .496 2 Miami 0-8 .561 3 New York Jets 1-8 .569 4 New England (from San Francisco) 2-6 .426 5 Cincinnati 2-6 .485 6 Atlanta 2-6 .504 7 Oakland 2-6 .527 8 Arizona 3-5 .426 9 Minnesota 3-5 .547 10 Denver 3-5 .550 11 Chicago 3-5 .578 12 Philadelphia 3-5 .592 13 Houston 4-5 .535 14 Seattle 4-4 .372 15 New Orleans 4-4 .450 16 Baltimore 4-4 .462 17 Kansas City 4-4 .477 18 Buffalo 4-4 .500 19 Carolina 4-4 .511 20 San Diego 4-4 .554 21 Tampa Bay 5-4 .481 22 Dallas (from Cleveland) 5-3 .405 23 Jacksonville 5-3 .550 24 Washington 5-3 .557 25 Pittsburgh 6-2 .408 26 Tennessee 6-2 .477 27 New York Giants 6-2 .515 28 Detroit 6-2 .527 29 Green Bay 7-1 .484 30 San Francisco (from Indianapolis) 7-1 .538 31 Dallas 7-1 .500 32 New England (pick forfeited) 9-0 .454

I forgot to pick a winner for the Minnesota-San Diego game. I'm counting it as a loss. Week 9 Results: Noj: 12-2 Van B. 10-4 Conn: 9-5 Year to date: Van B. 84-46 Noj: 83-47 Conn: 80-50

Not quite. Dallas will trade those two first rounders in order to move up to #5 in the first round from NE. This is the current projection for San Francisco's spot, which was traded to the Pats last year.

Exactly.

POSTED 2:24 p.m. EST, November 5, 2007 CBS TAKES BLAME FOR SOUND GLITCH Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that CBS has taken responsibility for the bizarre sound glitch that has prompted speculation that the Colts were caught red-handed in the act of piping phony crowd noise into the RCA Dome. Per Schefter, the vibrating sound as the Pats were driving at the start of the fourth quarter was the result of tape feedback in the CBS production truck. Schefter says that the sound could not be heard in the stadium. We've spoken to some radio folks who also believe that the phenomenon was not the result of a glitch during the use of artificial crowd noise. I'm happy this was checked. We've got to keep them honest in the future.

Looks like the NFL won't issue any mea culpas: Quote: Originally Posted by PatsChick87 This will be the most watched segment on NFL ever!!!! Please post and sticky when we know when its on!!!!! Sorry to break the suspense but.... Rich Eisen: Mike, there were some questionable pass interference calls during the indy-NE game. Mike Perreira: Well Rich, as you can see here, the referee had good position on these plays, and they were judgment calls, so.....Would I have called them, probably not, but I didn't have his view of the play, so I can't say for sure. Rich Eisen: OK, great job Mike!

Well, no it wasn't, unless you want to consider the musings of an ESPN reporter that, "gee it's so loud I think they might be piping in fake noise" as something being "well documented." There weren't any fines (and we all know how they love to dole out the fines, doncha know), so it was all speculation by someone that was never proven. POSTED 10:32 a.m. EST; UPDATED 10:50 a.m. EST, November 5, 2007 LEAGUE LOOKING INTO CROWD NOISE PHENOMENON AT RCA DOME NFL spokesman Greg Aiello tells us that the league is looking into the strange audio phenomenon that occurred near the start of the fourth quarter on Sunday between the Patriots at the Colts. As explained by some Internet hack on SportingNews.com, the crowd noise made a strange vibrating sound (and then got considerably quieter) in the middle of a New England offensive play. The audio is right here. (And to prove that we didn't doctor it, the same phenomenon can be heard at the 2:23 mark of the highlight package on NFL.com.)

What? Until we can even think about competing on an equal footing with Indy & The Martyrs...uh, 'scuse me, PATRIOTS we best just shut up and keep trying to improve. Dallas is for real. They're awfully close to the Pats and Dolts, I think. NFC is for real. Green Bay! Lions! Browns! (oops that's AFC!) Giants!

OK, I've lightened up and the joy from the victory is overwhelming the outrage.. But if the League issues a mea culpa, I'm posting it here!!

They did a great job of destroying my pre-game prediction that it would be a blowout.

I wouldn't be surprised if the league issues an official apology over the bum job today (just as they apologized for an important blown call in last year's championship game.) We'll see....

Here are a few comments: Pass interference on Moss. Oh, man. That was the worst one of the day. More and more readers think the fix is in -- these are the most complaints about the refs since Super Bowl XL. Reader: "It is possible that Belichick was caught filming one of the official's wives." More: It just occurred to me that the Pats are the new Raiders. New England has been flagged for 107 yards, and the Colts have only five. And then they get screwed on a non-call on Kevin Faulk.

POSTED 10:04 p.m. EST, November 4, 2007 CROWD NOISE SKIPS AT COLTS GAME? It's a subject that will be addressed more fully in some Internet hack's Ten-Pack of Week Nine observations for SportingNews.com. For now, we'll mention only that there are renewed question as to whether the Colts are pumping fake crowd noise into their home games. Click here for a listen, and stay tuned for more from SportingNews.com

Not because of Marvin, but only because we piped in extra crowd noise and paid off the refs. It was well documented that Polian's Colts had fake noise piped in during the AFC championship game last year. As for the refs, I saw what I saw, but don't take my word for it. I'll find quotes from PFW, which is NOT a Patriots site. For the record, where did I write that the Colts had paid off the refs? The reffing was overwhelmingly biased in one direction. That doesn't mean that money was exchanged or whatever. I do believe that the general intent was to level off the Patriot dominance. Even with two bogus PI penalties in the first half, the stout NE defence still held the Colts to 6 points total. Our D clearly dominated Peyton the second half. I've got to go find some quotes now...

Other NFL news: Can you believe how well the Browns and Lions are playing? NFC just might be the stronger overall conference this year. AFC has the Pats and Colts, but the NFC have the Cowgirlz, Giants, Pack and Detroit. Adrian Peterson is something else.

...one never knows but I'm saying.... I'm just happy that we were able to overcome the supreme injustice of this: PENALTIES (Number-Yards) 10 - 146 PENALTIES (Number-Yards) 4 - 25

I don't disagree with a single thing you say here, Rachel. I really don't. But the media animus against the Patriots this year has been hard to bear. Colts can't do anything wrong in their eyes. I was just trying to redress the balance a bit here. Sure the Colts "D" played a great game. So did Addai, but the pundits never mention how the Pats D came out with a 4-2-5 formation. They were giving up the run all game in favor of shutting down Peyton's passing game (especially to Dallas Clark.) It should also be acknowledged that the Colts were missing a few valuable people for this game. We've always been shorthanded while playing them, but were pretty much healthy today. Glad there were no major injuries on either team today. One guy on Pro Football Weekly said during the first half of today's game (before Addai made that wonderful touchdown run) "Pats: 7 Refs: 6." I'm still seething. Brady was screaming at the refs during the kneeldown plays at the end. It was really ugly.

Colts played tough. Awful umpiring. I was willing to concede the PI call against Asante Samuel in the first half, but it seems that PFW site said that was a bogus call as well. I thought it was iffy but can concede it. The call against Hobbs was total bullshit. Then there was the bs call against Moss for offensive interference. I think the umps did what they could to make the game competitive. In the end, it didn't matter. Pats are too strong. I believe this was the best chance for someone to upset the Patriot applecart. The only thing missing in the Patriot portfolio so far this season was a gutwrenching comeback. Now they've got it. Now their confidence will soar even higher. I believe an undefeated season is definitely within reach. Bad news for the rest of the league. But I'm happy that crybaby Polian's team was defeated at home this evening. They did what they could to pipe in fake crowd noise as they did last year. Looks like Polian (as head of the Rules Committee) can devise yet another rule to favor his team and try to nullify what the Pats do best. Colts are lily white, of course as labelled by the biased and insincere sports media. Polian is a cheating manipulator. Belichick never "cheated" any more than Polian "cheated." Sports media is against the Pats, and why not? It's the American way to topple those who rise to unreachable heights. Now we can go back to "running up the score." This is what the Colts have been doing for years while the media kept silent. Pats wanted this game too much to let it slip. Our defence did a major job on Peyton in the second half. For me, this victory is very sweet. Now, back to running up the score!

Interesting first half of the Pats-Colts so far. Not happy with that bogus pass interference call on Ellis Hobbs. Peyton has been the beneficiary of a couple of handsome PI calls so far--one deserved, the other a gift. I am not implying that there is a conspiracy against the Pats, but it was a dubious judgement call.