Turning the Corner

The Patriots had but one significant weakness. On offense they can pass or run. On defense, they were stopping the run. Their Achilles heel? The 50-yard TD pass. So, they decided to do something about it, trading for Aqib Talib. Talib comes with a first round pedigree, anger management issues and a four-game suspension for Adderall. I’m totally psyched.

Something had to be done in the defensive secondary. Picking up a 26-year old with lock-down skills qualifies as more than something. A player like Talib could stabilize the Pats back four. It could allow them to keep Devin McCourty at safety where I think he has pro bowl potential. More likely we get McCourty at corner assuming Patrick Chung and Steve Gregory return to the lineup. Alfonzo Dennard as the nickel. I’d be good with that. I think it would definitely lead to fewer 50-yard TD passes.

And what if Talib is simply a good kid who made some bad choices and just needs a second chance? Would Belichick’s good friend Greg Schiano send him a certifiable head case loser lunatic? That doesn’t seem possible, does it? I’m definitely all up on that good kid theory. What better place to turn things around than with the Patriots and their “Patriots Way” culture?

And maybe punch ups with cabbies and pharmaceutical meth were just a passing phase. Have you thought of that? I mean, who hasn’t killed a hobo?

Am I right?

Tragedy and Farce

We saw “Argo” last Saturday. It was terrific. You should definitely go see it. What does “Argo” have to do with football? Well, it’s about teamwork, in game adjustments. It’s about stepping up when all looks lost. And Ben Affleck was like the Tom Brady of that movie. Omaha! Hut-hut!

Pip Pip Cheerio

London is a long way to go to lose a football game. It’s an even longer flight back. It’s Einstein’s Law of Expectations. Time slows down as doom approaches.

Anhedonia

Apparently, there are worse things than losing. Winning so badly that Jim Nantz thinks you lost for one. Also, not being able to update your status on Foursquare because whatever, you know, what’s up with Foursquare, man?

Backpfeifengesicht

The nut punch games are the worst. You want to punch somebody but you're all doubled-over and blinded by pain. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It shakes your foundational belief in the tangible verities of this world. Why do bad things happen to good football fans? The Patriots have lost 3 games by a total of 4 points. Is that a good sign or a bad sign? I really hope it’s a good sign. It’s usually not a good sign when I think it’s a good sign. Anecdotally speaking. Yeah. You want to know who’s got a face that’s badly in need of a fist? Reality. Right in the nose.

Be Like Water

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. 

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

-Bruce Lee

It's Only a Joke if it's Funny

I’m not on Twitter. I don’t tweet nor do I follow those who do. I manage to say enough stupid things without access to yet another outlet that seems designed for people to say stupid things. Like the old line about NASCAR, I think most people follow tweets waiting for a car crash to happen.

Spikes is insisting that his homophobic/arachnophobic tweet was “a joke.” We should all just chill out. Okay. Brandon Spikes is a professional football player, not an elected official, not a spokesman for a political party, not a captain of industry or a religious leader for any of the major world religions. Should we be surprised that a professional football player is homophobic? Does that mean we should just shrug it off?

I don’t think so.

By the time this has been posted, Brandon Spikes may have realized that telling us all we were too dumb or sensitive to get the joke wasn’t really where he should’ve gone. Maybe he will have posted the apology he needs to make.

I hope it isn’t one of those “If I hurt anyone’s feelings…” non-apology apologies.

Just say, “I’m sorry.”

Just say, “My words were thoughtless and hurtful and I apologize to those I offended.”

Just say, “I’m not a perfect person but I will learn from this and strive to do better. I hope those that I hurt can forgive me.”

At the very least, admit it wasn’t a very good joke.