Football, football, football.

That's all I got.

But I do love me some football, and the season is just around the corner.

Of course wishing for the football season to start tends to be a little like wishing for summer to be over and I do like summer.

But still.

Football, football, football.





*Looks for some leaves to kick through.*

I've been getting into Baseball lately (I guess I'm one of those bandwagon fans). The Phillies are making it easy to be though. The Eagles have been making it a lot harder to be a fan. And for once it isn't because of their play - at least not yet!

So yeah, bring on the football I guess!

I like baseball --it used to be my favorite sport. I'm from the Boston area, so there's reason to follow the Sox, though I wasn't impressed by their performance against Tampa, NY and Texas the last week or two. If they make the playoffs, they have to beat quality teams. Sox face the Yankees again this weekend though, and the results should be telling.

But footabll. Brady's back and Belichek's been driving them hard in camp.

Not that you could tell last night, but that's preseason, and doesn't really say much either way.

Oh yeah, I can see how a New England fan has something to look forward to.


Football is still my favorite (hockey is close) but a year ago I wouldn't have been caught dead watching a baseball game. I still think they can be pretty boring but again the Phillies have been helping with that this year.

I think New England's biggest struggle is going to remain, with the running game. I am not a fan of anyone in their backfield. Morris is a big boy, but he gets tired early on in the season, and can't keep up the pace. Faulk is not much more than a screen runner, most of the time. And Fred Taylor, while still a monster, is a very old and tired monster, that gets winded as quickly as Morris.

They're still going to have their passing game, but I think there's going to be questions for a little while, until we can see them bring themselves back up to speed.

But their defense, like any defense, relies on ToP, which is generated by a solid running game. They were winning games two years ago, but they were also letting their opponents score 24-30 points a game. As soon as they ran into something that could stop the scoring machine...they lost. And, I would say, largely because their defense was on the field for too long.

I'm not sure I understand their strategy going into this season. They went and got Joey Galloway, but didn't address their primary weakness- the running game. That doesn't make sense to me.

I agree. Especially about the 2007 season. I think when the offense scored on their first couple of drives and the defense stopped opponents on theirs the Pats built up such a lead that it made the defensive effort much easier --except when they didn't.

The team is aging, especially on the defensive side of the ball. It's been a bit disguised by the superb passing game, but a solid running game might do more to help the defense, especially as the game wears on. Belichek clearly made an effort to find what's missing, and I guess we'll see how that worked out in September.

patriots-2007-schedule-and-results/

Man, their defense was getting pretty old four years ago. Are Vrabel and Bruschi still playing? I don't even know. Those two are reaching their limit, but they're what makes that defense tick.

Wasn't Vrabel part of the Cassel "deal" (read "give away")?

Sure enough, he's playing for the Chefs as well. Did not know that.

"Tedy Bruschi’s role on the Patriots is still not clearly defined" at this point.

Outside linebacker Shawn Crable was/is expected to "fill the void" left by Vrabel (what's in a name, eh?), but I think he's been a bit of a disappointment so far.

The Pats have been experimenting a lot to find what works trying out 4-3 fronts well as the 3-4. See: Patriots cook up schemes

It's pretty hard to find a MLB that's as intelligent as Vrabel. The guy was feared on the field for a reason.

I can't imagine any NE fan that would disagree with that.

Nor would I. That's not to say there's not some smart MLB's out there. I may be biased, but the Psychology degree- bearing James Farrior is a larger part of the Steelers' defense than he gets credit for. Polamalu has a lot of speed, to be sure, but Farrior is definitely the brains.

watch video

Tedy Bruschi retired today --A guy who gave his all and a fan favorite (the name helped). Belichek does a terrific job hiding his emotions from the world but the video shows you what he really thinks of this terrific linebacker.