It’s another week and another installment of talking sports. Let’s go right to bat with this weeks issue.

NHL Update

The Boston Bruins have a commanding lead over the New York Rangers lots of blood in this one. What I don’t get is one of the local news stations on Wednesday was talking about how bloody Tuesdays game was. Last time I looked it was Hockey and guys get stitches without missing a shift. Sure Zedino Chara was bleeding and a few kids from the Rangers but that’s NHL Hockey. The news was acting like it was awful and horrible just part of the game.

The Penguins just looked unbeatable last night Syd the Kid scoring his 7^th playoff goal and the Senators looking a bit lost out there. The Penguins have a 3-1 lead.The Sharks and The Kings are battling with that series tied at 2. Both teams winning in their own buildings. Finally, the Black Hawks are trailing in their series with the Red Wings 2-1 . The Black Hawks should bounce back and take this series but then again the Wings also could be this years LA Kings just getting hot at the right time.

NFL

OTA ok I have seen this term thrown out there. I thought it meant Oklahoma Transportation Authority but it has a whole new meaning in NFL terms Organized Team activities. It’s May who cares. They use to call that mini camp but since as a society we don’t use whole words any more Mini Camp is OTA. There is no doubt this was either media creation or PR guy with this term.

Brian Urlacher called it a career after 13 years with the Bears . When he was at the top of his game was there anybody who hit harder. Urlacher was sidelined after a hamstring injury last season. He was unhappy with the Bears offer of 2 million. For 1year and not a lot of interest from other teams. Urlacher said yesterday that he would not play up to his standards and was happy he only wore 1 jersey. I think we may not have heard the end of Brian Urlacher. I think if the right team shows interest or need help you may see him back.

MLB

It’s a funny thing here in Boston people a continuously talking about David Ortiz batting and he is on a roll batting at .351. However, sliding under the radar is Dustin Pedroia who has been on a tier himself batting .332 and has hit in 12 of his last 13 games. John Farrell also hasJohn Lester and Clay Bucholz both having good years Bucholz is 7-0 and Lester is 6 and1. I have always said the John Farrell is the best thing to happen to Josh Beckett he has struggled without him. Farrell is the calming influence that has also tweaked Lester from his awful 2012 season and has kept Bucholz on the field. The guy knows pitching.

LIl Lanz

There was a Pitching and Catching clinic Sunday for minor Little leagues a few of us coaches ran it. I bring Lil Lanz and he is Mr. Noodle arm. Just not stepping and throwing being lazy about it. So I'm getting pissed at him because I know when he wants to throw he has a pretty good arm. remembering he wanted go to this thing he was awful. So he and I doing errands and we run into the guy I coached with last year and says to him Matt hows your throwing it wasn't prompted he says you had a pretty strong arm just needed some accruarcy. I'm not sure of that statement got to him but we had a game later on Sunday he was playing 3rd just was making solid throws with good form. Not sure what's up with him. Of course being the true hockey kid he is The teacher in school last week asked him a question . He answers I don't know but the Bruins won last night. As the Mrs. says he can't remember his name half the time but ask him about some Russian hockey player he tell you all about him.

Behind The Mask

I was doing a Little League game the other night it was minor little league game that I was doing as a favor for an assignor. I didn’t want to do the game and questioned why I took. It ended up being one of the better games I had all year it was 1-0 game. The kids mostly 9, 10 and 11’s pitched solid and made plays. There was a kid on second  Line drive as he was running to third gets him square in the back Not sure how so I a called him out for interference which is the right call. The kid didn’t understand why he was out the coach did a good job explaining it. I went over to the coach after the inning and saidI hate to call a kid out on that but that’s the rule. The coach says this kid has been up 25 times and has K’d 23. He finally gets on base and that happens to him.My reaction was that poor kid and the coach just agreed and the game went on.

Weird weather here in MA. The weather people have been predicting late May temps and what has been happening it starts to get up there rain and fog move in around 3:30 or 4pm and the temps just drop. I was doing a game Tuesday afternoon The sun was out as we were changing we decided not to wear Jackets. I was on the bases I froze my rear end off. Game started fine I was talking to some fans and I said great weatherThey laiughed as the offered me an extra blanket.

Trust, is just a five letter word

Cuzzin DVT, in his blog the last Friday, asked us to decide which, if we could only follow one of the major sport teams we call ourselves fans of in our region would it be.

That got me to thinking, I chose the NE Patriots without hesitation,

Doug said he would have chosen the Red Sox if he were me.

But if I were him, I’d move to Boston!

We Pats fans can be arrogant, not unlike Yankees fans I guess. Success breeds arrogance.

Sporting success has a lot to do with sporting fate.

It wasn’t keen acumen when Bill Belicheck drafted the skinny slow kid out of Michigan in the 2000 draft with his sixth round pick at #199. The late Dick Raybine gets credit for that. 32 teams passed over Thomas Brady several times each including the five times Bill Belichick passed him by.

It was that move along with Drew Bledsoe’s bad decision to try to out run Mo Lewis to the sideline. Combine that with the “tuck rule” and you’ve got a dynasty.

The mantra became: in Bill we trust.

Trust, what is trust

Noah Webster says Trust is:

1. Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing.

Our nation’s currency says, In God we trust. I do trust God, I’m not so sure about our currency!

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not to your own understanding says Gods word.

I trust my wife, after 27 years I believe she trusts me

I trust in some of my human abilities, I know when to not trust them.

I trust Shorty to hold me up…most of the time

I know some low level elected officials and kinda trust them as individuals but I no longer have much trust in the Federal government overall.

I trust the military to be ready and able to defend our Nation but I’m not too trusting, given recent events, in the leadership to know when to utilize the military.

This isn’t a thinly veiled political rant so back to sports…

The media, both local and national seem to defer to

“in Bill we trust”, spoken by the masses whenever an otherwise questionable personnel or strategy move is made by Bill Belichick.

Some of the Hoodie’s moves have worked… and some have not

From not giving Drew Bledsoe his starting job back in 2001

cutting Lawyer Malloy before the 2003 season because Lawyer wouldn’t take a pay cut for the good of the team.

Signing Rodney Harrison to replace Lawyer netted consecutive SB’s

 trading Richard Seymour to Oakland for a first round pick (that became Sebastian Vollmer)

To letting Super Bowl MVP Dionne Branch head to Seattle

To signing Bengal’s problem child Corey Dillon and trading for Oakland’s problem child Randy Moss and seemingly over paying for Miami’s all purpose kick returner- slot receiver Wes Welker

To passing on 4^th and 2 from about his own 20 vs the Colts giving Peyton Manning his winning trip to the SB

To signing guys like Ocho Stinko and Albert Hainsworth while not trying to keep Asante Samuel

To trading up and trading down to trading out to trading back again

To letting Wes Welker go to Denver for relatively short money

To taking the oft-injured Rob Gronkowski in the 2^nd round and taking the often in trouble Aaron Hernandez in the 4^th.

For being a nice guy to being a jerk

To being loved in the media by Glen Ordway and being hated by Ron Borges

Loved by Peter King and hated by Charlie Casserly (mutual feelings by the way)

BB usually gets the pass on whatever decisions he makes because in his NFL career as a coordinator and as a head coach he’s been to the SB seven times and come away with five rings. Two as Defensive coordinator of the Giants under Duane Charles Parcells and three as the the HC of the NE Pats.

But…The last of those three was way back in Feb 2005 with a win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

The two he didn’t win, ’07 & ‘11 were by a catch and a drop

It wasn’t BB’s fault that David Tyree’s helmet caught that ball (I still cry when I think about that)

It wasn’t BB’s fault that Welker didn’t. (Giselle still cries when she thinks about that)

Bill is a very private person; some of his off field life does get out.

Bill had his Dad, Steve on the sidelines with him for years and now, after his Dad’s passing he has his son, Steve at his side as part of the coaching staff.

He goes fishing with the likes of Jimmy Johnson and Jon Bon Jovi

He lives on an Island…both figuratively and physically

He has made some head scratching out of the tough guy character moves like

Letting Doug Flutie drop kick his way into the record book and letting Vinny Testeverde throw a TD pass in the only game he played that year to set a record of TD passes in 20 consecutive seasons.

He has a failed marriage; both sides blame the other as they always do in failed marriages. I have a failed one… from way back. Wasn’t my fault either!

Bill is loved and adored by some former players, hated by others, respected by others

Ted Johnson has nothing good to say even blames Bill for his multiple concussions,

Tedy Bruschi loves Bill and credits Bill for his many of his successes in the NFL, Richard Seymour hates him, Asante Samuel, hates him, Tom Brady respects him, Corey Dillion loves him, Lawyer Malloy gives Bill the number one salute, Drew Bledsoe is cordial with Bill but hasn’t sent Bill any of his fine wine from his vineyard. Rodney Harrison loves Bill, Ty Law respects his record. The late Junior Seau loved Bill.

And so it goes.

Did these guys trust him?

With game planning they did.

Should a guy that broke the rules and got caught be trusted? Was his huge fine and knock On his record be considered punishment enough…

Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Belichick talked about the taping incident, with Kraft asking how much it helped on a scale of one to 100. Belichick said, “One.”

 “Then you’re a real schmuck,” Kraft said.

Kraft likes Bill, respects Bill, went way out of his way to hire Bill, pays Bill handsomely, honors Bill’s achievements and his place in NFL and Patriots history but as far as trust…has this been restored? how far he can throw him?

Personally, I don’t really trust in Bill’s integrity and character but I don’t personally have to deal with him, I’m just a fan of the team.

But I do trust in his ability to have his team ready to compete this season.

They will win the AFC East.

Probably finish 12-4 if Brady stays healthy

and maybe get to the AFC Championship game.

Maybe win the AFC championship game

And maybe go to the SB again

And maybe, just maybe win it.

Bill will someday end up in Canton as one of the most successful Head Coaches in NFL history. The best decision Bill could make with the rest of his career is to retire with that  skinny slow QB he once took at #199.

I trust Bill and his agent will make the right call on that decision.

Alright, sticking with the the theme....

Who do you think is the MLB All-time best second baseman?

And why?

Hello and welcome to another Wednesday of deep thoughts. Well, after recently complaining of the cooler than average May weather, Mother Nature responded by flipping the switch. Cool and wet has been replaced by warm and humid. Of course, with the increased humidity, there are issues. May has historically been a time for very extreme weather in the Texas area. Warmer days bring the potential for massive thunderstorms, which sometimes bring very scary weather…as we saw in Oklahoma recently. My thoughts and prayers go out to those families in Moore. Is there really anything more terrifying than envisioning a tornado dropping on your home? How about the AAA Astro’s Redhawks hearing of the massive tornado hitting home while playing in California? Team officials opened Bricktown Ballpark to allow wives and family to take refuge in the underground clubhouse. Players are anxious to get home to help with the clean up. As manager Tony DeFrancesco said, "We're ready to volunteer. Anything we can do when we get back, we're willing to help out. It's a great group of guys that care about the community. When you play in that city, you're part of it now."

Kevin Durant gets it as well. Oklahoma City is not just where he plays basketball, it is home. Durant pledged  $1 million on Tuesday for tornado relief. His idea was to prime the pump so to speak. Apparently his idea is taking hold as the Thunder, NBA and player’s association also donated $1 million each. This is the sort of thing that I strongly believe in. In times of trouble communities pitch in to help those in need. This is not about a hand out, but lifting people up that have lost everthing. As BOB mentioned yesterday, our government is off track. We lose focus on the things that really matter. This is what matters. As Durant so accurately says…”playing for the Thunder, we mean so much to the state. So many people support us and I just want to go back and support those people.” This is one reason that I really enjoy seeing teams like San Antonio, OKC or even Sacramento survive and thrive. No offense to the large cities, but New York and Los Angeles have so much other activities, how can teams possibly mean what they do to the fans of Oklahoma City? We see so much negative in professional sports, it is important to remember that there are players that do still care. In times of need, too often we rely on our government to send aid. Communities and states are capable and I think better able to step up to take care of their own...

For some strange reason, Sergio Garcia just could not let the incident at the Player’s Championship with Tiger Woods die. Actually, that is not true…the media would not let it die. Prodded by the media, Garcia had this to say…”He called me a whiner. He’s probably right. But that’s also probably the first thing he’s told you guys that’s true in 15 years. I know what he’s like. You guys are finding out.” Okay, it looks like Garcia is just unloading some pent up anger at Woods, right? Here is what bothers me…as I am reading the article by Dan Carson…”Reporters mentioned to Sergio that Tiger had told members of the media Monday that he will not reach out to him in order to end the beef.” How is this different than a group of middle school kids running between two kids with he said this, what do you say? Really, it is freaking ridiculous. Garcia is a dumbass for being drawn into this and the longer it was drawn out, it was inevitable that Sergio would totally step on his dick. Garcia’s immediate response was this…”First of all, I don’t have his number,” Garcia told reporters. “And secondly, I did nothing wrong and don’t have anything to say to him. And he wouldn’t pick up the phone anyway. But that’s okay, I don’t need him as a friend...Like I have always said, I try to be as truthful as possible. Tiger doesn’t make a difference to my life.” Okay that’s enough Sergio. Leave it at that and let it go. Tuesday night, Garcia appeared at the European Tour Awards dinner in London. He was asked if he would be inviting Tiger for dinner at next month’s US Open. Oh no…Sergio, don’t do it!  "We'll have him round every night; we will serve him fried chicken”. This was according to multiple media sources. No doubt…these scumbags have been goading Garcia into saying something really stupid…Fuzzy Zoeller stupid; for the past two weeks. What a dumb ass. Of course, Garcia looks like a racist now and with a remark like that, how can he not? Truly, do I think that Sergio Garcia is a racist? No. But he allowed the press to push his buttons until he gave them what they wanted…a big story. How long did it take his comments to make it across the ocean? Maybe 30 seconds is my guess. Can you imagine how fast those “multiple media sources” left the dinner to report their “news”? When I glanced at the article Tuesday night, there were 5000 plus comments. I did not read one. I did not need to read the comments to know what the public is doing to Garcia.  There is no doubt that Garcia pulled the trigger, but the press loaded the gun.

You probably heard that Nick Saban’s former assistant coach Tom Davis called Saban “the devil”. When I read of these comments, I just assumed that Davis did not enjoy working for Saban and was just voicing what others have said about Saban being a task master. After reading a CBS article by Tony Barnhart, I sort of had a change of heart. Davis was talking to a group of Florida boosters when he made the comments regarding Saban. I sort of agreed with what Barnhart stated, “My first reaction was that it was a backhanded compliment recognizing, quite begrudgingly, that Saban is the very best at what he does. I thought it was acknowledgment -- a bit sloppy perhaps -- of where Saban has set the bar and that everybody in college football is chasing him.” Others had a much more critical opinion of the comments. Mark May called Davis a “classless, backstabbing coward”. Saban found the remarks to be “terribly disappointing”…Barnhart asked a very good question in his article…since when did anyone take what coaches said to booster clubs seriously? He remembers a time when the old ball coach stood in front of Florida boosters and  said FSU stood for “Free Shoes University”…everyone laughed, even Bobby Bowden. Barnhart wonders if college football has reached the point when there is no longer a sense of humor? Are coaches to be banned from speaking in public? Do we want coaches to be even more robotic than they are now? Great points and I totally agree. Barnhart goes on to ask if Florida meets Bama in the SEC championship in December will we still be talking about this? Hopefully not, but given the long memory of the media, probably so. Barnhart has a few suggestions…anything said at a booster function does not leave the building. Reporters are required to leave the smart phones at home. It is simply off the record. His second suggestion is that if something does leak out, the press promise not to lose their mind. Coaches promise not to be offended and recruits promise to ignore what they hear. Barnhart finishes with a ominous statement…it is no longer enough to beat a team on the field, we now have to embarrass them on Twitter. As sad as that is, can anyone dispute this? I know that I can’t. The game is no longer the most important thing…and how sad is that?

That's all I have today, but I will leave you with a bit of Jack Handey...

 Laugh clown, laugh. That is what I tell myself when I dress up like Bozo the clown.

 One thing that makes me believe in UFOs is that sometimes I lose stuff.

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a few deep thoughts of your own...

Welcome to another Wednesday, Gabbers. The plus side of this week is that we have a bright light at the end of the week: Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a nice day to reflect on the sacrifices of our service men and women. It’s also a great time to get together with family and rediscover the outdoors. It’s the unofficial start of summer. I’m taking off for Cincy Friday. I hope my mother-in-law to be has a grill.

Change is a lot of things. For the NFL, it’s mostly annoying and transparently a huge money grab. The league has decided to move the draft back from March to May. The league wants to tap into sweeps week. It’s also a move that will help free agents as the free agency period would still be at the same time of year, but give teams more time to consider veteran players.

This year’s free agency period has been a rough one for many veterans. Players like Brian Urlacher and Charles Woodson are still waiting for new teams. The problem is most teams would be far more likely to wait the extra month to consider younger, more inexpensive solutions to overpaid, older athletes. It’s no secret that veterans would be less than likely to accept rookie salary money. It’s a weak argument by the league to say that this move is for the veterans. If they wanted to help the veterans, they could listen to the many current retirees who are calling for more safety precautions and aid for severely injured vets. Giving teams an extra month to mull over the veteran-rookie debate doesn’t do much. It just helps the league horn in on more primetime, high rating time slots.

Sidenote: The Raiders are reportedly trying to bring Woodson back. If I’m Woodson, I take less money to find a team that needs veteran help and is closer to a playoff run. The Raiders are too far behind in an improving AFC West.

Goodell has also revealed that the league may be planning a third international game following the sellout of both London games in 2013. I hope international means Canada in this case. I suppose Londoners like the game or at least enough of them do. It gives them a chance to wear horribly outdated jerseys and see mediocre teams in action. Still, this is a huge burden on the teams selected to make the trip.

A lot of people put a great deal of stock into the old NHL Original Six match-ups. Apparently, some Chicagoans didn’t before the start of their semi-final match-up with the Red Wings. In most of their fans defense, the Red Wings had failed to beat the Blackhawks at any point in their last 7 match-ups. Though a few went to overtime, Chicago found ways to win. Many doubted whether the Wings were still a threat.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-05-16/sports/ct-spt-0517-dan-mcneil-blackhawks-chicago-20130517_1_detroit-goaltender-jimmy-howard-justin-abdelkader-red-wings

Last Wednesday’s game one did little to change this line of thinking. The Wings and Hawks were tied at one after the first period. Howard and the young Wings were hanging tough with the Blackhawks. Then they started the third period and the Blackhawks scored 3 unanswered goals. The Blackhawks win 4-1. Looks like a short series.

Saturday afternoon and Hawks fans look for a 2-0 series lead. The Hawks score in the first and hold a 1-0 lead going into the 2^nd period. The next two periods, the Wings offense wakes up and scores 2 goals per period. Wings win 4-1. The series comes back to Detroit. After stealing a game in Chicago, the Wings follow up with another. The Wings prove most hockey fans right: the NHL playoffs are unpredictable. Rivalries always take strange shapes.

Well, that’s it for me this Wednesday. I have two days of subbing and then get to run off to Cincy. I hope you folks have a nice weekend and get out and enjoy things, weather permitting. Thanks as always for stopping by. I leave you with your word of the week.

bacon tetris, noun