2012 NFL Draft - Patriots Edition (Wrap Up)

Leave it to Bill Belichick to shock everyone in Round 1 and then keep the surprises coming through the rest of the draft… but not necessarily in a good way. In the 2nd round, Belichick selected safety Tavon Wilson out of Illinois. Who? This one had even Mel Kiper, Jr. flipping through his draft book. This kid was expected to go in the 6th round at the absolute earliest and possibly not even get drafted. Is that what concerned people about this pick? Not so much. The issue was when the Pats selected him. Spending a 2nd round pick on a player with 6th round (or worse) talent is a terrible value. Belichick could have selected another (better) player, or traded the pick, and still grabbed Wilson 4 rounds later. Hence the backlash.

Belichick’s next surprise was taking a former Rugby player *slash* Ohio State special teams standout, Nate Ebner. Ebner didn’t even play football until he got to college. He was a rugby player on the US national team (apparently they have one). He was even named MVP twice. He was a walk on at Ohio State and stuck, making his mark on special teams. So, to sum up, Belichick selected an ex-rugby player with practically no football experience who plays nothing but special teams, which is at most 10% of a game. Awesome.

Here’s the thing, these aren’t bad picks necessarily. Belichick is the king of finding players off the scrap heap and training them up into a specialized role. I’m sure he will do it again with these two. It’s just how he went about doing it. He likely could have picked up both of these guys after the draft, judging by how other teams rated them. Instead, he stuck to his guns, believed in his own rankings, and drafted them when he thought they were the correct selections, regardless of differing valuations and points of view. He’s getting blasted now but let’s see what people are saying next Super Bowl Sunday.

2012 NFL Draft - Patriots Edition

I am first and foremost a Patriots fan. Yes, I’m a big Sox & Celtics guy but I’ve been watching the Patriots since I was born. I watched Super Bowl XX when the Pats got crushed by the Shufflin' Chicago Bears. I was 6 months old at the time and my mom put band-aids on my teddy bears because we were going to Bury the Bears*. I had a Super Bowl party every year from elementary school through high school including the Greatest Moment of My Life – Super Bowl XXXVI (aka the Silence of the Rams). I still get choked up when I watch the championship DVD of that season.

Anyway, you could say I know this team pretty well. Especially the Belichick/Brady version because it began during my formative (read: teenage) years**. But for the life of me, I couldn’t remember a single time that Bill Belichick had done anything but trade down in the first round of the draft. Obviously, I’m sure he stayed put sometimes and just picked in our slot but I have way too many memories of him "disappointing" fans by trading down and missing a chance at selecting an "impact" player***. (I did a little research and it turns out he has actually traded up twice: in 2002 for Daniel Graham and in 2003 for Ty Warren).

So you would understand my surprise last night when I heard, "The New England Patriots have traded up to the #21 pick to select Syracuse DE, Chandler Jones." What!? Awesome! Finally, the pass rusher we’ve been looking for ever since Richard Seymour left!

And then, not 10 minutes later, "The New England Patriots have traded up to #25 to select Alabama LB, Dont'a Hightower." I literally thought ESPN was lying to me. Why would you do that ESPN? Then one of my friends tweeted me that it was real and I think I passed out.

Hell, I don’t know many college players but if Belichick likes them, and more importantly likes them enough to trade UP for the first time in 9 YEARS, and trades up TWICE for BOTH of them, then that deserves caps lock and a run-on sentence.

I’ll end with a post-draft quote from Belichick during a Q&A session with the media:

On how important versatility was in drafting Jones & Hightower: "Every player has his own individual package, whatever it is. Some guys do one thing very well, other guys have some versatility, other guys can do a lot of different things. Whatever their deal is, it is and that’s what they come with."

No matter if he shocked the world by trading up, it’s good to know some things about him will never change… like his ability to not answer questions.

*In the AFC Championship Game that year we Squished the Fish and then later on in Super Bowl XXXI we tried to Squeeze the Cheese (some say Sack the Pack but that wasn’t as big). Marketing at its best.

**My favorite number is 11 because of Drew Bledsoe. I have no doubt if I was born 10 years later my favorite number would be 12.

***Everything in that sentence deserves quotation marks because the Pats have the best record in the NFL since 2000 so fans certainly haven’t been disappointed AND there are no sure-things in the draft. Wes Welker went completely undrafted, for example.

Good Eats: Four Green Fields

Yesterday, I took my second trip to Four Green Fields. The first time was full of drunken hilarity but this time Brig and I met a friend for dinner. My only complaint is that I think this place tries to be fancier than it is. Why the tablecloths guys? Just let it go… you’re a bar! And an Irish bar at that.

On tap they had Smithwick’s*, Blue Moon, Sam Summer, Harpoon Summer and Harpoon IPA. I got a Smitty, Brig got the Sam Summer and our friend had the IPA. I was strongly considering a Sam Summer because 1) it’s their best seasonal and 2) it’s April so I haven’t had it in MONTHS. But, it was kind of a crappy day out and didn’t feel very summer-y so I went with the Irish Red.

They have a pretty good menu with some “fancy” items -- bangers & mash and lamb lollipops stuck out -- but between us we ordered 2 burgers and a soup/sandwich combo. We also got a spinach & artichoke dip appetizer. It was advertised as coming with “pita chips” which we took to mean as something a kin to tortilla chips. Instead we received crispy triangles of pita bread. It was odd.

The food was fine but I probably wouldn’t go there for dinner again. Drinks are another story.


*How do you pronounce this name? I’ve heard both Smittick’s and Smith-wick’s.

Patriots 2012 Schedule

Week 1 - at Tennessee
Week 2 - vs. Arizona
Week 3 - at Baltimore
Week 4 - at Buffalo
Week 5 - vs. Denver
Week 6 - at Seattle
Week 7 - vs. New York Jets
Week 8 - at St. Louis (in London)
Week 9 - Bye
Week 10 - vs. Buffalo
Week 11 - vs. Indianapolis
Week 12 - at New York Jets
Week 13 - at Miami
Week 14 - vs. Houston
Week 15 - vs. San Francisco
Week 16 - at Jacksonville
Week 17 - vs. Miami

This is a pretty great schedule for the 2012 Patriots. Maybe it’s not as good as last year’s "didn’t win a single game against a team over .500 until the AFC Championship Game" but it’s awesome nonetheless. This looks like a 13-3 season and another #1 seed in the AFC.

We play the entire AFC South (no world beaters) and the NFC West (who could make things interesting). It’s easy to sit here and say "Yes, the Pats are a better team than SF/SEA/ARI/STL" but the truth is you never know how inter-divisional games will turn out because of how rarely the teams play each other. I wouldn’t be shocked if one of those teams surprised the Pats and stole a win.

The rest of the schedule includes our familiar AFC East foes (twice), the Ravens and the Broncos. As long as everyone stays healthy – not a small feat in the NFL – the Pats should roll through the 2012 regular season. It’s crazy getting this far ahead of ourselves in mid-April but I haven’t had any football since the Super Bowl. At least the draft is next week.

The Good, the Bad and the Habit

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again -- I go through phases of interest. Remember my music blog? I got out of the habit and never got into it again. Then last year I didn’t read a book from March 2011 to June 2011 because someone stole my copy of Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Lost Symbol looked too overwhelming (When has a Dan Brown book ever been considered "overwhelming"?) Well, the same thing just happened to me again. I went 2 months (February to April) without reading a book. I don’t really have an excuse other than I haven’t had a lot of free time. I need to become invested in a book before I’ll make time for it. But it’s so incredibly difficult for me to actually open a book for the first time and make that initial investment. It’s something I’m always battling. Especially when it’s been a little while and I’m trying to get back into it. For example, I watched the first 3 seasons of Lost on Hulu literally night & day and then took one weekend off and I could. not. get. myself. to. watch. another. episode. for. the. entire. week. It’s the stupidest thing and I really don’t understand it. Any ideas to help with this ever-repeating dilemma?

Book Review: I, Robot

by: Isaac Asimov

I’ve been on a book/movie kick recently: Shoeless Joe, The Help and Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist were 3 of the last 4 books I read. With the exception of The Help these have all been instances where I saw the movie first and enjoyed them enough to be interested in reading the source material. Shoeless Joe and Nick & Norah were pretty similar to their respective plots but I, Robot has nothing to do with the Will Smith movie.

If you remember when Marty went back to 1955 in Back to the Future then you know that the Science Fiction genre was just taking off. Asimov was at the heart of that. He published I, Robot in 1950 as a collection of 9 short stories that all tie together. None of the stories are similar to Will Smith’s plight but the film absolutely takes ideas from each tale. It’s amazing to consider that Asimov could even conjure up such an impressive and outstanding future during a period when most people didn’t even own a TV set.

In the book, he talks about every family owning a robot, robots working on different planets, the existence of space stations and even interstellar travel. Again, this was 1950. Sputnik wouldn’t even circle the globe until 1957 and NASA wouldn’t even exist (in its current form) until 1958! You have to chalk it up to more than just imagination; the man almost hit a bullseye.

Robots are essential in the 21st century but primarily for industrial purposes. Humanoid robots are more or less non-existent likely because of the uncanny valley -- (Did I do actual research for this blog post?) -- and likely because Rosie from the Jetsons was so annoying. Still, to read a piece of fiction from 1950 and find that it leans closer to non-fiction in 2012 is incredibly impressive.

Patriots’ Day / Marathon Monday

Yesterday was a pseudo-holiday here in Boston. I have always had to work it but Brig and I decided to both take the day off and enjoy the festivities. We woke up around 9 (already a nice treat for a Monday) and were out the door a little past 10. We got on the Green Line at North Station so we wouldn’t have to deal with the hordes of people further into the city. I must say that the MBTA earned a huge FAIL yesterday. You would think that for the however many years the Marathon has been run, and the Sox have played their early game, and Copley has been closed due to all the goings-on, that the MBTA would have some idea of how to deal with the excessive number of people. You would think. But no, there weren’t enough trains (plenty of E though), and even once on the train it kept stopping between stops. Painfully, cruelly it would stop for no reason, with no explanation, and no hope in sight.

We finally arrived at Kenmore with only the knowledge of our imminent beer drinking having helped us survive the ride. We made a beeline (if you can call it that with a mass of people all heading in the same direction and slowing down the pace) to Boston Beer Works where neither of us had been before. It’s a really great spot with a lot of room, great natural lighting and so many TVs perfectly placed for easy viewing from any seat or angle. Our only issue was getting someone to take our order. We were seated for food and waiters kept walking by but NOBODY stopped. We couldn’t believe it was happening but after bearing it for as long as we could we finally flagged someone and said what is going on here? He ended up helping us even though it wasn’t his section and then the guy who was SUPPOSED to be waiting on us jaunted over and we were like uh-huh buddy we’ve already got a server thanks.

The food we got was good: their house nachos and some pretzel bites w/ a great mustard dipping sauce. We also got a pitcher of their Hub Light beer which tasted pretty much as you would expect. Out the window we had a view of Comm Ave and could see some of the runners finishing the stretch run.

After we wrapped up there we went for a little walk and ended up at Copperfield’s. It’s a little dive bar with another section called Down Under that I didn’t head down to see. It was freezing cold in there and they gave me a plastic beer cup with a hole in the bottom. Cross that place off my list.

We left after Bobby Valentine blew the Sox game by leaving Daniel Bard in too long and headed over to Game On. This is another bar that I somehow had never made it to (always packed on game days.) We showed up at a good time because we got in pretty immediately. We got our drinks from the bar but then had to get creative to find a spot to hang. I think we ended up behind the hostess’ desk. We were right next to this pair of girls who were wearing matching shirts and claiming to have “won” the marathon. One even had a fake medal. Maybe they’d have better luck getting free drinks if they just said they raced it and not won the whole thing.

Next up we were going to head to Bleacher Bar but a line was out the door and the same thing at Lansdowne Pub. So we rounded the corner and went to Jillian’s. Brig had never been before and the place was pretty quiet considering. We got drinks and sat down in the VIP couches to watch the final inning of the game. After the Sox lost (1-0, thanks Bobby V) the place got busy from everyone heading across the street from Fenway. We nabbed a pool table and played a couple games. This annoying guy kept coming over and telling us to take our drinks off the table. They weren’t on the felt or anything but he just couldn’t be satisfied. Anyway, after I made a couple amazing shots and won a few games we decided to take off so we wouldn’t run into any commuter traffic from all the people who did go to work and would be heading home. We had another dreadful trip on the T including our train being pulled out of service at Park Street (as always).

On our way home Brig got a jonesing for some ice cream so we headed to Cold Stone. I don’t even want to relive this by describing it but just believe that it was the most annoying, arduous, unsatisfying trip EVER. But life goes on and we started watching a new show for us – season 1 of The Walking Dead. We watched the first 3 episodes and it seems pretty cool. But they should change their theme song to The Cranberries.

It's Fenway's 100th Opening Day!

Probably the second best well known baseball poem (after Casey at the Bat):

Baseball's Sad Lexicon
by: Franklin Pierce Adams

These are the saddest of possible words:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
Tinker and Evers and Chance.
Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,
Making a Giant hit into a double--
Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."


I got to see the plaques of all three of those players in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Boston Celtics – The Last Hurrah

Just a month and a half ago people had written this team off. They were a tweener; too old to win and too proud to lose. But now the Celtics are showing us there’s still some jump left in those legs. They’re making a big push and reminding teams why they were so feared the past 5 years. They want to go out their way.

It’s no secret that this is the last year of the Big 3. Garnett and Allen both have expiring contracts at the end of this season. Only Pierce, Rondo and Doc will remain from the 2008 championship. They know that this is their last chance together and they appear to have reinvigorated themselves. KG most of all seems to have found the Fountain of Youth. He’s taking more shots than he has in his entire Celtics career. He wants the ball and he wants to take the important shots. Ray Allen has been a big time team player and kept his ego in check while Doc has decided that he will now come off the bench. But two players who have absolutely added a spark to this team are young’uns Avery Bradley and Greg Stiemsma. Bradley has always been a defensive stopper but now he’s added some offense to his game. That well-rounded ability has allowed Doc to play Bradley and Rondo at the same time which is a real nightmare for opposing teams. And Stiemsma, well, what can you say? Celtics fans always root for the seemingly out of place white guy on the team. Remember Brian Scalabrine? Huge fan favorite. Stiemsma was the same way but this past month he’s come up big time. When Jermaine O’Neal and Chris Wilcox both went down with long term injuries Stiemsma was thrust into more playing time and boy has he responded.

The Celtics are alive and looking like a team to watch out for in the playoffs. They’re locked into the 4th seed and could maybe even reach the 3rd. But beyond that they no longer look like an easy out. This team will make it to the second round and put up a fight against Miami or Chicago. They have shown that they still have it in them. The NBA may be ready to put a fork in them but if they’re going down then they’re doing it swinging. For Red, for Russ, for the original Big 3, and of course for Perk. How about one more time?

Uh-oh and 1

I remember seeing that headline in the newspaper once when I was in high school. It was funny because that’s how Red Sox fans felt before the life changing 2004 season. Even after the first game of the year we were already expecting the worst, “Uh-oh, we’re 0-1.” It was the year the Sox had decided to go with the dreaded “closer by committee.” I think it was 2003 but don’t quote me on it.* Yesterday, the comparisons to that year and that headline were obvious.

With our longtime closer Jonathan Papelbon leaving for Philadelphia (without Sox ownership even making him an offer), ace setup man Daniel Bard being moved to the starting rotation and new closer Andrew Bailey out for 3-4 months before pitching in a single regular season game, our bullpen was already in upheaval. Still, with former Astros closer Mark Melancon on the roster as well as lifetime 24-3 record holder Alfredo Aceves, it wasn’t entirely in disarray. That is until the games started.

Yesterday was a battle of two aces: Jon Lester versus last year’s AL MVP & Cy Young Award winner, Justin Verlander. The Sox were down 2-0 heading into the top of the 9th but with Verlander finally out and the Tigers’ closer on the mound they were able to push across two runs to tie the game. Then came trouble. Manager Bobby Valentine sent out Melancon to start the bottom of the 9th. He gave up two hits while only getting one out and Valentine quickly pulled the plug and called in Aceves. He promptly hit his first batter with a pitch and then allowed the game winning single. Boo.

I have two things to say about this. First, this has nothing to do with not having Papelbon or Bailey. As closers, managers tend to save them until their team has a lead. In a tie game, it would be up to the setup guys. Which is why the problem really lies with Daniel Bard. If he hadn’t been moved into the starting rotation, even though he hasn’t started a game since 2007, he would have (likely) come in and held onto the tie. Instead we got the L.

Maybe this is a one-time thing. Melancon and Aceves are still getting into regular season mode and a little early rust can be expected (Remember, the Tigers closer gave up 2 runs to allow them to tie it up). Or maybe this is foreshadowing the rest of our season. Maybe no lead will be safe with our bullpen butchering things. There was already a rumor floating last night that the Sox were looking at Kevin Gregg of the Orioles to trade for and shore up the bullpen. Whether that’s true or not is another story but it shows that even GM Ben Cherington thinks this is a bigger issue than just one game. It’s a cause for concern. Uh-oh and 1.


*Now you can quote me.

"I died for Beauty—but was scarce"

by: Emily Dickinson

I died for Beauty—but was scarce
Adjusted in the Tomb
When One who died for Truth, was lain
In an adjoining Room—

He questioned softly "Why I failed"?
"For Beauty," I replied—
"And I—for Truth—Themself are One—
We Brethren, are," He said—

And so, as Kinsmen, met a Night—
We talked between the Rooms—
Until the Moss had reached our lips—
And covered up—our names—