Absolutely SAVAGE move by Billy O’Brien here. https://t.co/LAFlomqTL5
— The 300s (@The300sBoston) December 19, 2016
Red
DeflateGate 2 Doesn’t Look Like Anything to Me: Is Roger Goodell a Westworld Host?
“Doesn’t look like anything to me. – Bernard” – Roger Goodell
Is Roger Goodell actually a Host straight out of Westworld? Show him something that should make his brain freak out, like another team deflating footballs, and he DOESN’T EVEN REACT.
Deflategate 2 is the exact same situation as the original Deflategate. One team playing another in cold weather complains to the league that the other team’s footballs may be a little under-inflated. In the original situation, the NFL lets speculation run rampant as the alleged offending team is immediately swallowed up by accusations, false reports and misinformation. The NFL eventually decides to fund a multi-million dollar investigation that doesn’t ultimately prove anything, yet the commissioner of the league says its all about the integrity of the league. Nothing is more important than the integrity of the shield. Said offending team is tried under the assumption of guilt (“more likely than not” was the term) and one of the greatest players in league history is suspended a quarter of the season and the team is fined multiple draft picks.
Flash forward to 2016 and nearly the same situation occurs. The integrity of the league is in peril! The NFL must, at the very least, conduct an investigation to *appear* to be concerned and looking into the issue.
Nope.
Same situation and the league immediately sweeps it under the rug in under an hour. No investigation. No silence while the critics pile on the accused team with incorrect information. The NFL immediately squashes it this time around. And its the same situation, which leads me to believe Goodell is actually a Host.
He’s been programmed to not even see the issue this time around. Brain wiped. Until there are some reveries, where Goodell may have an absolute meltdown a la Dolores’s father.
These violent delights have violent ends.
Michigan Lady Wins Christmas With Sarcastic Lights Display
AP – “The 34-year-old says her family started doing its own light display, but realized that the creation couldn’t compare. She says: “Nothing measures up…”Kelly’s neighbors have an elaborate display, including reindeer, a large snow globe and a huge bear on the roof.”
Everybody has that one asshole neighbor. The guy that just has to go above and beyond at Christmas time and make his house look like the goddamn Home Lighting aisle in Home Depot.
Well bravo to this crafty gal. Minimalists everywhere rejoice. A little dry humor goes a long way, especially when it saves you the hassle of hours and hours spent hanging all these lights. Only to have to take them all down in like 2 weeks. This lady wins Christmas.
Kanye Getting Roasted for Meeting with Donald Trump. Huh?
Kanye West is getting absolutely roasted on Twitter for meeting with President-elect Donald Trump today. One of the most famous (and influential) people in the world wanted to have a convo with the next President of the United States and he gets shit on for it. Kanye is a wildly successful musician, extremely eccentric personality and probably a little nuts, but I think he’s genuine when he says things like this:
For all the wild things Kanye has said and done over the years, he’s usually pretty blunt about what he means. Now I’m under no illusions; Kanye and Trump are obviously two guys that nobody is really in any kind of grey area with how they feel about them. Hate em both, but its hard for me to fault a celebrity looking to work said celebrity status to get an audience with the next leader of the free world. Even more so when its to discuss issues that are especially prominent in his hometown of Chicago.
Or maybe they’re just playing rich guy grab ass in Trump’s penthouse. Who knows.
PS – Kanye, where is Waves?
Patriots Pull Out 30-23 Win Over the Ravens: The Good and the Bad
A quick breakdown of the Patriots 30-23 win over the Ravens last night, which featured a lot of good (Tom Brady) and a lot of bad. All in all, an impressive win over the best defense in the NFL.
The Good
- Tom Brady: Brady was at his finest last night. Hyped up, pissed off and shredding the defense. 3 Touchdowns and 400+ passing yards against the No. 1 defense in the NFL. Pretty, pretty, pretty good. That touchdown to Malcolm Mitchell in the Red Zone was an absolute missile in a window the size of a coast and is a throw most QB’s probably don’t even try. Also, getting on Edelman and Chris hogan to get their shit together after a less than ideal start seemed to really give those guys a much needed kick in the ass.
- Chris Hogan: Hogan earned his excellent nickname 7-11 last night as he really was open all day. Seemed like Brady had to give him a little shit to get back on the field after hurting his hand early in the game, but its hard to argue with 5 catches for 129 yards and a TD. That 79 yard TD was money as Hogan seems to have another gear in the open field I didn’t even know about.
- Martellus Bennett’s Health: This was huge last night after there were reports circulating that Marty was less than 100%, which is a scary thing to hear with Gronk done for the year. If Bennett goes down or can’t get the job done then the Pats are probably screwed with zero tight end presence. But Bennett looked great last night especially one his nearly 1 handed TD catch when the defender was draped all over him and Bennett ripped the ball off the guy and held on for the score. Plus the 3 TE set on play action where Bennett lined up in the middle of the other two “tight ends” and slipped into an opening for an easy first down. Great sign.
- Special Teams: That blocked field goal by Shane McClellin was an absolute thing of beauty. Perfectly timed, incredibly athletic play by a prototypical Bill Belichick guy; a former top pick he peeled off the scrap heap of another team for peanuts. Great play against the best kicker in the league who was the only kicker in the NFL to not miss a kick yet. Jamie Collins who? And the punt coverage unit was on fire as well. Downing a punt at the 1 yard line leading to the safety, which put the Pats on the board and set the tone for the whole game.
The Bad
- Special Teams: Holy shit talk about a Jekyll and Hyde performance from the special teams last night. They were absolutely carrying the Pats in the beginning of the game. All of Twitter was gleefully ripping off tweets about how special teams is 1/3 of the game and just as important. Then a couple fumbled punts later and suddenly the Pats are only up a field goal. I’ve never seen a BB special teams unit that hot and cold in the *same game* Thankfully TB12 saved the day, but relying too much on Brady is what has usually killed the Pats in the past. Brady has a slightly off day and the rest of the team can’t pick up the slack. Something to keep an eye on.
- Cyrus Jones: Jesus christ, this kid is shook. Last night he could not get out of his own way and now has FOUR fumbled punts on the year. It’s clearly a mental thing, but its at the point now he just cannot be trusted back there. I also don’t get why the insist on putting him as a PR, apparently he only has 12 career punt returns in college. Maybe it was just me being dumb, but I was lead to believe he was some kind of PR specialist? Either way, hopefully he can make an impact as a depth safety because right now he is looking like a real bungle of a 2nd round pick.
- Linebackers Covering RBs Out of the Backfield: Said it last night and I’ll say it again; the Patriots are the only team that can give up a 40 yard screen play to a freakin full back and it doesn’t shock me. They just cannot cover running backs out of the backfield and that is a huge issue heading into the playoffs. This is where a guy like Collins would have been valuable, they just don’t really have the speed to cover guys coming out of the backfield on screens. Giving up 40 to a fullback is an embarrassment though and is probably a bigger reflection of poor tackling than anything else. This could be their potential undoing in the playoffs. Woof.
Does the Firing of Jeff Fisher Pave the Way for Josh McDaniels as the Next HC of the Los Angeles Rams?
So after getting smoked by the Falcons on Sunday the Rams would have to win out to even be lucky enough to have “7-9 bullshit.” With Fisher suddenly out as the Rams coach there is now an opening in Southern California, with a new stadium coming, a huge market, the 2016 No. 1 overall pick at QB and an opportunity to really build a franchise.
I know there have been reports this season saying that Josh McDaniels is indeed interested in head coach openings. So does this pave the way for McDaniels to leave the Pats and head for LA? With another deep playoff run and an already strong body of work running offenses obviously through Brady, but also Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett this season McDaniels seems to be lining himself up nicely for a new gig.
McDaniels was definitely humbled by his flameout in Denver (great story by Bleacher Report on those lessons he learned here) and already has some familiarity with the Rams, albeit in St. Louis, having been their offensive coordinator in 2011. All before coming back to the Patriots as an offensive assistant and then once again as the OC after Bill O’Brien took the Texans HC job. So its not a stretch to make the connection. And while I’d love to have McD stick around, it doesn’t look like Bill Belichick is going anywhere any time soon. So can you really fault the guy?
This may be the best job opening in the NFL. Usually when a job opens up its in a shit market like Cleveland, which I think McDaniels has made obvious he does not want to do. He’s also gotta be real careful what situation he ultimately decides to go with because this will probably be his last shot to show he can be a successful head coach in this league. So it really comes down to Jared Goff, who has looked absolutely abysmal in his brief experience as a starting QB. Does McDaniels believe he can work with Goff and make him a star? Because if he does, take the job. If not, he may want to rethink it. But this is the same guy who helped get the Pats to 11 wins with Matt Cassel and had a record of 3-1 with 2nd and 3rd string QB’s this season.
Who the hell wouldn’t want this job?
DeflateGate 2 Was Over Before It Started as Hypocrisy in the NFL Wins Again
Deflategate 2? @jayglazer explains that the #Giants alerted the NFL on #Steelers deflated footballs last week. https://t.co/jcebCVMxMN
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 11, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
What a bunch of goddamn hypocrites the NFL is. To quote Brand New, “The Devil and God are raging inside me.” I was listening to WEEI this morning and Kirk Minihane was asking why aren’t Patriots fans more fired up about this bullshit from the league and let me tell you, I’m getting there. But I think people are just beat down. You can’t fight city hall.
All the shit the Patriots went through over the past 2 years, citing process, citing pretense, citing SCIENCE, as for why DeflateGate was much ado about nothing. And it didn’t matter, the NFL crushed us. ESPN crushed us. Mark Brunell was crying on SportsCenter for christ’s sake.
When in reality the appropriate response to what allegedly happened is exactly what we witnessed yesterday. A complaint from a team reported by Jay Glazer, a little rumbling on Twitter and then the NFL promptly stamping it out saying nothing to see here. No misinformation. No leaving the team to twist in the wind while false reports pile up. No ESPN roundtables. So I think people are absolutely pissed, we just could not be less surprised. And I think thats what takes a lot of venom out of people.
But its shit like this that drives me absolutely bananas.
Ben Roethlisberger on under-inflated footballs report: “We used nerf balls” – @RyanHannable https://t.co/qWKjguwfsQ pic.twitter.com/Z4GtPqWzd7
— WEEI (@WEEI) December 12, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
I’m sure this was said tongue in cheek, but thats the exact issue. He’s joking about it and nobody cares. Remember how Brady denied any wrongdoing and he got DESTROYED by everyone. Now Mike Tomlin refuses to comment on it, saying theres nothing to it. And no one bats an eye. And don’t give me the “he’s got no prior incidents” response. Does anybody remember this?
I doubt it. And thats why people aren’t calling up yelling and screaming on the radio. Because the Patriots were screwed and the PSI of balls was never the issue.
Rooney. Mara. Jones. Just wait guys, sooner or later one of these shit storms will blow up on you…and there will be no one left to speak for you. In the meantime, the Patriots will keep rolling on the way to Super Bowl title number 5; one for the thumb.
Success is the best revenge.
BREAKING NEWS: Patriots Sign Griff Whalen, the Guy Involved in the Worst Trick Play in the History of the NFL
What a move! The Patriots just signed Griff Whalen, who if you don’t remember, was one of the architects of the worst trick play in the history of the NFL. This genius:
Probably the hardest I’ve ever laughed at a failed play. I remember seeing them line up and thinking, well I must be missing something because this is some bullshit you couldn’t even get away with in Madden. But nope, just as dumb as it looked. Snapped the ball and somehow Griff wasn’t able to block two guys by himself for a loss.
So yes, the Patriots signed this guy to help fill in at WR since the team is falling apart at the seams and is now down Gronk and Amendola. Even the go-to emergency Go Route specialist Matthew Slater is out with an injury so the Pats needed to fill the depth chart with some security.
New England also bypassed former Patriots Kembrell Thompkins and Aaron Dobson (Drop-son) to sign Griff, so goes to show how highly Belichick thinks of his former draft picks.
We now turn to the man of 47 career receptions in our time of need.
Yankees Respond to Red Sox Trading for Chris Sale and Sign Aroldis Chapman to Monster Deal. Rivalry is Back On
BREAKING: Aroldis Chapman has agreed to a 5-year, $86 million deal with the Yankees. (via @FOXSports) pic.twitter.com/l6abcmdRu0
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 8, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The Yankees just signed Aroldis Chapman to a 5 year $86 Million deal the largest deal any reliever has ever received. My initial reaction? Shit. My next response? This is the not fucking around crew.
And I love it. As much as its going to suck having to fear Aroldis Chapman coming out of the pen to slam a close game shut 19 times a year, this is phenomenal for the Sox Yankees rivalry.
To be honest its been pretty dull the past few years as both teams really haven’t been very good at the same time. Sox win the AL East last year? Yankees finish 9 games back. So it will be good to have a new stud on the other side for us all to hate. Plus both teams are young and getting better, which is great for breeding that next generation of contempt. You need guys going head to head beating each others brains in every season for years to really get that bad blood going. Throw in a nut job like Chris Sale and I think we’ve got a dog days of summer bench clearing brawl just waiting to happen.
This reminds me of the good old days back in the early 2000s when these two teams were getting after it like the Cold War, constantly trying to one up the other side with big signings, trades, digging up international gems (cue Theo Epstein trashing his hotel room after losing out on Jose Contreras to the Yankees). We had Theo and the whole front office flying out to Arizona to have fucking Thanksgiving dinner with Curt Schilling, all in hopes of getting him to waive his no-trade clause for the Sox over the Yankees. Reminds me of the days when each side was calling the other the Evil Empire. Red Sox trade for one of the top 3 pitchers in baseball? Literally the next day the Yankees sign arguably the best closer in baseball. Giving this rivalry the juice it needed. Love it.
Bud “George Costanza” Selig Said He Did All He Could to Stop Steroids in Baseball
Yahoo Sports – [Bud] Selig, who has long maintained the stance that he should not receive any blame for players’ rampant steroid use during his tenure (1998-2015), was quick to point out, again, that he feels he did all he could… “I honestly don’t know what else I could have done. That’s my answer.”
So a lot of people are pretty pissed off that Bud Selig is getting inducted into the Hall of Fame, mainly because he oversaw the league when everyone from the No. 3 hitter to the bat boy was popping steroids like tic tacs. I don’t know why people are shocked. Did some shady shit go down during the Steroid Era? Absolutely. Are the record books totally fucked now because bums like Sammy Sosa have 600+ Home Runs? Definitely. But was baseball the most popular it had been in a long long time due to the Steroid Era? 100%
Say what you will, I don’t give a shit either way, but you can’t vote in Selig and then develop this morally elitist attitude when it comes time to vote guys you think may have done steroids. Don’t work that way guys. But the guy was the commissioner of Major League Baseball for 20+ years. He was going in no matter what barring a Bill Clinton-esque sex scandal.
You HAVE to respect his absolute snake game though. Pulling the old Costanza card when asked about steroids: “I honestly don’t know what else I could have done.” Idk, like fucking anything. Was that wrong? Should I not have done that?
Either way, DON’T CARE. Love steroids in baseball. Christ I’m a proponent of giving players aluminum bats so they can hit 1,200 foot dingers. I need to see Mookie Betts hit a Home Run to the fucking Boston Common and I need it now.
The 300s 