Third Quarter Comments

Okay, so with just under 10 min. to play in the third quarter the New England Patriots have pretty much given away the game. So many people say, throw it out, with the sloppy conditions and all of the fumbles it was just karma from the game last week catching up with them. But how much of that karma was caused by the San Francisco 49ers defense? The interception that Hernandez gave up could easily be just a product of the big hit that happened the play before and would probably not happen again. When Rob Gronkowski comes back the New England Patriots offense will be much different than it is during tonight's game. Just the addition of Rob Gronkowski will change how the New England Patriots offense may play.

The big statement from this game so far has been the San Francisco 49ers defense and how they have been able to control Tom Brady and the New England Patriots offense. The buildup of this game being a precursor to the Super Bowl may end up being justified; only time will tell, as I am sure the Atlanta Falcons will have something to say about that. However, the Falcons offense is very similar to the Patriots offense and if the 49ers defense can do this to an experienced quarterback like Tom Brady they should be able to control Matt Ryan as well. The exceptional job that Colin Kaepernick has done since being inserted into the lineup as the starting quarterback helps to push the 49ers football team ahead of the Falcons in regards to who is the best team in the NFC. The debate over who is better between Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick is still on but so far Colin Kaepernick has shown that he is at least as good as Alex Smith. The only problems he has had tonight has been on quarterback exchanges which is more than likely do to the wet ball in cold conditions.

Pats vs. 49's first half

So after watching part of the first half and listening to most of that on my drive home from dropping off my son it seems like the San Francisco 49ers offense has been able to push around the Patriots defense. However, the New England Patriots offense has not been able to do the same thing on their end. The Patriots defense has been able to stop the 49ers offense after a couple of the turnovers which has kept the game much closer than it actually should be. The one big drive that the patriots had included what sounded like a lot of short passes and quick reads by Tom Brady with a handful of runs by Danny Woodhead. It will be interesting to see if the New England Patriots defense can continue to stop the 49ers offense and allow Tom Brady and his receivers to move down the field.

If the 49ers defense front four are able to continually get pressure on Tom Brady without having to send linebackers or cornerbacks then it will be very difficult for Brady to connect with his receivers. The opposite is true for the New England Patriots defense if they can't get to Colin Kaepernick with their blitz packages. The scrambling ability of the 49ers quarterback and his poise in the pocket, even after the three dropped exchanges, has made it difficult on the Patriots defense.

Autumn seasonal beer is now available!!!

It's August and football has started up again with "real" football coming the first weekend in September with the start of the college football season. What else could we tie into the start of football season but the start the Octoberfest beer season. So over the next several weeks I will be enjoying some of the newest Octoberfest and Pumpkin beers out this year in the New England area and giving you my thoughts on how they taste and whether they should make it into your day of game celebrations.

The first beer I picked up was the Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat which is listed as a "Belgian style wheat ale brewed with pumpkin and spices." This beer is exceedingly refreshing and left no after taste that some flavored beers have a tendency to do. I could easily taste the sweetness of the pumpkin blending wonderfully with the spices that were added without tasting like pumpkin pie in a bottle. If you are looking for a beer to drink with some spicy tailgating fare this would be a great addition, it would also be a perfect refreshment on those warm September afternoons.

The next two beers I grabbed were the Buffalo Beer's Brewery Pumpkin Ale and Woodstock Inn Brewery's Autumn Ale Brew. The first is listed as "America's Original" and an "ale brewed with real pumpkin and natural spice flavor." The main problem with this beer is the sour aftertaste, you can definitely taste the pumpkin in the back ground but the majority of the flavor that comes through is sour. It stayed in my mouth for a good 20 minutes after I finished drinking it. There are some spices that come through as well but this is not a beer that I would want to add to my party unless someone makes a personal request. It isn't a bad beer just not very refreshing and with the bitterness that it leaves it would be hard to pair with most foods.

Woodstock Inn's Autumn Ale is probably not a true beer as it is listed as a "Malt beverage with natural flavor added" but it is great. The overall flavor in the beverage is apple pie for lack of a better description and it is amazingly easy to drink and enjoy. This was a much sweeter drink then the Shock Top but was very refreshing as well. The sweetness will not appeal to everyone but I would add this to a tailgate/football party as a change of pace after meal drink.

Ratings 1 (give it to the people who you want to go away) to 10 (Hide for yourself)
Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale - 3 - Not worth the price unless you like bitter beer face
Woodstock Inn Autumn Ale - 7 - Very drinkable and enjoyable but a little sweet, not for everyone
Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat - 9 - If you enjoy beer that have a fuity flavor this is the one to drink, one of the best I have had in a long time. Very enjoyable and refreshing drink.

University of Miami

Is the University of Miami the only ones or just the only ones to get caught? That is the real question brought about by the latest NCAA scandal. Are we to believe that they are the only university that is paying their player's to play? Other schools may not be doing it to this kind of degree but it is hard to imagine that if a player is being recruited by a school and he knows that he will be given anything he desires while he is playing there that he would turn it down just to get a scholarship. I don't doubt that the majority of the schools don't go to the type of excess that Miami did to get their players, but there are guys that were recruited by Miami that went to other schools so what did those schools do that Miami didn't?

There are definitely many players that will go to a school either because they have always dreamed of playing there or due to family roots. But for most it is who gives them the best chance to get them to the next level. And is there that big of a difference between LSU and Alabama? We always hear that a school has better facilities or that one coach is that much better then the other. Couldn't one of the reasons also be that one school has a booster willing to give several thousand more then the next?

Granted this particular booster was shady to begin with, but there are a multitude of booster's with legitimate money that would do/pay anything to get there team that elusive national championship just for school pride. How many other tattoo parlor owners are doing what Edward Rife did for the Ohio State players? It's pretty obvious that the Miami hierarchy didn't care that it was going on or they would have done something about it. It is hard to believe that the university knew nothing of what Nevin Shapiro was up to, especially when he says that coaches brought the players to him to finalize the recruiting. So if this is the accepted practice at Miami wouldn't it seem logical that it is the accepted practice elsewhere as well? Again maybe not to this degree but the old adage "where there's smoke..." comes to mind.

Does the NCAA really care anyway? They make more money now then ever before and they fight hard to  keep the non-bcs schools from getting their share of the pie every winter. Every time that they expand March Madness it isn't to get more small conference schools into the dance, it's to get one more major conference school that had a mediocre year onto the bracket. The more powerful and competitive the power schools are the more money the NCAA gets for television rights anyway.


Back to Miami, what is even more staggering is that their basketball program was so bad even with this kind of an edge. The coach could get any player he wanted for the right price and couldn't do anything with it. Does that mean he was not getting the players he was asking for or that he was a horrible judge of talent and didn't ask for the right players? For the right money Lebron could have taken his talents to south beach so much sooner.

Arod and Poker

So let me preface this with the fact that I dislike Arod as a player, not just because of the way he left Seattle but in the way he plays the game. As a fan it never seems like he gives a damn about anything but himself. However, I have to say that I don't see what the big deal is about him playing in illegal poker games that he can afford to participate in. Baseball is worried that he may get tied up with gamblers that would be able to leverage any losses of large amounts of money into him throwing games. I may dislike him as a player, but I do not believe that he is the type of person that would throw games.

Of course this may all be a mute point because baseball has yet to even discuss the matter with him, which should be coming in the next several weeks. Maybe that shows that baseball knows more about this then we know from the tabloid that reported it. If this was such a big deal wouldn't they have made more of an effort to get this interview on the front burner, Arod isn't playing right now, just doing rehab so scheduling a 1 hour meeting can't be that difficult. This looks like a case of all sides waiting for this to blow over. The only illegal part of the game was that he had to pay to get into the game. It's not like he can just walk into a casino, even into their high rollers lounge area, without someone letting it be known that he is there. Let the man play poker, he would really have to be a horrible player to lose enough money for it to be an issue.

Reportedly he had been asked/warned by the commissioner's office and the Yankees that he needed to stay away from those kind of poker games and if that is the case then someone should slap the back of his head and tell him to smarten up. He can go to as many poker games as he wants once he retire and lose/win as much money as he wants at that point. For all we know he is actually pretty good at poker and someone leaked the story so he would have to stay away from the games. Maybe he pissed off the wrong celebrity at one of the games because he won so much money, who knows? I can honestly say I don't care either way, he doesn't deserve a suspension because of this and he doesn't deserve any bad publicity either. We all know that some high profile sports celebrities feel that they are better than the sport and it's governing body (Steeler's anyone) and maybe that is all his is, he was bored and needed something to do so gambling with other celebrities seemed like the thing whether Bud Selig likes it or not. No matter what he really doesn't deserve the bad publicity he is getting over this one.

E.H. continued

Well I have downloaded a program to fix the age issue, now I just have to spend the time to do this, may take a while. I will keep you updated every time I finish a team, starting with the Bruins of course. I have to adjust the birth year by 8 years for every player to match the year of the game as it starts in the 2001/2002 season, to quote Pooh..."Oh Bother".

Eastside Hockey

OK,
So I downloaded Eastside Hockey so I could play some simulation hockey while on Vacation and was able to download the 2010/2011 team patch so that I could be the big bad Bruins. Since this is simulation I also get to be the GM and do some wheeling and dealing. The biggest bug I have seen so far is that ages are not right, for example Tyler Seguin is 9 years old, this causes issues with sending people back to Providence. So here is a run down of my moves so far.

Mikko Lehtonen to Minnesota for Cal Clutterbuck (I just like the player so I wanted him on my team)
Matt Hunwick and Maxime Sauve to Montreal for P.K. Subban
Blake Wheeler to Ottawa for 2nd round and 3rd round picks
Marc Savard, Yannick Riendeau, and Carl Soderberg to Atlanta for Rich Peverley and Dustin Byfuglien
Mark Stuart to Anaheim for Sheldon Brookbank and 2nd round pick
Michael Ryder and Daniel Paillé to Dallas Stars for James Neal and 2 third round picks in successive years
Marco Sturm to Edmonton Oilers for 2 first round and 2 third round picks in successive years