Where do the Patriots go from here?

This is one of those posts I've been dwelling on for a while and finally decided to get down ... well, I was going to say paper, but I guess that's not really apropos in this format, is is?

Now that the dust has settled on Super Bowl XLII (altho it still stings), I can't help but wonder is this is the beginning of the end of the Patriots' "dynasty" as some insist on calling it.

At the risk of being overly pessimistic, here's how I see it:

• I agree with a Boston Globe columnist who said recently that Bill Belichick's schtick is getting tiresome. Enough with the enigmatic, grumpy old man act. I mean, he walked off of the field of the Super Bowl with time on the clock. Yes, the game was over, but still. And if he uttered more than a five or six word sentence is response to reporters' questions after the game, I missed it. Just as terse as ever and he indicated the loss was just another loss and that he had moved on already. Um, yeah ... not buying it. Belichick needs to seem more human ... for his and the team's sake.
  
• Speaking of the team, what kind of impact will all this Spygate stuff have on the team? Think about it, will free agents want to come here if there's a perception of turmoil? I still think the Patriots are one of the, if not the, team to beat in the AFC, so the allure of a potential SB ring could still be attractive, but do players want to have to hear about and deal with all the Spygate BS?
  
• And speaking of Spygate ... sigh. What a flea-flippin' mess (to use a Kell-ism). I can't decide if this story won't go away because the Patriots haters and the press just won't let go or if because there's something there and it's just a matter of time before the ugly truth comes out. I sincerely hope it's the former because if there is something to all or any of these allegations, then my loyalty to this team is going to be severely shaken ... which will lead me to a very difficult position because I l-o-v-e, love football and I can't imagine rooting for another team. I hear the CFL is nice this time of year ...
  
• I absolutely do not understand why the Patriots have not made more of an effort to re-sign CB Asante Samuel. According to reports, he's about to sign an offer with the Philadelphia Eagles. The fact that he wasn't signed to a multi-year contract last year is still puzzling. He's young, 27, and is one of the best at his position. And given that fact that the Defense really showed its age last season, it would seem logical that the Patriots would want to re-sign someone like Samuel. But then, I guess that's why Scott Pioli, et. al., get paid to do what they do and I just watch the games on TV.

Meanwhile, Opening Day at Fenway is April 8 ...

"Spygate" saga continues ...

This is just getting ridiculous.

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter continues his asinine threats to launch a full-fledged investigation (and threatening to withdraw the NFL's anti-trust exemption) into the NFL's destruction of the materials turned over by the New England Patriots in relation to "spygate".

I still can't believe he's actually still pursuing this. That is, until I remember that Specter is a season ticker holder of the Philadelphia Eagles (who lost to the Pats in Super Bowl XXXIX) and apparently he hasn't gotten over that.

Now there comes word that based on the rumors that the Patriots taped the pre-game walk-through of the St. Louis Rams before Super Bowl XXXVI, three layers have filed a $100 million lawsuit (yes, that's $100 million), claiming that since the Patriots cheated, they owe everyone associated with the game (fans, players' shares, etc.), even thought the NFL said there's absolutely no evidence that any such taping occurred. Wow ... just ... wow.

Yes, I'm a card-carrying member of Patriots' Nation so if you dismiss this post as a homer defending his team, so be it. But I'm really getting tired of all of this spygate crap. To which:

• If the Patriots cheated in their three Super Bowl wins, why did they only win by 3 points in each game?!?
  
• People are questioning why NFL Comish Roger Goodall came down so hard on the Patriots and Bill Belichick so quickly and then destroyed the tapes and written materials so quickly. It's simple: He wanted to send a loud and clear message to the rest of the NFL that cheating will not be tolerated.
  
• There are calls now for the Patriots to give up their three Lombardi trophies because "they're obviously tainted", some Patriots haters are saying. Really? So the three titles Jimmy Johnson won with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s should also be relinquished because Johnson admitted (during a Fox broadcast when the spygate story broke) that he and his staff cheated as well when they would take discarded play book pages from teams and use them to prepare for the next time they played that team. And Johnson's not the only former coach to admit to cheating ... Jim Mora, Al Davis, and Bill Parcells also all admitted they went outside the rules.
  
• Specter has said the Patriots wins against the Pittsburgh Steelers should also be more closely scrutinized. But, Steelers ownership has said they feel the Patriots' videotaping is a "non-issue."
  
• This may be the weakest defense of the Patriots but it bears repeating ... everybody in the NFL cheats in some way. Maybe not so much now because of what's been going on, but they have in the past. Want proof? Just look at the coaches and assistants on the sidelines of any game, especially the offensive and defensive coordinators and the head coach. Whenever they call in a play, they always cover their mouths so their lips can't be read. Why? Because they know they're being watched by the other team! Seriously ... is it that complicated, people?!?
  
• As has happened in the past, the only thing people like more than celebrating a winner is tearing them down. Losing a Super Bowl by three points has to hurt (think about it, that's pretty much a one-play difference in the game), and it seems like some people are seizing this spygate thing as their chance to run up the excuses as to why their teams couldn't figure out a way to beat the Patriots.
  
• And lastly (at least for this post), Specter absolutely needs to be taken to task for using his time to focus on this issue instead of those that really concern the country ... like the war in Iraq, the healthcare crisis, the mortgage crisis, the looming recession ... the list goes on.

I want to make it clear that I'm not condoning what the Patriots did. Cheating is cheating and they got caught and paid the price. Let's just hope that all of the other NFL teams don't pay the price as well.

Postmortem

OK, it's been three days now since Patriot Nation was handed its worst defeat in recent years (last year's AFC Championship loss didn't even feel this badly).

I still can't believe the Patriots lost the Super Bowl. Leading up to the game, you kept hearing how an 18-0 season doesn't mean anything if they lose the SB and the talking heads were absolutely right ... no one is going to really remember the Patriots' 2007 season now. Yeah, Patriots Nation will, but the shine is definitely off of the apple.

Speaking of the apple, my cousin Joe, a hard core NY Giants fan, emailed me yesterday (I was surprised it took that long) to gloat (albeit gently) and my wife had a great reply, "(This) must be what it has felt like the past few years with Yankees doing so poorly...." LOL ... nice! Yes, Joe is a NY Spankees fan, too.

As badly as it feels for the Patriots to lose, I can be glad for the Giants because a player like DE Michael Strahan, a 15-year vet, finally has the Lombardi hardware to add to his impressive resume. I read the other day that he had actually considered retiring at the end of last season.

In thinking about SB XLII, I had come to the same conclusion as my friend Kevin (he beat me in posting it to his blog), that if the Patriots had won, this would have only fueled the "cheaters" fire even more, so maybe, in a very strange way, it's almost better that the Patriots didn't win ... almost ... OK, not really.

Some random thoughts:

• Now I know how Rams fans felt after Super Bowl XXXVI when the Patriots (two-touchdown underdogs) beat the Rams by three points.
  
• I will never forget the look on Junior Seau's face as he walked off of the field. I really hope he doesn't retire because the guy deserves to win a Super Bowl after the career he's had.
  
• Needless to say, the Patriots I'm sure will be focusing on upgrading their defense in the off season. Let's face it, New England's D line is getting older and needs new blood. The offense is fine ... I'm sure the draft and off-season signings will heavily emphasize the defense.
  
• It's a little thing, but I'm still really bummed that there likely won't be a DVD about the Patriots' season. I could see NFL films releasing one because the Patriots are the only team to ever go 18-0 (there was a DVD about their 21-game winning streak a few ago, after all). There were so many great moments from this season, it would be great to get them on a DVD.
  
• I didn't realize until this week how the Patriots losing would affect my daily habits. No, I don't mean personal hygiene. The first section of the Boston Globe I look at is the Sports section ... not so this week. I just can't bring myself to open the pages. Same with espn.com ... just can't do it.
  
• Still trying to figure out what the hell happened to the Patriots offensive line. They were so dominant all season and the one game in which they fall apart is the Super Bowl.
  
• The biggest shock for me was the fact that the Patriots didn't adjust at half time. If nothing else, a Belichick-coached team always makes the adjustments it needs to make at half time. Not this time. Bizarre.
  
• Pitchers and catchers report in about another week or so.

18 - 1

So close ... so close. But, as they say, "close" only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades.

Patriots were totally outplayed on both sides of the ball. Giants kept blitzing and blitzing and blitzing and Patriots QB Tom Brady and the offense just couldn't get a rhythm going and the line couldn't protect Brady.

The defense was great except for when they had to be on the Giants' last drive of the game.

"Disappointing" doesn't even begin to cover it. Just really sucks that it's not going to be worth reading the Sports pages tomorrow, checking out espn.com ... no DVD commemorating an otherwise amazing season for the Patriots.

And I feel badly for Junior Seau and Randy Moss. These guys have been in the league for a long time and deserve a Super Bowl ring.

There's always next year ...

Oh, one other thing ... read an interesting stat earlier today ... in the 42-year history of the Super Bowl, the NFL's leading passer has never won the Lombardi. This year's leader? Tom Brady.

Super hype for the Super Bowl

Here's hoping the NFL doesn’t come after me for using the copyrighted words "Super Bowl" in a public blog [rolls eyes].

I haven't blogged about the Super Bowl yet because I've been wading thru the hype and hundreds of hours of TV broadcasts and thousands of newspaper column inches dedicated to number 42. Wow. Seems to get worse every year ... or maybe we here in New England are just more attuned to it because our beloved team in representing the AFC this year.

Anyway, I was getting ready to publish some thoughts here when I was watching the news tonight and saw the most ludicrous story I've seen associated with the Super Bowl yet this year.

In a nutshell, Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter is calling for a Congressional investigation into "Spygate", saying the American people are owed an explanation by NFL Comish Roger Goodell as to why the NFL destroyed the tapes related to the scandal.

WHAT?!? Seriously? This is what Specter thinks is important for Congress to be focusing on? The country’s in a recession, healthcare is in shambles, and there's a war going on in Iraq and Afghanistan and he wants to bring Goodell before Congress, even going so far as to compare the destruction of the Spygate tapes to those involved in the CIA interrogation last year.

Um ... WHAT?!? Now, granted, the Spygate tapes being destroyed was a bit strange and leaves a lot of questions in people's minds, but Specter, an admitted hard core Eagles fan, has really made himself look like an idiot on this one. I really hope his office is flooded with angry emails and phone calls from constituents who take him to task for wasting time on this.

Anyway, back to the game ... not surprisingly, I'm picking the Patriots to win. I don't know about a score, but I will say that I think the Patriots will win by 12 ... not sure where that number comes from, but there you go.

I really like the Patriots’ defense against Eli “The Other” Manning and the Giants O-line … something tells me Belichick and co. are going to come up with looks that Manning has never seen before.

And Patriots’ QB Tom Brady just doesn’t lose a game like this. I like the fact the he and other players admitted the other day that is likely the biggest game of their lives, not just because it’s the Super Bowl, but because it’s the possibility of going 19-0.

Either way, it’s going to be a good game … possibly one for the ages.