Playoffs, Are You Talking About Playoffs?

Haven't the Patriots clinched a playoff spot? Too much math for my brain to deal with at the moment.
If the AFC Playoffs Began Today : Patriots Daily

1st seed - AFCE division leader New England Patriots (9-0). Last Sunday’s gutty comeback win over the reigning champion Colts gives the Pats undisputed possession of the AFC’s first seed this week. Little known fact - prior to Sunday, the Colts held this spot by virtue of the 4th tiebreaker; strength of victory.

That's surprising. If someone had come off the street and told me that last week, I wouldn't have believed them.

Drama, Drama, Drama...

It's only been a few weeks since the Red Sox won the World Series and we're seeing more drama now than we did during the season.

Schilling returns after his last game in a Red Sox uniform for only $8 million for one year, unless he keeps the weight down, in which case he gets $2 million more. I mean, offer me the money to keep the weight off, please!

Will Lowell be coming back (I want him for two years, but certainly not four!), or will the Red Sox enter the ARod party line (Please, please, please don't spend that much money on one player! Remember how you tried to waive manny and no one took him? That was just for $20 mill a year!). What about Pena at first instead?

Youk gets the golden glove and the most photographed award (I've seen so many after party pictures and in-flight shots over the past few days).

And then there's Coco, the man who could have won a Gold Glove if his rep was better than his name. Will he be traded and for who? Theo always seems to want to get the best deal possible, but let's just take what we can get, ok? We don't need a fourth outfielder all that badly. We could have won with or without him this year, and the same can be said for any other fourth outfielder you can name.

All in all, a lot to digest over the past week. Can we get back to the dancing and bedazzling, please? ;-)

Pats Go Back to Sunday Night

Not that I have a problem with watching the Patriots at night, but is playing against Buffalo really that exciting?
Patriots' Nov. 18 trip to Buffalo moves to Sunday night - USATODAY.com

The league pushed back the start of New England's game at the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 18 to 8:15 p.m. ET and it will move from CBS to NBC. Originally, Patriots-Bills was set for 1 p.m. ET on CBS and Chicago at Seattle was the night game.

Yankees are OUT, Cleveland is IN

Really, it's kind of depressing to see the Yankees out of the playoffs again. I would rather have faced them in the ALCS than Cleveland.

Mostly, that's because I'm more familiar with them. I know who the bad guys are. I know who the talented guys are. I know the coach(es). But what that all boils down to is I know what to expect and why. And that is, I know the Yankees will come all out every game right up until the last pitch. That makes the game exciting to watch.

Cleveland, from all reports, are better than the Yankees. They proved they were, at least, when they faced them down in the first round. But as we gear up for the second round, I can't help thinking: who is Carmona and how can those yahoos on the radio say he has an edge over Schilling? I mean, Curt Schilling, the guy with the best playoff record in baseball? I know the kid went 19-8 with a 3.06 record during the season. I know he pitched very well against the Yankees. But to say a 23 (or is he 24?) year old has an edge against a veteran playoff pitcher like Schilling?

BTW, despite all the hype about the pitching match-up in game one, I expect it to be ugly. No one has played a game in a week. The hitters and pitchers are going to be rusty. The second game will probably be a lot better.

Today was Easy, Tomorrow Will Be Harder

Even as the Patriots and Red Sox celebrated their wins last night, I couldn't help think that next week will be harder. The Cowboys will be the first team to face the Patriots who will really be seen as a tough team to beat. Especially since the Boys will be at home. And whoever wins out in the Cleveland/Yankees series is bound to be tougher than the Angels turned out to be.

The Indians pitching (starting) can be scary, while the Yankees line-up makes it difficult to put them away. They will keep coming at you right up until the last out.

I do so hope it's the Yankees that win, btw. It would certainly make things a lot more interesting. It seems like a lot of people are burned out on the rivalry, but I think they will come back alive if the Yankees manage to come back to life.

However, the quick end to the Angels match-up means we have to wait until Friday for the next game. What are we supposed to do in the meantime, watch the Bruins?

Six Reasons You Should Watch The Patriots-Browns Game

Let's face it, the Patriots are romping on teams that people think are good and then stomping on the teams people think are bad this season. So, perhaps you're getting bored with all this romping and stomping and need some other inspiration for you to sit down and watch for three hours.

1. You have Moss or Brady on your fantasy team
2. Rodney Harrison will be back, which means the New England defense is about to get better
3. You want to keep in touch with how much the rest of the nation hates the Patriots
4. You want to feel better about benching all those players from the Browns you have on your fantasy team
5. Romeo could come up with some insight into the Belichick mindset, turning this into a real game
6. When the season is done, you want to look down on all those others who are 'just now jumping on the bandwagon.'

Wow. That was quite a gem from Beckett last night. A shut out to start the series is a great way to make it happen. I was listening on the radio this morning and the meatheads were in agreement that if it comes down to game 4, this series is in the bag.

It's also nice to see the swagger back in Ortiz. He delivered once again and it's so nice to see it happen.

It's interesting to note how the two biggest bargains on the team, Ortiz and Beckett, are the ones who make the biggest difference in game 1. I wouldn't be surprised to see the 'throw-in' Lowell come up big in game 2. It just goes to show you don't need the big name player (read: big money guy) to win the big games.

The Skies Are Clearing

The skies are starting to clear out as game time approaches. The shock of seeing Dice-K go in Game two while Schilling was pushed back to Game three, plus Wakefield being left off the roster for a third catcher (is Mirabelli needed if Wakefield isn't pitching?) is still being felt here in the Bay State, but the excitement is building.

The Red Sox are clearly the favorites going into the series, but not by as much as I had hoped for at the beginning of the season. I thought the pitching would be right where it's at (given that they have been relatively healthy, although I will admit Beckett has done even better than I thought he would. You should have bet me on him winning the Cy Young!) It's the hitting that has disappointed, but not as much as it seems to have bothered others. They still have one of the top offensive teams in the League.

If they win:

• If J.D. continues his .390 pace into the playoffs, all will be forgiven and forgotten.
• No one will remember how Manny took a quarter of the season off.
• Schilling will be re-signed for next year
• Papelbon will show up on Dancing with the Stars
• Dice-K will make a special appearance on the Tele-Tubbies
• Mirabelli will be given a police escort out of Massachusetts

Have the Patriots Played Any Good Teams, Yet?

At this point, it's hard to know how good this Patriots team really is. With four games down, people are already talking about going undefeated for the season and I find that ludicrous to contemplate at this point in the season. I was always irritated by it when I saw the talk about the Colts start up in the past few years, so it really isn't surprising that I'm annoyed when it comes up with the Patriots.

We just don't know what the real mettle of this team is. Oh, there's no doubt this is a good to great team, but until they face an opponent that's shown they are also a good to great team, it's hard to judge where they are at.

I know the Chargers were supposed to be good, but it turns out they really aren't.

I know the Bengals are supposed to have a good offense, but a weak defense has kept them down. The Patriots obviously dominated them, which is a good indicator that they are in the 'haves' column, while the Bengals are not.

The Jets are nowhere, and so are the Bills. The Pats finished those games up almost as soon as they started.

The other limitation is we haven't really seen how they're going to be affected by injuries. I know Seymour and Harrison have been out, but that's nothing compared to how this team will look in Week 16 and 17. We know this, and yet we still try to predict a perfect season.

Don't misunderstand me, the Pats are obviously good to great (I lean towards great, but I tend to be biased). It's obvious at this point they will wrap up the division quickly. I'd even go so far as to say they are very likely to get home field advantage. But undefeated? Ask me again after the face the Cowboys or even better after the Colts game. It will still be early in the season, but at least we'll know they faced off against some other good to great teams.

As the Sox Season Winds Down

And we get ready for the playoffs, I can't help but wonder about all the stress and thought people put into the Yankees situation. At the beginning of the season, the Red Sox and Yankees were predicted to be together right until the end. And look, that's exactly what's happened.

Maybe it was just because the Red Sox got off to such a great start, but all the talk about how the Yankees wouldn't even make the playoffs went nowhere.

All the talk about how the Red Sox would continue to dominate throughout the entire season went nowhere.

When the Yankees came back and did so well during the second half of the season, all the talk started up on how the Red Sox and Yankees positions had completely turned completely around. Now it was the Red Sox who were going to fall out of contention and the Yankees who would take over first place.

And all that talk and angst and pressure went nowhere.

At the end of the season, both teams will be in the playoffs. Both teams still have what we expected them to have (better pitching for the Sox, better hitting for the Yankees).

And, I think, unlike most fans, I would love to face off with the Yankees in the second round. It always makes it more interesting. And for those who would rather face off with one team or another, I say you have to be the best team to win. If you're not, then what's the point?

So stop worrying so much and enjoy what's about to happen.

Can It Get Any Better?

Last night's game saw:

• the return of Manny
• Manny got a hit
• J.D. Drew continued to do better
• Schilling pitched great (only 80 some odd pitches, too)
  
• Red Sox won
• Yankees lost (Magic Number is 3)
• Yankees have not clinched a spot, yet (I expect them to)
• Clemens is hurt

Why it's good to be a Boston fan overall right now:

• 38 is the magic number for the pats
• only 4 punts so far, for the season!
• Red Sox are in the playoffs
• Celtics are favored to win again
• Beckett is favored to win the Cy Young

Bruins? Never heard of them?

One Game Difference

To me, it's amazing what a difference one game makes. Yesterday, there was still panic in the air and Yankees fans were calling in left and right to the radio shows talking about how well the Bombers were playing and how the Sox weren't.

One day later and the talk is all about Vick and nothing about the Sox.

The difference? One game. The Sox went from 4 games up to 5 games up and all of a sudden, everything has calmed down.

I don't understand it. The Yankees were on a 3 wins for every one loss and everyone knows the Sox were sitting at .500 ball for two months. But even so, the Red Sox were still 4 games up.

I mean, think about that. The Red Sox were playing mediocre and the Yankees were playing phenomenal ball (record-wise) and the Sox were still four games up and had the best record in baseball.

What more do you want from your team?

The Yankees are Coming!

Enough already. The Yankees are on a complete tear, while the Red Sox offense has gone bye-bye for the past few weeks. So all I hear about on the radio these days is how the Yankees are coming, the Yankees are coming.

Give me a break, please.

The Yankees, because of their winning ways, are just now getting up over .500. The Red Sox, despite their recent losing streak, are now 7.5 games up. I mean, really. How much better do you want things to be?

And why is everyone getting on Crisp? No one ever promised he was going to be the next great center fielder. He's a good (not great) offensive player who has speed. He's an above average center fielder with great range. That's it. If you were expecting more from him, then that's your fault, not his.