MattM

When discussing Belicheat one also can't overlook his absolutely classless response to losing--his running off the SB field early in 2007 w/o shaking Coughlin's hand (I honestly think he was afraid to start crying on national TV) and putting McCourty out to talk on his behalf to the media after a playoff loss a couple of years ago come to mind. No class or sportsmanship at all. On the point of his personal life, the allegation wasn't just cheating on his own wife, but also doing that cheating with someone else's wife to boot.

We're not talking 3rd/4th down--we're talking about these !@#$s standing all !@#$ing game, which is more than a bit different.... We were--thanks for following along.

I've gotten my now 76-year old dad season tix for about the last ten years. We finally were able to upgrade to lower bowl seats a few years back and that was his biggest complaint. He was in like row 6 the first year and 9 the second, but in each case was still forced to stand nearly all game due to such knuckleheads. Not easy for a guy his age and it used to really piss him off. We've since moved back to row 16, which makes it a little better, but still. I'm also all for the craft beer idea above, too. Whether that makes me a hipster douche, too, I'll leave that for others to decide.....

The fact we play New England* (on extra rest after playing a Bell-less Steeler team Week 1) in week 2 tells me the League has decided Marcel gets at least 2 weeks off

This^^^^^. I've also read elsewhere that Brady's a Republican, which is consistent with his move here (maybe he and Joe "You Lie!" What's His Name from South Carolina can go hang out some time). I really can't understand that attitude. Very disrespectful. I couldn't stand W Bush, but I'd never think about turning down an invitation to the WH even if he was the occupant giving it.

The fact we play New England* week 2 means he's looking at (at least) two weeks off (see Bell, Le'Veon)....

You mean we have 9 games against team's coming off extra rest? I know we have at least two--one on short rest no less!

Totally agree--just brutal....

We start with the two best teams in the conference (ie, very possibly 0-2). Nice way to take the edge off an up and coming team. Absolutely detest this schedule.

Uhh, they get 11 days' rest against us in Week 2 and get an extra says' rest by playing us on Monday night, so once again, schedule advantage Pats*. Anyone else sick of this crap?

I hate it--the barbelled nature of it (first two and last two all home with a streak of five away games in six weeks in the middle) just sucks

Nice to see the Cheats* get extra rest against us yet again. How many !@#$ing times has that happened over the last ten years? WTF....

It all depends on where you draw the boundaries of the inquiry. They went way back in this article. I'd wager that the Pats* move way up that list if you look at only the last five or six years, for ex., as I seem to recall them having several recent seasons (not just the one mentioned) with zero or one (the avg per team should be two) such games. For ex., I remember us having a League record 9 or 10 such games over a 2 year period that saw them have like 1 such game, although I could be wrong as I'm too lazy to look that up. For those downplaying the importance of this, I also recall a NYT article on NFL schedule making two years ago in which the maker was quoted as saying that by far the most frequent request he got was--wait for it---don't give us games against teams with extra rest. So it looks to me like teams, coaches and players would disagree with you on the level of importance here. As noted above, I was very glad when Whaley basically called BS on this two years ago. Notice we haven't had any of those 4 or 5 game seasons since?

They deal with that in the article. A 4% worse chance of winning against a team with more rest--although some years it was much higher (like 14% in 2010). Personally, I was ecstatic to see Whaley publicly shame the NFL on this crap a few years back, after we had 9 better rested opponents in two years....

My favorite is still Flutie going on local radio after Spygate broke and saying he once picked up a QB helmet by mistake on the sidelines and the Coaches were still talking to the QB well after the League-mandated cutoff. He was initially treating it like a joke. Seems like someone then talked to him about that since I don't believe he repeated that story any time thereafter. All detailed in O'Leary's Spygate book for those interested.

Don't forget that Rodney Harrison got caught there the only way you could--by being dumb enough to buy HGH in his own name and shipping it to his house from a pharmacy that got busted selling steroids. Anyone else ever wonder how all those old vets on their early teams seemed to regain a step while there? Or how a few years back they had 3 of the 5 RBs in the whole League 32 or older (Morris, Taylor and Faulk)?

I had thought that might be the case, too, but the Fitz timeline overlap intrigued me....

Oh, well, the conjecture was fun while it lasted....

I also seem to recall Fitz often taking vacations/trips post-season as a way to clear the head, but could be wrong. My bro-in-law is an older Harvard football player ('85) and met Fitz and his family at a reunion tour of the football facilities in 2010. Said he seemed like a very nice and genuine guy, FWIW.

As a longtime, high count poster, can't tell if you're serious or not, but NGU was an insider posting inside info a few years back. Nice guy, but a bit mysterious (and almost always right on his inside stuff).

You make the call.... http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/10/sports/hockey/a-sabres-fans-lament-they-cant-lose-them-all.html?_r=0 Check out the bottom: "My sons, James, 5, and Leo, 7, have never lived in Buffalo, but they support the Bills and the Sabres. In 2011, Leo got an autographed football bearing the inscription “Never Give Up” from the former Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick after being punched at school for supporting the Bills. So last week he couldn’t understand why I was so angry that the Sabres were beating the Blackhawks. “Why are you rooting against our team?” he asked. I tried to explain that we were fighting for last place and needed to keep losing to get a really good player, but he wasn’t buying it. “Fitzpatrick said never give up, Dad,” Leo said. I took his point, but as this ignominious season winds down, I will be rooting hard for a fitting conclusion: another loss. I believe in you, Sabres. I know you can do it."

As many of us originally predicted, the League is just waiting for another major news event to suck the media air out of the findings, so I predict that the report will be released either (a) after said other big news event or (b) late on a Friday night to try to avoid a major news cycle. Should make for some interesting reading for those so inclined....

Rodak embarrassed himself when he listed Mario as someone we misvalued and overpaid for. Anyone watching him these past three years can see that he's been worth the contract. In fact, Peter King today listed Mario as one of the few examples in recent League history when paying a huge salary actually turned out to be a good deal. Where does ESPN get these guys?

We'll replace Alonzo/Spikes with David Harris at LB--he's 31, but should fill that "bill" this year at least without dropoff.

My fellow Matt--I noticed the same thing on the Brady play (and said that in the original thread). I was at the game, but from watching it on the jumbotron I wondered how in holy hell did he hang onto the ball when Hughes tomahawk chopped him. That's the problem with the Pats*--everything they do is subject to a sheen of cynicism about whether they were cheating or not. Billy B brought that on himself over the years....