MattM

Nope, it's the Jets that the Pats* will get after their bye. Every year it's the team that they have the most reason to be afraid of--it used to be us (4 years in a row--odds of that happening coincidentally something like 4,000 to 1 (literally), then the year after the Fins won the division it was Miami. Go figure.....

I'll bet that the Pats* play the Jets at least once in the first four games (50 -50 odds on this happening naturally, so not a huge surprise if if it does). Doubt they'll play them twice in September--even the NFL has to put on a charade of neutrality, no? They'll save that second meeting for late in the year. Personally, I'm hoping that Rex and the boys put a beatdown on them both games, Santonio or no. Perhaps that might shut up the few remaining fans they seem to have left. Anyone else check out Patsfans.com lately? Like a ghost town over there, tumbleweeds and all....

While it pains me to say this, the Jets will win the AFCE going away next season--12-4 or 13-3--while New England* starts its inevitable descent back to the pack (9-7 at best, 7-9 at worst and this does not pain me in the least to write), while Miami and the Bills fight it out for the cellar (in each case from 7-9 if a lot of things go right, down to 4-12 if they don't)......

Hopefully one of them is ours. He may be on the decline, but I'd wager he's light years ahead of the guys we've got on our roster--better to be a "has been" than a "never was, or will be".....

Good for Sam--everything I've seen and read about the kid indicates that he's a good guy in addition to being a good football player. I hope he does well in St. Louis or wherever he ends up. Too bad it won't be B'lo.....

Sling mud and call me names all you want, but I think it's a horrible idea to introduce this potential conflict/bias into the mix when it comes to NFL officiating, for all the reasons I mentioned. As noted above, nothing here about the guy being on the take (although I stand by my view that the fact that the guy is even floating this idea says oodles about his character and I also stand by my of course subjective view of him that I've gleaned from watching him interviewed and observing his actions as head of officiating)--it's a horrible idea even from a "benign" perspective where nothing untoward is actually intended, since even in that case it will potentially introduce bias into officiating. I'd have no problem with it if he wanted to do it anonymously so that no one would know that he's providing this coaching service, but clearly that's not workable and knowing Pereira's penchant for the spotlight, not something I suspect he'd want. If the League wants to do something like this, it's pretty easy to have officials visit all 32 teams to teach penalty basics and areas of emphasis, which I believe they already do each summer. To me it's another thing entirely when the head of officiating wants to become a full-time assistant to the team or select teams that pay him the most......

Sure thing, all games to the highest bidder, or your money back (kind of like MLB these days).....

Officiating calls are by their nature judgment calls--this idea certainly introduces the concept that a ref will have a bias in the back (if not the front) of his mind when making calls. That to me is enough right there to pull the plug on this cockamamy (sp?) idea. The internal colloquy would go something like this--"They're coached on penalties by my former boss, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt [either for illicit reasons, like this is the guy who promoted me for reasons known to both of us (see the Serie A scandal for modern examples of how that corrupt officiating system worked in a major sport), but even for relatively benign ones, like I'm sure he does a good job coaching them, so they're less likely to commit penalties, so what I just saw on the borderline was probably not a penalty, [even though I just called something similar that was even more ticky tack on their opponent].)" How is that so hard to understand? To my mind, even the potential to introduce such a bias should end the conversation, but apparently I'm in the minority on this, having seen nothing in the press or from the League trying to shoot this down.....

Read much? Right before that I mention why I don't like him--boneheaded ideas like this one, plus a career as an apologist for shady calls by his refs, usually to the benefit of your team, so it's no wonder this man does no wrong in your eyes. This idea of his also clearly shows what motivates him--money. If he's this greedy in retirement, who's to say where the greed stopped before he retired? I don't know the answer to that question, but I don't like the fact that he's even brought up this idea personally. In my opinion it does speak to his character, which is a key component of what refereeing is about (or should be about). As noted many times previously, in an age where you have big money from all corners (networks, owners, gambling) and folks like Tim Donaghy or the refs in the Serie A scandal (many of them--clearly not an isolated "one bad ref" case), this is the last taint that sports of any kind need. How about sticking to the substance of my initial post? So you think it's a great idea to let heads of NFL officiating have second careers "coaching" on how to reduce penalties called by their former employees (you know, guys they hire, fire and promote)?

Socialist? Huh? How so? As noted below, I think it chips away quite vividly at the integrity of the game when you have the guy who used to be head of officiating for the league now deciding he wants to be paid to help teams manage his former employees, some of whom he promoted no doubt and who probably look up to him as a mentor. Officiating needs to stay as independent as possible in my opinion. The dislike of Pereira comes from stupid ideas like this one he's displayed over the course of his career and is, in my opinion, well-deserved. Have you ever seen him interviewed? Call me crazy or old-fashioned, but I want my officials to look and act like the PricewaterhouseCoopers auditors you see get trotted out to announce the Oscar tabulations and not like Las Vegas lounge lizards, which is the vibe Pereira has always thrown off, between the hairdo, the jewelry and the Frank DeFord mustache. I don't know the man, and could be wrong about him, but I've never gotten a positive feeling about him from the times I've seen him interviewed, usually describing how his officials screwed up yet again (usually in a game involving a Pats*' victory on some fluke call or no call).....

What I'm worried about is fairly simple. Guys who use to work for him (and who he may have brought in/promoted) may most certainly show favoritism to teams he works for in the future--those who think otherwise are the ones being naive. If he starts doing this, this can most certainly become a "gravy train" for other so-inclined officials. If so, integrity goes right out the window, as such similarly inclined officials who want a similar gig themselves will almost certainly show deference to teams employing such retired officials (deserving or, more likely, not), if only to keep the market up for their services in the future and presto, chango, integrity goes further out the window than it's been and you effectively have refereeing for sale. The NFL needs to tell this greedy joker to stay retired.....

Did anyone else catch the announcement last week by former head of officiating Mike Pereira that he would like to "get into coaching"? He would like to start coaching teams on "how to cut down on penalties". What a joke--the guy is basically trying to make money off of his prior career as head of officiating. Talk about generating potential conflicts of interest, allowing refs to retire and then start coaching the teams they were just sitting in judgment of, or, in Pereira's case, getting paid to coach a team on how to avoid penalties from his former subordinates. What a slippery slope that is--it reminds me of high-ranking govt officials leaving office to take jobs in the private sector where they can "work" their former govt contacts to the tune of huge bucks. No one ever sees anything wrong with that, right? Give me a break. I always thought that Pereira looked and acted like the kind of guy who you wouldn't trust with the Lord's Supper, but this just confirms it in my book. If he's this greedy and sees no potential conflict here, who knows what he did do while he was officiating head. Just my two cents. I was actually pretty shocked that journalists didn't immediately shoot this down as just a stinking, rotten idea from head to toe..... http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/...ching/#comments

That's why my father told me at age 18 that if I ever got a motorcycle and brought it into his driveway he'd take it apart with a baseball bat (he had an old HS friend get into a bad wreck on one some many years ago.) I know motorcyclists love their bikes, but reading the stats on injuries/fatalities on them is downright scary. I have another friend who was involved in an accident with one and the driver of the bike was killed (he skidded out and hit the rear end of her car). All that said, I, too, wish him nothing but the best as he goes forward.....

Another reason the Pats* sign aging vets much more often than other teams may also have to do with their supersecret "Rodney "HGH" Harrison training program". Just sayin'......

Not lately they ain't. They ain' t been the Patriots* for at least 5 years now and that don't look to stop next season. 8-8 here they come.....

Interesting thoughts from one of my personal favorite up and coming football writers: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writ...lbag/index.html "Did you enjoy your time in Buffalo and is playing for them as bad as the perception is around the league? --@Shaunta53 via Twitter My wife and I loved Buffalo; it was our favorite team and best experience out of the five I played for (Redskins, Cowboys, Browns, Patriots). I guess it depends on what the individual is looking for, but it was really a family atmosphere in which everyone was welcomed with open arms and everybody hung out with one another socially. Other teams were not always like that." Maybe the team's rep with the players isn't quite as bad as some would make it out to be?

Too bad....so sad.....

I noticed the same statement in King's column and it also stuck in my craw, not for racism reasons, but because it shows how entitled athletes are in this society. "If Big Ben is at fault, then he needs to grow up." Uhh, no, Peter, if Big Ben did what he's accused of, Big Ben needs to go to jail.....

Plus one. I don't mind at all seeing players get worked up or emotional--it shows they care, which is more than you can say for a lot of them it seems.....

Taking a page from the Pats*' playbook, eh? (Not quite sure if the apostrophe goes before or after the asterisk--any Pats* fans want to enlighten me on that rule of spelling?)

Actually, the increases they're talking about are well above the general CPI inflation levels. This is just trying to get more cash--I don't mind if they spend it on the team, I do mind if it just goes into Ralph's pocket, but that's just me.....

Plus 1....

Don't get me wrong, I've been one of his biggest fans in the past, but (a) isn't he getting up there in age and more importantly considering which team we're talking about here (b) he's going to want a huge contract. I don't see this happening.....

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner......

My strong suspicion is that you watch a lot of Fox News--nothing wrong with that, but ever notice how there's a commercial seemingly every 20 minutes on that channel touting "free" Medicare paid for automatic wheelchairs/carts for the aged and infirm? They literally say that Medicare will buy you one of these and, if not, the company will give it to you for free. Anyone else appreciate the irony of that considering the channel it's airing on and the "let's shrink govt down to nothing (oh, yeah, except for my piece--don't touch that)" demographic the channel appeals to. Must work, otherwise that company wouldn't be advertising there. Sometimes this level of hypocrisy amazes even cynical old me....