Cursed To First - Sox and Pats forever.

The Zebras in the Room

Disclaimer: I'm not blaming last night's loss on the referees -- that honor belongs to the Patriots defense. But that doesn't mean this isn't an issue that needs to be addressed.

When it comes to Bill Belichick grabbing the official after last night's debacle against the Ravens, I can't help but think of Chris Rock's line about OJ Simpson: "I'm not saying he should've done it, but I understand."

By the time that vengeful, deeply personal battle of a game was over, I'm sure most fans on both sides would've liked to grab a referee, too...by the neck. 

Look, you know it and I know it: the officiating this year has been absolutely terrible, across the league. In the first half of last night's game, the refs seemed not to call much of anything, including a vicious forearm to Julian Edelman's face in the end zone courtesy of Ed Reed, and it took quite some time before the flags came out to stop the fights that seemed to follow every play. The refs were clearly intimidated and in over their heads, as the intensity between the two teams threatened to spiral out of control. 

I might've felt sorry for them, getting their ears chewed off by both head coaches at every turn, if I hadn't been so mad at them myself. Someone is going to get seriously hurt if the replacements can't get games under better control than that. 

The first half was bad enough, but the second half was an absolute travesty. There were too many ridiculous calls to name them all, but in particular I remember a holding call on Devin McCourty on the Ravens' second-to-last scoring drive that was absolutely pathetic.

And of course, who can forget the remarkably synchronized chant of "BULL-SHIT!" that rang out from Ravens fans after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on coach Jim Harbaugh late in the fourth quarter?

It's been argued that the league has no incentive to hurry up its negotiations with the real refs as long as America keeps tuning in to the NFL. I would like to think that the sheer danger these incompetent refs pose to the league's players would be incentive enough for something to be done about this atrocious situation.

But, like most NFL fans increasingly grappling with the thorny moral issues surrounding footbal fandom, I sadly know better than that by now. 

Goodbye, Johnny Pesky, Part 2

I'll admit it. I've been less than enthused about baseball lately. For me, it's full-on football season, and the Red Sox and their losing ways are an afterthought. The current team just doesn't have my heart the way past teams have. I don't know if it's the oboxiousness of Bobby V or the flood of newbies putting on the uniform in the late season, but, well, there you have it. Occasionally I tune in, as I did at a pub on Friday night, to a TV with no sound and watch Dustin Pedroia get the game-tying RBI, and as usual, he makes me smile. But that's about it, of late. 

Until tonight. 

I actually didn't even watch today's game, but I did watch the Pesky trbute that was on afterwards, and not only did it choke me up, wring me out, and otherwise leave me verklempt with its pitch-perfect plucks at the heartstrings, but it reminded me how I usually feel about baseball, when things aren't a plodding forced march through gratuitous amounts of suckitude at the hands of a largely unlikeable band of misfits led by the Pied Piper of Smirk. 

Ahem.

Memorable moments:

• Dick Flavin's speech and beautiul poem left me choked up, with goosebumps. 
• Keith Foulke showed up. That man's graciousness after the way he was treated on his way out of town is not something we should take for granted. Toward the end of the broadcast, as Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield shared their memories of celebrating the 2004 World Series with Johnny Pesky, NESN cut to a shot of him in the stands. Well played, NESN.
• Roger Clemens showed up, and he talked, AND he received a nice ovation from the crowd that was gathered at Fenway for the event. Will wonders never cease. 
• Bill Lee saying players today are spoiled. "They've got more grounds crew than we had fans."
• Rich Gedman saying, in his softspoken way, that he "gets nervous in these places" before he shared his memories of Johnny. 
• The sheer number of times the word "Peckerhead" was used on live TV (this was Ted Williams' nickname for Pesky, and Pesky's nickname, ultimately, for a lot of other people, including Pedro Martinez when he first arrived from Montreal). 
• Of all the stories told, the one that stands out the most to me was Dustin Pedroia's about when he first got called up and was struggling at the plate. He said Pesky took him aside and was trying to give him a pep talk when a screaming foul ball liner zinged into the dugout and hit Pesky on the arm. "See, that's what ya gotta do, kid," Pesky told Pedey. "Get hit by the ball so you get on base. I want you to practice that." Pedroia said he wasn't sure if Pesky was serious until Pesky assured him he was joking, and reminded him that the game was supposed to be fun--gave Pedroia permisison to have fun. This both echoed and summed up a sentiment expressed by several other players who paid tribute to Johnny, that for all the seriousness and earnestness of his dedication to the game, his sense of fun and joy in it was essential to him as well. 
• Clay Buchholz's wide eyes in the stands as he watched Pedro speak. 
• After the players told their stories of Johnny, they walked out to the big "6" that had been painted into the infield, and laid roses on it. Papi lingered with a faraway stare next to the number after his teammates had moved on, until Pedro Martinez walked over, took David by the arm, and gently led him away. That moment was just breathtaking. 

By the time the players past and present were all signing the Pesky Pole, I was a complete mess. But I had remembered the deep emotions that has made baseball a passion of mine, after a period of unfortunate forgetfulness about that.

Thanks, Johnny.

A New Hope

 Believe it or not, this was the face of victory...

I never wrote about it, but I did watch the Super Bowl this year. You know, the one that was a mirror image in many ways of the Super Bowl that remains my No.2 most painful sports memory of all time? Yeah, that one. 

So, first, the Patriots begin the 2012-13 season under the expectation that they will avenge that most recent, stinging loss.

Then there's also the expectation, at least in some circles, that they will 'heal our wounds and be a blessing to us' after a Red Sox baseball season that has been nothing short of miserable, never more so than in being dissected by a Sports Illustrated cover story this week.

That piece summed things up this way:

On Aug. 31, 2011, a comfortable evening at Fenway with a sweet breeze blowing in from rightfield, the Red Sox beat the Yankees 9-5. They had the best record in the American League, stability in the dugout and in the front office, an MVP candidate in Gonzalez, an AL ERA leader in Beckett and a nine-game cushion on a playoff spot. 

That moment in time seems ancient now, like a lost civilization.

No pressure, Pats.

Fortunately, the New England Patriots who showed up to play today in Tennessee were easily able to bear up under the weight of those expectations and frustrations, and trounce the Titans for a thoroughly satisfying 34-13 win. 

Before the game, I was worried about the New England offensive line, which had looked a little shabby in the preseason, but it turns out I had no reason to fret. The Patriots controlled the running game on both sides of the ball today, netting 162 yards rushing, the kind of effort that can only be led by strength up front.

Tom Brady was sacked only once, though the Titans made that one count -- DE Kamerion Wimbley first tackled the QB and then kneed him in the face, resulting in a less-than-stylish Band-Aid on the bridge of Brady's nose and a right nostril packed with gauze to begin the Patriots' fourth offensive series of the game. 

More impressive was the way New England controlled the run on defense. The Titans netted just 20 yards and only one of their first downs rushing as a defensive front led by Vince Wilfork crushed their efforts to carry the ball upfield. 

That set the tone for a solid defensive effort that's sure to put a spring in any Pats fan's step this week, early though it may be. The remodeled defense, particularly the front 7, looked more than solid today.

Especially encouraging was the way the Patriots reaped the fruit of their 2012 draft class on a play in the second quarter -- after a sack by rookie Chandler Jones forced Titans QB Jake Locker to fumble, the ball was scooped up by fellow rookie Dont'a Hightower, who scrambled into the end zone for what I dubbed the Police Academy Touchdown. 

The passing game was a little bit more of a mixed bag overall -- the defense looked disconcerting, for example, on an 80-yard drive for the Titans in the third quarter that took all of a minute and a half to eat up the field with a series of long passing plays. It took a while, too, for Brady and Co. to find a rhythm at the beginning of both halves.

Still, it was the passing combination of Brady and newcomer Brandon Lloyd -- who looks to redeem the number 85 for the Patriots this year -- that had me salivating most in anticipation of the rest of this football season. Lloyd lead the team in receiving yards with 5 catches for 69 yards, but it was more the quality than the quantity of his catches that made me pay attention. 

Lloyd stopped running and thus missed the first attempt Brady made to hit him deep, but on the second attempt, made his first catch as a Patriot in grand fashion with a somersaulting grab up the sideline. After that, Lloyd didn't look back, and watching Brady's passes find his back shoulder in stride as the game went on was a thing of beauty. I look forward to more of their work together.