Oops they did it again...

In celebration of Britney Spears

little comeback show last night, I just had to use her song title to describe the latest coup by the New England Patriots. It really has been the perfect off-season by the Pats, every time they make a move I get tingles because I really think they're making a run at the dolphins perfect season in '74. Before I talk about how great the Pats front office performed this weekend I just want to admit one thing, no matter how bad Britney's antics get, I'll always be waiting here to give her another chance. People say she's slutty or trashy, I say that sort of thing has never bothered me. Maybe if she could somehow manage to not mess her kids up too badly, I'll be waiting to receive comeback after comeback with open arms. Onto the borophyl.

How can anyone question the Patriots acquisitions this weekend. They took a shot at a couple "problem children" with tremendous talent. The Patriots are really the only team who cuold absorb these problems and turn them out toeing the line. Randy Moss was on track to become the second best receiver in the history of football before being traded to the Raiders. If he wants to reclaim his career there will be no better place than here in New England. He just needs to commit to winning and Let Brady and Belichick do their things while making a few great plays here or there to help them along the way. Moss has never been a team leader, and he needed to be in a situation where he would be in no way asked to lead, now all he needs to do is fall in line and tell Bob Kraft his ring size. As far as the drafting of Brandon Meriweather goes, this was a guy who had the talent to go about ten spots huigher but slid because of a couple unfortunate incidents while at The U. He had probably the most embaressing performance during that ugly brawl with Florida International last fall (no small feet because there was plenty of shame to go around.) But he manned up and admitted how wrong he was and apologized for his actions, under the tutelage of such veterans as Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi he'll learn how to be a professional and could end up being an impact player in the mold of Ed Reed. As if these two acquisitions weren't enough the Patriots also made a great move for the future by acquiring the 49ers first round pick for next year. In exchange for the 28th pick in this year's draft, where they clearly didn't want anyone on the board, the patriots acquired a pick for next year that should be in the top 20 or so (maybe lower due to the dreadful level of competition in the NFC.) This whole off-season has been a dream come true and I can't wait for the season to start. Now if they could only sign Britney Spears as a cheerleader, maybe a stint with the "Patri-ettes"could turn her career around as well.

I've been avoiding commenting on the Red Sox hot start this year, mostly because everyone in boston is so over the top when they talk about every Sox game every day that I don;t want to add to it, it's as if they don;t realize there is a new game every day. All that said I wasnted to comment on a few things baseball related. First and foremost, Jon Papelbon, I realize he blew the save last night but that doesn;t change the fact that Paps is the best closer in baseball right now. It might be a waste of his talent to use him as a closer, and for him personally the sooner they convert him to a starter the better his career will be. I just don;t believe that a guy can last as a closer for a full career. The only people who should close are pitchers who have rubber arms and pitchers who only have one or two good pitches. So I'm ok with having him do it this season to help the Sox win another ring, but after that, no more, they owe him that much. The second best thing coming out of the 'pen this year has been Hideki Okajima. It was joked that Okajima-san was brought in simply to hang out with Daisuke, but he's been awesome out there. I love all his junk, I love the fact that he's looking at the ground when he lets go of the ball, I even love his stupid necklace that only surfers wear. Watching him come through in every clutch situation has been the most pleasant surprise this season.

One last note, I wanted to admit that I broke down and watched the American Idol charity show last week. It was great to see my girl Carrie Underwood again, and as cold-hearted as I am, i was sucked in immediately by the awful stories from Africa and America as well. I loved the Jack Black segment, he was perfect for the show last week to give me an excuse to laugh. as my old fried Dick Clark would've said (not the Dick Clark, a different one,) pitter patter on the old heartstrings.

That's all for now, I'll be back sooner than usual hopefully.

-Bender Out

Feeling Sporty

Lots of big things happening in the sports world, and I know you'd all feel incomplete without my comments.

The Pats are going to Super bowl XLII. The biggest prize in this year's free agent class is coming to town, along with some other parts that have us Pats fans feeling downright giddy. Adalius Thomas, a guy built like a defensive tackle, who can run like a safety will be Bill Belichick's newest weapon next year. The possibilities are seemingly endless, the way the mastermind will frustrate Pats opponents next year in so many new ways, it should be very fun to watch. But the great news does not stop there, they also picked up some complimentary pieces to help the offense. Their latest acquisition, Wes Welker is a do everything mighty mite in the mold of Troy Brown. He's not a traditional number one receiver but he should be able to get at least 50 catches next year and provide help on special teams. They also signed Kyle Brady, as a cheaper alternative to Daniel Graham as a blocking tight end. Brady is clearly less explosive than Graham, he won;t be taking a screen pass to the house, and he probably won;t be pancaking Julius Peppers anytime soon, the way Graham did in super bowl XXXVIII, but he will serve their needs as a strong blocker to help spring their run game and provide extra protection against a strong pass rush. They were also able to pick up sammy Morris as a number two back to Laurence Maroney. Morris is clearly a downgrade from Corey Dillon, but he comes at a much lower price tag and he won;t be asked to do as much as Dillon because they expect Maroney to blossom into an elite runner next year. As a side note this makes Maroney a true sleeper for fantasy football next year where should perform as a top ten back. The best part of all this news is that the Pats still have two first round picks in next month's draft and they should still be able to sign useful pieces on the cheap as has been their hallmark in recent years. I don;t mean to put the cart before the horse, but I'm already considering buying a new hat and gloves for next year's parade.

This whole off-season has been very exciting, it's getting to the point where the football off-season is more exciting than the "hot stove." The only difference really is that just about everyone thinks they can be a baseball GM whereas with football they know better. But the amount of changeover in football is so much greater due to there be no guaranteed contracts and a hard salary cap, this year especially there is so much going on, I can't imagine that a fan of any team isn;t excited on some level right now. And all this excitement is before the draft, which is by far the most popular draft of any major sport, and before the many cuts that usually come June 1st, which leads to a second set of crazy movement. Just look at The Dolphins, sure they lost Nick Saban as their coach, and Wes Welker, an emerging young receiver, but today they signed Joey Porter, which in their minds has to override any negatives fo the off-season. At this time of year the possibilities are endless, even Raiders fans think their team could be good next year (although there's really no possible way,) and how can you blame them. Football just needs to come up with a cool nickname for this time of year i.e. "Hot Stove" so they can market it the way baseball does, hopefully ESPN will come up with something in the next few weeks.

Ok, that's enough about Football, it is of course March which is the time when College Basketball is king. right now we're in the early stages, where everyone is just dying to be one of the 65 teams who are still alive come sunday. The mighty BU Terriers have already fallen by the wayside, so that really opens up things for Kansas or Ohio State. There's nothing quite like the phenomenon where you can root hard for a team that you had never seen play before that game, but it happens every March. Last night I wanted very badly for Santa Clara to knock off Gonzaga, whom I now consider the Duke of the mid-majors, and by next thursday it will be far more prevalent.

Speaking of Duke, I just have to weigh in on the Gerald Henderson elbow incident. In the interest of full disclosure, I don;t like Duke, never have. I root against Coach K, I root against Tommy Amaker, and on down all the way to Elton Brand and Shelden Williams. So with all that out of the way, I have to say that the elbow looked very intentional, and I think the punishment fit the crime. You can't increase the suspension just because of the damage that the elbow did. I think that Gerald Henderson wanted to hit Hanborough hard, maybe he didn;t mean to hit him in the nose and break it, but he definitely meant to hit him hard for no real reason other than the fact that he had the opportunity. The fact that Hansborough seems to be genuinely disliked by his opponents because of his physical, sometimes chippy play also may have played a role, and in my mind is perhaps evidence against Henderson in this case. I actually enjoyed watching the reaction of both players afterward, Henderson had look to suggest, "yeah I did, and I'm not sorry." Wheareas "Psycho T" looked like he really wanted to go after Henderson, but there were too many people around. It's too bad they aren't seeded differently so they would be likely to play again in the ACC tournament, but I don;t think Duke has the horses to make it there this year.

One final note on the incident, I thought coach K came off like a real A-hole in the postgame when he insinuated that it was Roy Williams' fault for leaving Hansborough in after the game had been decided. Duke has always had this holier than thou attitude, Coach K's kids would never do something wrong even when the evidence says otherwise. How could anything ever be the fault of a Duke player, has there ever been an explanation for why Laettner wasn't suspended for stomping on the Kentucky player back in 92? I doubt Coach K admits that Laettner did that, he probably argues that Laettner just meant to step on the ground.

I'll be back with more College Basketball soon with so much going on.

-Bender Out