Tossing batting practice…while wondering if the season ending neck injury Ellis Hobbs suffered is a chronic thing resulting from years of whiplash courtesy of repeatedly getting beat by good, bad and marginal receivers…

If it is, then score one for the Bill Belichick and the medical staff for getting rid of him when they did and getting something for nothing.

Good win on Sunday for the Pats, even if the Dolphins offense is as exciting as it was successful. Usually in a game involving that much between the tackle running, and little downfield passing there's a spirit squad and a 50-50 raffle at halftime involved.

For all the grief that Belichick takes for being so vague and flippant with the injury report, I think Tony Sparano should be equally chastised for not properly reporting to the world last week that Joey Porter was questionable (head case) or doubtful (no heart). At the very least I hope this week he’s listed as probable (castration) after his refusal to speak with the media after the game Sunday.

Apparently Porter only got half the message from Jimmy Johnson, the part about walking the walk must have got cut off on his NFL Films highlights. Or perhaps Johnson should clarify that walking the walk doesn’t mean slip out the back door quietly.

I endorse Larry Johnson possibly coming to the Patriots for the remainder of the season. I think we could go a long way toward educating him about tolerance in our liberal blue state abode. Unless he only runs for two yards a carry, then ship his ignorant ass out to some Baptist bible thumping outpost where the illiterate yahoos will identify with him as a kindred spirit.
In Bill I trust.

I absolutely despise everything about the Colts, and since moving to the south anytime I come across someone who claims to love Peyton Manning, I immediately end the conversation and move on to someone else. However Belichick’s track record is to almost never lose to a team twice in one season, so quite frankly I’m ok with the Patriots losing this week. (opinion subject to change at about 8:21 Sunday night).

Because of the fact that a half a rain forest, and an infinite amount of internet space is being wasted in previews of Sunday’s game I’m going to promise you a breakdown in less than 90 words that can sum up the whole game.
I am interested to see just how fast the defense really is against a proven offense. The secondary has looked great swarming to the ball and doling out hits like the old Lombardi Trophy Patriots but now its time to see what it looks like against a real AFC contender.
I still think this defense will be better eight weeks from now but this is a good barometer game.
And the offense needs to step it up in the red zone and quit settling for three points.
See, you don’t need to waste lots of words and time talking about this one just go out and play the game.

College basketball season started this week, and while I’m the second biggest college basketball junkie I know (the phenomenal Sully’s Blog at the Globe takes the top spot because honestly its been a while since I tivoed a Cal/Murray State game and watched it three days later) its still hard to get excited just yet, another week and I’ll start to have mock brackets ready to go.
Though no matter what time of year, and what level its good to see Isiah Thomas get his ass kicked even if it did come at the hands of North Carolina.

The Celtics have looked a little older of late. I guess playing eight games in 12 days with a roster and offensive philosophy one would expect to find in an Over 30 YMCA league its to be expected. The three point barrage continues, and apparently the media in Boston chose to only notice it when the shots didn’t go in and they lost a game. However it was good to see in the NJ game Saturday night the C’s recognized the shots weren’t falling and they attacked the basket a little bit, and good ball movement created open lanes for cutters to get easy buckets down the stretch.

My nonexistent current basketball career sort of mimics that of Rasheed Wallace. I have the ability to go in the post (yet I almost always decide not too), generally choosing to wander out beyond the arc repeatedly clapping my hands or whooping to announce I’m open and jacking threes at any opportunity. Defensively, I stand around not really covering anyone, but I can still rebound. And I steadfastly refuse to participate in a fastbreak, or move at any speed great than a brisk jog.
If I were 6-10 with anger management issues, I’d probably be in the League.

I’m as big a KG fan as anyone else, and his work in the community is tremendous, but someone needs to explain to him that he can’t build a homeless shelter for kids just by throwing up bricks from 17 feet away.
He’s starting to reach the level of “Strap” in Hoosiers. “Don’t shoot unless you’re wide open under the basket.”
Doc’s too nice to say this, but I can think of a coach who could explain KG’s role on offense much the same way he once told a precocious freshman from RI, for the sake of anonymity we’ll call him R. Shibley, “Hey (expletive deleted)! Your job is reverse the ball, set screens and only shoot if the shot clock is under 5 and you can’t kick it out of bounds to prevent a fast break the other way.”

You know you've lived in the country for a while when the sounds of sirens at 1am on a Saturday startle you.
I lived in downtown Boston and Roxbury for six years there was a time when the gunshot or firecracker game didn't even faze me, and now I’ve been reduced to one of those country folk wondering what happened to garner all that noise.

And with that I make a triumphant return to the Bean this weekend for the next few weeks, in hopes of seeing some people, celebrating Thanksgiving, pretending its not my birthday, and sabotaging a wedding before it can ruin a life.
Expect lots of bitching about the cold weather in the next post