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Weird: Bob Ryan thinks you need to stop whining about Tom Brady
By adamg on Mon, 09/08/2008 - 4:45pm
Isn't he supposed to be the sensible, rational one over at the Globe? In any case, he claims he doesn't get how people can be so fixated on football today. Huh?
... I'm not ridiculing or downplaying the Patriots, but let's not lose sight of the fact that it's still early September and the leaves haven't even thought of changing yet. Football is the intruder here. It is still very much baseball season, and the Red Sox have their biggest series of the season taking place right now. We don't need football 24/7 to keep us occupied. ...
Would the phrase I'm thinking of be "straw man"?
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Comments
Huge pats fan here, and big on football
but I find myself strangely not all that upset. Maybe its because it happened right at the beginning of the season and hasn't set in yet.
Shiny Object
Shorter Ryan: Pay no attention to the season-ending broken knee, the Red Sox are making a pennant run.
We know what Brady was capable of and how consistent he was. We don't know that about Cassel. Wouldn't it be amazing if he can pick up where Brady left off? [Isn't that the argument Ryan should have made?] If Cassel plays within his game, he'll be fine but we don't know if he can be as good as Brady.
You can be sure Ryan would never make this argument if the injury was sustained by Peirce, Allen or the Big Unit.
Extended absences
of Ortiz, Drew, Beckett, and Lowell don't seem to have hurt the Red Sox much. Not to mention the complete absence of Curt Schilling.
Most Important Position Player In Sports
The quarterback of a football team is easily the most important position player in any team sport. The only other that comes close to having the same impact is a starting pitcher on a baseball team, but he has that impact only on every fourth or fifth game day. And Brady is arguably the best quarterback in the NFL.
I will be rooting for Cassel, and I would love to see him do well, but what he's shown in the past doesn't bode well for that prospect. Maybe a bit more maturity has helped him. We'll see.
In the meantime, losing a player of Brady's magnitude is as strong a hit as any team can take. There are 45 or 46 other guys on the team, and they'll carry the team as far as is possible, but if the Patriots make the playoffs now, it will be a testament to coaching prowess (and, perhaps, creative acquisitions from the front office) more than anything else.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
I knew
Suldog knew baseball. But I didn't know Suldog knew football.
Oh, Sure
I'll spout off about curling, too, if somebody brings it up.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Curling Irons?
Isn't that a fave sport of Watertown pols?
Paging Marilyn Devaney!
Or, perhaps, pageboying Marilyn Devaney?
(I know, I know. That's one of the worst attempts at a pun in the history of punning.)
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Remember back to 2001....
We had no idea who this skinny kid named Tom Brady even was. Of course at that point, coming off a 5-11 season in 2000 we weren't hoping for much - maybe go 8-8 and have a respectable season. But suddenly, we were winning. Not blowouts and not prettily, but winning nevertheless. I remember saying to myself as that October gave way to November and then towards the playoffs, 'just enjoy the ride; no matter what happens, this has been a fun season'.
And now, we're back at that place again, knowing what we know and feeling as if the dream has come to an end. Tom Brady has been lightning in a bottle; one of those players that comes along once in a generation, maybe even in a lifetime. Of course trying to fill the shoes of someone like Brady is a whole heck of a lot harder than it was with Bledsoe, but that sense of the unknown is still the same and it is scary.
But I have to keep reminding myself that Belichick doesn't suffer fools gladly. (see the release of 2nd round pick Chad Jackson) Clearly Belichick and Pioli have seen something in Cassell that we as the casual observer and fan have not and we all have to keep that in mind. The kid has had four seasons of the best teaching there is, from Belichick himself, plus Brady, and even throw Flutie in for good measure. Not many backups can claim that.
Of course, in the spirit of good old fashioned schadenfreude, Peyton Manning didn't exactly set the game on fire in his home opener. That helps take the sting out somewhat.