Blogs – Page 188 – Keefe To The City

Feb 6, 2015

Rangers-Bruins Sets Up Rubber Match

The Rangers finally beat the Bruins and the win sets up a decisive third and final game in March in Boston for the season series.

For a while now when the Rangers and Bruins play, we usually get a 1-0 or 2-1 games featuring Henrik Lundqvist and Tuukka Rask. But thanks to an odd Alain Vigneault lineup decision and an unfortunate injury, Lundqvist hasn’t played the Bruins either time this year and instead we’ve seen Cam Talbot. But Talbot did something on Wednesday night at MSG against that no Rangers goalie aside from Lundqvist has done since Kevin Weekes on April 8, 2006: beat the Bruins.

Mike Miccoli, who covers the Bruins for The Hockey Writers and was also my freshman year of college roommate, joined me for an email exchange to talk about the Rangers’ win over the Bruins, what changes both teams could make at the trade deadline and Rick Nash’s incredible season.

Keefe: I can’t believe Pete Carroll did what he did and I can’t believe there was a parade down Boylston and Tremont Street right past where we watched one 10 years ago to celebrate a Patriots Super Bowl win. Ten years ago! I’m going to go cry now.

If you’re not still drunk from Sunday night or if you’re not still hungover from then, maybe you watched the Rangers-Bruins game last night? The Rangers won 3-2 and it was the first time they beat the Bruins since Game 4 of the 2012-13 Eastern Conference semifinals (May 23, 2013) and the first time they beat them in the regular season since Feb. 12, 2013. And they did it without Henrik Lundqvist.

I’m sure you probably could care less about what happened on Wednesday night at MSG since a regular-season hockey game in the beginning of February isn’t as meaningful as the ecstasy that comes with winning the Super Bowl, but I know a little part of you isn’t happy about the loss.

Miccoli: Going from watching the Super Bowl to the Bruins vs Rangers game on Wednesday was like going from riding a roller coaster that stops running at the last second (heh) to a merry-go-round. Total snoozefest and remotely stressfree. Did you know that the last time the Rangers beat the Bruins in regulation was on March 4, 2012? That’s almost three years ago!

So as you can imagine I was thinking, much like the Bruins apparently, that this would be a bit of an easy game. The Bruins had only one regulation loss in their last 14 games and would be playing a team they had dominated recently without their best player in net. See? Easy.

It wasn’t, as I’m sure you saw. The Rangers speed was too much for the Bruins to handle. You mentioned me still being hungover from Sunday night – no way. The Bruins sure as hell looked it, though. And while you’re right that it’s just a Wednesday night hockey game at Madison Square Garden in February, it’s still a big deal to the Bruins who are now the second wild card team, yet only seven points out of first place in the Eastern Conference. This is a weird season.

Keefe: Being the second wild card sounds bad, but unlike MLB where it is bad, it doesn’t matter in the NHL since home-ice advantage barely exists anymore. I remember going on a tour of the Boston Garden before it closed and there was beat-up wooden planks, which served as the walkway from the visitors’ locker room to the ice. I’m surprised players didn’t elect to walk in their socks to the bench and then put their skates on there. But now? Every rink pretty much looks and sounds the same and aside from oldies like Joe Louis and Nassau Coliseum, which are both on their last legs, they all feel the same. We need more small visitors’ locker room. We need to take away the glass behind the benches the way it used to be in the Montreal Forum. We need to teams to stop being so accommodating toward their opponent.

The Eastern Conference playoff picture is pretty much set. The eight teams in right now are going to be there in two months, barring a wild run from the Panthers and a disastrous collapse from one of the other eight. The only team the Panthers really have in their sight right now with games played and points is the Bruins. Imagine the Bruins missing out on the playoffs a year after being the favorite in the Eastern Conference and two years removed from a Stanley Cup appearance? I think that would make you quickly forget about Pete Carroll handing Bill Belichick the Lombardi Trophy.

Miccoli: I’ll take it a step further: there is still chicken wire, rather than plexiglass, surrounding the ice at one of the old rinks I used to play hockey at in Rhode Island. Forget walking on planks, good luck ever play a road game there.

The Bruins will make the playoffs. In fact, the Bruins might not even be one of the wildcards and could make it in as one of the top three teams in the Atlantic Division. I think I may have mentioned this before, but the one team that the Bruins should be concerned about is Montreal. If the Bruins were to somehow be the wildcard and play a team like the New York Islanders, they’d win in six games at the very most. Of course, it all depends on what happens at the trade deadline.

Due to their cap restrictions, the Bruins won’t make a big add, but as you saw last night, the defense has to improve. A second pairing of Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid is going to get lit up when facing other teams’ top two lines. Before, the need was more prevalent for a forward but as time goes on, it’s becoming obvious that a weakness of the Bruins’ is something that used to be a strength. Ironically enough, the Bruins could use a guy like Johnny Boychuk, but we don’t talk about that anymore.

Keefe: I would talk about Johnny Boychuk and take some shots at the Bruins trading away a key piece of their defense because of the genius of Peter Chiarelli putting the team in a cap debacle, but Boychuk is now an Islander, and we don’t talk about the Islanders here.

I never cared about the Islanders. They were just sort of there. They hadn’t been really relevant since the early- and mid-90s and have sucked for pretty much the last 20 years. Now that they have have been good for four-plus months, the last 20 years have been forgotten by their fans who have proclaimed the Islanders as the “Best Team in New York.” They have earned it to some degree by beating the Rangers handily in all three of their meetings this year and by leading the Metro for a good part of the year. But they will learn that title is made after Game 82.

The problem is if the Rangers and Islanders meet in the playoffs, the Rangers are effed At least I think they are. They aren’t a good matchup for the Islanders. The only thing working in my favor is that I hope the Islanders go 5-0 against the Rangers in the regular season and then they meet in the playoffs. As the 2007 Yankees taught me (when I begged for them to play the Indians in the 2007 ALDS rather than the Angels because they owned the Indians) is that the playoffs are different animal and eventually things will likely even out. The Yankees were done in four games, the Red Sox swept the Angels and then came back down 3-1 to the Indians and won the World Series. That Yankees team was the only team that had the Red Sox’ number and they never got to play them because of the Indians. The effing Indians.

You say that the Bruins could beat the Islanders and I don’t doubt it. I hope they play each other. Let the Rangers play the Penguins or the Capitals. I just don’t want to see the Islanders, Lightning or Canadiens early.

Who else do you fear besides Montreal?

Miccoli: To be fair, and even though I think they won’t beat the Bruins, I’m rooting for the New York Islanders to do well. I think they deserve to have a strong season after so many years of just being utterly awful. I think Boychuk is a big part of that culture change, though it was slowly getting better in year’s past as their core grew. But if I’m a Rangers fan, I’m nervous about the Islanders overtaking the title of best hockey team in New York, similar to how the Clippers finally eclipsed the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Aside from Montreal, I think the Tampa Bay Lightning pose the greatest threat to the Bruins. Of course, the two teams who would actually give the Bruins issues in the postseason are two teams they could likely face as early as the second round. Realignment is awesome! The other playoff teams in the Eastern Conference don’t present a problematic matchup to the Bruins as currently put together. What it is about the Lightning, anyway? I think the Rangers could beat the Canadiens again but even when I was talking with my old roommate about it, he said he feared Tampa most of all. Is it because of all of the old Ranger players on the Lightning roster? Callahan, Boyle, Stralman, am I forgetting any? In a seven game series, I’d pick Bruins over the Lightning just because old habits die hard, but I don’t know if I’d pick the Rangers.

Keefe: I don’t know why the Rangers can’t beat the Lightning or why they didn’t this season. They played all three games against each other in 18 days from Nov. 13 to Dec. 1 and the Rangers lost by a combined 15-7. But since their Dec. 1 loss to the Lightning and then their 3-2 loss to the Red Wings on Dec. 6 (the Rangers blew a 2-0 lead), the Rangers have gone 19-5-0. They have put themselves in a position that if they were to go 16-17-0 over their last 33 games, they would still finish with 96 points this season, which is what they finished with last season. Maybe it’s the Lightning that “lit” a fire in the Rangers? If they are to meet in the playoffs, I don’t think I could handle losing a playoff series to Callahan and Boyle. I would rather get swept by any other team in the first round than lose to them at any point.

Something I noticed about the Bruins on Wednesday night was how easy the Rangers were able to get in the offensive zone, and once in there, how easy it was for them to do whatever they wanted. Sure, they only won 3-2, but Rask made a few remarkable saves that kept the game from getting out of reach. Is it possible that the Bruins’ defense, their strength for the last five or six years, isn’t what it used to be? Am I right to not be scared of the Bruins the way I was in 2012-13 and 2013-14?

Miccoli: Absolutely. I think the Bruins are suffering from a bit of a transition this season. Zdeno Chara is no longer the most feared defenseman in the league. He’s still in the top 10, no question, but it’s very evident that he’s slowing down due to his age. Dougie Hamilton is in this weird phase where he’s in between being good and great at times. He’s the guy the Bruins will build their blue-line around going forward, and while Torey Krug is a strong puck-moving defenseman, there are still lapses in his game in his own end. And that’s it. Seidenberg isn’t a top guy anymore and neither is McQuaid (he never was, really). The Bruins have a top-pairing and then a bunch of No. 4 through No. 6 guys.

So I wouldn’t say you shouldn’t be scared of the Bruins anymore because who knows which team will show up for the rest of the season and in the playoffs. The team’s defense has been really vulnerable in their own end and that has caused opponents to really take advantage of them. You can look at the numbers and see that this isn’t the Bruins of recent years. Still, I think if they can add some depth come the trade deadline, things might seem more stable.

I asked my buddy what he thought the Rangers needed at the deadline and he said centers and talked about how bad New York was on the face-off. After watching the game last night, I’m pretty sure I could win a face-off against them. What do you think?

Keefe: The Rangers are miserable at face-offs and it’s clearly the weakest part of their game, and that’s obviously a big problem for any team, especially one expected to get back to the Stanley Cup Final and even win it. I say expected to win it since they lost it last year and now the only thing for them to do is win it. And the Rangers with expectations are a lot like the New York Football Giants with expectations and that’s not a good thing.

It seems weird that the trade deadline is nearly here because it feels like 15 minutes ago I was writing thousands upon thousands of words on why the Rangers need to trade Ryan Callahan. But here we are again with the deadline approaching. We are still a few days or so away from real rumors being generated and finding out exactly who is available, but the Rangers really do need to target someone who can win a face-off in a big spot, or at least give them a better chance at competing in the circle than what they have now. Who that is right now? I’m not sure, but I hope it’s someone.

I was wondering if you saw who scored the first Rangers goals last night? It was someone wearing number 61. He leads the league in goals with 33. I only ask you this because I remember you saying … let me find it … oh, yeah, this:

Here’s the thing with Nash: I think he’s one of the most overrated players in the NHL.

I didn’t just write that. You said that back in an email exchange on Jan. 23, 2013 at the start of the shortened season:

What do you have to say for yourself now? Rick and I would like an apology.

Miccoli: It took you five emails to address the NHL’s leading goal scorer. I’m almost surprised.

Yes, I did say that Rick Nash was overrated because, well … he was. Before the Rangers traded for him, he had only 30 goals and 29 assists in 2011-12 with Columbus. For comparison, Loui Eriksson had 26 goals and 45 assists in that same period of time. Loui Eriksson. Eriksson is a third-line player on the Bruins, but I digress. After that, he became a point per game player in the shortened 2013 season before putting up 39 points (!!!) in 65 games in the 2013-14 season. Lest we forget how invisible he was in the playoffs.

Now, he’s having a great season and should rightfully be in consideration for the Hart Trophy at the end of the year. My question is if he’ll be able to carry this over next season. If this habit continues, looks like he’s due for a bit of a drop off. Come back to me next year at this time when Nash should be the Rangers best player but isn’t.

Keefe: I was expecting a better apology than that. But I guess I will accept that for now. However, if Nash scores 50-plus goals this year with two other 40-goal seasons on his resume, I’m going to need a longer and more heart-felt apology to Ranger Rick and me.

There’s only one game left between these two teams now this season and it’s not until March 28. So I guess I will let you have your time to celebrate the Super Bowl win that was more of a Super Bowl gift and we can reconvene in seven weeks when hopefully the snow is gone, it’s 60 degrees in the Northeast and the Rangers and Bruins are playing for playoff seeding.

Miccoli: If Nash scores 50 goals, I’ll be sure to publish something about what a legend he is. At the very least, he’s more of a Hart candidate than that guy in Dallas who used to play for Boston whose name escapes me.

I’m happy the Rangers won last night. This third game really feels like an actual rubber match and that means something. Even though it took the Rangers three years to win in regulation against the Bruins, let’s hope Lundqvist is finally in net on March 28. The rosters might look different so if anything, this will be a better way to gauge just who the better team is this season. Plus, it’ll be a segue to the other Boston/New York games coming up this year.

Blogs • Rangers

Feb 5, 2015

The Rangers’ Player Tree

The Rangers signed Gump Worsley as a free agent in 1949 and somehow that led to them trading Ryan Callahan for Martin St. Louis in 2014.

Most nights during the Rangers season, you watch Ron Duguay on MSG. Dugay last played for the Rangers in 1987-88, his second stint with the team, but he was responsible for the Rangers trading for Martin St. Louis last year. That’s right, MSL being on the Rangers and the Rangers going to their first Eastern Conference finals in 20 years is because of Duguay. Well, not just Duguay. It’s also because of Eddie Johnstone, Mark Messier, Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato. It actually all started with Gump Worsley. Yes, Gump Worsley is the sole foundation of the Martin St. Louis trade. GUMP WORSLEY!

I went through the current Rangers’ roster and traced all 22 players back to the root of how they became a Ranger. The players are listed in order of how far their roots go with the Rangers reverse chronology.

KEVIN HAYES
Signed as a free agent on Aug. 20, 2014

LEE STEMPNIAK
Signed as a free agent on July 19, 2014

DOMINIC MOORE
Signed as a free agent on July 5, 2014

DAN BOYLE
Signed as a free agent on July 1, 2014

MATT HUNWICK
Signed as a free agent on July 1, 2014

TANNER GLASS
Signed as a free agent on July 1, 2014

J.T. MILLER
Drafted in 1st round, 15th overall in 2011

KEVIN KLEIN
Drafted Michael Del Zotto in 1st round, 20th overall in 2010

Traded Del Zotto to Nashville in exchange for Kevin Klein on Jan. 22, 2014

MATS ZUCCARELLO
Signed as a free agent on May 26, 2010

CAM TALBOT
Signed as a free agent on March 30, 2010

CHRIS KREIDER
Drafted in 1st round, 19th overall in 2009

DEREK STEPAN
Drafted in 2nd round, 51st overall in 2008

CARL HAGELIN
Drafted in 6th round, 168th overall in 2007

DAN GIRARDI
Signed as a free agent on July 1, 2006

JESPER FAST
Drafted Bobby Sanguinetti in 1st round, 21st overall in 2006

Traded Sanguinetti to Carolina in exchange for 2010 6th-round pick and 2011 2nd-round pick on June 26, 2010

Drafted Jesper Fast in 6th round, 157th overall in 2010 (from Carolina)

RYAN MCDONAGH
Drafted Tom Pyatt in 4th round, #107th overall in 2005

Signed Scott Gomez as a free agent on July 1, 2007

Signed Michael Busto as a free agent on May, 2007

Signed Ales Kotalik on July 9, 2009

Traded Pyatt, Gomez and Busto to Montreal in exchange for Ryan McDonagh, Doug Janik, Chris Higgins and Pavel Valentenko on June 30, 2009

MARC STAAL
Traded 2005 1st-round pick and 2005 2nd-round pick to Atlanta in exchange for 2005 1st-round pick

Drafted Marc Staal in 1st round, 12th overall in 2005 (from Atlanta)

RICK NASH
Traded 2004 2nd-round pick to Arizona in exchange for 2004 2nd-round pick and 2004 3rd-round pick on June 26, 2004

Drafted Brandon Dubinsky in 2nd round, 60th overall in 2004 (from Arizona)

Drafted Artem Anisimov in 2nd round, 54th overall in 2006

Drafted Roman Horak in 5th round, 127th overall in 2009

Traded Horak, 2011 2nd-round pick and 2011 2nd-round pick to Calgary for Tim Erixon and 2011 5th-round pick on June 1, 2011

Traded Dubinsky, Anisimov and Tim Erixon to Columbus in exchange for Rick Nash, Steven Delisle and 2013 conditional 3rd-round pick on July 23, 2012

DERICK BRASSARD and JOHN MOORE
Traded 2001 3rd-round pick to Minnesota for 2001 3rd-round pick and 2001 5th-round pick on June 23, 2001

Drafted Garth Murray in 3rd round, 79th overall in 2001

Drafted Al Montoya in 1st round, 6th overall in 2004

Traded 2004 2nd-round pick to Arizona in exchange for 2004 2nd-round pick and 2004 3rd-round pick on June 26, 2004

Drafted Brandon Dubinsky in 2nd round, 60th overall in 2004 (from Arizona)

Traded Garth Murray to Montreal for Marcel Hossa on Sept. 30, 2005

Drafted Artem Anisimov in 2nd round, 54th overall in 2006

Traded Hossa and Montoya to Arizona in exchange for Josh Gratton, David LeNeveu, Fredrik Sjostrom and 2009 conditional 5th-round pick

Drafted Roman Horak in 5th round, 127th overall in 2009 (from Arizona)

Signed Marian Gaborik as a free agent on July 1, 2009

Traded Horak, 2011 2nd-round pick and 2011 2nd-round pick to Calgary for Tim Erixon and 2011 5th-round pick on June 1, 2011

Signed Blake Parlett as a free agent on June 2, 2011

Traded Dubinsky, Anisimov and Erixon to Columbus in exchange for Rick Nash, Steven Delisle and 2013 conditional 3rd-round pick on July 23, 2012

Traded Gaborik, Parlett and Delisle to Columbus in exchange for Derick Brassard, John Moore and Derek Dorsett and 2014 6th-round pick on April 3, 2013

HENRIK LUNDQVIST
Drafted in 7th round, 205th overall in 2000

MARTIN ST. LOUIS
Signed Lorne Grump Worsley as a free agent in 1949

Signed Leon Rochefort as a free agent in 1957

Signed Dave Balon as a free agent in 1958

Signed Len Ronson as a free agent in 1960

Traded Balon, Rochefort, Len Ronson and Worsley to Montreal in exchange for Phil Goyette, Don Marshall and Jacques Plante on June 4, 1963

Drafted Jack Egers in 4th round, #20th overall in 1966

Traded Goyette to St. Louis in exchange for 1969 1st-round pick

Drafted Andre Dupont in 1st round, 8th overall in 1969 (from St. Louis)

Drafted Mike Murphy in 2nd round, 25th overall in 1970

Traded Dupont, Egers and Murphy to St. Louis in exchange for Gene Carr, Wayne Connelly and Jim Lorentz on Nov. 15, 1972

Traded Carr to Los Angeles in exchange for 1977 1st-round pick

Drafted Eddie Johnstone in 6th round, 104th overall in 1974

Drafted Ron Duguay in 1st round, 13th overall in 1977 (from Los Angeles)

Drafted Lance Nethery in 8th round, 131st overall in 1977

Traded Lance Nethery for Eddie Mio on Dec. 11, 1981

Drafted Chris Kontos in 1st round, 15th overall in 1982

Drafted Tomas Sandstrom in 2nd round, 36th overall in 1982

Drafted Tony Granato in 6th round, #120 overall in 1982

Traded Duguay, Johnstone and Mio to Detroit in exchange for Mike Blaisdell, Willie Huber and Mark Osborne on June 13, 1983

Drafted Larry Bernard in 8th round, 154th overall in 1985

Traded Chris Kontos to Pittsburgh in exchange for Duguay on Jan. 21, 1987

Traded option to swap 1989 1st-round pick with Montreal in exchange for Chris Nilan on Jan. 27, 1988

Traded to Duguay to Los Angeles in exchange for Mark Hardy on Feb. 22, 1988

Traded Hardy to Minnesota in exchange for future considerations (3rd-round pick in 1989) on June 13, 1988

Traded Larry Bernard and 1989 5th-round pick to Minnesota in exchange for Hardy on Dec. 9, 1988

Drafted Steve Rice in 1st round, 20th overall in 1989 (from Montreal)

Drafted Louie DeBrusk in 3rd round, 49th overall in 1989 (from Minnesota)

Traded Sandstrom and Granato to Los Angeles in exchange for Bernie Nicholls on Jan. 20, 1990

Traded DeBrusk, Rice, Nicholls and future considerations (David Shaw) to Edmonton in exchange for Mark Messier and future considerations (Jeff Beukeboom) on Oct. 4, 1991

*** The roots for Martin St. Louis technically start here, but Messier doesn’t re-sign with the Rangers in 2000 if he hadn’t been there for the run in the 90s, so it all goes together***

Signed Messier as a free agent on July 13, 2000 (he had signed with Vancouver as a free agent on July 28, 1997)

Traded the rights to Messier to San Jose in exchange for future considerations (2004 4th-round pick)

Drafted Ryan Callahan in the 4th round, 127th overall in 2004 (from San Jose)

Traded Callahan, 2014 conditional 2nd-round pick (became a 1st-round pick with Eastern Conference finals appearance) and 2015 1st-round pick (and 2015 7th-round pick once Callahan re-signed) to Tampa Bay in exchange for Martin St. Louis (and 2015 2nd-round pick once Callahan re-signed)

Blogs • NFL

Feb 2, 2015

Pete Carroll Should Be Fired

Pete Carroll made the worst decision in the history of sports and he should be fired for losing Super Bowl XLIX for his play call.

Pete Carroll should be fired. That’s not me pulling a Bob Kravitz saying Robert Kraft should fire Bill Belichick because the Patriots’ footballs in the AFC Championship Game may or may not have been purposely deflated. That’s me saying the head coach of the Super Bowl XLVIII champion Seahawks and the head coach of the 2014 NFC Championship Seahawks, whose team was one yard away from being the first repeat champions in 10 years should be fired for exactly that: having his team one yard from being champions and blowing it.

“Blowing it” isn’t even the right term for Carroll did. Bill Buckner “blew” the play on the grounder in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Scott Norwood “blew” the kick in Super Bowl XXV. Trey Junkin “blew” the snap for the Giants against the 49ers in the 2002 playoffs. A lot of Packers “blew” the final minutes of the NFC Championship Game. Pete Carroll didn’t “blow” Super Bowl XLIX. He chose not to win it.

Of course Pete Carroll isn’t going to be fired. But he should be. He single-handedly cost the Seahawks a second straight championship, and if anyone can afford to eat a few million dollars, it’s Paul Allen.

It’s Pete Carroll’s fault that the Patriots’ won their fourth championship. It’s Pete Carroll’s fault that Tom Brady has as many Super Bowl wins as Joe Montana and people honestly think Tom Brady is the best quarterback ever now. It’s Pete Carroll’s fault that Darrelle Revis is now Wade Boggs. It’s Pete Carroll’s fault that the Patriots’ drought is over. It’s Pete Carroll’s fault that the Seahawks didn’t cover and my picks for the season finished one game under .500.

Here are all the reasons why Pete Carroll should have ran the ball on second-and-goal from the 1:

1. Marshawn Lynch just carried the ball four yards on first-and-goal from the 5. He had 102 yards on 24 carries, for an average of 4.3 yards per carry. He is Marshawn Lynch. He is the best running back in the world.

That’s it. One thing. That’s all that should have gone into deciding what play to run from the 1 with 20 seconds left. And if Lynch were stopped on second down from the 1, the Seahawks still had one timeout remaining and could have used it to guarantee themselves at least one more chance for Lynch to gain one yard, or three feet, or 36 inches or 91.44 centimeters. That’s what separated the Seahawks from a second straight Super Bowl with the best running back in the world as their way to get there.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to accept Pete Carroll’s thought process for the call, but let’s look at his explanation to try and understand it.

“Let me just tell you what happened because, as you know, the game comes right down and all the things that happened before are meaningless to you now. It’s really what happened on this one sequence that we would have won the game.

“We have everything in mind, how we’re going to do it. We’re going to leave them no time, and we had our plays to do it. We sent in our personnel, they sent in goal-line (package) — it’s not the right matchup for us to run the football — so on second down we throw the ball really to kind of waste a play.

It’s not the right matchup? Let me say it again: Marshawn Lynch just carried the ball four yards on first-and-goal from the 5. He had 102 yards on 24 carries, for an average of 4.3 yards per carry. He is Marshawn Lynch. He is the best running back in the world.

If anything, it wasn’t the right matchup for the Patriots. Because the Seahawks at the goal line aren’t the right matchup for any team because they have MARSHAWN LYNCH. MARSHAWN LYNCH!

“If we score, we do. If we don’t, then we’ll run it in on third and fourth down.”

What the eff? Is that a real-life quote? So, you’re willing to run the ball on either third and fourth down against … wait for it … wait for it … wait for it … THE PATRIOTS’ GOAL-LINE DEFENSE, but you’re unwilling to run the ball against the PATRIOTS’ GOAL-LINE DEFENSE on second down? How does that make any sense? Do you think the Patriots are going to change their defense on third or fourth down from the 1? Are they going to get out of their goal-line defense at the goal line? Why are third and fourth down different from second down in this situation?

You have to love the explanation not including the whole possibility of an interception, which could happen any time the ball is thrown in the air.

“Really, (we called it) with no second thoughts or no hesitation at all. And unfortunately, with the play that we tried to execute, the guy (Butler) makes a great play and jumps in front of the route and makes an incredible play that nobody would ever think he could do. And unfortunately that changes the whole outcome.”

No second thoughts? No hesitation? The thought “Hey, we have the best running back in the world on our team and he needs to get one yard for us to win the Super Bowl” never came into your mind? The thought “The ball could get tipped at the line or deflected by someone or intercepted” never entered your head? Oh, OK.

Malcolm Butler did make a great play and it was his play that won the Patriots the Super Bowl. But Carroll should in no way be congratulating Butler or talking about how incredible of a play it was because the play was only made possible by his decision to not run the ball.

“So I told the guys in the locker room that they’re a great team and they fought to prove that, and they did everything to do that again tonight. And they’re on the precipice of winning another championship, and unfortunately, the play goes the other way. There’s really nobody to blame but me, and I told them that clearly. And I don’t want them to think anything other than that. They busted their tails and did everything they needed to do to put us in position, and unfortunately it didn’t work out. A very, very hard lesson. I hate to learn the hard way, but there’s no other way to look at it right now.”

There’s nothing like when a professional athlete or coach accepts or takes the blame or responsibility for something went wrong and then every mainstream media member or beat writer nerd calls them a class act or refers to them as a stand-up guy. Carroll should take the full blame for the Seahawks losing the Super Bowl and for handing the Patriots their fourth championship in 14 years.

And there’s no silver lining in Carroll’s decision. “Learning the hard way” isn’t a good lesson or the moral of the story. It’s a ridiculous line from a person who made the most ridiculous decision in sports history.

“Really the way the route generally works is the back receiver gets shielded off so that the play can get thrown to the guy trailing. And it’s worked really well, it’s been a nice concept, but they jumped it — did a fantastic job. I don’t know if they prepared to do that or he did it on his own, but it was a great play.”

It was a great play by Butler, only made possible by Carroll’s play call. And it was Carroll’s play call. Even if Bevell suggested the play or was the one to relay the play to Wilson, Carroll is the head coach and has the final say on any call and absolute power to veto any decision made by his coordinators.

If Lynch fails to get in the end zone on second or on third down or fourth down and never gets in the end zone or if he fumbles the ball and loses it on any of those plays, so be it. Then you can talk about the Patriots making a great play and then you can tip your hat to their effort. If you lose with your best player trying to do what he does best, so be it. Don’t lose the Super Bowl because you run a passing play to Ricardo Lockette, a receiver with 18 career regular-season receptions, at the 1-yard line. Lose because the best running back in the world couldn’t get one yard.

Blogs • Giants

Jan 30, 2015

Super Bowl XLIX Pick

The Giants aren’t in the Super Bowl to stop the Patriots, but if the Giants can’t be there, it’s a good thing the Seahawks are.

Two hundred and sixty-two games. That’s how many games are in an NFL regular season and postseaons prior to the Super Bowl and that’s how many games I have once again picked this year. When you write it out it looks like a lot more and feels like a lot more and reminds you of the 20 weeks of predicting and checking and picking and writing about lines. Two hundred and sixty-two.

After the 262 games this season, the record sits at 129-129-4. A .500 record and even winning percentage across the board after five months of football. Now there is only one game to pick, and that game has many more implications than just deciding if my record ends one game over or under .500.

***

On Feb. 3, 2008, I was in college in Boston when the New York Football Giants avenged what had happened to the Yankees (and more importantly me) four Octobers earlier. I was at a Super Bowl party where the ratio of Patriots to Giants fans was about 30-to-5. At halftime, the four other Giants fans watching the game and I went into a separate room at the party to watch the game on a smaller TV, leaving the Patriots fans in the living room with the big screen. The only time we would come in contact with each other for the second half would be when we needed to visit the keg.

With 2:42 left in the game, Tom Brady found Randy Moss in the end zone for a six-yard touchdown pass, giving the Patriots a 14-10 lead and leaving them one defensive stop from finishing off a perfect 19-0 season with the franchise’s fourth championship in seven years. Tom Brady would be 4-0 in Super Bowls, the leader of the best team ever and the best quarterback in league history. All 30 or so of those Patriots fans came barreling into the room as if there was a fire in the living room and all 30 or so of them were laughing and screaming and yelling in our faces just two minutes and 42 seconds away from perfection.

Two minutes and seven seconds later it was our turn to break up their party. Plaxico Burress embarrassed Ellis Hobbs to get open in the back corner of the end zone and Eli Manning floated a pass to Burress that seemed to hang in the air for minutes. From the second I realized how open Plaxico had gotten through the ball’s entire flight in the University of Phoenix Stadium air, I started to envision everything that had been building to this game.

The Giants’ Super Bowl loss in 2000, the Patriots three championships in four years between 2001 and 2004, Eli Manning’s rollercoaster career, the legacy of Tom Coughlin, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s place in history, Michael Strahan coming back for one final year, my hatred for the Patriots and Boston sports and the New York-Boston rivalry. And that thing that happened in October 2004.

When Plaxico went down to one knee to celebrate the go-ahead touchdown with 35 seconds left, I went up to no feet to celebrate, jumping so high I probably could have dunked a basketball for the first time. The five of rushed into the other room where a dejected group of Patriots fans were slumped and slouched over looking like they had all been told their houses had been burned down and they had lost everything. Everything.

That night we headed to the bars in Faneuil Hall to celebrate a Giants victory on Patriots ground the way Red Sox fans had done in New York four Octobers earlier. I drank everything that was handed to me, sang along to every song that was played at the bar, screamed until I didn’t have a voice left to scream with, and all the while I kept watching the highlights over and over and over.

The next morning when I woke up it felt like it never happened. Were the Giants really Super Bowl champions? Did they really end the Patriots’ perfect season? I walked out of my apartment and on to Hanover Street in the North End and it looked like the beginning of I Am Legend. There was no one to be found and if you did find someone they looked like their whole life had been devastated. It was a great feeling.

Four years later, the Giants once again ruined the Patriots’ chance to win a fourth Super Bowl and for Tom Brady to join Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the only quarterbacks with four Super Bowl wins and for Bill Belichick to inch a little closer to Vince Lombardi even if he can never be caught. The Giants’ incredible finish to their regular season and their improbable postseason run and how they beat the Packers and how they won the NFC Championship Game and the two weeks between that win and the Super Bowl all felt the same way it had in 2007. And when Ahmad Bradshaw found the end zone with 57 seconds left I celebrated the way I had four years earlier when Eli found Plaxico.

The Giants were nowhere to be found this postseason and the last time they played in the postseason was in Super Bowl XLVI three years ago. The Patriots, on the other hand, were back in the playoffs in 2012, losing to the Ravens in the AFC Championship, and again in 2013, losing to the Broncos in the AFC Championship. Now they’re back in the Super Bowl, which is something I didn’t have to worry about the last two seasons. Except this time Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin aren’t there to stop Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and tput another dent in their legacies.

But if the Giants can’t be there to do to the Patriots what no other team in the league has been consistently able to do during the Brady-Belichick era, then I’m glad the Seahawks are there to fill in.

(Home team in caps)

SEATTLE +1 over New England

This week I wrote about being a Giants fan for the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX and about becoming an honorary 12th Man for Sunday and that’s exactly what I’m going to be.

Seahawks 24, Patriots 13

Last week: 1-1-0
Season: 129-129-4

Blogs • Giants • NFL

Jan 28, 2015

A Giants Fan for Seahawks

A trip to Seattle for the NFC Championship Game made me realize the 12th Man does exist and I’m becoming an honorary one for Super Bowl XLIX.

The loudest thing I had ever heard at a road stadium was when Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS went to extra innings. Curt Schilling, Derek Lowe and Tim Wakefield emerged from the Red Sox dugout and began to walk to the bullpen as “Lose Yourself” blared throughout Fenway Park and every Red Sox fan in attendance, still high off the Red Sox’ two-run rally to tie the game in the eighth inning, went absolutely wild. And at that moment, I knew the Yankees were going to lose the game. I didn’t think they would lose the series with Games 6 and 7 to be played in the Bronx, but I knew that eventually on that Monday night, they would lose. Five hours and 49 minutes after the game started, the Yankees lost.

***

I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I went to Seattle for 36 hours for the NFC Championship Game. I had no idea when I boarded a packed plane from Newark headed to Seattle at 7 a.m. on a Saturday (32 hours before the game) that my girlfriend and I would be the only ones not completely decked out in Seahawks gear. We were surrounded by 12th Man and Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch jerseys. Surrounded by cheerful faces of people, who couldn’t be happier to be in the city of Newark at the crack of dawn on an Alaskan Airlines plane for the next six-plus hours. I had a feeling I was dealing with a different breed of fans when I walked down the aisle to find my seat and saw an elderly married couple sitting in first class, eating breakfast with matching 12th Man jerseys on with smiles on their faces as wide as Vince Wilfork.

I lived in Boston for five years and through two Red Sox (2004 and 2007), one Patriots (2004) and one Celtics championship (2007-08). The only thing that kept me from drinking my way through every day was Super Bowl XLII when I watched the Giants avenge what had happened to the Yankees and to me in October of 2004. But even during Boston’s historical run when every person in the city seemed to be wearing a David Ortiz or Manny Ramirez or Tom Brady or Tedy Bruschi or Paul Pierce of Kevin Garnett jersey, I had never seen people this nutty. And I think “nutty” is the perfect word for Seahawks fans. They aren’t crazy or insane, they are just nutty.

I never understood the “12th Man”. I mean I have always understood what the Seahawks and their fans were trying to do, but I never understood how or why everyone bought into the idea of it. I thought it was weird to see fans wearing a “12th Man” jersey instead of a real player’s jersey and found it awkward to hear fans refer to themselves as 12s, while Pete Carroll and his players referred to their fans as 12s. It was odd to see “12” flags around the city and “12” banners hanging from buildings and storefronts. I have no problem with any fans thinking or acting like they are part of the team by using “we” when talking about their team, but thinking of yourself as a person or player on the field because of the noise generated? That always seemed a little strange. Nothing could possibly be as loud as CenturyLink has been made out to be even with everyone in attendance consuming an exorbitant amount of alcohol.

***

Seattle on Seahawks game day (or at least on game day when that game happens to be the NFC Championship Game) looks like Dillon on Panthers game day in Friday Night Lights. Most places were closed and those that weren’t had handwritten signs hanging in the window to let you know they would be closing at noon, which was coincidentally when the Seahawks would eventually be kicking off to the Packers.

But it makes sense since Seattleites only really have the Seahawks. Their basketball team moved to Oklahoma City and when it comes to the Mariners, they haven’t reached the playoffs since 2001 when the Yankees ended what was a 116-win regular season for the Mariners, and 11 years later, the Yankees traded for the face of their franchise in Ichiro. The Seahawks are all they have. Well, the Seahawks, Felix Hernandez, Robinson Cano (eff you, Seattle) and fat jokes about Jesus Montero. And I guess we can throw in Starbucks, non-stop rain and being the home to Pearl Jam to beef up their resume. But that’s it.

On the morning of the NFC Championship Game, the non-stop rain was still there. I had seen rain from right before the plane was about to land through my first day in Seattle and now 24 hours later, it was still raining. It wasn’t raining hard, but it was raining. Not until we left the hotel and began our walk to the game did the sky open up and in seconds turn me from “Hey, I’m going to the NFC Championship Game!” to “I need to go back to the hotel, order a pizza and watch the game on TV.” I was soaked. My jeans were stuck to me, my coat had absorbed enough water that it felt like the lead vest they give you when you get an X-ray and my decision to wear sneakers rather than boots proved immediately costly as my socks had become useless and now detrimental to my day. Fortunately, as we hid in Pike Place Market for a few minutes, the sun emerged for the first and only time of the weekend and stayed out long enough for us to walk to CenturyLink Field.

SEA … HAWKS! SEA … HAWKS! SEA … HAWKS! SEA … HAWKS! SEA … HAWKS!

That was the chant that filled 1st Avenue from Pike Place to CenturyLink and it grew louder with each passing block as the stadium grew closer. The scene on the blocks leading up to CenturyLink reminded me of walking through the parking lots of a tailgate at the Meadows in Hartford for a concert. The only things missing were stoners with three-foot long dreads trying to sell veggie burritos (there were stoners with three-foot long dreads trying to sell other things), people buying nitrous balloons and “Let’s Go Whalers!” chants breaking out.

SEA … HAWKS! SEA … HAWKS! SEA … HAWKS! SEA … HAWKS! SEA … HAWKS!

***

From the moment I got to my seat just before kickoff until the Seahawks rushed the field following Jermaine Kearse’s game-winning touchdown in overtime, it felt like that “Lose Yourself” moment at Fenway multiplied by about 29,536,758 for three-plus straight hours. I had become a believer in the 12th Man. It’s a real thing.

I have never heard noise like that. At least not generated solely by people. The construction going on outside my apartment on the Upper East Side (which starts at 7:30 a.m. sharp every morning) mixed with being inside a firehouse garage while the sirens go off, mixed with standing next to an amp during Guns N’ Roses’ “Use Your Illusion Tour” might equal the magnitude of noise at CenturyLink Field I experienced. And that noise came from people’s vocal chords.

No one sat down and no one stopped yelling. Unfortunately, the woman (a Packers fan) two rows behind me, who thought it was a good idea to yell “DE-FENSE!” over and over when the Packers’ defense was on the field didn’t stop either. I’m not sure if she thought that Dom Capers or Clay Matthews or Sam Shields could hear her from the upper deck over the voices of 65,000 Seahawks fans, but I hope she lost her voice the next day and still hasn’t gotten it back.

I didn’t care who won the NFC Championship as long as that team was prepared to beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl because even before the Patriots’ demolition of the Colts a few hours later, everyone knew the Patriots were going to the Super Bowl when they beat the Broncos in Week 9 and locked up the 1-seed. I felt like the Seahawks would have a better chance against the Patriots because they have the best defense in the league and because the Patriots haven’t seen a quarterback like Russell Wilson all season. Actually, they haven’t seen a quarterback like Wilson since the last time they met, when the Seahawks beat them 24-23 in 2012. I know that the Packers did beat the Patriots already this season, but the Packers beating a team 26-21 in Green Bay is virtually a win for the opponent, since a five-point win in Lambeau for the Packers is equivalent to a loss on a neutral field.

I wanted a good game and wanted the winner to come out of the game healthy in order to best represent the NFC in Arizona and have the best chance to continue the Patriots’ championship drought. In return, I got possibly the best non-Super Bowl postseason game of all time, the best fourth-quarter comeback in postseason history and a Seahawks team without any serious injuries ready to defend their title in Super Bowl XLIX.

Because I attended the game with Packers fans, I wasn’t going to root outright for the Seahawks and when every Seahawks fans offered their condolences to my girlfriend’s family after the game and tried to offer it to me, I let them know I was a Giants fan. And I wanted them to know that I needed their team to do what the Giants had done in Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI and beat the Patriots.

Before the postseason began, I wrote My Super Bowl XLIX Dilemma and ranked the 12 playoff teams in order from which team I would most like to see win Super Bowl XLIX to which team I don’t want to see win at all. The Seahawks were 3. The Patriots? Last, of course. So this decision is easy for me. On Sunday, I will be an honorary 12th Man.