New England Patriots Upcoming Season

There are many questions surrounding and much optimism facing the New England Patriots. I'm very bullish on the Patriots going over their projected 7.5 wins but keep in mind that I'm also the guy who was bullish on them going over 9 wins last year.

One of the big stories about New England from the media is about DeAndre Hopkins and the Patriots. I'm always cautious when it comes to the media mentioning any player because the general rule of thumb is the Patriots don't mention specific players to the media. However, with it being confirmed that Hopkins is visiting both the Titans and New England I have my eyebrows raised. The fact is he could follow up these two visits with visits to the Bills, Chiefs and Browns. Doubtful he'd get the $15 million he's asking for from Bill Beichick but he could use Nashville and New England as stepping stones to an eventual payday with Cleveland. Belichick would use the opportunity to simply get intel on DeAndre.

Also put me in the camp thinkng Mac Jones will have a good season. Last year they put him in an awful position but coupled with new/old offensive coordinator Bill O'Brian, I see him having an even better year than Aaron Rodgers. Where do I bet that?

As far as the AFC East - put me in the camp of the meme above. Don't care if the Bills QB is Josh Allen or Jim Kelly - were pretty parochial here.(Photo via)

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Patriots (re)hire Bill O'Brien as their Offensive Coordinator

- Whiskey on the American frontier. (From the archives) 

- NRC certifies first US small modular reactor design. Great news!

- Interesting profile of Ester Crawford - the woman behind Twitter Blue. Paul Graham is a fan which is high praise indeed.

Bill O'Brien

Bill O'Brien is leaving Penn State to take the job as head coach of the Houston Texans. If you've been following the story - you've probably already read this excellent piece by David Jones.

As an outsider - I rooted for Bill O'Brien and his Penn State teams. I like O'Brien because he was from the Patriots but also because he just seems like a good man. Without O'Brien - I probably never would have rooted for Penn State - just the opposite. I would be wishing for them to lose every game because what they allowed Jerry Sandusky to do. And by "they" I mean both the University administration and Joe Paterno.

Penn State was Child Rape University before Bill O'Brien stepped in. His two years there haven't erased those painful memories but they have allowed the focus to come off of the innocent football players who were stuck in a very bad situation. A situation coach O'Brien gracefully helped them through.

The "Paterno people" make me sick. They make me think of this photo of a school in Northfield, MA burning while the football game continues. The "Paterno people" are so obtuse that they don't realize that without Bill O'Brien their chants of "We-are-Penn-State!" would be mocked everywhere with responding chants of "We-allow-child-rape!"

I'm done rooting for Penn State.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- If the JoeBots drive away Bill O'Brien - who do they think would wade into their toxic swamp to replace him?

- The Pogues Shane MacGowan seeking dental help so he can star in a Hollywood movie. You have to admit that would be great advertising for the firm that does it. "If we can fix Shane MacGowan's teeth - we can fix anyone's!"

- Interesting article about pool hustlers back in the day.

- Heh heh

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Just a reminder but when Carl Crawford first came off the injury list this season for Boston - there were many who wanted him to sit on the bench while Daniel Nava took his spot on left field. The Crawford era in Boston was hardly a success... Rob Riggle is replacing Frank Caliedo on Fox's NFL pregame show. Caliendo had run his course. I'm interested to see how Riggle does. I like Rob Riggle... The trade people should be comparing this Gonzalez / Beckett / Crawford trade to is when the Bruins traded Joe Thornton to San Jose. Thornton didn't win a Stanley Cup in his new Southern Cal location but he did win a MVP. In both cases I think the real problem was in management. Mike O'Connell with the Bruins and Larry Lucchino for the Red Sox... Interesting profile of Penn State coach Bill O'Brien. I wasn't aware of the adversity he and his family face every day... My biggest fear regarding the Red Sox right now is that they somehow go on a 10 game winning streak and decide to give Bobby Valentine another chance next year... Interesting perspective on Lance Armstrong... OK here's the scenario - Todd Akin drops out of the Missouri Senate race the morning Barack Obama is due to speak at the DNC and a woman is named as his replacement. That would certainly take a lot of air out of a lot balloons... 10 things that were created in bars over drinks... I always laugh when I see the Drudge Report on Twitter report something about Obama surrogate Stephanie Cutter. I laugh because Drudge shortens her name to SCUTTER and which has a rather wicked meaning according to the Urban Dictionary. I'd guess that definition 4 is what Drudge had in mind...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Barack Obama should announce that he's become a Scientologist. That way if anyone criticizes him he can have the Church threaten to sue them... The things you learn on the Internet: According to Mental Floss the flags of Liechtenstein and Haiti were once identical - a fact that wasn't known until the flags were displayed at the 1936 Olympics... What an absolutely beautiful photo... Not sure about you but I was disappointed that the Olympic opening ceremonies didn't end with Lane Pryce from Mad Men hanging himself... I would love to listen to a podcast by actors pretending to be Andy Warhol and Muhammad Ali doing movie and TV show reviews... Penn State football coach Bill O'Brien had a clause in his contract that extended his deal a year for every year Penn State was put on NCAA sanctions. So with 4-years of scholarship reductions and bowl bans - Bill O'Brien's contract went from a 5-year deal to a 9-year deal... How to break the Internet - 1. Take all the Troy McLure scenes from The Simpsons 2 Have Ichiro record them in live action and 3 Post those scenes individually to YouTube...

Bill O'Brien and Penn State

I think the NCAA sanctions against Penn State were both fair and predictable. You knew there would be reductions in scholarships and a bowl game ban. I'm glad they took away the program's wins because that punished Joe Paterno's legacy. Make no mistake - Joe Pa was one of the bad guys in this saga. The $60 million fine? That I have an issue with but it is more because does anyone really trust the NCAA with that $60 million? How much of that money will be wasted on "administration" fees?

Going from 25 to 15 scholarships shouldn't be that big a deal in the first year since I'm guessing the number of recruits who bail on the program will whittle that number down to around 15 anyway. Bill O'Brien can sell the remaining freshmen on either redshirting so that they get the chance of going to a bowl in their 5th year or having the chance of playing right away - something they probably won't get at any other major program.

The reduction in scholarship will certainly hurt Penn State's ability to get Blue Chip prospects and I agree that the depth chart may become an issue. But that too could be turned into a positive. Bill O'Brien could go after players who may want to play both ways. Highlight that the Patriots did this all the time and that this flexibility may make them more attractive to NFL scouts. No other major program could offer this up to players torn between playing offense or defense. At Penn State you could play both.

I think the NCAA sanctions were fair but now I'm rooting for Bill O'Brien to be successful.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

It is hard to believe that it has just been a little over 2 months since the Penn State Athletic Director was charged with perjury which was first domino in chain that led to Jerry Sandusky being arrested, Joe Paterno being fired and Bill O'Brien hired as Paterno's replacement as head football coach... Not to be racist but if you have fears that your penis is shrinking then you are probably Asian. If you suffer from anorexia - you are probably not from Africa. Culture bound syndromes... Congratulations to Romeo Crennel on being named head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. When good things happen to good people... People wonder why Bill O'Brien left the Patriots to take the Penn State job but that is simple. O'Brien will be paid much more money than he was making and his contract is for 5-years. Does anyone think Tom Brady will still be the QB for the Patriots in 5-years?... The highest unemployment rate under George W Bush was 7.7% and he was crucified for it. President Obama has an unemployment rate of 8.5% (the real rate is 10.9% but that's another story) and he is getting praised for it?...  The two best teams in the NHL may be the Bruins and the Rangers. They are also the two teams that lead the NHL in fights. There is some correlation there...