War Room

Recently I read the book War Room by Michael Holley. I thought it was a fun read especially for any Patriots or in general any NFL fan. The book gave some history and background for the Browns, Patriots, Chiefs and Falcons and some insight on how the NFL draft is done from behind the scenes.

There was one passage in particular that caught my attention:

"Each [Kansas City Chiefs] scout's report is always expected to include answers answers to the following questions:
What will this player's role be as a Chief? Will the role change from year one to year two? How many downs can he be expected to play? Which current player on the roster will he beat out? What's his value on special teams? Does he have positional flexibility?

Makes one want to review the picks from the last draft and ask these questions of the players chosen especially for the Patriots and Falcons who use the process described in the book.

The only complaint I'd have about the book is in the retelling of the Patriots rise to success Holley mentioned how the Boston Herald falsely accused the Patriots of filming the Rams walk-though before the Super Bowl only to later have to apologize because their story was basically made up. Holley never names the reporter responsible. That report is John Tomase who is a fat tub of lard lies.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Mitt Romney and the crowd handle some hecklers quite deftly... With Bill Polian now out with the Colts - will we finally learn the truth about him piping in crowd noise at the RCS Dome?... Who knew? There is a World Series of Beer Pong. It is being held this week (finals on Thursday) with the winner getting $50,000 first place cash. I would actually like to watch this on the Internet...  Jason Varitek is not coming back to the Red Sox no matter what Jon Heyman tries to throw up against the wall. Just like Coco Crisp is not signing with the Orioles (which was another Heyman bon mot)...  Interesting look at how St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke wants to rebuild his team in the Patriots mold. It is also interesting that he specifically mentions Michael Holley's War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team as his blueprint. Could there be a front office opening for Michael Holley? That would be a very interesting wrinkle... Just a reminder that in January 2007 when Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid took over Congress - the unemployment rate was 4.6% and the national debt was $8.6 trillion... According to Mental Floss "A 1913 New York Times article on portmanteaus includes the word 'alcoholiday' which describes leisure time spent drinking." With the NFL playoffs in the near future I may be taking a couple alcoholidays myself.