Strikes are for baseball

TALES FROM THE TAILGATE
As the prospect of no NFL football looms on the fall horizon -- I know, let's not wish away spring and summer -- I've been thinking back to my first year as a season-ticket holder. If the 2011 season -- whatever becomes of it --  were to be my last as a tailgating regular, it would make a perfect bookend to that first year. If the league can't get its act together by September, then my last it may very well be. But before there can be a last season, there had to be a first.

1987. The Pats were defending AFC East Champs and were expected to contend again. I had a good job at the newspaper and a first child on the way. I had two season tickets for the Pats. I was an adult.

The season started well when Raymond Berry named Steve Grogan the starting quarterback over Tony Eason. Ask Pats fans to pick their all-time favorite players and of course the lists would be filled with the names Brady, Bruschi, Harrison, Bledsoe, Brown, and Hannah. One name that should appear on all those lists is Grogan. Steve Grogan is why people who love football love football. Nobody played harder. When the game was over there was only one thing you could be sure of and that's that Grogan had left it all on the field. He wasn't the most talented QB by far. He was just one of the toughest to ever play the game. Tony Eason, let's just say, was not. Although Eason too took many a shot and got up and kept going. The difference is Grogan wouldn't just get back up. He'd get back up and throw the first punch on the next play.

The season got off to a great start as the Pats beat their nemesis Miami in the home opener 28-21. Yes! Season-ticker holder right here! Week 2 saw Grogan hurt and the Pats go to New York and get thumped by the Jets. Uh. Hey. Season-ticker holder. Uh. Over here...

Did I mention that the threat of a players strike had been hanging over the NFL all offseason? I believe my answer to anyone who said "You're buying season tickets? There's going to be a strike, you know." was always "Are you kidding me? The players aren't going to strike. They are making way too much money." The players had set a deadline for a settlement for the start of Week 3 of the season. I wasn't worried.

I was wrong. I can still see the sports front of the Boston Globe displaying a large NFL logo in color with the heavy black words "ON STRIKE" stamped across it. I had season tickets and the players were on strike. I was an adult.

FAN SUPPORT: On the line.

I still have the letter from Pats General Manager (and son of the owner) Patrick Sullivan. It starts "Dear season ticker holder: I regret to inform you that as a result of the NFLPA going on strike last night, we are left with no alternative but to attempt to field a competitive team for the balance of the 1987 season..." Regret that they will try to field a competitive team? Would they prefer to field a non-competitive team? Competitive is what I'm paying for. But how can they do that with no Grogan, no Stanley Morgan, no Steve Nelson? Replacement players. Scabs in pads. That's how. The Patriots like the rest of the teams in the league were prepared to play the real games without the real players.

The total cost for two season tickets in 1987 was $388. Regular season games were 21 bucks each while preseason games were only $13 (Preseason games at about half the price of regular season games... What an interesting concept). I was expecting to see professional football players for my $388. That's not what I got.

The Pats sent out a call for ex-pros, beer league players... basically anyone who could throw or catch a football. And they came. On a cold and rainy October Sunday me and my friend Jim, who also worked at the paper, headed to the stadium to see what kind of players they found. As we drove up to the entrance of the parking lot we could see a line of guys in raincoats carrying signs off to the side. Hey! It's tight end Lin Dawson. And there's Eason. The striking players milled about drinking coffee and looking not so much like pro athletes but a bunch of guys on strike in the rain. They just watched the cars of fans file by.

I didn't have a strong pro-player or pro-league feeling either way. Sports unions are not exactly Miners Local 1430. I'm a union guy, but I just wanted to see football. I was curious to see what kind of football it would be. Not many people shared my curiosity. Only about 14,000 out of the usual 54,000 decided to show up. Part protest, part good sense I guess. But this was my first year with tickets. This was only the second home game. I was going.

Jim and I had our pick of empty seats and settled in around the 40-yard line on the replacement Pats side. On the other side were the replacement Cleveland Browns. We watched the new Pats warm up. Hey! There's a guy named Bleier! Is that Steeler great Rocky Bleier? Did he come out of retirement to play for us? Nope. It's Bob Bleier. "I think that's our new starting quarterback," I said to Jim. Jim said nothing.

The game was not pretty. It shouldn't come as a surprise that guys who hadn't played football in a while and had never played together don't play very well. The replacement Browns were just a little less bad than the replacement Pats and won 20-10. "That was much worse than I expected," I said to Jim. Jim said nothing.

We walked down to where the players were coming off the field to get a better look at our new team. One of the players took off his helmet as he walked towards us. "That guy looks familiar," I said to Jim. Jim said nothing. "Did he used to play for the Colts?" I asked. Jim looked at me and this time said something. "I think that guy worked at the beer stand at the last game."

Brady v. National Football League

Well, we all saw this coming.

The NFL's owners and players -- and the somewhat shockingly clueless commissioner -- drew their line in the FieldTurf last night and put the 2011 season and both parties' incredibly fat cash cow in jeopardy.

No pro football season? Hmmm... I'll check back in with the Pats and the NFL after March Madness, Seger in Atlantic City, buying and moving to a house back in the city, the Masters, my 30th high school reunion, the Bruins and Celts playoffs, my daughter's college graduation, the promising Sox season, a week up in Maine, a week on the Cape... etc.

No NFL? Life goes on. Hear that Goodell? Hear that Kraft? If a 20-year season ticket holder who bothers to waste his time blogging about the experience has a take-it-or-leave-it attitude you might want to think twice about killing this season. You listening Mr. Ponytail? Mr. Mankins? Mr. Manning? See "baseball, strike of 1981." ESPN's Howard Bryant has an excellent column today that shares the same sentiment.

Don't get me wrong. I want the NFL to keep on rolling just as it is now. I would miss it. Tailgating at Gillette this last season was one of the best years ever. I would miss watching to see if Belichick and Brady can get that fourth Lombardi. I would miss rooting for my favorite team. I would miss the months of meat and cocktails consumed in the cold. But mostly I would miss the chance to spend some Sundays with a great group of longtime friends.

It's hard to even listen to the rhetoric coming from boths sides as the rights of teachers and firefighters are under attack in Wisconsin and elsewhere. The owners (Goodell) finally backed off the ridiculous 18-game schedule proposal and offered improvements on the most important issue facing the game -- players' health and longterm medical care. The players said they were willing to make serious financial concessions as long as they got a good long look at the teams' books. The players sued (in what will be known as Brady v. NFL because his name is alphabetically first on the suit) and the owners locked them out. Whatever. Just work it out and get back to making a lot of money and providing entertainment and distraction.

The NFL is like "The Sopranos," "The Wire," "Band of Brothers." I really looked forward to watching them every week for a few months each year. They were riveting drama mixed with brilliant humor. And I was a little bummed when they ended. But there are always things to do that don't involve watching TV. And every now and then I can pop a DVD in and watch an old episode. I have some 300 Pats games on tape. I can always watch one of those whenever I need a football fix. And the Pats will always win. And I can get some stuff done in the fall.

You listening Mr. Kraft?

Shoot. You're shot.

Usually the official start of the new season is the first day of free agency (March 5), but since there may not actually be a season in 2011 there has been very little activity so far. (Although the Pats did add veteran Marcus Stroud).

So, in what is probably fitting for this unseason, the official start of the Pats new year is the news that Pats' "Pro Bowl" safety Brandon Meriweather may or may not have shot two guys in the face on Oscar Sunday. It's not a huge leap to imagine #31 getting into trouble. He's been there before. He's doesn't run a 4/40 in smarts. I think the most damning evidence that it was Meriweather is that both men were shot in the face but were not killed. If you've seen Meriweather line up a receiver for a big hit only to knock out his own teammate, well, you get that his aim is not so good.

Whatever the truth is behind the story (and it will be talked about over and over again on sports blab radio), my advice to Meriweather is to take the Marvin Harrison defense:

1. It was my gun.

2. I was seen holding the gun moments before the shooting.

3. I was seen arguing with the victim(s) moments before the shooting.

4. The shooting took place in the parking lot outside of the bar where I was seen drinking heavily all afternoon.

5. I had a grudge against the victim for years.

6. I didn't do it.

This was the former Indy star's explanation of why he was innocent in the 2009 shooting. The Indy Police Department's response: "We find no evidence that Marvin Harrison was involved in the shooting and are not filing any charges. Go Colts!"

We can only hope the police in Apopka, Fla., are Pats' fans.

In conclusion

A funny thing has happened as the Super Bowl that I thought the Pats would be playing in approaches. I'm starting to look forward to the game. Steelers vs. Packers. Should be an entertaining battle. It was the same thing last year when the Colts went up against the Saints. It's the same thing every year. No matter who is in the game, it's always fun. A couple of $10 squares don't hurt.

It's been a few years now since the Pats lost to the Giants, missing a chance at history (thanks again, Asante). The outstanding 2010 season looked like it had a chance to continue into February, but instead it ended in the worst possible way ... a home loss to the foot doctor and the Jets. It was ugly to witness in person. Much like the previous year's ending against the Ravens.

But the aftertaste of this ending is not nearly as sour as last year's. There are many more positives with this 14-2 team. Young players like Chung, Gronkowski, Hernandez, Arrington, and BenJarvis stepped up time and time again in big moments during the season. Veterans Brady, Branch, Welker, and Wilfork stayed healthy and provided the leadership that the young players followed. Mayo and Spikes (when not suspended) made a good combo in the middle of the D and Woody brought a spark to the offense. Unlike the end of 2009 when there seemed to be holes in the roster everywhere you looked, the Pats have a good mix of youth and experience that seems to be coming together.

The team overcame a series of key injuries that started before the season even started with Ty Warren and Leigh Bodden lost for the year and continued with Kevin Faulk and Stephen Gostkowski going down and not getting back up. All NFL teams have to overcome injuries, but not all do. The Pats did. That was just one of the many challenges the team faced and overcame. The regular season was one big game after another (Chargers, Steelers, Jets, Colts, Jets, Bears, Packers) and fourteen times the Pats came away on the winning side. That should not be lost in the disappointment of the playoff loss.

The post-season autopsy for the Patriots is still going strong on sports blab radio. I have caught some of it but not much. Thankfully talk is moving to the Celts run at 18 (I'd bet on it) and the reloaded Sox. But analysis of the Pats playoff loss pops up from time to time. Among the many points made there is one that is as far off base: Tom Brady and the Patriots have lost their last three playoff games. And they lost each one the same way. Not true.

The first of those three losses was that Super Bowl in the winter of '08. It was a classic game. The Pats had the title in their hands but it slipped away. After a year out of the playoffs when Brady got hurt (even though the team finished 11-5), the Pats were back but got shellacked by the Ravens. It was the low point of the past decade. The team was clearly drifting in the wrong direction. Brady got knocked all over the field and the young defense got pushed around. Expectations coming into this season were low, but Belichick and the Pats turned things back in the right direction for a great 14-2 campaign.

It ended again in disappointment. But the Pats didn't get pushed around this time. They actually took it to the Jets for most of the first half. But mistakes -- as they always do in the playoffs -- cost them the game. Yes, the Pats have lost three straight playoff games. But they are not connected at all. The Patriots should get a shot to end that playoff losing streak next year. If the trend they started in 2010 continues, I like their chances.

The month of February has arrived. Time for the Super Bowl and, since the Pats are not in the big game, time for a month off from blogging. If the owners and players don't figure out their issues it could be a lot longer than a month.

A Dan? Or a fan?

The Globe's Dan Shaughnessy says I should be rooting for the Jets against the Steelers today. He just doesn't get it. I'm a New England Patriot fan. There's one team I don't want to see not only win the Super Bowl but even in the Super Bowl. That's the New York Football Jets. Ever.

Clearly Dan has forgotten what it's like to be a fan. A real fan. A stand in the cold for nine hours till you can't feel your feet fan. Maybe he never was that kind of fan. Maybe he's always seen sports from the perspective of the sportswriter. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Some of my best friends are sportswriters. But you are either a fan. Or a Dan. If you are a fan I offer that there's no way in hell you are rooting for the Jets.

JETS IN DALLAS? I can't stomach that.

The Dans say there are two reasons to root for the J-E-T-S. (I won't even waste time talking about the Dans claim that the Jets are fun. Fun? In a "It's fun to see them fail" way, I guess.)

The first reason the Dans put forth is that if the Jets win the Super Bowl then that will force the Patriots to do a better job drafting and signing players, spend more money, and just plain ol' trying harder to win. Hmmmm. The Pats -- with the youngest defense in the league -- went 14-2. Sure, they fell on their face in the playoffs. That happens. But try harder? Really? Kraft and Belichick aren't doing all they can to win? I don't see much evidence of that. I've been tailgating at Pats games since the late '80s. I've seen 1-15. Believe me, the Pats are trying to win. And win it all. It just doesn't happen every year. Fans get that. Dans don't.

The Dans say maybe the Pats would make smarter picks. Maybe they'll draft the defensive rookie of the year and a couple of candidates for offensive rookie of the year. Oh, right. They just did that in McCourty, Gronkowski, and Hernandez. Maybe they will do better in the upcoming draft. Belichick and his crew have more picks in the first four rounds than any team. They can use 'em, trade 'em, collect 'em. They have just had two very good drafts. A third good one and the team is loaded to continue its run at the top of the league for another decade regardless of who is the QB. But maybe a Jets Super Bowl title will somehow make that #17 pick turn into the next Julius Peppers.

As funny as the "the better the Jets are the harder the Pats will work" theory is, the second one is even richer. Pats fans should root against Roethlisberger and the Steelers because if they get to a third Super Bowl then people will start comparing Big Ben to Brady. I think Roethlisberger is already on that level. Maybe the Dans don't watch a lot of non-Patriot football, but for fans that have it's clear the Steeler QB is a true champ. As are the Steelers. The franchise already has six titles. What difference does a seventh make?

Any discussion of the best franchises in the history of the NFL -- rightfully so -- starts with the black and gold. Pittsburgh is the team against which all other teams measure themselves. At least since the beginning of the Super Bowl era. The Patriots -- along with the Niners, the Cowboys, and the Packers -- are next in that discussion. The Jets? Uh, ya. They are nowhere to be found. In fact, in the AFC East it's the Patriots, Dolphins, Bills, and Jets in that order when it comes to discussing overall success. The Jets -- as good as they are and as much as they have accomplished under the foot doctor -- are still a franchise that can't win it all. I want it to stay that way. Because I'm a Pats fan.

The Jets were doing quite a lot of celebrating last Sunday for winning a divisional playoff game. Even if it was against their nemesis. Fact is, you don't get parades and banners for divisional round victories. (Unless you are in Indy). A Jets loss today means they will have once again accomplished nothing. It means they will have advanced to the AFC title game two years in a row with nothing -- nothing -- to show for it.

A loss today by the Jets and it means come next season the Patriots are defending AFC East champs again. And the Jets and Rex Ryan are -- once again -- just a team that does a lot of talking. That's something I can root for.

One and all done

DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAME
Jets 28, Patriots 21 (1/16/'11): As I was driving home after dropping Mark and his friend Justin at the Providence Amtrak I had a thought. If my biggest problem with the football team I love to root for is that they just can't seem to win that fourth championship, well, that's not too bad a problem.

DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF: Burned.

It took two hot dogs with everything from the Haven Bros. diner truck to bring me to that state of reason. And maybe a few drinks. There will be lot of Pats bashing in the next few days and weeks. Yesterday was a lousy time to play a lousy game. But it doesn't take away from what was a great year of football and tailgating with friends. 14-2. Not many people expected the team to make such strides. No matter how it ended, it was a season full of positives.

Me, Mark, Shep, Matt, Bergs, Billy and guests gathered in the sun and the cold of P2 with the anticipation of another great tailgate meal and another great game. It sure was a great meal. The chili really hit the spot. Matt -- thanks to a few Red Bulls -- quickly put together the fire pit Billy had put in his shopping cart along with the scallops and bacon. In no time Matt had the pit assembled and Billy had a fire roaring. The weather was perfect. The day was going smoothly.

The first sign it was not going to continue to go smoothly was when it was discovered the Don Julio bottle was just about empty. (Why do they make the glass of the bottle so dark?). The second was when I reached to take the cover off the fire pit and burned my hand. The scar on my little finger will be a fitting reminder of the day. And a reminder not to touch the cover of a blazing fire pit with my bare hands. We toasted Shep's first season of perfect attendance and talked about how great an AFC Championship game at Gillette against the Steelers would be next Sunday. Confidence was high.

Till Brady threw that pick. The first one he has thrown since, well, a long time. The Jets have a very good defense. I figured they would make life difficult for Brady and the offense. But I didn't think they could shut them down. They did. Like last year's defeat to the Ravens, there's not much about the game worth analyzing. The Pats came out looking sharp, driving down to the Jets' 20. Then came the interception. But, thanks to a great tackle by a hustling Crumpler and a miss by the Jets kicker, the pick did no damage. At least on the scoreboard. The Pats got the ball back and put together a solid drive. As the first half neared an end the Pats had seven first downs to just one by the Jets. But the drive stalled when Crump dropped an easy TD pass and Brady was sacked. The Pats settled for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.

There didn't seem much cause for concern. We all knew it wasn't going to be another blowout. Then the wheels came off in the second quarter. Blown coverages. Sacks. A horrible fake punt that led to a late first half touchdown by the Jets to take a 14-3 lead. The spark just seemed to drain from the Pats. The Jets now knew they would be playing the second half just as they had hoped -- with the lead and confidence. They could attack Brady. And they did.

The Patriots -- after a year of making so many plays -- made very few yesterday. I'll have to watch the tape of the game to be sure, but it didn't look to me like the Jets played that great a game. The Pats came out looking strong but then just went flat. The offense couldn't make plays to stay on the field and got frustrated. The defense couldn't make plays to get off the field. The difference between the NFL and the others sports is that there is no best-of-seven. No chance to even the series. One and done. It's what makes each game so important and exciting. Have a flat game in the playoffs and a season of hard work and success ends quickly. Very quickly.

The Jets move on to their second consecutive AFC title game. Rex Ryan and his band of merry men are 4-1 in the playoffs the last two years -- all road games. That's impressive. If they win next week they will have sure earned a shot at their first title since '69 by winning at Indy, New England, and Pittsburgh. Are they better than the Pats? Today they are. But come next season I expect the Pats to once again be the best in their division. Then they will have to figure out a way to start winning playoff games again. Maybe, like the Jets, they should go on the road.

Mark got out of the car at the train station. He leaned in to grab his bag and he said "We have like seven of the first 80 picks in the draft in a few months. We'll be back here again this same weekend next year and you'll be dropping me off after a win." Next fall. I can't wait.

I wonder if there are any good movies playing?

What a difference a year makes

It feels different this time.

Last year as I was getting ready for the home playoff game against Baltimore there were a lot of doubts about the Pats. The team had failed time after time to make big plays in the big games during the season. There were leads blown late. Mistakes made. Tackles missed. Confidence lost.

BRADY & BILL: Redemption.

Sitting in the parking lot before the game we all asked the same things. Can the Pats play a complete 60-minute game? Can they overcome injuries? Can their coaching staff bring forth a game plan that throws the other team off balance? Can their best players (mostly Brady) step it up when it really counted? As the Ravens pounded the Pats all over the field the answers became clear. No. No. No. And no.

This year those same questions have already been answered. Often with a convincing yes. Big wins against the Colts, Steelers, Ravens, Packers, Jets, Chargers, and so on have shown that -- unlike last year -- the Patriots can make plays when it counts. They have played smart, focused, and aggressive all year. They will have to keep doing just that Sunday.

I have been wavering between quiet confidence and deep dread about this game. Losing to the Jets would be a very disheartening ending to this very entertaining season. The Jets are a good team. And a very good road team. They can create havoc on defense and can make big plays on offense. And, as was obvious from the constant din coming from their locker room all week, they are cocky. There has been very little actual football talk this week. The little I did hear had very astute analysis such as "The Jets need to put pressure on Brady and force him to make mistakes." No kidding. Sometimes it's amazing that writers don't hit the delete key when they reread their stories.

No matter how you analyze the game, the key will be ball protection. And I don't mean athletic supporters. I mean turnovers. Watch today's playoff games. The teams are pretty even. The difference will be who takes care of the ball and who doesn't. That's always the key. And it has been the key of keys for the Pats' 14-2 regular season. They have had a record low give-aways while making some big take-aways. You can break down the line-ups and the match-ups all you want. Just protect the ball.

The Jets' trash-talking may be getting Pats' fans even more fired up for the game but I don't think the Pats' players -- at least those who were on the team last year -- are even listening. The talk of the border war. Boston vs. New York. Ryan vs. Belichick. Toegate vs. Spygate. Baby Daddy Cromartie vs. Big Daddy Brady. All that pales to what really will be motivating the Patriots. Redemption. Erasing the memory of last year. That game has to still linger with Brady and Belichick as it does with me. They have been motivated for this game since that cold January day. No talking. Quiet determination.

The talk is over. Now it's time for the game. Finally. The chili is simmering. The wings are marinating. The beer is chilling. Although from the sound of the forecast, warm beer won't be a problem. More playoff football at Gillette. Thank you, Mr. Kraft. Hopefully you're not going to raise the parking fee.