We needed that didn’t we?
After witnessing the bag job that the Red Sox turned in during the first three games against the Yankees, the Patriots rolled into Foxborough Saturday and cleaned the Cardinals’ collective clocks, 30-3.
Many of you in the pink hat nouveau Sox clique will not believe it, but there was a time in the not too distant past when the Sox annually began to fade in August and the lonely eyes of New England desperately turned toward the Pats hoping for the glimmer of a decent local pro team.
The past was the present at the turn-back-the-clock special billed as the Patriots second preseason game. Tom Brady reminded us why he is so special, Corey Dillon looked tough, the defense played solid and the kicking game was an afterthought.
Perhaps the best compliment a preseason game can get is that it held viewers’ interest into the third quarter. Saturday night’s game succeeded in doing just that thanks to Brady’s ho-hum flawless play, along with backup Matt Cassel’s improved showing as compared to a week earlier against the Falcons.
It’s an open secret that the Patriots loathe the Red Sox grip on this region. The local football entry wins three championships and sets an all-time consecutive victory record, but all anyone can talk about is Mike Timlin’s ineffectiveness coming out of the bullpen.
Not this year. Forget worrying about where Eric Hinske is going to play. It’s time to ask if Bam Childress can turn into a mini-Troy Brown and whether Tully Banta-Cain is ready to become a bona fide speed rusher.
In some ways I’m relieved that the wheels have fallen off for the Red Sox at such an early date. We won’t have to fool ourselves through September and early October that the pitching is good enough to make it back to the World Series.
We’ll now have free time to check out some new shows or – Lord forbid – spend extra time with our families. And maybe Sox ticket demand for 2007 will subside to the point where I can purchase two tickets where the seats are actually next to one another.
Frankly, going to Fenway Park the last two years has become a chore. Winning the whole darn thing in 2004 has turned Fenway into Boston’s coolest nightclub. Does anybody actually watch the ballgame anymore or is everyone too busy waving their silly Papi/NESN signs or talking about how they ran into Coco Crisp at Au Bon Pain?
Meanwhile, the Patriots train rolls on. No soap operas, excuses or sideshows. Even when a key player holds out as Deion Branch has done, the number of arrows slung are kept to a minimum on both sides of the negotiating table. Oh, and did I mention that they talked a retired Hall-of-Famer into coming out of retirement for a part-time role?
Instead of dividing our attention and loyalties between the Red Sox and Patriots this fall as we have done for the last three seasons, we will now be focused. It will make our lives easier. Production at the office will go up and there will be fewer awkward conversations about the latest Sox collapse in the first-floor men’s room as I’m washing my hands.
Think of it this way. The Red Sox of 2006 are the girl who looks good out of the blocks, but after a bunch of dates loses her luster and isn’t as gorgeous as you initially remember her being. Meanwhile, the Patriots are the girl who treats everyone nicely, is consistently pretty on a day-to-day basis and is someone you can bring home to your folks.
Time to call up your mom and tell her you want to invite a new girl over for Sunday dinner.
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