Are you dreading the game tomorrow night?

Have you attended playoff games in the past, just so you could post on Facebook that you were there?

Are you decidedly not attending just because you think the Patriots are going to lose?
Would you rather attend at Justin Timberlake/Jay-Z concert (at Fenway Park) than go to a Patriots playoff game?

Then you may be suffering from Patriots Playoff Fatigue.

Yes, that’s real, courtesy of the local baseball paper, YOUR Boston Globe.

Lest you think I’m making this up, all those items are really in the article.

“I can’t justify it,” the North End resident said. “I don’t want to spend $300 or $400 to watch a game they may very well lose. I’d rather see Justin Timberlake and Jay Z. I know I won’t freeze — or go home disappointed.”

Where’s the emoticon for banging my head on a brick wall?

The Patriots and Colts play tomorrow night in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs. While the Patriots are favored, it’s hard to know which way this one is going to go.

After all, we’ve learned that Tom Brady sucks in the playoffs. Felger and Mazz devoted their show to this theme, without providing a shred of context. Facts and stats are great, but without any sort of context whatsoever, they come off very slanted in the direction they’re looking to take.

Tom Brady’s numbers are definitely uneven in the postseason, especially since 2005.  That’s normal for NFL QB’s. What was not normal was his 10-0 start to his playoff career.

They like to bring up Joe Montana as the comparison, noting his perfect record in Super Bowls. Did you also know that Montana and the 49ers had three straight one-and-done postseasons in the mid-80’s? In the prime of his career. Montana’s passer rating for those games was 65.6, 34.2 and 42.0. He threw ZERO touchdowns and four interceptions.

Will you hear that on Felger and Mazz? No.

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Interesting comparison in tone of articles on the exact same subject this morning, which actually cover much of the same material, but the tone is very different.

Compare Time for Danny Amendola to shine now by Chris Gasper to After a full season together, Danny Amendola and Tom Brady are still working on their connection by Nick Underhill.

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The Story Of How David Portnoy Turned Barstool Sports Into The Nationwide Bible Of ‘Bro Culture’ – Interesting look at the Stool from Business Insider. Way back in the day, Portnoy used to purchase ads on BSMW when the Stool was a print-only deal. Now look at them.

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The media columns today look at the same topic, retiring broadcaster Dan Dierdorf:

Dan Dierdorf signs off with Patriots-Colts – Chad Finn thinks that Dierdorf doesn’t deserve the criticism that he receives at times.

Dan Dierdorf concentrates on game, not his TV send-off – Bill Doyle has Dierdorf not wishing for any extra attention on his last game.

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If  the material in this ESPN.com column from Greg Garber – Patriot Way or the highway – sounds familiar, it’s because he simply took all the quotes from NFL Sunday Countdown in Week 12, and turned them into a “new” column. I’m not sure how often that happens, but it seems a little weird to me.

Catch all the Patriots coverage this weekend at PatriotsLinks.com.

If you’re looking for the latest odds on the game, most sports betting sites like SportsBettingOnline.ag have odds for the Patriots and all the other NFL action this weekend.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

10 thoughts on “Divisional Weekend – Exciting For Some. Not All.”

  1. ” I’d rather see Justin Timberlake and Jay Z.” – All you need to know about that person.

    To that person’s benefit, he did address the weather. Why not address that in the article? It’s expected to start raining at 3pm and not stop for 12 hours. I get that its a playoff game but you scare away some casual fans there.

    Why not touch upon the fact that, last week, 3 teams, 2 of which normally sell all their home games out (one indoors), also had problems selling tickets? This hits at the “TV is the product, not the actual in-game experience”

    This wouldn’t be such a big deal if it hinted at what you could talk about: the market price on this game being lower than usual ones; it’s also a continuation of the “lets trash the Patriots”. How many articles next year will be written in the Globe on the “new sellout streak” for the Sox, even as NESN flashes sections of empty seats going in and out of commercials?
    ————–
    Bruce, any news on what Ordway keeps saying will be his “local” gig? He kept hinting at it being “soon”, and its in addition to his weekend stuff on Sirius.

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    1. It sounds like you may be an advocate of the Ted Sarandis Memorial South Boston Sports Megaplex.

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  2. I haven’t listened to Mike and Squeaky for more than a minute or two since basketball season rolled around and Felger/Mazz felt the need to poop all over Celtics fans on a regular basis.
    I really wish they’d get rid of Mazz and replace him with someone who would/could challenge Felgie on some of his BS.

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    1. Until the most recent long losing streak, Mike was trolling with this: “The Celtics have to decide what they’re going to be. Is Ainge going for the playoffs or rebuilding?” At the time the Celtics were in “first place”, 3 or 4 games under .500…

      Ainge made this decision when he decided to negotiate (and fleeced) Billy King of the Nets.

      Now that the Celtics have the 7th worst record in the league, I have to admit I’m curious what Mike will come up with next.

      Adam Jones is even worse. The other night he called Ainge to the carpet for failing to intercept the Bynum – Deng trade. Prior to that he called out Ainge for not getting more than one first round draft pick, or a higher first round draft pick in exchange for Doc Rivers. He does with no inside knowledge that for example, Ainge had turned offers. It’s pure speculation. Jones has quickly become one of the biggest bullshit vendors in Boston.

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  3. One they just love (particularly Felger-lite Adam Jones) is listing the stats from Brady’s “X” previous playoff losses. Yeah, sure, the player is going to look great when you just look at just his losses and leave out all the wins. How often do the media elite do that with Peyton Manning? Particularly when someone like Shaughnessy or YARM cherry picks things and tells that when you leave out Brady’s good games, like the most recent Denver one, the Jacksonville ones, etc… his stats look quite poor. Great argument. “If you ignore all the games that he did good in, Brady actually sucks!”

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    1. Who would have ever thought that playoff stats would be lower than regular season stats? It’s almost like the best teams are playing each other or something…

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  5. @cpriceNFL wins the weekend:

    Call at 6:05 am Monday to @DandCShow: “WHY IS BELICHICK USING BRADY ON SPECIAL TEAMS?!”

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  6. Prediction for Monday’s Felger & The Echo Show:

    Felger gives the Patriots credit for playing and winning like they did in their Super Bowl title seasons. Defense forcing turnovers, running game being key, comparisons of Blount to Antowain Smith & Corey Dillon, Brady and the receivers being efficient and coming up with big plays when necessary. Finally, the Patriots can beat any team in the AFC or NFC with this style. They SHOULD make it to the Super Bowl and he thinks they should be the favorite to win it at this point. Seemingly positive comments, but, as usual, simply setting himself up to be the guy who called it before anyone else did or to criticize them if they don’t do it. A no-lose situation for Felger

    The Echo, not being the clever and tactical contrarian that Felger is, just spews his typical negativity-based drivel.

    “The Patriots won because they took the ball out of Brady’s hands, Mike!”

    “I don’t think this defense is that good — Andrew Luck sucked!”

    “Don’t you think they wish they had Zoltan Mesko right now?!”

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