Meanwhile the Patriots play the waiver wire, picking up castoffs and trading for players who would’ve been cut by their teams anyway.

It remains to be seen how the Red Sox roster will shake out, there appears to be a lot of redundancy at certain positions, but Ben has a plan. In Ben we trust.

But if they don’t sign Lester, this offseason will be a complete failure, right Dan?

Trying to make sense of Red Sox reunion with Hanley Ramirez – Rob Bradford looks at the reported signing.

So … is there any money left for pitching? Red Sox roster building reconsidered – Alex Speier crunches the money numbers.

Keep up with the latest free agent craziness at RedSoxLinks.com.

*********

The Patriots won their seventh game in a row, beating their fourth division leader with a 34-9 rout of the Detroit Lions at Gillette Stadium yesterday.

Patriots disarm Lions offensive weapons in win – Tom E Curran has the defense taking away Detroit’s weaponzzzzz.

Darrelle Revis the queen piece in secondary – Mike Reiss has Revis as the most important piece on the chessboard for Belichick and Patricia.

Patriots keep opponents guessing – Jackie MacMullan looks at the team’s ability to morph from week to week.

Get the rest of the coverage at Patriotslinks.com.

*********

Latest Tom Brady-Randy Moss hookup a good one – Chad Finn looks at the interview between the two legends on FOX Sports 1 yesterday.

Christian Laettner on Laettner hate; why ESPN’s Keith Law was suspended – Richard Deitsch looks at the latest 30-for-30 film.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

75 thoughts on “Unlike Patriots, Red Sox Going “All In.””

  2. so now the, “usual suspects” are playing the, “There is NO EXCUSE for this team to not win the Super Bowl!!” card….this coming after the, “Window is CLOSED!!” card didn’t work out too good…..ya gotta love it

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  3. The Patriots won their seventh game in a row, beating their fourth
    division leader    yet another tomatocan with a 34-9 rout of the Detroit Lions at Gillette Stadium yesterday.

    Fixed it for you, Bruce.

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    1. This will turn into the Bengals argument all over again. “But they are the LIONS Mike! I mean how good are they, REALLY?”

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    1. For the life of me I can’t see how Sox radio rights are not worth $17 mill a year and that WEEI is struggling with whether to reup or not. WEEI did receive the right to be the master affiliate and that they make money off the affiliate network. Further we are talking about 162 reg season games, the exhibition games and maybe post season plus the right to advertise that you are the voice of the Sox 365. Let’s look at the base numbers. $17mill/ 180 games (exhibit + reg season) = $95,000 a game in cost before production and staff. Each game has 36 minutes of commercials between innings (not including pre and post game shows) or about $2700 a minute or $1350 for a 30 second spot. No matter what the Sox ratings air time for an audience like the Sox is worth more than $2700 a minute. Never mind in game advertising opportunities and pre/post game shows. If WEEI is choking on the contract then perhaps they should be looking at how they are marketing/selling the product. Who they are targeting and lastly they should consider how they treat the Sox during the day, how they drive the audience and how they create games as events. Baseball on the radio is a different and in my eyes much better product than baseball on TV. It fills a void on summer nights when you are outside, driving, or just lounging. WEEI needs to do more to capture these moments. The answer is not letting the rights go. Its doing a better job once you get them.

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      1. A+ there on the breakdown.

        Kinda amazing that ESPN makes $40/m alone on M+M, which you have to think is the revenue for an entire station in smaller markets.

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  5. “Mike, there’s just NO excuse now for the Patriots not to run the table and win that fourth Super Bowl trophy that has been eluding them for TEN YEARS, and finally put the stench of SpyGate behind them once and for all. Brady’s legacy totally depends on it. Anything short of another Lombardi Trophy is FAILURE!!!!!!!

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  6. Curran with the win. Again.

    Tom E. Curran ‏@tomecurran 15m15 minutes ago
    Week 12 @FelgerAndMazz reporting that Revis is good. Also are already angry at Pats for losing him in ’15 free agency. #onionradio

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      1. Curran is a favorite of mine because he is typically so sound. And while I still enjoy him, he made a remark early in the season that Gronk was a player whose skill was in decline.

        Not maybe or could be or any equivocation. Expected better from him, but that just proves I’m a sucker.

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  7. Imagine spending HUGE sums of money for ‘talent’ and watching the performance of the team still languish. Sounds like a newspaper. Or WEEI.

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  8. From the Department of Hindsight for Nitwits:

    Steve DeOssie yesterday with Dale and Holley: “Zach Moore should have been expecting (and protecting himself) from dirty plays, because the Lions are known for it.”

    Tim Benz today: “(Jonas) Gray should’ve had a backup alarm clock. When I was working in Pittsburgh, I used three.”

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  10. Butch Stearns needling Pablo about the difference between the west coast and the east coast, i.e. the annoying, overpaid hack mediots.

    Let’s revisit Jon Lester’s comments from throughout last season, when he repeatedly, but subtly told the mediots to shutup, leave him alone and cease attempting to interfere in his contract talks.

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  11. Somebody on twitter re-tweeted a ton of early season tweets from the Boston and national media concerning the Patriots….hilarity ensues…

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    1. Outside of those who have had their “time to move on from Brady and BB” (Borges) ready to go hot to copy for 14 years now, people were reacting to what they were seeing. Fine. The worst was people going “well, I didn’t exactly write that..” (heard Jackie Mac doing that). Just own it. The team didn’t look good the first four weeks. That’s fine. They’ve done this many years, but people were also reacting to what they saw.

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      1. exactly… I’m tallking about ones like >>>>

        Dan Shaughnessy @Dan_Shaughnessy · Aug 29

        Do Patriot fanboys really go along with the Mankins trade? Seems like a tough sell, even for BB/Kraft media cartel.

        AND >>>

        ra Kaufman @IKaufmanTBO · Sep 30

        Until he finds the next Logan Mankins, Bill Belichick will regret the deal that sent his best guard to Tampa on the eve of the season opener

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        1. Shank is the second or third mediot this season I’ve heard that’s referred to some sort of Kraft/BB media cartel, or “media supplicants” as some azzhat on nfl.com (probably Breer) referred to them. By “supplicants” or “cartel”, I assume these biased, agenda-driven anti-Kraft, anti-BB media hacks are referring to the few local and national media members who actually try to do their jobs and play it straight when it comes to the Pats. The lack of self-awareness in that so-called “profession” truly is astounding.

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  12. Gee Mike a source told me that Brady is not happy with the game plan for the gb game. He thinks it sucks. They are planning at running right at Matthews

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  13. In spite of myself I was watching Brady sitting on the bench next to Jimmy G, laughing and joking with him on Sunday. I couldn’t help thinking back to the end of pre-season and the early part of the season when it was HOTSPORTZTAKES that Brady didn’t high-5 JG…he ignored him coming off the field….he’s not sitting with him at lunch and doesn’t wait for him after school by his locker!!! Like, REALLY!!

    Tony Mazz. Psychiatrist and body-language expert.

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    1. It’s also become clear that the Logan Mankins trade is Mazz’s Titanic. It’s the hill he’s going to die on. Tim Wright has 5 Td’s but now Mazz want’s to critique the difficulty of said catches. So because they weren’t all Odell Beckem-style catches, that diminishes his production?

      Even Bedard is drinking the stupid juice. Saying that Mankins and Tommy Kelley are the difference between 9-2 and possibly 11-0. My head hurts…

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      1. Have a drink my friend. I can’t wait for panty wearing Mazz to go home and say. But Mike they didn’t renew my contract

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      2. I saw the same thing and thought the same. I also chuckled over it. The poor kid is a very rich man $$ trying to learn about the nfl and run the scout team getting the d ready. Also now that he isn’t just a raw rookie and has almost a year in. He finally has gotten some street cred with Brady. Since Brady is old school and doesn’t give a rookie the time of day in the beginning

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      3. Mark my words: Logan Mankins will be out of football next season unless he’s willing to play for a fraction of his current salary. His skills have diminished that badly.

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  14. I haven’t listened to sports radio expect for at shave time in the am. I’ll tell you this it’s time to get some new talent onto the air waves. On both stations
    Ironically the only two programs i wouldn’t change is the one that was dead in the water just a few months ago dc and m show and Gresh and zoe. Even though that one might need some freshness soon.

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  15. So I’ve been absent from posting on these boards for quite some time, though I do read daily. With that said, I feel “Fleger and MIzz” radio has resorted (though its not new) to making up arguments to troll listners. They then only put on calls that fit the trolling. For example, Legartte Blount signs, then play a bunch of noobs asking if the Pats will sign him, then when he has 2 Tds and 90 yards we get “BAHHHHH, Well how do you like that signing Now, bahhhhhhh #advantageBelichick #genius” and all th crap that follows.

    Now Felger is smart in respect to this radio (yes I still listen ) because he knows it will generate calls, and they can then plug the morons who they can mock and ridicule for future soundbytes.

    Point is, Felger constantly points out to “you people” and makes demonstrative statements for the entire fanbase that we were all claiming Belichick a genius. Yes we haven’t won in 10 years. I get it. I do. But at the end of the day, I don’t fictionalize reality to prove meaningless #hotsportztakez

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    1. “They then only put on calls that fit the trolling.”

      Perhaps, but in recent weeks, twice I’ve gotten through in order to criticize something idiotic that Mazz said twice with a very short wait.

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      1. Interesting. Perhaps I’m wrong. However, did they talk over you, mock you with the “How do you like em now Felgahhh” tones?

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  17. May every one who visits this site have a Happy Thanksgiving. I have enjoyed your posts very much over the years.

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  18. Felger says that the Packers have basically no chance of winning the game on Sunday.

    An unreal level of trolling. There might be no bigger Patriots Homer than me on this board and EVEN I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pats lost on Sunday.

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    1. I found it immensly annoying when he said the Patriots are 9-0 on turf and 0-2 on grass. The record didn’t annoy me so much as he kept calling it “astroturf.” Something that hasn’t existed in an NFL stadium in almost 11 years. FieldTurf is synthetic grass blades. It’s not like it was back when it was actually grass vs turf in the 80’s and 90’s. I would expect Mr. Fact Not Opinion to know that.

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  19. Do the successful (as tweeted out by WEEI last night) MFB ratings say more about MFB than they do about Gresh and Zo or am I projecting?

    I can listen to Gresh and Zo only in very short snippets before it becomes grating. Some of the NFL segments are good, they can break things down, but then Gresh’s loudmouth expert act and Zolak’s clown act quickly gets to me.

    At this point, the only show I can listen to in the car for a serious length of time is Dale and Holley…

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  20. I love when non-sports people chime in with their hot sports takes.

    Adam 12Verified account‏@adamxii

    Belichick on Brady/Rodgers: “They both wear 12.” Awful smug & condescending for a guy who has the best QB in the NFL & hasn’t won in 10 yrs.

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    1. “Adam Twelve” sounds like some 14 year-old’s AOL Instant Messanger handle.

      I had no clue who he is or what this “RadioBDC” he works for is, but is it a shocker he works for something the Globe owns?

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      1. He’s always had a stick up his butt about the Pats. He is a local guy, born and raised, and I think it was probably a dream for him to work for BCN and he may hold some deep seeded and misplaced resentment for the Pats perhaps thinking that it was their doing led to the loss of BCN and the birth of TSH.

        He’s a huge Sox fan and gives respect to the B’s but has no use for the Patriots or their “fans” (his quotes, not mine). He sees most Patriots fans as bandwagon jumpers over the last 15 years and doesn’t seem to recall the tv ratings for the Sox and attendance numbers at Fenway before 1999 were not what they have been over the last 15 or so years either.

        I don’t think everyone in the local media scene has to be a shill for the local teams, far from it. However, blatant trolling, like he puts on Pats fans weekly, gets to be a bit old. He should stick to what he knows, alt rock, indie rock, and the local music scene. He’s great at promoting those things and has a genuine love for them and it comes out in his performance on air.

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    2. This hypocritical douchebag was an “adjunct” professor at Northeastern. What that means exactly, I don’t know, but in the very least, he’s been in the position of molding young minds, so to speak.

      Adam 12 retweeted
      Douglas Wynne @Doug_Wynne · Nov 25
      Repeat after me: I do not know everything and will therefore not contribute to further suffering with harmful speech.

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    3. BB could have added a little more on the subject. For once he could have opened up to media and added that they both play in the nfl. Plus they both play the qb.position

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      1. He opens up plenty but you would never know that from the narrative the media puts out there. He had a great discussion about left footed punters a few weeks back. He spoke at length about historical defenses, about big games vs the Bears when he coached NYG, about Thanksgiving games, etc, etc, etc. But no, he’s smug…or something.

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        1. My issue isn’t with Bill. My issue is with the gotcha question asking media. How they frame their questions for their benefit and not for information. I could just image that the follow up question would have been something like this. .. So Bill who do you think is the better qb. Brady or Rogers?.

          About Bill a few years back he also at Christmas time brought the media into the film room and showed them historical film about the game and different formations of how the game has changed over time. Either he felt sorry for them or he was hoping that maybe they might start asking better questions with helping them watch the game with better eyes after learning about it.
          When the media asks clean questions about football with out a gotcha follow up question. Bill will give you a twenty min answer.lol

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    4. What do you suppose a DJ at Radio BDC gets paid? My guess would be $40k tops — and I think that’s a generous estimate. I would say that Mr. 12, in an effort to extend his career in a business with dwindling opportunities, is angling for a position at the Sports Hub.

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  22. Happy Thanksgiving all. To Bruce I promise when my mother asks all of us what we are thankful this year, after I mention my wife, kids and spiffy new snow blower I will say BSMW and my ability to connect with other Boston sports fans and have interesting, informative and intelligent sportstalk. To that end….

    In this mornings Herald Karen G. wrote an article I think praising Tim Wright. It starts with this line:

    “The Logan Mankins trade didn’t make a lot of sense at the time it went down. In some ways, it still doesn’t.”

    This is a huge pet peeve of mine. The trade did not make sense to HER. It certainly made sense to Bill Belichick and the Pat’s brass. It made sense to me and it continues to make sense to me. At the time the arm chair talent evaluation experts found in the media claimed that Mankins was the Pats best lineman and that his contributions could not be replaced. As such dumping him for financial reasons when the Pats had room under the cap for an underrated rookie FA TE (who was a converted WR but came from Rutgers) and a 4th round pick was silly. After all, they surmised, who would bring the attitude, who would protect Brady, how would the Earth continue to spin on its axis. There was much hand wringing. As evidenced by Karen’s opening line, this ridiculous line of thinking still exists among at least some of the paid professionals who cover this team.

    I suggested then and will reiterate now, trading Mankins was not a salary dump. It was a player dump. Karen G and her ilk look at the Pats asking Mankins to take less money and when he refused as thinking trading him was a salary dump in search for that mythical VALUE. The Patriots were indeed looking at value in the trade. They knew something that supposed experts didn’t know…that Mankins was effectively done. His knees were shot, his pass protection a real detriment and if they were not careful it would get Brady killed.. he could still run block at a high level but that was not imperative to this offense. They saw his play as being greatly diminished from where it had been and they saw that they could put together a line that would be effective without him. As such they determined they did not have to pay him the exorbitant dollars he was due. Better yet they found a team, Tampa Bay, not only willing to pay that salary but also willing to give the Pats the receiving TE they desperately wanted and they were willing to throw in a pick to complete the deal. Bill Belichick said yes to that deal so fast it made the medias head spin.

    In the Patriots eyes the trade made complete sense and they were proven right. Once Stork was healthy the line has settled down and been great both from a pass protection and run mauling perspective. Wright has been an integral part of the Red Zone offense. As he learns the TE position more and as he puts on more size he will make the two TE sets more dangerous because he has incredibly soft hands, good speed and it appears football smarts. It was not complicated then nor is it complicated now to see why the trade was made. What people like Karen G need to understand is that a player’s popularity does not equate to his ability in Bill Belichick’s eyes. Luckily BB is making the personal decisions devoid of emotion. Why do I say that…because the Pats have their 14th straight winning season and if they stay healthy have a really good shot a winning everything. What more can fans of the team ask for…the Jets roster building or coaching approach…no thank you.

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    1. excellent post there, LTD…. the fact that she wrote, “in some ways it still doesn’t” is mind boggling. I wonder EXACTLY how, “in some ways” it still doesn’t make sense to her? …I’m guessing she didn’t offer details.

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      2. She did not offer details. I think she is still under the delusion that Mankins today is the Mankins of 5 years ago.

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    2. The notion that the Mankins trade still doesn’t make sense or that the Patriots would be better with him still on the team is a joke. I was as a shocked as anyone by the trade when it happened, but to see it in hindsight as anything other than a shrewd move by Belichick and a horrible decision by the Bucs is incomprehensible. I have to assume that members of the local media still questioning the trade aren’t following Mankins’ season or don’t care about the facts. Either explanation is inexcusable.

      Just check the Tampa Bay media’s take on Mankins at this point. Essentially: The guy is a shell of his former self and he is miserable playing for a horrible team (and badly run franchise).

      But, hey, don’t let the truth get in way of a good troll. Mankins is in his prime and underpaid, Wright has shown nothing this season, and that 4th round pick is useless.

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    3. Karen wrote: “and not looking as vulnerable without Mankins as it did earlier in the season”

      Well that’s one way to put it if you can’t get past your previous storyline. Another way to put it is that the Football Outsiders have the Patriots offensive line, in term of pass protection, ranked as the 5th best in the league this season (And 4th best in terms of overall run blocking).

      http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

      If Stork was healthy enough to start from the get-go, the ‘Mankins trade a disaster’ storyline may never have gotten off the ground.

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    4. Logan Mankins may very well be DONE with football after this year. I certainly don’t see him staying in Tampa and battling injuries.

      Bedard had a good counter to the same old BS that DB & YARM have been screaming about the trade all year – he was gonna be released! You didn’t need to trade for him!

      Bedard calmly says – there was a good chance somebody would claim him waivers. The response? Uh…well…uh…..F’in toolbags.

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    1. No chance…none…NADA…zilch…zero. I am not even remotely hedging. There is zero chance the Pats pick this guy up. With the elevator video out there I doubt any team picks him up this year. We will see what happens next year.

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      1. I respectfully disagree. BB. Has mentioned his name to many times in press conferences or his weekly radio station He has known Rice personally. His words. If Rice and his wife can have redemption best place would be here in NE. If he is true to his word and has found Christ and gone thru counseling with his wife. Then he has earned his second chance. Safest place for him is NE.
        The answer is no I’m not a wife beater

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        1. You can disagree all you want. That decision will not be BB’s…it will be Bob Kraft’s and in honor of the memory of his late wife he will not bring Rice in ever. Won’t happen.

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        2. No matter the market, the media stuff alone makes him toxic. If I had to pencil one team in, it’d be the Raiders, but I think they’re set at RB.

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          1. It’s bad enough that some (or maybe it’s just one) media outlets (ESPN Boston) still insist that Aaron Hernandez is a ‘sports’ story and not simply a ‘local news’ (Herald, Globe, Springfield Republican, Worcester Telegram) story…

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          2. I love that ESPN and other outlets refer to AH as “former Patriot TE Aaron Hernandez.” While he is former Patriot, he hasn’t been one for over a year. Why not just “former NFL tight end”? Or former Florida Gator?

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          3. agree…my prediction?….NO TEAM signs Rice this year but somebody will next year. “Fresh start”, get “counseling” let media furor subside a little, all that crap.

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    2. I think the open roster spot is so that both Sealver Siliga and Casey Walker can both fit on the active roster.

      If Jones was waived so that the Pats could sign Rice, it would mean that BB knew that RIce would be reinstated before the news became public.

      Are you confused about the timeline?

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    3. The Gold Standard:

      Patriots promote LB Darius Fleming off practice squad to fill open 53rd spot on roster.

      The promotion of LB Darius Fleming could be indication that LB Chris White, a core special teamer, will be sidelined with ankle injury.

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    4. There’s no organizational need for him. BB has the back he wants — Blount — and a capable backup in Grey. He’d never waste a roster spot on someone who doesn’t fill a team need.

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      1. This one is big and complex. Even if they win it all next week (finally), it will never go away with many in the area. Their image within many hardcores and around the league isn’t good in terms of the Revs. The JJ signing did help but I’ve heard enough people say, and wonder myself, if that wasn’t MLS throwing Kraft a bone to help him get the soccer-specific stadium he’s wanted for years (with a ton of public dollars). To some, here, that problem will never be solved until he sells the team to a separate owner. That’s also a hard one to argue since many other teams are owned by folks who have ‘other interests’, but I’d also say that it’s the market. One huge problem is that, for the foreseeable future, the Revs will always be “5th string” to everything else here, no matter how good (Patriots) or bad (Celtics) the other pro-teams are… with that you also bring up the “soccer in the US” problem. Even as I’ve seen soccer grow, people follow the big European clubs, and will continue to, which hinders MLS interest.

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  27. @McCannSportsLaw Bill Belichick named potential witnesses in Aaron Hernandez trial. He’d have insight on Hernandez’s mental capacity.

    @McCannSportsLaw Massachusetts permits cameras in court so if Bill Belichick testifies in Hernandez trial, you’ll see BB barred from not answering questions.

    Circle jerk going on at 135 Morrissey Blvd.

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  28. 4 minutes into the podcast and Felger is annoyed that nobody is upset the Patriots lost. He’s mad that nobody else seems to be mad about losing. DELETE. Moving on…

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    1. This after writing that the loss was nothing to be concerned about. So he writes what he thinks will be a different take on the game than everyone else, then, when he realizes that everyone feels the same way, he calls an audible and jumps on people for not being upset with the loss. Which he had previously all but said they shouldn’t be upset about. This is what it’s all about. And what people tune in for apparently.
      Oh, and I’m sure The Echo was lockstep in line with the sentiment.

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  29. Why are these blackouts on cable and satellite television still an issue? Get a antenna…problem solved. Free and uncompressed picture quality far superior. As a matter of fact these blackmail attempts by sports networks don’t carry the same weight anymore because more and more people know how to buy an antenna and cut the cord.

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  30. Guys…don’t listen to any sports talk on weeks like this. I don’t. Reading some of the comments below confirms why you shouldn’t. You know how annoying it can be sometimes when the Pats are winning. So they lost and you listen to Felger and get upset with him for being who he always is? You know what the definition of insanity is right?

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Comments are closed.