Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Patriots win and More Robots

Well that was a long night of watching football!

New England Patriots Win
A stunning 45-3 win last night by the New England Patriots over the rival New York Jets! Tom Brady was in full command of the game, and as I have written before, when he is on like that it is good night.

It was a huge win but no one should get crazy here. The Patriots have a defense with tons of holes and they are much better at home than on the road. The Patriots are a very good team playing good football. The Jets seemed overwhelmed and all the hype before the game may have spooked them. I do not think the Jets are anywhere near as bad as they looked last night.

I want to eat crow about the Randy Moss trade a while back. I thought that move would hurt the Pats, but they have been more dynamic on offense ever since. Moss just goes straight down the field, Deion Branch is able to run all kind of routes to drive cornerbacks crazy. Branch burnt Antonio Cromartie repeatedly last night, while Cromartie usually shuts down Moss. I was wrong.

Real Steel Film
Seems I am not the only one who thinks robots will take over the Earth! In a new film that I am very interested in seeing the future boxers are high tech robots! Sounds interesting indeed:
Real Steel
Hugh Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.

io9 has a nice round up of news as well:
We were already excited for Real Steel, Hugh Jackman's movie about robot boxers pounding each other to scrap — but now we've read the script, and we're twice as stoked. This is the robo-rumble you've been waiting for. Spoilers below.
Click on over for more details.

Have a good night.

5 comments:

GawainsGhost said...

Don't be so hard on yourself about the Moss trade, GYSC. It ended up being good for the team. New England got a 3rd round draft pick for him, and the Patriots' production has increased since he left. That's a win-win for your home team.

By contrast, Minnesota released him after only a month, then fired their coach. Similarly, Tennesse hasn't won a game since they signed him. And I believe he only has one catch.

Surprising, really, but not all that much. I've never considered Moss to be an elite receiver, and I'm glad Dallas passed on him in the draft.

Speaking of the Cowboys, I get into this argument all the time with my friends and other fans. They all keep saying how great Bill Parcells was and how he turned the team around. No, he wasn't, and no, he didn't.

Look. Parcells needed money to settle his divorce. Jerry Jones needed a name coach to sell his new stadium (which sucks by the way). Both got what they wanted. Left out of the equation was a winning team.

Did Parcells ever win a division title? No. Did he ever win a playoff game? No. In fact, he's never won one without Bill Belichick.

Did he address the problems along the offensive line? No. Did he address the quarterback position? No. Did he address the safety and linebacker and cornerback positions? No.

What he did do was recycle failed free agents from losing teams past, his pet cats, so they could have one last contract at the expense of Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys. Most of his draft picks were busts, are either backups on other teams or out of the league entirely. Only a handful became starters for the Cowboys.

He dumped a No. 1 ranked 4-3 in favor of an ill-suited 3-4 that Dallas did not and still does not have the personnel to run effectively, even after multiple drafts. He hung around long enough for Mike Zimmer, Sean Payton and Todd Haley to leave. Then he raided the coaching staff and scouting department when he went to Miami for yet another failed venture.

The man is a ruiner of teams, not a builder of them. Every team he's been involved with since the Giants--Patriots, Jets, Cowboys, Dolphins--enjoyed a temporary surge after he left, then collapsed shortly thereafter.

All of the problems Dallas is experiencing now are the same as when he came in. So to me for anyone to say that Bilge Poorsmells is some sort of savior really is a joke, and one in bad taste at that.

Belichick knows what he's doing. New England will have more draft picks in the top 100 next year than any other team, just as they have for the last two drafts. He's installing a system, building a team to win in the long term, not in the immediate future. He does not overpay players, but prefers to churn the roster. That's how successful franchises do it.

By contrast, the Dallas Cowboys are wallowing in mediocrity, because Jerry Jones is an idiot possessed of a demon.

EconomicDisconnect said...

Gawains,
I think IF the Cowboys can get better coaching (maybe Garret is the answer?) they have a roster that is Superbowl worthy. It seems mental issues get in their way most times. Maybe Cowher could be had, or better Gruden?

GawainsGhost said...

I'm not sold on Garrett. To me he's just another Jerry sock puppet. I question his player evaluations and personnel groupings that don't seem to match the play called. I also question his play calling.

I don't want Cowher or Gruden. Look at your history. Numerous coaches who have won Super Bowls went on to later coach other teams. How many of them have then won Super Bowls? None. That's right, a big fat 0.

So that's not the direction I want to go. I would prefer a young defensive coordinator, someone like Rod Marinelli in Chicago or Ron Rivera in San Diego, or a young college head coah, like Jim Harbaugh, who has enjoyed success and knows how to build a team and run an organization. Bring him in, let him hire his own staff, install his own system and give him total control over player personnel. Then stay with him.

It worked with Tom Landry. It also worked with Bill Belichick. Those are two of the most successful coaches of the last 50 years.

But it's sort of like a blowjob from Angelina Jolie. I'm not going to get it.

Anonymous said...

McDonalds version of Keynesian economics. In order to get through tough times, create your own stimulus package -- roll out the McRib!!!


"NEW YORK (AP) -- McDonald's Corp. says a key sales figure rose 4.8 percent in November, helped in the U.S. by the popularity of the limited-time McRib sandwich."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/McRib-boosts-McDonalds-apf-2804260828.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode=

EconomicDisconnect said...

Anon,
if you search the site you will see a McRib post not too long ago!