SZ640

BY JIM DAWSON

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

FROM LAUGHER TO NAIL-BITER

Sailing along with TDs on their first 3 possessions, the Patriots, guided by Jimmy Garoppolo, were in total control. And then Kiko Alonso nailed Garoppolo at 4:57 of the 2^nd quarter. Garoppolo fell on his right, throwing shoulder and a wave of nausea hit the fans. My first thought was ‘That could have been Brady’.

So the Jimmy G era has ended for the time being (hope he’s back soon, but I doubt he plays even that game #4 against the Bills). And so began the Jacoby Brissett era (and aren’t you glad the Pats drafted him). Of course, Tom Brady’s precarious position had something to do with another QB being drafted.

The Pats scored a FG after Jimmy G was grounded and were up by 3 TDs at the half (24-3). In the 3^rd quarter Blount Force Trauma, who ran over, hurdled and hammered his way to 123 yards (many at crucial points in the 2^nd half), scored from 9 yards out and the team led by 28. A 4 touchdown lead, compadres. The way the Defense had been playing in the 1^st half, few fans had qualms about losing this game. The Dolphins hadn’t gotten a first down until 10:02 of the 2^nd quarter.

Then the game turned. The Dolphins started airing it out, and the D seemed to let down. After Miami made it 31-10, the Pats ran 7 plays. The Dolphins scored another TD 31-14.

Next possession, the Pats were driving when LG Joe Thuney had a costly holding call that changed the ball from being at Miami’s 28 to their 45 and it was 2^nd and 15. Brissett was sacked on the next play and a FG chance was missed. The Pats had the ball for 8 plays. Defense back on the field. Miami then made it 31-24 and the crowd was restless.

The Pats had the ball with 6:06 left. They then drove down, using battering ram Blount,

and were in position for a 39-yard field goal. A sure thing for Gostkowski. Except he missed wide right. The drive however left Miami with no timeouts and 64 seconds left on the clock.

For Pats fans, that 64 seconds lasted an eternity. Fans were able to exhale finally when Tannehill, throwing from the Pats 29, was intercepted in the end zone by Duron Harmon with 2 seconds left.

A laugher became a nightmarish nail-biter win. 31-24. Only 1 score in the 2^nd half (TD).

The Patriots are 2-0. They won the first game on a missed 47-yard FG. They won Sunday on a last minute interception. The Houston Texans are a formidable opponent and since the game is on Thursday, it’s a very short week to prepare. Do the Pats bring in a veteran backup QB? Fans knew that when Brissett went in, the backup QB was Julian Edelman, who played QB at Kent State.

Several Patriots are banged up. Chung and Collins for example. Little time to heal. Little time to prepare Jacoby Brissett. This looks like a sure loss. It may not be because the Patriots are inventive and resilient. Coach ’em up, Bill, Scar, Matt P and Josh!

STATS (from Gamebook)

Ryan Tannehill, whom the Pats’ pass D made look like Johnny U in the 3^rd and 4^th quarters, had but 116 yards in the 1^st half. He had 389 for the game. 273 yards in the 2^nd half! Tannehill was also the Dolphins’ leading rusher (6 rushes, 35 yards).

The Dolphins had 2 sacks but just 2 QB hits. NE had no sacks but 3 QB hits with Chris Long having 2 (Sheard had the other). Long played well and had a tackle for a loss and ran down field to pounce on a fumble. Big man – big plays.

Punter Ryan Allen had a so so day. He had 4 punts which averaged 32 yards. Two however went to the Miami 14. The others were to Miami’s 22 and 26.

An article in Sunday’s Globe by Ben Volin quoted Bill Belichick as saying that the Pats would rather kick short and have a return rather than give the opponent the ball at the 25 (new rule). Stephen Gostkowski did not get the message. He had touchbacks on 5 of 6 kickoffs. And he missed a chip shot FG that would have iced the game. More practice!

A portent of future trouble was when the Patriots’ defense allowed the Dolphins to go from their own 19 to the Pats 9 in the 58 seconds before half. Miami got a 27-yard FG.

The most telling stat? The Patriots had the ball for 36:46 to 23:14. An edge of 13:42!

RED SOX

Great to see the BoSox beat the Yankees 4 out of 4, coming back from behind in 3 of them. #13 has been en fuego. Have never seen Hanley Ramirez take over a game like he has of late. 12 home runs in 21 games! 29 RBI in 21 games!

Now the BoSox face the rival closest to them in the standings – the Baltimore Orioles. A four game set. On the road. To be followed by 3 versus Tampa Bay and 3 vs the Yanks before coming home for 3 vs. Toronto. Go Red Sox. The prize is in sight.

BULLETS

• Bill Flanagan, a Patriots’ season ticket holder, sits next to me. Sunday I was telling him pre-game about a recent trip to Fenway Park with Driller Killer. The woman behind me (who was no kid) could not complete a sentence without using the “F” word. I wanted to turn around and say something about her trash mouth but let it go. On hearing this, Bill said, “Profanity is the crutch of the conversational cripple.”

• Congratulations to ProJo sportswriter Jim Donaldson who is taking a buyout and retiring after 40 years working his labor of love. Often times I was on the opposite side of Donaldson’s takes and would fire off a letter to the Journal. When he was covering a very bad Patriots team, he admitted to spending the second half of a game in his car. As a long time Pats fan who suffered through 1-15 and 2-14 years, I was incensed and wrote the paper. In 2010, when the NCAA basketball tournament was in Providence, I spotted Donaldson sitting outside. He had just done a piece in which he referred to Bryant College. I yelled over to him that it was Bryant University now. His response was that I was lucky that he even mentioned Bryant. Hats off to Jim Donaldson.

• The LA Rams have scored 9 points in two games and are 1-1.

• The Lions won on the road vs the Colts but lost at home to the Titans 16-15. 17 penalties for 138 yards helps explain the loss as Tennessee scored 13 points in the 4^th qtr.

• The Bucs’ Jameis Winston threw 4 TDs in a win over Atlanta. Versus the Cardinals, a tougher team, Winston was 27 of 52 with 4 INTs and 1 TD pass.

• Per Ben Volin (Globe – 9/18), the Patriots are the 8^th youngest team in the NFL (average age of 25.68). The oldest is the Ravens (26.77). The Browns’youngest (25.06).

E-MAIL

Quiz, How about Harold Dorman? Mountain of Love, covered by Johnny Rivers. Longshot. Thanks for sending the "ZINE".

David Annese

Good guess, David, But No. - Z

Jim, I'm guessing Roy Orbison or maybe Bobby Vinton.

Dave Burlingame

Dave, couple good guesses but not the right one. Thanks for reading. - Z

Johnny Burnette - Ricky Nelson - Dreamin’

Ken Forestal

Kenny, good guess but No. - Z

Gonna say Del Shannon for the answer to the Quiz.

Baseball's done out here on the Western Slope for this summer.  Managed to attend 4 games for the Grand Junction Rockies (Single A) and got to see the #1 draft pick for Colorado of this past year.  A 19 year old kid by the name of Riley Pint from Kansas, throws 90-96 on the gun; just graduated from high school this June and went 1-5 for the short (about 62 games) season out here in an eight team league from Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Colorado.  Not bad baseball for a small town.  I waited about 30 years for a pro team to be situated here and it finally happened five years ago.  What the heck?  9 bucks for a game?  Dollar hot dog promotion nights?  It's Bull Durham in the flesh!  The stadium is small and they average about 1,500 per game; nothing fancy but you can sit anywhere you want to throughout the game.  It's McCoy in 1967.

Rooting for the Sox to win it all for David Ortiz and send him out in style.  Pedroia is scorching since they moved him to leadoff; greatly improved the whole batting lineup I think.  
Rockies are done...again...how pathetic can it get?  They are the new Cubs of the Western division of the National League; although their 3rd baseman (Arenado) should someday be a MVP.  The boy is a really good player and I think it's only his 4th season in the league.  3 gold gloves, 2 all stars, and a silver slugger.  Keep an eye on him if the Sox ever need a third baseman.
Bill LaPlante

Bill, you are correct. It’s Del Shannon.

Minor league ball is great to see. We are fortunate to have the PawSox. Yeah I would like to see the Red Sox go all the way in Ortiz' final season. We can only hope that they survive John Farrell, who last night didn't pinch hit for Hanigan in a crucial spot with 3 catchers on the bench (Editor’s Note – the 2^nd game vs Baltimore)! Double play. And then after taking a big chance with Noe Ramirez in the 8th, Farrell is stupid enough to bring him back in the 9th. Home run. Down 2 in the 9th is tough enough but down 3 with a closer (Zach Britton) who has yet to blow a save? - Z

Sportzine is available at jimdawsonsports.com thanks to Buffalo Steve Lenz

THE HOT CLUB

The Hot Club aquarium now has water in it. Is it salt water or fresh? No fish yet, though. Word is that Eben Bates likes aquariums and has one at home. These may be some different fishing stories, we’re about to learn.

Rob played a song on the HC juke box and I recognized the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Buffalo Steve said a good dish would be Black-Eyed Peas with Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Told some of the gang about taking my daughter Cara to a restaurant at Patriots Place where I discovered a new craft beer (new to me). On draft, they had Clown Shoes. It was a double IPA. Later I learned that the brewery is in Ipswich, Mass. and the beer has an ABV of 9. The one I had is called Space Cake. More than a couple of these (I just had a couple) and you would be wearing the clown shoes.

Foot Joy and I were talking about the Red Sox and I said that their best coaches were Brian ‘Butter’ Butterfield, who has done a great job with the infielders, especially Hanley Ramirez, and Chili Davis, who has helped the team’s hitters out, especially the youngsters. Foot Joy agreed and before I could utter it, added assistant hitting coach Victor Rodriguez. Yes absolutely. Victor is 1A.

ANSWER TO LAST ISSUE’S QUIZ

So who was the singer who had several hits in the ’60’s including a #1, a #5 and a #9, went into decline but was about to be recognized when another artist put out a cover of his #1 hit and sadly, did not live to enjoy a comeback? Why Del Shannon (Charles Weedon Westover). Only Bill LaPlante had the right answer. Runaway featured a Musitron (early synthesizer) played by Max Crook. Bonnie Raitt did a cover of Shannon’s Runaway in 1977, and Del committed suicide Feb. 8, 1990, so I was wrong about that time sequence (my apologies for that error).

THIS ISSUE’S QUIZ

This singer/songwriter started as a folkie and wrote a huge hit for Harry Nilsson, which won Nilsson a Grammy. The folkie had a better career as a songwriter than performer (he worked in the Brill Building). Wrote songs for Roy Orbison and It’s a Beautiful Day and even played guitar on the demo of Bobby Darin’s Dream Lover. Name?