SZ647

BY JIM DAWSON

DECEMBER 5, 2016

PATRIOTS COMPLETE WIN OVER RAMS 26-10

Pre-game, my brother Brad, Driller Killer and I all agreed that we wanted to see the Pats play a complete game – good offense, defense and special teams. The Patriots then went out and did just that. It wasn’t dominance and submission, but close. LA had 25 total yards in the 1^st half (10 rushing, 15 passing). One 1^st down. 0 for 5 on 3^rd down. For the game, the Patriots (37:57) had the ball almost 16 minutes more than LA (22:03).

The offense used the run (133 yards: Blount 88, Lewis 27 and White 17), and the pass, as Tom Brady hit Hogan for a beautiful back shoulder TD while finding Edelman 8 times (101 yds.) and Mitchell 8 as well (82 yds.).

The defense came through with 4 sacks, many hurries and several deflected passes. Jabaal Sheard hit QB Jared Goff’s arm and Kyle Van Noy intercepted. Chris Long had a sack for the second straight game. Nink has now had a sack vs. LA and one vs. SF.

The Pats D is starting to take shape. Eric Rowe is now the cornerback opposite Butler with Logan Ryan playing the slot (nice early sack). New LBs Shea McClellin (a sack) and Kyle Van Noy (interception) have contributed as has Trey Flowers. DTs Malcom Brown and Alan Branch (yay, no 4-game suspension!) have stuffed the run.

When the Rams defense stiffened in the 2^nd half (down 17-0), Stephen Gostkowski kicked 3 more FGs (4 total) with 2 PATs for the game. The 3 second half FGs were from 45 twice and from 48. Maybe Gostko is back to being his old reliable self. Things not being perfect, it was difficult to see punt returner Cy Jones fumble yet again (sigh!) leading to Amendola replacing him, and subsequently getting hurt (high ankle sprain). I’d rather not see Edelman returning kicks as he’s too valuable (especially with Gronk gone) to risk him getting injured. This bears watching in the Ravens game.

Tom Brady won his 201^st career game to surpass Peyton Manning and now reigns as the QB with the most career wins. He had help as Brady himself recognized. Don’t know if he got hurt (the Rams had a couple guys trying to do that, one put an elbow into TB’s

chest after getting off of him), but his passes were not as crisp or close in the 2nd half.

Now the Baltimore Ravens come into Gillette next Monday. Terrell Suggs and company will be trying to take out Tom Brady. The OL will have its hands full. The Ravens are 1^st in the NFL against the run and 7^th against the pass. This will be a tough game. Go Pats!

LEFTOVERS

There was a wonderful halftime show which celebrated the 2001 Patriots Super Bowl Champions. It was a great gathering of the players who made Patriots history. One of the few not there was Adam Vinatieri (soon to be 44), who is still kicking field goals for the Colts . Also not present were Vrabel, Cox and Izzo (all coaching). Sadly there was one teammate #26, who was in a wheelchair. I searched but could not find out who that was.

Troy Brown was one of three 2001 team captains allowed to speak (Molloy and Bledsoe the others). I was there and know roughly what Troy said. When I tried to get the actual quote, I found that four different sources had four different quotes. So to paraphrase, Troy Brown said: ‘Fifteen years ago, we beat the Greatest Team on Turf. That made us the Greatest Team on F***ing Earth’. Troy must have been channeling David Ortiz.

When Bill Belichick praises a player, Patriots fans take note. So when Belichick lavished such words on Jabaal Sheard, you knew that Sheard is out of the doghouse.

BULLETS

• Tremendous b-ball game between URI and PC. Despite the Rams being ranked #21 in the nation, odds makers had the game as a pick’em. PC won 63-60 as point guard Kyron Cartwright had the game of his life (4 of 6 from 3 point land, 19 points, 8 assists). Where Cartwright carried the team in the 1^st half, Rodney Bullock took over the 2^nd half with 14 points (17 total). PC fan extraordinaire Charlie Clancy predicted the close win.

• The PC-URI game was on Fox. Ex-PC player Dickey Simpkins was decent on analysis . But at the start of the 2^nd half, Simpkins called URI’s Hassan Martin ‘Martin Hassan’.

• To distracted people who walk across the street while looking down at their cells: the life you save might be your own. To the distracted fans walking the Gillette concourse while looking down at their cells: the $12 Bass beer you save might be mine. The cartoonist Wiley (Non Sequitur) has one showing people on the Twitter and Texting Hiking Trail looking down at their cells while walking off a cliff. It’s called ‘Social Media Meets Darwinism.”

E-MAIL

Hi Jim: surprised you didn't mention the heart-in-the-throat moment that Brady found himself the lead blocker when Blount reversed field. As usual, he did a good job of avoiding contact, but it had me out of my seat. Glenn Dewell Good point Glenn, definitely could have mentioned Brady not knowing what to do when Blount reversed field. Fortunately Brady avoided contact which is exactly what he needed to do especially with a gimpy right knee. - Z

Re: Last Issue’s Music Quiz:

Leonard Skynard - Sweet Home Alabama. Too easy. Happy holidays

Rick Poncelet

Right you are Rick. It's Lynyrd Skynyrd. The song I was looking for was Free Bird.

Jim, anyone over 65 knows that the band is Lynyrd Skynyrd! I am guessing the requested song is “Sweet Home Alabama.”

Dave Burlingame

Congratulations Dave, you are correct about the band. The song I was looking for was Free Bird. - Z

Jim, Lynyrd Skynyrd is the band – don’t have a clue about the song. But note that Lynyrd Skynyrd is all  guys (as far as I know)! Rick Nadeau Rick, you are correct. The song I was looking for was Free Bird. While the original band was all male, Cassie Gaines and a couple other women were back up singers for the band (they were called the Honkettes). Cassie Gaines and her brother, guitarist Steve Gaines, died in the 1977 plane crash that also killed lead singer and guitarist Ronnie Van Zant. The other members of the band survived but with serious injuries. - Z

Lynard Skinner - I don't go out so I wouldn't have the experience of song requests - Sweet Home Alabama/What's Your Name/Gimme Three Steps???

Ken Forestal

You are right - it's Lynyrd Skynyrd. The song I was looking for was Free Bird. - Z

Too easy.  Lynard Skynard.  “Play Freebird”.

Matt Dawson

Matt, they can't always be hard to guess. Yes it's Lynyrd Skynyrd and Free Bird. - Z

You're getting soft Jim!!  Free Bird !  Lynyrd Skynyrd !!

Jim Dwyer

Congratulations, Jim, you are right (about the trivia) - Z

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

THE HOT CLUB

Errata:

Last issue in the Hot Club section I mentioned a baseball trivia question that FootJoy asked Mr. Yankee. It should have been “Who was the last switch-hitter to win the AL MVP?” I left out AL which is the way FootJoy asked it. So my faux pas. The answer of course was Oakland A’s pitcher Vida Blue (1971). In the NL, the last switch-hitter to win the NL MVP was the Phillies’ Jimmy Rollins in 2007. Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves did it in 1999. Ken Caminiti did it with the Padres in 1996. FootJoy thinks that Caminiti’s record should have an asterisk.

Stevie ‘Sauce Pan Hands’ stopped by and was telling us about a Santa Claus lapel pin/pull chain that he’s had for 29 years. Pull the chain and Santa pops out of a chimney. Stevie said he once put Roger Clemens over Santa and when you pulled the chain, Roger Clemens popped up with a hypodermic needle.

Four of us were talking when one left. Fleet Feet Pete wondered where he was going. Ernie said, “To talk to the lion.”

Charlie Clancy told me that Friars’ star guard Kris Dunn had accident insurance in case he got hurt while at PC. I mentioned that I heard that Lloyd’s of London stopped doing those injury insurance policies because of huge losses. A check shows that Lloyd’s is still insuring athletes. Per Dennis Dodd/cbssports.com (5/12/16), the NCAA sponsors career-ending insurance. Players who get a disability insurance policy also often get a LOV – loss of draft value policy as a rider.

LAST ISSUE’S QUIZ ANSWER

A lot of you got this one (see E-Mail) – it was Lynyrd Skynyrd, named after high school phys ed teacher Leonard Skinner who browbeat male students with long hair. The song I was looking for was Free Bird, a song often jokingly requested of other bands. It was written as a tribute to Duane Allman. Wikipedia indicates that Al Kooper discovered the band (and produced their 1^st album). And Sweet Home Alabama as a rebuttal to Neil Young’s Southern Man? Neil Young and Ronnie Van Zant were reportedly good friends.

THIS ISSUE’S QUIZ

A switch back to movies. This director had two smashes, one a Western, the other a war movie. Surprisingly he didn’t do much else in his career. Hint: some of the same actors were in both movies. Who was the director? What are the two films?