Scott Cordischi On Sports: NFL, Pats Camp Arrives Not A Moment Too Soon
Thursday, July 26, 2012
In the words of the Barack Obama-hating Hank Williams Jr., “are you ready for some football?”
For most American sports fans, the answer to that question is a resounding “abso-freaking-lutely!”
This is especially true here in New England where the Boston Red Sox have become the Boston “Dead Sox” in the eyes of most local sports fans. To say that no one cares about the Sox at this point in the season would be an understatement.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBut fear not, New England, your Patriots are back in town!
Patriots’ training camp officially opens today with the team’s first workout to be held in Foxboro from 1:30-4pm. There is much anticipation both locally and nationally for the defending AFC champs with many picking the Pats as the team to beat in 2012.
There are many reasons to like New England this year. As always, start with the fact that Tom Brady remains the starting quarterback and Bill Belichick the head coach. They are the winningest coach-quarterback combo in the history of the National Football League.
But it’s more than just Brady and Belichick that have Pats’ fans excited about the upcoming season. It’s their terrific tight end tandem of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez which has proven to be virtually unstoppable for opposing defenses the past couple of seasons. It’s veteran wide receiver Wes Welker who has more catches than any other receiver in the league over the last 5 seasons. It’s veteran wide receiver Deion Branch who many believe is fighting for spot on the roster but whose chemistry with Brady is unmatched. And, it’s the addition of the super-talented Brandon Lloyd to the receiver corps who seemed to be on the same page with Brady from day one in mini camp last month.
On the defensive side of the football, there is still plenty of concern. Statistically, the Pats ranked 31st out of 32 teams on that side of the ball last season and, again, failed to get consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
The hope is that the team’s defensive-oriented draft will help correct some of those issues. First round picks Chandler Jones (DE – Syracuse) and Dont’a Hightower (LB – Alabama) will have a chance to play immediately, although it is somewhat unusual for rookies to come in and start on a Belichick-coached defense.
The secondary is also a concern once again but some of their recent failures can be directly tied to the lack of a pass rush. Third year defensive back Devon McCourty needs to play more like he did in his rookie season as opposed to last year for the Pats. And, having a healthy Patrick Chung anchoring the defense from his safety position should be a big help.
In two weeks, the Pats will play their first preseason game at home against the New Orleans Saints with their season-opener just 44 days away (September 9th) at Tennessee.
The 2012 NFL season can’t come soon enough!
-Joseph Addai, we hardly knew ya! The Pats released the veteran running back Wednesday after he reportedly failed his physical with the team. Addai had signed a 1-year deal with the team in May and will take home $125,000 despite never having played a single game for the Pats. Look for second year running backs Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen to battle it out for the leading role in the backfield during training camp with a strong possibility of the two splitting the duties at that position this season.
-Did you see where old friend Chad (please don’t call me Ocho Cinco) Johnson said that it was the Patriots’ fault for his poor performance last year? Here’s what the Miami Dolphins’ receiver said recently about his stint with the Pats. "I'm going back to my normal ways," Johnson told the Miami Herald. "My normal ways, when I was at my best, when I got fined, look at the production those years. Usually things don't go right when you try to change the way you do things. I'm back to normal. My personality was controlled last year. You didn't hear me at all last year. Zero. Zilch. When my mouth is running, it forces me to perform. It's never been vindictive. I never got anybody in trouble. ... When I can be me, I am loose. Everything just flows for me, whether it's the style of play, the way I learn." I didn’t realize that it was much easier to catch passes by flapping your gums. I’m sure his 15-catch season had nothing to do with the fact that he could never adapt his game to the precision timing of the Patriots’ offensive scheme. It must have been his inability to express himself that limited his productivity. Yeah, right!
-Our economy may still be hurting with high unemployment and many small businesses are struggling to survive. But apparently Major League Baseball is doing just fine. How else do you explain the Philadelphia Phillies giving pitcher Cole Hamels a 6-year, $144 million contract?
-Injuries, bad luck, some other reason? You want to know why the 2012 Boston Red Sox have underachieved? Three words – Beckett and Lester. Boston’s alleged “aces” have been brutal this season! After last night’s start by Beckett in Texas, the Red Sox are a combined 11 games under .500 in games started by the two pitchers and 10 games over .500 in games started by everyone else. If these two clowns were pitching anywhere close to the level expected of them and that which they are paid to perform, Boston would not only be leading the Wild Card race, they would also be neck and neck with the Yankees for first place in the American League East. The sad part is that they were expected to pitch well this season after last September’s debacle. We assumed that the two would pitch with a bit of a chip on their shoulders this year to try to silence the critics and win back Red Sox Nation. Instead, they are pitching as poorly as they did last September when they led the team into their season-ending spiral which resulted in an historic collapse.
-But Red Sox owner John Henry isn’t worried. His Liverpool FC soccer team played in front of 37,169 fans at Fenway Park Wednesday night in their 2-1 loss to AS Roma. He also has two Springsteen concerts scheduled for Fenway next month. I wonder if Henry will have his PR staff add last night’s sell-out to the Red Sox fraudulent 765-consecutive game sell-out streak?
-Take the money and my love of baseball out of the mix and the one person I would not want to be right now is Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine.
-Am I the only one who had no clue that the word “Monday” was actually a racial slur towards African-Americans? Until this whole ordeal with Carl Crawford and the Leominster police officer who allegedly used the slur on Crawford at a minor league game, I honestly had no idea. As for the latest on that police officer, his boss - the chief of police in Leominster - has recommended to the Mayor that he be fired because of his apparent use of racial slurs on multiple occasions.
-Unless Visanthe Shiancoe can put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, I’m not sure why Bill Belichick and the Patriots felt the need to sign another tight end.
-Did you see where the Patriots have the easiest schedule in the NFL this year? Based upon 2011 records, New England plays the softest schedule of all 32 NFL teams this season with only 4 quality opponents (teams that won 9 or more games last year) on their 16-game regular season schedule. The combined record of New England’s opponents last year was 116-140 (.453 winning %) which is, by far, the easiest in the league. Don’t blame the Pats, though. The league schedule is predetermined as each team plays two games against their division opponents and one game against all the teams from one other AFC division (AFC South this season) and one NFC division (NFC West this year). The two other games on the schedule are determined by your order of finish the previous season. Since the Pats finished first in the AFC East, they will play the teams that finished in first place in the other two AFC divisions. They are the Baltimore Ravens who won the AFC North and the Denver Broncos who won the AFC West.
-In the wake of NCAA sanctions against his football program, new head coach Bill O’Brien confirmed his commitment to Penn State and the university has been forced to make an additional commitment to him. As part of the contract O’Brien signed with the school, his deal was to be extended for as many seasons as it was sanctioned for issues related to the previous staff. In this case, the NCAA penalized Penn State football for 4 years so O’Brien receives a 4-year extension adding the years 2017-2020 to his current deal. The contract calls for his compensation in those 4 years to match the compensation his deal calls for in the 2016 season.
-I’m all about small government and not taking away the rights and freedoms of American citizens, but in the wake of the Aurora, Colorado shootings you have to wonder if it’s necessary to make assault rifles available for purchase to the general public? A pistol is one thing, but an assault rifle?
-GoLocalProv’s “Greatest Athletes In Rhode Island History” series this week is an eye-opener for those who didn’t realize how many great athletes have actually come out of this state. In looking over all of the cities and towns in the state, Woonsocket may have been the city to produce the most top-notch athletes.
-Rumor has it that PC has hired an attorney to act on behalf of the school and Ricky Ledo in his efforts to get cleared by the NCAA clearing house.
-Try to think of the last time you used a rotary dial telephone. I must admit, I’m having a hard time remembering, myself. Then again, it’s hard to remember the days when we didn’t have cell phones, the internet and cable television.