Scott Cordischi On Sports: Pats Ridiculous Run Continues
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
They are AFC East Champs again.
With Sunday’s victory in Miami, the New England Patriots clinched their 4th straight AFC East title. It’s their 9th division title in the last 10 years and their 10th in the last 12 years.
Yes, this is the golden age of Patriots football. What was once a star-crossed franchise is now model by which all others are measured in the National Football League.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHow did this happen? Three words: Kraft, Belichick and Brady.
It’s no secret that the Patriots have arguably the best owner, the best coach and the best quarterback in the league. And when you have those three things, naturally, you are going to be very successful.
What’s even more amazing about this sensational run that the franchise is on is that for the last 12 years (2001-2012), the Patriots have finished with the best record in their division. Two of those years (2002, 2008) they lost out on the division title by losing tie-breakers to the Jets (2002) and the Dolphins (2008).
Wrap your head around that for a moment if you can. In this day and age where the NFL promotes parity across the board, your New England Patriots have dominated the sport.
Will this dominance last forever? Certainly not. And no one really knows when it will end.
But enjoy it while you can Pats fans because as great as this run has been and continues to be, history tells us that success is only temporary in the National Football League.
-Speaking of the Pats, the hits just keep on coming on the injury front with Julian Edelman now out for the season with a broken foot that may require surgery. The team resigned Donte’ Stallworth Tuesday.
-Dolphins coach Joe Philbin is catching a lot of heat down in South Florida for having his best defensive player Cameron Wake on the sideline for most of the Patriots game-clinching final drive in the 4th quarter. Philbin’s excuse was that he limits the amount of snaps each player receives during a game to keep them fresh. That’s sounds good in theory, but with the game on the line, wouldn’t you rather have your best players on the field to decide it? Just asking.
-I think that San Antonio Spurs head coach Greg Popovich has the right to run his team any way that he wants to despite what David Stern says. While I feel for the average fan who may have spent his or her hard-earned money on tickets to go see stars like Duncan, Ginobli and Parker play in Miami, it’s clear that the NBA and all of the other pro sports leagues don’t. When you look at how astronomical the prices are for tickets, parking and concessions as pro sporting events, the concern for the “average” fan went out the window along time ago. If Stern and the league were that concerned about them, they would do something to make it more affordable for hard-working Americans to attend one of their games.
-And, by the way, wouldn’t it have been great if the Spurs actually had pulled off the upset of the Heat without all of those star players? It almost happened!
-Former Temple coach Steve Addazio will be introduced Wednesday as the new head football coach at Boston College. Addazio was the offensive coordinator for Urban Myer at the University of Florida where he coached Tim Tebow.
-Having just returned from a few days in South Florida, it makes me dislike New England winters even more. Although we are off to a nice mild start to December which is nice.
-Aqib Talib did not look good in Miami Sunday. Dolphins receiver Brian Hartline was open more often than not when Talib was attempting to cover him.
-PC-URI may not get the juices flowing this year, but wait until next season!
-Cox Sports and OSN deserve lots of credit for their live coverage of high school football this fall with their “Game Night” broadcasts.
-For those heading to Gillette Stadium for Monday night’s Patriots-Texans game, the team will honor former left tackle Matt Light at halftime of that contest.
-In case you missed it, Tom Brady is the first quarterback in NFL history to win 10 division titles.
-I don’t miss the NHL right now, but next April I will if the Stanley Cup Playoffs aren’t around. That is, unless there is some meeting of the minds real soon.
-Raise your hand if you had Northern Illinois playing in The Orange Bowl against Florida State before the college football season started.
-Speaking of the bowl games, there aren’t a lot of match-up’s that excite me this year including the BCS title game between Alabama and Notre Dame.
-Although I will be watching this year’s Pinstripe Bowl with my alma mater Syracuse taking on West Virginia in a renewal of an old Big East rivalry.
-And while we’re on the subject, shouldn’t the new Big East in 2014 just change their name to Conference USA?
-In case you're wondering, I voted for Texas A&M freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel (aka Johnny Football) for this year's Heisman Trophy Award.
-$39 million for Shane Victorino and $39 million for Mike Napoli. Who said that the Red Sox weren’t going to spend big bucks on free agents this offseason?
-Apparently Hall of Famer Robin Yount pulled a Dick Cheney on Cubs manager Dale Sveum when he shot Sveum in the ear while hunting in Arizona.
-Getting kicked out of a game was a tough was for Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo to have his consecutive double-digit assist games streak broken.
-I haven’t gone out to purchase my “Holiday Tree” yet, have you?
-And to all my Jewish friends, have you purchased your “Holiday Menorah?”
-We should learn quite a bit about this year’s Patriots team over the next two weeks when they host the AFC-leading Houston Texans Monday night followed by a home game against San Francisco the following week on “Sunday Night Football.”
-While former Chiefs LB Jovan Belcher clearly had some issues, my heart bleeds for the family of his slain girlfriend Kasandra Perkins and their 3-month old girl Zoey who will never get to know her mother or father. They are the ones who deserve our sympathy.
-Rest in peace Rick Majerus. The 64-year old was not only a great college basketball coach and St. Louis and Utah, he was also quite a character who the sport will miss dearly.
-10 bucks to the first person who can tell me, without looking it up, who is playing in the Beef O’Brady’s, Famous Idaho Potato and GoDaddy.com Bowls.
-Me thinks that Jets fans may have seen the last of Mark Sanchez?
-Maybe I’ll just go with a “Festivus Pole” this year. In the words of Frank Costanza, “I find tinsel very distracting.”
