The Cardiac Kids are back

Stephen Gostkowski: The Patriots Secret MVP

My beloved New England Patriots played their first game of the season today against the Buffalo Bills and it was...not at all what I expected. They were 10.5 point favorites, everyone (including myself) expected them to roll over the Bills...and sure enough, they didn't whatsoever. In fact, the game was about as intense as you can get...and it was everything I wanted from my guys. Especially considering they won 25 to 24.

See, the weird thing about the Patriots for me is that for the entire time I've been a fan of them (since 1993...but who's counting?) they've played games down to the wire and made everything exciting. This isn't something that most people would like, but I loved them for it. I called them "the Cardiac Kids" as every game they played felt like a heart attack. Except, you know...a good heart attack. Like a heart attack of happy.

In 2007 though, they annihilated all competition (besides the Super Bowl that year, which was mysteriously canceled) and went undefeated. It felt weird. Sure, winning everything by 30 was fun and exciting in its own way, but I sort of missed games being close. Plus, our games were always turned off because of enormous leads. Last year wasn't the same as my boy Tom Brady was out all year because of injury, but it brought the return of the Cardiac Kids to a degree (a somewhat unhealthy degree).

But tonight with five and half minutes left with the Patriots struggling, Tom Brady looking hesistant, star linebacker Jerod Mayo hurting, and the score being Buffalo 24 and the Pats 13, they remembered who they were.

They were the Cardiac Kids, damn it, and it was time to start acting like it.

Sure enough a classic Tom Brady 4th quarter drive led to a touchdown, and then they kicked it deep when many teams would try for the onside kick. Jon Gruden (announcing his first regular season Monday Night Football game) questioned it, but sure enough the Pats sent it deep and the combo of Brandon Meriweather and Pierre Woods managed to strip the Bills kick returner with the hero of the night Stephen Gostkowski (the kicker!) recovering it.

Two minutes left. Three time outs. Thirty yards to go.

Come on now...it's Tom Brady. You know how the rest went.

Sure, this may have been exponentially more stressful than other games (I was making Twitter updates throughout, to the point that someone asked if I had multiple personalities or that I was just WAY too into football) but I loved it. It was exciting, it was intense, it was classic Patriots football. They were the Cardiac Kids again.

Just the way I like it.

Hank Williams...stop asking stupid questions

I'm looking forward to Randy and Jabari recreating this picture

If Barack Obama wanted to do something to make me happy, he'd make the opening Thursday of the NFL season a national holiday. I mean, I really don't think that's asking too much. I know it's not a big deal for denizens of locations outside of Alaska, but we get pretty much screwed up here. Basically, if you work the classic 9 to 5 job, you're missing out on a full quarter of sweet, sweet opening day action between the Tennessee Titans and the Pittsburgh Steelers!

Complete shenanigans if you ask me. Let's get that national holiday in line so I don't have to miss a single snap.

Regardless I'm jazzed for the first game of the season. To me, there is football season and then there is summer time and then there are the other two seasons which I don't even want to think about right now. As long as I have those two things going, my cup runneth over with excitement.

My New England Patriots are looking fantastic, with new players like Derrick Burgess, Shawn Springs, Leigh Bodden, Fred Taylor, Greg Lewis, Julian Edelman, Ron Brace and others bolstering a roster that already includes superstars like the returning Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker and burgeoning defensive stalwarts like Brandon Meriweather and Jerod Mayo. Sure, we may have lost Richard Seymour (in a complete decimation of a trade with the Oakland Raiders - potential top 5 pick for an aging star? Yes please), Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi and Matt Cassell, but I still feel great about this season. I'm feeling Super Bowl great.

Let's hope the Pats are as well.

Welcome back football. I sure did miss you.

The end of an era?

Goodbye Mike!

Alright, that title is obviously overly dramatic. The Patriots are not going away in any way, shape or form. In fact, after the moves we made, it sets us up to be even better (and younger) than last year. However, after the Patriots dealt 2008 hero Matt Cassel and long time favorite Mike Vrabel for the 34th pick in this years draft, it kind of feels like a big part of our identity is missing.

Not so much with Cassel, but Vrabel really is the personification of the Bill Belichick way. Gritty, versatile, durable, and eminently coachable, Mike Vrabel plays football the way it is supposed to be played. Need him to line up as a down lineman off the edge? He's got that. Inside linebacker? Outside linebacker? No problem. Hell, tight end on goal line plays? You betcha coach. He does it all, and he does it all well, and it's going to be sad seeing him play for the Chiefs next year (in the theorized universe where the Chiefs are actually broadcasted on television).

Cassel is a joy also, and was the savior of 2008 after Tom Brady got hurt. It's good to see him get the opportunity though, as with Brady back (and you have to assume his recovery is going well considering the Pats dealt Cassel) he just wouldn't have the opportunity.

No less, like I said, I'm excited about the future for the Pats. Perhaps I'm just making lemonade out of lemons, but dealing a QB with clear physical tools but inflated stats due to his system and supporting cast and an aging linebacker for a high pick and tons of cap space isn't all bad. There is already word that the Pats will likely make a run at one of the linebackers in the market, from Julius Peppers to Ray Lewis, or even Jonathan Vilma in a trade for picks. They have a ton of cap space, and people have speculated that they may go for TJ Houshmandzadeh to replace Jabar Gaffney (I don't buy it, but you never know). Plus, with four picks in the first 2 rounds (and 5 in the first 89 picks), they have a lot of room to move up or get younger support very quickly.

In short, it's not doomsday. It's actually a brand new day for the Patriots, and perhaps even a better one than the day before.

I hope at least. Let's hope I'm not just deluding myself, because that's totally possible.

No Christmas present for me

Thanks for nothing guys

For my team, the New England Patriots, to make the playoffs they needed a couple things to happen. They needed to win their game (they did 13 to 0) and they needed either Baltimore to lose to the Jaguars (not going to happen) or the Dolphins to lose to the Jets. That was a possibility.

While watching the game, it seemed perfectly possible, as the defense of the Jets held the Dolphins to 24 points and overall they were moving the ball well enough. I was starting to actually think the Pats may make it.

Of course, I forgot that Brett Favre was the Jets QB, and it all went downhill from there. The Pats season went up in smoke as "Evil Brett" came out to play, throwing three interceptions (including two absolutely stupid ones - one for a backbreaking touchdown return by the Dolphins) and making all kinds of other stupid decisions (not to Brett: bounce passes are legal in basketball, not football).

In a season that was at best troubled for Brett, he ended the season with a one game representation of his entire season. Sure he occasionally made good plays, but he killed his team with the stupid ones that surrounded them. Just goes to show you that Brett really is the ultimate feast or famine player, as today he not only killed the Jets season but the Patriots one as well.

Let's hope he retires, as the path of destruction he left behind may be the legacy he deserves. Congrats to Chad Pennington on getting the ultimate revenge, and here's pulling for the Dolphins, Falcons, and Cardinals in the playoffs (although to be fair, none of them really have a chance).

I'm a commercial boy

Unsurprisingly, on no day do I spend more time in front of the TV than on Sunday. Considering I'm a maven of football, I gorge myself on every down, taking in every play (at least if it's the Patriots) as if this is the most important play of the game. There is a rotating lineup of people watching with me every week, consisting of Amy, Jason, Hannah, and Colver, and the shared laziness and football watching leads to great days.

Of course, the volume we take in leads to something else.

Commercial domination.

Seemingly every week during a game we're inspired to do something or the other during the game by the commercials we see. Example: week 1, Jason, Amy, and myself are watching at my place. After eight straight hours of being bombarded with commercials about Bud Light with Lime (or BLL as Jason calls it) and Taco Bell's Volcano Tacos, in the break between the early afternoon game and the late afternoon game (or late afternoon game and early evening game for most of you) I collected around six Volcano Tacos and Jason picked up a sixer of BLL.

They were consumed very quickly.

This week was no different, as repeated "Nuggnuts" commercial from McDonald's led to Jason and I both downing ten piece nuggets (as collected by the incredibly giving Hannah) while we watched a movie.

It's funny how I find myself commenting on some commercials, openly asking "who would be suckered by something like this?" and then on others I am completely overcome and lose all sense about the situation and must purchase that item immediately. Maybe it's a volume thing, as some commercials really get slammed home after a while. Probably not. It's probably just a delicious thing, as nuggets, BLL, and Volcano Tacos are freaking tasty man.

With that said, see below for the best commercial ever. I may not purchase Guitar Hero World Tour after watching it, but I definitely appreciate what it has to offer.

The Weekend Edition

Another weekend down, and another great one in the books. This one was definitely spotlighted by big events on all three days of the weekend, and it was a great second to last weekend to my very good friend Kim. She moves next Monday to Portland but we're throwing a party for her next weekend and it's going to be legendary. No less, this weekend was great too (but perhaps not legendary). What'd I do?

• Debate party! (Amy, Colver, Lorna, Jason, Hannah, and Jesse came over to watch McCain/Obama duke it out and eat Moose's Tooth pizza and drink their tasty brew as well)
• Coffee with sister and niece (delicious and fun)
• Taking my niece Emily off my sister's hands for 2.5 hours while she saw a movie (which was actually really fun - put my niece into slave labor bagging and boarding comics, had Benny's, watched the Spiderwick Chronicles)
• Frisbee Golf for probably the last time for a while (I will miss you!)
• Dinner out at Hannah's sister Kim's place
• Drinks at the Avenue with Amy (weird night, but fun!)
• Football Sunday (Amy made biscuits and gravy + orange chicken for Jason, Colver, and I!)
• Sleeping ELEVEN HOURS on Sunday night

So yeah, this one was packed of great events, plus I somehow managed to fall asleep at 8:30 PM and not get up until 6:45 AM (with a bit of a wakeful period to transition to my bed) which was both very needed and ridiculously awesome. I was crazy tired, and it made me feel amazing.

The highlight of the weekend (which was full of them) was the dinner out at Hannah's sister's place. Josh and Kim were incredibly gracious hosts, making a delicious dinner with chicken and beef skewers with peanut sauce, a tasty salad, rice, amazing brownies and cookies, and a hummus/oil appetizer. Plus, they were incredibly cool, as Kim was really funny and Josh and I could go on and on about music for hours. Plus we all had a political conversation that was entertaining and covered all sides of the discussion without getting heated.

Definitely not a normal night for me, but it was awesome no less. Even if it was in the mythical land of "Palmer."

Also a highlight amidst the nights was the mid debate discussion amongst everyone there about how shocking it was that Lorna had never seen Star Wars. It was eerily reminiscent of the premiere of How I Met Your Mother and was incredibly entertaining, veering wildly off topic and somehow going full circle to bring us back to 30 more minutes of incredible dryness from McCain and "John...John...now that's simply not true"'s from Obama. Possibly the funniest section of an extremely entertaining debate experience.

The Weekend Edition

Another very good weekend in the books and another that was super diverse and full of events that were slightly out of the norm. Okay, maybe not so out of the ordinary, but I had a great time with some classic Anchorage events and managed to experience some serious culture while I was at it - and I got to hang out with all kinds of great friends! Here's the breakdown:

• Early dinner/drinks with Amy, Hannah, and Joanna at Crush (plus we met a new friend!)
• First Friday exhibits with Amy, Hannah, and Joanna in downtown Anchorage
• Late dinner/drinks with Arianna, Amy, Hannah, and Joanna at Orso's
• Catching the bank job at my place super late with Hannah and Joanna (I'm beginning to think I did a lot on Friday!)
• ESPN Gameplan going off without any problems at all!
• Kim and I catching Kung Fu Panda at Bear Tooth (awesome again!)
• Falling in love with 100 Bullets
• Lunch and coffee with Kim at Middle Way Cafe
• Going to the opening ceremony thingamajig for Freeze (a big local art event Amy and Cate's agency is doing work for) with Kim, Amy, Cate, Darren, and Eric
• Drinks and appetizers at Bernie's with Kim and Elisa (and Amy for a bit)
• Football all day long with Jason and Amy

It comes out as a lot more when I type it all out. All three days were great fun. First Friday was full of great artwork, tasty drinks and even tastier food. The Freeze event was pretty cool and it's always good to support events that promote culture in the Great White North. Football coming back was obviously the highlight of the weekend (even with my boy Tom Brady going down...*cry*) as Jason, Amy and I snacked on delicious food all day while being rather ridiculous as per usual (highlights: bacon and eggs, tons of coffee, tasty sammiches, getting suckered into Bud Light Lime and Volcano Tacos, Hole in the Wall, our commentary show, five yard punts, Peyton Manning's audibles, the Panthers' come back, etc.).

So yeah, it was a good time. See below for some pics from the weekend, including the comparison of Amy and I wearing Sarah Palin masks and a group shot from Freeze. Good times to be had for one and all once again!

Amy (left) and me (right) wearing Sarah Palin masks from Bernie's

(l to r) Me, Kim, Eric, Cate, and Darren at the Freeze event at the Museum

Are you ready for some football?

Tom Brady doing what he does best: throwing touchdowns

Mmmmm.

You feel that?

That little bit of electricity in the air can only mean one thing.

It's time for football!

Starting tomorrow with the Washington Redskins versus the New York Giants, we have four months straight of the greatest sport in all the land, and I couldn't be happier. It's like having one of my best friends back, except one that can only hang out every once in a while (sort of like my friend Brian, except way more intense). Due to Alaska being ridiculously far to the west, the game is starting here at 3 PM but you better believe I'll be there for kickoff.

Here's hoping my boys can finish the year right and go 19-0 this time. None of that messing around with 18 and 1 business, although as long as that one loss does not come in the Super Bowl again I suppose I'll be fine. Excuse me though, I have to go knock on some wood, rub my Wes Welker jersey, and say about forty two different prayers to make sure I didn't jinx the Pats.