That was then: Celebrating what was

Bosoxfan5034

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Apr 16, 2013
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Buck gets a lot of heat, but a few of his Boston-calls have been amazing.

"Red Sox fans have longed to hear it" - his voice practically cracked
"Grand slam" - so much emotion in his voice
"Oh that's a catch" - genuine excitement
You may be thinking of his '07 Game 6 call for JD Drew (which was a pretty good call).
 

Soxy

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Dec 1, 2008
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This is great. Thanks for the link.
Yeah, this is really good. I had never heard of Paul Rabil but I like the cut of his jib. I really liked his line about how culture should supercede process.

I also love Belichick's talk at the 27-28 minute mark about having a system flexible enough to handle anything that could possibly be thrown at it. For all of the talk about how the Patriots adapt to what their opponents are going to do, that won't work at all if every week is an exasperating exercise in learning how to defend against whatever unique wrinkle they happen to be facing. You need to have a system in place that is fairly easily adaptable to conditions that are constantly changing.

Belichick's talk about 30 minutes in on value vs. need is also greatly illuminating. He explains that the main reason why they don't evaluate the draft pool based on current need is that it will be doing them a disservice going forward. If a player becomes available in the future, they want to already have a proper evaluation on what the player does well and doesn't do well. Not an evaluation on how they could have fit into the Patriots roster of 3-4 years ago; that's not going to do them any good now. Let's look at the player today, keep it current and update as needed.

In other words, they aren't myopically looking at incoming draftees as nothing more than potential draft picks. They're evaluating them in much the same way that they would an opponent. Which is brilliant in its simplicity and obviousness. The vast majority of these college players aren't going to get drafted by the Patriots. So look at these guys simply as the next wave of NFL players. Once that is finished, then you can establish whom you want to draft based on your evaluation of them as a player combined with the current composition of your roster.
 

PedroKsBambino

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And you can bet that BB can use this as evidence. And more importantly he can have his key team leaders let it be known from within the ranks, guys like Nink, Slater, DMC, Solder, etc. they've lived it and seen the results when looking across the line at the eyes of the Falcons (and others).
As you said...Dan Quinn on his team:

“The guys were gassed. We had never played in the 90s (snap count). We were not traumatized at all. You could tell there was nothing left in the tank. They would come to the sideline in the fourth quarter and nobody was talking because there was nothing left.”
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/05/dan-quinn-falcons-super-bowl-loss-patriots

Why do you run the hills in week 23? Because you don't want to come to the sideline in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl and have nothing left.
 

Bergs

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SidelineCameras

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The comment, "there will be a rule next year that ensures that a team cannot have any fewer that 25 assistant coaches" -- is inspired.
That made me chuckle. I also appreciate this one: "Let me just say it once and for all so all the fence-straddling haters won’t need to bother…..Belichick would be nothing without his system QB Brady."
 

bakahump

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wow. Did not realize that BB had the leanest staff in the league. Figured with Ernie and Steve Belicheck etc etc I figured he would at least be the same as most teams.
 

Al Zarilla

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Dec 8, 2005
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San Andreas Fault
Rabi with BB, not about a Patriots player but about Lawrence Taylor: Taylor could tell who was going to try to block him when the O-Line came up to the line of scrimmage by who looked the most scared. Awesome.
 

BigSoxFan

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luckiestman

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I mean, that isn't even homerism at this point. That's a killer JV team.
Mike Reiss trolls the league: "Are Patriots' backups better than some teams' starters?" <big picture of Jimmy G leading the article>

Spoiler alert: he says the Browns, 49ers and Jets would prefer the Pats 2nd team of Garoppolo, Gillislee, Mitchell, Amendola, Hawkins and Allen over their own offensive skill-position starters.

For the Jesters that's all QB driven. Forte, Powell, Decker, Enunwa are good and they (staff)like this kid Leggett they drafted at the TE spot.

I really like this skinny receiver, Anderson, we got last year.
 

BigSoxFan

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For the Jesters that's all QB driven. Forte, Powell, Decker, Enunwa are good and they (staff)like this kid Leggett they drafted at the TE spot.

I really like this skinny receiver, Anderson, we got last year.
Is it? Matt Forte turns 32 in December and averaged 3.7 YPC last year. I don't think there's much left in his tank. Powell is a nice player but is a part-time player like Gillislee. Decker is clearly talented but is now 30 and coming off some major injuries. I bet Malcolm could put up 800-1000 yards if given starting reps.
 

mwonow

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My dad used to claim that there were seasons when the second best NBA five was the Celts' second string.

Of course, they won 8 in a row...the Pats are just looking for a repeat this year!
 

Anthologos

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Jun 4, 2017
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Is it? Matt Forte turns 32 in December and averaged 3.7 YPC last year. I don't think there's much left in his tank. Powell is a nice player but is a part-time player like Gillislee. Decker is clearly talented but is now 30 and coming off some major injuries. I bet Malcolm could put up 800-1000 yards if given starting reps.
I agree with you regardng the backs, but I think Decker has been a real force when healthy. Four seasons over 900 receiving yards, over 50 TDs...he may or may not return to form but I have to think that if MM has an ED career, we'd be thrilled. And Enunwa is really good...don't know the skinny guys...

as L-man said, so much of this is quarterback- related...
 

BigSoxFan

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I agree with you regardng the backs, but I think Decker has been a real force when healthy. Four seasons over 900 receiving yards, over 50 TDs...he may or may not return to form but I have to think that if MM has an ED career, we'd be thrilled. And Enunwa is really good...don't know the skinny guys...

as L-man said, so much of this is quarterback- related...
It obviously is mostly QB related but isn't that kind of the point? This is a QB league and the Patriots' backup is objectively a ton better than any of the Jets' craptastic options. But you can also include Dion Lewis in that list. I take Gillislee/Lewis over Forte/Powell by a decent margin so it's heavy QB for me, modest RB difference, and decent Jets WR advantage. And I'm factoring in Decker's likelihood to return to his previous levels at age 30 coming off some big injuries. Have to discount him a little bit. And I'm quite bullish on Malcolm but acknowledge that some may be less so. I will quibble with the Enunea is "really good" line. He's a decent player but basically started the entire year and finished with about 850/4 TDs. I wouldn't take him or Anderson over Malcolm.
 

Anthologos

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Jun 4, 2017
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It obviously is mostly QB related but isn't that kind of the point? This is a QB league and the Patriots' backup is objectively a ton better than any of the Jets' craptastic options. But you can also include Dion Lewis in that list. I take Gillislee/Lewis over Forte/Powell by a decent margin so it's heavy QB for me, modest RB difference, and decent Jets WR advantage. And I'm factoring in Decker's likelihood to return to his previous levels at age 30 coming off some big injuries. Have to discount him a little bit. And I'm quite bullish on Malcolm but acknowledge that some may be less so. I will quibble with the Enunea is "really good" line. He's a decent player but basically started the entire year and finished with about 850/4 TDs. I wouldn't take him or Anderson over Malcolm.
I am probably over-valuing Enunwa...he looked pretty good the couple times I saw him. Those numbers aren't too bad considering the Jets' qb situation. But I am bullish on MM, too. Looking forward to seeing his second year.
 

Jim Ed Rice in HOF

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Jul 21, 2005
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The rings have 283 diamonds. Let that sink in for a moment.
I'm a bit dense and didn't get the significance until I saw it mentioned on Facebook.

Those Jostens PR photos really don't do the ring justice. You really need to see the ring on someone to realize it's a blinged out doorknob.