The Patriots Are Coming...Again

Kevin Stone — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:35:20 -0400

For a team that was two minutes away from perfection a couple years ago, not much has changed.

Minus last year's little interruption and a quarterback named Matt stepping in to win 11 games...the New England Patriots may very well be right back at the top of the mountain this year.

After singing long time horse Fred Taylor, reliable veteran Joey Galloway and drafting a physical Patrick Chung, the Patriots look ready to impose their will on an unsuspecting NFL.

The only problem arising this off season may have been the departure of Mike Vrabel—an emotional and physical leader on the Super Bowl winning teams.

However, with Brady returning after playing less than a quarter all of last year, you've got to believe he's going to come out with guns blazing.

Besides Wes Welker, teams will now have to pick and choose how they will cover Moss and Galloway.

Picture this if your a Patriots fan—Randy's getting shut down in the Meadowlands. He's got one catch for 16 yards in the first half.

But you've got Joey on the other side who's hauled in a touchdown, and four catches for over 100 yards.

How do you stop the offense if your facing them?

You now have to double Joey.

Is Randy more wide open now? Is Wes now able to tear up the slot?

Can Laurence Maroney and Fred Taylor now gobble up yards and the clock?

Don't forget about Kevin Faulk on third down either, as you may be chasing him for a while.

The possibilities this year may be endless for this Patriots team.

As draft weekend came to a close, both Trent Dilfer and Chris Carter had similar thoughts.

Dilfer was quoted as saying, "This may be the most dangerous team we've seen in a long time in the NFL."

Two years ago the most dangerous team was 18-1.

Is it possible to be better two years later?

The Patriots now have more of the weapons needed to finish the job.

Mercury Morris, keep your eyes and ears open again this year.

That '72 Dolphins shin-dig and champagne may finally have another partner for you to share it with.

Born Into It...The True Meaning of Being a New Englander

Kevin Stone — Mon, 11 May 2009 10:12:13 -0400

New England is an odd, but special place. It may be 60 and sunny one second, and snowing 30 seconds later. There are five universities within walking distance of each other in Massachusett's most well known city.

However, despite some of the odd characteristics in each of our six fraternity brother's (especially the pesky little one at the bottom that ends in "Island") there is always one consistent. Sports.

The Celtics and Bruins have recently returned to the hearts of the most die-hard New Englanders, but there's still something about the Red Sox and Patriots that makes this region so unique.

I received my first set of Red Sox tickets at the ripe age of 4. How did I get them? Because I was already able to recite the starting nine before I could fully read or write.

It is not something we are asked to be brought into when we are born. It just happens. It is simply a way of life in these parts, a religion.

Many people now love the new and luxurious Gillette Stadium. Me? I miss the old metal benches at Foxboro Stadium. While I was not around for the more hostile and miserable days as a Patriots fan, a first memory of Drew Bledsoe handing off to Curtis Martin with the "Tuna" roaming the sidelines is just something I will never be able to explain to an Arizona Cardinals or Jacksonville Jaguars fan...it's just not the same.

There is a certain sense of family, and learning here when rooting for these teams. It is also a legitimate life lesson being a New England sports fan as well. "Ya' gotta' believe" is a motto I continue to live by on a daily basis. If the Red Sox had done what they did in all those miserable years prior to 2004, and I had lived to come back and embrace them year after year...life must be the same way, right?

Being a New England sports fan is a generational thing. My father is the main reason I am where I'm at today. My christening of sorts, walking into Fenway Park or the old Foxboro with him, and hearing "make sure you look around and take this in"...is a moment that I know no other place on earth can provide quite like each of those venues did.

After watching Adam Vinatieri win Super Bowl XXXVI, my father simply sat there and said "remember this...you may never see it again." Little did I know the next eight years would produce two more Super Bowls, two World Series' and an NBA title.

When Aaron Boone's walk off sailed out in 2003, my phone rang. "NOW you know what it's REALLY like to be a Red Sox fan" he said.

Stories of him sprinting home with a transistor radio, only to burst into the house from school as Bucky "Bleeping" Dent rounded the bases...all of these moments are something each New Englander has.

We are truly born into this aspect of life around here...and we wouldn't want it any other way.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Kevin Stone

The Patriots Are Coming...Again

Born Into It...The True Meaning of Being a New Englander