What would have been: The Reebok commercial if the Pats had won
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February 8
By now, you've probably seen the Reebok commercial of the 1972 Dolphins in Perfectville (population: 1) receiving a gift from the New York Giants, via Giants Courier. But you know they didn't up and film that commericial immediately after the Super Bowl. They filmed two endings. Here, courtesy of youtube and larrybrownsports.com. is the version you would have seen had the Pats won: Pat's Moving Company delivering a new resident into Perfectville. 
February 7
The Patriots are already looking ahead to next season, and that might be a season without Randy Moss and Donte Stallworth. Also, as PC's struggles without Sharaud Curry, URI gears up to take on UMass tonight.
February 6
By Jim Litke One is going and the other isn't going anywhere, yet there's plenty Bill Belichick can learn from Bob Knight's departure. Knight completed the last perfect season in college basketball more than three decades ago, when his 1976 Indiana team went 32-0 and beat Michigan in the championship game. It came a year after an even better Hoosiers squad went into the tournament undefeated and lost a regional final to Kentucky. If nothing else, that example should provide some encouragement to Belichick as he goes back to work in the wake of the Giants' giant upset of the previously unbeaten Patriots in Super Bowl. But the lessons better not stop there. "It takes a lot to get to this point," Belichick said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday afternoon, "but now it's starting over, into the '08 season. It's already time to move on. There won't be a next year for Knight, of course. He walked away from his job at Texas Tech in the middle of the season, ostensibly so his son and chosen successor, Pat, could get a running start on the next one. "I'm not saying I've always been right, but I've been right more than I've been wrong over the years," Knight said in an interview aired later the same day on ESPN. "And this just felt like the right thing to do at the right moment." If that sounds familiar, it should. When Knight won his 880th game to overtake North Carolina's Dean Smith and become the winningest coach in Division I, he arranged to have Frank Sinatra's "My Way" playing over the public address system in the arena. It was a fitting tribute, but not just in the way the 67-year-old Knight envisioned it. As the testimonials to his career over the last two days reminded us, all those stellar accomplishments were undermined to some degree by his methods. He ran exemplary programs at Army, Indiana and Texas Tech and essentially changed the way the game was played. He graduated nearly every kid he didn't scare off and took an abiding interest in how every one of them turned out. He raised a hellacious amount of money at every stop, too, often reaching deep into his own pocket for donations. But the three championships and 42 largely successful seasons were pockmarked by one episode of bullying after another against a rotating cast of victims. He picked on kids who played for him, reporters who wrote about him, sometimes the very same administrators who covered his back, even the secretary who sat outside his office for years. When Knight said later in the same interview, "I was kind of tired," he wasn't talking about his passion for teaching the game, but for just about everything else that happened outside the lines of the court. Even if Knight left when he wanted to - "A lot of coaches quit on somebody else's thinking. and I think it's fortunate when you can quit on your own," Knight said - the sad truth is how few people noticed and that ever fewer seemed to care. The end came at a basketball backwater far away and long removed from the place where Knight had achieved and mattered so much. He fell off the map even before he walked off under his own power, and if that's his version of "My Way," it's a strange, muted way for one of the greatest coaches ever to leave the stage. Belichick, who is a dozen years younger, isn't worn out and he isn't dragging a strong of embarrassing incidents behind him. But the sideline spying scandal that erupted after the season opener against the Jets may have legs and his caustic personality has earned him way more foes than friends the farther you venture away from New England. His decision to duck out of the Super Bowl with one second left on the clock Sunday night only added to that number. Belichick had already congratulated Giants coach Tom Coughlin, a friend dating back to their days on Bill Parcells' staff in New York, and the final play was nothing more than a formality. But so was Belichick's explanation for his early exit. "There really wasn't much left at that point," he said. Not for him, anyway. But the day will come when Belichick will be forced to realize, the way Knight was, that the game no longer revolves around him. And that, ultimately, the way he piled up all those trophies and all those wins will be just as important a part of his legacy as the fact that he got them at all.
February 5
As I said after the game, it’s a disappointing end to a lot of good things that happened this season. The players did a great job all year long. We played a lot of good football, but we’re certainly disappointed about the way it ended. We came so close, but it just didn’t work out. It takes a lot to get to this point, but we’re starting all over into the ’08 season. It’s already time to move on. We’re into the offseason and that’s just the way it is, so we’ll start moving ahead toward next year. As good a regular season as you had, into the playoffs and the Super Bowl, is it still tough to accentuate the positives and all the good things that you accomplished? What’s the first mode of business? I know you never stop. Did you watch with your coaching staff already the film of the Super Bowl? Is that something that is just going to be part of an overall evaluation when you go back and look at it and is it going to be a high priority without another game to prepare for or is it just more for your edification when you watch it? There’s a large amount of conversation about the relative appropriateness of you going across with a second left and shaking hands with Tom [Coughlin]. Is there any further explanation on why you did that that you would like to give? I know it’s all water under the bridge but I couldn’t help but wonder as I saw Pierre Woods on top of the ball, is down by contact on a fumble a reviewable play? Coach, I know fans are reliving a lot of plays especially on that final drive, do you relive any of those? Do you second-guess any decisions? Or do you just move right on? Will you take any time off? Take a week or two off and get away from things for a little while? When are the exit physicals and is every player required to show up for that? Were those today? Coach there has been speculation that some of the older players, Rodney [Harrison], Junior [Seau] and maybe Tedy [Bruschi] may want to retire. Do you expect all three of those be back next year? Is that the same line of thinking applied to a coaching staff too and whether you expect it remain intact? Are you confident that you’ll have the same coaching staff intact for next year?
wrote, Biggest choke in Boston Sports history!! How do you win 18 straight and lose the Super Bowl? Let's hope we have heard the last of... Read the rest, write another...
Tom Martinez, the personal passing guru of Tom Brady, told the New York Daily News Monday in a phone interview from Menlo Park, Calif., that he thinks his pupil's ankle hampered him in Super Bowl XLII. "He had chances and he had guys open, but in an atypical way, the ball wasn't getting there," said Martinez. "(The coaches) didn't move the pocket much to get him outside the pocket. They didn't do some things they've done in the past. That led me to believe there was some kind of problem with the ankle." According to the Fox TV announcers, Brady said in a production meeting last week that he was concerned about his ankle, especially on how it would affect his deep throws. "I saw a different approach from [the Patriots]," he said. "They're so smart, and yet it was kind of shocking they didn't have a few more answers. I felt like -- and I have to be careful with what I say -- that they stayed too long with what they were doing. "They weren't really aggressive the way they went about it. In the second and third period, it's like they were trying to hang on, 7-3. That led me to believe that something internal was going on. It wasn't typical. Those coaches always have answers to the people who give them problems. "I don't know what it was, but the Patriots didn't look like the Patriots."
Patriots defensive back Willie Andrews was arrested Tuesday in Lowell, Mass. on charges of possession of marijuana and driving an unregistered motor vehicle. Coach Bill Belichick just held a media conference call and would not comment on the matter, but spokesperson Stacey James released this statement on behalf of the team: "The conduct of our players is very important to the New England Patriots. We are aware of the report regarding Willie Andrews, but will not comment publicly on pending legal matters. As is our policy, team discipline will be handled internally."
Bill Belichick wants his players who may be considering retirement to hold off for a while. He said Tuesday that two days after the end of the season is too soon to make important decisions. Among those who may retire are linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Junior Seau and safety Rodney Harrison. All are 34 or older and haven’t said what they will do after New England lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants on Sunday 17-14. Belichick also says he hasn’t had a chance to review that game but intends to do it as part of an overall evaluation of the season with an eye toward improving the team next season. As for the controversy surrounding his leaving the field before time had expired Sunday night, Belichick said he didn't know how much time was left on the clock and, because people were streaming on the field, thought the game was over. He went out to shake hands with Giants coach Tom Coughlin and then left the field.
LOWELL, Mass. (AP) - New England Patriots defensive back Willie Andrews was arrested during a traffic stop Tuesday on charges of possession of marijuana and driving an unregistered motor vehicle. The morning arrest came one day after the team returned from Arizona, where the New York Giants upset New England 17-14 in the Super Bowl to end the Patriots' perfect season. Andrews was to be arraigned Tuesday in Lowell District Court, said Corey Welford, a spokesman for the Middlesex district attorney. Welford did not have further details, and a call to the Patriots was not immediately returned. Andrews completed his second year with the Patriots, spending time on special teams return and coverage units. He scored his first NFL touchdown in October on a 77-yard kickoff return against the Miami Dolphins. The 24-year-old player from Longview, Texas, was drafted in the seventh round out of Baylor in 2006.
It was the Giants' last chance, and Eli Manning took full advantage of it in stunning the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Also, PC men's basketball coach, Tim Welsh, is on the hot seat, but does he deserve it?
A sparse-but-loyal group of 200 fans stood in the cold weather near the team’s pro shop Monday night to welcome home the NFL’s runner-up team. The Pats remain champions in the hearts and minds of the fans. It was quite different from the 15,000 fans who were at Gillette two weeks ago for the Super Bowl sendoff. And it will be quite a different scene in New York where the Giants will get a ticker-tape parade this morning at 11. Watch the parade live. Fans began to gather around 5 o’clock in anticipation of the team’s arrival home. Around 8 o’clock a security guard screamed out, “Five minutes,” and the fans began to cheer. In the distance, a lone football was being tossed back and forth between a father and son. Finally, at 8:16, the blue lights from the police escort could be seen coming into the parking lot with five buses of players, personnel, friends and family. “We’re here to support our guys,” said Sue LaFauci of Smithfield. “We still love them and we will love them. We’re disappointed like everyone else, naturally, but we won 18 and we tried.” The buses moved slowly past the fans. One Patriots employee later described the flight home from Arizona as “somber.” Al and Claudia Inglese of North Attleboro have had Patriots season tickets for 30 years, so they’ve experienced a lot of the ups and downs that come with being a football fan in New England. Their seats at Gillette Stadium are six rows behind the Patriots’ bench.
February 4
The Giants’ win over the Patriots was the most-watched Super Bowl ever, with 97.5 million viewers, Nielsen Media Research said Monday. The game eclipsed the previous Super Bowl record of 94.08 million, set when Dallas defeated Pittsburgh in 1996. More people watched Sunday’s game than all but one American television broadcast ever, the “M-A-S-H” finale in 1983, which was seen by 106 million viewers. The game had almost all the ingredients Fox could have hoped for: a tight contest with an exciting finish involving a team that was attempting to make history as the NFL’s first unbeaten team since 1972. But the Giants ended New England’s bid for perfection, 17-14. Throughout the game, the teams were never separated by more than a touchdown. -- The Associated Press
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It's not pretty, if you're a Patriots fan, but here it is.
New York receiver Plaxico Burress drew national attention -- and the ire of his head coach -- when he predicted a 23-17 Giants victory. But though he had just two catches for 27 yards, Burress caught the game-winning touchdown with 35 seconds to play. Playing with a torn ligament in his right ankle for much of the season and with swelling in his left knee this week as well, Burress did not participate in the team's Arizona practice sessions. "It bothered him and I could see it in his face," Tom Coughlin said of his star wideout. "But fortunately game day came along and he set himself again and decided what he was going to go out and do and he did it. The catch at the end there, he and Eli (Manning) have done that many times by now." "I was so happy for him," fellow receiver Amani Toomer said. "He called his shot. I am just so happy for him and happy for our team. We had the better receivers today." When Burress was asked about his injuries after the game, he said, "I'm not feeling anything."
The Giants now have won seven league championships. They also have lost a league-high 11 times in the title game. "I'll tell you what," team owner John K. Mara said last night, "this is the greatest victory in the history of the franchise, without question. "I just want to say to all you Giants fans who have supported us for more than 30 years at Giants Stadium, for all those years in Yankee Stadium, and some of you even back to the Polo Grounds -- this is for you."
The Giants' defensive performance in Super Bowl XLII certainly reflects positively on D-coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who will reportedly interview with the Redskins for their head coaching vacancy in the morning. Spagnuolo, who has worked with Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jim Johnson in the past -- and the Eagles were one of the teams to put up a strong defensive plan against the Pats this season -- said he never imagined his unit would hold the most prolific offense in NFL history to just 14 points. "In all honesty, no. I believed in the guys and what they were and what they did and what they could do," he said. "But I just had so much respect for New England, that I thought if our offense could control the ball and we could score a few points, then maybe we could outscore them." Spagnuolo's game plan called for his team to get away from edge blitzes and blitz from the interior, and New York ended up with five sacks and nine hits on Tom Brady. "We threw one (edge blitz) at them which they picked up. I don't know if we got to call all the blitzes in our game plan," he said. "I do know this: there was a time there when I thought Tom Brady was finding out where we were bringing it, and he was changing the protection. We had to get out of some of those things." Spagnuolo guessed that New York blitzed on 30 to 35 percent of New England's snaps. "I have to give credit to the four guys up front," he said. "We hung our hat on those guys all year long and we did it again and it paid off."
"We won the game in the trenches," Giants running back Brandon Jacobs said. "We got physical with them. They couldn't match up with our linemen, who were getting them off the ball." It was New York's defensive line that was most dominant, harrassing Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throughout the game. "We knew we could beat them," Jacobs said. "They have a lot of talent, but, deep down, I think we are a better football team. We're a blue-collar team, and we work hard. We knew what we had to do, and went out and did it."
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Randy Moss’s first visit to the Super Bowl as a player ended in a loss. The 10-year NFL veteran and Future Hall of Famer was looking forward to having a big game on the biggest stage – Super Bowl XLII – but Moss was limited to five catches for 62 yards and a touchdown. Those are solid numbers, but they weren’t enough to beat the Giants last night. Moss said that the Giants were more focused than the Patriots and that’s why they won. “The Giants just had a better game plan,” Moss said. “They played heads up football. They came ready to play for four quarters, 60 minutes. My hats off to the Giants. Moss said that he was surprised by the Patriots lack of intensity because of all the hard work they put in over the last two weeks to prepare for the game. “When things like that happen, the only thing you can do is lick your wounds and try to come back at it next year.” Moss caught a six yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady with 2:45 remaining in the game to put the Patriots up, 14-10, but the Giants came storming back to steal the victory. “It was just a simple fade,” Moss said. “It was a crucial situation in the game. It was late in the game and I really thought that play really gave us the momentum to take us up. But on their side of the ball, offense and defense, they had the intensity for four quarters, so that is really what hurt.” Moss said that he isn’t surprised that most people across the country wanted the Patriots to lose in the Super Bowl. “There was a lot of hype and I think that a lot of people got tired of talking about us and I could really sense that,” Moss said. “I am not taking anything from the New York Giants and coach Tom Coughlin. Like I said, they had a great game plan, they executed it, I think that they wanted to get after Tommy (Brady) and they did do that.” Moss said that he is going to spend the offseason with his family. “I have a family, I got kids to love and raise,” Moss said. “I am going to be with my kids probably till May or June. I am not thinking of anything football right now so I can just relax my mind, my body and love my kids.”
"It just feels great," Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck, who had two of New York's five sacks, said of the pressure he and his teammates put on Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throughout Super Bowl XLII. "It was a complete effort," he said. "Everybody was getting after it. It was just a great collective win. We knew the focus for us to win was to get a lot of heat on him early and often. I feel we succeeded in that." "We felt like we could do that," said Michael Strahan, who also had a sack of Brady. "We done that all year. We led the league in sacks (with 53) and, supposedly, when we get against the Patriots, we're not supposed to be able to pass rush? "That's what we do," Strahan said. "We spot the run, as well. We felt like we could do it from the beginning, and did not listen to anyone who said we couldn't." They certainly did, holding the Patriots -- who averaged 38 points a game during the regular season while scoring a league-record, 589 points -- to a season-low 14 points. "That offense," Tuck said, "is made to stay in rhythm, and some things we showed him up front and in the secondary, you could tell it kind of threw him off rhythm. He made some errant throw and held the ball a little longer than he normally does. That's the result of a combination of pressure in his face, and the secondary doing a great job locking down all of the receivers."
The New England Patriots, and in particular Rodney Harrison, wanted to win Super Bowl XLII for the glory, but also to give 18-year veteran Junior Seau the one thing that is missing from his Hall of Fame resume: a championship. But despite coming close again -- Seau also played in the Super Bowl with the Chargers in 1993 -- he said he was not thinking about the future after the game. "I'm having too much fun," he said when asked if he's going to retire again, adding that the loss will not affect his decision to return for another season. "It was a great journey, and the bond that we have will always be there. We came up short, we understand that. The game of football comes down to executing and making plays, and when the opportunities came we didn't make them and New York did." After Peyton Manning's game-winning touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left in the game, Seau lay face-down on the grass at University of Phoenix Stadium. "I was full of disappointment," he said. "We know we did a great job and to see that happen to us at a crucial time, it just wasn't something I wanted to feel." Seau was credited with two tackles in the game; he turned 39 last month.
Amazingly, the Super Bowl champion New York Giants lost five of their eight home games this season. But they were 11-1 on the road, including four straight playoff victories over Tampa Bay, NFC East champion Dallas, NFC North champion Green Bay, and the AFC champion Patriots. "That was a record in the National Football League, to win 11 straight road games," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "The road signified for us the coming together of team. The only people who cared about us were the guys standing on our sideline. So we rode that emotion." Giants owner Steve Tisch joked last night about his club's success away from Giants Stadium. "This just in from the commissioner's office," he said, laughing. "All games should be played on the road next year." "We are the road warriors," Giants running back Brandon Jacobs said. "They call us that for a reason. We made history. There's nobody undefeated now except the 72 Dolphins."
"It was a fade route," Eli Manning said of the game-winning, 13-yard TD pass he threw to a wide-open Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left to play in Super Bowl XLII. "They had been playing zone coverage. They came with an all-out blitz and the corner (Ellis Hobbs) sat, because he thought we might run something short. (Burress) ran right by him and made a great catch to win the game."
These are courtesy of the Super Bowl XLII media staff and Elias Sports Bureau: * The 33 minute, 52 second scoreless streak from the opening seconds of the second quarter to 3:55 remaining in the fourth is the longest in Super Bowl history; * Tom Brady has an even 100 completions over four career Super Bowls, a record; * Brady's 48 pass attempts in the game without an interception is a record; * The 42 combined rushing attempts (16 for New England and 26 for New York) are the lowest in Super Bowl history, and the 136 combined rushing yards (45 for New England, 91 for New York) are also an all-time low; * Giants punter Jeff Feagles, at 41 years, 333 days, is the oldest player to take part in the NFL championship; * The Giants are the first team in 14 years to win the Super Bowl after trailing at halftime. In Super Bowl XXVIII, Dallas trailed Buffalo, 13-6, but shut the Bills out in the second half for a 30-13 win. Twelve teams had led at halftime since then, and all had won. * New York is only the second team to win after trailing in the final minute of the fourth quarter, as the game-winning touchdown came with 35 seconds to play. In Super Bowl XXIII, San Francisco's John Taylor caught the game-winning touchdown with 34 seconds to play against Cincinnati.
It was, without question, the play of the game. "Eli played super. He did the things in the fourth quarter you have to do to win the Super Bowl. He brought us down the field, he got the ball in the end zone twice. He played very cool, very calm." "It felt," Manning said of the play, "like I was being grabbed a little bit. Got out of it. Saw Tyree in the middle of the field. The ball just floated. He made an unbelievable catch, jumping up, hold on to that ball with guys hanging all over." "That's really what it comes down to -- making the play," said Tyree. "Eli did an unbelievable job. I honestly don't know how he got out of it. When the ball is in the air, you have to go get it. That's the job."
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One of the hallmarks of this Patriots team this decade has been their ability not to respond when others are talking, whether it be about them or to them. When players make guarantees or claims, New England replies that their game will do the talking for them. But they may not have kept their lips zipped this week. After New York's upset, Giants receiver Amani Toomer implied that Pats players may have already had victory bashes in the works. "They were inviting us to their parties after the game. They showed us no respect," Toomer said. If true, it would be highly uncharacteristic of New England.
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Patriots were hoping to join elite company and become the first team in NFL history to complete a perfect 19-0 season, but the Giants turned that dream into a nightmare by beating the Patriots, 17-14, in Super Bowl XLII. “We were certainly disappointed,” Patriots defensive back Rodney Harrison said. “We worked hard to stay focused and tried to win one game at a time, 18 times. We have been through so much. I give all of our guys in that locker room a lot of credit, they have a lot of heart. We just came up short." “There are no words to mend what we feel at this point,” Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour said. “That’s true. There isn’t too much someone can say. You could say it’s just a game or whatever. At the end of the day, we had an opportunity to be special and we couldn’t do it. It’s tough that it ended this way.” The Patriots broke a lot of records this season, but it ended in disappointment. “Anytime you lose, it is a long offseason,” Harrison said. “Our goal was to come in and win the ballgame. They just made more plays than us…It’s extremely disappointing.”
The 1972 Miami Dolphins are happy to remain the only undefeated champions in NFL history. "It goes to show you how tough it is to go undefeated through an entire season," offensive lineman Larry Little said last night. "Over the years, people have been putting us down, calling us grumpy old men. We never wanted to see the Patriots, or any other team, lose. We are just happy about our accomplishments. We're a very proud football team." "I don't take joy," tight end Jim Mandich said, "in the fact the Patriots lost. But I do relish and savor the fact that there has only been one unbeaten team in the history of the NFL, and it is the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Of that, I am extremely proud." "We were never against the New England Patriots," said running Jim Kiick. "We're not comparing ourselves to anyone else from other gneerations. We're happy with our own accomplishments."
February 3
The New York Giants have pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, preventing the New England Patriots from completing their undefeated season with a 17-14 come-from-behind win. Eli Manning led the Giants on the game-winning, 12-play drive which was completed with less than a minute to play in the game. We'll have more to come.
wrote, 16- reg. season never been done before. Congrats Pats!... Read the rest, write another...
Randy Moss, a non-factor for much of the first half, got his Super Bowl moment. On third-and-goal from the six, Moss was lined up wide right with single coverage provided by Corey Webster. Webster backpedaled a few steps, turned and slipped, falling on his belly. Moss was all alone to catch the go-ahead touchdown.
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