So I just finished watching the Patriots beat the Chargers 38-14 and the general feeling I get is one of vindication.  All week Coach Belichick has been villainized for what happened against the Jets.

Let me say that what he did was wrong and we were punished severely - to the point that it went beyond what we deserved because I feel they wanted to make an example that not even the Patriots can get away with something like that.

What stands out most in my mind is all the people that said this has been going on for years and that the Patriots don’t deserve the reputation they’ve gained and the Super Bowls they’ve won.  In my mind it’s obvious that there are too many coaches and players that have left the team - McGinest, Romeo, Mangini, Givens, etc. - that would have had to have been in on it for this to have been a long running thing.  Someone would have spoken up before now - even Mangini just last year - if we had been cheating all along.

We proved tonight that we have quality players, superior coaching, that we’re hard working and are simply better than anyone we’ve faced so far.  We don’t need any edges - which by all accounts we didn’t even get from the taping - to plain and simply outplay you.

With the Bonds and the McGwires making us so cynical about our sports heroes has it come to the point that a team that has defined what makes football great, that has been a model franchise and has grown to take the Cowboys spot as “America’s Team” can make one mistake - granted a big and stupid one - and blow all of their goodwill in one shot?

Watching the Patriots’ players crowd around Belichick after the game and congratulate him you know those closest to him believe and trust in him.  I think if Tom Brady and Tedy Bruschi - two of the finest players in the NFL - can vouch for him then we should too.  If I’m wrong and we did really get this far by getting an illegal edge than there really is nothing good left in sports.  But I don’t think I’m wrong.

Random Tidbit: Andy Rutledge provides another strong argument to design with web standards.  I know one of my goals is to continue to make my code better and more standards compliant for many of the reasons he mentions - is it one of your goals as well?  Trust me, when it comes to making large site wide changes down the road, you won’t regret it.

I’ve waiting a few days to write this to get my thoughts together better. For what we paid for him - a 4th round pick that might not even make the team - to get one of the best wide receivers (talent-wise) in the NFL was highway robbery. Add that to the fact that we already have Dante Stallworth and you really have to start to fear the Patriots.

Oh, and did I forget to mention the addition of probably the top free agent available Adalius Thomas?

Peyton Manning - start preparing your excuses now. And leave your poor offensive line alone this time. Or maybe now that you have a ring you can start taking responsibility for your teams failures as well as you do their successes.

As for Moss’ attitude problems - both Belichick and Brady wanted him and with our veteran leadership I have no doubt he’ll shape up.  Look at how the Corey Dillon experiment went.

Random Tidbit: Some really bad Star Wars collectibles. I really like the “What Can You Get A Wookie For Christmas (When He Already Owns A Comb?)” book.  Priceless

So I was watching the Patriots game this weekend and I realized that every other commercial was Peyton Manning trying to sell something.  Now, being a Patriots fan I have about as much love for Manning as I do for Derek Jeter - that is, less than zero, so this is not an unbiased opinion.  However, does this guy really need to sell this much crap?  I might be mistaken, but I think he is one of, if not the, highest paid player in the NFL.  I think he does ok.  And every good player does commercials for something.  But I saw this guy selling cell phones, gatorade and even DirecTV I think.  The funniest was the Gatorade commerical - the rebirth of cool?  When was Manning ever cool?  I’m convinced if someone would cut him a check, he’d sell dog crap - “it’s steaming poo, buy it, I need another car!”

Now, besides the fact that he is the leader of our current rivals, I think what really gets me is he is the single most overrated player in sports.  Not only do I feel he is not the best quarterback in the league - how many rings does he have again? - but, I think he has a major character flaw for the leader of a team.  He never takes responsibility for anything.  I think that’s what sets Brady apart from him - not the rings.  A few years ago when the Pats beat him what did he do?  First, they complained about the field before the game - ok, that was brilliant by Belichick and maybe they got us on that one.  But, most importantly, was it his fault his team didn’t win and he threw those picks?  No, our cornerbacks were harassing his wide receivers.  So the league changed the rules for him.  The league changed the rules for one player.

Fine, we laid off his receivers and still beat him after that.  Then last year they almost go undefeated.  They get home field advantage.  Everyone is healthy.  This is the year of the Colts.  No snowy, cold loss to the Pats or anyone else.  And they choke in the playoffs, again.  I would have given him all the credit if he’d stood up and said - I sucked, end of story.  What’d he do?  “We had some breakdowns on the offensive line.”  Right.  If I was his offensive line I would have “missed a block” first preseason game and let some 300 lb defensive lineman knock the snot out of him.

I just wonder when someone will realize he’s not worth the money, he’s never going to win when it counts and stop giving him big checks.  I doubt it will ever happen.  If he ever does, I’ll eat some crow.  Somehow, I’m not worried.  Go Pats.

Random Tidbit: The total hits for my blog for the last 3 days have been higher then in the entire existence of my blog - which isn’t saying much, I know.  I wish I could say it was because of my stellar literary ability, stunning good lucks and immense web design capabilities - stop laughing, I said I wish I could say that.  In actuality, it is because of a site I’ve never heard about called StumbleUpon.  It’s rather interesting, sort of similar to the random del.icio.us button I guess.  So I figured, since they exposed me to so many new readers I would give them a plug.  Now buy my crap, I need a new car.

Saw an interesting article talking about who was more clutch, Larry Legend or Big Papi? Some interesting points and maybe I’m a biased opinion, having just read Bird Watching, but I think not only is Larry Legend more clutch, but he’s also the greatest basketball player ever. Now, he says in his book that Michael is, but we all know Larry was the man. He put Boston on the map in the 80s, let the Big Three and brought us championships. Enough said. He was a fierce competitor and made everyone who played with him better. And his book was pretty good too.

I even thought about writing to him and asking him for an autograph for my dad. I think that would make his decade as some of my earliest memories are of me and him watching the Celtics and Lakers. Being young and foolish I saw him rooting for the Celtics and rooted for the Lakers to irk him (I’ve since smartened up). Unfortunately, just as I was really becoming interested in sports and realizing what we had in Boston was right around the time Larry called it a career. Anyways, I thought about it, but decided against it based upon his book - he mentions many times that he doesn’t like all the attention. Still, it would be cool to give my dad a picture of Larry Legend with the writing “To (insert my dad’s name here), from Larry Bird.”

Random Tidbit: Before you get irked that this is under CSS and Web Design I just wanted to mention I did get around to updating my site with my new style. I still haven’t figured out the graphics problem yet, and have been too disenfranchised to even try, but I think it looks halfway decent as is. It’ll look better when I polish it. Also, I put up 2 new (related) templates of sorts - click-able, CSS only US maps. There is a small version and a larger one - both images are transparent to let your background bleed through. If you do use it, let me know.

The United States has ceded control of the internet to ICann. With the internet having become such a big part of our culture and a big part of most of our lives it’s interesting to see what, if any, effect this has on anything. Al Gore could not be reached for comment.

Danica Patrick has decided to pass over NASCAR, for now, and stay with IRL with new team Andretti Green Racing. Though teaming up with Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti, along with better equipment, means that she’ll probably do a lot better I’m kind of disappointed. I’m a big NASCAR fan and I’d love to see her on the circuit. She’s proved she’s tough and can take anything the guys might say to her. Plus, I think she could take Jeff Gordon (and I’d pay to see that, as an Intimidator fan).

Finally, if you’re bored, late at night - or anytime - check out this cool flash game. It’s like most good games - simple to learn, hard to master and extremely addictive. With the flash Lemmings game seemingly missing, it’s the best I’ve seen out there.