Islands On The Coast

Woke up from a pleasant dream (that I cannot now remember anything about) a few minutes before the 5AM alarm went off. I always hate waking up just before the alarm as that means I end up lying awake until it goes off. I do like waking up several hours before the alarm because I know I can go back to bed and get substantially more sleep (and dreams).

The snowstorm was raging at 5AM. I got up and realized I wasn't going to make it to work on time so might as well take the dog for an extra long walk in the heavy snow. This time, I took a route through a neighborhood I never walked in before and it was so quiet and peaceful that I think I'll take that route more often. My street wasn't plowed yet so it was rough walking for a while.

Decided to drive to work anyway only to find my office had no power so I headed up to my "satellite" office up north where I had a very productive and happy work day.

Now that the local football team called New England Patriots have gone 17-0 and headed to the AFC Championship game this weekend, the naysayers have come out of the woodwork to try to tarnish the achievement.

What gets these people so angry is that the Patriots got EVEN BETTER after they stopped cheating! Now if the Pats had gone 9-7 or something like that, that would have been the end of it and "Camera-gate" or whatever you call it would have been long forgotten. But the fact that the Pats went 16-0 really frosts their butts!

It's like the Patriots were being forced to play with one hand behind their backs when they were cheating. Now that they can't cheat anymore, they turned into the greatest team in the history of the NFL.

This, the haters of Bill Belichick and the Patriots just can't handle. They cannot stomach that the team actually got better after their videotapes were taken away!

My theory is that the Pats were over analyzing their opponents and that is why they were so (comparatively) mediocre over these past six years. Only three Super Bowl victories when they could easily have had five or six if they weren't trying so hard to gain a competitive edge by analyzing hours and hours of videotapes of chubby men giving hand signals on the sidelines.

Anyway, I think the Patriots handled the aftermath of their little scandal with unparalleled class and dignity. They could have folded like a cheap suit but instead, they pulled together and socked it to the rest of the NFL. (And the rest of the NFL hates them for it.)

Lastly, I must commend Bill Belichick for his handling of the entire episode. Instead of denying the cheating, Bill accepted all the blame and all of the responsibility, as a true leader of men should do. As a result, Bill Belichick has vaulted himself into the rarefied air of the greatest coaches of all time. In fact, if there will ever be a Mount Rushmore of NFL Coaches, we would see sculpted up there the faces of Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, George Halas, Don Shula and towering over all of them, the grizzled, hooded face of Bill Belichick - the greatest of the greatest of all coaches.

Ok, so I laid it on pretty thick. But I went ahead and posted the above on a bulletin board where it is sure to get a rise out of people.

Breakfast: Stonyfield Strawberry Yogurt. Lunch: Wheat Bagel. Dinner: Beef & Barley soup with crackers. Two handfuls raisins. Two handfuls peanuts.

Liquids: Three coffees. One Propel. Four JC minis. Two glasses wine.

Walked over 12,000 steps.