Patriots Blues

For the umpteenth week in a row, the New England Patriots could not put together 60 solid minutes of football. The defense was okay, but failed to come up with big stops when needed, such as on the 4th and 5 play in the forth quarter when Charles Clay escaped a tackle on a screen pass to get the first down and keep the drive going (I’ll give credit where credit is due, that was a very nice play). It’s blatantly obvious that this defense is not a very good unit without Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo and Tommy Kelly in the middle. While guys like Joe Vallano, Isaac Sopoaga and Chris Jones have given their maximum effort all year and been suitable replacements, it is clear that they have a disadvantage when it comes to their front seven against almost any line in the league. They continue to show that they can’t stop the running game, and therefore almost any quarterback in the league can torch the secondary for big gains (ie. Jason Campbell, Case Keenum, Geno Smith). Essentially, there is mediocrity across the entire roster and Tom Brady’s career is just sand in the hour glass being wasted by a lack of personnel. 

Image courtesy of ESPN.com

Tom Brady is 36 years old right now. Time is of the essence, and while the Pats still have this gift from the Gods, we as fans should be outraged at the Patriots’ inability to put some solid players around him. The depth at the wide receiver and tight end position coming into this season was already am absolute joke, and it seems the entire organization and fan base was banking on Gronk to come in and save the day. When he was on the field this offense was clearly much better than when he was not on the field, but in the NFL you need to have more depth. At wide receiver, the starters from this past game against Miami were Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman and Josh Boyce who stand 5’ 11”, 5’ 10”, and 5’ 11”, respectively. This is a joke, in my opinion. I am aware that Dobson and Thompkins are hurt, who are 6’ 3” and 6’ 1”, respectively, as well as Gronk who is 6’ 7”, but the lack of size at the wide receiver position is definitely a concern. 

On the subject of the offensive struggles... WHY ARE WE NOT RUNNING THE BALL?? Especially in the redzone, where our lack of size without Gronk is blatantly apparant. We all know Ridley has had his fumbling issues, but c’mon Bill and Josh you gotta give the guy a chance. He’s the best runner we have, in terms of down hill running and making guys miss. Their offense takes on a different element when he’s out there, especially when he’s running the ball in the way he’s capable of. Blount can not do some of the things that Ridley can do on the field. We need Stevan Ridley down the stretch Bill, let the dude play!

The offensive line is a big issue right now. Tom has been hit far too often this year, especially in the past couple games. He hasn’t had enough time in the pocket to let the plays develop in the way they’re supposed to. The loss of Volmer was fixable, but losing Solder is a whole bigger problem. He has had two head injuries in a matter of a week, along with some type of lower body injury he was working on with trainers before the game. If they lose Solder for an extended period of time, that is a big problem for this offense as he has been one of the best tackles in the league this year and a huge (literally) piece of this offensive line. 

Basically what I’m trying to say is that this team is in a lot of trouble, to put it bluntly. They’re not getting to the Super Bowl, and they would be very lucky to get to the AFC Championship game at this point given the injury situation and lack of personell The NFL is all about match ups, and Bill has his hands full trying to make match ups that will go in his teams favor.

What In The World is Going on? (Patriots Talk)

Hey Everybody,

As most of you know, I was born and raised in the Boston area and therefore I am bound to be a fan of the Boston sports teams for all eternity. For some it sounds like it would be easy to root for teams who all have had so much success in the past years, respectively. However that is not the case recently. 

Being a Boston sports fan this week has sucked, to put it lightly. First the Bruins lost in game 6 by giving up two goals in 17 seconds, then Doc Rivers bolted for Los Angeles, and of course the Aaron Hernandez debacle.

Thanks for the Memories, Doc.

Patrice=Warrior 

                                       

Let's start off with what seems to be the number one issue in the news over the past 2 weeks or so, Aaron Hernandez. I have been following this situation since it was reported that there was a body found near Hernandez's home almost 2 weeks ago. I don't think I'm alone when I say that watching the whole situation unfold in front of our very eyes has been enticing to watch, yet so agonizing knowing this guy is so young and has so much damn talent on the gridiron. 

AHH Shit I forgot about that!

When this story first broke, we didn't really know all that much about Hernandez's past. 

However, now everything is starting to come to the surface: his friends with gang associations, past crimes (he shot a dude in the face, how did we not hear about this? BREAKING: Just got a notification he is being investigated in a double shooting in Boston, guess things can get worse for him) and his tough upbringing in Bristol, Connecticut where his father died when he was 16, which affected him deeply. 

I guess once the media gets their hands on a story, or a man (figuratively) they won't stop until every little drop of juice is squeezed out of it for the public to quench their unsatisfiable thirst for drama, particularly among those few who are deemed "celebrities" such as Aaron Hernandez. 

Along from the fact that Hernandez was just charged with first degree murder along with 5 other charges, the Patriots released him swiftly after he was arrested. From a football perspective, that is not exactly helping the Patriots.  

With Gronk coming off four forearm surgeries and a back surgery in the offseason, I'm not expecting him to be start the season which is pretty much the general consensus I'm hearing from a lot of people who know a lot more than I do. Hopefully Gronk can come back in good shape and help this offense out ASAP. 

With that being said, the New England Patriots will be playing football this year, with or without Gronk and Hernandez. 

So what does this mean for the Patriots? 

No Welker, Gronk or Hernandez, not to mention Brandon Lloyd and Danny Woodhead are gone too... Well, we still have some hope in Foxborough ladies and gents because Tom Brady is still the quarterback and Bill Belicheck is the master of puppets controlling things. With those two at the helm, I wouldn't count the Patriots out just yet. 

The big question most fans have is who will Tom Terrific throw the ball to?

The fact is that Tom Brady can make anyone a Pro Bowl receiver because that's just how good he is. While the Patriots appear to lack weapons, ask yourself when has that ever stopped them before? In 2001, our best receivers were Troy Brown and David Patten. In 2003 and 2004, Deion Branch, Kevin Faulk and David Givens were the main receivers of Brady's passes.

First and foremost, for our offense to be successful this season Danny Amendola must be productive and stay healthy, a problem that has nagged him his whole career. That applies to Julian Edelman as well, who I believe will have a career season this year filling the role of Wes Welker. Donald Jones and Michael Jenkins will also play key roles in the receiving corps this season. Look for Aaron Dobson, the rookie out of Marshall to step up and make some plays. 

What also needs to happen in order for this team to make a run in the playoffs is a change of attitude going into every game. There must be a certain physicality and toughness on both sides of the ball for this team to win the Super Bowl. No longer are the days of the high flying, throw the ball around, finesse Patriots team. This team must come into each game wanting to physically dominate and destroy their respective opponent. 

The running game has to continue to build on what they produced from last year, where they were 7th in the league in rushing. With Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, Leon Washington, Branden Bolden and Lagarette Blount, (solid pick up that flew under the radar) in the backfield I have faith that they can take the pressure off Tom Brady to win games.  

The defense must to continue and improve as a unit from last season, where they ranked 29th in opponents passing YPG and 9th in opponents rushing YPG. What this defense thrives on is forcing turnovers as shown by their 20 INTs and 32 forced fumbles during the season. The acquisition of Aqib Talib had a great impact for them down the stretch of the season and the unit clearly improved when he was on the field, and I believe it cost them the AFC Championship game against Baltimore when he went down with a hamstring injury in the first quarter. To have that kind of defender that is able to man up on the number one receiver is huge for this defense because it allows the pass rush time to create pressure on the quarterback; part of the reason the Patriots forced so many turnovers last season was in part because of the addition of Talib and the flexibility he allows Belicheck with respect to play-calling. 

Also, notice all the off season drama that has surrounded the Patriots has been on the offensive side of the ball. On the low, the defense has quietly been improving this off season with most the attention on the offense. There is a whole lot of young talent to be excited about in that unit, and I'm anxious to see what Belicheck and his staff has up their cut off sleeves. 

Interesting tidbit, out of the 38 defensive players on the roster right now only five players are 30 years or older, Adrian Wilson, Steven Gregory, Vince Wilfork, and new comer Tommy Kelly. So the good news is our defense appears to be pretty set for a while.

Patriots fans, it's OK... Breath, relax... Inhale... exhale... 

Repeat after me: The Patriots will be OK. 

Admittedly, I have had my doubts about the Pat's in the past before, but have no fear, Belicheck is here. The truth is as long as Belicheck is coach and Tom Brady is the quarterback, we have a pretty good chance to win at least 10 games, make the playoffs, and make a run at the Lombardi. 

What has to change for the Patriots is their style of play. We can't put every game on Tom Brady's right arm anymore, that won't work now. He's 35 years old, and not getting any younger, and he doesn't have Randy Moss walking through that door anymore. We need to give it to Stevan Ridley, establish the run game, play some power, smash mouth football, control the clock and keep our defense off the field, and let Brady throw the ball when he feels necessary. 

To go back to my original point, it's a terrible situation for the families of Odin Lloyd and Aaron Hernandez, and I send my prayers to both families. Aaron Hernandez was a hell of a player with a lot of talent and probably could have been a special player in this league had he stayed healthy and out of trouble, but he didn't and that's why the Patriots cut ties with him. They don't need anyone, especially arrogant thugs like Hernandez. Everyone in that organization and locker room is a part of this well-oiled machine that has been running beautifully, for the most part, for the better part of this century. They will win games (enough to make the playoffs? YES) and they'll also lose games, and they'll recover from those losses and move on. That's what the Patriots do: they move on, like that girlfriend you wish you never let go. This team has shown to be resilient in the past, and I expect no less from them this season.

Thanks for reading, 

-RB

For my Dad.

Hey Everybody,
First off, I want to say Happy Father's Day to all the amazing fathers out there. I've been thinking today about my father, who passed away about 5 years ago when I was in 8th grade. He had a blog as well, called Bourland.com, which definitely helped inspired me to get into blogging and writing. My mom says that I have his writing voice, which is a good thing I suppose. So I'm not going to write a whole big blog post because I need to go help make dinner for my family and I'm visiting my Dad's grave but I just want to make it quick for my readers:
Always appreciate your family and support system around you, because when you struggle and you might be feeling a little bit down, that's who you need to rely on. Treasure your time with them, because you really never know what's going to happen in life.

To my dad (Because I know he has a Macbook and is reading this in heaven),
Thank you for raising me and instilling your values and morales in me, you helped me get to where I am today. Thank you for coming to my baseball games and football games in the cold and heat, and supporting me through it all. Love and miss you.

Now go spend time with your loved ones..
Thanks for reading,
-RB

How can you not love these Bruins?

Hey everyone,


Bruins fever has officially taken hold on most of New England and boy, it is infectious. You really don't have to know all that much about hockey to appreciate what this team has done, which is kind of what makes this team so awesome to watch. Everyone from the casual fan to the diehard 40 year old beer league hockey veterans to some teenage girl who hasn't watched a minute of hockey before in her life can truly watch and love what the Bruins have been doing this post season.

It all started with the Boston marathon bombings and the tragedy that shook the city, both literally and figuratively, in each of our hearts. I was actually in Boston on that beautiful Patriots Day. I was just coming back from the Redsox game where they won on a walkoff double by Mike Napoli on the way back to my car with my mom and stepdad when I heard two loud sounds off in the distance. When we got in the car and turned on the radio, we heard that there had been explosions at the finish line of the Boston marathon and within 10 minutes, they were saying it was a bombing. Naturally, I was rocked to my core... this was my city, and no one was going to fuck with it. As Big Papi said so beautifully... "This is our fucking city". Admittedly, I was a little scared as well, I have been going into Boston on Patriots Day to watch the Redsox game and marathon for a couple years now and to have that tradition robbed of it's innocence angered me as well as frightened me. Safe to say that's how many Bostonians felt that day.

Then the Bruins game came along vs the Sabres, and some sense of normalcy returned to the city of Boston.


I still get goosebumps whenever I watch that video, because it truly was our city coming together as one and despite all the hardships we had faced, we were still blaring our national anthem with pride in our hearts. And even though the Bruins lost that game, they sure as hell battled with that same pride the fans showed in the pre-game anthem.

Fast forward to Game 7 versus the Toronto Maple Leafs where the B's were down 4-1 and appeared to be on their way to the golf course. However, bit by bit they fought back. With that same resiliency we the Bostonian people showed just a couple months earlier, they battled back and won the game and series. They showed heart, and finally got their offense going in the latter stages of the game when they needed to. It truly was classic Boston. Since that moment they have been truly playing some great hockey, in the process they made a mockery of the Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins; which was arguably the most talented team in the NHL all year.

Now here we are in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks, with 2 games in the books and a combined 4 overtimes played, we have a pretty good idea of how this series will play out... A grind it out, physical, low scoring series appears to be imminent, which is perfect for the Bruins. They have the offensive firepower to score 4 or 5 goals, yet the defensive prowess and toughness to grind out a low scoring game. Both these teams are tough, but the Bruins are on another level: They are Boston Strong. Bruins in 7.

Thanks for reading,
Go Bruins.

-RB

Moving Forward...

Hey everybody,

As of right now it is 12:00 midnight, which means one thing: a new day. But today is not just any ordinary day, today will be an extraordinary day. Today, I graduate from high school and get ready to officially embark on a new journey that will take me to God knows where. 

What I do know is that I will be attending University of Alabama in the fall, and I will fly down for orientation next week, register for classes, meet new people, and yet again turn the page on a chapter in my life.

For starters, let me summarize my latest "chapter" of my life:
I was never supposed to attend North Andover High School, that was never in the discussion for me. Even in 6th grade my parents had me looking at private schools for high school. At the time I was in the Andover school system, so I would have been going right to Andover High, which never much appealed to me.

Long story short I ended up at Tilton School where I enjoyed 3 years of school, met some great people, had different experiences, some good and some bad. I made some mistakes, however, and was forced to leave Tilton, and ultimately wound up going to NAHS.

I can still remember the first time I walked into NAHS, I actually got lost trying to find the locker room for football (I was late too, classic Roger move). Nervous, excited, scared were probably the three main things I felt right then. Everything I had heard about public high school was negative, and I hadn't quite experienced anything like it.

The first kid I met at North Andover High School was Glen Hartford, and my first thought of him was here's Mr All American a classic jock, probably can't even read but he's a sick linebacker or something. I'll never forget it, he came up to me and shook my hand (almost broke it), introduced himself and asked me what position I played, to which I replied nervously, "Oh, um outside linebacker and tight-end" and he said "Same here, glad to have you on the team." That's kind of when I knew I had no chance of starting... Haha.

I had no clue what the hell I was doing for the first couple weeks, so Coach Van Horn just told me to follow Glen since we played the same positions (Van Horn also told me to move to defensive end, so I did). Obviously after watching him for a little bit I knew he had talent and could play some football. What I didn't realize right away was how good of a kid he was. Never once did I get a sense of arrogance from Glen, and he truly was Mr All American. This attitude spread through out the team as well, and I've never really seen a more humble, hard working group of guys like that team. We had fun, but we worked hard, and most importantly we were really a team. Although we didn't have the best season in terms of wins and losses, I loved being a part of that squad because we never gave up and we worked our asses off.

That football team, to me is a microcosm of this town and school. I came into this year not knowing what to expect and reluctant about having to go to a public high school. What I gained from this whole experience is a knowledge that I'll carry with me forever. And it's not the type that you learn in math or science class. Rather this knowledge is simply how to be a good person overall, and how to be a functioning member of a community. Whether that community is a team, school, office, dorm: whatever the case may be, the criteria is always the same: Be respectful, courteous, and willing to work hard for others. My classmates and teammates this year were all of these things, and for that, I thank you. Right now I can safely say that I am a better person because of all the experiences that have happened in the past year, and everyone kind of contributed to that.

I've made some great friends, had different experiences, good and bad, but in the end I'm a better person and I'm ready for the next chapter in my life. I truly hope you feel the same way I do, Class of 2013, because I believe each and every one of us has the potential to do some great things in this world.

I'll truly miss y'all, and I wish I got to know some of you better.

Thank you all...

Good Knight (See what I did there?)

Thanks for reading,

-RB

Thoughts on Hangover 3, the Movies, and our society

Hi Everybody,

Last night, I went to the movies to see Hangover 3 with one of my buddies and to be completely honest with you, I hated every second of it. The movie itself was a complete disaster, and I highly recommend that nobody waste his or her money on seeing it because it was garbage. Also, the whole movie going experience just sucked in every way possible. This experience really validated my reasons I have for not going to the movies. Let me explain…

So first off, we arrive at the Loop and there is literally no parking anywhere to be found. We had to drive around for 15 minutes before we finally got a spot in the back of the theater about 2 football fields away from the entrances. Walking into the theater was like walking into a zoo, I mean literally there had to be at least 500 people in that main lobby. As a guy that just really doesn’t like people for the most part, I hate that shit, I can’t stand big crowds full of loud and obnoxious people, because it makes me lose faith in humanity. After making our way through the mass of people we finally get to the ticket line, and the line is 30 people long at least, with only 2 people working the ticket stands. At this point I’m saying “Yea let’s just be out and go home instead,” but no instead we wait 20 or so minutes in line to get a ticket. When I finally get my chance to purchase a ticket, I almost had spontaneous heart attacks… one because the tickets were $12.50 (ridiculous) and two because I lost my debit card somehow in this whole shit show and I only had a $10 bill with me. Luckily my friend had some money he could lone me, so I was good there.

After we get our tickets my friend goes to get some food and a drinks, and while he was willing to wait in a 10-minute line and pay $5 for shitty artery clogging popcorn and an overpriced sugary chemical liquid in a cup, I was not and went into the theater to get seats. I got my ticket stub ripped and started walking down the hall. As I was looking around, more specifically at the floor, I noticed the floors were covered with popcorn.  Literally everywhere I looked there were remains of kernels or flattened pieces of popcorn. That annoyed me, like really no one in this goddamn place has a vacuum? So I go into the theater, up the stairs and 2 couples are making out right there in the back row, tongue and everything. Wow that was like the universe saying BOOM! IN YOUR FACE! You’re single! I hate PDA, btw, lol. (See what I did there?)

I made my way past the land of the babbling idiots, the line of agony, the food concessions of obesity, the dreadful floor of flattened popcorn, the awkward PDA couples, and I’m finally in my seat, ready to watch a movie and relax. This movie is gonna be pretty funny, I thought to myself... Just sit back and enjoy it. Boy was I wrong. Well the problem is that we were pretty early to the movie. Usually when you’re early to a movie they play some stupid trivia game hosted by some no name host with corny one liners who can’t act or do anything to amuse you. Apparently that’s not how it works anymore. As I’m sitting there waiting for this movie to start, there was a never-ending flow of advertisements being force fed to this audience of people who seemed mesmerized by each of the ads, almost appearing to be hypnotized.

Doritos, Taco Bell, Pepsi, Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Old Spice: those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head, all had ads promoting their products.

What I actually saw on the screen was not good advertising in any sense, and it blew my mind because I realized what advertisements are all about at their core nowadays: mind control and propaganda.

See, if you step back and take a look at our world and our society right now, everything is essentially fed to us through media outlets: TV, internet, newspaper, Twitter, magazines. What do all of these media outlets have in common? Advertisements. Ads with these preconceived ideas that are force fed and drilled in your head constantly. They all say look this way, dress like this, drink this, eat that, or you won’t be cool. That’s really all ads are about now; trying to promote being “cool” and to fit in with what these companies WANT you to think is the normal way to be, or the normal way to think or look like.

They want you to feel less beautiful because you maybe aren’t as good looking as Meagan Fox, or not as handsome because you’re not Bradley Cooper. But in reality, these people, these celebrities, are just as real as Santa Claus. They are figments of our imagination, made out to look like “perfection”. Well let me tell you something, there is no such thing as perfection.

What I’m really trying to say is this: Don’t be a victim of the society we live in now. Most of the time the information you see or hear is false or distorted in some way, especially on the Internet and anything involving Hollywood stars. Advertisements are made for people to feel like they’re not good enough in some way, unless they have this product. Well let me tell you something… Every single one of you is awesome, and however you are made up is how you were meant to be. God didn’t put you on this earth to be a copy of everyone else, you were put on this earth so you can be yourself, to grow into your own person, think your own thoughts and live your own life.

This whole world the media and Hollywood creates for people is fake; a bullshit portrayal of what reality is. People who are reading this: stay real, stay true to yourself, and don’t let anyone or anything think you’re less than what you are.

Oh yeah back to my original point:

·      Movie theaters are shitty

·      Hollywood is just a bunch of schemers

·      Illuminati is setting their plans for total world domination in motion as we speak, and they are trying to program us through the internet, movies and TV so whatever controversy happens in Washington seems like a movie, thus distorted our view of reality.

That’s all I got. Happy Memorial Day and thank you to all the veterans who have served our country.

God Bless America.

Thank you for reading,

RB