Still Brady.

Part I  --  Part II  --  Part III  --  Part IV

Congratulations to the Boston Celtics -- the greatest one-season turnaround in NBA history and the 17th NBA championship in franchise history -- and to all the Boston-area teams and their fans for the greatest year in U.S. professional sports history.

Enjoy it, fans!

We are so fortunate to have teams like the Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox, Bruins, Revolution, and all the great college teams in our area. Once again, Boston is the Hub of the Universe!

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Write for Pats Pulpit

Pats Pulpit is looking for writers. Obviously. You clicked on the link, didn't you?

You don't have to be a professional. You don't even need experience. But you need passion, and you need to be willing to learn.

Sure, I'd prefer writers who are interested in journalism as a career (I am a "former" journalist), but if you have the desire and some writing talent, this can be a great opportunity and a lot of fun.

There's one more major requirement, and it's not an easy one: Time.

What I really need right now is someone who can read all the Patriots news and post updates throughout the day (when there is news).

I'm looking for short, fact-based posts to start -- we'll save the opinion pieces for later. Writers with experience and those who show good skills will be invited to write longer features and columns.

If you're interested or have any questions, please email me and we'll discuss additional expectations.

(No, it's not a paying job.)

Welcome to New England Patriots Pulpit, affectionately known as "Pats Pulpit."

Pats Pulpit is an open community. All are welcome, and we're happy to have you. (Please read my original welcome to this site and my welcome to the original Pats Pulpit.)

Here, you are free to discuss and debate the New England Patriots, the NFL, Boston sports and sports journalism.

However, over the course of time, some people have abused our community's openness. Thus, I have instituted rules. Originally, I didn't think these rules were necessary. I optimistically trusted that adults could commune here with little to no supervision, to treat each other with courtesy and respect. My trust was misplaced for primarily two reasons: not all our visitors are adults, and some adults just don't know how to play nice.

Free Speech

When I enlisted in the military, I swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. To execute that duty, it's important to know what the Constitution (and the Bill of Rights) says. The First Amendment (relevant parts bolded and italicized) reads:

Clearly, I am not Congress. This is a privately owned and operated blog. It is not a democracy. I am the rule of law.

I believe entirely in Free Speech, but Free Speech does not provide for anyone to say absolutely any thing, any time, any place, or in any manner. Community members and visitors are expected to treat one another (and me) with courtesy and respect. This is not a request.

The Rules

The following rules serve a singular purpose: To ensure Pats Pulpit is a safe and enjoyable community for fans and others to discuss and debate the New England Patriots. Please note: These rules are not wholly inclusive.

1. No vulgarity. I may be more strict than the FCC. Beyond the obvious words, others often heard on TV may be prohibited. I will send private messages to violators to explain the infraction and to invite the poster to re-post. Offending posts will be deleted.
2. Intolerance, Prejudice and Discrimination are entirely prohibited. Don't even use them in jest.
3. No peronal attacks. Insults, name-calling or derision directed against community members or visitors will not be tolerated.
4. Harassment or baiting of community members is unacceptable.
5. Inflammatory comments intended to annoy, anger, mock or otherwise incite the community are prohibited.
6. Political comments and discussions of any kind are forbidden. This is a sports blog, not a political blog. There are plenty of blogs out there if you want to discuss politics.
7. "Relentless negativity" will not be tolerated, whether expressed by a Patriots fan or anyone else. I will quote the community rules of Sports Blogs Nation's founder and creator of its first blog, (Oakland) Athletics Nation:
   Regurgitating the same venom over and over again doesn't help anything or anyone. [Pats Pulpit] is aiming to be better than that. If you continue to do nothing but post negativity, you will lose posting privileges without warning. There's a difference between someone who aims to point out flaws and [is] constructive and someone who is destructive.
8. No solicitations of any kind. Do not post diaries or comments asking people to visit your unrelated site, to buy anything, to endorse anything, to sign up for anything. You can place a link to your own blog or website in your signature, as long as they are not solicitations of any kind.

When I pursued a career in journalism, I rededicated myself to the First Amendment and to the ethics of my profession. As the operator of Pats Pulpit, I am a freelance journalist, and I continue to abide by those ethics. I know quite a bit about fairness, accuracy, the foundations of argument, libel and other topics.

That doesn't mean that I will not express my opinions. It also means that I will provide equal opportunity for community members to express their opinions. That said, be aware that there is an enormous difference between opinions and allegations. I will challenge unsubstantiated allegations, claim and arguments. I will challenge posters to provide facts, evidence and documentation to support their theories and arguments. Those unable or unwilling to provide satisfactory substantiation are subject to consequences outlined below.

Potentially libelous statements will be deleted immediately upon discovery.

Consequences for violations:

• Offending comments and posts will be deleted upon my sole discretion.
• With the exception of "minor vulgarity," for which I will exercise limited leniency and issue warnings, offenders may or may not be warned, have their accounts erased, or be banned from the site.
• Repeat offenders will be dealt with appropriately.

Bear in mind, I am judge and jury. You may appeal privately by emailing me directly. Appeal emails must include your Pats Pulpit user name.

Filing complaints about other community members

If you believe any user has violated the above guidelines, email me directly with the following information:

• Your Pats Pulpit username
• The Pats Pulpit username of the alleged offender
• The URL(s) of the post(s) in question.

I will review the complaint and take action as I deem necessary. The complainant will receive acknowledgment that the complaint was received but will not receive notification of any action taken.

A little advice: Lecturing me about logic, journalism, democracy, free speech or similar topics will not endear you to me. If you want to discuss something, I'm open. If you want to tell me what I do or do not know, save yourself the typing.

Monday, October 29, 2007

The New England Patriots Pulpit, affectionately known as Pats Pulpit, was born 9 days before the preseason at 1:36 a.m. on Wednesday, August 3, 2005, when tommasse posted his welcome to the flock. (See, originally, tommasse was going to follow this pseudo-religious theme -- "football is our religion," "the stadium is our church" -- but Rev Halofan of Halos Heaven was already practicing that shtick. Anyway.)

The mission was simple: To "explore the mysteries of the oblong pigskin" from the perspective of the average rabid Patriots fan. New England Patriots Pulpit was a place for Patriots fans to gather and discuss the exploits of the NFL's newest dynasty.

On heady ideals tommasse laid the foundation. Pats Pulpit would be a site of honor and (journalistic) ethics and a repository of reliable information and legitimate analysis. Unlike other common sports blogs, Pats Pulpit would not be a place for people to hide in the anonymity of the internet and act like spoiled adolescents. To set the example, to demonstrate that there would be no anonymous systematic intimidation, tommasse gave himself no moniker. He put his name on it.

Above all, Pats Pulpit would be a community. Heady days were they! Two days into existence, The Sporting News named named Boston the "Best Sports City" in America. Just over 2 years later, here we are: The Boston Red Sox have just won their second World Series in 4 years, and your New England Patriots are 8-0. The best sports city, indeed.

The Pulpit was lucky then to have a dozen visitors in a day. (That same site, still "active" but updated rarely and then only to direct readers here, draws more readers now [16 per day] than it did then.) Our first open thread for the Week 2 matchup featuring New England at Carolina, a 27-17 loss, garnered a big 19 comments from scsatr, mrbandw and tommmasse.

The Blogspot rendition of Pats Pulpit crawled until it learned to walk. Like Puritans claiming a stake in the New World, we fought for survival in a harsh and burgeoning world of New Media. Four weeks after Thanksgiving, we enjoyed the fruits of our labor. Deadspin.com, the second highest trafficked sports blog on the internet (launched 1 month after Pats Pulpit), named Pats Pulpit, the best Patriots blog on the web, and proposed the Pulpit was "The blog that Norm, Cliff and all the guys down at Cheers would be reading."

That sealed it. New England was on the New Media world map. After nearly 150 posts, the proprietors of Sports Blogs Nation invited tommasse to take up residence in their fast-growing national (now worldwide) network of the best sports blogs the web had to offer.

And so, at 8:15 a.m., January 7, 2006, the new Pats Pulpit open the doors to its new cathedral, and tommasse once again welcomed his flock to their new home.

The old Pats Pulpit was by then averaging about 50 unique visitors daily, and they followed tommasse to the Promised Land of Sportsblogging.

Today, Pats Pulpit attracts anywhere from 400 to 2,000 unique visitors daily and we approach the 500-post mark (not including diaries). The mission remains the same: Provide a place for Patriots fans to gather and discuss the first NFL dynasty of the Third Millennium, and to do it where fans would have a reliable repository of information, where journalistic ethics were followed, and where interlopers would not be allowed to anonymously and systematically intimidate the true members of the community.

Once again: Welcome to Pats Pulpit. May your stay here be enjoyable.

Now step up to the pulpit and say your piece!

Who is tommasse?

Tom Masse was born and raised north of Boston and has been a fan of the New England Patriots since the early 1970s.

After messing around in college a few years, he enlisted in the United States Marines. Following a brief stint, he returned to college at the State University of New York at Stony Brook where he minored in journalism where he studied under the tutelage of Bob Greene, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and founder of Investigative Reporters and Editors, and Paul Schreiber, among others.

Tom was editor in chief of The Stony Brook Statesman and interned at Newsday. After graduation, Tom worked for newspapers in Vermont and New Hampshire; however, he was unable to marry his passions for the Patriots and his journalism career.

Tom left journalism in 2000 and returned to his original vocation, technology, where he has worked in network operations for several years. Tom also owned and operated a computer gaming and repair center for more than 3 years before closing in 2006.

Despite his moving around, Tom is back north of Boston, in the middle of Patriots Nation.

Diaries are your place to post Patriots news and your opinions. Do not hesitate to post in this section. Just be sure follow the standard Pats Pulpit Community Rules. Remember, Pats Pulpit is an open community.

Diaries meriting promotion will be moved to the main section of Pats Pulpit. These submissions are subject to editing for spelling, grammar, formatting and style. Content will be edited only to make the diary adhere to the posted Community Rules and copyright standards, to eliminate potentially libelous information, or for other reasons. I will contact the original writer before editing, but I may edit and move the post before receiving a response.

Please add links to any referenced or quoted materials.

Yeah, it all sounds pretty scary (it isn't) and "legal" (it is, loosely), but I want to impress that I expect posts to be thoughtful and well-structured. The goal is communication.

Formatting Tips

I stole this from Brian G at Buffalo Rumblings. (Thanks, BG!)

The commands below work in the "Auto Format" setting. If you know a little something about HTML (here's a fantastic tutorial, use the "HTML Formatted" setting and apply tags appropriately.

Paragraphs and line breaks
In order to start a new paragraph, simply press Enter twice. To insert a line break, press Enter once. Note that text will automatically wrap to fit the size of the screen, so line breaks like that are generally unnecessary. In most cases, you shouldn’t need to hit Enter at all except for paragraph breaks.

Bold and Italics
If you want to emphasize a word or phrase, you can type it into the text box surrounded in asterisks (*), *like this*. This will cause the text between the asterisks to be rendered in bold type. Similarly, you can also enter text between underscores (_) or slashes (/), _like this_ /or this/, in order to render the given text in italics.

Strikethrough Text
If you want to put a line through text for effect, you must use the HTML Tags or to make the text look like this: Strike Through Text you must also click on "HTML Formatted" in the drop down menu that is listed in Auto Format.

Making links
Of course, you can’t post on the Web without needing to insert a link every now and then. Creating a link is as simple as typing in the URL (the address shown in your browser’s toolbar at the top of the window). Auto Format mode will automatically turn all URLs into links. For example, if you were to type the following text:

the resulting comment will look like this:

Of course, it’s not always desirable to have the text of the link be the same as the target of the link. You can use brackets (’[’ and ‘]’) in order to specify both the link text and link target. For example, if you wanted the text "a great New England Patriots blog" to point to http://www.patspulpit.com/, you would type the following:

Which will render like so:

Blockquotes
Also, you can make block quotes. I use them when I extensively quoting another source like an article or some other website, or when I want to especially emphasize a point. Write it like this (removing all "---" marks):

<---div class="blockquote"--->Insert text of the quote here<---/div>

And it will look like this:

Remember, if you quote from an article, please link back to the article. Copyrights can be tricky business.

Please email me if you have any questions.

Now let's hear it, Patriots Nation!

Go PATRIOTS!!

This is this site's mission. To be as cool as possible. That is all.

This is the FAQ for this fine Scoop site. It's brand new, so there haven't been any questions asked frequently yet. But if there were, you bet they'd be right here!

You have exceeded this site's maximum posting rate. You are only allowed to post a certain number of comments or stories in a short period of time. Your user account is now locked from posting for a few minutes, after which it will become normal again. Be warned though: if you attempt to post again while you're locked out, the timeout period will double, and this will keep happening as long as you keep trying to post. Walk away for a few minutes, have a nice cup of coffee, come back, and everything will be cool. Thanks.

Below is a preview of what the selected feed will look like once it's been added. The headlines within it are the current ones.

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If you don't know HTML, that won't stop you from making your stories and posts as nicely formatted and fancy as posts by those who do. If you set your "Post Mode" in Comment Preferences to "Auto Format", Scoop will do its best to format your comment based on its contents, instead of forcing you to litter it with tags. The following page will describe the mechanics used by Scoop to format comments and stories posted in "Auto Format" mode.

Paragraphs and line breaks

In order to start a new paragraph, simply press Enter twice. To insert a line break, press Enter once. Note that text will automatically wrap to fit the size of the screen, so line breaks like that are generally unnecessary. In most cases, you shouldn't need to hit Enter at all except for paragraph breaks.

Bold and Italics

If you want to emphasize a word or phrase, you can type it into the text box surrounded in asterisks (*), *like this*. This will cause the text between the asterisks to be rendered in bold type. Similarly, you can also enter text between underscores (_) or slashes (/), _like this_ /or this/, in order to render the given text in italics.

Making links

Of course, you can't post on the Web without needing to insert a link every now and then. Creating a link is as simple as typing in the URL (the address shown in your browser's toolbar at the top of the window). Auto Format mode will automatically turn all URLs into links. For example, if you were to type the following text:

This website runs weblog software from http://scoop.kuro5hin.org.

the resulting comment will look like this:

This website runs weblog software from http://scoop.kuro5hin.org.

Of course, it's not always desirable to have the text of the link be the same as the target of the link. You can use brackets ('[' and ']') in order to specify both the link text and link target. For example, if you wanted the text "This search engine" to point to http://www.google.com/, you would type the following:

[This search engine http://www.google.com/]

Which will render like so:

This search engine

Making lists

You can create bulleted lists by entering a series of lines starting with an asterisk followed by a space ('* '). Numbered lists can be created similarly, by typing a series of lines beginning with a number follwed by a period ('1. '). For example, typing in the following text:

I had these items for breakfast this morning:
* Eggs
* Bacon
* Toast
* Hot grits

will give the following result:

I had these items for breakfast this morning:

• Eggs
• Bacon
• Toast
• Hot grits

This site uses a system called "Mojo" to try to keep the comments as high-signal as possible. All users can rate all comments, except their own, between 1 and 5. When your comments are rated by others, those ratings are combined into a weighted average (newer comments count more than older ones) called your "Mojo". This, roughly, represents the rating we could expect your next comment to receive based on your past comments.

Users who have a mojo greater than a certain minimum, and who have posted a sufficient number of comments, such as yourself, for example, are considered "trusted" users, and have the added capability to rate comments below the normal minimum rating, and also to see comments rated below the minimum (they are hidden from normal users).

This is a great responsibility for you. It means you've earned the right to peer-review content from untrusted users, and determine if it is spam. We rely on you to rate as much as you can, and to keep the comments as high-signal as we've all come to expect.

Please use your "zero" rating with care! It is *only* for use on comments that are wholly content-free. If you think the poster is clueless, or an idiot, or you just don't agree with them, that is *not* grounds for a zero rating. Zero is for comments that are offensive, script-generated, or otherwise content-free and intended solely to annoy and/or abuse other readers.

Please do not rate duplicate comments 0! As virtually all duplicate comments are accidental, this unfairly impacts the poster's mojo. A "1" rating and an email to %%local_email%% notifying us of the duplicate (please include direct link to the comment) is the appropriate response.

You also have a duty to read comments posted by untrusted users (you are the only ones who can!) and rate them up if they deserve to be viewable. We hate to see users become untrusted, and want them to rejoin the community, and rating them up when they post good comments is the only way for that to happen.

It is a cruel irony that those who are trusted, in any context, usually have more work with no particular reward for that work, and that is the case here as well. You still post with no initial rating, like a normal user, and your ratings do not carry any extra weight or power. The big reward for being trusted is that you get to see the bottom-of-the-barrel dreck. But basically, someone has to do this, and you have shown the rest of the %%sitename%% readers that you have the responsibility and perception to be trusted with this task. Hopefully there are enough of you that no one person will have to expend any unreasonable efforts.

Thank you for contributing to %%sitename%%, and for taking on the mantle of responsibility for keeping the site as high-quality as you've helped make it. I, and all the other readers, salute you.

This site uses a system called "Mojo" to try to keep the comments as high-signal as possible. All users can rate all comments, except their own, between %%rating_min%% and %%rating_max%%. When your comments are rated by others, those ratings are combined into a weighted average -- newer comments count more than older ones -- called your "Mojo". This, roughly, represents the rating we could expect your next comment to receive based on your past comments.

Users who have a mojo greater than a certain minimum and who have posted a sufficient number of comments are considered "trusted" users, and have the added capability to rate comments below the normal minimum rating. If enough of a user's comments are rated below %%rating_min%%, that user becomes "untrusted", which means that respected members of the community have repeatedly indicated that your input is offensive, content-free, or merely intended to annoy others.

If you are untrusted, then your comments are posted with an initial rating equal to your mojo. Since this is below the normal rating minimum, these comments are not visible to any but trusted users. They may, if they choose, rate your comments above the minimum, and make them visible to others. You may earn back the trust of the community simply by posting worthwhile comments, and not spamming.

Please do not see this as a condemnation of you as a person. We're sure you're very nice once we get to know you. This merely means that perhaps you've posted some rather ill-considered comments, and the community as a whole has decided that we'd rather have your input peer-reviewed before it goes out to the general public. Next time you post, think carefully about what you're saying and whether it adds to the topic at hand. If not, there are plenty of places on the web that don't filter input at all, and would be glad to hear whatever's on your mind.

If you believe your posting history does not warrant an untrusted rating and you have been the victim of malicious rating, then please contact us at %%local_email%%. Think carefully, and review your previous comments before you do this. If you complain and have in fact been spamming, then I will not be pleased with you. If your untrusted rating is unjustified though, then we will deal with the situation.

Thank you for reading %%sitename%%.

I've been trying to write this post for weeks.

I have decided to "retire" from Pats Pulpit. It was not an easy decision, and it's something I've contemplated for a long while -- since late October. I never would have finished the 2007 season, but for the Patriots' historic run. And even when that was done, it's been hard to let go. Even part way through my recent hiatus, I could hardly bear to admit it was time to move on.

But after three fantastic seasons (two with SB Nation), I owe you, the Pats Pulpit faithful, an explanation.

There are three reasons.

1. Time is not on my side. At this stage in my life, I simply have more important endeavors upon which to focus. Running a blog like Pats Pulpit and running it properly as it deserves -- as you deserve -- takes a tremendous amount of time.

   My concept of a blog does not necessarily jive with the concepts others have. I tried to run Pats Pulpit as an alternative to the mainstream media. To compete as such, I was determined to provide thoughtful, professional, well-researched and well-documented writing. I chose not to shoot from the hip, and I took pride in spelling, grammar, readability, presentation. It's the way I was taught and trained as a professional journalist.

   Unfortunately, that ideal takes time to the point that Pats Pulpit becomes a full-time job, and I already have one of those. And two full-time jobs leaves little time for the other commitments and diversions that make life worth living.

2. Huge effort, small return. This blends from the previous reason. Part of the reason I had to put in so much effort is that there were too few to share the burden. That's not to say there was no help at all. Guys like 6thround, Josh and MichaelMcCoy were tremendous assistants, and I appreciated their efforts. The problem for them as for me is that there has been little reward for the time and effort.

   I had not the time nor the inclination to pursue advertising, and I'm not sure that would have made much of a difference. Any time I spent chasing advertising took away from the precious little time I had to write, and I didn't think it was worth the sacrifice. What little would have been available would have been even less by the time it was spread around to the deserving parties, and that would have been token. SB Nation, while headed in the right direction, barely makes enough to support the infrastructure and office personnel it takes to maintain this ever-growing network, and the network has been unable to compensate the bloggers. Perhaps that would have made it easier to "hire" assistants; it would have been nice, but I don't think it would have mattered in the long run.

   Even then, I didn't get into this for financial reward. I got into this because I love the Patriots. And even more than that, I love football. There's more of a story there, but this isn't the time or the place. Suffice it to say that this was the one avenue that appeared to bring me closer to the professional game. When I was a journalist, there was little I enjoyed more than covering high school and college football. I hoped Pats Pulpit would lead to the opportunity to cover a pro team -- my pro team.

   That was not to be. The Patriots and the league apparently see little value in "fan blogs." The traditional mainstream is sufficient for their purposes. While it's possible that it is to be, even next season, I cannot dedicate myself as I have and do justice to the site and to you the fans with the proverbial carrot always promised, never delivered.

3. And that brings us to the most important reason: It's just not fun anymore.

   Even with the potential of financial compensation and obtaining media credentials, for me running this Patriots blog just isn't worth it if it's not fun, and there are too many outside influences that detract from the enjoyment of writing for the audience for whom this blog is intended. I guess it's too much to ask in today's society, to expect people to treat each other civilly and respectably.

And so that's it. I currently have a couple issues that I still need to resolve before I can entertain the thought of being active among you in this community, but I will be back to contribute from time to time, but I can no longer involve myself to extent I have over the last few years.

There are many people to thank, and like those people accepting any of the myriad back-patting awards, I fear I will forget some deserving party. For that I apologize.

Thanks to 6thround, Josh, MichaelMcCoy and InBradyWeTrust for their formal contributions.

Thanks to scsatr and mrbandw, who have been loyal readers and commenters since the Blogspot days, and RSNexile and RBooth who were among the first of the SB Nation incarnation.

Thanks to all the recent posters (too many to mention) who have really helped Pats Pulpit turn the corner and become a true community.

I hope you all stick around and keep it that way.

Thanks especially to Blez, the founder of SB Nation, who saw fit to bring me aboard the network to run its third NFL blog.

And thanks to Marc Normandin -- a rising writing talent, founder of SB Nation's Beyond the Boxscore, and a current contributor of Baseball Prospectus among other projects -- who first encouraged me to start a blog.

My best to all of you.

---- Tom Masse

p.s.: Go PATRIOTS!!

You probably noticed that I've been scarce. Many apologies, but my scarcity will continue for a bit. With the swell of news, activity and general mayhem that go with a Super Bowl run and an unprecedented undefeated 16-game regular season, a lot of stuff got neglected. It's payback time, and I have much personal business to which I must attend.

The good news is that several of you have kept up the chatter in the diaries, and I thank you all for your efforts. Further good news is that Matt Miller, proprietor of SB Nation's Mocking the Draft, is going to post some food for thought in the coming days, focusing on the Patriots' draft prospects and free agency.

Even then, there's so much to talk about. Bill Belichick's statement denying team officials had anything to do with the alleged taping of the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough prior to the Super Bowl and his apology for the ridiculous distraction it has caused. The futures of Randy Moss, Asante Samuel, Donte' Stallworth. The signing of T.J. Slaughter and possible signing of Zack Thomas. The inane $100 million lawsuit and the ramifications that has ambulance chasers everywhere drooling with idiocy and dollar signs in their eyes.

So let's hear it. Those who pull together some "newslike" presentations will have their diaries promoted to the main section for all the world to read.

Remember, I won't be doing this forever. This is your community. You make it what it is. Only your participation will allow it to survive.

Thanks again for all your participation, and Go PATRIOTS!!

Your New England Patriots, despite quarterback Tom Brady and wide receiver Randy Moss dropping out, are represented by several players in today's Pro Bowl. Hardly ever an interesting game, the only "all-star" game that takes place after a sport's season is further diluted by the number of elected players who skip it.

- - - vs. - - -

The last few Pro Bowls have been high-scoring, turnover-riddled, no-defense borefests, and there's no reason to think this one will be any different.

Enjoy the game if you watch, and feel free to comment below.

Word this evening is that the Washington Redskins have hired former Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach (and former quarterback) Jim Zorn to be their head coach, this two weeks after hiring him as offensive coordinator.

Why do we care? Because the Redskins were rumored to be interested in hiring Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for the job.

It appears McDaniels will be around for a while now, especially if Randy Moss remains in a New England uniform. A couple years with Tom Brady and Moss and he'll be hailed as an offensive genius, no matter how much or how little he has to do with their success, and he'll get a head coaching job soon enough.

Update [2008-2-9 19:51:21 by Skin Patrol]: I'm attaching a poll here, question: Are you happy with Jim Zorn as the new Head Coach? Make sure you justify your vote in the comments section. Update [2008-2-9 19:48:21 by Skin Patrol]: I believe the Times had it pretty early at their 360 Blog. Commenters have mixed views on Zorn. A sampling: Want to know how ***king stupid this really is? Note: I didn't add the fucking *s. Now for the positive: Jim Zorn is an outstanding choice. Where am I at? Just excited to have a head coach, and he'll get his chance to make a believer out of me. Congrats again. Update [2008-2-9 19:41:24 by Skin Patrol]: Per the Official Site: Jim Zorn, a veteran coach of 20 years and a renowned former NFL quarterback, today was named Head Coach of the Washington Redskins, succeeding Hall of Fame Coach Joe Gibbs, who retired Jan. 8...

Zorn, who signed a five-year contract with the team, spent seven seasons as quarterbacks coach for the Seattle Seahawks under Head Coach Mike Holmgren, where they shared in playoff trips for the past five seasons and one Super Bowl appearance.

His elevation to head coach at the Redskins adds his name to Holmgren's "family tree" of quarterback coaches who moved into the head coaching ranks, joining Andy Reid (directly from quarterback coach to the Eagles head coach), Jon Gruden, Marty Morninwheg and Steve Mariucci.

Update [2008-2-9 19:38:58 by Skin Patrol]: Jim Zorn is the new head coach, diary posted by tom (our Patriots blogger -- his work can be found at Pats Pulpit) and promoted to front page. Story also at ESPN and Redskins Insider, who also notes that John Palermo is our new D-Line coach. The long search for a head coach appears to be over, though now we have to find a new offensive coordinator. So, so strange, as the final list inevitably felt like Meeks or Fassel or Mooch. Instead we get Zorn. Doug Farrar's thoughts on our offensive coordinator head coach are all the more prescient now. Huge congrats are due Jim, who went from a qb coach in Seattle to the head coach on the other coast in what must feel like record time. Start posting your thoughts on who we should pursue for the OC job. By JOSEPH WHITE
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Washington Redskins hired Jim Zorn as their coach Saturday night, a surprise ending to a monthlong search for a replacement for Joe Gibbs, The Associated Press has learned.

Zorn will be introduced at a news conference at 3 p.m. Sunday, according to a person who was informed of the Redskins' decision. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement had not been made.

Zorn, a former Seattle quarterback, has been the Seahawks' quarterbacks coach for the last seven years. The Redskins hired him to be their offensive coordinator on Jan. 26 while continuing their search for a head coach.

Poll

Are you happy with Jim Zorn as the head coach?

42%

Yes.

143 votes

14%

No.

49 votes

43%

I still don't know what the shit is going on.

145 votes

337 votes | Poll has closed

Time to Move On
Patriots Still Consistently the Best

If you're still "mourning" the New England Patriots' Super Bowl XLII loss, stop it. Remember who we are: We're fans of the best week-in, week-out football team in the National Football League.

Sure, it really stinks that New York beat them Sunday. Sure, it would have been unbelievable to have celebrated the only undefeated 19-win season in history, the greatest single season ever (and it arguable still is).

But this team -- your team -- still is the envy of every team in the league and their fans. Thirty other teams didn't go to Phoenix. Thirty-one other teams weren't on history's doorstep. Thirty-one other teams were never within 40 seconds of 19-0 and probably never will be. Still only three teams have more Super Bowl wins than New England, and only one of those has won since the year 2000 (Pittsburgh). Thirty-one other teams have won no more than one Super Bowl since 2000; your New England Patriots have won three, and were just a couple plays from five.

Yes, the Giants won Sunday, and deservedly so. They outplayed and out-coached New England. Tom Coughlin's staff devised a fantastic game plan, and the players executed superbly. But don't believe for a second that they're a "better team" because of it.

The Giants are certainly better than their 10-6 regular-season record, but they're not remotely an 18-0 team. I said before the game that New York was probably the worst matchup for New England. I said in my 5 Questions with Big Blue View before the game that if the Patriots and Giants played 10 games, the Giants would win at least 4. They're 1-1.

But let's remember what happened this season:

Poll

What will you remember about the 2007 New England Patriots?

6%

All the team records

51 votes

5%

All the individual records

43 votes

82%

They were 40 seconds from 19-0

660 votes

5%

Beating the "best of the rest": Colts, Cowboys, Giants, Redskins, Steelers and Chargers (2x)

46 votes

800 votes | Poll has closed

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New England Patriots defensive back and special teamer Willie Andrews was charged with marijuana possession in Lowell this morning. Andrews, who was stopped by Lowell police at 9:30 a.m., was also charged with driving an unregistered vehicle.

Andrews, 24, was drafted by New England in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL draft. In his second year on the team, Andrews saw limited action on special teams and returned four kickoffs, including one for a touchdown.

The Patriots release the following brief statement:

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.

The early ratings our out. Super Bowl XLII between the New England Patriots and New York Giants was the second most-watched TV program ever.

The 97.5 million viewers beat the old Super Bowl record of 94.08 who watched Dallas beat Pittsburgh in 1996 and was second for any program of any kind to the final episode of "M*A*S*H" broadcast in 1983, which garnered 106 million viewers.

Outplayed, Outcoached in SB XLII
Patriots Pursuit of Perfection Falls One Game Short

Asante Samuel dropped a Super Bowl-clinching interception. Ellis Hobbs fell down on the Giants' winning touchdown. Matt Light false started .. twice. Laurence Maroney ran backwards on kickoff returns .. twice. The pass blockers missed countless assignments. Tom Brady threw several bad passes. Jarvis Green let Eli Manning escape his grasp.

There's two sides to that coin. Manning escaped Green, and that was amazing in itself. David Tyree's catch on the other end will be one of the all-time great Super Bowl highlights. The Giants defense, especially the line, overpowered the Patriots offensive line.

14 - - - 17

"They have some great pressure schemes, obviously some great pass rushers," Brady said. "Once we kind of got the idea of what they were doing, I thought we handled it much better but we just didn't get the ball in the end zone enough."

Before Manning found Tyree to convert that big third down, the Patriots defense forced a 4th down on the Giants' 37. Brandon Jacobs just barely gained the first down. After Plaxico Burress scored the final touchdown, cornerback Corey Webster tipped away a deep ball to Randy Moss that would have put New England in field-goal range.

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Ultimate Humble Pie
Giants Beat Patriots in Super Bowl XLII

Undefeated season denied.

Congratulations to the New York Giants.

Update [2008-2-3 23:19:5 by tommasse]:
The Giants defense played a great game. Despite New England having all their offensive linemen healthy, they were unable to give Tom Brady enough time to make better passes, and the running game couldn't get much going.

Tom Coughlin is a fantastic coach, and he and his staff devised a great game plan and made the key adjustments. Both coaches made adjustments at halftime leading to second-half scores, but Coughlin's staff made the key adjustments down the stretch.

The Giants were unbelievably lucky on several plays, especially on that last drive -- Asante Samuel muffing what could have been a game-ending interceptions, David Tyree somehow holding on to that deep pass to the Patriots 24 with just over a minute left.

But that's football. Those are the bounces. Those are the breaks. Every champion has its fair share of luck. Champions make the most of it. Tonight the Giants did. They played the better game. They played several amazing games in the playoffs. They deserve to be called Super Bowl Champions.

Your New England Patriots have nothing of which to be ashamed. They came within 3 points of something most of us could hardly comprehend. They came up just short, and you feel bad for guys like Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi, who may have played their last games in the NFL. We'll wait and see.

The pursuit of next year's title starts .. well, maybe not tomorrow. But soon. You can count on it.

Congratulations to the New England Patriots on one absolutely amazing season. It's been a tremendous ride. It's unfortunate that it had to end as it did, but the sun will rise tomorrow and Life will go on.

Update [2008-2-3 23:45:50 by tommasse]:
One more update for tonight ...

The Patriots did set or tie more records. It's been that kind of season:

• Wes Welker caught 11 passes, tying him with Deion Branch for most receptions in a Super Bowl. (Common thread: Tom Brady)
• Brady broke Joe Montana's record for career completions in Super Bowls. Montana had 83. I'm not sure where Brady stands, but it's more than that.

I'm sure the players would agree that they'd trade all the records over the entire season for 4 more points today. Alas, it wasn't to be.

Poll

Who was the Patriots player of the game for Super Bowl XLII?

2%

Rodney Harrison: 11 solo tackles, 1 assist

7 votes

4%

Tom Brady: 29 of 48, 266 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, fumble

14 votes

0%

Tedy Bruschi: 5 solo tackles, 3 assists

1 votes

1%

Laurence Maroney: 14 carries, 36 yards, TD

5 votes

8%

Adalius Thomas: 5 solo tackles, 2 sacks, forced fumble

28 votes

82%

Wes Welker: 11 catches, 103 yards

283 votes

1%

Randy Moss: 5 catches, 62 yards, TD

5 votes

343 votes | Poll has closed

This is it. This is what 53-plus players and a dozen or so coaches on 32 teams work for all season. Two teams remain: Your New England Patriots and the momentum-riding New York Giants.

You don't hear it often, but the Patriots are riding momentum, too. That ride started last January, when the Patriots were within a couple plays and a couple questionable yellow flags away from reaching their fourth Super Bowl in 6 years. With a new field surface at Gillette Stadium, Bill Belchick and Scott Pioli re-engineered the team to win games on that field and on similar fields in a new NFL era.

In early March, they signed Adalius Thomas and Donté Stallworth. They franchised Asante Samuel. They traded for Wes Welker and Randy Moss. Oh, and there was Kyle Brady and Sammy Morris. There was more, but that was some serious momentum right there.

-- vs. --

New England Patriots vs. New York Giants
Super Bowl XLII
University of Phoenix Stadium, Feb. 3, 6:18 p.m.

And here we are. The Giants have won 10 straight road games. They beat teams many people think they couldn't. But the Patriots have won 10 straight home games. And 8 straight road games. Eighteen straight games, and but for those couple plays or couple flags last January, it might be a whole lot more.

We've cataloged their exploits, the other undefeated teams they've beaten, all the records. There is one more chapter to add to the 2007 season. We will watch that chapter written together.

In fact, I invite you to to help write that chapter by participating in our open thread. Please create an account if you have not done so, and please honor our Community Guidelines. Remember Marquise Hill. Welcome to Super Bowl XLII.

Enjoy the game, and Go PATRIOTS!!

Tippett Elected to Hall of Fame
Former LB Is 4th Patriot in Canton

After 10 years of eligibility, New England Patriots linebacker Andre Tippett has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The 2008 Class of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees are:

• Fred Dean, defensive end, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers
• Darrell Green, cornerback, Washington Redskins
• Art Monk, wide receiver, Washington Redskins
• Emmitt Thomas, cornerback, Kansas City Chiefs
• Andre Tippett, linebacker, New England Patriots
• Gary Zimmerman, offensive tackle, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings

Here is Tippett's page on the Pro Football Hall of Fame website.

Tippett becomes just the fourth Patriot elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, joining Nick Buoniconti, John Hannah, and Mike Haynes.

Tippett is a member of the Patriots Hall of Fame. Here is Tippett's bio at Patriots.com.

Tippett will be inducted on August 5.

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