Quite a bit going on yesterday with Jason Bay agreeing to terms with the Mets, and the Pro Bowl rosters being announced.
Bay was a nice player here, a professional guy who hit for power and drove in runs, but wasn’t the type of guy you build your lineup around. Despite his durability over the course of his career, there was also apparently something in his physical that prompted the Red Sox to move on. Speaking of moving on, I think most of us had moved on from Bay a couple of weeks ago, so all these columns and talk about Bay this morning are not nearly as interesting as the media seems to think it is.
As for the Pro Bowl selections…the NFL is trying their hardest to make the selections an “event.” They had a show dedicated to the Pro Bowl last night, where the selections were announced. The most notable part of that show however, was a rambling interview with Colts president Bill Polian, who took shots at his own fan base, intimating that they were too stupid to understand what was really important, and outlined what he felt was really important: he stated that he didn’t think 16-0 was of any significance, (“inconsequential” he called it) and that they had set two goals this season – the first was to get to 23 straight regular season wins, and the second was to get the most regular season wins this decade. No mention of the Super Bowl. (You can see a similar rant on the Colts web page.)
Anyway…on to the links.
They looked coordinated on offense - Albert Breer notes the improvement in play-calling for the Patriots on Sunday. (Of course, the picture with the column is actually of defensive coordinator Dean Pees.)
‘D’ is the key to Pats’ surge - Rich Garven looks at lineup changes on the other side of the ball that have made a difference for the Patriots.
They finally grasped The Patriot Way - Tom E Curran says that the team is finally coming together.
Patriots drop back to the pack - Karen Guregian isn’t optimistic about this team.
Cold, Hard Football Facts That Defined The Decade Of The Patriots - Kerry Byrne with 81(!) numbers that stand out for the Patriots in the last ten years.
Life Comes Full Circle for Jason Bay, Mets - Alex Speier looks back at how the Mets deemed Bay utterly expendable seven years ago.
Pioneers and Racism in Major League Baseball - Scott Coen with some thoughts after the passing of former baseball writer Lester Rodney.
Mental lapses are proving to be a real headache - Gary Washburn looks at the Celtics recent struggles.
Goal within reach? - Kevin Paul Dupont has Tim Thomas still dreaming of Olympic gold.
Rink can freeze out Mother Nature - Rich Thompson looks at how rain won’t deter plans for the Winter Classic.
