The Patriot Act

Time to get out your proofing pens… the New England Patriots have been caught red-handed videotaping signals from the opposing teams’ coaches, and their Super Bowl victories need to be accompanied by asterisks.

Bill Belichick hired assistants to videotape signal callers on opposing coaching squads, and he is levied a (admittedly stiff) fine?  His press conference today, where he repeatedly dodged the issue, was just further admission of guilt.  Guilty of bald-faced, blatant cheating.

The NFL is a professional sports league that is always tooting its own horn about its lofty standards.  We all know what has happened with Micheal Vick.  They recently fined Wade Wilson a third of his salary for using steroids.  Only, this occurred when he was a coach… and the drugs were treatments for Diabetes.

But when Belichick, one of the most lauded coaches ever in the game (primarily for his ill-gotten victories), is exposed for compromising the most fundamental ethical standards of football (nee, sporting in general), he is forced to pay money as his punishment?!  No talk of suspension, much less expulsion.  I guess since he didn’t strap a HandyCam to a dog, it’s okay.

Seeing as how he just got caught this past weekend, who knows how long this behaviour has been going on?  Even if knowing the defense you’re facing gives you just a small edge ("you still have to…execute the play", as Donovan McNabb graciously told ESPN), do remember that the Patriots won all of their championships by small edges, including their 3-point victory in Super Bowl XXXIX against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Microsoft Office On The Cheap

If you’re a student (or know one) who is actively enrolled and needs Microsoft Office, Big Blue will be offering the "Ultimate" version of Office on this web site for only $59.95, starting today at noon.

This version has all of the programs you need in the Office Suite — Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access, OneNote, and more. For 60 bucks, it’s well worth it to have a legal copy and be entitled to all updates & security patches.

A Muffed Start

"And the return game will continue to be a non-factor with zero threat from Lewis & Buckhalter."

Well, I wouldn’t exactly say a "non-factor", as they helped score 10 points (and maybe more) for the other team.

This is an Emergency Situation, folks, and needs to be addressed immediately.  Such gross incompetence on the part of the Philadelphia Eagles’ (Not So) Special Teams could cost them a playoff berth.

The Packers’ defense played good, it looks like they found a fine young kicker, but were simply horrific on offense.  This game should have been a 27-6 blowout.

Buyer’s Remorse

Well, that instant $200 drop in the price of the iPhone — 2 months after it came out! — was quite a shock to early adopters.  Here are just a few people (well, ~1,500 or so) venting about it… on one message board thread!

King Steve has decided to bequeath a $100 store credit on his  will-spend-all-day-in-line-to-fork-over-gobs-of-cash subjects.  You know, instead of the $200 cash difference.  Consider it your loyalty tax.

How Touching

Well, let the rumors cease because the new iPods are here.  Most notable is the iPod touch — basically an iPhone without the phone the world has been waiting for, albeit in 8GB and 16GB models only:

You can also pick up an 8GB iPhone on the cheap — now $399 (from $599… as of umm yesterday).

But perhaps the most staggering revelation…
RINGTONES!!!
That’s right kids, ringtones for your iPhones.  Oh.  My.  God.  The wonders… they’re just not ceasing…

And, get this, not only do you get to pay $1 for each song you download from iTunes.  NOW, you get the double pleasure of paying ANOTHER dollar for each 30s ringtone you want to make… from the song you ALREADY PURCHASED!  For your $600 iPhone… on your $60/month cell phone plan…

Hey, you already paid for crap… why not pay twice?!?

The new Apple iPods.

My Girls

Aren’t they the cutest?!

We had a lovely Labor Day weekend, spending time with friends and family, eating lots of good for you food.

The Birds Are Back

So who’s ready to Fly Like An Eagle next week?!  My man Saverio Rocca (pictured, left) is poised to launch the ball 50, 60… maybe 70 yards in the air?  I guess it says something about the season when the player generating much of the buzz is the punter.  Well, OK there’s that other guy… #5 is it?  I think he got hurt last year…

Anyway, I smell another decent, playoff-making season.  Unfortunately, there’s nothing to really get excited about — Westbrook will have another good season, but McNabb will never be 100%, even by his own admission.  There is sadly, once again, no stud go-to receiver (we let the Patriots get Stallworth?!).  Of the core group, Jason Avant actually looked the best to me.  And Brent Celek seems to have hands like flypaper, and can actually hustle after the catch (listening, L.J.?).

The defensive line, probably among the most over-hyped & under-producing in the league, is still suspect.  They simply don’t get to the backfield in time, and the better QBs will pick them apart with screens and quick dump passes over the middle.  Maybe the recent acquisition of Kimo von Oelhoffen will help…

And the return game will continue to be a non-factor with zero threat from Lewis & Buckhalter.

Sean O’s call for Your Philadelphia Eagles‘ 2007 season: 10-6, losing the NFC East to a tiebreaker with the Cowboys, but clinching a Wild Card berth.  But after that… is there another return to the NFC Championship game?!

What do you think?