On the strength of a victory over previously unbeaten East Providence, Portsmouth jumped from No. 5 to No. 3 this week in the poll. The Patriots are ahead of No. 4 La Salle, which handed them a 16-9 loss the previous week.
Middletown remained undefeated on the season with a 33-0 thrashing of East Greenwich and moved up to No. 8, while Rogers is at No. 13. The Vikings' only loss came against Division I La Salle.
Team Points Last week
1. Hendricken (11) 220 1
2. Barrington 209 3
3. Portsmouth 191 5
4. La Salle 188 4
5. Johnston 160 6
6. East Providence 158 2
7. Mount Hope 154 7
8. Middletown 125 8
9. Tolman 122 11
10. Cranston West 118 9
11. Moses Brown 109 t-12
12. Woonsocket 86 17
13. Rogers 85 15
14. Toll Gate 66 10
15. Cranston East 64 t-12
16. Ex.-West Greenwich 61 18
17. Shea 50 NR
18. Central 48 14
19. Burrillville 39 20
20. Chariho 24 16
Dropped from poll (place): Westerly (19).
Also receiving votes: Lincoln 9, North Smithfield 8, Cumberland 7, Westerly 3, Mount Pleasant 2, North Providence 2, Ponaganset 1, South Kingstown 1.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Oh Randy, you came and you gave
Since the day he came to New England, Randy Moss by and large was scrutinized by the media in this town. The star wide receiver, who set an NFL single-season record with 23 touchdowns in 2007 and helped the Patriots notch the only 16-game perfect regular season, simply couldn’t do enough to appease the idiot writers (one of whom works for this publication), who only wanted to tear him down.
Not long after the trade was announced during the 2007 NFL draft, which sent Moss to the Patriots from Oakland for a fourth-round pick, Daily News sportswriter Josh Krueger wrote a column about the deal.
“Sorry to rain on the New England Patriots’ Randy Moss parade — truthfully, I’m not at all sorry — but if I were a Patriots fan, I wouldn’t get too excited about the acquisition of the lazy wide receiver just yet,” Krueger wrote.
How did that work out? Moss, while he had his moments as a Patriot, was hardly the trouble-making player many figured he’d be. His production certainly outweighed any waves he may have made. In his three-plus seasons in New England (51 games) he caught 259 passes for 3,904 yards and 50 touchdowns.
The media had nothing to do with Moss getting traded — that was the stingy Patriots, who didn’t want to offer a multiyear deal to a 33-year-old wide receiver with a potential lockout approaching. But the bozo columnists who cover the Pats, one of whom resides upstate, always had it out for him. I really don’t know what else he could have done. Yet if a game went by where he didn’t score, or wasn’t the focal part of the offense, he was accused of “dogging it.”
Reche Caldwell, Deion Branch, Troy Brown or David Givens — the team’s leading receivers from 2001-06 — were never accused of dogging it despite putting up some paltry numbers in big games. Wes Welker has had his share of clunkers in this three seasons, yet nobody caught nearly as much flack as Moss.
Fans, from what I could tell, liked Moss. They certainly liked him when he beat double coverage down the field to haul in a touchdown pass. But now that he’s gone, the Patriots will struggle to find that speedster who can stretch the field vertically.
Brandon Tate? As much as the special teams guru has put his stamp on games, he’s not capable of bringing the same skills to the table as Moss. But the Patriots have enough weapons, some will say.
Oh yeah? The reason Wes Welker has caught 100 passes every year, the reason the new tight ends, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, have became major targets for Tom Brady is because of Moss. He attracts so much attention all over the field that it frees up other players.
Moss is headed back to Minnesota, where he was loved from Day 1. No, he’s no longer the burner he once was, but he’s still a very talented — and smarter — wide receiver who will be an enormous target for Brett Favre and give Adrian Peterson plenty of room to run.
Unless the third-round pick the Pats got in return for Moss turns out to be a future Hall of Famer, this was a raw deal. I would rather have him finish the season as a Patriot and take a run for a championship. Instead, this offense is cooked.
PS: October 31 - Minnesota at New England.
Not long after the trade was announced during the 2007 NFL draft, which sent Moss to the Patriots from Oakland for a fourth-round pick, Daily News sportswriter Josh Krueger wrote a column about the deal.
“Sorry to rain on the New England Patriots’ Randy Moss parade — truthfully, I’m not at all sorry — but if I were a Patriots fan, I wouldn’t get too excited about the acquisition of the lazy wide receiver just yet,” Krueger wrote.
How did that work out? Moss, while he had his moments as a Patriot, was hardly the trouble-making player many figured he’d be. His production certainly outweighed any waves he may have made. In his three-plus seasons in New England (51 games) he caught 259 passes for 3,904 yards and 50 touchdowns.
The media had nothing to do with Moss getting traded — that was the stingy Patriots, who didn’t want to offer a multiyear deal to a 33-year-old wide receiver with a potential lockout approaching. But the bozo columnists who cover the Pats, one of whom resides upstate, always had it out for him. I really don’t know what else he could have done. Yet if a game went by where he didn’t score, or wasn’t the focal part of the offense, he was accused of “dogging it.”
Reche Caldwell, Deion Branch, Troy Brown or David Givens — the team’s leading receivers from 2001-06 — were never accused of dogging it despite putting up some paltry numbers in big games. Wes Welker has had his share of clunkers in this three seasons, yet nobody caught nearly as much flack as Moss.
Fans, from what I could tell, liked Moss. They certainly liked him when he beat double coverage down the field to haul in a touchdown pass. But now that he’s gone, the Patriots will struggle to find that speedster who can stretch the field vertically.
Brandon Tate? As much as the special teams guru has put his stamp on games, he’s not capable of bringing the same skills to the table as Moss. But the Patriots have enough weapons, some will say.
Oh yeah? The reason Wes Welker has caught 100 passes every year, the reason the new tight ends, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, have became major targets for Tom Brady is because of Moss. He attracts so much attention all over the field that it frees up other players.
Moss is headed back to Minnesota, where he was loved from Day 1. No, he’s no longer the burner he once was, but he’s still a very talented — and smarter — wide receiver who will be an enormous target for Brett Favre and give Adrian Peterson plenty of room to run.
Unless the third-round pick the Pats got in return for Moss turns out to be a future Hall of Famer, this was a raw deal. I would rather have him finish the season as a Patriot and take a run for a championship. Instead, this offense is cooked.
PS: October 31 - Minnesota at New England.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Euro fans truly are fanatic
It was evident by the celebration on Monday that the Europeans love the Ryder Cup much more than the Americans. And I'm not talking about the golfers.
Two years ago, when the event was held at Valhalla in Kentucky, there was hardly a peep on this side of the pond. I'm not trying to generalize here, but I'm not sure most Americans even know what the Ryder Cup is. They know what the Olympics are, and they are aware (although they may not want to be) of the World Baseball Classic.
But what makes the Ryder Cup special is the fact that it's us versus all of Europe: Spain, England, Italy, Sweden, Ireland, Germany. And it's the best golfers in the world: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Steve Stricker, etc.
Kudos to the Americans for a spirited effort in the singles session on Monday, especially from 21-year-old Rickie Fowler, who rallied to halve his match. Stricker, on the other hand, earned just a half-point against North Ireland's version of Fowler, Rory McIlroy. That was a big result considering the final score.
There are a lot of 'What ifs' from the weekend, but the fact is the Cup is now in Europe and will be until 2012, when it comes to Medinah in Illinois. Let's just hope the U.S. gets a little more excited about it.
Two years ago, when the event was held at Valhalla in Kentucky, there was hardly a peep on this side of the pond. I'm not trying to generalize here, but I'm not sure most Americans even know what the Ryder Cup is. They know what the Olympics are, and they are aware (although they may not want to be) of the World Baseball Classic.
But what makes the Ryder Cup special is the fact that it's us versus all of Europe: Spain, England, Italy, Sweden, Ireland, Germany. And it's the best golfers in the world: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Steve Stricker, etc.
Kudos to the Americans for a spirited effort in the singles session on Monday, especially from 21-year-old Rickie Fowler, who rallied to halve his match. Stricker, on the other hand, earned just a half-point against North Ireland's version of Fowler, Rory McIlroy. That was a big result considering the final score.
There are a lot of 'What ifs' from the weekend, but the fact is the Cup is now in Europe and will be until 2012, when it comes to Medinah in Illinois. Let's just hope the U.S. gets a little more excited about it.
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