I heard it.

At around 10pm last night...did you hear it? The sound of millions of NFL fans nation wide dropping a collective F bomb. Listen I was more than a few beers deep it might have been 10:30 I don't know...the point is millions upon millions of people were loving the fact that our Patriots were about to lose to the Bills. And don't deny that even you yourself had your doubts...I was nervous, I won't deny it. But when Brady threw his first of two TD's to Watson you just felt like something was going to happen, like somehow they would pull it out.
If you don't think the Pats are one of the most hated on teams in Professional sports you are out of your mind. And hey you can't really blame people...NO ONE outside of New England wants to see a team win 3 of 4 Super Bowls, then just a few years after that run flirt with perfection. No one wants to hear about how Perfect Tom Brady is...how he performs in the cluth every time...how Randy Moss has completely turned his career around...or how Bill Belichick is the best coach in the NFL. They hate is heaviest when your on top people, and like it or not the Patriots are still at least near the top of the NFL. They still command the respect of a champion even coming off a year where they didn't even make the playoffs. And hey I understand...my intense hatred for the Yankees as a child was completely a product of their winning ways. I'm not saying the hate isn't warranted...I'm actually saying you should love it. Laugh at the haters, because hate only comes when your good. (Trust me the Kid knows all about this).

So as you watch this season unravel please take time to appreciate what you are watching...because even if this team does not win a Super Bowl ring we are watching the closest thing to a Dynasty that the NFL will produce in teh forseeable future.

Oh and BTW, how crispy did those Uni's look!?!?!


-JPerk

The Wait is Over

We've waited over a year for this moment. Well, 373 days to be exact. But it felt even longer.

We've gone through a harsh winter, a hopeful spring and a rainy summer. In that time we've seen the death of the King of Pop, the passing of a Kennedy legend, the nation's first black president and a recession that will go down as second worst in American history after the Great Depression.

New England has been depressed. We were bounced from the NBA and NHL playoffs, squashing hopes of a parquet-to-ice same day switch in mid June. The local baseball team made a valiant effort last October, but an undermanned and ultimately tired ball club sputtered out in the 7th game of the ALCS.

A lot has gone down since Tom Brady left the 2008 season opener with a torn knee. Now the wait is over. No. 12 is back and with him dreams of a championship, the fourth of the decade and one that would firmly establish the Patriots as THE team of the 2000s.

Last year, we had Matt Cassell, the man who just made himself $63 million with his solid performance last season. We had 11-5. But it wasn't enough. Something was missing in out lives. And that something just happens to have a cannon arm, uncanny confidence, blue eyes and a cute lil bum chin.

From P-Town to Pawtucket, Bangor to Boston, New England is rejoicing. Brady means more to us than any QB to any other fan base. Guys love him. Chicks dig him. Little kids idolize him. Everyone sweats him. His revered. Already, a spot sits for him in the pantheon of Boston Greats, right next to Williams, Bird, Yaz, Russell, Orr and Bourque.

He's ours. And he's back.

7 p.m. EST. Getcha' popcorn ready...

--Nick

Brady's Entourage and SSG Debaucle

I apologize if this is old news or I'm repeating something previously discussed by one of the blogfathers (?) ...but I skimmed through the posts from the past couple of days and came to the conclusion that these tidbits are blogworthy-ish.

So, anyway here's Tom Brady yesterday on the set of HBO's Entourage filming a guest spot with the boys on the back 9 (only golf jargon I know). Drama looking unreal, as always. I'm wondering if Brady has honed his acting skills since he hosted SNL way back when (has he acted in anything since? I can't think). I just remember it being really unintentionally funny, because he was like painstakingly awkward during his like man purse era when he still wasn't fully acclimated to his new celebrity status...if I recall. But whatever, you've got to give him props though, bringing in a little supplemental income for his evergrowing nest egg, which currently consists of Gisele who probably doesn't eat, but makes up for that 10-fold in manolo blahniks, a future Heisman Trophy winner and/or NFL player by default, a baby's momma, miscellaneous leeching relatives, and of course any outstanding, unaccounted for, bastard children. So yeah, here's the link to some other photos from the shoot.

Real Quick. I have to pay homage to South Shore Girls for a quick second. Aside from myself, there was definitely substantial SSG representation at the Common and Kid Cudi show at the House of Blues in Boston on Monday night. I, myself tried to keep a low SSG profile --keeping my inherent girl-hating and incessent profanities to a bare minimum, however other SSGs couldn't contain their innate impulse to...well, fulfill their SSG Prophecy. Common was in the middle of some unreal freestyle (he exceeded my highest expectations, by the way) and stopped mid-sentence (rhyme?) to direct the entire venue's attention to two SSGs that were duking it out in the 7th row, I took on the responsibility of being embarressed for them since they probably left their dignity back in Whitman (EB SSGs can handle themselves)...so, Common instructed SSG #1 to chill out and proceed to the backstage area in which idk what ensued, but I'm pretty sure it involved a light beer(maybe a BL or a Miller Chill), a couple of cigs (Marlboros and/or Parliaments), and a shameless attempt to remain backstage until the end of the show and let Common have his way. SSG #2, however was left behind to wallow in her own SSG-ness. I saw the entire thing transpire, and I'm so interested to know the issue these SSGs had with each other and why they couldn't wait to throw bows post-show in the confines of Tequila Rain (a SSG safe-haven/judgement-free zone). Oh well, it made for a semi-entertaining story in the least. Here are a couple of shots of Common and Cudi...too bad it was like the last good show at the HOB for a while...Dropkick Murphy's, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga..eh, nothing comparable to Common and Cudi.

Common during his Celtics Freestyle...thing lasted an eternity.

Kid Cudi "premiering" his forever-ago leaked "Sky Might Fall" single.

-Kate

Tom Brady Follow-Up

Wow what a week to write about Tom Brady.

In the two days since I posted about him we’ve had pictures come out of him and Gisele in New Mexico (on the front page of the Herald, no less), news from the Globe that he’ll be ready for the start of the season and a column from Dan Shaughnessy basically going through all the stuff in our post. Just remember: you heard it at WKFTB first.

The first order of business: Brady is going to be ready for the start of the season, at least according to a medical source “familiar” with his procedure. I have no clue what that means, but the good news is encouraging.

And just to clear things up, Brady did have an infection:

“The surgery went well and my doctor described my knee as ‘rock solid.’ Unfortunately, in the week following the surgery, I developed an infection. The infection is very treatable and, through a course of antibiotics, it will be knocked out of my system.”

--From a press release from Tom that you can still find on his official website, http://www.tombrady.com/.

The news a few month ago from NBC that said his 2009 season was in jeopardy was based on him having more procedures to clear that infection up. Apparently he doesn’t need to.

As for the Shaughnessy column, here are a few tidbits:

“We were OK when Tom posed wearing the Stetson, holding the baby lamb. We didn't call him elitist when he endorsed Movado high-end watches and private jets (working-class fans certainly can't relate to that). We applauded when he met the pope and went to the State of the Union Address. We agreed it was none of our business when he broke up with Bridget Moynahan and it turned out she was having their baby.

“Tom and Gisele buying half of California? Why not? Interested in a painting by Eugenio Lucas y Padilla, a follower of Goya? All good. We would never suggest that Tom was forgetting his roots and becoming a man of only the finest tastes.

“We didn't raise questions when he lost the Gillette Stadium parking space awarded to the guy who arrives earliest, leaves latest, and practices hardest. We didn't hammer him for not sticking around on crutches to help from the sideline. We bought the company line that Tom did not want to create a distraction. We gave him a pass when he failed to grant a single interview about his condition. We didn't rip him when he finally did an interview - a radio spot in Toronto - and it turned out he was just promoting a new sports cream.”

And this:

“Yesterday was the last straw. You know what I'm talking about. You opened your newspaper (or perhaps viewed online) and saw the photograph of Gisele Bundchen feeding Brady at poolside in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. That did it. The tipping point. The coup de grace. The shark jumped. She was feeding him. Our quarterback, one of the five most decorated athletes to play in Boston, is looking like a wimp in front of the whole world.”

Is Tom Brady too big of a celebrity?

Is Tom Brady too big of a celebrity?

It’s an interesting question for sure. The Patriots’ QB has seldom been heard from since suffering a season-ending knee injury against the Chiefs in the first game of the regular season.

In fact, outside of a brief charity appearance in Foxboro around Thanksgiving, we haven’t heard a single thing from Tom Terrific all year until his brief interview with a Toronto radio station last week.

So what gives? Why can’t Brady just do an interview or two, address his millions of fans and legions of New England followers and give us an update on how he’s doing? I understand the Patriots’ clandestine approach to injuries, but c’mon, as the face of the franchise you have some type of obligation to the masses. Right?

Is that too much to ask? I don’t think so. So much attention is paid to Tom and Gisele and the ongoing are they engaged, are they not engaged saga. TMZ and Access Hollywood follow him in the streets of New York and in grocery store parking lots in California. We know every time he visits his son, or goes to Costa Rica, but we can’t find out about his infection in his surgically repaired knee.

I can rationalize his lack of appearances during the season. It would be hard for him to be seen in the locker room, most likely drawing all the questions away for his teammates who actually are playing. And appearing on the sidelines during games would probably be a distraction too. The last thing the Krafts and the Patriots’ brass want is the camera glued on one player for the entire game. But after the season is different. At least it should be.

It’s just a little tiresome, to be honest. The line between quarterback and celebrity is blurred to begin with, but this takes it to an entire new level. Tony Romo is accountable, even when he’s whisking Jessica and Witten to Cabo. Brett Favre, say what you want but at least you can pin him down. As for Brady…good luck. Osama bin Laden is easier to find. Is he in New England? New York? California? Who knows…

Will he play this season? Is his knee OK? Again, it’s like tossing darts blindfolded – you just have no idea. So is Brady too big of a celeb?

The signs were there last season, when he was seen shaking hands with Pat O’Brien (former host of The Insider and Access Hollywood) before the Super Bowl against the Giants, and again at the beginning of this season when he was mysteriously prevented from playing a down of preseason football.

Still, this is our Tom Brady. The 6th-round draft pick, humble no-name working-class wonderboy, unheralded out of Michigan. Where is he???

Find that man.

---Nick