Week 4-So Long Troy

The Pats have officially come off their bye-week, and begin preparation for the San Fransisco 49ers this Sunday. The 49ers are coming off a painful loss to the New Orleans Saints, with their defense allowing over 350 passing yards, and not a single sack. The Patriots are coming off a bye week, rested, angry about losing to a team that won only one game last year, and ready to claim the division.
Currently, however, the Buffalo Bills are leading the division at 4-0, and have already beaten several playoff teams. They are the team to beat right now, as they and a handful of other teams remain undefeated. The Patriots are second in the division at 2-1, followed by the Jets at 2-2, and in last are the 1-2 Dolphins, who are coming off their bye-week as well.
I think the Patriots have a more than opportune chance of getting a win on a team like the 49ers, who haven't had a winning season in a very long time. Plus, the Patriots are not known for losing consecutive games too often under Belichick. Not to mention, that the Pats have only gone one year under Bill Belichick and not make the playoffs.

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Sadly, in other news, 15-year Patriot, Troy Brown, has retired as of Thursday. He never played for another team, and has always been known as a team player. When the Patriots told him he had played his last game as a Patriot, instead of accepting offers from rival teams like the Jets, he retired and called it a career.
One of the most versatile players for the Patriots, he has been able to score in all phases of the game. His primary position was at wide receiver, wearing number 80. But, if needed, he would and could play as a defensive back, and even a punt return specialist. He was certainly one of the biggest factors for the Patriots 3 Super Bowl titles. Before Wes Welker set the record for most receptions in a season for a Patriot last year with 112, Troy Brown held that honor at 101.
I wouldn't be surprised to see him still continue to help the Patriots in anyway possible, whether it's coaching, or in the front office. Belichick didn't seem too concerned when he said in a recent interview, "Troy Brown, haha, he's always going to be around." Frankly, I've learned, what little information you get from Bill, you take, and I wouldn't be surprised if someday, you'll see Troy Brown back helping in some way. But until then, he will be missed greatly by Patriot fans. He contributed in many ways to get to where the Patriots are now.

Rain, Rain, Rain

There are so many things that make fall awesome. Apple picking, pumpkin pie, leaves, football, music, memories, and rainy days. Ha, Thanksgiving is a wicked great holiday. Not to mention Halloween.
Currently, I'm sitting in my nook, listening to 'Oh Come All Ye Faithful' by Rush of Fools, enjoying the fall, and hiding from the rain.
Rainy days are particularly awesome to me. I don't know why, but I love 'em. Especialy during this time of year. They are just one of those days, where tea is the perfect drink, and sitting in a corner to watch tv, read, or listen to music is the activity of choice. The rain just amplifies it all, gives me a sense of enclosure, or relaxation. Which strangely enough is rare for me, where normally I don't want to relax, but instead, I usually want to get out and do something crazy or bum around spending money. Ya know, where you just want to go and get out of the house.
Fall is like the chunk of time, where I don't want to do that. Just to sit back and chill, and just soak it all in, that's what's awesome. I feel so free, and relaxed. Plus, my prayer time with God feels so much more real and focused. I don't know if the fact that it's fall is directly responsible for it. But, I think my appreciation for fall helps me see how great and awesome God is, and that, frankly, helps on all sides of the spiritual spectrum. I just see Him in more things than I usually do. I feel more aware. That's probably why it is my favorite time of year.
But then again, some might think that a wet rainy fall day is the best example of a boring and stir-crazy day. They could even call it a day wasted on things that they could be doing. Everyone is different. Others might feel closer to God under different situations. A gorgeous sunny day, filled with light and green trees could be a piece of heaven for someone. That can be true for me too, but fall is just an awesome time for me, and this is my blog, so that's what matters. :p
In ALL things give him your praise and thanks. Cause He rocks on any day, rain or shine, fall or spring, night or day, restless or content.

The Epic Battle

What I'm calling an "epic battle' between me against my allergies, is a very serious war.
Ever since, eh, about mid August hit, allergy season hit me. It won't go away till mid to late October.
Today, it hit me real hard, I woke up, eyes completely watery, and feeling like there was construction work going on inside my nasal passages. Not pleasant. So, I stumbled into the bathroom, and started digging through the cabinets looking for some form of medicine. Nothing. Then I rushed into the kitchen(sometimes there's a box of allergy medicine on the counter or something.) and scrambled around in hopes of finding some. Keep in mind, my eyes are like gushing waterfalls this whole time, so seeing, is a rather difficult task. After searching vainly, I realized I still had hope. A day ago, I had stuffed a packet of allergy pills in a pocket of one of my pants. Thankfully they still were there. I swallowed them quickly and waited.
Yes, my allergy attack ceased to exist, but I made one mistake. I had forgotten that these particular pills where not non-drowsy. So the relief of having dry and itch-free eyes, was traded for heavy and unfocused ones. Do I regret it? Kinda, I'm sure the allergies would have passes and I could of had a normal day. Drowsiness is an annoying thing to have, especially when you got lots and lots of sleep the night before, so you know you aren't actually tired, and it's just a stupid side effect from the medicine. But hey, the day was sunny and nice. Fall is the best time of year after all, regardless of pollen. :D

Allergies-1
Dave-0

Week 3-Dolphins Dominate, Ending Patriots Streak

In 2006 the patriots lost to the Miami Dolphins 21-0. That would be the Patriots last regular season loss for the next 21 games. Yesterday, the Dolphin yet again managed to handle the Patriots. The Fins only won one game between the victories they had over us. And honestly, the earned the victory the got yesterday.

The Patriots looked terrible, completely helpless against the Dolphins surprisingly complex offensive schemes. Many of their offensive plays had college-football designs. Where they would line up there running back, Ronnie Brown,(Who is one of the few stars the Dolphins actually have on their team) as a quarterback, and he could either hand off to yet another running back, take it out himself, or pass it even. And the Patriots...just couldn't stop it. They looked helpless and weak on almost every down. The defense made few plays, and the offense barely existed.

Cassel threw 19 complete passes of out 31, and scored a touchdown. He also threw one interception to a defensive linemen, and fumbled the ball late in the game. He didn't look quite as ready and prepared this week as he did last week against the Jets. Several of his passes were underthrown and a few were dropped. Which isn't his fault, but it just goes to show how badly the Patriots played. The running game was not a factor on the Patriots side, especially because Maroney was out with an injury, and Lamont Jordan was playing on a sore foot.

The defense was the worst factor all game. The Dolphins, who had one of the worst offenses this season so far, threw and ran all over the Patriots. Dolphin quarterback, Chad Pennington, only threw 3 incompletions out of his 20 passes. And Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams ran freely for 4 touchdowns. Ronnie Brown also threw one into the endzone for a late score.

The only promising thing the Pats showed all day, was there special team kick returns. Elis Hobbs set a record for most kick return yards for the day with over 200. That's a sad record however, due to the fact that it shows how often the Pats had to be kicked off to...

All in all, the Patriots and Dolphins looked like they traded rosters for this game, and The Dolphins earned the win for playing hard and sticking it to a rival team. However, they are only 1-2 and Pats remain above them at 2-1. Both teams now have a bye week and plan to rest up, and hopefully improve their game plans for the rest of the season.

I hope this loss is a wake up call to a Patriots team that needs to rally and overcome a humiliating loss. They have the ability to continue to be a great team. Belichick will not let this kind of play continue, and the Patriots are well known for not allowing consecutive losses in their team history.

In two weeks the Patriots go to San Francisco to play the 49ers in a game that should be a relatively easy win. Granted we play like the previous weeks, against the Chiefs and Jets. Improving to 3-1 would be a confidence booster to the Patriots who still seem to be ailing from the loss of Tom Brady.

Beige Twist

I had to write a 'personal experience' essay for school. So I came up with this. It happened five or six years ago, but it's one of those memories that's stuck for a while. Thought I would post it up. Haven't written anything for a long time now, so it probably still needs work. It's called Beige Twist.

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As I opened the door that led outdoors, the sunlight fanned onto the wood floor below. It was a sunny, breezy, and slightly chilly fall afternoon. Around 2 o’clock I would say.
Because of the rather dusty and bland building we were in, me and my friends, Thomas and Hannah, made our way outside. As soon as we hit the dusty ground outside, it seemed as if the wind knew it. A large gust swept through the pine trees above and flew down onto us. It felt very refreshing after coming out from the stuffy house.
It was then that Thomas pointed out towards a nearby cemetery and exclaimed, “Guys! Look!”
We all turned to the cemetery and saw what Thomas had gotten so excited about. A large dirt devil, composed of mostly dead leaves, was slowly sweeping its way down the grassy plains of the cemetery. It was picking more and more leaves up as it made its way through.
It was filled with beaming colors of brown, orange, and yellow, right as the sun glazed onto it. Under a pure blue sky, it stood out with amazing brilliance.
Me, Thomas, and Hannah all looked at each other, with the same thoughts all racing through our heads. We then simultaneously bolted towards the whirling funnel. The sound of the roaring whirlwind coated out ears with a rush of noise. We crossed from the dirt path and onto the grassy plain that the twister had been festering. Thankfully it was a slow moving dirt devil, giving us time to get closer to it. Although Thomas fell behind, tripping on a tomb stone hidden in the grass.
Me and Hannah neared the twister. The noise from the leaves clattering against each other combined with the unending gushes of wind, were enough to get us all pumped about the now close funnel. The only other thing you could hear in the background was Thomas’ classic gut laugh that he projected on too many occasions. You could hear it a mile away and know who it was. We entered the twister, breaking the barrier of blown up debris.
The leaves clashed against my face, and the wind reaped through my hair. After that, it all cleared, and we were in the center. It was epic. The noise, the leaves, the sky, it all added to the moment. And yes, Thomas was still laughing his head off.
The center of the funnel was devoid of any leaves, just a plain green grassy circle about two yards wide. But around us, it seemed like there was a wall, a barrier, of leaves spinning violently outside the grassy circle. It was like if you were to reach out and touch the slicing leaves, you would lose your finger due to its speed. Every so often you could see a glimpse of Thomas rushing to us, amidst the spinning leaves. He had a stupid grin on his face. He was probably recovering from his painful laughing episode. Me and Hannah began laughing in the sheer moment and sat down in the grass.
The twister finally began to settle and quiet down. Like confetti, the leaves started to slowly sprinkle down and rest quietly on the ground around us, and it all came to a calm hush.

Week 2-Favre Versus Cassel

The Patriots have once again, for the millionth time, proved that they are a team, not a collection of good players. And as usual, all week, the media was pitting the Jets, (Who barely pulled out of a game against the Miami Dolphins who went 1-15 last year.) as a team worthy of beating the New England Patriots....riiiight. Where to begin?
Well,we can start with the quarterbacks. I am a Brett Favre fan, he is one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. He rocks, but he did not show his best game yesterday. He threw a lot of incomplete passes all game, and an interception. He did throw one touchdown, but he could have had a better game. He was crafty as usual, making deep passes on occasion, and doing things to keep a play alive. But he was far from great.
Cassel made his first start yesterday against a Jets team pumped(for some strange reason) over a close win against the Dolphins. Cassel started the game great. He was in control the whole time, and managed the game well. He threw no touchdowns, but also no interceptions and made good decisions in key parts of the game. He almost had a nice deep, downfield, pass to Randy Moss, but Moss dropped it. But, kudos to Cassel for showing a decent performance for his first start. Statistically, he played a better game than Tom Brady did on his first start. That pretty impressive.
Our running game showed great consistency, converting on a lot of key third downs. What is a great asset to our team this year, is that we have between 4-5 high caliber running backs to rotate with, giving us a fresh runner virtually every down of the game. Meaning the defense has a harder time of 'wearing' our offense out. Maroney was sidelined for most of the game with a very minor injury. But Sammy Morris and Lamont Jordon shined against the Jets. Not to mention Kevin Faulk's return. He made an outstanding catch, bouncing it into the air, for any of the defenders, and catching it and converting for a first down.
I must say, Bill Belichick had this game under his control from the very beginning. Him and Jets Coach, Eric Mangini, have had a smoldering rivalry since Mangini left the Patriot's coaching staff and moved into the Jets Head Coach position. But Bill had the Jets outplayed all game. On a fourth down play, following the Jets final time-out, Bill Belichick brought out the offense in an attempt to convert. This caused the Jet defense to swarm the line of scrimmage to stop the play, leaving the backfield completely empty. Then with few seconds left, Belichick quickly called the offense off and brought on the punting team. They punted, and the confused Jets were left with terrible field position for the following drive. Just an example of how the coaching job for the Patriots was impressive as usual.
Next week, the Patriots host those dreaded Miami Dolphins. The Jets beat 'em, that MUST mean something, right? I like our chances of going 3-0 before the bye.

Fall/Music

Ahhh, the air has that Fall feeling in it. Best time of year. Apple picking, Thanksgiving, Pumpkin Pies, Tea every bloody morning, and it never gets old. Football has arrived, the trees start to change, and work hours decrees. Its great! :D
However, something I've noticed. Over the past few years, I've noticed that I listen to different bands or artists during different seasons or months of the year. It's weird. And I don't even notice it until about midway through it's happening. For example, it's now September, and things are changing from Summer to Fall. My music tastes are migrating as well. I used to be playing bands like, Cartel, Newsboys, Birthday Massacre, and Kiros.
But now, it's sliding slowly in bands like, Dead Poetic, Coldplay, Future of Forestry, Rush of Fools, and Exit the Ordinary. I don't understand it. I originally thought it was a subconscious transition, like the album of a certain band that I am into came out the previous year around the current time. But it hasn't really happened like that at all. Maybe for a couple, but not enough to warrant it happening on an annual basis. Sure, I can understand anyone who listens to Christmas music...well around Christmas. But I almost have things like: "Summer music," "October Orchestras," and "Thanksgiving Themes." It's weird.
Out of boredom, here's a list of bands I listen to during different time of the year. It could be interesting.

Fall-September through November:
1. Dead Poetic
2. Exit the ordinary
3. Coldplay
4. Future of Forestry
5. Blink 182
6. Rush of Fools
7. Oasis
8. Skillet
9. Stellar Kart
10. Edison Glass
11. Sum 41

Winter-December through March
1. Dean Martin
2. The Rat Pack
3. Blindside
4. Stepa
5. Emery
6. Chevelle
7. Dead Poetic
8. Mutemath
9. Our lady Peace

Spring-April/May
1. The Almost
2. Audio Adrenaline
3. All American Rejects
4. Five Iron Frenzy
5. Roper
6. DC Talk
7. Future of Forestry
8. Leeland
9. Taking Back Sunday

Summer-June-August
1. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
2. Newsboys
3. Cartel
4. Blink 182
5. Something Corporate
6. Muse
7. Oasis
8. Sum 41
9. Kiros
10. Flyleaf
11. Birthday Massacre
12. Coldplay

Post Soulfest-August/September
1. Leeland
2. Skillet
3. Kiros
4. Stellar Kart
5. Dead Poetic
6. Newsboys
7. Downhere
8. Pointe Blank

Week 1-Man Down

Week 1, Patriot nation took probably one of the heftiest blows possible. Tom Brady, after going 7-11 in passes, and throwing for 76 yards, took a serious blow to his knee and he is done for the season. He will undergo some sort of surgery on his knee to fix the problem, and should be able to play by training camp next year.
Now, some players don't play the same after surgeries like this. Daunte Culpepper had surgery on his knee and never was up to caliber as he was before. Actually, Culpepper used to throw to Randy Moss, back when he really was an amazing quarterback. His days are done at this point though. And frankly, I don't want to talk about that aspect...and possibility. He could very well come back like Phillip Rivers of the Chargers. Rivers started yesterday and after having surgery on his knee, played strong against the Panthers even though they eventually lost. Tom Brady is a very durable quarterback, and he tends to bounce back fast. I def. hope that his situation turns as well as Phillip Rivers.
What a lot of people are forgetting though is...we are still a team with or without Tom Brady. Thank goodness backup Matt Cassel decided to finally play well when needed. I was thankfully surprised to see him bullet a touchdown to Randy Moss. And I plan to see a lot more of that with the outlook of coming season. Also our running game stepped it up with 50 yard games from both Laurence Maroney, and Sammy Morris. I'm sure there will be a lot more of a running game this season with our franchise quarterback out of commission. And honestly, against the Chiefs, our defense not only played a better game than most last season, but had a huge goal line stand in the end! Granted, it was the Chiefs. But, we were down and without Brady and our team made a stand.
We won and I still believe, with all the other captains on offense and defense, we still, at least will make a serious playoff run. Week 1 is in the books, and what a painful week it was. But, we are 1-0 without Tom Brady. I think that should mean something. Heck, It's not like Bill Belichick got injured.
And like I said earlier, our defense was amazing. Limiting NFL icon Larry Johnson to little more than 70 yards was incredible. Kudos to the Pats, who always find a way to win, and are veterans when it comes to overcoming immense adversity.

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him, Christ the Lord

I recently have been listening to the band, Rush of Fools. My friend, Mike, got me into them, and they really have great, inspiring music. Really encouraging music, particularly in the areas of pushing on in Christ, forgiveness, and giving praise. I love their music.
What is really odd, is that they came out with a Christmas album featuring the song 'Oh come all ye faithful.' And I've been blasting it for a couple weeks now...in August, and September. But what I've noticed, is that the song really doesn't need to be limited to Christmas. The lyrics are wonderful, anytime of the year. So yes, I have been blasting 'Oh come all Ye Faithful' day in and day out with pride. :p
Another song by them, called, 'Undo' really is awesome too. It actually has become there biggest hit so far. It focuses on forgiveness and God's mercy. Great song.
I hope they come to Soulfest. There music really has been a great uplifter for me.