Patriot Sunday

The Assassin Delivering Another Dagger

I was in heavy recovery mode yesterday from the after effects of the Panamanian invasion of New Hampshire on Saturday.  After church and the grocery store I prepared to settle in for the rest of the unusually warm January day to watch playoff football.  I think my wife advised the rest of the posse to leave me in peace because it was remarkably quiet for most of the afternoon.  I did not really think them capable of such hushed behavior.  After football I rewarded them with Daniel Craig as 007 and parts of a Brad Pitt movie.  My sister in law is in hot pursuit of Mr Pitt.  She dismisses Angelina Jolie as any true competition.

It was also kind of nostalgic because this is the last football game I will watch on this television which I’ve come to think of as almost a friend. The early game featured two teams I don’t care much about except to hate on the “preening” Seattle defense and underachieving Atlanta Falcons.  It turned out to be a very entertaining game as Seattle staged a comeback for the ages only to have victory snatched back when Matt Ryan finally performed under pressure.  I think we’re going to be hearing a lot more from Russell Wilson in the years to come.  I just hope he doesn’t get ruined hanging around the “preeners”.

Since I didn’t care too much about this game and it was so warm at halftime I went out to disassemble the last of the Christmas decorations out front.  That turned out to be a pretty big job but with the able assistance of the Wonder Pooch I picked it all up.  It is so strange to see the massive snow pack we had melting away so fast.

The late game with the Patriots was everything I hoped it would be, well except Gronk re-breaking his arm.  The Patriots put another hurting on the Houston Texans who just looked plain overmatched.  The playoffs are when the true stars step up their game and perform under pressure. Brady was in controlled assassin mode while the defense seems to be coming of age just in time.  I was impressed with the two young running backs who seem to “get it”.  I think the reason the Patriots have been so successful is transmitting their culture of winning to succeeding generations of new players.  Some get it while others (Chung) miss out and eventually just fade away.

We did receive a report from the MEG that my son survived his first episode of snow skiing.  She’s a great athlete and I appreciated her encouraging my son to try this adventure.  Based on his predilection for injuries we were worried about the outcome though.  We were never near ski slopes when he was growing up so it’s not something he ever took up.  He reported a couple (well more than a couple) falls on the bunny slope and some frustration at learning this new sport but he came through relatively unscathed.  I’m very proud that he overcame his half-tropical blood and tapped into his New England roots.

My Daughter and Son in Law Representing at Game Time in NYC (Photo by JMJ)

 

The Disassembled Christmas

The Vanishing Snow Pack

My Son the Skiier
Way to Go Big Guy!