Necessary Roughness with Kisha is a sports blog that focuses on football, both college and professional. However, no topic is off limits.

Posts Tagged ‘Logan Mankins’

 
Nov
2
2010

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How I Spent My Halloween..Patriots Style

 

As I mentioned in the previous post, I decided to be Nicki Minaj for Halloween. Although some people weren’t sure who I was, enough people yelled “YOUNG MONEY!” to me so it was well worth the leather pants and killer shoes.  Hope everyone else had a killer Halloween, I know I did!

Just when I thought that my weekend couldn’t get any better (thanks to a hella good time in Pittsfield, MA), I trekked back to Foxboro for my first ever Patriots home game. It was definitely an interesting experience from the beginning. Whether it was sitting in traffic because I made the mistake of getting on Route 1 or freezing my ass off because it was so windy, I LOVED IT ALL.

Thanks to Kristyn G and her Pops for making my tailgating experience delicious. It was interesting to park in a secret area, have a wicked awesome tailgate and hike for 15 minutes to get to the stadium. I saved myself some money from not parking at the stadium and also managed to escape three hours worth of traffic after the game. It was definitely worth the walk and as I was told, it’s a hike that a lot of dedicated Patriots have made before, I felt like it was just part of the experience.

So I guess what you’re really wondering about is how the game was, as far as my experience as a true fan. Honestly, I don’t know if I can ever go back to being just a pure fan of the team.

Since it had evolved into part of my career, everything about watching has turned into a process. For example, while people were giving out high fives, I was looking at the rotations they were making on the offensive line and also examining the various tight end sets they were trying out. It’s all become very technical for me and I can’t help it.

I guess my emotional attachments to the Patriots has been overshadowed by my love for the sport of football. I still adore the team and the organization but I guess things tend to change when you have a different understanding of the sport. Above it all, Gillette Stadium is still my favorite stadium and the Halloween game was definitely an interesting one to make my first official experience as a fan.

Here are my thoughts on the game:

  • I

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Jun
14
2010

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Mankins and the Patriots: A messy, ugly, bitter break-up | Patriots Insider: Roundtable!

 

Contracts, deals and trades. These three things tend to bring a lot of action the off-season in the NFL. Although I heavily enjoy watching how players’ true desires and motives surface, it’s never fun to see happen within your favorite team.  Case in point, earlier today Patriots  offensive lineman Logan Mankins (32nd pick overall in 2005)  refused to sign his restricted free agent tender  before tonight’s deadline and has pretty much demanded to be traded.

“I want to be traded. I don’t need to be here any more.” - Mankins to ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss

(Read Mike Reiss’ full article here)

As you can imagine, twitter was blowing up all afternoon with comments about Mankins’ selfishness, burning bridges and bitterness.  This goes without saying that some fans that I’ve spoken to also expressed their unhappiness with the Patriots organization and their chosen way of handling this whole dilemma.  I can’t really say I’ve chosen a side during this whole debacle.

The Patriots offered Mankins about $7 million per year which would place him in the top 5 in salaries in his position.  Not bad, but its obviously not what Mankins had in mind.   He felt lied to, undervalued and mistreated. When I saw the report this afternoon, I felt like I walked into a heated discussion which would eventually lead to a nasty break up.  From the looks of what Mankins said about the organization, this is the end.  So say goodbye to the jolly lumberjack looking offensive lineman from Fresno State. It was fun while it lasted.

Here’s what I do know about the Patriots:

  • The word “urgency” means nothing to them.  If their Super Bowl winning quarterback’s contract discussions have just been swiftly pushed aside, what makes you think that an unhappy offensive lineman’s contract is going to be first on the to-do list?
  • It’s not a love affair that they team has with their players…except for maybe Tom Brady.  Besides Brady though, they see the players as part of a business.  That’s it. Never anything personal.
  • A move like this by the Patriots isn’t surprising…at all.

On a more positive note…

Patriots Insider did a cool offseason roundtable discussion with all of their writers.  Of course, I got to include some of my opinions :) This is always fun.

Patriots Insider: Offseason Discussions

Some of the questions we discussed were:

Did the move to part ways with …

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