21-17, we fell a few points short.

It’s a close one but I think that this loss hurt a little more than the first time around. No matter what you tried to tell yourself before the game, losing the way the Patriots did is still difficult to take in.

There were so many chances for them to win. Heck, we managed to have a miserable first half but still be up by one point going into halftime. Wide receiver Chad Ochocinco (who had a pretty non-existent season) made one of the longest catches of the game with 21 yards. It seemed like things finally starting to fall into place, even with a first half that started with a rookie mistake, Patriots fans were hopeful that this is where the real Patriots would come out.

The Patriots looked to have found their rhythm. Tom Brady constructed an impressive 96 yard drive that ended in a four yard touchdown catch by running back Danny Woodhead. 

In the first drive of the second half, Aaron Hernandez made a 12 yard catch into the end zone and made it rain on the big stage. Things were looking up.

Following the touchdown, everything seemed to go downhill. From an inability to recover fumbles to team’s most reliable receivers struggling to make catches.  The entire team just seemed off. The defense, surprisingly, wasn’t the biggest disappointment of the game though.

It turned out the be the receivers who struggled the most.

Deion Branch, the one-time Super Bowl MVP, was no stranger to the pressures of this game. But he dropped a crucial pass.

Wes Welker, Tom Brady’s favorite receiver who had 122 catches this season, dropped a catch that he’s “…Made a thousand times.” This catch, more than the others could have sealed the victory for the Patriots.

It would be easy to place blame on number 83 but honestly, I think it’s both on him and on Brady’s pass (the pass looked to be behind Welker and a tad high).

I don’t think the blaming game will help the hardcore Patriots fan in me.

My good friend Joe Gill asked me about why I thought this loss hurt more than the first defeat,

Because I think the reasons they had to play well, to finish this season as champions were so much deeper than in 2007. Back then, it was about the perfect season. This time around, nothing was really perfect and that made it so much more exciting and worth fighting for…

Yeah, I think that pretty much sums up how I feel.

In a season that was dedicated to Myra H. Kraft’s extraordinary life, Robert Kraft took time after their return to Gillette Stadium to address the media and fans for their support all season.

Also to the fans, when we dedicated this season to my sweetheart, I met with the players and coaches and asked them to do everything they could do to make this season special in her honor.

Thank you Mr. Kraft and the New England Patriots for an exciting season. Although a Super Bowl win would’ve made things perfect, nothing could take away how special this season was.

Here’s to next year and a new season.

Go Pats. 

On the Saturday before Super Bowl XLVI, Ryan and I trekked all the way to Exeter, Rhode Island to meet with Paul Brunelle aka Patriot Paul of The End Zone Militia.  If you don’t know who the End Zone Militia are, here’s a quick bio:

Seen on the sidelines of a New England Patriots or New England Revolution, or proudly conducting Honor Guard at a Boston Red Sox game, we are the End Zone Militia – supporting local sporting teams and providing ambiance of New England’s rich heritage.

These men and women have become a staple for the New England Patriots as their muskets can be heard after each score made by the Patriots. Dressed in true-to-time garb, they bring something incredibly unique to the stadium during Patriots and Revolution games that not other teams can compete with.With every member of the Militia also being an experienced re-enactor, the role of being part of the EZM is more than just dressing the part.

Paul explained, “There’s a long list of people waiting to be a member of the End Zone Militia. They’re required to have five years, at least, of re-enacting experience and must be in good standing.” When I actually looked at the site, it stated that there was a 20 person waiting list. Unlike the Patriots Cheerleaders, the End Zone Militia members can stay members for as long as they choose. Paul has been doing it for seven years. It’s also worth noting that all of the milita members are volunteers, the outfits, the weaponry, are custom made for each person and bought by each person. Paul told me that muskets when he first started were at least $1,000 each.

Safety was a big thing that Paul wanted to emphasize.

“When we fire we make sure the area in front of us is clear and hold our fire until safe and for those photographers in front of us, we tell them prior so they can get out of the area or stay down and be ready.”

Paul shared some really great stories in his seven years as a member of the End Zone Militia. One of them being that the reason they wait to do the celebratory volley AFTER an extra point is kicked was because during one game, they fired one before and the remaining smoke caused Adam Vinatieri to miss his PAT kick. Whoops. 

Walking through Paul’s home was like going back in Patriots history.

He had a photo (above ) signed by Adam Vinatieri after his kick in the famous Snow Bowl against the Raiders. It was such a great shot that Adam himself requested a copy of it.

There were Super Bowl tickets and memorabilia all over and since Paul has been a Patriots season ticket holder since 1995 – front row seats, actually – he has one of most impressive photo collections of Patriots games I’ve ever seen. I could’ve spent the whole day hearing Paul’s stories about facing the bitter cold at Gillette and his great experiences with the Kraft Family.

Although the End Zone Militia didn’t make the trip to Indianapolis with the Patriots, they’ll be cheering for them loud and proud from all over the New England area.

I have to say, other than the musket weighing a ton, they were rather user-friendly. You’ll see in the video that being short and not that strong makes for a not so good soldier.

_

Thanks again to Paul for taking the time to show me how to shoot a musket, it was something that I’ve  (heck, I’m sure every Patriots fan) always wanted to do.

Look for the End Zone Militia at all Patriots and Revs games, they’ll be more than happy to chat and take some photos with you.

The video was so much fun to shoot and I promise, you’ll learn a few things about muskets too..

Patriot Paul predicted a Patriot win by 14. Let’s hope he’s right.

Go Patriots!

I was on ESPN 1420 in Hawaii last night and I’m still waiting for the interview to be posted so I’ll get that up as soon as possible.

One of the hosts of the Sports Animals is a HUGE Jets fan and I couldn’t help but bring up the ever-so-unneeded tight white pants photo shoot in GQ. Come on Mark Sanchez, why do the pants have to be so tight?

I also recorded a nice little video update for you all since I got an awesome package from the Wes Welker Football ProCamp (which I’ll be covering in May) and I wanted to share the info with you guys! I’ll get you all more information as the date gets closer.

There it is folks, my Super Bowl XLVI prediction…

PATRIOTS…. ALL THE WAY!

Regardless of the lack of my plans for the big game, I wanted to take the time to give a big THANKS to Tommy Terrifics .

Here they are being featured on 7 News Boston:

They were kind enough to send me a pair of killer custom made New England Patriots heels. Perhaps I can flaunt them sometime this weekend! Ladies, these shoes are surprisingly comfortable and makes a shorter girl like me (5’2! ) a little taller…woot!

Thanks again, Tommy Terrifics for giving us female Patriots fans another way to show off our love for the Pats!

Muchos gracias! What do you guys think?

Thanks to Patriots Insiders’ Facebook page (You should all should “Like” right now!), I came across this great video of Gronkowski’s teammates doing their best impression of Roberto.

Best part? All of the Ross Ventrone sightings. Jackpot.

It’s the day during Super Bowl week in which the players are thrown into the media masses and get asked anything and everything for an about an hour.

I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy it all from the comfort of my couch. Here are some of the highlights.

ROB GRONKOWSKI IS BOOTLESS

The tight end was seen without a boot as he sat on podium fielding questions from everyone about his status. I lost count on how many times Gronk said “day by day”, “day to day” and any other variation of that phrase. In true Patriot Way, Gronk didn’t reveal much other than he wasn’t wearing a compression wrap either. Who knows if he will be 100% by Sunday but to see him without a boot on Tuesday is comforting.

WES WELKER WANTS TO GET PAID AND THINKS THAT BB IS A TERRIBLE DRESSER

Wes Welker was all sorts of playful today. NFL Network’s Deion Sanders brought up salary talk as Welker’s contract is up after the 2011-2012 season. Sanders asked, “When the big game is over, are they gonna pay the man?!”

Welker smiled and said, “They better.” 

If Gronkowski is less than 100% for the big game, Welker’s worth to the offense drastically increases. I’d say he’s worth it. Here’s to seeing Welker in a Patriots uniform for many years to come.

Welker was also asked to talk about BB and Tom Brady, while he said nothing but great things about Brady and his dedication to the sport, he really has a problem with the way BB dresses.

Welker said, “One day he had on a Team Bassmasters sweatshirt…there’s something wrong with that.”

I wonder if looked anything like this sweatshirt, if so, that’s AWESOME.

CHAD OCHOCINCO JUST WANTS TO WIN/PLAY/CATCH A BALL

“He did it for a reason.” When Chad Ochocinco was asked if he ever wondered why “God would put him in that situation.” Ochocinco is not the guy we all expected him to be and was the first to admit that the whole experience was rather humbling.

I don’t think this is how Chad Ochocinco envisioned things to be when he made it to the Super Bowl but then again, this was his only chance to be in Indy for the weekend.

Somehow I think that if Chad catches a TD in the Super Bowl, it’ll make his less than productive season forgivable.

BB IS THE CHEF – AND EVERYONE ELSE JUST DOES THE DISHES

Bill O’Brien, the newly dubbed Penn State head coach and current Patriots offensive coordinator will be leaving the New England Patriots on pretty high note if they come home with the Lombardi Trophy.

He made comment that seemed quite fitting for all those who know BB and the New England Patriots team.

“When you work for Bill Belichick, there’s only one cook in the kitchen. And we’re all just dishwashers.” 

That’s is for now. The Giants Media Day is about to start…

Here’s a kicka$$ video for you to get your Gronk on with.

It’s been one heck of a week. It literally took that much time for me realize that we were REALLY going to the Super Bowl.

And today’s Super Bowl Send Off Rally held at Gillette Stadium helped in really making it a reality. I was lucky enough to attend the fantastic event and even took the time to make you all a nice little recap video. You’re welcome.

Check it out, it’ll feel like you were there cheering in the stands!

I had the pleasure of working with the Endzone Militia during my time as an employee at Gillette Stadium and today, they showed me something pretty neat:

These photos are of the base of his musket. All of the familiar initials and numbers that you see were carved in by the players themselves with a bayonet. At the time, he told me that he’s still trying to get Bill Belichick to carve it.

Can you guess the names on it?

This fellow was kind enough to let me take a photo of his brilliant shirt. If you have no idea what this shirt means, check out this video. STAT.

Bravo, sir.

Be sure to check out the video and like it, thumbs up it or whatever it is you do on Youtube.

It was a really great event and has gotten me even more pumped for next Sunday! Go Patriots!

We’re going to the freakin’ Super Bowl! 

I know my prediction was way off, heck there was no way for me to predict that Tom Brady would provide so much suckage.

Although I will give him credit for that diving touchdown. I’ve seen Brady pull off some sneaks here and there but to man up and dive into the endzone like that? Whoa. It was unexpected, perfectly timed and well-executed. Did you miss it? Check it out!

To almost everyone’s surprise, it was the Patriots defense that won us the game. The same defense that raised questions every single week – regardless of their opponents. Yesterday’s game proved that when needed, the Patriots defense can win a game WITHOUT Tom Brady putting 30 points on the board.

Fact of the matter is, we’re going to the Super Bowl to face the Giants. Again. I know the Giants are a darn good team and Eli Manning is playing the best football in his career and once I’ve come down from my excitement, I know reality is going to hit and the threat of that Giants offense will be evident. Between the explosiveness of wide receiver Victor Cruz and the solid running attack, there’s a lot for the Patriots to prepare for.

The Patriots though aren’t going into this game empty handed.

Vince Wilfork has established a solid rush defense (heck, he was able to stop Ravens’ top running back Ray Rice) and not to mention, Sterling Moore has given the deep field coverage a nice spark (man, that end zone play was incredible, clutch in every meaning of the word).

Will this be an easy game for the Patriots? Hell no.

Will it be a wicked good game? You know it.

This is game about redemption and second chances. This season wasn’t easy or perfect and to be honest, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

——————————————

On a lighter note, I came across this on the ESPNBoston.com blog.

We all know that Ross Ventrone has been cut, signed and cut more than any other player in the NFL…at least he’s got a sense of humor about the whole thing.

My favorite part is Matt Light’s HILARIOUS comment. Man, I love this team.

——————————————

UPDATE: PATRIOTS Inactives

- Chad Ochocinco – I expected this since he was dealing with a loss in the family.
- Stevan Ridley  - Drop balls and you’re out…especially in the playoffs.
- Ryan Mallett
- Shane Vereen
- Gary Guyton
- Daniel Thomas
- Sebastian Vollmer 

——————————————

Man, I sure do love game days. After yesterday’s ever-so-lovely snow day, today looks to be a perfect day for football at Gillette Stadium.

Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com tweeted this pic AFTER the snow removal crew at the stadium cleaned it up. Those people do some fantastic work!

Photo by Mike Reiss/ ESPNBoston.com

So what’s in store for today? Although it was not as crazy media-wise as it was for the game against the Broncos, this week was still filled with off-the-field chatter. For Patriot Nation, Ed Reed’s comments about Joe Flacco was awesome. It was a team’s own defense doing the trash talking for us and all that the Patriots have to do is just keep quiet and keep on keepin’ on.  Like it’s been said, if I was a Ravens’ fan, I’d be pretty irritated. I don’t want a quarterback who will just shrug his shoulders and say, “woe is me” when his own teammates are calling him out. Not that he has to be a jerk about it but a simple, “Well, I’m just focused on playing my best this weekend for my team” answer would’ve been enough to shut that defense up…you know, all BB style.

Ok, that was my Ravens Joe Flacco is whiny rant. If you want to hear their comments, check out the video.

Here’s my prediction for the game:

Patriots 35 
Ravens 21  

Hope everyone enjoys the game! Be sure to follow me on twitter as I will most likely by tweeting it up during the game.

Before I moved to Rhode Island, I had no interest or any idea about the awesome that is sports radio. Nowadays, I find myself habitually listening to the Sports Hub and LOL-ing a lot during my 45 minute drive to southern Rhode Island.

Singer/songwriter John Parr released a new version of his hit “St. Elmo’s Fire” dubbed “Tim Tebow’s Fire”. Now, I’m fully aware of all of the Tebow serenades out there but this is one is just all sorts of awesome and very much downloadable.

Conan, being the genius that he is, went on to parody Parr’s song with everyone and their mom on the Patriots. From Rob Gronkowski to Zoltan Mesko and someone you’ll never guess.

Enjoy!

Before we dive into everything Patriots, I have to talk about that INSANE San Francisco and New Orleans game?! That has got to be one of the BEST football games I’ve ever seen. Period.

Between the lead tradeoffs to two quarterbacks playing at an exceptionally high level, I couldn’t have asked for a better game to get me ready for the Patriots and Broncos game. One of the best moments of this game was after veteran tight end Vernon Davis makes the game-winning catch, he couldn’t help but get emotional. How could you blame him? He’s been with the 49ers since 2006 and this was only his first playoff win. Check out this amazing video of Davis after the catch, I promise that you’ll get emotional too.

Man, that was awesome.

Ok back to the Patriots!

Where do I start? We had tight ends playing running back, a quarterback punting and impressive showings at defensive end.

Aaron Hernandez kills it as a running back
Number 81 managed 61 yards on the ground AND caught four catches for 55 yards and a touchdown. This is a perfect example of one my most favorite things about this Patriots team. Regardless of how successful or how good they’ve become, the desire to contribute and play as a team never stops. Hernandez wasn’t just good at it, he looked like he was having a pretty good time doing it. Hernandez spoke about it during the press conference.

I’d say I was surprised, but I was happy to be doing it, and I hope I can do a little more of it. I just do what the coaches ask me, and they put me in position to try to make plays, and I just try to help the team and just try to get the big gain.

Tom Brady can punt like no other
Holy moly. How shocked were you when this happened? First thing I thought was,”Did Tom kick that?” then it went to “Why are we punting on 3rd down?” Here is the video in case you missed it. Not gonna lie, his form and execution was on point. Was it needed? Not really. But I guess it was better than scoring (again) right Broncos fans?

Mike Vrabel is back, oh wait that’s Rob Ninkovich
Vrabel and Ninkovich have both worn the number 50 jersey and based on Saturday’s performance, they were starting to play alike too. Ninkovich had 4 total tackles and a sack against the Broncos. He had a stellar game and was consistent throughout the entire game. What more could you ask for from a linebacker/defensive end? How about a touchdown next weekend? Thanks.

So after a 45-10 spanking of the Denver Broncos, here we are getting ready to face the Baltimore Ravens. They are the only thing standing between us and the Super Bowl. Not gonna lie, there was a small part of me that wanted the Texans to win (sigh, maybe next year). Of course that would’ve been too easy. Ravens, it is.

Bring it on Ed Reed, Ray Lewis and the rest of you Ravens folks. Let’s do this thaaang.

We ain't scared.