Football Off To A Shaky Start Here

Football is off to a shaky start here in the Ocean State. Rhode Island’s favorite pro team was humiliated in its season opener last week, its flagship state university is 0-2, and its top business school lost by eight touchdowns last Saturday. The good news is that the Ocean State’s Ivy League entry at long last kicks off its season on Saturday, and its Division III team is undefeated. Let’s proceed in reverse order. Salve Regina University, the consistent winner from Newport, is 2-0 after victories over Worcester State Montclair State of New Jersey. The Seahawks won each game by a touchdown. They will play at Dean on Saturday. Brown launches its 140 th season Saturday afternoon at Brown Stadium against Bryant. The pre-game story line is Bryant’s rookie head coach, James Perry, matching wits against his college coach, Phil Estes. Perry was Brown’s record-smashing quarterback in the late 1990s and as a senior led Brown to the 1999 Ivy League championship in Estes’s second year as a head

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Red Sox, PawSox And Patriots

As summer fades to fall, the Red Sox – Boston and Pawtucket – and the Patriots dominate the sports news. Here is my take on three hot topics. RED SOX: SNAP OUT OF IT! The Red Sox could have all but clinched the A.L. East title with a decent weekend in New York, but no, they seem determined to do it the hard way, if they do it at all. They lost three of four in the Bronx and returned home with a shaky 3½-game lead over the Yankees. Then, on Monday night, they took a 10-4 beating from Toronto. LAST PLACE Toronto, for Pete’s sake! Now the lead is 2½ games, thanks to that loss and New York’s victory at Baltimore. What in the name of Big Papi is going on up there in Boston? Rick Porcello, a 24-game winner and Cy Young recipient in 2016, pitched his way closer to a 20-loss season Monday night when he threw three home run balls to the Jays, raising his total to 35 for the season. He is 9-16. Chris Sale, a lock for the American League Cy Young Award at the All-Star break, has been horrible in

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What Outsiders Don't Understand About Patriots Fans

The NFL is designed to be the parity league. Dynasties aren’t supposed to happen. The Patriots have shattered that image. The Brady-Belichick era has produced five super bowl titles, the most improbable on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. The Pats have become the team America loves to hate. They are reviled as cheaters by opposing fans, as if Deflategate was actually a crime. The new liberal trope is to hate Bill and Tom because they y play golf with Trump. Many fans just don’t like New Englanders, our passion for our teams and the magical run of success our professional teams have had for more than a decade. Here’s what Football fanatics who wince at the scenes of duck boats winding through the streets of Boston don’t get: It wasn’t always this way. The Patriots were long the orphans of Boston sports, piling losing season upon losing season. For years they didn’t even have a stadium to call their own – they played games at Fenway Park and the college ballparks at Boston College and

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Patriots Super Bowl Victory Is The Greatest Ever

Never in six decades of playing, watching and writing about sports have I seen anything like the dramatic comeback the New England Patriots mounted in Super Bowl LI Sunday night. N-E-V-E-R. Not when John Havlicek stole the ball to beat the 76ers in the 1965 NBA Eastern Conference Final. Not when the Impossible Dream Red Sox won the 1967 American League pennant on the last day of the season. Not when Carlton Fisk won Game 6 of the 1975 World Series with his 12 th inning home run. Not when Mike Eruzione scored for a 4-3 lead and Jim Craig saved every Soviet shot in the last 10 minutes of the Miracle on Ice at Lake Placid in 1980. Not when Adam Vinatieri kicked the field goal that gave the Patriots their first Super Bowl victory in 2002. Not when David Ortiz led the Red Sox out of their 0-3 abyss against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. Each of those stands on a pedestal in my pantheon of memorable sports moments, but what the Patriots did Sunday night outshines them all. To come back from a

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Brady Will Cap An Impressive Run By Aging Champions

Tom Brady’s start at quarterback for the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI Sunday night will bookend an unforgettable week for aging champions. Brady is 39 and playing in his seventh Super Bowl, but he has looked like a quarterback 10 years younger. After serving a four-game suspension at the start of the season for his alleged role in Deflategate, he led the Patriots to an 11-1 record in the 12 games he started in the regular season, threw 28 touchdown passes with only two interceptions, and finished as the second-most productive quarterback in the NFL after Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, his opponent tonight. He averaged 296.2 passing yards per game, the fifth best of his 17-year career. His two interceptions were the fewest of his career and his 112.2 quarterback rating second best. Last month, during his regular appearance on a Boston radio talk show, Brady said that playing until he is 45 is a “great goal.” If he stays healthy and maintains his desire to endure the necessary off-season

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Tom Brady, David Oritz Top Sports Stories Of 2016

Championships eluded New England’s Big Four this year, but the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins still provided us with memorable moments. So did Providence College, Bishop Hendricken and Johnson & Wales. Here, then, are my choices for the Top 10 Local Sports Stories of 2016, assuming you agree that whatever happens with the Pats, Sox, Celts and Bs is of local interest. TOM BRADY RETURNS He fought the law, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, over Deflategate, and the law won. The New England Patriots quarterback served his four-game suspension with class and then came back with a vengeance. He has led the Pats to 10 victories in the 11 games since his return – they were 3-1 without him -- and a victory at Miami on Sunday will give them home-field advantage through the AFC Championship. Brady is second behind Atlanta’s Matt Ryan on the NFL quarterback rating list. Brady has thrown 399 passes and completed 266 for 3,278 yards and 25 touchdowns. He has been intercepted twice. And the

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Patriots Fans Breathe Sigh Of Relief After Ravens Matchup

Despite a comeback by the Baltimore Ravens in the second half, the Patriots were able to hold onto a lead and win at home last night 30 to 23. The game started as a defensive battle, with several short drives, and the Patriots' defense putting up the first points with a safety on the Ravens. New England Defensive Captain Devin McCourty said it's big to get points on the board against a top team like Baltimore. "But our offense any time we put points on the board as a defense, that's just an added bonus,” said McCourty. “Because we know what they can do offensively, but when we can chime in and help out a little bit I'm sure they'll take the points and keep trying to add on to it." Quarterback Tom Brady pointed to a 79-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to Chris Hogan as an important moment in the game. "He was not really the primary receiver on that play, but he saw what I saw,” said Brady. “And adjusted his route, and just tried to put it out there for him and it was a big play. We

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Tom Brady Continues To Fight Four Game 'Deflategate' Suspension

  New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is looking to go back to court as he continues to fight a four-game suspension over the deflation of footballs in a 2014 playoff game.

Lawyers for Brady are asking all 13 judges of the federal appeals court to re-consider a ruling issued by three of its judges last month.

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Costly Deflategate Victory Proves Only That Commissioner Roger Goodell Is The Boss

Deflategate is over. The National Football League and Commissioner Roger Goodell won. The New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady lost.

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Federal Appeals Court Re-Instates Brady's Four Game Suspension

The NFL season could begin without one of the leagues biggest stars. 

A  Federal Appeals Court re-instated the four game suspension of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady over the deflation of footballs in a 2014 play-off game. 

As WBUR reporter David Boeri reports, this time legal observers do not expect another come-back. 

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Why Did The Patriots Lose? Let Us Count The Ways

The Patriots did not lose to the Broncos Sunday because kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed a point after attempt in the first quarter.

Allow me to repeat.

THE PATRIOTS DID NOT LOSE TO THE BRONCOS SUNDAY BECAUSE KICKER STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI MISSED A POINT AFTER ATTEMPT IN THE FIRST QUARTER.

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It's Not Brady Vs. Manning; It's The Patriots Vs. The Broncos

All last week, Sports World focused on the rivalry between quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Brady vs. Manning. Manning vs. Brady. Their 17^th, and possibly final, game against each other when Brady and the New England Patriots tackle Manning and the Denver Broncos Sunday for the AFC Championship and a trip to Super Bowl 50.

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The Questionables Help The Patriots To Their 27-20 Playoff Victory

Call them The Questionables because there was just a 50-50 chance they would play in their AFC divisional playoff game Saturday.

Questionable Rob Gronkowski, he of the back and knee injuries, caught seven passes for 83 yards and two touchdowns and recovered an onside kick with 1:13 to play. Questionable Julian Edelman, he of the broken foot, grabbed 10 passes for 100 yards. Questionable Chandler Jones, he of abdomen and toe issues and a shirtless foray to the Foxboro Police Department six days prior, forced a Chiefs fumble that became the Patriots’ third touchdown.

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Reasons To Worry, But Patriots Should Win

Yellow caution flags should flutter over Gillette Stadium Saturday when the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs kick off their AFC divisional playoff game. Why worry? Let us count the reasons.

The Chiefs, winners of 11 consecutive games, are the hottest team in pro football. They launched their postseason run last weekend with a 30-0 rout of Houston, a convincing performance by the seventh-best defense in the NFL.

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Better Times for Organized Labor on Labor Day 2015

For  workers and unions, there hasn’t been much to celebrate on Labor Day in recent years. RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay says things may finally be looking up. (Sneak preview of Monday MacKay commentary).

Today we honor organized labor, the folks who gave us the 40-hour week, overtime pay and  health benefits. Not to mention the middle-class that long made America an exceptional, stable and prosperous nation.

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Deflategate: A Stunning Victory For Tom Brady; A Stinging Blow To Roger Goodell

Judge Richard M. Berman’s decision to vacate Tom Brady’s four-game suspension is a stunning victory for the New England Patriots quarterback and a stinging blow to the National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Think of the NFL as the Roman Empire of sports in America and Goodell as Caesar. Magnificent stadia dot the landscape from coast to coast, and every week from September to January gladiators clash to the cheers of hundreds of thousands of loyal subjects.

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Federal Judge Throws out Brady Deflategate Suspension

A federal judge has tossed out the four-game suspension imposed by the National Football League on New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in the so-called Deflategate  case.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman ruled minutes ago that the suspension violated provisions of the NFL’s contract with the labor union that represents the players.

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That Was One Tough Week For Boston Sports

  Thank goodness for a new week. Could last week have been any worse for Boston sports?

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Local Fans React To NFL Penalty Against Tom Brady

The NFL lawyer who investigated the deflation of footballs by the Patriots last season says he has direct evidence quarterback Tom Brady knew about the incident.

Following the investigation the NFL hit Brady with a four game suspension, which has some fan scratching their heads.

Bradford Griffin from Woonsocket said it seems unfair to give Brady a four-game suspension when another player was suspended for just two games in a case involving domestic violence.

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President Obama Honors Superbowl Champion New England Patriots At The White House

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

April 23, 2015

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
HONORING SUPER BOWL CHAMPION NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

South Lawn

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