EDITOR’S NOTE: Hello to everyone who arrived at this blog via a “Mike Oher” web search. I hope you enjoyed “The Blind Side” as much as I did.
I used to joke to my ex-wife that I was part Cajun. I did this because I love New Orleans and every time I’ve been there I had a great time. The vibe, the food, and the people all make New Orleans a special place for me. The events of February 3, 2002 only exacerbated those thoughts.
The first time I went down to New Orleans was during a college Mardi Gras road trip. It was a week or two after the Pats lost Super Bowl XXXI to the Green Bay Packers. I remember taking a picture in front of a Super Bowl logo painted to the side of a building. Looking up at that logo, I thought to myself that the Patriots would be back and that they would win it next time.
On 2/3/2002, the Patriots and I were back in New Orleans. I was sitting in Section 636 in the very last row of the Superdome. I was fortunate enough to be in attendance because of the generosity of my friend Mr. Baseball. I’ll never forget him giving up his ticket for me. He did this because he thought the seat should go to a true fan.
As Vinateri’s kick sailed through the uprights, I slumped down in my seat and dropped my head in my hands. The guys next to me, some cool firefighters from Worcester, leaned over and asked if I was ok. Looking up at them with tear-filled eyes, I told them I was fine. It was the greatest sporting event I’ve ever been to and I couldn’t believe that the New England Patriots had actually won the Super Bowl. The lives of Patriots fans had been changed forever.
Tonight, the Patriots return to New Orleans and the Superdome for the first time since that night. Again, they come in as underdogs to a team with a high-powered offense that is on a roll. While there will be no trophies handed out, the game result will be the same.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Been meaning to post about this for a while…
About a month and a half ago, a friend dragged me to see a singer named Erin McCarley. She played at Berklee’s Red Room at Cafe 939. Per their website, Cafe 939 is:
Berklee’s Cafe 939 is a state-of-the-art, all-ages, student-run music venue and coffeehouse. While most rooms in Boston have a specific musical niche, Cafe 939 embraces nearly any style from rock, jazz, folk, and world to bluegrass, hip-hop, electronica, avant-garde, and beyond.
The venue was very cool. It was basically empty with only a stage and few sofas around the edges of the room. Most of the audience had to stand and it was a great intimate setting with a capacity of about 200 people.
Prior to that night, I had never heard of Erin McCarley. After a quick google search, I learned that some of her music was featured on the television show “Grey’s Anatomy” and the movie He’s Just Not That Into You. Opening for McCarley was Landon Pigg, the guy who sings the coffee shop song from the AT&T commercial I love.
When I agreed to go, I was more looking forward to hearing Landon Pigg. Sadly, he was underwhelming and it wasn’t a great start to the night. Next, this short girl comes out (McCarley), performs a sound check, and she tells the audience she had been fighting a cold. Admittedly, I was totally unprepared for what happened next.
I don’t know if it was the small venue or the diminutive frame that it came out of, but her voice totally took me by surprise. For a while now, I’ve been trying to think of a word that describes it (maybe this is why it took me so long to write this entry) and the best I can come up with is angelic. When she sang, everyone was jaw-droppingly transfixed on her. I think it was a combination of the dynamic sound and our proximity to this amazing talent.
For the next hour, I was blown away by her performance. She has a voice that is both raspy and smooth all at the same time. Every song was good and she hit every note. Since that night, I haven’t listened to anything as much as her debut album Love, Save the Empty. And lastly, I don’t think I’ve heard a song in the past 10-15 years that has resonated with me as strongly as the final track,“Gotta Figure This Out.”
Watching the replay of the Pacquiao/Cotto fight, I saw something I didn’t notice last weekend. Right after the fight is called (55 seconds into the twelfth round), Pacquiao gets lifted in the air by cornerman Restituto “Buboy” Fernandez. Manny then retreats to his corner, falls to his knees and raises both gloved arms to his head in rejoice.
It was a great moment captured by the HBO cameras; A moment of jubilation for the man who had just won a seventh world championship fight in a record seventh different weight class. No boxer – not Ali, Tyson, Marciano, Foreman, Roy Jones Jr., Julio Ceasar Chavez, Sugar Ray (either one) or Floyd Mayweather can say they have equaled that feat. It was a moment for the ages and greatly illustrated the interesting dichotomy that Manny Pacquiao presents:
Along with being the best pound-for-pound boxer in the game, he’s as humble as any boxer in the history of the sport.
Dedicating the victory to his countrymen that had suffered the effects of recent typhoons in the Philippines, the moment probably could have continued for hours. But it ended shortly as his opponent Miguel Cotto came over to offer his congratulations for the fight. While it only lasted seconds, the moment was as poignant as any throughout the night in the MGM Grand.
The night was full of great moments for us as well. My cousins, brother and I were also at the MGM Grand. We weren’t inside the Grand Garden arena, but in the closed-circuit viewing area. The fight wasn’t being shown on regular TV, so we had to pay to see it – just as if we were at home. The closed-circuit area was a huge ballroom with four very large TVs setup in front of 14-chair wide rows. I’d say there were around 1,500 people in the room, most of them were Pacquiao supporters.
The atomsphere was great. Some folks waved their Filipino and Puerto Rican flags and some supporters even ran through the aisles (see below) trying to spark up the crowd. The four of us attended Pacquiao’s fight against Marco Antonio Barrera in October 2007, and I’d say this experience was almost as enjoyable. The nice part about the closed-circuit viewing was that we were all together (as opposed to being in different parts of the arena). Also, the fact that we could jump around and interact with all of the other fans made it fun as well.
I’d definitely consider heading back to Vegas for another closed-circuit viewing if (when?) a Pacquiao/Mayweather fight gets signed.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I have a replacement phone. Please text me your number if we have traded texts/phone calls before.
My Patriots playoff ticket invoice came in the mail yesterday. As a season ticket holder, you have to pay for two playoff games and one of them is a potential conference championship game. I haven’t lost complete hope that both of those tickets will be used. Upsets happen every Sunday in the NFL.
I will concede that the game Sunday night was botched – no question about it. I think Bill Belichick made the wrong call and the plays leading up to the call were just as curious. After reading way too much on the subject, statistically, the fourth down call may have even been the right call. A poster on SoSH put it best (and I’m going to paraphrase because I am not going back through all 27 pages of the thread to find his/her exact words):
What if the situation were reversed? What if Indy decided to go for it on 4th and 2 against the Patriots to win the game?
I would have been terrified. Giving Peyton Manning a shot to win the game by only getting two yards would have been a frightening proposition. Belichick took a chance and it didn’t work out.
What people have also forgotten is that this wasn’t the first time Belichick has done this – this season! He went for a short fourth down on his own side of the field in the second half of the Atlanta game. Nobody remembers it because it worked out. Sunday night, he was only being consistent in his thought process.
This is all we can ask of the coaches of our teams. We want them to do what they think is best to win the game. Every time. If we don’t trust them to do this, then the wrong person is coaching our team.
The 4th and 2 call came down to this:
Belichick wanted the ball in the hands of his best player as opposed to the hands of his opponent’s best player at the most crucial part of the game. He trusted his guy(s) to make the play and win the game.
After the game, like most Patriots fans I was pissed. However, the more I have thought about it, the more I have started to admire the call. Belichick had the gumption to go against conventional wisdom to try and get the win. Some people call him arrogant, but I call him confident. He had confidence in his team to get the two yards they needed.
Even though I don’t agree with the call he made, I still want Bill Belichick coaching my team more than any other coach or manager, in any sport.
Yesterday morning, I woke to my buzzing phone. It was an email from Phil who said he hoped that the result of the Patriots game didn’t cause a total shutdown of Truth About Mike. Actually, it is just the opposite. By the end of the week, you’ll probably be sick of reading about all the things that happened this past weekend.
As you may or may not know, I was in Vegas. I went with my brother and also happened to meet up with my cousin NEIL and my other cousin Jo from Toronto. We all had a tremendous time.
It was a very good weekend, sportswise:
The Buckeyes won and earned a trip to their first Rose Bowl since I was in college. The Bengals went into the house of the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers and practically clinched the division title. Lastly, Manny Pacquiao became the first boxer in the history of the sport to win seven different world championships in seven different weight classes (more on Pac in a few days).
It certainly wasn’t all good on the sports front, however. Boston teams went 0-4. Paul Piece hurt his ankle Friday night and the Celtics lost back-to-back games. The Bruins lost in heartbeaking fashion to the Penguins and as for the Patriots: well, let’s just say it wasn’t Bill Belichick’s finest hour (more on this in my next entry).
Furthermore, I lost probably the worst thing a social media geek could lose. I lost my iPhone. I’m pretty sure I left it in one of the 8,500 cabs that work the Las Vegas streets. I feel so lost without the damn thing: every phone number, text, tweet, email, email address, appointments in the calendar, Billy Joel mp3’s, my favorite pictures, all of my notes about everything – gone. I put everything in there and stupidly haven’t backed it up in forever.
Even with the horrible Patriots loss and the horrible loss of all that data, it was the perfect weekend. It wasn’t the perfect weekend because of the gambling, the good food, the trademark energy on the strip, the free drinks in the casinos, not the naked women in the strip clubs (never went to one), not the hooker camped out at the elevators at the Flamingo (”need a date, honey?“), not the result of the games or the winning bets, not the fact that we were in Las Vegas and certainly not the fact that I lost my phone.
It was the perfect weekend because we were all together. It wasn’t the what that was going on around us but the who we were able to spend it with. Even though it was the worst regular season loss in my 36 year history of being a Patriots fan, it was a good, check that, great, time because I got to watch it with my favorite (ok, only) brother in my favorite casino (Venetian).
Every time I get together for drinks with my friend Emily, we always have a tough time deciding where to go. We’re both indecisive. She always asks me and I must sound like a broken record because I give her the same response every time:
It doesn’t matter where, I’m all about the who.
Even though we were in one of my favorite places on the planet, put the four of us in places like East St. Louis Illinois, Gary Indiana, or heaven forbid even Cleveland Ohio and we would have had a good time.
At least to me it is. I’ve been looking forward to this weekend since about Memorial Day.
Let me count the ways (all times EST):
FRIDAY:
8:00pm: Hawks at Celtics – The best team in the Association against a team from the worst sports city in America. The Hawks are off to a nice 6-2 start, but it will be no match for what they will face in the Jungle.
SATURDAY
3:30pm: #10 Iowa at #11 Ohio State – My alma mater against the Hawkeyes of Iowa. This game is essentially for the Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl berth. Iowa’s starting quarterback Ricky Stanzi is injured and will not be playing. I don’t think it matters, though. The Bucks will win this one going away in the ‘Shoe.
7:00pm: Celtics at Indiana Pacers – This is an appetizer for the battle royal occuring just 25.5 hours later in the same city.
7:30pm: Bruins at Penguins – This is an appetizer for the battle royal occuring just 17.5 hours later in the same city.
Approx 11:30pm: Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto – I’ve written before about the Pride of the Philippines. This is probably going to be one of Manny’s toughest fights and it is being held at the MGM Grand. My brother said it best, “Every time Pac fights, it is like the Super Bowl.”
To Filipinos, John is exactly right. He literally is the only thing Filipinos have to boast about.
SUNDAY
1:00pm: Bengals at Steelers – As many of you may or may not know, the Bengals are my second favorite NFL team. The reason for this is because I spent my college years in Ohio and the Bengals and Browns were always on. As many of you should know, I would never root for any team from the hellhole otherwise known as Cleveland (I really need to write a blog entry about Cleveland). Since the Patriots were hardly ever on in Ohio, I watched the Bengals.
Anyhoo, the 6-2 Bengals are the best story in the NFL this year. They have a rejuvenated running game with Cedric Benson and also the best personality in sports, Chad Ochocinco (who also happens to be back in fine form). The perennial doormat Bengals are actually doing really well and a win in Pittsburgh would probably lock up a division title.
4:07pm: Mike’s organs vs Mike’s brain – This is just about the time when my body will start rebelling against me. You’ll see why in the final paragraph.
8:30pm: Patriots at Colts – The game of the year in the NFL. It is the most-hyped and most-awaited game. It is NFL equivalent of the Celtics/Lakers. A win here and the Patriots can put themselves in good position for a first round bye. I just hope the Pats don’t eat the food at Lucas Oil Stadium.
There has been some great media attention on the Pats and Colts this week. Sports radio 98.5 has been previewing it all week. Gerry Callahan (I know, I know – his politics suck) had a great column this week comparing Tom Brady and Peyton Manning to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Michael Felger called this clip of Belichick Patriot porn (keep refreshing if the clip doesn’t play). Also, Peter King wrote a solid piece on Manning.
Where will I be for this potpourri of sports goodness?
Vegas, baby.
Vegas.
The Flamingo, to be exact. It is the only place to be on a sports weekend of this magnitude. We’re not going to the fight, but will be watching closed circuit at the MGM Grand. If I happen to hit it big at the tables tomorrow (yeah right), all bets are off on me being ringside.
Have a great weekend everyone! Make the most of every day.
1) Sorry I haven’t written in a bit (Hi Phil). For some reason, I just haven’t had it in me to write lately.
2) I just had to share this link. It is a video of a girl falling on the tracks in front of the orange line. The best angle is the third angle where you can see the train approaching. Chilling.
3) Eddie Murphy “Delirious” has to be the funniest standup of all time. This realization was reinforced on Sunday coming home from the Pats game. It was a perfect day: the Pats won a huge divisional game, the weather was great, the food was awesome (fried chicken!), Joey Porter was silenced, etc.
As great as the day was, the biggest laughs of the day were on the ride home when we quoted lines from “Delirious.” This happens all the time. I don’t think there is a movie, person, song or whatever that I quote more than this stand up act.
(careful – language definitely not safe for work in any of the following links)
