Musings

It has been a few years since an original "Musings from the 50 Yard

Defining Perfection
Stef C
2/4/08

I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate the New England Patriots on what was a truly perfect season, and to offer my warmest respect and best wishes to a team that is invincible, most certainly in spirit, if not in fact. Some of you out there I know will not want to hear this.  There will be those of you who feel that the “perfect” season means nothing in the face of the insufferable Super Bowl loss. Some who read this may try to claim that I do not understand the magnitude of such a defeat, but I do understand.  I am a fan too, after all. This, however, is not the time to abandon our team.  Are we THAT spoiled? Are we really a fan base that loves our team only when they are statistically perfect? I have been a Pats fan too long to believe this could possibly be true, and now is the time to prove our loyalty. 

What is “perfect” anyway? When did we, whose team has been led successfully four times to the Super Bowl by a sixth round quarterback, become so obsessed with numbers and statistics? We’re going to let one game take us down? Sure, it’s the Big Game, and of course it would have been nice to add that win to our already enviable arsenal, but it is, after all, still just one game.  To me, it is not the loss of this game that defines our team; it is the way they played, and I’m not talking about their mistakes; I’m talking about their heart. 

This is a team that has overcome adversity time and time again this year. They’ve been called liars and cheaters.  They’ve been accused of dirty coaching and playing, and, as fans, we’ve all heard people say that our team survived this season on luck, not skill.  Tell me how does one get lucky eighteen times in a row? Each and every time they were called out, this team has responded with professionalism and class.  They stayed out of the media when possible, and when they did become trapped into answering unwanted questions, they responded with patience and humor.  Their true retaliation came only on the field where they sought to rise above the slanderous defamation of their character and prove to the world that they were indeed the “perfect” champions. 

In my eyes, they succeeded.  I love our team more because they lost, not less. So, they are not “perfect”.  They have a chink, so to speak, in their armor.  To me, that means only that they are human: a true revelation, perhaps, even to us, their fans. Surprisingly, this team is not infallible.  They have highs and lows.  They have good days and bad days, and they make mistakes. As a team, they certainly have earned the right to grieve for the loss of this game, though I wish that they wouldn’t.  To say that this loss is a terrible disappointment to them is an understatement, I’m sure, and my heart goes out to them.  I know, though, that they will rally and come back stronger than ever next year because that is who they are.  

As fans, however, we have nothing to complain about.  It is not the team that has been lucky, it is us. In seven years, we have seen our team go to the Super Bowl four times, and of the seven there was only one year that the Pats did not at least make the playoffs.  Did you know that the Giants have been to the Super Bowl just four times in their whole franchise history? Can’t we afford to let them have one victory? It seems that we have started to take the team’s success for granted, and perhaps we are even forgetting now to be grateful for all this franchise has given us.  

So, with this in mind, let me be the first to applaud our perfect team on their slightly imperfect season.  I wish I was in Boston to welcome them home, to be a part of a big celebration, to let them all know that the loss of one game, however big, does not make them any less perfect to us, their reverent fans.  Certainly, this fan is ready for Draft Day and the beginning of the new season.  Man, April seems a long ways away! Oh well, I will follow the team’s example and try to be patient.  In the meantime, welcome home, Pats! And, congratulations on what truly was the “perfect” season! 

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Mini-Musing: Points Per Minute©
Oyster Man (WT) -
10/24/07

We have heard about the importance of winning 3rd down with successful conversions, and recently AVG yards per pass.  Picking up the Monday morning papers will reveal that teams winning those two categories are the game winners about 80% of the time.

With all of the talk about time of possession and points scored, ( and beating opponents by at least 17 points), maybe there is something hidden in those numbers.  I do not think I have seen this type of analysis anywhere before - that is total points divided by time of possession (TOP) = Points per minute. 

Of course, this will create a lot of debate because the best defense is a good, time consuming offense, which goes against a better points per minute statistic.  On the other hand, it could also be an indicator of the Defense or Special Teams scoring, which will quickly increase the number. Look how the Dallas number jumped because of the defensive score.  

Likewise look how Miami dominated the TOP but if we determine points scored per time of possession minute, WOW what a difference between the Patriots effort and the Miami effort…which resembles the actual performance.

That all said, these numbers sure are interesting and could be good fodder for pre-game and post game discussions.

I say "pre and post" game because watching the game is much more fun than thinking about statistics like these, worrying about fantasy selections, and trying to predict who will win.    

If this analysis takes off, maybe it will make us famous for 14.237 minutes.  

Now just remember to go to the restroom during every Manning commercial, and enjoy the games!

Buddy's Final 53
Buddy Love
8/21/07

Offense (24)

QB (3) Tom Brady, Matt Cassell and Vinny Testaverde

RB (4) Laurence Maroney, Kevin Faulk, Sammy Morris and Heath Evans

WR (6) Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, Wes Welker, Jabar Gaffney, Kelley Washington, Troy Brown

TE (3) Ben Watson, Kyle Brady, Garrett Mills

OL (8) Matt Light, Logan Mankins, Dan Koppen, Stephen Neal, Nick Kaczur, Ryan O'Callaghan, Wesley Britt and Russ Hochstein/Mike Elgin

Defense (26)

DL (7) Richard Seymour, Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork, Mike Wright, Jarvis Green, Lekevin Smith and Kareem Brown

LB (10)    Rosey Colvin, Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi, Adalius Thomas, Junior Seau, Pierre Woods, Justin Rogers, Larry Izzo, Eric Alexander, Corey Mays

DB ( 9)  Ellis Hobbs, Randall Gay, Rodney Harrison, Eugene Wilson, Brandon Meriweather, James Sanders, Willie Andrews, Mike Richardson, Asante Samuel/Dante Wesley

Special Teams (3)

Stephen Gostkowski, Lonnie Paxton, Danny Baugher

PUP - Chad Jackson, Eddie Jackson and David Thomas

If a player is still on the PUP list at the time of the final cutdown date (Sept. 1), they must sit out the first six weeks of the regular season.

Practice Squad - Clint Oldenburg, Corey Hilliard, Matt Gutierrez, Gemara Williams, Chris Dunlap, Oscar Lua, Zack West and Mike Elgin/Patrick.

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Patriots Fan Mood Meter
OysterMan
1/23/07

After surveying 4,742 Patriot Fans using a double blind study, conducting a regression analysis, and averaging the results the following PMTM (Patriot Mood Therapy Meter) can be determined. OK, I made up the survey results, this is really just my observation.

0 = how we all felt immediately after Brady's interception, 10 = how we felt after the Patriots won Super Bowl 39, or 38, or 36.

10 Patriots defeat the Eagles in Superbowl 39, wow what a feeling
02 Patriots lose to Denver in 2005 AFC Divisional Playoff, OK they got beat, expected to happen in Denver.
01 Brady fumbles 12 seconds into first game of year, Buffalo TD, ouch
01 Patriots lose to Denver, Colts, Jets, Miami in 2006 season, quadruple ouch
06 Patriots win last three games of 2006 regular season, feeling better, like their chances.
07 Patriots beat the JETS S$#$ S#@%, S@#$, Yahoo!
08 Patriots beat San Diego with a game winning field goal….bring on the AFC Championship game
03 Media pisses us off
07 Boomer makes us a feel a bit better
7.5 Patriots take the lead on a fluke fumble…that was close
8.8 Patriots jump out to a 21 - 3 lead. Wow…this is interesting
7.2 Brown called for offensive pass interference…oh, oh, here come the referees
6.8 Colts make the score 21 - 6, 90% of us are concerned, 10% of the fans already celebrating, possible jinx.
5.0 Colts score, trail by 2, 21 - 19
4.0 Colts score 2 point conversion and tie the game, 21 - 21. Sick feeling developing
4.5 Trade scores twice, tied 31 - 31, Brady has the ball. Concerned but hopeful for recovery
5.0 Patriots take the lead 34 - 31
6.9 Patriots force a 3 and out.
5.0 Colts get the ball back
4.0 Completion down the sideline, feeling sick again.
7.1 Ball bounces in the air…ooh
1.8 Pissed at media and ref's for 15 yard penalty
1.0 Colts score TD to take lead 34 - 38
0.2 Brady throws interception….screams and upset feeling, pissed at everyone.
0.0 Colts win 2006 AFC Championship
0.1 Five hours after game, upset over loss, can't sleep, mourning loss.
0.2 Twelve hours after game, pissed at media gloating over win, turn off media until draft day.
0.3 Twenty four hours after the game, pissed that Patriots lost, can't believe that one slipped away.
0.1 Another $#%^&* Manning commercial !
0.4 Thirty six hours after the game, acceptance beginning to creep in, still angered at a few things.
2.0 Old time Baltimore natives complaining that Colts just eeked by and should not be there! Thanks needed that.
2.5 Baltimore natives hope the Colts lose big time to the Bears

To be continued….and the number 4,742 has some meaning, it will be the goal for next year….stay tuned to this web site if you can't figure it out.

Here is the mood meter and actually looks like our collective heart monitor, CLEAR! draft day will kick start the team soon.

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Diary of an Aerosmith Concert
Mike
12/7/06

Who would have figured? One minute I'm in the bathroom at Murphy's just minding my own business getting ready for the kickoff of the Pats/Indy game and the next, I'm standing in front of everyone with my wife, Joanna, holding two tickets to see Aerosmith in Tampa. To think I was just going to stay home and watch the game.

I kept a running diary of the trip.

Special thanks to Murphy's Patriots, Jasen at Sam Adams and Alicia at Live Nation for giving us one kickass Thanksgiving we'll never forget!

Mike & Joanna
 

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Dear Fox Television
Jeff P
12/3/06

Dear Fox Television:

You are not even competent enough to be considered an embarrassment to the digital arts, or whatever TV is called. We do not watch New England Patriots football on your network because we want to, we do it because we have to twice a year when we host NFC opponents, unless a game gets shown on NBC or ESPN. At least pretend you want us to watch your network.

I'll give you some pointers on how to get us to want to watch you. First, show the damn field, not 800 shots of the sideline, people's heads, you name it. Second, if you have the need to put the cameras on a player on a bench, put some of his stats on the screen so viewers can see what he has done today, not too many advertisements for your next game or more than one for your next garbage show. We care about our game right now, thank you very much, not some stupid show that most of us would not watch even before you pissed us off with incessant over-promotion of it.

Third, stop showing the commentators in the booth every three minutes, show the game. We do not care that Vasgersian is in the broadcast booth, we care about what is happening in the game between the Patriots and their opponents. We remember Vasgersian was an XFL announcer, that is bad enough, we don't need shots of him every twenty minutes. Fourth, When a play warrants a replay, hurry up and get the replay on the screen, not a shot of the back of someone's head.

Finally, at least attempt to display competence in your camera angles and presentation of plays as they develop. We want to see what happens as each play unfolds, but missed at least a half dozen plays today because of your overall cluelesseness. We understand if someone fakes out the entire defense, and the camera crews in the process, once in a while. But today's overall presentation of the New England Patriots - Detroit Lions game was an embarrassment to television. If the Billboard Music Awards ad appeared one more time my head would have exploded.

Please do yourselves a collective favor, and watch how rival network CBS produces telecasts. They focus on the field, put meaningful statistics on the screen in between plays, and keep advertisements for non-football things to a minimum. They seem to want us to watch their network, unlike you.

Get a clue. I will give you one and only one thing over CBS: Beasley Reece has never appeared on your network. At least not that I am aware of.

Regards,
Jeff P
Patriots Fan

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A Musing from the 50
Anonymous
10/22/06

After a lengthy absence, what follows "in quotes" are original "Musings from the 50 Yard Line" for the New England Patriots versus Buffalo Bills game on Sunday October 22, 2006  -  a standing room only (SRO) crowd at Murphy's.... 

*After Caldwell dropped a pass at the goal line...."He needs some Troy Brown hands"....next play first down pass to TROY! 

*Stated prior to Ben Watsons' clucth 3rd down catch...."Time for a heavy dose of tight ends" 

*Despite most of the End Zone crew at the game in Buffalo today, the "rookies" in the end zone lead the cheers with: "and that is another Patriots first down"....well the 50 yard line was a bit out of synch....7 seconds later the 50 yard line crew cheered FIRST Down...  "Sounds like a 7 second satellite delay"

*When confronted in an elevator by a Patriots Running Back who asked: "Going Up"....the only words that the Patriots Fan could muster was "Yup".  And we thought Bill Belichick was a man of few words, sounds like a Patriots Fan needs to practice their 10 second elevator speech! 

*CBS cut to a commercial and came back without the audience knowing what the outcome of the last close play, in bounds-out of bounds, catch-no catch, first down-no first down?,   "the CBS crew was watching another game" 

*The CBS camera crew could not follow the ball in the air..."they are best at following golf balls why can't they follow a football?"

 *During a Buffalo series in the first quarter, the yards to go, time to remaining and score was not displayed..."I guess the person operating the game summary in the upper right of the picture was in the rest room"

*When returning from commercial break,  a photo collage displayed highlights, this was an interesting shot...and of course the 50 yard line would not let that one slip by....

"I am sure those guys will not want to see that one on Monday!"

Not to be outdone by that photo....the entire 100+ plus stated a collective:

 "OOOOOOOOOOOOOH............aughhhhhhhhhhh"

 That was when the camera crew found a booger digger and looker on the Patriots sideline......we have to repeat.... 

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOH............aughhhhhhhhhhh"

 Well, until next time, we'll listen for more PG-13 humerous and insightful quotes, quips, and observations from the 50 Yard line and of course throughout the next SRO crowd!

Times Change, the Guide Still Stands
Dugan
9/8/06

2006 will be our 13th season gathering at Murphy's Pub.   Names and faces have changed over the years, but the camaraderie lives on.  Murphy's Pub is a way of life for Patriots fans in the DC area.  Admittedly, we can appear gruff and rowdy on the exterior, but we are an incredibly tight knit group of people, who have become friends outside the realm of Patriots football.  We invite all Patriots fans to join us at the Pub in the Fall.  It is a fun, friendly environment, even so, we have our traditions, we have our peeves. 

I wrote this guide over 3 years ago - it is still pertinent today.  If you are new and wish to come down to the pub for a game, give a quick read, it just might give you some insight into what kind of folks we are!

A Guide to Murphy's Pub
Dugan
8/4/03

We’ve gathered quite a fan following over the last 9 years. This is just a little informational tour around the pub for any newcomer, as well as a refresher for all veterans. So without further ado, here’s a quick rundown.

SECTION OVERVIEW
The "End Zone"
Simply put, this is the end of the upstairs bar, right by the dart boards. Originally dubbed the "End Zone" by Charlie Wallace years ago, this is the so-called rowdy section. It’s home to fans who don’t sit during the game, and must be within arm’s length of a refilled beer glass at all times. If you have kids - you do not want them near here!! Obscenities abound, as do chants and nicknames. This is where the cheer "FOTK" originated, and "J-E-T-S Suck, Suck, Suck" is yelled even during the Bills games. In the End Zone, you’ll find guys with names like V-Neck, Rage Man, and Paulee Bag-o-Donuts.

The "50-Yard Line"
Like its name implies, front and center, the 50-yard line is home to a group of die-hards who demand only the finest in seating and football viewing. This all table section is located in the middle of the upstairs restaurant, and is graced by the presence of a big-screen television. Similar to their stadium counterparts, seats at the 50-yard line are difficult to come by, and require an early arrival. In recent years this group has developed an edge to them. Although not as unruly as the dregs in Murphy’s "End Zone", the fifties can yell just as loudly as the next guy.

The "Cheap Seats"
Home of the obstructed view and restroom traffic, the "Cheap Seats" are located all the way in the back & behind the fire place. There is only one tv in this section, and it’s up high. Set apart from the majority of the Sunday crowd, these seats are typically filled with late-comers, families, and non-football fans. We highly recommend this secluded section for all unsportsmanlike opposing fans (read: Bears fans). Although we Pats fans welcome all rivals, if you’re a blow-hard, the "Cheap Seats" will offer you protection from projectiles, as well as a quick emergency escape down the back staircase.

MURPHY'S GAMEDAY ETIQUETTE
Here is a list of game day customs for all newcomers to know and learn:

Yelling is encouraged
Patriots gear is not required, but highly recommended
Do not expect to hear the play-by-play on the televisions
Do not berate the staff
Don’t wear green (just kidding!)
Join in the chants!
No kids (seriously, you don’t want them here)
The sports announcers are not our friends (Shut up, Dan Dierdorf!)
The Jets will always suck, suck, suck!
We welcome fans of all teams
Commercials stink 
Never leave before the game is over....never!
Always believe

LOW POINT IN PUB HISTORY
Patriots @ Chiefs (10/10/99) - This day abided by Murphy's Law, if it can go wrong  - it will.   The game started off harmlessly enough, with New England grabbing an early lead.  But just as soon as our boys went ahead , POOF, the satellite went out!!  And all heck broke lose as the the picture continued to fizzle, then go completely blank. After nearly 60 minutes of blacked out TVs, panic, and 4 letter words, the game instantly reappeared.  And as Murphy's Law would have it, the Patriots were losing.  But again the tide turned and as the game waned into the  final seconds. The Patriots made a valiant comeback, driving down to set up the winning field goal.  Out comes Vinatieri to cinch the win with a gimme field goal - a 32 yarder and an apparent end to an afternoon of frustration. The kick went up, the crowd erupted, and then......DOINK!  Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.  And complete devastation.  One of the lowest points in pub history

HIGH POINTS IN PUB HISTORY
Bills @ Patriots (11/29/98) - Coming off the previous week's last minute victory against Miami, sheer pandemonium erupted at Murphy’s when Bledsoe & the Patriots defeated Buffalo in almost identical fashion - with no time left on the clock.  DEJA VU!! Spilt beer, hats in the air, and people on shoulders all highlighted this victory celebration. What a game!!

Super Bowl XXXVI (2/3/02) - Unbelievable, incredible, and amazing. Over 2 hours of raucous partying ensued after Adam booted the game winning field goal and the Patriots won the big one. The packed house of nearly 200 fans all sang along to the tune of "Dirty Water" over and over again. Awesome experience.

SIDE NOTES
The employees of Popeye’s Restaurant across the street always know when the Patriots win, and when they lose. One day in ‘99, all decked out in our Patriots gear, we walked into the fast food joint after a long day of football at Murphy’s Pub. Almost immediately, the guy behind the counter quipped, "So...you guys won today, eh?"

I looked at him and inquired, "What, did you see the game?"

"Nope, " he replied

"Can you tell by the expression on my face?"

"Uh-uh." He shook his head back and forth.

"Well...how’d ya know the Pats won then?" I asked.

The young man looked at me with a wry smile, and blurted out, "I could hear you guys."

I took a step back and grinned, "No kidding, you heard us!!"

"Oh yeah, we can tell whether the Patriots win or lose each week just by the noise coming out of Murphy’s. You guys are nuts. You’re really loud."

"Yeah but the you’re across the street...and your doors are closed!"

Again, the young worker smirked and simply affirmed my not so astute remarks with a nod and a "Yup."

If you have a musing you'd like posted here, send it in an email to us!

Read about our trip to the White House to see the Patriots!

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