Paul’s Blog

As readers of this space know, I have no love for Tom Brady or the New England Patriots. I have seen them beat my Pittsburgh Steelers on too many occasions. However, there can be no doubt that the best performance turned in last week was that of Tom Terrific, as he had his way with the Denver Broncos’ defense. Brady completed 26 of 34 passes for 363 yards and a whopping 6 touchdowns, 5 in the first half as the Pats buried Tim Tebow and the Broncos, 45-10. The Broncos failed to contain Rob Gronkowski, who was the beneficiary of 3 of Brady’s TD strikes while the other tight end, Aaron Hernandez, also caught a touchdown.

The Patriots move on to face the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game. The Ravens are unlikely to allow the New England tight ends to roam around in the secondary unmolested and everyone knows now that jamming Wes Welker at the line of scrimmage disrupts the delicate timing of the Patriot attack. However, Baltimore is unlikely to be able to muster enough offense to keep up with the Pats. It will take a big game by Joe Flacco and Ray Rice to topple the AFC top seed.

As always, click on the image for a larger version.

Click on the image to see the Windbreakers Christmas performance, December 15, 2011.

Setlist:

Bobcaygeon
All Along The Watchtower
Viva La Vida
Merry Christmas Baby
Snoopy’s Christmas
Christmas, Baby, Please Come Home
Get Back
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Who Do You Love
Johnny B. Goode
Jumpin’ Jack Flash

The band members:

Mati Sauks: Vocals
Paul-Emile Element: Guitar
Paul McRae: Guitar
Rob Milicevic: Percussion

When the high scoring Detroit Lions and the unstoppable New Orleans Saints met on the fast track of the Superdome on Wilcard Weekend, offensive fireworks were expected. After a closely played first half, however, the Lions led the Saints by the pedestrian score of 14-10.

New Orleans came out of the locker room on fire and, in 6 second half possessions, scored 5 touchdowns in a row, followed by a kneel down to end the game. As usual, the offensive flashpoint for the Saints was Drew Brees, who connected on 33 of 44 passes for 466 yards and 3 touchdowns. Brees was so effective in this contest moving the ball that the Saints’ punter never stepped on the field. It must also be mentioned that the Saints’ offensive line played a great game and gave Brees a clean pocket from which to find his receivers downfield.

The Saints won going away, 45-28 and now will travel to San Francisco to face the 49′ers. A key to this game will be the field conditions — if Candlestick is soft and soggy, it might mitigate the ability of the Saints’ receivers to run their crisp patterns and get separation from the defensive backs.

Click on the image for a larger version.

Bowl Day isn’t what it used to be, what with the major bowls opting to broadcast without competition on the week nights following the big football feast, but Monday proved to be an exciting time for pigskin lovers as both the granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl, and the Fiesta Bowl later that night, went down to the wire.

The Rose matched up the PAC-12 champion Oregon Ducks, the most exciting offense in college football, against the Big-10 champs (whose conference name, with the addition of a 12th team, has become increasingly ridiculous), the Wisconsin Badgers. From the opening drives, it was obvious that Oregon was going to have a tough time stopping Wisconsin, with their enormous, home-grown, cheese-eating lineman able to push around the Ducks defensive front. Opening holes for Montee Ball and Co. and with efficient passing from Russel Wilson, the Badgers took a 7-0 lead. And no one can stop the Ducks, as they roared down the field and scored, with LaMichael James plowing in from the 1 yard line. It basically continued like this into the fourth quarter, when the Ducks’ Lavasier Tuinei hauled in an 11-yard pass from Darron Thomas to put Oregon in front 42-38. Amazingly, the Ducks managed to hold Wisconsin scoreless for the entire quarter and tacked on a field goal to make the final 45-38. Wisconsin was driving for the tying TD when time ran out.

Oregon’s offense was sparked by diminutive De’Anthony Thomas, who scored on a Rose Bowl record 91-yard run at the end of the first quarter and followed those pyrotechnics up with a 64-yard scoring jaunt in the third. Thomas, who is 5’9″ and 160lbs, showed tremendous speed in outrunning the entire Wisconsin defense on both occasions. In addition, he caught 4 passes for 34 yards.

Pencils on Strathmore 80lb sketch

Inks on Strathmore 300 bristol

Kanata, ON — In a lavish luncheon at the Local Heroes in Bell’s Corners, the OFL wrapped up the 2011 season with its annual award ceremony. This year, voting was impartially calculated by Surveymonkey.com. As expected, many awards were captured by the 6-time OFL Champion Irish Stout squad, which went 7-1 against Peter’s Pirates, but the Pirates improved week after week and even ended the Stout’s long 38-game winning streak this season with a stunning 13-12 victory in week 5.

Foreign Player Of The Year

Andrew Sung Of Peter’s Pirates was the winner this year, not only for his performance on the field, but largely for the fact that he was the only non-Canadian citizen to play in the league this year. “I would like to thank my parents for conceiving and birthing me in Korea,” he said, “This is nearly as big an honor as intercepting that annoying Paul McRae in the end zone that one time.”

Rookie Of The Year

Liang Yao Of the Pirates took home the honors after a season in which he improved week to week and managed to intercept Irish Stout QB Paul McRae 3 times, including one returned for a touchdown. “I don’t know much about football, but it doesn’t take a 180 IQ like I have to figure out McRae is going to throw to Muir when the going gets tough,” he explained, “I would like to thank the league for this award, but I need to get back to my ground breaking research.”

Defensive Player Of The Year

For the first time, there was a 3-way tie for the Defensive Player award as James Muir, Bevan Watkiss, and Liang Yao were all honored with the award. “It’s about time,” said Stout safety Watkiss, “I’ve been in this league FOREVER and this is my first award!” Muir was his usual humble self commenting, “I would just like to thank the opposing QB’s for throwing those interceptions, without which I would not have been able to share this honor with such a prestigious group.” “Two awards?” exclaimed the Pirates’ Yao, “I did not know that these kinds of recognition even existed! I am very happy to accept on behalf of my teammates.”

Offensive Player Of The Year

There was little suspense here as the Stout’s James Muir, who led the league with 15 touchdowns, won the Offensive Player honors. “Well, I have to give props to my QB, Paul McRae, who managed to throw high, low, and to all points in between as I athletically snagged these touchdowns. Really, is it that hard to hit me in the hands?”

Most Valuable Player

For the sixth straight year, Stout QB Paul McRae led the league in touchdown passes with 43 in 8 games and took home the MVP trophy. “I must share this with my teammates, no one knows how important it is to stack their team as I do! I could not have done this without James, Kirk, Bevan, and Burms. But, of course, someone must place the ball perfectly in their hands to score those touchdowns! The ball doesn’t just magically get there on its own, y’know!”