Football – Salem Happenings

Entertaining Your Kids Before the Big Game

If you’re a sports fan living anywhere in New England, there’s a very good chance that you already have plans tomorrow afternoon. In fact, if you’re a football fan, you’re probably already well aware that it’s that fine time of year again when the hopes and dreams of devoted fans everywhere can be realized or dashed in a few fleeting moments. Now, I am, of course, talking about the playoffs because every game could be the last game of the season for your team. However, if your kids are not football fans and/or you’re desperately looking for a way to entertain your kids before the Patriots game tomorrow (perhaps in the hope that they will actually let you sit and enjoy the game), the Coolidge Corner Theatre may have exactly what you’re looking for.

This is because the Coolidge Corner Theatre is hosting a special event entitled “Fantastic Journeys: Animated Shorts from Children’s Film Festival Seattle 2015” from 10:30 A.M. to approximately 11:45 A.M. tomorrow (Saturday, January 16, 2016). This event, which is intended primarily for younger children, will give you and your kids the opportunity to watch 11 animated short films from the Children’s Film Festival in Seattle. These films, which range from 2 to 12 minutes long, come from all around the world, and include animated shorts from countries such as Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, the United States, and more. For more information on Fantastic Journeys and/or or to order tickets for the event, please visit the Coolidge Corner Theatre website.

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Checking Out Boston Sports This Weekend

Last week, I talked about how summer is a great time to get outside and explore the art around us because it’s one of the only times of the year that we’re not actually buried in snow. And, while some people might be wishing for those mountains of snow to return right now during this unprecedented heat wave, most people would agree it’s nice to enjoy some music, dancing, and other art during the warmer weather. However, it is important to remember that art is not the only thing that is easier to enjoy during the summer. In fact, if you’re a sports fan, summer can be a great time to check out some of the games played during the hotter months, attend a special event at a sports stadium, or even see some of the players from your favorite fall and winter sports get ready for the upcoming season. This means that if you are a sports fan in the Boston area looking for something to do this weekend, you will definitely want to check out some of these events.

First, if you are a Red Sox fan that hasn’t decided that the Red Sox are too painful to watch this year (and, therefore, are a braver fan than I), you may want to try and see them play the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend. The Red Sox are playing at home all weekend, and Ken Ryan, Dick Berardino, or Jim Corsi will be in Autograph Alley on Yawkey Way before each game to sign autographs. Best of all, if you’re a student that doesn’t mind standing to watch the game, you may be able to get standing room only tickets for a measly $9. For more information on obtaining discounted Red Sox tickets for students, please visit the Red Sox Student Ticket Offer page.

Secondly, if you’re a true Red Sox fan, but you just can’t bear to watch them get slaughtered night after night, you may want to consider buying tickets for the 10th Annual Boston Red Sox Picnic in the Park. Now, I will warn you right off the bat (if you’ll excuse the pun) that the Annual Picnic in the Park, which is scheduled to take place after Sunday’s Red Sox Game, is definitely on the pricey side at $325 a ticket. However, a ticket to this event will allow you to get a blanket, get autographs from Red Sox players, bid on a number of Red Sox items and experiences in a live auction, listen to the Boston Pops Jazz Band, have the rare opportunity to enjoy a BBQ on the field at Fenway Park, and more. For more information on the Annual Boston Red Sox Picnic in the Park, which is scheduled to take place after the 1:35 P.M. game on Sunday, August 2, 2015, please visit the Red Sox Foundation’s Picnic in the Park page.

Finally, if you’re more of a Patriots Fan than a Red Sox fan or you’re just really sick of the whole “Deflategate” thing and would like to see how the Patriots are getting ready to crush everyone this year, you may want to check out the Patriots’ Training Camp. The Patriots’ Training Camp, which runs from 9:15 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. every day at Gillette from now until Sunday, will give you the opportunity to see the Patriots practice, try some of the training techniques the Patriots use, and get some of the player’s autographs. Best of all, the Patriots’ Training Camp is open to the public and completely free to attend (even parking is free during training camp sessions), so you won’t have to pay a dime. For more information on the Patriots’ Training Camp, please visit the Patriots’ Training Camp page.

Photo credit: MacBeales / Foter / CC BY-ND

Taking the Air out of Deflategate

If we were talking about football this deflated, I would be calling foul too...but we're not... — If we were talking about footballs this deflated, I would be calling foul too…

If you’ve been following my posts for a while, you may have realized that every so often I like to change things up a bit and talk about some football. And, since this Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday, there probably is no better time to talk about some football than now. However, unless you’ve been living in a hole, under a rock, in a cave on the moon, you’ve probably heard about the shadow that is hanging over the big game this weekend, Deflategate. Now, I will admit outright that I am a Patriots fan, but I think there’s a lot more going on with the whole Deflategate scandal than what is apparent on the surface (and I don’t think it has anything to do with cheating.)

To explain what I mean, let’s start by framing the scandal for anyone that’s a little fuzzy on the details. During the AFC Championship game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots, 11 out of the 12 footballs that the Patriots used on offense were found to be 2 PSI below the minimum limit established by the NFL. This, of course, led to an uproar because many people felt that the Patriots must have deliberately underinflated their footballs to gain some sort of advantage.

There are a couple of fundamental flaws with this notion, however. First, there’s actually no evidence that an underinflated ball would give a team’s offense any significant advantage at all. In fact, according to ESPN, an underinflated ball would fly a little slower, which would actually be more likely to help a defender reach the ball before it reached its intended target. The only advantage that an underinflated ball might give an offensive player is a slightly better grip, but the difference would be hardly noticeable.

The second flaw is that there’s a large number of physics professors that will happily tell you that it’s completely possible that the footballs deflated on their own. This is because of a physics law known as Charles’ Law, which states that the volume of a gas is directly proportional to the absolute temperature when the pressure is constant. This means that the amount of gas (in, this case, air) within an object will decrease as the temperature decreases, so a football inflated just above the league’s minimum in a warm room prior to the game may have had significantly less air in it (and, therefore, a significantly lower PSI) after it spent a couple hours out in the cold. The reason that one of the Patriots footballs and all of the Colt’s footballs were above the minimum when they were tested at halftime is most likely because they were inflated to a higher PSI before the game actually started and, therefore, had more air to lose before they fell below the league minimum.

Now, this brings about an important question: if there was no advantage to using underinflated footballs and there is a logical explanation for how the footballs may have ended up underinflated even though they had the correct pressure at the beginning of the game, why has this become such an issue? The answer is money. Scandals make news outlets, TV stations, and the league itself more money because more people will not only pickup newspapers and watch broadcasts to keep up with the scandal, but will also watch the Super Bowl to root against the alleged “cheaters.” As a result, the reason that most of the news outlets are more than happy to paint the Patriots as cheaters (and the league is more than willing to let them) is that everyone loves a good villain, and a good villain will make more people watch.

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Twas The Weekend Before Christmas 2014

Twas the weekend before Christmas, when you felt like a louse
Because you had forgotten to buy gifts for all in the house.
The gifts bags were empty, the wrapping paper was there,
But you desperately needed to find a gift with some flair.

As the kids stood watch with pans on their heads,
Using candy cane swords to strike their foes dead,
You sat quietly wondering “What the heck am I going to do?
Six shopping days till Christmas and I don’t have a clue.”

When, suddenly the cobwebs from your brain began to scatter,
And your fears of a giftless Christmas ultimately shatter.
“The internet’s the answer!” you think to yourself.
“It’s far better than any silly elf on a shelf!”

Then, the glow of that beautiful screen,
Suddenly seems a whole lot less serene
When the realization begins to set in
That there’s no way your items will reach you before Christmas is “Fin.”

You could always pay extra so they deliver it real quick,
But the amount of money involved would certainly make you sick.
And with only days left to find something in the mall,
It’s going to be tough to find your kids’ Christmas doll.

However, I’m here to say:
“Fear not on this wondrous winter day,
For if it is a last-minute gift that you need,
All you have to do is read here and take heed!”

1. Tickets

When I say tickets, I’m not talking about parking tickets or speeding tickets because while it would be great if you could give somebody you absolutely loathe all of your unpaid tickets and require them to pay them for you, the world just doesn’t work that way. Instead, what I’m actually talking about here is tickets to the theater or tickets to a sporting event. I mean when you stop and think about it, almost everyone has a band, a musical, a sport, or some other type of event that they absolutely love but don’t necessarily want to pay for. As a result, buying tickets to a show or a game that a friend or family member really wants to go to can be a great way to grab a last minute gift.

In fact, this type of gift is great for people that already have a lot of stuff because you’re buying something that they really want and something that doesn’t take up a lot space. Best of all, you can always print out the tickets at the very last minute and still have them under the tree for Christmas.

2. Coupons

Alright, I know you’re probably sitting there looking at the word, “coupons”, while slowly backing away from the guy who’s obviously lost his mind, but bear with me for just a second. I’m not suggesting that you should hand your beloved aunt or uncle the coupon booklet from [Insert Store Here] that you just got out of the mail. What I am suggesting is that you, like most people, have a very unique set of skills that may come in handy to other members of your family. For example, you may be good with a computer or good with a hammer while the rest of your family screams like somebody out of a horror movie every time someone mentions the word “mouse” or “batt” (for those of you who are not familiar with carpentry terminology, batt refers to a specific type of insulation.) This means that you may be able to offer your skills as a present if there is something that you can do to make someone else’s life easier.

In fact, you don’t necessarily have to have a unique skill. If there is a task that someone hates to do or a task that someone is simply too busy to do, you may be able to give that person a set of coupons that represents your promise to carry out some of the tasks that he or she finds time-consuming or bothersome. Best of all, some of the tasks that you offer could actually be fun (especially if you’re an adult and you use your imagination), and most of the time, they won’t cost you a thing.

3. Memberships

If you know someone that loves a particular museum, zoo, or another similar location, a membership to that location can be one of the best and easiest gifts that you will ever find. This is because memberships typically allow an individual to go to their favorite museum, zoo, gym, or other location for a substantially discounted price all year long. In fact, most of the museums and zoos that offer memberships will actually allow their members and, in some cases, their members’ friends and family, to enter the museum or zoo for free. This means that if you have a family member with young children that goes to the zoo several times a year in spite of the alarming amount of money it costs, you could buy them a membership that would allow them to go as many as times as they wanted for significantly less or, in some cases, without paying a dime (until the kids reach the gift shop and all bets are off.)

For more last minute Christmas ideas, see last years’ weekend before Christmas post.

Photo credit: asenat29 / DecorLove / CC BY

Keeping the Kids Entertained Before the Big Game

Even though this county could use an editor, the idea is sound. I mean your living room could be considered a "recreational facility when the big game is on, right? — Even though this sign could use an editor, the idea is sound. I mean your living room could be considered a “recreational facility” when the big game is on, right?

Many football fans throughout New England are anxiously awaiting a certain playoff game between two well-known rivals. In fact, there are probably more than a few fans out there who aren’t really anxiously awaiting the game as much as they are just anxious about it. However, if you’re one of the people who just can’t wait and you’re really looking forward to watching the AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos this weekend, you may already be searching for a solution to the age old football dilemma. What do you do with the kids? Well, if you find yourself in this particular situation, don’t worry because there are a number of kid-friendly activities this weekend that end long before the game starts at 3:30 P.M. on Sunday.

First, if your kids are always talking about how they want to be a veterinarian when they grow up, the Franklin Park Zoo has you covered. This is because the Franklin Park Zoo has a special program every Saturday in January from 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M., which is appropriately entitled “Be A Veterinarian Saturday.” This program will allow your children to bring their beloved teddy bear or other stuffed creature to the zoo, so they can dress up as a vet, learn why vets are important to pets and zoo animals, meet the zoo’s vets, and give their stuffed animal a checkup just like the trained veterinarians at the zoo. Best of all, the program is included in the normal admission fee, so you can take your kids to see all of the animals and learn how to care for them without completely emptying your wallet. For more information on the Franklin Park Zoo’s “Be a Veterinarian Saturdays”, please visit Zoo New England’s Event Page.

Secondly, if your kids are more into action than animals, there’s an event at the Boston Children’s Museum on Sunday morning that may be more their style. The Boston Children’s Museum is hosting OSHOGATSU 2014 from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. on Sunday (and you can always go early and be back before the game!) This event is a celebration of the Japanese New Year, which features Japanese cuisine, drummers, lion dancers, kite making demonstrations, origami, storytelling, and a whole lot more. For more information on OSHOGATSU 2014, please visit the Event Calendar for the Boston Children’s Museum.

Finally, if you have a young daughter who is absolutely obsessed with the book, Pinkalicious by Elizabeth Kann and Victoria Kann, the Boston Children’s Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts may have exactly what your daughter is looking for this weekend. The Boston Children’s Theatre (BCT) is performing PINKALICIOUS–The Musical every Saturday and Sunday until February 2nd. This 55-minute musical performance will allow you and your kids to see the story of a young girl who is just a little too obsessed with cupcakes and the color pink for her own good. For more information and/or to order tickets for PINKALICIOUS–The Musical, please visit the Boston Children’s Theatre website.

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Football Friday – Was It Really a Mistake for the Patriots to Pick Up Amendola?

Another Saint Patrick’s Day has come and gone, and we’re now into the part of March where there’s really not a whole lot going on. In fact, unless you’re sitting on a beach somewhere for Spring Break or you’re a video game fan on your way to PAX East, you’re probably going to have a hard time finding anything beyond the local concerts, wine tastings, and other similar events that you would typically find somewhere in your local area almost every weekend. As a result, this week, I’m going to talk about something a little different than I usually do and discuss something that all of the sports fans out there can really look forward to — football.

However, I’m not just going to ramble on about football in general because there’s simply too much to say in one blog post. Instead, I’m going to focus on one specific decision that has been highlighted by sports analysts, experts, players, owners, and fans everywhere. Which decision am I talking about? I’m talking about the Patriot’s decision to pick up Danny Amendola and let Wes Welker go to Denver, of course. Many analysts and experts consider this move to be a rare mistake on the part of the Patriots, but all the talk brings about an interesting question. Was it actually a mistake to pick up Amendola?

Let’s look at some stats. Wes Welker caught 118 passes for 1,354 yards and 6 touchdowns during the 2012 season. This means that Welker averaged about 11.5 yards per reception. Danny Amendola caught 63 passes for 666 yards and 3 touchdowns during the 2012 season. Amendola, as a result, averaged about 10.6 yards per reception. Now, looking at these numbers, you can see why so many people are saying that it was a mistake to let Welker go, since Welker had almost exactly twice as many receptions, yards, and touchdowns as Amendola.

Here’s the problem though. Welker had Brady as a quarterback while Amendola had Sam Bradford. Brady threw 637 times for 4,827 yards and 34 touchdowns during the 2012 season while Bradford threw 551 times for 3,702 yards and 21 touchdowns. As you can see, there’s a big difference between Bradford’s numbers and Brady’s, which means there were less opportunities for Amendola to actually move the ball down the field. If you don’t believe me, look at the number of times that Amendola and Welker were actually targeted. Amendola was targeted 101 times and Welker was targeted 174. This means that Welker had 73 more opportunities than Amendola to catch the ball, which could explain the difference between their stats.

Now, am I saying that Amendola is going to be the next Wes Welker? No, but I am saying that he could be. Amendola is only 27, his average yards per reception has improved every year (even when he was injured), and he’s shown that he can make the long catches that every team needs to win. Welker, on the other hand, is 31, and his stats actually dipped a little in 2012 (although, this dip could have been a result of the fact that his stats were inflated by his stellar performance in 2011.) As such, the Patriot’s decision to pick up Amendola may seem strange at first glance, but was it actually a mistake? No. Is it a gamble? Maybe. But, if the Patriots put Amendola in the same role as Welker and Amendola can stay healthy, things could get very interesting in New England.