Patriots – Salem Happenings

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.

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Why Boston Doesn’t Want the Olympics

There’s been a lot of talk recently about Boston’s bid to host the Summer Olympics in 2024 and the growing concern that many people in the Boston area feel towards that bid. However, a lot of the coverage and comments coming out of the media and the Olympic committees seem to have created this notion that athletes are not welcome in Boston or that Bostonians don’t like the Olympics and, to be honest, this notion is pretty ridiculous.

Boston is a city that has an enormous amount of pride in its athletes from the Patriots to the Red Sox to the Celtics to the Bruins and every other team or individual athlete from the area regardless of the sport they participate in. In fact, there are more people in the northeast watching the Olympics every two years than there are in any part of the United States except for the very center of the country. As a result, the people of Boston are not against the Olympics because we don’t like the Olympics or because we don’t want athletes here, but instead because we are greatly concerned with the ability of our infrastructure and our leadership to handle something as monumental as the Olympic games. Now, you may be sitting there thinking “O.K., why are you so concerned?”, and that’s a very good question. So good, in fact, that I thought it was worth taking a break from my normal posts about events in the Boston area to answer it.

If you keep up with Boston news or you’re familiar with the events and projects that have taken place in Boston over the last 30 years, you probably know that Boston has a rich history and that rich history includes more than its fair share of problems. In fact, there were two particular problems during the last 30 years that have led the people of Boston to doubt the city’s ability to handle large endeavors.

The first, of course, is the Big Dig. The Big Dig, for those of you who may not be familiar with it, was one of the largest construction projects in the history of not only New England but of the United States as a whole. This project, which was also known as the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, was intended to be a 16-year, $3 billion operation to build two new tunnels, a new bridge, a new park, and to alter the path of route 93 in order to relieve some of the traffic congestion around the city. Unfortunately, like most great plans of mice and men, the project went awry and after 25 years and over $14 billion (9 years and over $11 billion more than originally expected), the city ended up with a new park, a less congested highway, and two leaky tunnels complete with falling ceiling panels, falling light fixtures, and unsafe guardrails. This led not only the citizens of the Boston area, but their elected officials as well to doubt the ability of the city to carry out large-scale projects and a number of projects, including the Green Line Extension Project, were put on hold. To make matters worse, the city didn’t have the money to pay for the entire project in full, so it is still paying for it now and estimates the final cost of the project after interest to be approximately $24 billion ($21 billion over the original estimated cost.)

The second problem, which has recently been brought to the forefront, is the city’s public transportation system. The city’s public transportation system, the T, has faced a number of challenges over the years, but this year’s historic winter proved to be a grueling test of the T’s ability to operate during difficult and/or unfavorable conditions. The problem is that when the T’s ability to respond to the unexpected (or even expected conditions beyond the norm) was put to the test, it ultimately failed. In fact, the T was not only forced to shut down completely on multiple occasions without warning, but was also unable to restore full service for almost a month after the big storms were over. Now, there is no question that there was a ludicrous amount of snow in Boston this year, as the city broke almost every snow-related record, and no one can completely fault the T for its failure to operate. However, if the T cannot handle a rough winter in an area that is known for its rough winters, how can anyone expect the T to handle millions and millions of extra people trying to enter and exit the city on a daily basis for several weeks?

In the end, the fact of the matter is that as much as Bostonians would like to be able to say that they hosted the Olympics and actually have the opportunity to attend them, it’s hard for the people of Boston and the surrounding areas to believe that the city could actually pull it all off without breaking the bank, bringing our highways to a standstill, crippling our public transportation system, and causing a slew of other unforeseen problems.

Photo credit: <> / Foter / CC BY-ND

Works Consulted
Hoffher, Justine. “Can We Talk Rationally About the Big Dig Yet?” Boston.com. Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC, 5 Jan. 2015. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.

“How Different Genders, Ages, Races, and Regions Watch the Olympics.” Nielsen. The Nielsen Company, 25 Feb. 2010. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.

Macur, Juliet. “If 2024 Olympic Bid is a Hot Potato, Boston Has No Appetite.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 2 Apr. 2015. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.

Wikipedia contributors. “Big Dig.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 Mar. 2015. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.

Wikipedia contributors. “Boston Bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 31 Mar. 2015. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.

Deflategate – The Plot Thickens

Last week, I talked about the New England Patriots and the scandal that the media has eloquently (or not so eloquently) entitled Deflategate. However, a lot has changed in a week, and I decided that this particular topic has garnered so much attention that it might deserve a follow-up. In fact, now that the Patriots have won the Super Bowl, the NFL has begun to release a fair number of interesting facts about their investigation. Of course, as I admitted last week, I am definitely a Patriots Fan, but the information that the NFL released right before and after the Super Bowl may have debunked more of the scandal than any of the information released in the two weeks leading up to Super Bowl Sunday. Here’s why:

Shortly after the AFC Championship Game, ESPN reported that 11 out of the 12 footballs that the Patriots used on offense were found to be 2 PSI below the league minimum. This claim is actually the basis for most of the scandal, and the reason that so many people have been preparing their torches and pitchforks. There’s just one problem. It’s not true. According to the NFL, only one of the 12 footballs tested at halftime was actually 2 PSI below the league minimum. The other 10 footballs were only a “tick” below the 12.5 minimum PSI set by the league, which means that 11 of the 12 footballs were actually above the league minimum at the beginning of the game and for most of the first half (until they lost some of their air due to the cold.) In fact, after testing the footballs, the officials felt that 11 of the 12 footballs were close enough to the league minimum that they didn’t warrant any further investigation. As a result, they just added some air to the footballs and didn’t record the PSI of any of the footballs except for the ball that was 2 PSI below the minimum.

Now, you might ask, why was one football 2 PSI below the league minimum? Well, there are a lot of possibilities. The football may have been closer to the league minimum at the beginning of the game than the other footballs were (and, therefore, had less air to lose before it was significantly below the minimum), the ball may have been underinflated by accident (because an official misread the pressure gauge before the game for example), or the ball may have been underinflated on purpose. It is, of course, this last possibility that so many football fans are concerned with. However, there is one important thing to remember. The one and only ball that was 2 PSI below the league minimum was the ball that the Colts intercepted during the AFC Championship Game and turned over to the officials after it spent a number of plays on their sideline. If this is indeed the case (and it certainly appears to be), then can anyone tell me with certainty that it was the Patriots that tampered with the football and not the Colts?

I realize that all of the Colts fans out there are probably reading this and shaking their computer screen as they scream “But the Ravens told us! The Patriots cheat!” Unfortunately, there’s a problem with this particular defense as well. It’s not true either. According to Ravens’ head coach, John Harbaugh, the Ravens never actually told the Colts anything because there wasn’t anything to tell. They didn’t know anything about the Patriots using underinflated footballs until the Colts brought it up. As a result, the only thing backing up the Colts’ claim is a single football that spent a lot of time with both teams.

Photo credit: Keith Allison / Foter / CC BY-SA

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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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.