For the first quarter and a half, Superbowl XXXVIII looked like it would be the most uneventful Superbowl in history and a game only a defensive coordinator could love. By the end, this was one of the most exciting Superbowl games in NFL history. Tom Brady actually led the Patriots on two game-winning drives in the final five minutes of the game. Unfortunately, the defense nullified the first of the two drives leaving it up to Brady and Company to go down the field in the final minute to set up Vinatieri for the game-winner.

Here are some of my favorite statistics from Superbowl XXXVIII:

• The Panthers put some pressure on Tom Brady but had no sacks despite the fact that the Patriots best offensive lineman, Damien Woody, was out with an injury (how does that crow taste, Warren Sapp?)
• There were 0 total points in the first 26 minutes of the game, 62 points in the final 34 minutes.
• All 62 points were scored in the even-numbered quarters.
• Jake Delhomme began the game 1-for-9 for 1 yard but was 15-for-24 for 322 yards in the final 27 minutes of the game.
• With the exception of one big run each by Stephen Davis and DeShaun Foster, the Panthers rushed for 37 yards on 14 carries (2.6 yards per rush). If you take away the longest runs by Antowain Smith and Kevin Faulk, the Patriot backs combined for 102 yards on 30 carries (3.4 yards per rush).
• The Patriots had 480 total yards of offense and amassed 28 first downs.

There were many similarities between today's game and the Superbowl victory over the Rams in January of 2002. In both games, the Patriots defensive dominated the opponent for three quarters but couldn't stop anyone in the fourth quarter. In both games, Ricky Proehl scored the game-tying touchdown with just over one minute remaining only to have Tom Brady move the ball down the field for an Adam Vinatieri field goal with under ten seconds left in the game.

I hope the Superbowl victory puts an end to the talk that the Patriots are a lucky team. There is no doubt that the Patriots received more than their share of breaks to reach the Superbowl two years ago but this year's team was far and away the best team in football, even with all of the injuries.

I thought that the Superbowl officiating was very solid. The only exception was the non-fumble call on the catch by Mushin Muhammad. I was able to make a sandwich in the time between the catch and the ball coming loose.

Although the comparisons of Tom Brady to Joe Montana are very premature, Brady took a giant step in Montana's direction on Sunday. At 26, Brady's numbers are very impressive: 40-12 as a starter, 6-0 in the Playoffs, 7-0 in overtime, two last minute game-winning drives in the Superbowl, two rings and two Superbowl MVP trophies. Montana won four Superbowls and three Superbowl MVP Awards.

There is no question that in a do-or-die game, I have more confidence in a Patriots team that is losing than a Red Sox team that is ahead. Today's game was stressful, but I remained confident that the Patriots would get it done. Despite his troubles, I felt that Adam Vinatieri would make the game-winning field goal.

Believe it or not, the Patriots could be a better team next season. They have four choices in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft and will hopefully have a healthy Rosevelt Colvin back in the lineup. On the down side, Ty Law could join Lawyer Milloy as a salary cap casualty.

Here is an update of the numbers that I mentioned in the last version of Random Notes:

• The Patriots are 35-9 since losing to the Rams in Week 11 of the 2001 season.
• The Pats are 19-3 at home over the same time period.
• Most incredibly, the Pats are 22-2 after November 16th over the past three seasons.
• The Patriots became only the second team in NFL history to win 15 consecutive games (including the playoffs) in a single season. The other team was the 1972 Miami Dolphins who were a perfect 17-0.

The Patriots have now won 12 consecutive regular season games. The record for consecutive wins in the regular season is 17, held by the 1933-34 Chicago Bears. The Patriots would break that record with a 6-0 start in 2004. The record for most consecutive wins (playoffs included) is 18, held by four teams: the 1989-90 49ers, the 1972-73 Dolphins, the 1941-42 Bears and the 1933-34 Bears. A 4-0 start next season would give the Patriots that record.

The Patriots have now won 12 consecutive regular season games. The record for consecutive wins in the regular season is 17, held by the 1933-34 Chicago Bears. The Patriots would break that record with a 6-0 start in 2004. The record for most consecutive wins (playoffs included) is 18, held by four teams: the 1989-90 49ers, the 1972-73 Dolphins, the 1941-42 Bears and the 1933-34 Bears. A Superbowl win and a 4-0 start next season would give the Patriots that record.

How good have the Patriots been? Here are the numbers:

• The Patriots are 34-9 since losing to the Rams in Week 11 of the 2001 season.
• The Pats are 19-3 at home over the same time period.
• Most incredibly, the Pats are 21-2 after November 16th over the past three seasons.
• The Patriots became only the second team in NFL history to win 14 consecutive games (including the playoffs) in a single season. The other team was the 1972 Miami Dolphins who were a perfect 17-0.

The Carolina Panthers remind me a bit of the Superbowl Champion Patriots of two years ago. The Panthers play very solid, tough defense. Their offense is not prolific, but they can control the ball and seem to get better late in the game. They are also very well-coached. I think that the Patriots will win (I'll guess 23-13) but I think the Panthers will be a much tougher challenge that the overrated Eagles would have been.

ESPN reported on Tuesday that the A-Rod for Manny Ramirez trade talks have been rekindled. I refuse to be fooled again. We were teased more than enough the last time around.

Reliever Jesse Orosco announced his retirement this week. Now he can sit back with his great grandchildren and reminisce about the time he struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in the same inning.

After accepting millions of taxpayer dollars to build a new retractable-roof ballpark in Milwaukee for the Brewers, the club has announced that they will trim the team's payroll from a measly $40 million in 2003 to a pathetic $30 million this season. Taxpayers were promised that a new ballpark would enable the franchise to increase revenues and put a more competitive team on the field. Absolutely sickening.

Every few years, Major League Baseball owners will promise to bring more fiscal responsibility to the game. After the strike was settled in 1995 the owners began offering shorter contracts for smaller dollars but as usual that didn't last long. By the end of the decade, players were getting deals of five or more years for two to three times as much per year as they received in the early 1990's. During this off-season, the owners again promised to spend responsibly. Unfortunately, there is always at least one idiot organization that can't control itself and throws the market out of whack by overpaying. In 2000, it was the Rangers and the Red Sox. In most other years it is the Yankees. This year, the idiot organization was the Baltimore Orioles who signed Miguel Tejada to a six-year, $12 million per year deal despite the fact that the other suitors were offering three to four years in the neighborhood of $9 million per year. This hurts the Red Sox because it will make it harder for them to sell their four-year, $12 million per year offer to Nomar Garciaparra. I don't appreciate the excessive greed of the players but it is more infuriating to see the owners making the same mistakes year after year.

As bizarre as the Mars Rover looks, it is still a more attractive vehicle than the PT Cruiser.

I sincerely hope that Vin Baker wins his battle with alcohol addiction, but he will not get any sympathy from me until he agrees to void his contract. So far Baker has been paid $20 million by the Celtics for about 20 decent "on the wagon" games. I assume that the Player's Association will argue that Baker deserves $14 million per year to drink himself out of the game. It's very sad that Baker has this difficult problem, but it is even sadder that he doesn't have the pride to give back the money that he has stolen from the Celtics.

I would have loved to have seen the look on Jake Delhomme's face when he saw Tom Brady sitting in the President's VIP box at the State of the Union address. Even better, I would have liked to have seen John Kerry's face when he saw Brady in the President's box. About the only thing that could diminish Brady's popularity in Massachusetts is an admission that he is a Republican.

Ted Kennedy was repeatedly shaking his head from side to side during the President's speech. I couldn't tell if he was showing his disagreement or if he was still feeling the impact of Happy Hour.

It is customary for members of the opposition party to applaud the President during the State of the Union address. Hillary Clinton's theatrical clapping and exasperated facial expression reminded me Mike's response in Swingers after the old lady hits 21 at the low stakes blackjack table.

The Democratic Debate on Thursday was not nearly as entertaining as I had hoped it would be. Only Al Sharpton was able to provide some comedic moments. I think these debates would be much more interesting if the candidates were given sodium pentothal prior before heading to their podiums. It would be great to hear an honest answer for a change.

The low point of the debate occurred when General Wesley Clark responded to a question about Michael Moore referring to the President as a 'deserter' by saying that ".. I am delighted to have the support of a man like Michael Moore .." It is disappointing that a decorated General would not condemn Moore for tossing around baseless accusations about the Commander in Chief. General Flip-Flop would be well-advised to distance himself from the fat, slovenly traitor. If there were ever another military draft, I would be willing to bet my car that Michael Moore would be the first person to reach the Canadian border.

Has anyone ever seen this guy --> and this guy --> in the same place at the same time?

I am thankful that the Alex Rodriguez saga is finally over (or so it seems). Initially, the trade talks were very intriguing but over time the endless negotiating, posturing and pseudo-deadlines became unbearable. A-Rod for Manny Ramirez was a trade that should have happened, but did not happen because the negotiations involved too many egos. This trade likely would have helped four teams, at least two players and Major League Baseball as a whole. The Rangers could have relieved themselves of $85 million in future obligations to Alex Rodriguez. The Red Sox could have acquired the league’s best player and rid themselves of a malcontent in Manny Ramirez. The White Sox could have dumped salary and bolstered their pitching staff. The Dodgers could have added the offensive punch that they desperately need in the person of Nomar Garciaparra. Manny Ramirez would have been able to leave Boston and play in a low-pressure environment in Texas and A-Rod would have been playing for a winning team. Major League Baseball would clearly have benefited from having the league’s best player in one of the major media markets instead of being lost in Baseball Siberia. There are a lot of people that should be ashamed of themselves for not allowing this trade to take place.

• Shame on the Major League Baseball Player's Association for not doing what was in the best interest of the player. Alex Rodriguez agreed to the restructuring, yet the MLBPA selfishly squelched his wishes. The money lost in the restructuring would have been easily recouped with A-Rod’s additional endorsement power. Then there is the fact that he would have been happier playing for a winning team in Boston. Clearly, the restructuring would have no ripple effect for other players in the league because no one will be getting an A-Rod type of contract in the near future (if ever). In fact, this deal would have helped the other players in the league because having A-Rod in a Sox uniform would draw more attention to the sport, which benefits all players down the road. The disgusting part of this is that the Player’s Association knows all of this, but they don’t care. They refused to do what was best for the player involved and the league because they feel an obligation, above all else, to screw the owners whenever possible. Common sense, the well-being of future generations of ballplayers, the fans and the health of the game is of secondary importance when an opportunity to stick it to a couple of rich owners arises.



• Shame on Texas Rangers Owner Tom Hicks for asking the Red Sox to pay $25 million of Manny Ramirez’s salary over the next five years. The Rangers would have saved around $85 million by making this trade, yet they had the nerve to ask for more money. Hicks argues that because Rodriguez can opt out of his contract four years from now, the Rangers really aren’t saving $85 million. There is no guarantee that Rodriguez, who will earn around $27 million per year between 2008 and 2010, will opt out of the contract. He may not be willing to take a huge pay cut, which is likely because superstar salaries appear to be on the decline and A-Rod will likely be past his prime in 2008.



• Shame on the Red Sox for not making a counter-offer to Texas’ offer to reduce the subsidization of Ramirez’s salary from $25 million to $13 million. Had the Red Sox come back with a counter-offer of around $7 million, the Rangers may have settled for $10 million. That would be about $2 million per year over the remainder of Manny’s contract. I can understand that the Sox do not want to pay the salary of an opposing player, but in this case I think it would have been worth it. By the end of the negotiations, the Red Sox were past the point of no return and had to make this deal at any cost. Now it is possible that the Sox will find themselves without a shortstop in 2005.



• Shame on the Red Sox for not ending the trade talks when Texas asked for $25 million. Shame on the Sox for thinking that the Player’s Association would do the right thing and agree to the restructuring.



• Shame on Nomar Garciaparra and his agent Arn Tellem for rejecting the Red Sox four-year, $60 million extension offer in the Spring. Nomar is not the player that he was before the wrist injury. That was a good deal and one that he is not likely to see again from the Sox or any other team. Nomar feels betrayed, but it is his own fault for rejecting that offer. I did not think that Nomar would be greedy where the extension was concerned. I was wrong.



• Shame on Manny Ramirez for being a gutless, whiny ingrate. This trade was proposed not so much because the Red Sox want Rodriguez, but because they want to get rid of Ramirez. Manny’s behavior last season (openly proclaiming his love for the Yankees, missing four games because of a sore throat) prompted all of this. The Sox didn’t land Rodriguez and now they may lose Nomar at the end of 2004. The fact that Ramirez was so willing to go to Texas shows how little Manny cares about winning. It’s giving me a migraine thinking that we may be stuck with him for another five years.

Clearly, the Red Sox would have been in better shape heading into the 2004 season with Alex Rodriguez and Maglio Ordonez than they will be with a newly digruntled Nomar Garciaparra and an always disgruntled Manny Ramirez. But, will this ruin the Sox clubhouse karma? I doubt it. No one takes more pride in his game than Nomar and I am confident that, upset or not, he will give nothing short of 100% effort in 2004. The fact that Nomar is playing for a contract won't hurt either. Manny's attitude is poor at best. He seems completely unconcerned with winning and doesn't have the pride in his game that Nomar possesses. The good news is that Manny is not a disruptive personality like Carl Everett. He gets along well with his teammates and should be fine with Terry Francona. There is also hope that Manny will refocus now that his dream to play with the Yankees has been shattered. I'm sure that the Sox will order better throat lozenges for the clubhouse next season.

I, for one, am thrilled that the Yankees picked up Kevin Brown and Gary Sheffield. The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is so much more fun when the Yankees have some undesirable personalities. The 1998 Yankees weren't as much fun to root against because they had a core group of players (Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada) that were hard not to like. I was concerned that the 2004 Yankees might be equally likeable after losing or getting rid of Karim Garcia, Roger Clemens and David Wells. But Gary Sheffield and Kevin Brown give the Yankees two of the biggest jerks in the game. Red Sox fans can take joy in the fact that both of these clowns have the potential to ruin the Yankee clubhouse. Bullpen attendant assaulting Jeff Nelson will also be there in 2004, assuming that he can stay out of the pokey.

No one stuck a foot in his mouth more often in 2004 than New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In October, he publicly stated that Pedro Martinez should have been arrested for deflecting the charge of Don Zimmer. Since then he has made references to the New York Giants cheerleaders (the Giants don't have cheerleaders) and talked about Yankee Manager Joe Torrez. I feel bad for the people of New York City. Going from Rudy Giuliani to Bloomberg must feel like breaking up with Heidi Klum then dating Rosie O'Donnell. Michael Bloomberg is a role model for some, however. He is living proof that a person with an IQ under 50 can become a billionaire.

The college bowl season ends tonight with the Sugar Bowl. Here are a few more ideas for bowl matchups:

• Air France Delusions of Grandeur Bowl - Notre Dame vs UConn
• Master Lock Parole Bowl – Ohio State vs Kansas State (also called the Fiesta Bowl)
• E! Television No Book Lernin’ Bowl – West Virginia vs Nebraska
• Lord of the Rings 30 and Living at Home Bowl – Cal Tech vs MIT
• Intel Celeron We Belong in Division 2 Bowl – Rutgers vs Vanderbilt
• Enron How the Mighty Have Fallen Bowl – UCLA vs Penn State
• Rawlings Football Kills Time Before Basketball Season Bowl – Duke vs Arizona
• Jack Daniels Get Drunk and Make a Fool of Yourself Bowl – Alabama (Honorary Captain Joe Namath) vs Alabama (Honorary Captain Mike Price)

I wonder how many people got up to adjust the color on their television when the Humanitarian Bowl – played on the blue turf in Boise, Idaho – started. I know there are 28 bowls, but should a game between Tulsa and 6-6 Georgia Tech held in Boise, Idaho be played after the Rose Bowl?

The NCAA is reluctant to go to a playoff system for Division 1-A football in large part because they want to preserve the tradition of the bowl games. But haven’t they already ruined the tradition by playing ten bowl games on or after January 1st? It was once considered an honor to play on New Year’s Day. At least the Big Ten and Pac Ten Champions were able to meet in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day this year. Any anti-playoff arguments citing bowl tradition became foolish in 2002 when Miami and Nebraska met in the Rose Bowl on January 3rd.

We will have a split National Championship this year, despite the existence of the BCS. Does this get us any closer to a playoff system? Don’t count on it. The NCAA relies on common sense about as much as the Major League Baseball Player’s Association.

The teams in the new ACC (including Virginia Tech, Boston College and Miami) were 7-2 in bowl games this year (6-1 if you exclude the Miami-Florida State game). Virginia Tech was the only loser, falling in overtime to Cal, 52-49.

A Big East officiating crew will work tonight's Oklahoma-LSU Sugar Bowl game. I wonder if they will try to call holding on Boston College.

If you go to Google and type in the words “miserable failure” and hit the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button (which directs you to the #1 site on Google’s list), you will end up with George W. Bush’s bio at whitehouse.gov. At the request of several liberal-based websites, bloggers typed in the President’s name in the same sentence with “miserable failure” on Google enough times to force the Bush bio to the #1 spot. If you type the words “pathetic loser” I wonder if Google will direct you to a list of the people that spent all those hours on the keyboard to achieve this effect. I guess the people that waited in line overnight to be the first to see the new Lord of the Rings aren’t at the top of the get-a-life pyramid after all.

How good have the Patriots been? Since losing to the Rams in their tenth game of 2001, the Pats are 32-9 overall and 17-3 at home. They are 19-2 over the past three years after November 20th.

The Patriots have become a winning franchise because they have strength from top to bottom in the organization. They have talented players with a desire to win, a coaching staff that is always well-prepared, decision-makers that have chosen the right players that will fit into their system and an owner that is willing to do what it takes to win. Best of all, the Patriots have become winners while maintaining a team whose players rarely shame the franchise with on or off the field antics. Bob Kraft has never tolerated criminals or showboats - unlike most NFL teams - and I applaud him for that.

Of those four key components – players, coaching, general manager/personnel and owner – the Red Sox had three areas covered last season. Hopefully, Terry Francona will fill that one void this year. The Celtics are in disarray because they are weak in all areas except coaching. For years, the Bruins were strong in all areas below the ownership level. Now they appear to be taking the oh-for-four.

ABC will soon be televising Celebrity Mole Yucatan, a follow-up to last season’s Celebrity Mole Hawaii. Contestants include Tracy Gold, Keisha Knight-Pulliam (aka Rudy Huxtable), Stephen Baldwin and Corbin Bernsen. Ahmad Rashad will host the series. I understand the mole concept, but I’m having a hard time figuring out where the “Celebrity” part comes from. Shouldn't celebrity status be good for a certain number of years, like a patent? Stephen Baldwin isn't even a celebrity in his own family.