Musings from Mandy

Hey Tom, I just wanted to say, "Sorry", I'm sure you don't remember meeting me at the Burlington Mall. But I was about 13. I had on a Charlotte Hornets starter jacket and I had Paul and Chris with me. My biological brother and his best friend who never left my side. I had convinced my mom to drop us of at the mall to meet you. We had heard that you were going to be at the Burlington Mall raising money for the Bridgewater State Girl's softball team or something like that. I was in the beginning of my love of baseball. Paul and I had started collecting baseball cards and making Daddy buy us cards (all of which are now dusty in our cellar just waiting for a hot water tank to blow so my mom can toss them). Anyway. I was starting to like baseball, but mainly I liked liking something that my dad and brother liked. Then we went to the Burlington Mall. We were allowed to get one thing signed per person. I had an 8X10, and about 9 baseball cards. You smiled...

The 2007 AL East Champion Boston Red Sox. I love this team. After 22 games in person this year...too much money spent at Fenway and the Baseball Tavern...2 kick ass road trips...one that almost killed me....one horrifc Jack Daniels encounter and almost commiting manslaughter when Papelbon blew the 14th inning and Detroit. It's finally ours. The AL East Champion Boston Red Sox. It has a such a great ring to it doesn't it? Anyway, I don't have a ton to say, I'm thrilled, relieved and excited. I'm glad it came off Mo. I'm hoping this team got hot at just the right time. Anyway, some awesome pictures from Kelly taken at the game last night and some fun pictures of the Sox partying at Game On after the game. SWEET! (I cannot WAIT to be home for the ALDS next weekend. Between getting to watch Monday Night Patriots this week, the Red Sox on national TV starting next week, and my kids having standardized testing so we are just going to hang out a lot this week, I fee...

HAPPY AL EAST!!! Thank you Baltimore! HI CONOR! (back with a real post later!)

I can accept a little fun ribbing. I think this is hilarious.

LT is "confident" that if the Chargers play the Patriots 10 times, they win 9. There is a difference between "confidence" and "stupidity"... Patriots just marched down the field. I think we are going to dominate tonight.

I just moved into a new house a month ago, and I have been getting my mail forwarded. And the other day...I got mail from Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds since I got here. That is right. From A-Rod I got my card returned along with an autographed A-Rod photo and from Barry Bonds I got my card back, unsigned, along with another Bonds card and a letter thanking me for being a fan. So my two least favorite baseball players on the earth do at least, return mail. So now I have heard back from 4 players, Manny (card returned unsigned), Timlin (card returned signed), Bonds (card returend with letter), and A-Rod (card returned unsigned with autographed photo). Seriously?

"They show no class, no class at all, and maybe that comes from the head coach" L "I steal nick names and am a little bitch" T Good afternoon! I am going to be semi-live blogging today while I eagerlly await tonights killer matchups. Chargers @ Patriots and Yankees @ Red Sox. A very busy night in New England. I am in prime form. I alept till 11:00. Had some homefries and sweet tea. Watched the pregame shows. I'm ready to go. I got 7 hours to kill and you do too... A few thoughts from the pregame show... *Boomer annoys me. *Why do we need so many people on the show? *Everyone likes the Patriots. Me too. *"Coach" Mike Ditka keeps forgetting his picks. Good work "Coach". I once coached a basketball team at the Boys Club. From this day forth, I would like to be called, "Coach" please. *Eli Manning will play today. Well thank God. I still can't get over the feeling that Eli would rather be running around a field with ...

Brutal. The one word text from KP summed it up entirely. It was brutal. I watched the first four innings or so from my couch and then checked in sporatically at the one real bar in North Carolina. I had a strange sense of uneasyness the entire time. But a 6 run lead in the 8th? I'll take it. Now, I have a confession to make. This loss was my fault. Last night, I was chatting with a very attractive young gentleman who was a friend of a friend. He was from Connecticut and was...a Yankees fan. Obviously I had to have a little fun with him. I told him that he should really go check the score for me and was telling him how those Tigers are fiesty and that he better watch out or they'll be watching October at home, I told him I was really sad when the Yankees traded my favorite player, to which he said, "um, you mean Johnny Damon?", to which I replied, "You signed Johnny Damon...you traded Scott Proctor, who was my favorite pitcher in any bullpen" Yes,...

*Talk about absolutely fantastic news, Kevin Everett is moving his arms and legs . Everett, a tight end injured in the Bills game Sunday, originally was thought to be paralyzed. So great. *Not that everything is about us, but it is, anyone who as ever seen Travis Roy at the Bruins game or the "Dream On" montage at Game On or read 11 Seconds knows how devasting this kind of thing is. *This is a really sad story about high school football players paralyzed in games. As someone who stood on the sideline for 40 plus college football games, I have to say this was always one of my biggest fears. The story does, however, have a somewhat bright light, and that is a charity started to help these injured high school football players. I swear, if I am ever a millionaire, I am going to have a lot of fun giving my money away. *Well, the Patriots kicked ass and took names on Sunday, as expected. Now we learn we may have cheated by stealing Jets signs. I say, whatever works. I do...

The Colts and Saints kick off the NFL season tonight, and I've been trying to get back in the football swing of things. Things haven't quite gotten off to a great start for the Pats, with Moss and Richard on the injury list and Rodney taking HGH and Tom possibly being distracted by baby drama. I'm not worried, I know that we are well coached, and that our game plan is going to be well thought out. The thing is, I'm not sure that I'm ready for the stress. I've still got a baseball season to focus on. And, I'm not quite over last season yet. I really thought we were getting 4 in 6 years. It had such a great ring to it. It said, dominance, it said, dynasty . I loved our team last year. I thought we were getting Corey one more ring and showing Larry how it is done in New England. After we dispelled the Chargers, I thought, there we go, that was it. And even when the Colts came back after that horrific Hobbs call and Peyton couldn't watch...I still...

I'm getting my life in order and the blog is back, hopefully to stay... So I've had access to MLB TV for about a week now, (thank you Joe) and in that time I've seen the Sox lose every time I watched. Last night I was planning my lessons for the next week, and my computer was running low on battery. Instead of plugging in my computer and throwing on the Sox game, I put it back on my desk and let it charge, hopped in the shower, and got ready to go out. I got to the bar, and checked my phone, and had a missed call from Katie, and two texts from my brother...the first one read, "The Red Sox have all the hits through the 8th", and the second being, "Clay got a no-no". I was wondering if Paul was messing with me, then Frank's "Awesome" text came in. I got the goosebumps, Paul called and filled me in, then I called Katie back and she told me she had wanted to call but had the whole "fate of the no-no" to worry about. I totally un...