Musings from Mandy

Inspired by Chad Finn , who was apparently inspired by one if his wife’s friends…here are 50 things about me. 50. My favorite outfit is sweatpants and sneakers. 49. At Big Papi’s charity event two summers ago, he pinched my cheek and said, “Hi sweetie”. To which Katelyn responded, “That was really cute, in a creepy kind of way”. 48. At the same event, I caught a Sox cheating on their wife, had Jason Varitek touch the small of my back and say, “Excuse me”, and won a 1,000 gift certificate. 47. The most amount of Red Sox games I have ever been to in once season was somewhere between 20 and 25. In 2006. I went to about 15 last year. 46. I have a horrible addiction to shoes and purses. 45. My favorite time to get drunk is in the middle of the afternoon on a nice day. At the beach. 44. One of my goals is to go to every state, and 6 of 7 continents. 43. I hate cold and am not going to Antarctica. 42. I am so bad at cleaning my room and organizing it is not even funny. 41. I hop...

I'm having trouble sleeping right now due to the fact that for some reason it is over 100 degrees in my room and I have a vodka tonic induced head ache...So I figured I throw a few thoughts about the Asante Samuel signing your way...I'm hungover and maybe still a little drunk, so I take no responsiblity for these being coherent. *Asante signed a 6 year 57 million dollar contract with the Philladelphia Eagles, 20 million of which is guaranteed. Good for Asante. Seeing that my team is always hurting on the secondary it seems, I hate to see any corner go. That being said, would I want to pay 60 million dollars for a corner who: a. Routinely misses tackles going for a hit. b. Routinely does not wrap up tackles. c. Does not like to get hit. d. Didn't make the biggest pick of the season. I'm not saying it was an easy play, but I think it could have been made. e. $ is cleary more important to him, seeing he just picked McNabb over Brady as his QB. Probably not, which is wh...

I realized the other day, quite how much I am not over the Patriots lost. I'm still absolutely angry. As one of my students proved the other day with his, Giant's Super Bowl hat, complete with it's, "We Wanted It More" logo, I am angry, I am hurt, and I wanted my Super Bowl ring and even the warm wonderful glow of spring training is not quite warming the ice over my sports heart. *I live in coastal Eastern North Carolina, and I've been waiting to see this whole Duke / UNC feud up close . A few weeks ago, I saw that match up at a neighborhood sports bar, and quite frankly, I'm tired of hearing about how other rivalries rival the Boston / New York rivalry. I'm sorry, but I haven't seen anything yet to see show me otherwise. *Does Tiger Woods actually drive a Buick? I don't think so. At least, I hope not. I've seen the picture of his house, and I don't see a Buick parked in that driveway. *The NBA All Star game uni's did nothi...

I decided in a moment of weakness last night that I hated the wallpaper in my bathroom and it needed to go. Forgetting the facts that: 1. I rent. 2. I'm not big on hard work. 3. I don't know how to take off wallpaper. 4. I don't have any money at all to pay for paint and whatnot. 5. I hate painting. Anyway, right now, I have half wallpaper covered bathroom, no shower curtain, and shards of wallpaper anyway, which is why I don't have a real live blog for you. But I leave you with this. We play a game in my class sometimes called, "Red Sox Trivia" where, to kill a few extra minutes at the end of class, I make up questions and use questions from my Red Sox daily calender. Today, we were playing, and after we were done and recess began, my four sixth grade boys congregated around my desk to ask me questions. I shared with them the games I went to, and the player's I've either met or gone to the same event as. Showed them the pictures of me and Pe...

I'm back. I don't how long for, and how regularly I'll be able to post here, but as Katie said, I have a request -- could you please start blogging again? We have won a world series and lost a superbowl. and you have nothing to say?? seriously?!" It's true. The 2007 Red Sox series was fantastic. It was a dream come true. It showed 2004 wasn't a fluke. It gave us more swagger. It started off with me coming very, very, very close to dying in Texas, not to mention warding off hypothermia and I came very, very, very close to commiting homicide in Michigan. I went to more than 20 Red Sox games and I will still probably be paying off my credit card for those games and the nights out after in 2012. It was full of the savvy veterans and lovable rookies. It was the walk-off from Manny while at the Baseball Tavern surrounded by a bunch of crazy drunkards and my 3 favorite drunks. It was sitting on the couch hungover in sweatpants and watching the Pat's domi...

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

"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 ...

*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...

After 8 long days without internet AND cable TV with the exceptions of some sneaking done at the Sheraton I am back thanks to the shady internet guy who came today and and the new roommate who figured out how to get my wireless internet working. Anyway, for the last week + I have been like a junkie in need of heroin. Through phone calls, texts, bits and pieces of info through the Chicago news (for some reason we get there here), and the occasional break from high school football in the local paper, I have been without sports. I haven't seen Sportscenter, I haven't seen the Sox play except for when we could pick up Maryland TV in the Outerbanks last weekend, (I saw the O's first walkoff), I haven't read Rob Bradford...it has been a cold dark world. It's also been a kind of stress free world. I haven't been on Tom Brady Baby Watch 24/7. I haven't spent nights worrying about our lack of offensive production. I haven't heard announcer after announcer complai...

I realized this morning while writing the ESPN entry, that I commented on my “list” of sporting events that I planned on going to. I’ve decided to make an actual list of places I’ve been and places I’m going for your viewing pleasure. Places I’ve been… Fenway Park, Boston, MA Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY Oriole Park @ Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD Tropicana Field, Tampa, FL Rogers Center, Toronto, ON Comerica Park, Detroit, MI The Ballpark at Arlington, Arlington, TX The Boston Marathon, Boston, MA Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA The Boston Garden, Boston, MA The TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA The Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY The Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto, ON Saratoga Horse Races, Saratoga, NY LeLacheur Park, Home of the Spinners (A), Lowell, MA McCoy Stadium, Home of the PawSox (AAA), Pawtucket, RI Volcanoes Stadium, Home of the Salem Keizer Volcanoes (A – San Fran), Salem, OR Places I’m going… Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ Turner Field, Atlanta, GA Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL U.S. ...

ESPN loves lists. They are a lazy journalist’s best friend. (Yes, I know I wrote a list yesterday, I am not trying to be the exception.) Anyway, ESPN currently has a Page 2 list of the “Cantonized” or current NFL players with a “ticket for Canton”. Anyway, I decided to take a peak. Starting off the list is 3 QB’s, Farve, Brady, and Manning. At some point in my life I am going to Canton to check it off my list, and I think I’m going to wait till the weekend Thomas Edward Brady is inducted. The only reason I’m writing about the list is that we are pretty well represented on the list, both current Patriots or former Patriots on the list. Incase you were curious, here are the “Cantonized” Patriots. 2. Tom Brady 6. Richard Seymour 10. Adam something, used to kick for us? 14. Junior Seau 33. Randy Moss 35. Ty Law Not to shabby. They then had a list of “on the bubble” and here is what read for Rodney Harrison. Dirty player or ultimate glue guy? Harrison has been called both. He...

Well, I’ve been a little bit MIA lately eh? I promise to never leave you alone on the trading deadline again. I left to go shopping with my mom yesterday morning and my cell phone was 100% dead, so, not realizing the significance of the day, I left it at home charging. A trip to Walmart, Homegoods, the dentist, Target, TJ Maxx, and Sports Authority later. I returned home to find a panic related voicemail from Katie telling me, “I really needed you to be at work today”, and about the Gagne deal. I will never again be away from the TV / internet on the 31st of July again. Anyway, here are 10 things I think I think (again, sorry Mr. King) about the trading deadline, Celtics (yes, the Celtics!), Patriots and whatever topic I need to get to 10. *I was surprised how disappointed I was to see Kason go. I was legitimately bummed out. The kid came up, pitched well, always kept us in it, and was very good looking. Everything I love in a starter. I wish him very good luck in Texas (except fo...

Now, I would hate to be those people who are still complaining about the tuck rule. I would. That being said, Ellis Hobbs got a letter of apology from the NFL for calling an incorrect penalty on a play that eventually led to a Colts touchdown. So, I'm not going to whine, I'm not going to complain. I'm just going to say that Peyton's Super Bowl doesn't count and needs to be removed from the record books. That's all. The Patriots are free to play the Bears next Sunday, by the way.

The Red Sox are continuing to show me why I hit the panic button a little too soon. But, let’s face it. I’m nothing if I’m not a panicky, crazy, worrier of a fan. We just took 3-4 from the Indians, Jon Lester completed his amazing comeback, Matsuzaka and Beckett dominated, Gabby and Tavarez were picked up by the bats for once, and today we are heading onward to Tampa Bay (would give a major organ to be laying on the beach outside the Sirata right now). Today is the first day when training camp is open to the public and is my last chance to see the Patriots live, probably for the season, unless I somehow make it out to Charlotte on the 24th, but I’m probably not driving 6 hours for an exhibition. Tonight we got Timmay and the gents taking on those cute (allbeit peskey) little Tampa Bay Devil Rays. And seeing that it worked last time, let’s not forget who likes to murder small animals.

Dear Thomas Edward, Hi, how’s it going? I know you’re a little busy these days with Baby Brady and birthday celebrations and whatnot, but I just had to write you a quick little long rambling note. First, let me tell you a few things about me. When I get 12 cents in change, I think of you. When I picked up one of the new David Ortiz hats at the Reebok outlet the other day and realized that it had come in contact with an Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl Champion hat, I threw it back, and then went and washed my hands. So, maybe right now, you’re thinking, “So, you’re completely out of your mind! So I have a Yankees hat on my head! Who cares? You shouldn’t care, just so long as I keep winning you football games.” And that theory is well as good, except you play football here. In New England. And I’m not your average fan Mr. Brady, incase you haven’t noticed. (although I know there are plenty out there like me). I worry constantly. I fret. I overanalyze. I was depressed for months after the A...