Maybe it will be the Patriots year this year. They have looked pretty good so far (from what little I have seen).
"Kraft, his heart heavy, lifts NFL; Patriots owner helped bring accord during his wife’s final days" July 26, 2011|By Greg A. Bedard, Globe Staff
The National Football League is back in action. And Patriots owner Robert Kraft is getting much of the credit.
Not only did Kraft help owners and players end a 135-day lockout and agree to a 10-year deal, but he did so while tending to his wife, Myra, who died Wednesday of cancer.
The role Kraft played in the negotiations was not lost on anyone at yesterday’s press conference announcing the deal. Nor was the memory of his wife.
“A special thanks to Myra Kraft, who even in her weakest moment allowed Mr. Kraft to come and fight this out and without him, this deal does not get done,’’ said Jeff Saturday, a representative of the NFL Players Assocation and a center for one of the Patriots’ biggest rivals, the Indianapolis Colts.
He added that Kraft is “a man who helped us save football and we’re so gracious for that, we’re gracious for his family and for the opportunity he presented to get this deal done. So thank you very much - we really appreciate it.’’
Saturday and Kraft then embraced, in what will be the enduring image of this often contentious labor battle....
That Kraft was on a scheduled break for shiva, the seven-day mourning period in the Jewish faith, was evident. He was unshaven and, in the practice of keriah, wore a torn black tie under his suit....
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"Myra Kraft, paragon of giving, dies; Efforts felt locally and worldwide" July 21, 2011|By Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff
Myra Hiatt Kraft, who surrendered much of her privacy as a daughter and a spouse in families led by powerful men, then turned that sacrifice into a philanthropic tool for public good, died in her Brookline home of cancer yesterday. She was 68.
Reluctantly famous, Mrs. Kraft found a beneficent use for the recognition that came with being married to Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots football team, as they took their place among Boston’s most influential and generous couples.
“You call someone, they get right back to you,’’ she told the Globe in 1997. “Even if they think you’re calling for money.’’
Often she was. Never simply a boardroom benefactor, she staffed phone banks for fund-raising drives and made persuasive calls when a cause needed the financial boost only the rich can provide. The charities she helped included Jewish organizations worldwide, medical causes, and youth groups.
Governor Deval Patrick described Mrs. Kraft as “a pillar of our community and a beloved friend,’’ and said he and his wife, Diane, “will miss her warmth, wit, and wisdom.’’
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Also see:
Patriots players remember ‘bold but soft-spoken’ Myra Kraft
Globe Editorial Myra Kraft was a role model for family loyalty and giving
Myra Kraft remembered as philanthropist, inspiration
Look, I don't want to be saying bad things about dead people, but what if the generosity came from stolen loot?
And someone determined to ruin football:
"Blogger pulls Brady baby photos; Sports Web boss complies after State Police visit and urge him to remove nude toddler images" August 17, 2011|By Peter Schworm and Laura J. Nelson, Globe Staff
The sports blogger who sparked controversy by posting photos of Tom Brady’s nude toddler son has removed them from his website after police with the state’s attorney general’s office showed up at his Milton home and urged him to take them down.
It's an elite's world, folks, and the "protect and serve" is only for them.
David Portnoy, who runs the popular and controversial website BarstoolSports.com, said state troopers told him they had received a multitude of complaints about the photos and said that “it would be in the best interest of everybody involved’’ if he removed them....
Aside from the fascist threat at the door, the barstool site is viewed by my friend almost daily.
Here I am reading blogs and keeping tabs on life and death and my fellow citizens.... sigh.
Several First Amendment specialists said they found it troubling that the state’s leading law enforcement office urged Portnoy to delete the post in response to public complaints and probably pressured him, intentionally or not, into surrendering his free speech rights.
Yeah THAT TROUBLED ME, too!
“I think it’s a real stretch that this is a criminal matter,’’ said Jonathan M. Albano, a Boston lawyer who specializes in media law. “And there’s an inherent element of coercion when civilians are faced with police in uniforms.’’
Portnoy said that he did not feel pressured to remove the posting, but wrote on his site that “when staties show up at your door, it’s hard to say no.’’
Not in a free country it isn't.
The free speech specialists said that law enforcement should not intervene in such a situation unless they have already made a determination that a posting may be criminal.
Portnoy said he removed the post shortly after police visited his home Friday evening. He had previously taken it down briefly after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the modeling agency of Brady’s wife, Gisele Bundchen, but soon reposted it.
Attorney General Martha Coakley said her office found the picture “troubling, to say the least.’’ She said her office was investigating whether the post amounted to child exploitation, but after speaking with him determined charges were not warranted.
With all the crime and corruption in this state she has nothing better to do?
“We went to see Mr. Portnoy and asked if he would be willing to remove it,’’ she said. “He was, and we’re grateful for that. We think that was the right result and, in light of all of that, we believe that the matter is closed.’’
I'm wondering what would have happened had he refused. Arrest? Demonization in the press as a poster of porn? UnPatriotic?
A spokesman for Coakley’s office said they received numerous complaints from the public, but none from Brady, his family, or members of the New England Patriots organization. A spokesman for the Patriots said neither Brady nor team officials had contacted the attorney general’s office.
Brady’s agent did not return calls seeking comment.
Lawyers said Portnoy would probably not face child pornography charges because he did not appear to have “lascivious intent’’ in posting the picture. Some said that posting the images may have violated the child’s privacy rights, depending on where the photographs were taken.
The posting drew a heavy backlash from sports fans who felt the posting was tasteless and exploitative and possibly criminal. A sports radio station, WEEI-AM, said Portnoy was no longer welcome on the air....
You SPORTOS are SUCH a BUNCH of STOOPIDOS!
FREEDOM MEANS you have to TOLERATE the tasteless!
They get you all chugged up on war with the football and that's fine, huh?
Ever see who advertises during the game? Doesn't it bother you that the same looting, lying banks that destroyed the world economy are the leaders bringing you football?
The controversy has vaulted Portnoy, whose site features a mix of lowbrow humor, sports and pop culture commentary, and scantily clad women, into the media limelight. Yesterday, he appeared on both the Howard Stern show and local public radio....
Maybe I can help his cause a bit, too. He just made my blog.
And I had to laugh at the scantily clad women on his site. On mine you are more likely to see one in a burqa! Don't get me wrong, I don't want that applied as a societal norm here (although I do not want to prohibit Muslims or others from choosing their own mode of dress). As bad as it is I love my Zionist-soaked culture. I've been swimming in it my whole life.
Of course, we could take some lessons from the Muslims. The banking system that bans usury is a good example. That and the war promotion is a part of the culture I -- and the rest of the world, in fact -- could do without.
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Oh, yeah, let the games begin!
