The Morning After: Week 4

Enjoying the unenjoyable.

A fan base is only as loyal as its expectations.

What I mean by that, dear readers, is the lower a fan's expectations are for his or her favorite team, the more genuine the support they will show said team during a given season. The converse is also true. The higher a fan's expectations are for his or her favorite team, the more frustration replaces support when said team struggles during a given season.

I know, I know. I'm getting a bit too abstract and you're all wondering, "What's your point?"

My point is this: the success of the New England Patriots over the past decade has skewed our expectations as fans and we can't let those skewed expectations dampen our support for our current team.

And I'm at the top of the list.

So instead of complaining I think what we need to do is realize that victory is no longer a foregone conclusion when our Patriots take the field.

We need to watch our team grow into a champion instead of expecting them to be champions by default.

We need to support Tom Brady on every poor pass as he finds his timing while he continues to get healthy.

We need to have faith in Bill Belichick and his coaching staff that the recent personnel decisions they made were in the best interest of our team.

And, ultimately, we need to sit back and appreciate the fact that our team, filled with new names and faces, is starting to play well and find its identity.

So let's enjoy the ride.

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Quick Thinking
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-- The New England defense is starting to look faster and faster every week.

-- And that's a lot faster than they've looked in a long, long time.

-- If I were Bobby Bowden, I wouldn't want to be replaced by a guy named "Jimbo" either.

-- Granted, Favre played well against his old team on Monday Night Football. But the media needs to take their collective tongue out of his ass.

-- Memo to Cowboy Nation: You're in trouble when Romo can't even win regular season games anymore.

-- How great would it be if the NFL had a one game playoff instead of all those tie breakers to decide wild card berths?

-- That's a rhetorical question.

-- Kelly Ann Waltz is the latest exotic pet owner to be killed by an animal she spent her life caring for.

-- But, on the bright side, the black bear who mauled Kelly extended Mother Nature's undefeated streak against Idiots-Who-Keep-Wild-Animals-as-Pets.

-- I'm worried that all seems quiet on the eastern front with the start of October baseball just days away.

-- Tom Brady is getting closer, y'all.

-- Zombieland is a 1:21 minutes of my life that I'll never get back.

-- Quote of the Week comes from LeBron James in response to Braylon Edwards allegedly punching one of his friends outside a Cleveland night club, "My friend is 130 pounds. Seriously. It's like hitting one of my kids."

-- Sounds like someone needs to stop sipping on the Haterade, Braylon.

-- Did you know there was a music genre called "Horrorcore?"

-- And, no, I'm not talking about the irritating jingles you hear in elevators.

-- So Ambitious is Jay-Z and Pharrell's latest collaborative triumph.

-- Beating the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday was a huge step forward for the the 2009 New England Patriots.

-- Despite the win, I'm still keeping my season expectations low but my hopes very high.

-- Jon Gruden's insight will be missed in the MNF booth when he inevitably takes a coaching position next season.

-- You know it's a new world, dear readers, when professional sports leagues have to start issuing rules and regulations for appropriate athlete tweeting behaviour.

-- So let me get this straight: We've gone from "You play to win the game" to "You play to tweet after the game?"

-- HELLO?!?

-- Memo to anyone who's planning a vacation to Thailand: skip the bungee jump.

-- What the hell happened to the Tennessee Titans?

-- Memo to ESPN: Please have a talk with your MNF crew. Commentary like "back door gap discipline" should never be used during a football telecast.

-- Unless, of course, I'm watching the Lingerie Football League.

-- HAY-OOOO!!

-- Speaking of which, are breast implants going to be considered illegal performance enhancers in the LFL?

-- I'm thankful there's a fine line between the criminal culpability for recording and releasing video of a naked celebrity sportscaster and watching said video on the Internet.

-- I have enough legal issues as it is.

-- Minnesota Viking Jarred Allen has the best mullet in the NFL.

-- There's no truth to the rumor that Michael Barrett is the early 2010 Oscar favorite for Best Live Action Short Film.

-- And Best Costume Design.