Quick Thinking: Rerun

We may be on opposite coasts, but us New Englanders have a unique understanding of the quarterback controversy currently circling around the San Francisco 49ers. After all, we watched the movie a decade ago.

Same plot. Different stars.

Our proven veteran sidelined by injury was played by a stoic Drew Bledsoe, not Alex Smith. And our hungry rookie wasn't Colin Kaepernick, but another at-the-time-unknown named Tom Brady. Defensive hits play the rapscallion in both interpretations: Mo Lewis then, Jo-Lonn Dunbar now. (Great villainous screen names, by the way.)

So rest easy, Bay Area. I think after the season has ended, you'll find Alex Smith playing poorly for another team and you'll have Mr. Kaepernick at the helm of 49er Nation.

Is he the next Tom Brady? That's not what I'm saying. What I am saying is you now have the two pieces essential to winning in today's league: A great coach and a very talented, hard-working, coachable quarterback. Enjoy the next decade.

Or however long the Harbaugh/Kaepernick marriage lasts.

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Quick Thinking
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-- The New England Patriots have a chance in the course of three weeks to show us, the delegates of Patriot Nation, if they're simply a regular season winning machine or a solid playoff team ready to make a legitimate run at another Super Bowl.

-- And they don't have to win all 3 games to do so.

-- But home-cooking means they should.

-- This is how I feel I look when I dance.



-- This is how I probably look, though.



-- I don't feel cheated because Lance Armstrong built a multi-million dollar empire of hope out of beating foes, including cancer, with lies, bribes and drugs.

-- I feel cheated because his pep talk at the end of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story wasn't just Hollywood bullshit.

-- It was actual bullshit.

-- Man am I glad I never got caught on that yellow, livestrong wristband bandwagon back in '04.

-- Score 1 for the skeptic!

-- And for using "band" back-to-back in two different words.

-- Speaking of cheating, NFL players being suspended for Adderall use doesn't feel that big to me.

-- And it certainly doesn't feel like they're using it as a masking agent.

-- I mean, seriously, it's quite clear the majority of the NFL is on steroids or some mixed cocktail of performance enhancing drugs.

-- But do a little homework before you think taking a stimulant helps mask said use.

-- Because it doesn't.

-- Players most likely take Adderall to stay focused, improve endurance, reduce fatigue and sharpen their alertness when studying tape, learning game plans and performing on the field.

-- Which they're asked to do a lot more frequently this season.

-- And I don't hear any owner, fan, fantasy team manager, coach, or bettor complaining about it on Sunday.

-- Or Monday Night.

-- Or Thursday Night, for that matter.

-- Oh, or Saturday Night in late December.

-- Yup, definitely can't think of any logical reason why more players are testing positive for a stimulant these days.

-- Other than to mask their obvious steroid and PED use, of course.