Connelly’s Top Ten: We Are Spoiled!

By Michael in Featured, Now! ⋅ January 20, 2012 at 7:00am ⋅ Post a comment

1. Patriots Preview:

* Don’t forget – appreciate (no…cherish!) every time Tom Brady walks onto the field representing all of us from New England
* Good thing that Baltimore is playing on the road – we don’t have to watch that stupid Ray Lewis dance
* Guarantee – Baltimore goes deep on their first play
* Don’t forget Anquan Boldin chose Baltimore over Patriots
* Hats off to the Patriots crowd last week – got raves from Patriots players – better bring it this week
* I predict the over-under for sick days on Monday in New England at 14% of the workforce
* Stevan Ridley will not see the ball if the Patriots have the lead
* Wes Welker: 10-plus catches / Danny Woodhead could be star of the game
* Bill goes with gray hoodie, cut sleeves, ear warmers
* Terrell Suggs is in the same sentence with Joey Porter and Michael Strahan – big mouths to shut up

2. NFC Championship:

* How come Joe Biden doesn’t take half the grief Dan Quayle did?
* I think the Giants are the fad pick now – I will go contra with 49ers – Frank Gore for 125 + yards
* Has a coach ever taken his college team to the top 4 and then brought his pro team to the top 4 the next year like Jim Harbaugh?
* Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers, Phil Rivers at home watching Joe Flacco and Alex Smith (Sanchez is at a Junior high dance)

3. The First Big Three:

As we witness the fall of the second Big Three – lets remember how good the first Big Three was:

* From 1979 to 1987 the Celtics averaged 62 wins over eight years
* During these eight years, they played in the Finals five times

4. Tim Thomas:

Is Tim Thomas approaching greatest Bruins goalie status? I say second:

Goalie	W-L (%)	Vezinas	Stanley Cups	GAA
Tiny Thompson	252-153 (.622)	4	1	1.99
Tim Thomas	179-111 (.617)	2	1	2.46
Frank Brimsek	230-144 (.615)	0	2	2.58
Gerry Cheevers	229-101 (.693)	0	2	2.89

5. BC Football:

How can’t Boston College football recruit? Great campus, great school, near a thriving metropolis…..

* Have recruited four top 100 ranked high school players in ten years: Brian Toal ranked 25th – 2004 / Ryan Poles 47th – 2003 / Dorien Bryant 75th – 2003 / Jim Unis 100th – 2002
* Currently not ranked in the top 50 in the country in recruiting this year

6. CAPTAIN Paul Pierce so far this season:

* Showed up hurt
* Is shooting 37% from the field
* Averaging 2.7 turnovers a game
* Is playing 31 minutes out of 48 (64%) despite being paid $186,992 a game or $6,032 a minute

7. Amazing Stats:

Tom Brady stuff…

* 15-5 record in playoffs
* Career Quarterback rating by month: Sept – 96% / Oct – 98% / Nov – 97% / Dec – 95% / Jan – 93%
* Has won 69% of his games on the road (55-25)
* Has thrown 300 TD’s in 161 games (1.86)
* Completes 64% of his passes on the road and at home
* Has won 88% of his December games
* Is 22-5 on Monday, Thursday and Saturday
* He completes 63.8% of passes against the AFC / 63.8% against the NFC
* He is 30-0 against Eagles, Vikings, Tampa Bay, Seattle, Jacksonville, Dallas, Bengals, Baltimore, Falcons, Cardinals (regular season)

8. Old School:

Previous AFC Championship games for the Patriots

* 1963 – Loss -@ Chargers 51-10
* 1985 – Win – @ Miami 31-14
* 1996 – Win – Jacksonville 20-6
* 2001 – Win – Pittsburgh 24-17
* 2003 – Win – Indy 24-14
* 2004 – Win – @ Pittsburgh 41-27
* 2006 – Loss – @ Indy 38-34
* 2007 – Win – Chargers 21-12

Home – 4-0
Away – 2-2

9. Just a Little Bit Outside:

Old candies…

* Necco wafers
* Sugar Daddies (Sugar Babies are great but will challenge a filling)
* Turkish Taffy
* Charleston Chews
* Jiffy Pop
* Licorice
* Nonpareils
* Skybar

10. Randomocity:

* Holy **** did you see Taylor Hall’s wound after a teammate’s skate hit him in the head?
* Speaking of the original Boston Celtics Big Three team – I would say that only the Texas Western team of 1966 was more subjected to racist opinion than the 1985-1986 Celtic team
* A real good French Toast is better than waffles and pancakes
* Plea to Bill Belichick – take Tom Brady out of game in fourth quarter if up by 30 points

About Michael

Lifelong Boston resident who finds equal enjoyment in celebrating the local team's success as I do complaining about their failures. I have been writing the Top Ten for the last decade as well as four sports books: 26 Miles to Boston, Rebound, The President's Team, The Great Book of Boston Sports Lists.

Tags: Connelly's Top Ten, Top Ten

Discussion

5 comments for “Connelly’s Top Ten: We Are Spoiled!”

With a Pats victory, Brady can tie Joe Montana for the most postseason wins by a QB.

Forgive the nitpick, but the Big Three came aboard starting in the 1980-81 season. Still, the team made the ECF seven of those eight seasons.

That 1963 Charger squad was so good, that head coach Sid Gilman swore his team could beat the NFL champion Chicago Bears.

REPLY – MPC- Interesting on Chargers – I did get loose with the first Big Three – with Bird obviously the anchor

Posted by Pinch | January 20, 2012, 7:27 am
skybar song was catchy enough i used to be able to sing it:

1 -2 -3- 4 sky bar.
its the 4 in 1 bar.
English toffee,French parfait,
honey nugat, [something else...]

REPLY – MPC – Good old school reflection

Posted by ted5 | January 20, 2012, 9:12 am
-Good point on Brady, win or lose he has given us a lot to be grateful for.
-I have been away from Boston for a long time, but does BC actually make them go to class and pass?
-Very interesting point on 85-86 Celtics. I am not sure about where they rank, but agree on the point.
-Suggs “my quarterback” speech was right up there with Terrell Owens’on Romo–cringe-worthy. stuff.
-Any chance of snow on Sunday?
-Charleston Chews, remember freezing them? Ah yes…

REPLY – MPC – Yes frozen Charleston Chews / Brady is special – top four in Boston history

Posted by OrangeJulius | January 20, 2012, 9:17 am
I’m going with the Niners on Sunday. SF 26 NYG 22

Chung with a big day! Anderson with a solid game, sacking Flacco twice and multiple pressures.

Last AFC Championship game at home, Brady was awful. Maroney with a big day against the Chargers.

Willie Clay with the big pick in the north end zone against the Jags. Parcells’ last home game as head coach of the Patriots.

2004 AFC Title game in Pitts.—NE had a field day. Remember, the first AFC Title game with Brady/Belichick, Bledsoe finished the game.

BC can’t recruit because their facilities are weak. Alumni Stadium, some of these kids have played in high school games with more of an atmosphere. Not too mention Towel Boy as head coach. When will the Eagles get a real head coach? Its been a while.

REPLY – MPC – Boston College needs to turn to boosters to finance the program / now Brady had another bad AFC Title game

Posted by Brian | January 20, 2012, 9:53 am
The 2001 AFC championship game was played in Pittsburgh so the records should be:
Home: 3-0
Away: 3-2

REPLY – MPC – Good help!

Posted by Ruthie | January 20, 2012, 9:05 pm