Author: BostonMac

Ryan is a teacher, writer, journalist, basketball coach, sports aficionado, occasional real estate agent, and political junkie. He graduated from both the College of the Holy Cross (bachelor's) and Boston College (Master's), and knows anyone who has never heard of Holy Cross probably would never have gotten in there anyway. He is an unabashed Boston sports fan and homer who, according to lore, once picked the Patriots to win for 25 straight weeks on the "NFL Picks Show," which he co-hosts with Vin Diec, R.J. Warner, and Burton DeWitt. He is also an original co-host of SportsColumn's "Poor Man's PTI." He is married, lame, and a lifelong Massachusetts resident (except for a brief sojourn into the wilds of Raleigh, NC) who grew up in North Attleboro and currently lives and works in Everett.

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New England Patriots

State of the Patriots Union Address

By Ryan McGowan

On December 31, I wrote “Five reasons the Patriots can win Super Bowl XLIV.”

Nice prediction. That’s right up there with the geniuses who predicted the Betamax would clobber the VHS, or that New Coke would be a sales bonanza for Coca-Cola, Inc. Predictions like that basically show why I don’t make my living picking NFL games, though I did win the Poor Man’s PTI regular season pick-‘em championship for the umpteenth year in a row, so what does that tell you about the guys on the show with me?

In light of the Patriots’ embarrassing first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, I thought it would be a good time to take stock in our local NFL franchise and deliver my State of the Patriots Union Address for 2010 and beyond.

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Categories
New England Patriots

Five Reasons the Patriots Can Win Super Bowl XLIV

By Ryan McGowan

As surely as the calendar changes from oh-nine to oh-ten, I’m back with my annual homerific justification and rationalization as to why the Patriots will solidify their Team of the Decade standing with a Super Bowl title. (Or, in the case of last year, why the Super Bowl XLIII champion will always have an asterisk because the Patriots were shut out of the playoffs.) So, let’s get right to it—here’s five reasons why Bob Kraft, Bill Belichick, and Tom Brady could be hoisting their fourth Lombardi Trophy in Miami in February:

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Categories
New England Patriots

Belichick’s 4th Down Call Undoubtedly the Right One

By Ryan McGowan

I didn’t sleep much last night. I usually pass out easily on Sunday nights, but this week I kept replaying the final two minutes over and over again in my head. Somehow, I eventually got to sleep—and when I woke up, it all made sense.

Belichick was right. He went for it on 4th and 2 at his own 28 yard line. And I would want him to do it again, no question.

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NFL General

Tale of the Tape- Ryan McGowan’s Midseason NFL Report

By Ryan McGowan

It’s almost November, and we’re deep into football season.  Yes, I realize it’s not exactly the midpoint of the season, but enough marriages have been ended from excessive game watching, friendships strained from fantasy drama, and eyeballs disturbed from staring at electronic screens for hours upon hours of obsessive fandom that we can finally start making sense of another crazy NFL season.  It’s also a good time to start to assess our preseason predictions, 90% of which have been completely refuted so far.

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Categories
New England Patriots

Repent: The End is Here

By Ryan McGowan

The Patriots are done.   Tom Brady is done.  Bill Belichick is cooked.

It’s over.

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Categories
NFL

2009 AFC Preview – The Once and Future King

By Ryan McGowan

Consider this my August article.  To paraphrase Jimmy Buffett, it must be August 31 somewhere.

My colleague Trevor Freeman broke down the NFC this past weekend and mentioned how baseball has become “unwatchable” for him.  Alas, unlike this sad soul, I am still watching the Sox on a nightly basis, and I generally hate watching preseason football, so it usually takes me a little while to mentally adjust to football.  Watching preseason football, to me, has always seemed like watching someone else play blackjack—sure it can be entertaining, and you can make comments about the play, but it’s no fun unless it’s real.

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Boston Red Sox General Sports New England Patriots

July Round-Up: Steroid Guys, Theo’s Tries, and Gisele’s Eyes

By Ryan McGowan

Some quick hitters as we roll into August, even though by my internal weather-clock it should be late June here in the Northeast…

Ortiz, Manny on steroids
We didn’t get around to discussing this on the podcast yesterday.  This topic lost out to Cliff Lee/Roy Halladay trade discussion, Michael Vick and Connecticut Puerto Rican cockfighting, Erin Andrews’ 911 call, and freaking YouTube stupid wedding entrances.  That should tell you something about the strength of this story—it has none.

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Categories
New York Yankees

A Red Sox Fan’s Tongue-Biting Tribute to Mariano Rivera

By Ryan McGowan

Mariano Rivera notched his 500th career save last weekend against the Richmond Braves New York Mets.

Back in the 90’s, or even as recently as 2003, such an event would have been greeted in Red Sox Nation with snotty, sarcastic dismissals and whiny, insecure hating.  New England would have made a collective litany of excuses as to why this event was irrelevant, as to how Mo was overrated, and how 500 saves wasn’t anything to be proud of.

Thank God we’ve grown up as a fan base.  Now, at least, we can fully accept and appreciate Rivera for being what he is—the greatest closer of all time.   No strings attached, no questions asked.

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Categories
Boston Red Sox New York Yankees

Yankees Passed Over by Evolution like the Damn Dirty Apes They Are

By Ryan McGowan

It’s only April, of course.  And I know that you can’t win the division in April (but you could lose it – see New York Yankees, 2007).

But is there any doubt after the Red Sox swept the Yankees (as well as their recent nine-game homestand) that the chasms between these two franchises are larger than they have been in a long time?

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Categories
College Basketball

April is the Cruelest Month

By Ryan McGowan

If, as T.S. Eliot once wrote in The Waste Land, “April is the cruelest month,” then March is the second cruelest, but only if you happen to hate basketball.

(Which, since basketball was invented in Springfield, Mass., makes you un-American and probably a Communist.)

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