Patriots Meet in Secret to Work Out

from ESPN:

In typical under-the-radar New England Patriots-type fashion, a group of the team's players has been gathering daily in southeastern Massachusetts for workouts during the NFL's lockout.

Unlike some teams, such as the New York Jets and their highly publicized California-based camp led by quarterback Mark Sanchez, the Patriots would prefer no one knows about it.

"We've been doing everything, but we're on the down-low," second-year tight end Rob Gronkowski said Tuesday night. "[Others teams] may go to the media, acting like they're some of the only teams doing it, but we're working hard out here too. We're just keeping it low."

So low, in fact, that Gronkowski initially declined to speak with a reporter following a charity basketball game Tuesday night. That's generally the "Patriots Way" -- say little, let actions speak loudest.

But when pressed as he exited Needham High's gymnasium after a feel-good event, the personable Gronkowski relented, acknowledging that anywhere from 10 to 15 players have been working out together in Massachusetts.

"We are intense. The workouts are insane," he relayed. "We've been getting after it hard. I feel great right now, ready to go."

Gronkowski declined to say who was regularly attending workouts, saying he didn't want to speak for teammates.

Gronkowski wouldn't reveal if quarterback Tom Brady was one of them, although a source familiar with Brady's offseason regimen said the quarterback has primarily been working out intensely on the West Coast, in part because of family considerations.

This has got to be one of the most ridiculous situations in the history of professional sports.  Players have to meet in secret to exercise.  It's insanity.

The NFL Lockout Will Never End

from Fox:

Lifting football's labor lockout without a new contract in place would allow better-off teams to sign the best players, tipping the NFL's competitive balance and damaging the league, attorneys for the owners argued in court papers Monday.

The 74-page filing to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis laid out the league's position in advance of a June 3 hearing on its appeal of a key decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson.

Nelson issued an injunction that lifted the lockout on April 25. But the 8th Circuit issued a temporary hold of that order four days later -- meaning that players cannot work out, or sign contracts, with any of the 32 clubs.

The arguments in the filing were an expanded version of what the league has claimed all along: that the union's move to decertify after the initial bargaining talks broke down is a sham; that Nelson does not have the jurisdiction to lift the lockout; and, that she should have waited for a decision from the National Labor Relations Board before issuing that ruling.

The league also said that lifting the lockout with no labor deal in place would cause chaos, with teams trying to make decisions on signing free agents and making trades under a set of rules that could change drastically under a new agreement.

"It would be difficult, if not impossible, to unscramble the eggs and return those players to clubs that otherwise may have had contract arrangements with (or, at least, a greater ability to enter into contracts with) such players in the absence of an injunction," the league's court brief said.

I'm not even going to pretend to understand any of what's being said here.  What do you want to watch on Sunday afternoons this fall?  I bet there will be some killer sermons.

I Like Cheerleaders More Than I Like Anything Else

from The Sun Chronicle:

A Norton High School graduate who honed her skills cheering on the Lancers has been named a captain of the New England Patriots cheerleading squad.

Kayla Vernaglia, 21, a 2007 Norton High graduate, was named one of four captains of the squad for the 2011 season, capping off her three-year career with the team.

"I had always hoped for it," Vernaglia said of being named captain. "But really, I just feel very fortunate that I can be a part of such a great team."

Vernaglia, who still lives in Norton, first decided to audition for the Patriots' cheer squad three years ago to use her dance skills in a new environment.

"It just seemed like a really fun job," she said.
Since then, she has enjoyed every minute, whether it's helping out in the community or cheering on the team from the sidelines on Sundays. "It's the best seat in the house," she said.

The 2011 season will be Vernaglia's last. The Patriots only allows cheerleaders to serve for a maximum of three years.

"You definitely don't realize three years flew by," she said.

As she enters her final year with the team, Vernaglia said she's hoping to cap her career with a trip to Indianapolis next February for Super Bowl XLVI.

"I'm 100 percent sure (the Pats) can do it," she said.

Yes.  Of course.  Anything you say.  I agree, my sweet turtledove.  I agree.

Bill Belichick is Better Than You

Bill Belichick, a magic hobo

from Bleacher Report:
 

Geniuses think differently than the rest of us. Why should we be surprised that the New England Patriots resident genius, Bill Belichick, saw things differently in the 2011 draft than the pundits did?

If he saw things the same way the pundits do, he would be like the rest of us, and the New England Patriots would be 8-8 if lucky.

John Stuart Mill, the English philosopher, may have said it best, "A man will admit he can be wrong in the general case but not on a specific occasion."

That reminds me of the pundits, with me at the head of the list!

Post first 2011 NFL draft day, we are barking like dogs for a pass rusher, our little 8-8 crowd (on a good day...).

Belichick scoops up the man from the small town in the Rockies, Nate Solder, a bit like the Logan Mankins scoop from a few years ago. I remember the picture at the time of Bob Kraft with Mankins; a lonely not high test moment. But an All-Pro pickup.

At least this time Jonathan Kraft joined the picture with Solder. But, it wasn't a fancy pickup; just solid.

Over the last few days most of us have been getting used to the fact Belichick, as usual, was right. Right for the Patriots. Right for our quarterback who will be 34 in August, who has priorities other than football pressing in on him; and, at best, he has a few good years left in him.

One of the Kraft family differences, as Jonathan is apt to say, is "We learn. We learn from Bill and others." That's what makes them such a powerful ownership team and why the New England Patriots are doing so well, in my opinion.

I go against the common wisdom all the time, and I never get called a "genius."  If they didn't want me to poop in the fountain, they shouldn't have filled it with water

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The Lockout is Really Confusing

from USA Today:

The NFL blasted the idea that only players suffer harm during a lockout and tried to use some lockout-mitigating words of some players against them in a court filing on Monday.

The league remained in a state of lockout-induced limbo as judges from the Eighth District Court of Appeals considered whether to make permanent an order they issued on Friday that allowed the league to reimpose the work stoppage.

The NFL filed a brief with the court that rejected the ruling of a lower court -- which originally invalidated the lockout on April 25 -- that said players were suffering immediate irreparable harm from the work stoppage.

Instead, the NFL asked the appellate court to continue the stay of the lower court's ruling indefinitely while it considers the broader appeal that would overturn the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson.

The league would be thrust into a "catch-22," it argued, if forced to open for business and player transactions. One the one hand, the court would be ordering it to impose new work rules in the absence of a CBA, while on the other the league would then be exposed to potential antitrust violations.

Meanwhile, I'm stuffing my face with potato chips, yelling "Just play the damn game" and they're getting everywhere

Pats Surprise By Drafting Offense-Heavy

from SB Nation:

The New England Patriots, as is seemingly the norm at this point, had an interesting weekend at the 2011 NFL Draft, with the standard amount of traded picks (they now have two first rounders and two second rounders in 2012) and surprising selections (see: Mallet, Ryan). So how did the Patriots do in the 2011 NFL Draft grades?


They entered the draft with an obvious deficiency on defense, specifically putting heat on opposing quarterbacks. The Pats finished the 2010 campaign ranked 32nd in the league -- that's dead last -- on third down with opposing signal callers posting an outrageous, 103.4 passer rating in such situations. Was that the fault of a young secondary? In some part, sure. But the inability of the Pats to generate pressure on even a partly consistent basis from anywhere in the front seven along with the preponderance of evidence that suggested a lot of depth in this year's draft class in that area made it seem like a slam dunk that the coach Bill Belichick would grab at least one defensive lineman or linebacker with one of the team's 10 selections.

And then, he didn't.

Read more here.