Jerry M. Gutlon's Blog
Posted by Jerry M. Gutlon
I knew it was eventually going to come to this.
I knew it when I secured a literary agent in December.
And I knew it when I signed a publishing contract on Feb. 12 with Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., of New York City.
Now, with the arrival of my advance, I really must bear down and concentrate on … baseball.Because the complete, 100,000-word manuscript for It Was Never About the Babe: How the Boston Red Sox Overcame Decades of Mismanagement and Racism and Built a Dynasty, is due on Aug. 1.
The book is slated to be in print on March 1, 2009.I’m packing my bags – and laptop – for trips to Boston and Cooperstown to finish the research, which I figure is going to take me roughly four weeks. Then, I must write, oh, 75,000 words in less than three months.
It’s an undertaking that I’m up to, having toiled for daily newspapers and broadcast outlets for more than 20 years. But it’s also an undertaking that I cannot fall short on, and I probably won’t even write any checks throughout those three months.
Essentially the premise of the project is to debunk the so-called “Curse of the Bambino” and juxtapose the prior history of the franchise with that of the John Henry-led regime, which took but three seasons to put the lie to “The Curse” and bring a long-overdue World Championship to Fenway Park.
It’s a concept I came up with in 2004 after Boston’s historic comeback against the New York Yankees in the ALCS, while I was serving as sports editor at The Griffin Daily News of Griffin, Georgia.
I’ve been actively researching, compiling information and writing the book for more than 15 months now, and hope you’ll look for it next year. And I hope to be back as football feature writer come August.
Posted by Jerry M. Gutlon
It’s been six days since the New York Giants took the New England Patriots to the proverbial woodshed in Super Bowl XLII, and I’m finally getting a clear picture of what happened on the Pats’ trip to perfection.
The reasons for New England’s trip to ignominy are several fold, but in retrospect, only became all too apparent once the shock of losing the title game started to recede – somewhat.
First and foremost, the Giants obviously wanted the title more than the 18-0 Patriots. They weren’t conceding anything in their quest to unseat the steamrolling Pats.
New York had momentum going into the game, and took it to New England with their first drive, eating up more than 10 minutes. And, although the Giants settled for a field goal, the drive proved they could move the ball against the Patriots.
New England went into the contest already gloating about the prospects of an undefeated season. Several Patriots even had the audacity to invite New York players to post-game celebrations. Say, what? That’s the kind of thing head coach Bill Belichick eschews. And it may have further stirred up the New Yorkers to stick it to the Pats.
Much was made of declarations by a couple of Giants when they predicted a victory (Plaxico Burress) and accused the Patriots of dirty play (Osi Umenyiora). Belichick’s boys habitually used such pronouncements as tools to engender licks on their opposition. Then they shot off their own mouths.
Throughout the regular season and beyond, New England’s players harped on Belichick’s mantra of remaining humble. Well, they went into the biggest game of the year with their heads so swelled that it’s amazing they could fit in their helmets. And it was New York who did the humbling this time around.
Posted by Jerry M. Gutlon
It’s the morning after the mighty Patriots were humbled by the upstart New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII and, I’m sure, like the rest of Patriot Nation, I remain shocked and stunned at the ultimate outcome.
Giants 17 Patriots 14.
I haven’t been this low since the Red Sox tanked the 2003 ALCS to the Yankees. I can’t even watch the television news programs. My Lord…The 18-0 Patriots defeated by the 13-6 Giants on the NFL’s biggest stage. In the immortal words of Phil Collins, “Something happened on the way to heaven.”
What’s wrong with this picture? Actually, nothing. New York followed the blueprint I laid out in my analysis articles on Suite101 prior to the contest. That’s all. As they say, “Any given Sunday.”
Needless to say, New England head coach Bill Belichick was terse and tight-lipped after his undefeated team fell to a New York squad practically nobody in their right mind picked to emerge as the winner of this game. And, along with 99% of the rest of the prognosticators I picked the Pats.
Boy, am I wearing egg on my face this morning, or what? It can be likened to the North Vietnamese defeating the United States in Vietnam.
No matter what, I’ve got to give the Giants credit. They played terrific football, negating the Patriots’ passing game, shutting down New England’s meager attempts at running, and completing passes they had to when it counted most.
Yet, even with only 35 seconds remaining I still was relatively confident that New England would engineer a comeback. But that never happened.
I wrote a pre-game blog entry Sunday that derided the hoopla and hype surrounding Super Bowl XLII, referring to the contest as the “Stupor Bowl.”
Now the analogy has come to pass. Stupor Bowl, indeed.
Posted by Jerry M. Gutlon
Hours away from Super Bowl XLII I must admit that, in some respects, the game hype now reduces the NFL’s capstone to the Stupor Bowl.
The media frenzy surrounding the contest has devolved into debates on Fox Television concerning Desperate Housewives, media darling Ryan Seacrest hosting the “Red Carpet” event several hours before game time, and ex-musical starts Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson performing live during the pre-game festivities. Say what?
While returning home after church this morning my darling wife – knowing that I’m a lifelong, rabid Patriots’ fan – asked, “What time’s the game start?”
Thinking that, after 10 years of marriage I may have finally converted her from her upbringing as an unbelieving Eagles’ fan, I responded 6:30 [p.m.].” Her subsequent proclamation?
“Good. I want to watch the halftime show [featuring Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers] … and the commercials.”
Lord, help her. But considering how much time I’ve spent on-line over the past two weeks, gathering information for and writing Super Bowl-related articles for Suite101, perhaps it’s simply payback on her part.
Yet we’ve witnessed a deranged Spanish-language female TV reporter – dressed in a wedding gown less – propose to New England quarterback Tom Brady, and a bunch of misfits busted this morning for trying to sell phony Super Bowl tickets. And the yokels just happened to have a nice stash of marijuana in their hotel room. Duh.
Then, of course, we have the so-called Super Bowl-related “urban legends,” such as “the biggest stress on the water system nationally is during Super Bowl halftime when everybody simultaneously goes to the bathroom” (false); ”and the biggest sales day for pizza delivery” (true).
No matter what, I suppose we can expect a good game. It won’t be the Toilet Bowl, for sure.
Re-prediction? Patriots 35 Giants 20.
Posted by Jerry M. Gutlon
As the media frenzy surrounding Sunday's Super Bowl came close to a crescendo during both the New England Patriots' and New York Giants' final press briefings on Friday, most prognosticators continued to pick the Pats as the ultimate Super Bowl winner.
This reporter won't deviate from that general consensus, either.
New England simply has too much firepower to lose to the Giants, thus they'll put the kibosh on New York's Cinderella-like playoff run. Although defensively the teams are about even up, defensive mastermind Bill Belichick of the Patriots must have gotten with his defensive coordinator over the last two weeks and come up with some diabolical defensive mixes designed to confuse Giants' quarterback Eli Manning, and negate a potent New York rushing game.
Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady has been here before, three times. He's in the prime of his career, and is coming off an untypical poor performance against the Chargers in the AFC title game. Sure, he tweaked his ankle a bit in that contest, but Brady would take the field Feb. 3 if he had no legs at all. The man is a passing machine, and his receiving corps is awesome.
New England's rushing game is woefully underrated, and expect Laurence Maroney, Kevin Faulk and Heath Evans to play well, and effectively. The Pats' may very well run the ball more than expected simply to keep the Giants honest and try to keep New York's solid pass rushers away from Tom Terrific. And wide receiver Randy Moss has been a non-factor thus far in the playoffs, so you can expect him to come through with some key receptions.
Best Bet: New England 35, New York 20
