Lou Saban, one of the first coaches of the Boston Patriots passed away over the weekend. He was a coach in the 60s, when the sport was more rough and tumble in a more basic way. It wasn’t a business in quite the same way as it is nowadays and he had to rubber cement a team together out of nothing much. When other teams poached their players, he had to bring the team up to snuff. This was back when the Patriots were in the AFL and were battling to look good to the NFL teams. He was a beloved figure, and actually managed the New York Yankees for protege George Steinbrenner for a couple years. He will be missed in Boston and around the football league as a real pioneer of the sport.

When you look at the Patriots offense, we’ll have to be looking at what’s happening at QB first. They’re clearly aiming to put Brady back in during the fall, but if not, then there will some real experience for the two backup QBs. There are some receivers out there on the team that will be pushing hard to get the team back into the playoffs. 2009 will be a new year for the team and hopefully it will be easier for them to do so. Defensively, the team has changed a lot too, but we wont get into that, except that a lot of the holes have been filled and the team will be able to compete better on that side of the ball too. When the slightly retooled offense takes the field in the fall, it will hopefully be able to readjust to the returning QB and push us to where we were.

If you live in Rhode Island, it’s possible that you might get the chance to have Patriots license plates in the next year or two. People always think of Massachusetts as the center of the Patriots world, but don’t forget that Connecticut and Rhode Island and probably Maine have lots of these fans too. As a result, the RI legislature is getting themselves into the topic of deciding whether they need to get Patriots license plates or not. This wouldn’t be the official state license plate, but it would be an option that you could take a look at. Keep an eye on the developments in this issue, because you may want to get one of these plates!

New England has been working hard on certain parts of the their team, infusing it with new energy, while still trying to keep enough of a core to give them the chance to be real contenders again in the coming years. There is a good question as to how their defense is doing. They sent Vrabel away and there are several other veterans who have left. What they perhaps need is even more youth to be brought into the lineup there. That’s what Bleacherreport seems to be thinking right now. The defense has often been one of their best, and they made some big changes after the 07 season, but the defense would’ve given them many troubles during the playoffs, had they been able to get into the playoffs this year.

The Patriots just keep making new moves and there were a bunch of new signings this week. One of the highlights that they now have is the Detoit Lion’s cornerback Leigh Bodden. This will give the Patiots’ secondary, which has been poor for several years, a needed punch. He’s a talented player and it will hold the team down in the deep part of the field much better than it usually does. Are you looking forward to the way this new team is going to look. It’s been a strong team for years, not making the playoffs last year, but most years before that. Now they might have the push that they wanted to.

Mike Vrabel is one of the most interesting players. He works hard. The problem now is that he will be playing elsewhere. In fact, he will be playing with KC against our beloved Patriots next year. So we should be hoping that he doesn’t work so hard. Anyway, he gave an interview with the KC media next time and it was an interesting one. The question that caught my attention was “will you play with a chip on your shoulder?” First of all, I’m not sure there would be a space on the shoulder for a chip, with all that padding and such. But he responded that football is all about production and you don’t need to worry about him. His time with the Patriots has passed and he will need to produce in KC just as much as he did in Foxborough.

The Patriots have re-signed Chris Hanson, their punter, who will join Tom Malone in that position. They have a good kind of chemistry and the position is well stocked these days. They have also had reasonable success in the position over the least few years. They have also announced that linebacker Eric Alexander and safety James Sanders. They needed another safety to keep the defense secure on the field nowadays. The Patriots have a rough offseason, because moves need to be made. But they don’t want to disrupt the core of a successful team. Two years ago, the team went unbeaten until the Super Bowl. They have a lot to protect, and yet there are some positions needing staffing now.

So, the two Patriots QBs have been in the news again. Number 1, lets just get this out of the way, Matt Cassel has moved on. He will be playing with the Kansas City Chiefs next year and everyone seems to be fine with it. This suggests that there are no expectations of difficulties with Brady’s knee or anything like that. News number 2: Brady himself has “a new knee and a new wife”. He married his long-time girlfriend, Gisele Bundchen, last week while he was recuperating from his surgery. We wish them well and hope that the recuperation goes very well too!