Football this 'n' that

I think everyone assumed that New England would open defense of its Super Bowl title with a win over Kansas City on Thursday. Didn't watch the game (chose Mets-Reds instead), didn't see any highlights. Instead, like everyone else, I was stunned to learn the champs lost at home for the 4th time in 2 seasons and change. Already without one of their best offensive playmakers in Julian Edelman (out for the season), the Pats watched his replacement, Danny Amendola, go out with a concussion. Luckily, Amendola has 10 days, counting yesterday, before the next game, plenty of time to go through concussion protocols to be ready to play. However, defensive star Dont'a Hightower was also knocked from the game, this time with a knee injury. Given that the Patriots need more help on defense than they do on offense, that may be a bit problematic going forward.

And, then, I read this morning of some Pats fans feeling, as the kids say, butt-hurt over the loss and, get this, calling for Tom Brady to be benched in favor of Jimmy Garappolo. Yeah, it's likely they're taking into account Brady just turning 40, and it's a rare game where Brady didn't throw a TD pass, but give me a break. It's only the first game of the season. I guess we know who the fair-weather fans are in New England, don't we?
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For now, the Dallas Cowboys can breathe a sigh of relief.

A judge has issued an injunction that will further delay the 6-game suspension of running back Ezekiel Elliott, claiming that the NFL wasn't fair to Elliott. Roughly translated, it seems the league was bent on punishing Elliott, even if the police didn't, for alleged domestic abuse. As a commentator on Yahoo! suggested Friday night, they went through the same thing with Tom Brady until he had to sit out 4 games for deflate-gate last year. Of course, the Patriots won the Super Bowl despite that, so who's to say what'll happen if/when Elliott does serve his suspension? Could Dallas duplicate the Patriots' feat? We'll just have to wait & see.
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High school beat:

Troy High ran its winning streak to 15 in a row Friday, throttling Guilderland, 59-26. For the most part, it was the Joey Ward show, as the senior caught 1 TD pass from Joe Casale, ran for 5 more, and, on the first offensive play of the game, threw a halfback option pass to Isaiah Burdette for 69 yards to set the tone. In all, Ward was responsible for 7 touchdowns in some form. You have to remember, Ward was a quarterback himself at Bishop Maginn before transferring to Troy a year ago.

Meanwhile, Columbia spoiled LaSalle's home opener, escaping with a 21-20 win over an undermanned Cadets squad that dressed only 21 varsity players. Guess who's next for LaSalle? Yep, Troy High will be at Sutton Field next week, and it's only going to get worse. Troy has outscored their two opponents by a ridiculous 114-40. Ouch!! I think a recruitment drive is in order at LaSalle.....!