Meister der Farbe » but thats the way it goes. I feel I a

DENVER -- Even in victory,?Tom Brady made it official Sunday: He would rather join NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on a two-week Caribbean cruise than play football in the city of Denver.And thats OK. The greatest of the great usually cant stand doing something. Frank Sinatra hated singing My Way, for instance, and things worked out pretty good for him.Brady took the field with a 2-7 record in this city, a .222 batting average, and then, on muscle memory, struggled to find his way. Of course, no right-minded fan of the New England Patriots really cared in the end. As their coach Bill Belichick would say after this 16-3 victory, Were not really interested in individual stats.The Patriots are interested only in team-centric pursuits, starting with their 14th AFC East title in Bradys 15 healthy seasons under center, a staggering run in a sport that tries to protect the principles of parity as fiercely as New England tries to protect its quarterback.But now that another division title and another first-round bye are accounted for, the Patriots can focus on what their coach called a reset of their goals. Home-field advantage is on deck, followed in the lineup by two postseason victories in Gillette Stadium and then, of course, a record fifth Super Bowl ring for Belichick and Brady.This is why Patriots fans dont sweat the small stuff, like Bradys 0-for-6 start on Sunday against the Broncos, his failure to complete a pass until the second quarter, his failure to throw for a touchdown for only the second time this season, and his failure to throw for at least 200 yards for the first time this season. In fact, Bradys nonperformance coupled with LeGarrette Blounts nonperformance only sweetened the result and emboldened New Englanders to go ahead and put down some nonrefundable money on hotel rooms in Houston, site of Super Bowl LI.The Patriots are in perfect position to play all their AFC tournament games at home. They will pound the heartless Jets on Christmas Eve (1 p.m. ET) for their 13th victory, and might not need to worry about finishing a second consecutive year with a seed-altering loss at Miami. The Raiders and/or Chiefs will likely have to win playoff games in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and hey, lets face it:Thats not going to happen.Why? Sundays game told you why. Brady opened the day as the leading candidate for the leagues MVP award, and Blount opened as a 1,000-yard back -- something rarely seen during Belichicks reign in New England. The quarterback completed 16 of 32 attempts for 188 yards. Though Blount did score on a 1-yard run, breaking Curtis Martins franchise record with his 15th rushing touchdown of the year, he finished with 31 yards on 17 carries.The Patriots still controlled the defending champs, with Dion Lewis advancing the ball (18 carries, 95 yards), and with Logan Ryan delivering a game-shaping interception to start the second quarter that denied Denver a potential score and set up the touchdown drive that produced the decisive points. On that drive, the visitors recovered two of their own fumbles. Only the Patriots do that.When it was over, Belichick allowed that the game wasnt a masterpiece and credited his teams plus-3 turnover advantage for deciding the result. I think that overrides a lot, he said.So does an offensive line that no longer crumbles at the mere sight of the Denver front. The Broncos treated Brady as a human pi?ata in last seasons AFC Championship Game, and had all the incentive needed for a worthy sequel. They knew a loss here would dramatically reduce their chances of returning to the postseason, and yet they put less than a third of the hits on Brady that they put on him in January. Von Miller, Super Bowl MVP and best player on the field in the conference championship game, was all but entered into the witness protection program.Some credit (maybe a lot of credit) belongs to Dante Scarnecchia, the Pats 68-year-old offensive line coach, who looks so much like a boxers cut man that you couldve imagined the late, great Burgess Meredith playing him in the movie. Belichick summoned him out of retirement after firing Dave DeGuglielmo in the immediate wake of the AFC title game beatdown of Brady in this same building, and there was the quarterback Sunday evening praising the line for keeping him safe and sound.Brady fielded only five questions in his postgame news conference before running a fast break for the team bus, stopping to sign a young boys jersey along the way. He has been a bit odd in these post-Deflategate settings, and who knows what exactly is fueling his inner fire. Bradys friends have publicly and privately said he wants to stick it to the league commissioner for suspending him for four games, and the other day Denver coach Gary Kubiak said the New England quarterback has been on a mission since hes come back. Brady hasnt added anything of substance to that conversation.If nothing else, Brady should be happy other franchises have recently added to the New England narrative that the Patriots are hardly alone in the NFLs bad boy department. The Seahawks and Ravens were punished by the league for offseason workout violations, and recently the Rooney Steelers were sorta accused of deflating footballs (by the Mara Giants) before the Mara Giants were definitely accused of using an illegal sideline walkie-talkie. (Whats next, Rooney Mara being accused of tampering with a competitors script while landing her part in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?)Maybe Brady isnt thrilled that these cases have received a fraction of the attention that his did. Either way, the four-time champ wont care as long as he overcomes the loss of Rob Gronkowski, advances to Super Bowl LI, and ultimately passes his boyhood idol Joe Montana with championship No. 5.Brady might have to finally beat the Giants in the big game (and wouldnt that third meeting be fun) and survive Odell Beckham Jr.s attempt to outdo David Tyree and Mario Manningham. Perhaps hell see the NFC favorite, the Dallas Cowboys, in a matchup that would make everyone forget about the leagues ratings woes.But after what went down here Sunday, this much is clear: Brady and friends appear set for a seventh appearance on the biggest stage in sports. The 2016 Patriots look very much like the 2003 Patriots -- bound for a Houston Super Bowl that will enhance the historical standing of their quarterback and coach. Cheap Air Max Plus Ireland . The 18-year-old American had five birdies in her bogey-free round for a 17-under total of 196. Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70. Air Max Plus Outlet Online .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. http://www.airmaxplusireland.com/ . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. Cheap Air Max Plus Sale .Y. -- Sabres forward Drew Stafford has witnessed plenty of turmoil during his eight seasons in Buffalo. Wholesale Air Max Plus . Hargreaves began his career in 2008 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and has played with the Edmonton Eskimos and last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. A fondness for the fight at the end of an innings still flickers in Lance Klusener, South Africas former and to date only real finisher. Now, in his role as Zimbabwes batting coach, Klusener is eagerly anticipating the final day of the second Test against New Zealand, even with his side three down and 329 runs adrift of the target of 387.We are pretty confident we can bat for the day, Klusener said at the end of day four. The pitch is pretty good and New Zealand have been in the field for a long time. From a team growth point of view, I am really looking forward to it.Kluseners charges showed marked improvement from the first-Test performance when they collapsed to 36 for 4 and 164 all out in the first innings and 17 for 4 in the second, when they eventually totaled 295. Theyve done better in the second Test, with a first innings total of 362 which included a half-century opening stand, a 148-run partnership for the sixth wicket and a second hundred by a Zimbabwe batsmen in the series with Craig Ervine joining Sean Williams as a centurion.The difference, Klusener explained, came with a chance in mindset. We wanted to place a value on our wickets. In the first Test match, there were a couple too many soft dismissals. There were a couple that were a bit soft again here but we were prepared to grind out tough sessions and bat time. We want to make sure bowlers work hard for our wickets, like we had to do for theirs.It also came with a change in personnel. Tino Mawoyo recovered from a thumb injury to take his place at the top of the order alongside Chamu Chibhabha and Klusener thinks they could be the pair to take Zimbabwe forward. Since I have been involved, Ive noticed weve always struggled to get a good platform. Tino and Chamu have settled things a little bit and take some shine off the ball. I am extremely impressed with them and hopefully they can grow as a partnership together.Their stand was only worth 45 in the second innings and two wickets towards the end of the day will leave Zimbabwes middle order exposed early but Klusener believes they have the playeers to bat out the day.dddddddddddd Zimbabwe still have four specialist batsmen at their disposal: Ervine, who took a knock on the knee but should be all right to bat again, first-Test centurion Williams, Prince Masvaure, although he is nursing a sprained ankle, and debutant PJ Moor.All four have shown signs of being able to occupy the crease and for them, Klusener had a message: Their job is not finished, he said.Ideally, he would like all of them to bat like Ervine did. Craig was really organised. He had a good plan. Thats where we need to get to with the other batsmen because its one thing having a plan, but its important to be comfortable with the plan.Ideally, New Zealand would prefer none of them to bat like Ervine. Although Trent Boult gave Zimbabwe credit for showing great resilience, he warned them it would be a a new challenge to bat on a tiring wicket.But the condition of the strip has remained fairly stable and it will as tough for New Zealand to take wickets as it will be for Zimbabwe not to give them away, and Boult knows it. The challenges is the pace. Its been a wicket that we dont find where we come from. Its a testing surface but a good test at that, he said.For Boult, who has yet to reach the speeds he did before he injured his back during the Australia series last summer, the challenge has also been against himself, but he feels he is getting back to his best. I would have liked to take more wickets but thats the way it goes. I feel I am getting better with each spell, he said.His end-of-day burst was particularly impressive, when he got the shape away and picked up the late wicket of Tino Mawoyo. Tim Southee followed up with a similar delivery to get rid of Sikandar Raza and the two late scalps gave New Zealand the edge, according to Boult. We know it is a very slow and unresponsive wicket. Nice to come back here and only have to grab seven, he said.Only seven? Or as many as seven? Klusener would say the latter. ' ' '