Why is the Patriot's owner so loyal to Donald Trump?

Cork Gaines writes in Business Insider,

Kraft opened up about his loyalty in an interview with the New York Daily News. Kraft brought up the time his wife died and how Trump was one of the few people who were truly there for him, a time that seemingly cemented Kraft's loyalty to their friendship.

"When Myra died, Melania and Donald came up to the funeral in our synagogue, then they came for memorial week to visit with me," Kraft told the Daily News. "Then he called me once a week for the whole year, the most depressing year of my life when I was down and out. He called me every week to see how I was doing, invited me to things, tried to lift my spirits. He was one of five or six people that were like that. I remember that."

Read more here.

Go Steelers!

The Steelers may not be facing off against the Patriots on a full night's sleep. Fire alarms went off at 3 a.m. in the hotel where they were staying. T.V. station KDKA reports that it was 30 minutes before people were allowed to return to their rooms.

ESPN reported around 8 a.m. that Massachusetts State Police have arrested a 25-year-old Boston man who allegedly pulled the fire alarm. Sources told ESPN the man pulled a fire alarm in a stairwell near an exit, then ran out of the building to a waiting car with two other men and fled the scene.

Read more here.

Slurs and slurers

h/t Bookworm, who writes,

I’ll take a gross patriot over a corrupt, incompetent Leftist any and every day.

Headsetgate?

He had a vision!

Patriot defensive back Malcolm Butler, a free agent from West Alabama College, told the sideline reporter after the game, "I had a vision. I thought I might make a big play." He did! The play of the year!

I agree with Chris Collinsworth that the Seahawks made a stupid decision in deciding to throw the ball from the one yard line, when they have running back Marshawn Lynch, who was showing all night that he was unstoppable in short yardage. Lynch scored more touchdowns than anyone else in the NFL this year. And, they had two cracks at it!

Another victory for Belichick and Brady. Brady's comment about every Patriot involved: "We never doubted each other." It showed.

Now he's an authority on the subject

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick Thursday said he knows nothing about deflated balls, and told reporters to talk to his quarterback, Tom Brady, who also denied any impropriety. Today, however, Belichick

described in detail how his team prepares its footballs on game day and defended his players from chatter that they made it to the Super Bowl by cheating.

Jimmy Golen describes Belichick:

A football lifer who only seems happy on the sidelines, if at all, Belichick is known for an absolute attention to detail that prepares his team for every imaginable situation.

Read more here.

Armed supporters stay on at Bundy ranch

Did you know that 40 armed supporters of Cliven Bundy are still camping out on his property, acting as security guards? They don't plan to leave until Cliven Bundy tells them that they can. Ken Ritter writes about them and summarizes the showdown at AP's Big Story here.

A Machiavellian reembrace

New Yorker writer Brendan Koerner believes the significant Patriot story is the "the wisdom of Belichick’s Machiavellian reëmbrace of Josh McDaniels." Belichick rehired McDaniels as his offensive coordinator after McDaniels was let go by both Denver and St. Louis. McDaniels knows how to make an offense work. Remember what he did with Tim Tebow in Denver?

However, when the Broncos beat the Patriots with McDaniel at the helm, Josh let his emotions get the best of him after the game, and Belichick noticed.

A short celebration

Yes, the Broncos beat the Chargers to earn the right to play the Patriots in Sunday's AFL Championship game. However, they lost the services of the man who is arguably their best defensive back, Chris Harris, when he was injured in the third quarter of the Chargers game. After he went down, Phillip Rivers caught fire with the San Diego passing game. Harris had a M.R,I, this morning, which confirmed he has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, according to two NFL sources.

I don't know if this is the defensive equivalent to losing Peyton Manning on offense, but it is a very significant loss that Tom Brady, Josh McDaniel and Bill Belichick will surely exploit.

This article in the Denver Post lists some possible ways the Broncos will try to compensate for the loss of Harris.

The Best Reporter In Iraq

Stereotypes about racist and psychotic Marines, as well as fanatical and psychotic Iraqis, can't survive a lengthy trip to Fallujah, at least not to the Fallujah of late 2007.

So writes Michael J. Totten in his latest dispatch from Iraq.

contempt for Iraqi culture specifically, and Arabs and Islam more generally, is far more prevalent in the American civilian population, even in liberal coastal cities, than it is among American soldiers and Marines who interact with Iraqis every day, forge sometimes intense personal bonds with Iraqis, eat Iraqi food,

In his interview with a Marine, we learn that fighting the insurgents has been good in a way for the U.S. Marines. It is forcing the Marines to be more flexible and adaptable in their fighting. It reminds me of the book 1776, which reveals how much more adaptable Washington's army was, compared with the British, who kept to their traditional methods of warfare.

Apparently Fallujah isn't such a bad place these days. To quote from the Marine:

don't think people really know what to expect from any of this,” he continued. “It's like people say: you only get the bad news on TV. They don't get to hear about how Fallujah is doing good now. I'm sure they'd hear about it if something bad happened. But these people are doing better, the schools are open, businesses are open, people are cleaning up their own city. They're starting their own neighborhood watch. They have their own police force now, their own government. People don't get to hear about that. I think that's important for people to know. You shouldn't focus so much on people who mess up. I mean, people have messed up. Bad stuff has happened. But you should focus on the percentage of people who are doing good as opposed to the percentage who are doing bad. There's a lot of good going on over here. And there's a lot of good people in this city.”

Totten's reporting is superb. If you have not read him, go here. You will not be disappointed.