The 15

On a Tuesday (obviously this past Tuesday), earth shattering, internet-breaking news occurred when Cam Newton was released by the New England Patriots. Just when most folks thought Bill Belichick was going to start Cam Week One, he shocks us once again. I’m not sure we’ll ever know the real reason why Cam Newton was cut but is this decision going to come back to bite the Patriots in the ass? Will this be regrettable for years to come or will it only be regrettable for four weeks?

For starters, regret is a strong word and I think this may be the type of thing the Patriots “regret” for four weeks. I wanted the Pats to start Newton Week One but Belichick went a different direction. Rookie Mac Jones is now our starter and while I’m a little disappointed in Belichick, I am not really that upset.

Belichick has his reasons but he may have ultimately realized that if Mac Jones was going to start eventually why not just start him Week One. For the football team that was the main reason but I also believe Newton’s ego was a factor. Cam was never going to sit behind Jones and mentor him. It’s just not in Cam’s DNA at the moment to be a mentor- he always wants to be big man on campus.

Mac Jones seems to have the mental capabilities to be a starting NFL quarterback but some are worried if he is physically ready. The only physical problem with Cam is that his football throwing ability has severely diminished but I thought Belichick should have given Cam the chance to start the season. In a now 17 game season, the quarterback room looks less formidable.

Don’t get me wrong now- I know Mac Jones is going to thrive in this offense and under these coaches. I just think the decision to pull the plug on Cam came too soon.

Obviously time will tell whether the Patriots will “regret” cutting Cam Newton and we wish him well in the future. Cam fell in line with the Patriots philosophy and that will never be forgotten. Now it’s Mac Jones time to shine and ultimately we all can’t be too upset about that.

Follow me on Twitter @jmarion34

Also check out the “Entitled Town” Podcast which can be found on Twitter @EntitledTown

According to Adam Schefter and other sources, the New Orleans Saints plan to make Jameis Winston Week One starter against the Green Bay Packers. At only 27 years old, it feels like Winston has been in the league a lot longer and this is his first starting job since being with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019. Of course the Saints had to name a starter this year after having Drew Brees for many seasons.

With the Saints being my second favorite team I felt it necessary to comment on this decision and I believe it is the wrong one for the team. Sure, at 6’4, 231 lbs. Winston absolutely has the body to be a starting NFL QB but does he have the mind?

Winston has always been known as an interception machine and I’m not a big fan of quarterbacks who turn the ball over constantly. In his last full season in 2019, he threw 30 interceptions compared to 33 touchdowns- not a good ratio. I must mention he did also throw for 5,109 yards which is his most in a single season.

Despite the lofty accrual of yardage, Winston is not the guy that I wanted to be starting QB. That man would’ve been Taysom Hill. Hill is less reliable (at the moment) in his accuracy with the football but I believe his style of play is much more the way the league is going and the Saints should go.

Most of the league has moved on from the prototypical “pocket passer” and this would’ve been a wise move for the Saints as well. This decision may cost them early in the season but I believe after seeing Winston chuck the ball up for grabs enough that the move to Hill will be made.

Follow me on Twitter: @jmarion34

Also check out the “Entitled Town” Podcast which is accessible on Twitter @EntitledTown

Much has been said/made about the quarterback controversy in Foxborough, MA. Start Cam Newton or Mac Jones Week One? I think this game settled that debate.

Cam Newton played well in a few series going 8/9 with 103 passing yards with a 151.4 QB rating. He looked efficient and better than he did last year at times. His TD throw to Jakobi Meyers was excellent. This means much more after having two joint practices with the Eagles before this game was played. If Bill Belichick wasn’t leaning towards him as starter yet- this game solidified things.

Even without any of the Top tight ends available, Newton was surprisingly accurate and decisive with his throws. A lot of credit can go to the offensive line in this game as well, which was the true shining star of the game.

Patriots rookie Mac Jones looked great behind that offensive line also. Jones went 13/19 for 146 yards and a 91.1 QB rating. His presence in the pocket is remarkable at such a young age.

The Patriots defense still plays without Stephon Gilmore and after a shaky first game of the preseason, free agent addition Jalen Mills looked good at slot cornerback tonight as well. The Eagles were seemingly never truly at their best (starting Joe Flacco at QB) but this is a very encouraging game all around.

I’ve been strong on the record that this defense will be top 5 in the league when all is said and done. I stand by that take and will never waver on it. If we ante up and pay Gilmore- my take will look even better.

More news and notes from this game:

1. Jalen Hurts didn’t play one snap for the Eagles in this game which is not a good sign for that team. Joe Flacco and whatever trash they threw out there isn’t winning you many games. Give the kid a chance unless he’s injured.
2. I know I raved about the offensive line but special teams also played well for the Patriots this game. Besides the kicking game of course.
3. Rhamondre Stevenson is an absolute savage. After a strong outing in the first preseason game, Stevenson followed that outing with another 2 TD effort in this game. Sony Michel’s days may be numbered.
4. The Eagles were never ready to play this game. They looked flat and defeated from the jump.
5. Watch out for Matthew Judon like I’ve been saying. He’s going for 10+ sacks this season.

This has been my first article for #The15 and I’m blessed to be able to write for them. Follow me on Twitter @jmarion34.

The15Net.com has long demonstrated frustration over the lack of quality, honest, agenda-free Patriots coverage in Boston Sports Media. Today, we offer a solution.

The 15Net.com’s coverage of tonight’s Patriots pre-season game will be handled by Joshua Marion of “The Joshua Marion and Friends Podcast.”

The 15 are excited to add Josh to the roster, and we’re confident his Patriots coverage will be more McDonough than Mittens. Josh is enthusiastic about sports (and the Patriots in particular), likes to keep things moving, and his Patriots insight will be authentic, informative and entertaining. Josh has editorial control over his Patriots coverage on the site and brings a fresh perspective that we hope you’ll find refreshing.

Josh’s Twitter handle is @jmarion34, and you can find his podcast here:

https://www.talkshoe.com/show/sports-talk-with-joshua-marion-friends

Welcome to The15Net.com, Josh. We’re Truly glad to have you in sports with us.

_{From February 16th, 2019. Article originally written by @MRAGS316, with contributions from @SalPetrino}

For those of you not familiar with Dan, he is an angry debt collector/glorified secretary for the Felcher and Mazz show on 98.5 The Sports Hub. His duties mostly include answering the phone, finding the warmest napkins for the Felgy, and washing Big Gym’s sick beamer in exchange for where to find best restaurants for protein on the north shore.

Dan also moonlights a wanna be Twitter sports betting sharp, dishing out the hottest daily pickzz you can find. Amazingly, he was able to spin this into his own podcast on the Sports Hub along side Joe Murphy called The Bankrupt Boys. Zoinks!! [Side note: If you’re getting your sports betting tips from the guy who answers the phone for the sports radio show, it’s time to reassess.]

Recently it has come to the attention of #The15 that Dan, on multiple occasions, has claimed he played tennis while in college at the University of Hartford. Noted #The15 adjacent Polar Bear lover @SalPetrino provided the receipts.

Wow! That’s pretty impressive. Playing any sport at major American University is a big deal. Just for fun we decided to see if we could locate any of Dan’s stats since he emphatically declared he played tennis in college. According to his LinkedIn profile, Dan attended the University of Hartford from 2010-2013 and luckily the UofH sports website had the rosters of the men’s tennis team going back many years. Surely, we would find some info of Dan’s career as a D1 tennis player. Here are the rosters of the teams the years Dan was enrolled:

Hmm… weird. No sign of Dan on any of the teams. In fact there was no trace of a Dan Lifshatz anywhere on the University sports websites. The only connection between Lifshatz and the University’s men’s tennis team was an article he wrote after a tough loss for the Hawks in The Informer, the school newspaper.

Maybe Dan just thinks covering the team is the same as playing for team or he just completely made it up. Either way I look forward to hearing the explanation.

[Editor’s note: We still await clarification from Dan on this apparent mix up. If we got the story wrong, please put us in our place.]

(Inspired by @BigSpiderBack )

Just give him the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award now.

The real robbery in the Selke was the fact that Brad Marchand wasnt even nominated.

Saint Peter only had to deny knowing Jesus three times, Doug.

No Spida?

Sometimes, the Red Sox win when they score last.

Jim Nantz can’t believe he didn’t get a Father’s Day line after that Rahm finish.

No Nets, Lakers or Sixers. Best case scenario after a Celtics first round exit.

I guess @FanSided is cool with plagiarism?

Udoka? Maybe.

Cakes are cooking for Colin Montgomerie, Barbara Jordan, Mike Bartrum, Selma Blair, and Zinedine Zidane.

I don’t believe in omens, but stomp on Lucky at your own peril, Kyrie Irving!

“Regina” is Latin for Queen. Live your best life, Regina!

First Smaven, now the Smonitor.

A turkey hen visiting the bird feeder? Technically allowable.

Chris Paul’s leadership wins again.

Now we can’t mouth racial slurs as a lip-synching teenager without having to issue an apology? Says who? Those Belgian drits, probably.

Blehhhh! Prime Day! Blehhhh!!

This is real. No one tries harder than Trey Hendrickson in practice. He goes 100% in non-padded practices when no one blocks. Doesn’t matter.

Hey gang, this week’s Phrase that Pays is “Are you okay?”

my sex and dating life would be so much more exciting if I was actually dating all the hot people that some people seem to think I am dating? I’m glad people think I have that much game, though!

Being on the field for a walk off home run is deff one of the most exhilarating experiences 10/10 would recommend.

It’s Girardi not Girardi, idiots.

Using Talkbox/Electro Harmonix & Vocoder effect on songs of the 80’s ≠ AutoTune usage in songs after Cher’s “Believe” in 1998 through the early 00’s in urban music.

Autocrat syrup!

Parker Posey was great in WANDER, FRANCO (1994)

Remember to proofread, tweeting out ‘Your (sic) a fucking pig!’ fatally undermines whatever point you tried to make.

Maybe the Red Hat should have charged 11¢ per chicken wing? Just sayin’,

In 2021 they’d never be able to keep Randall Gay’s #21 in stock at the Patriots Pro Shop.

Honk if you remember the Maine Lumberjacks.

Doug probably wasn’t going to get appointed Minister of the Exchequer in the false pretender Spike Kingdom.

You can always find me down at Smokey Joe’s. That’s where all the hip and groovy people go.

Rich Hill is the new Jamie Moyer.

Carling Black Label. Used to be brewed with the clean Ice Cold waters of Lake Cochituate. Simpler Fucking times, Danny.

Who needs Benadryl when you’ve got 5 lbs of Xanax?

Good thing this Carl Nassib news hit and kept Steve Buckley from writing about the time Boog Powell guested on an episode of The Courtship of Eddies Father.

Dating show idea: Sox-y Beasts.

Las Vegas is an adult summer camp. That seems so true. Especially if you like to get wild.

“You’re sticking with that motherf—er?” Do you kiss your kids a second too long with that mouth, Tom?

To be fair, sometimes you can’t detect any tuna DNA after the proteins are damaged by cooking. Or after having been blasted with sweet onion sauce.

Not all who Wander are Franco.

Mattapan Trolley Update: Regularly scheduled service has resumed.

‘Eat shit, Doug.’ Well said, counselor.

New rule: Easter Island Mo’ai statues don’t get a vote for the Selke Award.

Best bet for the weekend: Suns in four guy embarks on his 2nd fifteen minutes of fame.

material from interviews, wire services, Facebook, Substack, Subway, other writers, league and team sources, BSMW, and #the15, were used in this column. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.

Did we win last night? No? Ugh, I can’t believe they lost! This is because you didn’t will them to victory in Game Five!

That was some stretch of cabbage in the hat weather we had there.

Bob Kraft’s lawyers should have petitioned the court to have the Bentley birthday present video destroyed, too.

Anyone but the Islanders. And Montreal, naturally. And not Tampa either because fuck them. And I’m not rooting for a team based in Denver so the Avalanche are right out. And Las Vegas has to wait their damn turn. So…

Out: Spider Tack. In: Spida attack.

N’Keal Harry will make you not care about Julio playing for the Titans instead, you honks and bobos.

So what are we supposed to do, drape the house in black and gold crepe? Lower the Fan Banner to half mast? Grow up.

Hey Red Sox; stop stinking up the diamond.

Cakes are cooking for Kim Deal, Kelley Deal, Brent Sutter, Bill Burr, Pokey Reese, and Tara Lipinski.

And also for Gina Gershon, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Elizbeth Hurley, and Leelee Sobieski.

Boar’s Head Deli Dressing makes a great marinade. #ad

The host chair over at the @EntitledTown podcast is beginning to resemble Spinal Tap drummers.

So that junkie horse skipped the Belmont?

With injuries limiting him to only 278 at bats on the season, old Al Kaline finished the 1972 season with 16 hits in his last 28 at bats, raising his season’s average 30 points in his last 7 games.

Coah K retired. Well, bye!

Well I for one am rightly chuffed by that outrage at the footie match in Denver!

College softball? C’mon.

News Item: Fields of Watermelons Found on Mars, Police Say.

Apparently Mike has never had Cooper Sharp American Cheese.

No use the portable one for now it works for me.

#tcot

Make boringer lists, Nana Gary.

For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, With false spike kings and counsellers of the turf, which built desolate places for themselves.

Whatever happened to the LeBron Lakers Dynasty?

Hey gang, this week’s Phrase that Pays is “The bloom is off the rose.”

McKayla Maroney? Y.

Congratulations to Prince* Harry and Meghan Markle on the birth of their second child. 8th in line for the throne.

What fucking skank has no kleenex?

In jail, in jail, without no bail
In jail, we’re in jail because we failed
In jail, in jail, without no bail
In jail, we’re in jail because we failed.

Red Line: Delays of up to 10 minutes due to a signal problem at Alewife. Trains may be asked to stand by at stations.

Jaboukie?

At least the red Sox win a series vs the yankees in new York..beggars can’t be choosers..pillow time.

Honk if you remember multicolor pens.

Boomtower. Back.

A partial solar eclipse? That’s almost as disappointing as only wining two games in a playoff series.

The NFL docked the #49ers the last week of their rookie development program for a violation of offseason work rules, per sources. The infraction took place during rookie minicamp.

Best bet for the weekend: lawn care. Do it.

material from interviews, wire services, Facebook, other writers, league and team sources, and #the15, were used in this column. Better late than never, amirite?

Trader Danny only GM’ed the team to one TITAL because he doesn’t respect YOU, caller.

The Red Sox lost, despite having scored first.

Steve Roenicke could use another shot, Celtics. Just sayin’.

Why didn’t the TDGarden crown will the B’s to a W?

Congratulations to Helio Castroneves for winning the Indianapolis 500 for the 4th time. I guess all the good Brazilian drivers are in motorsports. What?

Draft the kids, Brad!

Well, if you’re gonna throw a water bottle at an athlete, make sure it’s a Patriots player. Absent that, at least don’t do it to a Black player during a year-long nationwide moral racial panic.

Ironically, the fan missed Kyrie because he forgot to correct for the Coriolis Effect.

Puck luck. Amirite?

Cakes are cooking for Doro Pesch, Mike Gordon, Carl Everett, Al Horford, and Lalaine.

Chris Gasper pronounces Roger Taney’s name the way it’s spelled.

Sports media are really showing their true colors with this Naomi Osaka business.

This is 6A ball.

Wagyu Teppanyaki would be in the HOF if they counted his Japanese home runs.

WEEI is denying us a Larry Johnson traced cartoon of Danny with an exploding cigar motif.

Every hotel room should have a Bible in it. The Good Book shouldn’t be lost on anyone. I don’t read it but I should.

Watching the Garden full made my heart dance. A win made it almost give out.

Pierce Brosnan will bring the kids.

Winner of the Veiled Prophet Pageant also gets a job at the Boston Sports Journal.

Ok, that’s enough chicken sandwiches.

Media invents reports Celtics should hire a woman. Celtics don’t. Media kills the Celtics to sell auto glass.

Hey gang, this week’s Phrase that Pays is: “Horse mouthed hussy.”

Buying bagels off QVC?

What’s your guilty pleasure? Mine is room temperature skim milk.

Spida wants smoke.

You keep Bill Belichick’s name out of your mouth, Mike Lynch.

Cruz Azul, motherfuckers.

Know less about Regulation 204 CMR 4.03(1), restaurant owner lady.

Lions HC Dan Campbell on RB Todd Gurley: “We have interest in Todd, we do. And we’re talking with his agent.” He added that if a deal can be agreed to, they’d like it to get done sooner than later.

MSG. An overrated food additive and arena.

You have to figure Bob Ryan would approve of the Celtics bringing in Jason Kidd as coach.

I saw Bob Lobel drinking and hanging out at a restaurant in NH. Seemed friendly and in great spirits. That was 1990 or so.

Hello Rangoon!

Honk if you remember TWIB Notes.

Good work, Boston College Lady Women Lacrosse Eagles defeating the Syracuse Women Lady Oranges. Champs!

To atone for the bottle thrower, the Celtics need to hire Leslie Jones as coach.

Hug your li’l rappers a li’l tighter today.

I sometimes confuse Claudine Longet with Claudine Auger, and vice versa.

I’m not exactly sure what a Marquess is.

Glad to hear that Jon Secada is back after seventeen years.

One name to keep an eye on in the Celtics’ coaching search: Sophie “Swish” Pryce, who coaches the Portland Littlenecks in the WNBA G League.

You just knock that off, Rays.

Lie around all day
Have a drink to chase
“Yourself and tourists, yeah
That’s what I hate”
He said we’re going wrong
We’ve all become the same
We dress the same ways
Only our accents change

So have a nice day

Old gout ankles wants you to know how tough he is.

Why stop at Ainge. Clean house. Go get Juwan Howard and hire him as your coach.

Orange Line Update: Regularly scheduled service has resumed.

This is my motto: You have to keep your friends’ secrets unless there’s any reason not to.

Sunburnt angular features? Pass.

Best bet for the weekend: the old barn on Causeway to be rockin’.

material from interviews, wire services, Facebook, other writers, league and team sources, BSMW, Twitter users who prefer to remain anonymous and #the15, were used in this column.