Patriots Daily

by Chris Warner, Patriots Daily Staff

Preseason games should be fun to watch, because we get to check out our favorite team with no real concern for the result. That said, last Thursday’s 36-35 loss to the Rams was about as enjoyable as sliding down a saguaro cactus.

We’ll move on to this week, the Battle of the Backups, with hopes for at least a pleasant diversion before watching games that count. As the venerable Mike Reiss has said, this tilt at the Giants home field allows New England to scout the brand-spanking New Meadowlands Stadium That Is Still In A Swamp, or whatever it’s called. Hey, every little bit against the Jets would help.

So, no big concerns for Thursday’s game by itself, but lots to watch heading into 2010…

Neither Bodden Nor The Patriots Were Smiling Tuesday

Secondary A Primary Thought: Tuesday night’s cuts saw erstwhile starter Leigh Bodden get placed on season-ending injured reserve. We hoped that rookie Devin McCourty and second-year player Darius Butler could step up at cornerback. Now, trial by fire becomes trial by inferno.

Mega Hurts: We got the lousy news on Bodden, but what’s up with Ron Brace? Or Jermaine Cunningham, Julian Edelman, or Aaron Hernandez? (Note Tuesday’s PFW injury report here.) These and several other players won’t play on Thursday – and that’s fine by us – but what is their status for Game One?

Better Take A Tom Out: Actually, we only assume that Tom Brady will sit out this game. And by “assume,” we mean “hope like hell.” You know as well as anyone, Coach Bill Belichick, that it only takes a few seconds to get hurt. Give backups Brian Hoyer and Zac Robinson some field time. All of it, even.

Searching High And LoMo: Okay, so far no starts from running back Laurence Maroney. Does that seem strange to anyone else? Did we have to see veteran Sammy Morris in action to know that he can run the ball (he’s only been in the league since Noah felt a raindrop)? Is Maroney ready to play? Is he mentally there? A strong night vs. New York backups might help ease some fears.

Having Trouble With Our Lines: Games get won in the trenches, so we’re wondering about this offensive line’s ability to grind out first downs. While Brady had a solid game with the starters, the O-line looks about as deep as a bottlecap, and the holdout of Logan Mankins ain’t helping. On the other side of the ball, can the Patriots stop the run and pressure opposing quarterbacks (I’m looking at you, Derrick Burgess)? And can they do it without smacking someone in the head for a 15-yard penalty? Seriously, last week’s game featured more slaps than a telenovela.

Who Gives A Darnell? About 22 players out of 75, that’s who. Thursday’s the night that the bottom of the roster gets figured out, when guys like receiver Darnell Jenkins, linebacker Thomas Williams and running back Thomas Clayton either make the final 53 or get cut. The coaches have some tough decisions to make, especially considering the aforementioned injuries and the age of the backfield. Look for those names and some new ones to pop up on the eight-man practice squad after the league-wide slashing.

Email Chris Warner at chris.warner@patriotsdaily.com

By Bruce Allen, Patriots Daily Staff

If you’ve listened to sports radio or read anything on Boston.com or CSNNE.com recently, you know that the Patriots and Tom Brady are embroiled in a bitter, bitter contract dispute, with both sides trading barbs in the media and each side refusing to budge an inch from their positions. It’s gotten so bad that Brady doesn’t want to play here any more, and the Patriots, who are sick of his diva act, are ready to move on with Brian Hoyer as the face of their franchise through the next decade.

The situation is to the point where it is threatening the entire 2010 season for the New England Patriots, who are a team divided, and the locker room is in chaos over this issue which impacts every single player on that roster.

I mean, check out these unseemly, nasty comments from Patriots owner Robert Kraft last week in The New York Times.

“He’s going to be here,” Kraft said on the first day of training camp. “I love the guy. We’re so lucky to have him. I have an emotional attachment because I remember him coming in as the fourth quarterback, being a skinny beanpole of a kid.”

Tom Brady Looked and Sounded Like a Hostage at Friday's media session.

Wow. Kraft is clearly not below issuing sneering cold threats to his players to keep them in line, and to remind them that he is the owner, and they are his servants, only there to do his beckoning.  Then check out Brady’s retort, the next day to the media:

“I’ve always been privileged to play for Coach Belichick, who I’ve always said is the best coach in the history of the league. And Mr. [Robert] Kraft, I have a great relationship with him. I’m not into playing games. I just want to come out here and do the best that I can do. Whether you make a dollar or you make millions of dollars like we do make, I really enjoy playing quarterback for this team.”

Ouch. Stinging words there from Brady, who is obviously unhappy with his situation, and clearly doesn’t want to be here for a second longer than he has to be. Can’t you just feel the anger in Brady’s voice as he says those words through clenched teeth?

Can you believe those two? How could the Patriots let it come to this?

Will the two sides work out their differences, and will Brady be the quarterback of this team? Kraft doesn’t offer much in the way of assurances to the fans.

“In my mind, he will be,” Kraft said. “One way or another. I believe he wants to be here. We want him here. We have a complicated situation we’re dealing with. There are a lot of forces at work. One way or another it will work out.”

Once again, Kraft doesn’t hide the fact that the two sides are completely at odds, but that he, as the owner, holds all the power, and is not afraid to swing that hammer.

Look carefully at the wording he uses: One way or another it will work out. How menacing is that? He’s basically saying that if need be, he’s willing to tie Brady down and hold him as a prisoner here in Foxboro if that is what it takes. He mumbles some lame excuses with veiled references to an upcoming CBA change that is likely to be the biggest change to the financial side of the NFL that the game has ever seen, and describes it as complicated. Lame. Yet threatening.

Yesterday, Kraft was given a chance to retract some of those awful comments. Today is Brady’s birthday, and Kraft offered this comment up:

“It’s actually unbelievable,” Kraft said of his quarterback who turns 33 on Tuesday. “He came here when he was 22 and now he’s going to be 33. He’s a great cook. He has something very special planned. We look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with him right here in Foxboro.”

Once again, did you detect the threat issued there? Many more birthdays right here in Foxboro. The message? I’m the owner, Brady. I control and will continue to control where you celebrate your birthdays.

It’s little wonder that Brady is so sick of being under the thumb of this man.

I am just so grateful that we have such a brave corps of fine media representatives in this region who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth and tell things just as they are. They are out there, fighting the battle for Brady, on the airwaves and in print, stomping down the dictatorial words and attitude of one Robert Kraft and his quest to keep Tom Brady underpaid an prevent him from living his life as he sees fit!

Three cheers to these wonderful souls who will stop at nothing to eradicate this injustice and shout from the rooftops that Mr Kraft is nothing but a charlatan who looks for any way possible to avoid paying large salaries to the very man responsible for his own huge empire of wealth!

by Scott A. Benson, Senior Foreign Correspondent
July 29, 2010

For me, the opening of Patriots training camp is the day when summer finally gets good. The weather gets better (eventually) and suddenly the days fill up with football again. If you don’t get mired in the details, it’s the most pleasant way to ease your way from the last hurrah into the fall. Then again, I don’t work for the Globe.

Here are the things I’m thinking about as the seasons begin to change. Perhaps you are too.

Its Not All Rainbows At Training Camp

Contractual Healing

Unless you’re going down to camp every day (sorry, that would be weird) you’re going to have to rely on the broadcast, electronic and print media to know what’s up. Just so happens that along with training camp, we have labor unrest on both the micro (Brady, Mankins, Moss, Gostkowski, others) and macro (NFL v. NLFPA) levels, and let’s face it, until the unrest is put to rest, it will cast a pall over everything. Worst case: millionaires on picket lines (a visual nearly as compelling as oil-soaked birds). Best case: we have to put up with some cable news-style posturing by both sides for awhile (interesting that the Commissioner has a new series of ‘fan forums’ debuting on his network soon) and professional football will go on uninterrupted in the United States of America.

Quarter-back to the Future

Tom Brady will be the quarterback for the Patriots this season and, right now, I guess that’s enough for me. Long-term, you’d have to go some to convince me that over the next 3 to 5 years, he won’t be among the best players at his position in the NFL. Certainly, he’s the most preferable to me. You’d also have to work overtime to prove to me that this sort of thing is easily replaced.

So that’s what it’s about to me – what’s the future of this team over the next 3 to 5 seasons? Or what we may reasonably anticipate as the terminus for the Belichick Era? What’s the plan? If The Plan includes taking a hard line with a player they can’t replace without despair, I’d like to know. So would 60,000 other people, at least.

Now, I think I already know and like the answer to these questions, and as surely, I think we’ll soon forget that we ever doubted it, so as to prepare for the next crisis unencumbered by nagging history. The problem is that takes time.

Left of the Dial

Any derelict with enough time on his hands could certainly comb the PD archives and find me – on more than one occasion – making the case that Logan Mankins is the Pats’ best offensive lineman since Hannah. So as annoyed I am at the “man of principle” storyline that’s been crafted, I don’t want to the Pats roster to be one Fresno State alum lighter in the future. God knows he’s not perfect (yeah, I know, Super Bowl XLII) but with the combination of durability, nastiness and agility he’s, as Judge Smails might say, top notch. Top notch! And he’s young enough to sustain it though our 3-5 year plan. The Patriots are better with him than without him.

That said, if I hear any more if this shit about broken promises (the players have become the worst offenders of “every time we say it’s a business, you say it’s a game. Every time we say it’s a game, you say it’s a business”) and if they think anything less than a premium is a slight, I’ll vote firmly for his ass out of town toot sweet. You may sign that guy, but you’ll be hearing from him again. And again. And you’re not the only one who will be hearing from him (see item 5 below). A left guard? It’s not worth it.

Tired of Waiting

Brady or no, this team is cooked if some (or most) of these players they’ve drafted over the past few seasons don’t step up and become players who have a consistent impact on the game. Start with tearing down the Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi posters if you like, but the end result will be altered, for better or worse, by how you coach production from not just the Mayos and Meriweathers but the Edelmans and Butlers and Chungs and Tates and Vollmers and Braces. The Prices and Cunninghams and Spikes and McCourtys. Significant resources have been spent and the immediate need is every bit as significant. This isn’t an organization that can afford to be wary of young people anymore, and none of these nascent newcomers can afford to take the Shawn Crable Path to Greatness. Even though this is placed fourth on my list today, no other issue facing this team gets me as fired up as this one. The time is now.

Let’s Stay Together

I’ll start by saying that I buy whole hog (not a second Hannah reference, believe me) the narrative that says there was not adequate coagulation in the Pats locker room last year. Granted, I have never been there, but I can’t imagine any organization can succeed when you have veteran players who openly and frequently question the on-field and off-field decisions made by their superiors. When you have the highest paid players show stubborn unwillingness to pay the price we all have learned must be paid. That kind of environment doesn’t breed success for anybody, in my experience. Don’t tell me I didn’t see what I saw here in the salad days of 01-04.

Anyway, the Vince Wilforks and Leigh Boddens and others like them (this time, see item 4) must begin to slip the surly bonds of leadership from the hands of the Bradys and Faulks and Lights and Neals and Warrens, and their words must have ever more passion for what can be out there for them and these kids they are surrounded by, and their actions must have ever more urgency about what it takes to get there. They have to show the way, before somebody forgets the map. That said, Brandon Meriweather can’t be whiffing tackles every so often if Wilfork is going to get any positive reinforcement for his effort. Here too, the time is now. Otherwise, the Patriots will one day (soon) become just another lonely outpost on the NFL’s vast landscape of middle class mediocrity. No pressure, though.

Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Positions Are In)

We can talk about training camp’s ceaselessness, but things do get addressed in the dog days. We’ll know more about these hot spots in thirty days than we do now: Running Back – can anybody here play this game? For more than a few weeks, I mean? Fact is I like many of the players in this group, but collectively, they give me the heebie jeebies. You can’t move away from being a pass-happy bunch of lightweights if you can’t possess the ball and make fucking first downs. Tight End – I’m oddly optimistic about this group. For me it feels like they have the Role Model (Crumpler), the Immediate Contributor (Hernandez) and the Every Down Player of the Future (whatever his name is. I’m working on this). Short of throwing a bunch of money and a second round pick at a (then) 33 year old Tony Gonzalez, what do you want? Ben Watson? Left Guard – again, optimistic in an odd fashion. I think Nick Kaczur to LG might be passable – it takes him off the edge, where he struggled with speed and athleticism, and drops him inside, where he encounters less of both. It, in fact, plays to his strengths, which seem to me to be in the close area. Do your worst as far as the Oxy goes, and the kill shots on Brady, but he’s an experienced guy that has (if extensions are any indication) obviously signed on to The Program. Nobody wants the Mankins thing but your have to make the best out of it, and this seems like the best option right now. Plus it opens the door for full-time work for a guy – Sebastian Vollmer – the Patriots have to be counting on in a big way for the seasons to come. Defensive Line – honestly, the Pats should be better on the defensive line. They have upper echelon players in Ty Warren and Wilfork.  I guess the problem lies because the rest of the rotation is a confusing mess. Mike Wright is a steady back-up (and that’s a great thing, by the way), but someone(s) from the Warren-Lewis vet cartel and someone(s) from the underclassmen (Brace, Pryor, Richard, even Deaderick and Weston) play to a higher level. If they don’t, they may as well have kept Jarvis Green. You know what they need – a Tony McGee type. Somebody that drives a dent in the pocket every time they’re called. McGee was a fantastic, and sometimes forgotten, Patriot. Linebackers – Sigh. I’ve already written reams on this. Look – they have one linebacker truly capable of playing every down. That cannot stand. They’ll nearly gone all in on the kids – so they’ll be measured on that. All of them. Secondary – again, no pressure, but if Darius Butler doesn’t get his starter bona fides in a hurry, there’ll be a disconnect in Foxborough all right. No doubt the lethargic pass “rush” of 2009 shouldered its share of the blame for the Pats defense being 21^st in passing yards, but it seems to me that’s not helped by guys who can’t get into position to play the ball. If I had a buck for every time a Patriot defender draped himself over a receiver who ultimately caught the pass, I’d have a shitload of bucks. By the way, like Butler, Patrick Chung’s “patient supportive nurturing environment” window is closing. Their safeties suck. Somebody’s got to do something, and that somebody is Chung.

Fixing A Hole

About Shawn Crable, who was released yesterday in his third season of ignominy with the Patriots; it’s easy to blame the kid (BTW, I defy you to see his bio pic without laughing like hell. He comes off as the ultimate sad sack), but I again reflect on what a shit show linebacker development was in New England after 2001. Somebody missed something pretty big when they were scouting this player, and somebody after them failed to ask the pertinent questions. Most aggravating is that this was the 78^th pick in the draft (only Mayo and Cunningham have been picked higher as LB’s by Belichick), and they pooched it at a position that needed the most help. The position that was once central to their very identity as a team, and they got it WAY wrong, and wasted a lot of time. I’m sorry, but that’s almost worse than two Chad Jacksons. If a lesson can’t be learned from this episode, then this whole fucking thing will be a complete waste.

Scott Benson is enjoying semi-retirement in glitzy Augusta, Maine, hobnobbing in suits made of linen with ambassadors and their attachés. He can be reached by carrier pigeon, or by e-mail at scott@patriotsdaily.com. Better yet, follow him for occasional bursts of Tweeted profanity at  http://twitter.com/scottabenson

By Dan Zeigarnik, Patriots Daily Staff

Jeez is it almost football season? Where did the 2010 offseason go? With the Bruins and Celtics playoff runs, the World Cup and the Olympics, it seems just yesterday that I shelled out $250 for that despicable debauchery of a playoff game against the Ravens. That 33-14 thumping left a bewildered fan base searching for answers. Was this the end of a dynasty? What did the future have in store for Belichick and company?

Now with preseason just around the corner, the fans are split into two generalized camps: the pessimists vs. the optimists.

The Pessimists:

The long-standing loser’s mentality is ingrained deep into certain  Boston sports “fan’s” DNA, and a decade-long championship streak has not squelched this hard-to-kick habit. The gentle folks at 98.5, as much as I love them, do their best, “The sky is falling” shtick. It’s got as many layers as my grandma’s lasagna and goes something like this:

1. A Disinterested Quarterback. Tom Brady has lost his competitive edge because he is working out in California and leaves his sack in Gisele’s Prada bag.
2. An Unhappy Receiver. The era of a disgruntled Randy ‘Straight Cash Homey’ Moss has arrived, and it will poison the well and will make an already anemic offense even more predictable. Stats be damned! And the fact that Wes Welker might never be the same again poses a serious downgrade in the receiving corp.
3. A Horrible Defense. There is no credible pass rush because Tully Banta-Cain will never be this good and Willie McGinest is not walking through that door.
4. A Bad Running Game. Fragile Fred Taylor and the propensity of Laurence Maroney to fumble in key situations have the fans screaming for the Law Firm.
5. Bad Coaching. The coaching staff is depleted now that Weis, McDaniels, Crennel, Pees and Capers are gone. And unfortunately Bill Belichick is taking on too much and spreading himself too thin. On top of that, Coach O’Brien is way too green and the vanilla schemes he runs have ruined the once potent offense.
6. No Team Leadership. With Rodney, Tedy, Vrabel and Seymour gone there is nobody to stand up and stiffen everyone’s backbone. Not to mention that the team lacks the “winning mentality”
7. Bad Drafting. Because Bill Belichick is not an Oracle and has missed on some draft picks the fan base now cannot in good conscience trust that anybody from the 2009 or 2010 drafts will produce.

The Optimists:

These insufferable ‘fanboys’ (according to the pessimists…and the media) believe anything that the Patriots front office feeds them. They are a gregarious and hopeful bunch and believe that at least some of these things will come true:

1. Great Quarterback. Last year, Tom Brady was clearly not himself after a year off and will without a doubt return to his old level of greatness.
2. Great Receivers. Randy Moss played for much of the year with a separated shoulder, and still had a top 5 year. He will come back with a vengeance and have stellar season yet again. Wes Welker has already been spotted running routes during training camp and now the question is whether he will be back in time for the season opener. Julian Edelman will make a massive leap in his second year and improve on what was an impressive rookie campaign. Brandon Tate should have been a first rounder had he not had the injury problems and he will shine through this season. Torry Holt was once the best in the business and is nothing like Joey Galloway because Holt is a precise and crisp route runner while Galloway was a speedster who lost to much tread on his tires.
3. Emerging Secondary. Last year, the secondary was too young and inexperienced, but showed enough glimpses of greatness that gives these optimistic fans hope. Meriweather is already a Pro-Bowler. Bodden has been really solid. At least some of the young pups (Butler, McCourty, and Chung) will come into their own this season.
4. Emerging Linebacking Corp. It’s pretty much universally agreed that there needed to be major improvement at this position. However, how much better the 2010 group is then its much maligned predecessors is highly disputed. Optimists claim that Mayo started off last year with an injury and will surely return back to his 2008 rookie of the year form. Tully Banta-Cain came out of nowhere last year, finishing the year with 9.5 sacks on the year which is a top 10 result. Brandon Spikes and Tyrone McKenzie will beef up the middle and bring a certain toughness that was clearly missing last year. Gary Guyton is too small to be used as an every down player and is much more effective when his speed can be maximized. Finally, Ninkovich and Cunningham are a significant improvement over a disgruntled Adalius Thomas.
5. “In Belichick We Trust”. It is believed by many that Bill’s dynasty is a dynasty to end all dynasties because it is built around a system, rather then specific players, a sort-of perpetual dynasty. So until that is proven wrong people still hold out hope. And why shouldn’t they, he brought New England 3 Superbowls and a 16-0 regular season. So it can be assumed that he knows what he is doing and that his choice of O’Brien to head the offense this year is a good one. McDaniels, after all, had a pretty bad first year as well and it wasn’t until his second year that he really excelled.

Which camp will be proven right? This question will be answered at the end of what will likely be yet another exciting Patriots Season. Enjoy folks!

By Scott A Benson, Patriots Daily Staff

Mankins: "If I only knew then..."

Like most Patriots fans, I like Logan Mankins. He may not be the most accomplished guard of the Belichick era (that would be Steve Neal, wouldn’t it?) but he’s probably the most skilled. I’d hoped that his contract situation would be peacefully resolved like Vince Wilfork’s, and it makes no difference to me whether he makes seven or eight million a year, or whether he gets 15 or 20 million guaranteed.

The Patriots do, and Mankins does, of course. So they must grind away and make sausage until it is resolved. I just prefer they keep it to themselves and leave me the hell out of it.

I think the Pats have kept up their end of the bargain – if a team functionary has whispered a thing about Mankins and his value over the past several months, it raised barely a blip with anybody. And what are the chances of that happening when you routinely have 40 people covering the team?

Mankins has grumbled now and again but the way I figure it, there’s a lot at stake, and there’s nothing wrong with saying you intend to get all that you can. There’s also nothing wrong with voicing some impatience with the process. Wilfork did, and no real harm was done.

But when you start congratulating yourself for being a team player by playing out an “undervalued deal” (why isn’t your word your bond where that is concerned?) and most especially when you start in with the shopworn ‘Pats as immoral lying skinflints’ rhetoric, that’s where I check out on Logan Mankins.

After listening to Mankins go Asante Samuel in the afternoon, the Pats broke their silence and floated the word that Mankins has for some time turned down a deal that would average $7M a season.

Now Team Mankins will immediately cry foul and claim that unless the team releases specific details about the bonus and distribution of the money associated with that offer, they’re lying again. Which PROVES Logan’s point! And on it goes.

Meanwhile he and his agent can whisper about how only players who bitch get paid in New England, and nobody will ask THEM to be more specific. They’ll just congratulate him for his principled stand, and for perspective, break down the Deion Branch situation one more time.

We’ve heard this bullshit before, and we know where it ends up. Wake me when get there.

by Chris Warner, Patriots Daily Staff

Okay, stay with us. In 2006, receiver Deion Branch sat out the beginning of the season in an attempt to work out a bigger, better contract. The Patriots tried to make do with Reche Caldwell and Doug Gabriel, adding Jabar Gaffney midway through the season. After a superhuman effort from Tom Brady, that team fell a minute short of winning the AFC Championship.

In 2007, Coach Bill Belichick made a concerted effort to make it up to Brady, getting Randy Moss and Wes Welker. This led to the greatest offense in NFL history and one of the biggest upsets in that year’s Super Bowl when the defense failed to hold a four-point lead in the final minutes.

Since Branch’s holdout the Patriots have evolved into the type of squad that has to outscore opponents because they cannot stop them. Though the passing proficiency has proven entertaining at times, it has failed to garner overall success. When thinking of Super Bowls, these names come to mind: David Patten, David Givens, Troy Brown and Branch. Not a Hall of Famer in the Bunch, but plenty of fat rings to go around.

Sunday’s collapse vs. Baltimore was about as much fun to watch as a vasectomy, largely because New England lost sight of what made them great five years ago (for clarification, see: 2009 Ravens and Jets). Therefore, Deion Branch, for breaking your contract and eventually coaxing the Patriots into taking the wrong path, you can take the final lap of the ill-fated 2009 season.

And, hey, if you want to come back to Foxboro, that’s cool, too.

Email Chris Warner at chris.warner@patriotsdaily.com

by Patriots Daily Kitchen Staff

The Patriots start off their playoff season facing the Ravens for the second time this year. Counting that game, the Patriots are 5-0 all time against the Ravens. Of course if you ask Jim Harbaugh, the Officials are 5-0 against the Ravens and the Patriots were only bystanders.

Now that the Ravens have identified and fixed their “it was the officials’ fault” issue, the Patriots will need to show up in both halves of this game.

What to eat?

Porterhouse is a steak of two halves. Unlike it’s cousin the T-bone where the second half is a poor whisp of a cut that lets teams score at will and throws away easy wins and halftime leads … sorry started talking about the Patriots performance in second halves there.

Back to the steak.

The Patriots need to be a Porterhouse, being a T-bone won’t cut it in the playoffs. One one side you have your strip steak. It always shows up and gets the job done, maybe it isn’t the fanciest thing around but if you start there
the rest of the meal should go smoothly. The second half is the tenderloin. A soft, buttery half that you can cut with a spoon… sorry talking about the Patriots second half performances again.

Be a Porterhouse, don’t be a T-bone Patriots.

Patriots Play both halves Porterhouse (serves 1 hungry or 2 normal people)

1 Porterhouse steak, on a Porterhouse the tenderloin side will be at least 1.25″ wide. But that is the minimum USDA definition, don’t settle for a tenderloin that small. Anything smaller than 1.25″ is a T-bone. Get a steak about 1.5″ thick, a little thinner is fine as long as it is thicker than 1″. The steak will weigh around 1.75 pounds give or take a few ounces.
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)

Steaks grill best when they are at room temperature. If your steaks are cold, the outside will be done before the inside is ready.

Simple preparation. There is no need to dress up this king of steaks. Salt the steak, preferably with kosher or sea salt and allow to rest. This will draw out some juices and help develop a crust on the grill. Let the steak rest at least 5 minutes for this to happen.

Set one side of your grill to high heat (450) and set another side to medium (300-350).

Grill over the high heat side for 2 minutes. Give the steak a 1/4 turn. Grill another 2 minutes. Flip, grill 2 minutes, give it a 1/4 turn and grill another 2 minutes. At this point you’ve grilled it for 8 minutes and you’ve gotten crosshatched grill marks on both sides.

Move the steak to the cooler side of the grill. Grill an additional 3 to 4 minutes for rare. 5 to 6 minutes for medium-rare, or 7 to 8 minutes for medium.

Add pepper to taste. Let the steak rest 5 minutes covered, before cutting.

As we’ve mentioned before, you do not need a meat thermometer to tell doneness. You can tell by touching the steak.

Hold out one hand with fingers extended. Touch the base of your thumb/palm with the index finger of the other hand. A steak will feel the same way when it is raw. Lightly touch your thumb to the tip of your index finger, and then feel – that is the feel of a rare steak. Thumb to middle finger is medium rare. Thumb to ring finger is medium. If someone wants their steak well done, you instead extend both middle fingers in their direction.

What to drink?

This is the third time the Baltimore-DC area has been on the Buffet Table and for the third time we’re going with Clipper City Brewing. Why? Because they’re that good, besides the game is a rematch so the beer should be as well.

Peg Leg Imperial Stout is part of Clipper City’s Heavy Seas line of stronger beers. As an Imperial Stout we can expect strong dark fruit (plum, raisin), heavy roast, chocolate, molasses, caramel or toffee type flavors and aromas. Alcohol percentage starts at 8% and can go past 12%. The ‘Imperial’ in the name comes from the origin of this beer style – a heavy substantial stout brewed for export to the Imperial Court of Russia in the 1800s.

Peg Leg weighs in at 8.0% ABV and features all English style ingredients.

Sam Adams Imperial Stout was released this year as part of their new Imperial Series. A 9.2% ABV beer with 50 bitterness units, this one differs from the other examples with it’s use of smoked malt.

Samuel Smith Imperial Stout features the oldest looking packaging, all Victorian and old-timey but I believe it was introduced during the 1980s. It’s 8.0% ABV and has the strongest yeast character of the examples – very plum like in taste.

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout is a 10.1% stout, heavy on the chocolate and roast flavors.

Great Divide Yeti from Denver, CO weighs in at 9.5% ABV and 75 bitterness units. Great Divide also puts out Yeti beers that have chocolate added, coffee added, and some that have been barrel aged.

From Pennsylvania, Victory Brewing puts out Storm King Stout. At 9.1% ABV it falls towards the middle of these examples alcohol wise, but it is amoung the hoppiest of the bunch.

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy is the only Imperial Stout I know of that is canned instead of bottles. A 10.5%, 98 bitterness unit Imperial Stout in a can, now that is 21st century technology – the hell with flying cars.

Founders Imperial Stout hits the charts at 10.5% ABV and 90 IBU. It’s also 100.5% good.

An odd playoff time appearance from Cleveland – Hoppin’ Frog B.O.R.I.S. is a Barrel Aged Oatmeal Imperial Stout. Say that 5 times fast or just say B.O.R.I.S. There is no truth to the rumor that Eric Mangini was the model for the frog on the label. It is true that this 9.4% ABV, 60 IBU is easy drinking for it’s size, and extra smooth from the oatmeal.

A couple of the smaller New England breweries also get in on the Imperial Stout act.

Berkshire Brewing Imperial Stout comes in at 8.5% ABV with chocolate and licorice flavors and aroma.

People’s Pint in Greenfield, MA brews their Imperial Stout to 9.2% ABV and 100 bitterness units.

Trinity Brewhouse in Providence, RI makes one of the oldest. Their Russian Imperial Stout has been produced for close to 15 years. Most brewers did not make beers this big back then. It’s closest to the Samuel Smith Imperial Stout at 8.0% ABV and 60 IBU.

Finally, both Long Trail and Smuttynose put out Imperial Stouts on a limited basis. Both of these beers are released in February so over the next few weeks you’ll see: Long Trail Brewmaster’s Series Coffee Imperial Stout and Smuttynose Big Beer Series Imperial Stout. If you try any of the stouts listed above, and want to try more examples definitely check these out when available.

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