The following were the five most read posts on Internet128.com in 2006, as roughly estimated by me based on non-exact statistics and possibly wishful thinking:

The Kaavya Viswanathan “Opal Mehta” plagiarism story was big news back in April and May and continues to bring people to this site. Quite a few people are looking for Ms. Viswanathan’s blog. If she doesn’t have one already, maybe she should start one?

Whenever you complain about local television news being a hodgepodge of crime and traffic accidents, bear in mind that a bunch of pictures from the scene of a bus-on-pedestrian accident in Davis Square was one of the most visited posts on this site. People like that stuff.

A couple of pictures of the destruction of One Davis Square also made their way into the top five.

One of the odd-ball stories of 2006 was the IKEA catalog cover that arguably showed a dog with an impressive member. A tidal wave of Canadian visitors carried the post to the top five.

My post on the nasty flare-up between San Diego Chargers defensive tackle Igor Olshansky and the Denver Broncos center Tom Nalen drew a good deal of traffic, mostly from Chargers fan sites, and would have been the most read post of the year on Internet128.com had not my former web host completely collapsed in a three-day service outage. I’m still putting it in the top 5.

It should be noted that Universal Hub, the hub of blogs in the Hub of the Universe, played an important part in driving traffic to the Davis Square posts, as well as, although to a smaller extent, to the Viswanathan post.

My best performing post from earlier years, which in effect means last year, is this one on the unfair demise of Desi babe Toral on The Apprentice.

The New England Patriots had a couple of bruising games against the Tennessee Titans in the first half of this decade, during New England’s Super Bowl era. Today’s game was reminiscent of those slugfests. It was physical,it was brutal, it went on all game long, and in the end the Patriots won.

New England’s 40-23 victory had a lot of memorable moments, none more so than runningback Corey Dillon’s first touchdown run. The Patriots ran an off-tackle right on a variation of the Power-I play they’ve used with great success this season. Instead of three tight-ends, they had a split end on the left-side, with tight-ends Daniel Graham and Dave Thomas manning the right side (Graham on the line of scrimmage, as per usual, and Thomas off it), and fullback Heath Evans in the backfield. The play was beautifully executed, the Patriots’ best blocked play of the year. It was a work of art and a thing of beauty. The players hit every block and no one came close to holding. Center Dan Koppen cut down the middle linebacker, left tackle Matt Light delivered a good shove on the right outside linebacker, keeping him from chasing down Dillon downfield. Left guard Logan Mankins sealed off the play’s backside in the backfield while right tackle Nick Kaczur bore down on the left defensive end. Right guard Stephen Neal pulled right and blocked the left outside linebacker out of the play. That left Graham and Thomas to seal off the inside while Evans cleared Dillon’s lane with two blocks downfield. The Titans were completely overwhelmed and swept aside at the point of attack and the hard charging Dillon rode the wave for 21 yards to the corner of the endzone for six points. It was just beautiful.

An earlier play that showcased the strengths of New England’s offensive line - technique and mobility - came on a screen-pass left that Dillon took across the field for 52 yards. Koppen, Mankins and Neal did a heck of a job engaging defenders on that play, too, while the tackles did their best to sell the play as a straight pocket pass.

Dillon ended up with 67 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. His back up Laurence Maroney - who really is Dillon’s equal - gained 73 yards on 13 carries and scored a touchdown.

All three touchdown runs came out of the power-I right.

Tom Brady had another day of excellence, completing 15 of 24 passes for 225 yards, including a 62 yard bomb to Reche Caldwell. Caldwell had his best day as a Patriots and finished with four catches for 134 yards. What made the touchdown play noteworthy wasn’t just the distance it went for but also the way Caldwell got open, adjusted to the slightly underthrown pass and then then dotted the i by taking the ball the final 20 some yards to the endzone. That was a very good play by Caldwell. Brady completed passes to eight different players, including Chad Jackson. Jackson has mostly been a disappointment but today he showed some of the speed, strength and hands he was supposed to bring to the team.

The defense had another great game and mostly kept Titans rookie quarterback Vince Young in check, though it did surrender a 28 scramble for a touchdown to the former Longhorn. Cornerback Asante Samuel picked off the not overly accurate Young twice and brought his regular-season total to 10. Mike Wright once again did a solid job filling in for banged up nose tackle Vince Wilfork and back-up lineman Jarvis Green forced a fumble that outside linebacker Rosevelt Colvin opportunistically pounced on to set up New England’s second field goal.

While offense and defense had solid to great games, special teams were atrocious. It gave up long returns all day long, including an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed a field-goal attempt and had an extra point attempt blocked.

During a press conference last week, head coach Bill Belichick gave a lengthy answer when asked if he ever regards extra points automatic. His short answer was no. He then responded to a follow-up question:

I’ve gone and watched high school teams, and ninth-grade teams, and eighth-grade teams, I’ve seen them kick extra points. I bring that up to our team. There are a lot of teams that can kick extra points, so I don’t think that we’re asking anything that would be that extraordinary. But at the same time, it doesn’t take much to [mess] one up. Why would you [mess] it up? It would just be a lack of concentration. That’s what it would be. It’s not that we can’t do it. It just kind of heightens the awareness of that play. Again, I don’t mean to magnify it into the most spectacular play in the game, but I think it’s obviously an important play because it’s a scoring play. I’ll be honest with you, I do watch those plays and I do think that there’s something to be said for those plays. Obviously, it affects the score. The only reason that field goal team ever goes on the field is to score points. That’s the only reason why they are out there. So if they come off the field and they don’t have points on the board, as a unit, they haven’t done their job and that’s not good. There’s no other reason to send them out there.

I imagine the PAT team will hear about their [mess] up this week.

An ugly play happened when a Titans receiver cut and injured safety Rodney Harrison who returned from a knee injury just last week. Early indications are that Harrison wasn’t hurt too bad and will be back for the next game.

Last season’s last game had a light-hearted moment when back-up quarterback Doug Flutie successfully drop-kicked an extra point, the first time that had happened in half a century or so in the NFL. This time we saw veteran quarterback Vinny Testaverde toss a six-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Troy Brown. That extended Testaverde’s streak of seasons in which he has tossed at least one touchdown pass to 20. Belichick certainly doesn’t mind having a hand in writing NFL history.

The win over Tennessee concluded New England’s regular season. Patriots finished with a 12-4 record. Next stop: The playoffs.

January 1 updates:

Titans didn’t take kindly to Testaverde’s garbage time touchdown pass, reports the Boston Globe:

“I think it was [expletive], and as long as I am here I will always remember that,” [Titans linebacker Keith] Bulluck said.

That’s terrific. I hope he thinks about it every day and dreams about it every night. In the meantime, the Patriots will be thinking about the playoffs

Tomorrow Sunday is not just the end of 2006 but also the end of my year of working at an office in Davis Square in Somerville outside of Boston. I shall mark this milestone by handing out the first ever Internet128.com Rafsty, or Rafsty for short (Rafsty is an Anglicized version of the Swedish word räfst, but that is of no importance). If the Rafsty had a physical manifestation, which it doesn’t, it would look something like The Thinker, dressed in casual clothing, wearing a Red Sox cap, holding a large black coffee in one hand and a copy of The Wall Street Journal in the other.

I shall award this very first and maybe very last Rafsty to the establishment that does the most to improve quality of life in Davis Square and also best reflects the spirit of Davis Square, as judged by me.

The Square has several worthy candidates, as well as some non-candidate worthies. By the latter I mean places like Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts, franchise outlets that certainly help make a place better but hardly reflect its particular character.

Davis Square is currently drifting upwards: The bohemian Someday Cafe has closed and will be replaced by a crepes restaurant. H&R Block has opened up in the storefront that used to be Mini Mart. An apparel boutique has moved into the space abandoned by a video store. One Davis Square was knocked down a couple of months ago to make way for a CVS pharmacy and a health club. Some people undoubtedly welcome the changes while others revile them. Being a reactionary pro-market type of person, I’m rather torn. Well, I’m not all that torn about One Davis; when I first looked at Davis Square as a place to put the office three years ago or so I rejected it as too dumpy, partly because of that particular building. But Davis Square has commendable qualities which aren’t likely to survive infinite physical and demographic change. It would be rather sad if Davis, Porter, Harvard, and Central Squares end up more less indistinguishable from each other.

For now, at least, they are not, and Davis Square is the Red Line square that I like the best.

Among the worthy candidates are the Fruit Market on Elm Street, a convenience store with cheap and good fruit is a rare commodity and offers a healthy snack alternative to donuts and cookies; Blue Shirt Cafe, with tasty and competitively priced soups and sandwiches as well as breakfast items; Redbones, which hardly requires comment. Other places that many are likely to find Rafsty candidate-worthy are Dave’s Fresh Pasta, Somerville Theatre, Sessa’s Italian grocery store, McIntyre and Moore Booksellers, as well as other places. An institution that certainly adds to quality of life is the farmers’ market during summer months. Like I said, Davis Square has a lot of commendable qualitites.

However, I shall not dilute the Rafsty but creating a glossy magazine’s worth of categories just to ingratiate myself with as many people as possible. When it comes to Rafsty, there can be only one. At least this time.

And the Internet128.com Rafsty goes to…

…goes to…

Diesel Cafe.

One can reasonably call that a safe, conventional and unimaginative choice, but only because Diesel Cafe is that good. Kind of like calling the Soviet Union’s national team in ice hockey the best in the world in 1981. Duh. For those who question my choice I would point to the following:

1) Staff. Not quite friendly perhaps, but always courteous and polite, and I’ve never seen any of its members crack during the busy lunch hours. They have also never given me a reason to complain.

2) Food. Diesel offers excellent sandwiches (the Monkeywrench being my favorite) and salads good enough to tempt carnivores. The cafe recently expanded its offerings, but I haven’t gotten quite familiar enough with the new menu to pass judgement on it one way or the other. I doubt it will disappoint.

3) Coffee. There’s probably nothing special about Diesel’s coffee in this day and age. Diesel seems to have all those strange combinations people prefer these days - mocha, latte, espresso, what have you - but I’m a black coffee kind of guy myself. What’s worth mentioning is that Diesel sells its small coffee for just a buck twenty-five, about two bits less than the majors charge.

4) Seating options. Choose between Euro-continental seats and tables up front, or plush U.S. diner booths in the middle, or university style reading tables in the back (where additional booths recently were installed). There are even a token few bar stools. Pick your preference.

5) General ambience. It has buzz and energy, but is neither loud nor straining to be hip or relevant or any of that. I like that. One also gets the feeling that the people who own and run Diesel Cafe - and I am somewhat ashamed to admit I have no idea who he/she/they is/are - work really hard to maintain the place’s high standards. Heck, the staff has even produced a collection of poems and art work called Work. If I were to make one objection it would be to that one staffer whose Halloween costume, a gruesome neck injury, was a tad too realistic for a place that serves food. But, hey, you can’t fault a guy for dedication and execution. Finally, it bears mentioning that one can purchase wireless access for a reasonable-sounding $14 a month.

I should admit to having a certain cultural bias that works in Diesel’s favor, as I have mentioned before. When I went to high-school in the Old Country I spent countless hours after school in a cafe not entirely unlike - but cetainly not identical to - Diesel Cafe, exchanging trivial gossip and discussing Important Issues with a group of classmates that shifted in composition and size but probably included some dozen or more characters. Like I said, I’m a reactionary. But chances are you’ll like Diesel Cafe, too, even if you didn’t grow up in a cafe culture. Diesel is the kind of place, I think, that can make you like it for a any of a number of different reasons.

So Diesel Cafe bags the Rafsty.

You are probably familiar with the saying that success has a thousand parents while failure is an orphan. I was reminded of that when a local university recently invited me and the missus to watch a movie (or possibly exhibition, or perhaps both) that celebrates the school’s contributions to “social justice.” I imagine the “social justice” in question is a hodge podge of civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, foreigners’ rights, unionism and probably a few other causes tossed in for good measure. What probably won’t be included is the rise of the single-mom household, even though that development is probably the single most important one in American society over the past fifty years. Just recently I came across a study that advocates for a minimum-wage increase (which I support) that casually mentioned that “the increase in single-parent families can explain all of the increase in child poverty since 1970.”

That’s only of the very many consequences of the rise of the single-mom households. Another is the rise in violent crime. How many homicides over the past 35 years were indirectly caused by the prevalence of single-mom households? 50,000? 100,000? 200,000? Then there’s the detrimental impact on wealth creation. On health. On housing. On just about any number of aspects of life. It seems to me that the single-mom culture, if one can call it that, is the worst disaster that has beset American society over the past few decades.

But I don’t think a university will ever invite me or anybody else to watch a movie or exhibition on its contributions to the intellectual, ideological, legal and political forces that brought about the rapid rise of the single-mom household. Perhaps some prison-management company will.

New England Patriots celebrated Christmas Eve by defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-21.

Was it an impressive victory? Yes, it was.

As I have grown fond of complaining, the Patriots have an inadequate receiving corps, an offensive line that’s merely above average and a fading linebacker corps. With that in mind their victory on the road was impressive, especially as the defense managed to contain the Jaguars most of the game, giving up only a freak long run and a deep pass when Jacksonville’s quarterback scrambled from the pass rush.

Rookie tight-end David Thomas had a solid performance in the absence of injured Ben Watson. Thomas made 5 catches for 83 yards, including a diving catch in the end zone for a touchdown. His longest reception was a 36 yard catch and run along the left sideline.

Thomas was also effective in the run blocking, as were tight end Daniel Graham and fullback Heath Evans. Together they delivered devastating lead-blocks off-tackle, breathing life into the power formation that in recent games had lost some the punch it had earlier in the season. Linebacker Mike Vrabel filled in on the off-side of the power-I formation.

Quarterback Tom Brady completed passes to 11 different player. He completed 28 of 39 passes for 249 yards and one touchdown. He was also effective running the ball, picking 31 yards on 10 carries

New England’s defense had a really good day, in spite of giving up three touchdowns. Jacksonville managed only 12 first downs to New England’s 22, and only three on the ground. Patriots held on to the ball for 37:13. Bottom line: Jacksonville never got its running game on track.

Back-up defensive tackle Mike Wright did a good job filling in for injured nose tackle Vince Wilfork. Wright is strong and has good technique, but simply lacks Wilfork’s heft. While Wright can hold his ground and also make tackles against the run, Wilfork clogs the middle. Likewise, while Wright can penetrate the pocket pressure on pass plays and pressure the quarterback, Wilfork can push and collapse the pocket. Still, Wright did a good job against a physical team and showed that the defensive line is not only where the Patriots are the strongest, but also has the best depth.

With the victory New England improved to 11-4 and clinched the AFC East for the fourth straight year.

Merry Christmas!

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth;
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

A follow-up post on The Lower Depths, the latest addition to Kenmore Square, is in order. The missus and I went their last weekend for lunch but we’re curious to see how it would work at night. The Lower Depths brings a grown-up, casual establishment to the southeastern part of kenmore Square and adds a value-priced alternative to Eastern Standard, which, in my opinion, is the crown jewel of the square. A couple of crown jewels is also about the average check at ES.

I am happy to report that The Lower Depths works very well as place to drink and gab with your friend(s) or significant other, and the staff is quite agreeable*. I have already expressed my satisfaction with the roast beef sandwich and the sloppy joes but I’m not 100% sold on the nachos. I think it’s guacamole that’s coming up a bit short. The Fenway Frank, on the other hand, is a steal at $1. While I’m a devoted fan of light domestic beer more discriminating consumers can choose from dozens of domestic and imported beers, including some of those weird Belgian beers that apparently are popular with a good many beer drinkers.

Here’s how the missus, who likes the place, sums up The Lower Depths: “Cheap, funky, trying to be casual but cool.” She also makes an interesting comparison with Petit Robert Bistro three doors down the street: “When Petit Robert started they had growing pains, but it was all service related. At The Lower Depths the service is great but the food needs to be worked out a bit.”

That may be the case but a place like Petit Robert Bistro needs to have the complete package in order to deliver a satisfactory experience, while you can have a good time at the Lower Depths even if certain details aren’t quite where they should be. Good beer and appropriately loud music can carry you a long way.

Anyway, I shall make it my duty to follow The Lower Depths.

*Agreeable? Well, bar and restaurant review writing isn’t normally what I do for a hobby, but I’m sure if you frequent The Lower Depths you too will find staff agreeable.

Mahdi heads the Badr militia while Sadr is the head of the Mahdi militia. Sounds like a scene from Airplane or Spies Like Us:

“Mahdi, Badr.”

“Sadr, Mahdi.”

I’m looking forward to President George W. Bush explaining why we should side with one against the other:

“We must help Mahdi maul the Mahdi, or else Sadr could savage the Badr, leaving Mahdi deposed and his Shiite supporters defensless to Sadr’s shiite Mahdi marauders.”

Perhaps we could just call them all Mahdr. Good Mahdr and Bad Mahdr. That way they can swap sides seamlessly, so that Good Mahdr becomes Bad Mahdr when they or we feel like it.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick unloaded on the National Football League’s competition committee during his press conference today after getting a question on whether quarterbacks get too much protection from the rules:

Q: What is your general feeling about the way the quarterbacks are being protected these days and the way the rule is being interpreted today versus years ago?

BB: My background is as a defensive coach, so you can probably figure out the answer to that question. But the bottom line is that nobody cares what I think. It doesn’t make any difference.

Q: I care what you think. [Laughter]

BB: [Laughter] You got me on that one. I’m telling you. You got me on that one. But again, that’s one of those things that I don’t have any control over — do you want replay, do you not want replay? Pass interference at the point, a 15-yard penalty? I would say go talk to the geniuses that make the rule, because really they’re the ones who make it and they have all the answers, ‘Here’s why we do it this way. Here’s why we don’t do it that way.’ They want to sit in there and talk about how much money all the quarterbacks are making and we don’t want to see those guys on injured/reserve. They have all of the answers, so really I think that they could explain it a lot better than I can. Whatever the rules are, we need to understand them and play within those boundaries. That’s all I know.

Q: I was just asking in a theoretical sense to somebody that has been in the league for more than 30 years.

BB: Look, nobody wants to see a quarterback hurt and the quarterback is in the position, a lot of times, where he can’t defend himself. He’s looking at a receiver, he’s stepping, he’s trying to throw the ball and he really can’t protect himself from somebody who is trying to knock his head off. That’s different from a running back and for the most part it’s different even than a receiver, although once in awhile we see a receiver try to catch a poorly thrown ball usually, and they get laid out by a defensive player, but that’s more of a result of where the ball is thrown. Defensively you’re protected on crack-back blocks and things like that. I think the concept of protecting a guy, whether it be a returner who can fair catch, giving the quarterback protection in the pocket, hey once he gets out of the pocket there’s a little bit less protection, although he gets plenty out there too, the slides and all of that, there’s a million rules that of all been put in there basically to help him when he can’t protect himself, which is when he’s trying to look downfield and deliver the ball. We all know that’s an exciting part of the game, the passing game in the National Football League. That’s one of the things that make this the greatest game and the best part of it is the skill of those players and then the guys they throw to. I think we’re all on board with that. Now as it goes to each specific rule and point, the one-step rule and sliding, below the knees, and above the shoulders, helmet to helmet and all of that. There’s a point to everything and how much is too much and what’s not enough. Hey, I tell you right now when they meet again this year there will be another one in this year too. They’ll talk about it, I don’t know whether they’ll pass it or not, but there will be some other rule. Like I said, I think you should talk to the guys who make the rules. There are plenty of people on that committee and they love to talk about the rules that they’ve made and how great they are and all that, honestly. The Charley Casserly’s of the world, that have all the answers to everything. Talk to them. They’ve spent a lot of time studying it, a lot more than I have and I’m sure they have all the answers.

Q: Surely, the pendulum can’t swing any further than it already has.

BB: Why not?

Q: Well because the defensive players don’t even know what they can and can’t do.

BB: They don’t make the rules either. The pendulum can swing as far as the people who make and pass the rules. I’m not just saying it’s the competition committee. The league votes on all of that too, so there must be enough of a sentiment within the league to pass those rules. 32 teams vote on them and I don’t know however many they need to vote, whatever the number is, you have to have enough people to want the rule for it to be a rule.

Q: Is it two-thirds?

BB: I don’t know. Look, I’m not on any of those NFL committees. I don’t want to be on any of them. I just want to coach the Patriots and see if we can beat Jacksonville. That’s really all I’m interested in.

Q: Do they ask you to be on those committees and you turn them down?

BB: Look, all I want to do is coach the Patriots and try to win a football game here. I’m not trying to conquer the world. I just want to win one game.

As the Boston Herald’s Albert Breer notes, it was the second time this week that Belichick went after Casserly after the latter claimed the Patriots had been warned by the league not to film the opposing team’s offense from the sideline.

There’s been a lot of speculation that Belichick is going to retire after this season, that he has had enough of all the non-football stuff he has to deal with as a head coach. That’s all speculation, but certainly when one hears him vent like that one might think that maybe the coach, the by far most sucessful coach New England Patriots have ever had, has had about enough. I think he’ll be back, though.

My wife and I walked into a CVS store on the Brookline side of Commonwealth Avenue this evening and happened upon an unexpected scene. Seven Brookline police officers were in the process of detaining one black woman and one black man, both suspected of shoplifting if I correctly understood the interaction between the police officers and the detained woman, and statements made by a witness.

Items that the woman allegedly had lifted were strewn on the floor. “Are you sending me to jail for four things” the woman asked the cops, one of whom answered that there were at least twenty things. Most of the items seemed to be cold medicines. The woman then screamed she was pregnant and had been bleeding. At one point she attempted to partially undress.

The police officers handled the situation very professionally and remained calm, assertive and non-abusive the entire time, even though the woman refused to co-operate with their instructions (which basically were for her to stand up and not make a spectacle of herself). It’s not often one gets to see Brookline cops in action (what the heck happens in Brookline besides traffic violations) but based on this one incident I’d say Brookliners can feel pretty good about their cops.

Eventually they got her to stand up and they led both suspects out of the store. One of the store clerks thanked the cops and praised them for responding so quickly. It should be noted that the store workers handled the situation well, too.

I snapped the picture below with my cell phone camera. It is my hope that it is clear enough to be of some value to readers but blurry enough to not show too much. Remember that suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty by a court.

Seven cops responded to a shoplifting incident? That’s policing.