Week 15: Miami Dolphins 24, New England Patriots 20 (10-4) (Sunday, December 15, 2013)

Week 15: Miami Dolphins 24, New England Patriots 20 (10-4) (Sunday, December 15, 2013)

A bitter disappointment. The Patriots had the No. 1 seed right within their grasp and they let it slip away by losing to Miami, 24-20. They had plenty of opportunities to get into the end zone but had to settle for field goals, and kicker Stephen Gostkowski did not have a good day, missing a field goal and kicking the ball out-of-bounds so that it was placed at the 40-yard line for Miami. Not much good to report on today except Julian Edelman was a force and Jimmy Devlin did well. LaGarrette Blount ran the ball pretty well.

Bottom line: the Patriots should have won this game. They once again were driving for a comeback (Tom's specialty) but fell short. Sure, they came back other times, but this game would have clinched the division and put them in that No. 1 spot. No one is happy right now on the team, and they shouldn’t be. They blew it.

Pats and Jets lost, Dolphins and Bills won.

NE 10-4
Miami 8-6
NYJ 6-8
BUFF 5-9

December 16, 1944

Today is the 69th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. It was the Third Reich's last gasp and Panzer units attacked and surrounded embattled towns like Bastogne and caused the Allied lines to be pushed back. The soldiers were thinking about Christmas and were mentally unprepared for the brutal struggle ahead.

Europeans said it was one of the worst winters in memory, and many soldiers froze to death as well as were killed in action. Allied planes were grounded due to bad weather and it was the largest land battle that American soldiers would ever be involved in. During the battle (which lasted well into January), the infamous Malmedy Massacre took place, with the S.S. killing dozens of American POWs. There was spy business going on as well, as trained Germans pretended to be Americans and misdirected American troops and switched signs, etc. It was a distressing time for people, hoping for the end of the war as they tried to celebrate the holidays back home, and the titanic struggle exploded just nine days before Christmas.

By the time the Allies pushed the Nazis back, many lives had been lost, but Germany was finally broken. They would never again put up a fight on the scale of the Battle of the Bulge, and the war would be over in Europe in May of 1945.

It was said that many of the American soldiers who were replacements and pretty green acquitted themselves well in this battle, and that when cut off from their units, they took the initiative without orders from superiors. The Germans were the better soldiers but the Americans were better at independent action when necessary.

Please remember the veterans of World War II and all veterans of all wars. Thank you.