New England Patriots Cheerleaders Take Center Stage

The NFL Football season is just around the corner.

BUT until then, the New England Patriots cheerleaders take center stage. The beautiful vixens hosted a free party at the Cask 'N' Flaggon to celebrate the release of their 2007 swimsuit calendar.

The celebration provided partygoers with an autograph session, meet-and-greet opportunities and photos with all 23 members of the squad. A special screening of ''Poms to Palms,'' the behind-the-scenes video of the making of the calendar, also filled the evening.

The cheerleaders also provided a reminder to Boston sports fans that a new season of Patriots football is just around the corner.

Speaking of the New England Patriots...

Patriots owner Robert Kraft suggested that Friday's deadline for Deion Branch to find a trade could be more final than we thought. Speaking at the team's Kickoff Gala, Kraft was asked if he still felt optimistic Branch would open the season in a Patriots uniform.

Kraft said, ''Like all our fans, I appreciate that Deion's very special. But we have to let things work their way out and we'll see what happens come Friday.''

Kraft was then asked for clarification. Couldn't Friday's deadline come and go with Branch's situation unresolved?

''What you have to do is figure out what resolution and optimism mean to you,'' Kraft said. ''All of us know what we'd prefer to see happen. We'll wait and see what happens.''

There are a few possible resolutions. Branch could be traded or agree to an extension. He could play this season for his current contract and hit free agency, or sit out until Week 10 and still have this season count toward his service time.

Nevertheless, to say that the New England Patriots will have their hands full as the brand new NFL Football season nears could be an understatement.

Can Tom Brady lead the New England Patriots all the way to Miami, Florida and win Super Bowl XLI? Sports Interaction has the outright odds on that one.

New England Patriots 9.00

Dallas Cowboys 15.00

Seattle Seahawks 11.00

Pittsburgh Steelers 11.00

An Evolution for the Patriots in NFL Football is Imminent

As of this writing, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is tinkering on revamping the Patriots roster.

A BIG revamp at that.

Rumors have it that the New England Patriots are looking to bring back the Super Bowl glory days of yesteryears by rounding up waived players from other teams at the end of the NFL Football preseason.

If the Pats' do that, then they could very well find themselves in an entirely different landscape this coming NFL Football season. Whether that could be a good or a bad thing remains to be seen.

The first cuts are due by tomorrow at 4 pm, when teams must be down to 75 players. In the past, teams had to be down to 65 players on the first cutdown day.

That means the big wave of available players won't be there until the final cutdown day Sept. 2, when teams trim from 75 to 53. While NFL Football Europe exemptions run out tomorrow (they've lasted to the second round of cuts in the past), coach Belichik surmised yesterday that there will be around 100 extra players on rosters this week compared to past years.

Consequently, there will also be around 100 extra free agents to sift through following Sept. 2. It's hard to tell how it will play out, other than creating more work for personnel departments around the league next week.

''How it will affect everyone else, I don’t know,'' Belichick said.

The New England Patriots will have to cut 10 players between now and tomorrow. Belichick wouldn't say whether some of the cuts would come sooner.

Can Tom Brady lead the New England Patriots all the way to Miami, Florida and win Super Bowl XLI? Sports Interaction has the outright odds on that one.

New England Patriots 9.00

Dallas Cowboys 15.00

Seattle Seahawks 11.00

Pittsburgh Steelers 11.00