People were concerned about tailgating in the parking lot before the game, so the day will start at 9:30AM with an “urban tailgate party” at Jillians in the Metreon in downtown San Francisco. This will give members from at least 3 groups – our meetup group, the SF Red Sox Meetup Group, and the Pats Tailgating Yahoo Group – a chance to meet & greet people they may not already know, many of whom they will be sitting with at the stadium.

At 11:30 the group will make its way to the Powell Street BART station and catch the train to the stadium with plenty of time to spare before the opening kick off.

Please make sure to update your RSVP so we have a sense of how many people to expect at Jillians. Also in the comments section of your RSVP indicate if you bought tix and will be sitting with the group in Section 148 or what section you’re sitting in if you bought tix on your own – just in case there are others in the group whose seats may be near yours.

The Patriots came up BIG in Miami against the Fish. Cassell is on fire, and it couldn't come at a better time. Now we have the Steelers in Foxborough, and this should be a rock 'em, sock 'em, AFC matchup! No love lost between these two AFC rivals, and this game again has important playoff implications for the Patriots (tied with the Colts and the Ravens at 7-4 for the wildcard spots). Come join us at The Tower Grille in Danville for the 1:15PM kickoff.

For this Meetup we are going to join with the SF Red Sox Meetup group at Overtime Sports Bar & Grill in San Francisco for a combination Meetup and fundraiser. See info below (I copied and pasted from the SF Red Sox meetup site):

The Pats are up for a rematch of the September 14th win against Favre and Mangini! Our boys are playing a rival on at a special night, at a special time. Good reason to meet for a special cause!

That cause is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Blood cancer, in a nut shell. I've been training and fundraising 2+ months now for a century, the cycling equivalent of a marathon, in support of leukemia and lymphoma research. It’s even affected our little group here—one of our most feverent Sox fans, Robert Steinberg (aka Dr. Chocolate for co-founding Scharffen Berger chocolates) lost his 19 year-battle with lymphoma just a short while ago. http://www.sfgate.com...

I know Overtime can be difficult to get to for those without cars. So I'll personally drive people back afterward if you can attend and support this cause.

We’ll be having some festive fundraising!
-Overtime and Sam Adams have graciously donated a keg, so all proceeds from it will go to charity! CHEERS!
-We'll have clam chowdah from Legal Seafoods to sell by the bowl!
-There'll be Dunkin' Donuts coffee and cookies!
-*And* we'll be raffling off some nice prizes...more announcements on those later (but always taking donations if you'd like to offer prizes, please email me through Meetup).

I leave for the century the very next day, and I ride on Saturday. Whether you can make it or not, please visit my training website. It’s full of oh-so-interesting and ha-ha funny anecdotes about training, information about the cause, and information about the program if you’ve ever been interested in training for an endurance sport while supporting a good cause. Oh, and you can donate there too.

Thanks all, ‘hope to see you on Thursday.

And of course, GO SOX!

http://pages.teamintr...

Crashing back to reality, the Pats are looking like they are going to be fighting just to make the playoffs at this point. 3-2 is not a bad start for MOST teams in the NFL, but after last season's 16-0 it is painful to watch. The Broncos are looking strong as usual, so the Pats need to bounce back after a dismal performance in San Diego.