Emily Sweeney's presentation

Good presentation by Boston Globe reporter Emily Sweeney in class Wednesday on video reporting, a subject that is becoming more and more familiar with every week. Emily was both informative and entertaining, and she had plenty of points to make on what it is like to make videos regularly for a major newspaper consistently.

One of the ones I liked the most was her point that length and complexity are not always the key to a good video. Often, video reporting or video blogging seems intimidating, because it creates fears of having to basically put a documentary together for every story. As Emily said, that's not the case. She pointed out that newspapers encourage their reporters to assemble short clips, videos that are to the point and not a physical burden to put together. And of course, they can be fun. Her Bingo film was a great example. She films herself and her interview subjects, and splices b-roll and music in between. The result is a video that serves as a great compliment to her article, and one that you don't need to be Quentin Tarantino to make.

Speaking of telling stories, Emily also spoke about how videos can not only compliment a story, but be a story as well. She demonstrated this in a video on tractor pulling, using the footage of driving tractors (one of which was driven by her), interviews with people and subtitles to express the story. There is no article with it, and there's no need for one. It shows the value of video in reporting, which was the point of her presentation to the class on Wednesday.

Finally, Emily expressed that, while it is hard to doubt the importance of video to journalism now, writing is still at the heart of the craft. Her story on Simply 2 Impress Auto Club shows the union of journalism with video well. She has the story, an in-depth portrayal of the auto club, and the video at the bottom does not try to tell the story, but provide another dimension to it. Emily said that being web-savvy went from being a recommendation to a requirement, and this is why. Journalists aim to present the story from all angles, a goal made even more possible with video at your disposal.

Week 10 picks

Picks in bold

New Orleans at Atlanta: Two quarterbacks looking for major honors - New Orleans's Drew Brees for MVP, Atlanta's Matt Ryan for Rookie of the Year - clash in what could be a shootout. The Saints are desperate, and Brees (shown) pulls it out in the end.

Tennessee at Chicago: First the Bears lost Kyle Orton. Then they barely held on against woeful Detroit. Now they take on the undefeated Titans? It'll be close, but Rex Grossman won't beat Tennessee.

Jacksonville at Detroit: What's happened to the Jaguars? An emerging powerhouse last year, they've sunk to 3-5 and are going to need a huge turnaround to get back to the postseason. They'll beat Detroit, but have major questions going forward.

Seattle at Miami: Tony Sparano should be a prime candidate for Coach of the Year. His Wildcat formation is tearing up the league, and affecting other teams' gameplans as well. And of course, he has the Dolphins, 1-15 last year, thinking playoffs. Those aspirations continue as Miami surges above .500.

Green Bay at Minnesota: An intense rivalry gets kicked up a notch, as both teams need wins to keep division and title hopes alive. But Adrian Peterson runs well at home, and the Vikings will benefit.

Buffalo at New England: Last week, the Colts were the team that needed a victory to keep its season alive. This week, the Patriots are the desperate ones, as a loss could drop them from a tie for first place to the AFC East cellar. Randy Moss exposes a suspect Buffalo secondary, and the Patriots march on.

St. Louis at New York Jets: Bad teams (and the Rams are one) have given the Jets problems, as a loss to the Raiders and slim victory over the Bengals showed. New York plays ugly, but wins.

Baltimore at Houston: The Matt Ryan of the AFC, Joe Flacco has emerged to give the Ravens a legitimate passing game. Baltimore wins its fourth straight.

Carolina at Oakland: The Raiders aren't the least talented team in the NFL, but what they lack in bad players, they more than make up for in bad management. Cutting DeAngelo Hall convinces the players that there's no hope of winning this year, so the Panthers do instead.

Indianapolis at Pittsburgh: The Steelers looked impressive Monday night against the Redskins, but that was against a Jason Campbell-led offense that felt no need to try any plays over five yards. Peyton Manning and Co. won't settle like that, they'll make the Steelers work on defense, and the Colts will get the win.

Kansas City at San Diego: The pitiful Chiefs are no match in a division game at San Diego. The Chargers roll.

New York Giants at Philadelphia: The NFC East was supposed to be football's ultra-competitive division. So far, the Giants have been the clear-cut favorite, and their dominance has been astounding. That being said, the Eagles need a win badly to keep pace, and get it in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.

San Francisco at Arizona: There was a time when this would have been a 49er blowout. It still won't be close, but it'll be league MVP-hopeful Kurt Warner and the Cardinals putting up the points.

Last week: 9-5. Season: 9-5

Missed chance

The Patriots missed out on an opportunity to add a significant infusion of talent into their depleted secondary.

DeAngelo Hall, the Pro Bowl cornerback cut by the Raiders for some mysterious reason, ended his brief unemployment by signing with the Redskins on Friday. During his two days on the market, the 24-year-old was recruited heavily by teams including the New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers and Patriots.

It's very possible that Hall was unattainable from the start. He's a Virginia product, and enjoyed a successful college career at Virginia Tech. Hearing the call from Washington, the team closest to his home state, may have been all he wanted to hear. Throw in the fact that the Redskins are a legitimate playoff threat, and the deal may have been done.

But assuming that wasn't the case, and Hall was weighing his options, the Patriots dropped a golden opportunity. At this point, New England is looking for bodies to put into red, white, blue and silver and stick in the secondary. Between Super Bowl XLII and the start of the season, the Patriots saw Asante Samuel, Randall Gay, Eugene Wilson, Tank Williams, Jason Webster and John Lynch depart via free agency, release or injury. During the season, that list has grown to include Rodney Harrison, for the season, and Terrence Wheatley.

Along came a chance to get a mega-talented corner, at the peak of his game, who still managed 43 tackles and three interceptions playing half-heartedly for an embarrassment. In New England's secondary, Hall would have brought his ball-hawk skills and blazing speed to a cornerback position that, joined with Deltha O'Neal, Ellis Hobbs and Jason Webster (resigned), would have become one of the fastest units in the league.

Remember those long bombs that tore apart the Patriots at San Diego? And those slot passes to Anthony Gonzalez that resulted in both touchdowns for Indianapolis? Those passes are a lot riskier with Hall out there, who, while not a physical presence, often is an interception waiting to happen.

Of course, with Hall, there is the attitude problem to account for. But according to his Raider teammates, he couldn't have been too hard to stand. Besides, many of the Patriots' biggest acquisitions (Corey Dillon and Randy Moss spring to mind) were branded chemistry cancers also, before turning it around to post Pro Bowl-caliber seasons.

The common denominator? Players come to play for Bill Belichick. When players join the Patriots, they convert to the Patriot way. Shut your mouth, do your job and play.

DeAngelo Hall won't be doing that for the Patriots this season. It might have made life easier for Belichick and Co. if he were.

Hopkinton at the Polls

Here are photos from the Hopkinton High School gym as it was set up for Election Day on November 4. The day was a breeze; no wait to register, no wait to vote, and plenty of volunteers eager to give you a hand and answer any questions you had.

Patriots sign Webster

On Wednesday, the Patriots announced they re-signed cornerback Jason Webster, who was released at the end of training camp before the season.

Despite the second part of that sentence, this seems to be a very safe move for New England. Webster, 31, is an eight-year veteran who has been an effective starter in the NFL. Furthermore, there is far less pressure on him now than there was when he was signed March 4. Before, he was being expected to help fill the void left by Pro-Bowler Asante Samuel's departure. Now, he is being asked to simply add depth to a depleted secondary, one that had major question marks after starters Deltha O'Neal and Ellis Hobbs. Webster is not a shutdown corner by any means, but he is a smart, solid player that should be a reliable option for Belichick.

The secondary, which has been bombarded with injuries since the start of the season, took another shot when Terrence Wheatley, who played his best game of the season against Indianapolis, hurt his wrist that game and was kept out of practice Wednesday.

Another rookie, linebacker Shawn Crable, was put on injured reserve Wednesday, clearing a roster spot for Webster.

Video project

Here's a video I made where I asked a few Northeastern University students who they thought was going to win the Super Bowl in February. As for the local interest in the story, I asked if they felt the Patriots had a chance at a title.

The answers, as you can see, are diverse

Penalty flag derails Patriot comeback

Maybe he was getting a little rough. Maybe he was just finishing his block. It didn't matter.

Whatever the case, a Dave Thomas personal foul, worthy of a 15-yard penalty, turned a potential winning drive for the New England Patriots into a fruitless ending in an 18-15 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

"I thought overall we played a good football game but came up a couple plays short," said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. "I thought we played very well in all areas and just came up a few plays short."

It's unfortunate to put the blame on Thomas, whose three catches for 29 yards often helped keep drives alive. And it's hard to say Thomas cost the Patriots more statistically than, say, a wide-open Jabar Gaffney, who let a go-ahead touchdown pass from Matt Cassel slip through his hands.

But the NFL is a hard, unfortunate league, and watching the game, there's no doubt that Thomas's penalty took more wind out of the Patriots sails than any play during it.

To set the scene, the Patriots were driving down the field, trailing by three in the final minutes, but in excellent position to at least tie the game with a field goal, especially after a BenJarvis Green-Ellis run made it 3rd-and-1 at the Indianapolis 31.

But a yellow flag flew. Thomas was caught making a late hit after the whistles had blown, pushing the ball back to a 3rd-and-16 from the Colt 46. The drive stalled, Indy wore down the clock, game over.

Thomas gave a mea culpa after the game, albeit saying he thought the play was still going on, but the damage had been done. Scoring position had never melted into fourth-down desperation so fast.

Thomas made a mistake, but it wasn't the only mistake of the game. Gaffney dropped the touchdown pass. Cassel, a solid 25-of-34 for 204 yards with a last-chance interception, missed an opportunity for another touchdown when he didn't see Randy Moss streaking down the sideline, arm raised, in single coverage.

Then there was the coach. Some of Belichick's decisions backfired, the biggest of which was a lost challenge where he thought Indianapolis had too many men on the field. Even a win wouldn't have helped the Patriots out too much. As it was, the loss deprived New England of a timeout, a timeout the Pats could have used in the last minute trying desperately to get into field goal range.

Plenty of positives emerged from the game. The often-criticized defense kept the vaunted Colts offense limited with the exception of two major drives, even while continuing to work with a revolving door at the cornerback position (This week's victim was rookie Terrence Wheatley, who appeared to hurt his wrist making a lunging pass deflection). The offense was in position to tie, or even win the game in the final minutes. And it's important to remember that even now, New England is tied for first in the AFC East.

But the facts are the facts. The Patriots had a chance to KO their biggest rival, knocking it out of the game and, possibly, season as well. The chance slipped right through their hands.

At 4-4, the Colts are still alive. That's a scary thought for the rest of the AFC.