PATRIOTS @ BRONCOS PREVIEW

The Patriots face another tough game this week. The scheduling gods and injury gods have conspired to make the outset of the Patriots season unbearable. This is the 4th straight opponent that was in the playoffs last season. This is also the 4th road game of the young season. If the Pats lose this game, they go into the Bye Week at 3-3 which isn't all that bad, all things considered. If they win, they go into the Bye Week with a 4-2 record, 1st place in the division, and alot of momentum.

The key to beating Denver is to stop the run. The Pats did that last week against Atlanta, and by doing so, forced Matt Schaub to beat us, which he very nearly did. Jake Plummer, however, is more sucseptible to being beaten by us. If we force him to make the plays, he will inevitably make some big mistakes. We need to capitalize on those miscues. We also can't afford many screw ups on offense.

We will be without Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi, Tyrone Poole, Richard Seymour, Matt Light and Troy Brown. I don't think Kevin Faulk will be dressing for the game, either. Gus Scott is also out.

Denver RB Tatum Bell and S Nick Ferguson are both probable. CB Champ Bailey will be a game time decision.

I think we will win this one, but it will be extremely close. I think a 24-20 victory will be what goes down at Mile High.

In other New England sports news, #11 Boston College moved into a tie with Florida State on top of the ACC Atlantic Division by coming from behind and beating Wake Forest, and by FSU losing on the road to Virginia. FSU holds the tie-breaker though thanks to their victory over BC. However, if the Eagles can run the table in the ACC, and FSU loses another conference game, we will be on top of the division and play the Coastal Division winner for the ACC championship. I don't think this will happen, but even if we finish 2nd in the division, it says alot about Boston College football.

In order for BC to win their remaining ACC games, they have to beat #3 Virginia Tech on the road next week. FSU can definately lose one more game as they face #11 Florida in Gainesville on the last week of the season.

Charlie Weiss completely outcoached Pete Carroll in Notre Dame's 34-31 victory at the last second. Carroll is merely a beneficiary of Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, and a group of amazing non-skilled position players. Reggie Bush demonstrated to the country that he is a selfish scumbag of a player. Not only did he arrogantly celebrate before getting into the end zone with 3 ND players on his tail, but he stole a kickoff from his fellow return man. I'm glad that players of the ilk of Reggie Bush, regardless of how talented they are, will never play for New England so long as Belichick is the coach.

The Bruins were beaten by Dominek Hasek and the undefeated Senators last night, 5-1. Joe Thornton didn't play due to his back spasms. Without him, the Bruins seem to really struggle to create pressure and score goals. He draws alot of penalties, less than should be called but he isn't a diver so he doesn't get calls, and draws alot of attention which allows his linemates to have more space and also allows other lines to go up against weaker defensive pairings. Andrew Raycroft has not been that outstanding of a goalie thus far. Last night, he allowed 4 goals on 24 shots. That's not what we need out of him in order to win.

The Celtics have started their pre-season schedule. They've lost 2 of their 3 exhibition matches, but they've been putting up points when the starters are playing. I think they will be good this year. Good enough to win it all? No. But good enough to make the playoffs and win a series or two.

By beating the Chicago 1-0 last night, the New England Revolution won the regular season Easter Conference title. They won 17 matches, drew 8, and lost only 7. They'll play the Kansas City Wizards in round 1 of the MLS playoffs. New England beat KC 2-0, tied them 1-1, lost to them 2-1, then tied them 2-2. The series is a two game one with each team getting a home game. The team with the most goals combined in the two games wins and advances to the Conference Championship.

The college hockey season has just gotten under way. #4 Boston College lost 3-2 to #7 Michigan in Ann Arbor. Hockey East newcomers #19 Vermont won the Nye Frontier Classic in Alaska. #14 Boston University opened the Hockey East schedule by beating #18 UMass-Lowell 3-1 at Agganis Arena in Boston. #12 Maine beat #2 Denver twice, 5-1 then 4-2. It appears that the 2005-06 Hockey East championship will once again come down to BC, BU, New Hampshire, and Maine. The Beanpot Tournament should be interesting this year as Harvard is ranked 17th.