Savard to Get Name on Cup

There hasn't been much good news for Marc Savard, but at least his place on the Stanley Cup Champions will be recognized on the most hallowed trophy in sports. He didn't play the minimum number of games, but they'll make an exception for him when engraving the Cup.

His career is likely over, but this isn't a bad way to end it.

How to Catch a Foul Ball

Why not catch a foul-ball like a badass without missing a beat in a cell phone conversation.

You can actually read his lips as he says "I just caught a foul ball."

Bruschi Attacks Ochocinco

Tedy Bruschi and now Rodney Harrison, both retired Patriots turned media members, have criticized Chad Ochocinco for his tweeting and lack of impressive play. The particular tweet in question is this:

"Just waking up after a late arrival,I've never seen a machine operate like that n person,to see video game numbers put up n person was WOW"

Which seems fairly innocent. Bruschi and Harrison are criticizing Ochocinco for being amazed by what the Patriots did Monday night. And I'm kind of with them on that. Brady wasn't amazed, nor was Gronkowski surprised or Branch bewildered. Did Belichick look like he didn't expect the Pats to score so much?

To be fair to Ochocinco, he's been on the Bengals' sidelines for a decade. The whole notion of prepare, then execute, then win is something foreign to him. He seems to be in a state of shock, he's struggled to learn the playbook, and he also might be afraid of making a mistake, and slowing down this mesmerizing machine.

He's had trouble with the preparation part, but I don't think Twitter is the problem. And if effort is the problem, isn't that up to Coach Belichick to enforce?

I love Bruschi and Harrison, but if a member of the media attacked one of their teammates when they were on this team, they'd rally around him and dismiss everything as an internal Patriots matter. Which it is. If Twitter's a problem, then let Belichick handle it. If Ochocinco isn't putting the effort in, let Belichick handle it.

Belichick is the coach, Ochocinco is the player, Bruschi and Harrison are the external entities now. Some of us expected Ochocinco to be amazing here, and that hasn't been the case. His on-the-field performance of 14 yards and 1 reception wasn't dazzling, but it didn't exactly hurt the offense either. Belichick will find a way to utilize Ochocinco. Bruschi is entitled to his opinion, but he's not the coach, he's on the outside.

One thing I do like is that none of the Patriots have given much of a response to this. And neither has Ochocinco.

School of Bard Knocks

Remember when Daniel Bard was a strength and not a liability? It seems like ages ago. Three of his 5 blown saves have come in the last two weeks, which is doubly painful because wins are at a premium for the Sox lately, and he's literally blowing them away.

Five appearances for Bard in September, 4.2 innings, 9 earned runs (19.29 ERA), 3 blown saves, 3 losses. The only person happy with Bard's September is Jonathan Papelbon's agent.

How often do you get a tolerable start from Lackey? How rare is it for him to give the Sox a chance to win? And Bard wasted it. The Sox got some nice timely hitting as well, enough to drive 4 runs in.

In a pennant race that's been heating up, it's a shame to waste wins like that.

And it better not continue this weekend. The Rays are 4 games behind in the Wild Card, and they come to Fenway for 4 games. A split would be huge for the Sox. A 4 game deficit with 14 games left is comfortable. But if the Sox lose 3, it's tight, and if they get swept, it's as tight as it can be.

Kyle Weiland vs. Jeremy Hellickson. These guys are 25 and 24 years old, respectively, and they're pitching in the middle of a pennant race. They'll have millions of Red Sox fans and a few dozen Rays fans watching their every move.

Photo Credit:
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