PATS LOSE ANOTHER COORDINATOR

For the fourth time under Bill Belichick, the Patriots have lost another coordinator. This time it was offensive guru Josh McDaniels, who will be named head coach of the Denver Broncos later this evening.

This was an inevitability. McDaniels was the brains behind one of the best offenses the NFL has ever seen, an offense that continued to score even when it lost Tom Brady. Denver already has the offensive weapons McDaniels can utilize, and if paired with an experienced defensive coordinator, he could be very successful, particularly in the lackluster AFC West.

There are also strong rumors that Scott Pioli will take over as Kansas City's GM.

All I can say is, on the bright side, at least McDaniels and Pioli aren't going to AFC East teams.

RED AUERBACH AWARD FOR EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR

This goes to the GM, head coach, owner, front office person, or any other guy/gal who doesn’t actually play, but makes a major impact on a team. Here are the nominees:

Jerry York - Head Coach, BC Hockey
Danny Ainge - GM, Boston Celtics
Doc Rivers - Head Coach, Boston Celtics
Claude Julien - Head Coach, Boston Bruins
Peter Chiarelli - GM, Boston Bruins
Terry Francona - Manager, Boston Red Sox

And the winner is...

Claude Julien of the Bruins!



Unlike his three coaching colleagues in Boston, Claude Julien doesn't have the best talent money can buy. There are no equivalents of Randy Moss, Kevin Garnett, or Josh Beckett on the Bruins. There is talent, and depth, and leadership, but the B's still lack the household names and the celebrity of the other Boston teams.

Julien is difficult to notice during a hockey game, as most good coaches in the sport are. The occasional shuffling of lines, when to take the timeout, and when to pull a goalie are the only decisions we get to see. The measure of an NHL head coach is in the personality of his team.

The Bruins don't have the big names of a team like Detroit, but they have the confidence, cohesiveness, imposing attitude, and relentless drive of a winner. And that all starts with the head coach.

The playoff series against Montreal in April exemplifies the Bruins' personality. After being owned lock, stock, and barrel by the Canadiens, the B's took them to 7 games and made them work for advancement. The Bruins never even held a lead against Montreal until that playoff series.

And now they're on top of the Eastern Conference, tied with San Jose for the most in the NHL, 11 points ahead of the Rangers and Capitals for best Conference record, 12 points ahead of Montreal in the division. The Bruins have thrived despite injuries. They've scored the most goals in the NHL and allowed the fewest.

Everyone on the Bruins fights for their teammates. They play selflessly with winning as their only goal. That doesn't happen by coincidence. It starts with having a great head coach, and Claude Julien has been that.

B.B.S. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

This year's Boston Blood Sox Lifetime Achievement Award goes to the head coach of the Boston College hockey team: Jerry York.



The Watertown native and BC alum coached the Eagles to their 3rd national title in April, defeating Notre Dame 4-1 in the title game. BC also won the Hockey East tournament, as well as the Beanpot.

Before coming back to Chestnut Hill in 1994, York coached Clarkson, winning Division 1 Coach of the Year Honors in 1977. He then moved on to Bowling Green State, where he coached the Falcons to multiple conference titles, and a National Championship in 1984. It would be his first of three Championships.

He took over a struggling BC program in 1994. By 1998, he and the Eagles were back in the NCAA Tournament after a 6 year absence. BC advanced to the finals that year.

A list of BC's accomplishments during York's tenure:

4 Beanpots (94, 01, 04, 08)

4 Hockey East regular season titles (01, 03, 04, 05)

6 Hockey East tournament titles (98, 99, 01, 05, 07, 08)

10 NCAA tournament appearances (98, 99, 00, 01, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08)

8 Frozen Four appearances (98, 99, 00, 01, 04, 06, 07, 08)

6 Finals appearances (98, 00, 01, 06, 07, 08)

2 National Championships (01, 08)

He has 813 career wins and counting, the most among active coaches, and the second most in NCAA history. He's turned Boston College into a consistently powerful program, among the best in the country, if not the best.

ROMEO, ROMEO. WHY NOT REACQUIRE ROMEO?

Eric Mangini is the new coach of the Cleveland Browns. The NFC North rejoices, but now the Jets better prepare to be ratted on. Funny how Cleveland despises Belichick more than any other city hates him, yet their club has hired two of his former pupils to run the team.

Former Brown head coach, and former Patriot defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel has made it clear he'd be willing to assume the coordinating duties for Cleveland. Why not try to convince him to take that job in New England?

Current Patriot DC Dean Pees has done an adequate job with minimal depth, ancient middle linebackers, and incessant injuries. But when Crennel was in Foxborough, the Patriot defense was fierce, something which it most certainly is not these days.

Statistically the Pats have a very good defense. But it consistently fails at delivering the big plays with the game on the line. The 2006 AFC Championship against the Colts. Last year's Super Bowl. The 3rd and 15 against the Jets in OT.

Earlier this decade, the Pats' defense made the big plays. In the 2001 AFC Championship against Pittsburgh. In Super Bowl XXXVI they contained Marshal Faulk. During the 21 game winning streak they won games 12-9, 9-6, 14-10. In 2003, the Pats beat Indy 38-34 thanks to a 4 down goal-line stand, punctuated by Willie McGinest's game ending tackle of Edgerrin James behind the line of scrimmage.

Maybe the personnel changes on the field are the main reason why the Patriots defense doesn't make the game-changing play anymore. No more Ty Law, Tyrone Poole, Willie McGinest, Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi got old. 

But remember guys like Bobby Hamilton and Roman Phifer being playmakers? I do. The Pats defense was based on the idea that if every individual player just does their job, they put their teammates in position to make big plays. The Patriots don't do that anymore.

Maybe it's time for a change back to the way things were in Foxborough.

B.B.S. AWARD FOR GAME OF THE YEAR

This goes to the most exciting, exhilarating, exhausting game that involved a New England team. It doesn’t have to necessarily be a victory for the good guys. It just has to be an amazing contest.

I originally started the process with about 20 potential nominees, there were that many thrilling games this season. But those were narrowed down to 5 contests. Here are the nominees:

2/3 - Super Bowl XLII: Giants 17, Patriots 14
4/19 - Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinal Game 6: Bruins 5, Canadiens 4
5/30 - NBA Conference Finals Game 6: Celtics 89, Pistons 81
6/8 - NBA Finals Game 2: Celtics 108, Lakers 102
10/16 - ALCS Game 5: Red Sox 8, Rays 7

This was a really tough choice. The Super Bowl, as painful as it was, was historic. The back-and-forth 5-4 game between the Bruins and Canadiens was the most exciting hockey game I've ever seen. The Celtics comeback in Game 6 against Detroit catapulted them to a championship. The Celtics also stymied a Laker comeback in Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead to LA. But the 8-7 come from behind win in an elimination game was one of the most amazing things you'll ever see.

That's why the winner is...


Game 5 of the ALCS, when the Red Sox came back from a 7-0 deficit to force a Game 6!



TBS announcer Chip Caray before the bottom of the 7th in Game 5: "They're dancing in the streets of Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg."

With 2 outs and 2 on in the bottom of the 7th, down 7-0, Dustin Pedroia hit a single that scored a run and extended the inning. Then David Ortiz did something he hadn't done in 61 postseason at-bats: hit a homerun. A 3 run shot that made it an interesting game again. JD Drew homered in the 8th, Crisp added an RBI single to tie it. Youkilis reached on an infield single in the 9th, advanced to 2nd on an error, and Drew bounced one over the right field wall to win the game.

It was the biggest postseason comeback since 1929, and the biggest comeback in an elimination game.

The Red Sox took Game 6 4-2, but came up short 3-1 in Game 7. The Rays went to the Series and were destroyed by a real team with real fans in a real city. With hindsight, a pessimist might look at the miraculous Game 5 as merely cheating death or postponing the inevitable. But to me at least, Game 5 was special. It was so amazingly thrilling and unbelievable. It was so surreal that it had to be real, no screenwriter or author would dare pen such a story for fear of losing the suspension of disbelief.

Had the Rays won Game 5, the Red Sox would have been embarrassed. Losing to a "team" like the Rays in 5 games and in Fenway would have flat out sucked. This game extended the series and allowed the Sox to lose with some dignity.

Red Sox fans have some optimism for 2009, and this game is one of the reasons why. There's just something about this team.

TED WILLIAMS AWARD FOR RED SOX PLAYER OF THE YEAR

The Red Sox didn't repeat as World Champions, or even AL East Champions. And in the end, they were beat by a bunch of upstart kids on a team that shouldn't exist in a converted hockey arena of a stadium in a town where the home team is the 3rd most popular team behind the Yankees and Red Sox.

But it was an interesting season. A very interesting season. Manny Ramirez left early, Jon Lester emerged as an Ace, so did Daisuke, the team suffered some key injuries, and Pedroia won the MVP.

Here are the nominees:

Dustin Pedroia - 2B
Kevin Youkilis - 1B
Jon Lester - SP
Jonathan Papelbon - CP
Daisuke Matsuzaka - SP

The winner is...



Kevin Youkilis!



I know, I know, Pedroia won the MVP and he's not very tall. But Youkilis is 6' 1" and was the better player this season. Sorry folks, it's the truth.

Youkilis his 29 homers with 115 RBI, a .312 average, .390 OBP, and .569 slugging percentage. He was 6th in the AL in OBP, 3rd in slugging, and 4th in OPS. He played Gold Glove calibre defense at 1st, but also played 3rd when Lowell went down. He even spent some time in right field. He started the All-Star Game and won the Hank Aaron Award as the American League's best hitter.

Youkilis filled the offensive gap left by Manny Ramirez. His versatility in the lineup allowed Francona to bat him 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th. He hit .374 with runners in scoring position, and .328 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs.

Pedroia got hot down the stretch, but Youkilis was consistent all season long. Youk also had one of the few great performances in the ALCS against Tampa. He was 10 for 30 with 2 homers, 3 doubles, and 6 RBI.

With all due respect to MVPedroia, Youkilis was the best Red Sox player in 2008.

CURT SCHILLING BLOODY SOCK AWARD FOR TOUGHNESS

This Award goes to a player or players who went through tough times - through injury, through illness, through personal matters, through a harsh slump - but came out on top.

The winner is...

Mike Lowell, 3B, Boston Red Sox



I guess technically Lowell has yet to "come out" of his injury. But the Award is about toughness, grit, determination, and that kind of thing.

Lowell played most of 2008 with one injury or another. He hurt his thumb, then his hip started acting up. The Sox shut him down in September and tried to get him ready for the playoffs. He played in games 1 and 3 of the ALDS against the Angels, but it was painful to watch.

All things considered, he had a decent year. He hit .274 with 17 homers in only 113 games. He was, without a doubt, the toughest player on the Red Sox this season.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PREDICTION

It's been a long bowl season. The Big XII South maybe isn't as good as we all thought with Texas Tech falling to Ole Miss and Oklahoma State losing to Oregon. Utah's the sole undefeated team in the country yet didn't get a title shot. USC has one of the best defenses in college football history yet didn't get a title shot. And now we have the two 1 loss teams fortunate enough to get their title shot.

Oklahoma vs. Florida, Heisman vs. Heisman, Big XII vs. SEC.

The unsung hero of the Oklahoma offense was sophomore RB DeMarco Murray. He rushed for 1,002 yards on 179 carries with 14 TDs. That's 5.6 yards per carry. He led the offensive assault on Texas Tech with 110 yards and 2 TDs... in the first half. But he's not playing Thursday night.

OU has depth in the backfield. Chris Brown ran for 1,110 yards and 20 TDs this season. But the Sooners are missing a very important part of their offense.

Florida is a better balanced team, but their offense isn't nearly as explosive. This means the game will come down to OU's defense against Florida's offense.

I think this will be a high scoring affair that's decided in the last 5 minutes. Oklahoma 56, Florida 52.