The rumor mill is churning at 110% capacity. According to multiple sources, who all cite anonymous sources, the Sox are making a very aggressive push to acquire Roy Halladay.
It's not surprising, Halladay is among the few proven Aces in existance, his contract is up after the 2010 season, and the Blue Jays' new management doesn't think they can compete next year (as JP Riccardi did), and also have little care whether or not Halladay is traded within the AL East.
The Sox have an abundance of minor league talent to offer the Jays, but there's also ample pressure from the fanbase to compete with New York.
It's funny, I remember numerous Sox fans mocking the Yankees and their "$400 million off-season" proclaiming that Sabathia would break down and Teixeira would choke in New York a-la-A-Rod. 7 months later and now Sox fans want the team to spare no expense to compete with the Yankees.
I wouldn't make too much of these rumors. I'm sure the Sox are negotiating for Halladay, but the notion that they're pursuing him any "harder" than normal is ludicrous. It's all intentional leaks to the media to appease the fanbase. It makes us all happy to imagine Theo Epstein and associates barking on the phone to Toronto, going sleepless for 4 days trying to get this deal done.
Rex Ryan's mouth is always busy. He either has to be saying something stupid, or stuffing his gullet with beer battered mutton shanks. Instead of moving on with his life after his team's 31-14 loss to New England, instead of focusing on the Jets' upcoming loss to the Panthers, Rex Ryan took time out of his day to call out Bill Belichick.
Remember, this is the same Rex Ryan who talked about not kissing Belichick's rings. This is the same clown who sent a voicemail to every single Jets' season ticket holder, imploring them to make noise for them in Week 2. This is the same jackass who broke down into tears in front of his team last week. This is the same putz that never took time in September to tell his QB "We won the game, and your numbers were good, but you still need to work on looking the safety off."
Here's a recap of what happened: 3rd & 6, 30 seconds left on the clock, Pats up by 17, and Brady throws deep to Moss. The Jets' head coach/sideline blimp blows up like the Hindenburg. When asked yeserday about the Patriots' play-calling in this situation, here's what Rexy said:
"It was surprising. We needed to stop them anyway, so no biggie, but I was surprised and I did feel a little disrespected... I looked at it as an opportunity for us. Throw it up deep; our guy is going to come down with it more than your guy is. If they want to throw it up to Revis, that's great. If they'd have thrown it to Welker again, I might have had a problem with it.... Belichick... I don't even know how much he had to do with it more than that might have been something that Brady and Moss wanted to do."
The nerve of this guy. His reaction at the time was to try to run up the score on his own. After the Patriots punted, Sanchez threw a 33 yard pass. Then with 5 seconds left on the clock, Ryan called a timeout so they could get off one more deep pass that fell incomplete.
Here's why the Patriots didn't "run out the clock" on 3rd & 6, with 30 seconds left. THE JETS HAD A TIMEOUT LEFT! They also have a dickwad coach who would do something like call a timeout after the Pats run the ball for 2 yards (what are the odds of Maroney getting 6 yards and a 1st down?). And it's not even a dickwad move if Ryan calls a timeout after the Patriots fail to get a 1st down.
Belichick doesn't do things to spite people or out of arrogance. He makes decisions meant to put his team in the best position to win. If the Patriots convert that 3rd & 6, the game is 100% over. Running the ball and failing to convert leads to a punt (the Pats already had one blocked), and even if the chances of winning are still 99.99999999999999%, that's smaller than 100%.
But Ryan can't help but throw temper tantrums. The utter disrespect laced in his remarks about this play is uncanny. Even when people accuse Belichick of running scores up, they don't demean him or the Patriots like this.
The way Ryan talks trash about how well Revis covered Moss is hilarious. Braggadocio after losing 31-14 and falling to 4-6 is simply priceless. Why did Moss only have 5 catches for 34 yards? Because the Jets covered him well, using safety help, and Revis is a good cornerback. But this also left Wes Welker wide open (15 catches, 192 yards). Perhaps Rex Ryan forgot that Welker was no longer injured for this game and went with the same exact defense he used in Week 2.
Then there's the subtle jibe toward Belichick, implying that Brady and Moss concoct plays on their own in defiance of Belichick, Vince Vaughn in Rudy style.
I feel bad for Jets fans, I really do. After Mangenius they have to put up with this jerk. And they get so excited when they win 2 or 3 games, but their team is perennially doomed to fall like leaves in autumn.
And Rex Ryan should feel more than "a little disrespected." He should feel thoroughly disrespected by Bill Belichick, because nobody with a football IQ above 70 should respect this guy.
A nice 4-2 win was the best birthday gift I received yesterday. Second best actually, behind the new Star Trek DVD. And third best if you count birthday beers as gifts.
The Bruins have only had multiple power play goals in three games this year. They had 23 such games last season. Even strength, the Blues outscored the Bruins 2-1, but the Bruins notched a pair of power play goals, and also a shorthanded score from Sturm.
Patrice Bergeron assisted on all 4 goals. His heads-up play on the B's final goal was simply stupendous. Slapping the puck down with his backhand, then finding Sturm in the high slot, all in one motion. It was utterly brilliant, and the kind of play you'd see from Bergeron 3 years ago.
This was without a doubt Bergeron's best offensive game since the concussion.
Marc Savard returned and looked like his old self. During a 2-on-1 breakaway with Sturm, Savard's pass was so clever that it actually fooled Sturm, who couldn't get a handle on it in time to score.
Milan Lucic had another crushing game. When he and Bitz are on the ice at the same time, it's very fun hockey to watch. Bitz also had a nice fight. What I like best about his technique is that he wasn't trying too hard for the takedown. He wanted Jackman to stay upright so he could fight some more.
The Bruins look to make it four straight Wednesday night in Minnesota when they take on the Wild (awful name, almost as bad as Thrashers or Predators). The Wild have the 3rd worst record in the NHL.
You can add Tim Thomas to the injury list for the Bruins with a "nagging minor injury." The good news is that he might be able to play in tonight's game in St. Louis. The even better news is that Tuukka Rask is perhaps the best backup goalie in the NHL, and could be starting for many teams.
The Bruins beat the Sabres 2-1 in the overtime a well-played, hard-fought, playoff atmosphere kind of game. Combined with the shootout win in Atlanta and this two game winning "streak" is only the second time the B's have compiled back-to-back wins.
But they have gotten 8 points in their last 7 games. More importantly, Milan Lucic is not only back in the lineup, he's back to being Milan Lucic. He and Byron Bitz terrorized the Sabres all night and in all three zones. They combined for the Bruins' lone regulation goal, which was set-up by their nice forechecking, and a good feed from Rask (who got his first NHL point with the assist).
A line of Begin-Bitz-Lucic would put the fear of God in opposing teams.
The Bruins look to get their first 3 game win streak tonight at 8 as they face a struggling St. Louis Blues team.
Are there enough tissues in New Jersey for Cryingasaurus Rex? His Jets are now 4-6, on the outside of the outside, looking in at the teams looking in. Mark Sanchize added 4 more picks to his collection. Remember this stage of Mark Sanchez's career?
It's not surprising that Sanchez sucks so much. He was "coached" by Pete Carroll at USC. Carroll's job at USC is to cash inflated paychecks, and fail to inspire his ultra-talented teams to actually play solid fundamental football, and beat the likes of Stanford and Oregon State. Sanchez's current coach is little more than a blubbery blubbering blob of buffoonery.
This was a nice win, and important win. A loss would have been devastating, both in basic factuality, and psychologically. It's not the glorious triumph that some out there might still need after what happened in Indianapolis, but it's a vital step in the rightest of directions.
Laurence Maroney sucks. That's all I'll say. It was fun hearing the groans of the crowd at Gillette whenever he was stopped at the line of scrimmage. I genuinely hate him. Hopefully the Pats draft someone, or get some free agents that are under 30 years old next season.
The defense was excellent, but Sanchez makes that easy. He never tries to look safeties off, never does anything deceptive, nothing clever, his new nickname is Dr. Seuss because he's easy to read.
Massive test next Monday down in New Orleans. A strong showing there and it's clear that the Pats are contenders.
Wins are also extremely important at this point (more so than usual). There are three teams vying for the #2 seed in the AFC, and that coveted bye. Cincy, San Diego, and the Pats are all 7-3, and 5-3 within the conference (1st tie-breaker).
As mentioned earlier, Pats @ 10-0 Saints next Monday night.
The 2006 AFC Championship loss to the Colts hurt. The Super Bowl loss to the Giants killed. Last week's defeat in Indy didn't hurt nearly as much, and this Sunday's meeting with the Jets is why.
The Jets and Pats met in Week 2. New England was 0/3 in the red zone. Gostkowski kicked three field goals, two of those were under 30 yards. Brady couldn't find Moss, there was no Wes Welker, and Mark Sanchez threw a 2nd half TD to propel the Jets to a 16-9 lead.
It's safe to say that a lot has changed since Week 2. Brady's found himself in the pocket, and is once again synced with Moss. Wes Welker has returned with a vengeance.
When confronted with these realities, Cryingasaurus Rex harped on the addition of Braylon Edwards to the Jets lineup. Well la dee dah. The Jets are 2-5 since their Week 2 victory, with wins over the mighty Titans and the indomitable Raiders.
Sanchez is piling up the interceptions, 11 since Week 2. But Rex Ryan has reigned in his play-calling to compensate. And the Jets do one thing very well on offense: run.
Thomas Jones and Leon Washington each average 4.6 yards per carry. The Jets already have 1,500 yards on the ground. That's the most in the NFL. Their 4.7 yards per carry is 5th best.
The best way to stop the run, at least for the Patriots, is to score points. The red zone shenanigans have to stop and Brady has to put the ball in the end zone. Get a 10 or 14 point lead on the Jets, and Rex Ryan will be forced to pass the ball, which will lead to interceptions.
This is nearly a must-win for both teams. A loss and the Pats are only 1 game up on Miami, only 1 game up on the Jets (with the Jets possessing the tie-breaker), and a Monday night date with the undefeated Saints. And if the Jets lose, they're pretty much out of the playoff races.
I think the Patriots do enough to slow down the Jets' running attack, or at least keep them from putting the ball into the end zone. Welker and Moss will run circles around the Jets' secondary, and the Pats will come out of the gate strong. It'll get close later on in the 3rd quarter, but Sanchez will blow it and the Pats will pull away.
Thrashers are a group of small bird species, not unlike mockingbirds. There are 15 species of thrashers. They're called thrashers because they quite literally thrash their beaks through dirt, leaves, and grass on the ground, searching for food (insects and berries). Perhaps the least intimidating and lamest nickname for a sports team EVER.
And I'd like to meet the brain surgeon who decided to put a hockey team in Atlanta. Not only is it warm down there, but Atlanta fans are some of the worst in sports. The Falcons depend on day-of-game walk-ups to sell out, and we've all seen how empty Turner Field is for PLAYOFF games.
Anyway, to the game. Normally, a 4-3 shootout win in Atlanta is hardly anything to rave over. But Atlanta won 4 straight coming into this game. They've got some very talented players like Kovalchuk, Antropov, and Peverley. And we all know how much the Bruins have been struggling.
This was so close to yet another blood-curdling loss. The B's were up 2-0 in the 1st, but the Thrashers tied it at 2-2. Michael Ryder, who had one of his best games of the season with 2 goals, scored his second shortly thereafter to make it 3-2. The B's killed 5 penalties in the 3rd, but an unfortunate bounce from a shot blocked by Derek Morris set-up Afinogenov for the tying goal.
Then Tuukka Rask shined in the shootout. Thomas has an undisclosed injury (broken brain from all the wins he's been robbed of), and being able to put a guy like Rask between the pipes is a nice insurance policy. Rask stonewalled all 3 Thrashers in the shootout, no easy task.
It's up to Buffalo Friday night in an important divisional game. Savard might be available. Lucic played in this one buy was hardly the player we're accustomed to seeing.
