It's Called a Winning Streak

The Bruins won their 4th in a row last night, burning the Oilers for 6 goals. The B's improve to 7-7 and are .500 for the first time since starting the season 1-1. They've scored 24 goals in this win streak.

There was a nice mix of types of goals for the Bruins. Boychuk and Caron scored some hard-work, "blue collar" goals that were products of fighting for loose pucks and earning possession. They scored some speed goals, some snipes, and some Mark Recchi stype tip-ins from within the crease.

Tyler Seguin is too good. He scored his 9th. And even though it pinballed off three Oilers before going in, the goal was a product of his speed and his ability to take advantage of a bad change by the Oilers. He also got an assist because he moved the puck well on the Power Play. He also drew two penalties, and the B's scored on the ensuing Power Plays.

Joe Corvo is starting to show up on offense. I've been waiting to see that. He's scored 10+ goals three times in his career and 20+ assists five times. We hadn't seen much offense from him before the last two games. Last night he had 3 big assists, and was a big part of all 3 of those goals. They weren't just token assists. He's also getting more comfortable playing with the Bruins' defensive system.

The recent proliferation of offense has allowed the Bruins to play Rask for a few games. Thomas will have at least a week off between starts, and that's nice to be able to do.

Bruins host the Sabres Saturday night in an important divisional matchup.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

If You're Pro-Paterno, I'm Anti-You

Joe Paterno has been fired by Penn State. And in the aftermath of it, thousands of PSU students took to the streets in support of the man who allowed more than a dozen children's lives to be ruined.

When I was 5, something happened to me that was not unlike what happened to the kids in Jerry Sandusky's "charitable" program. And if I knew that somebody had the opportunity to put a stop to what my attacker did, but instead only "informed his superiors," I'd hate that somebody almost as much as I hate the person who attacked me.

Joe Paterno did not commit a crime. He also did not stop a crime. He could have stopped it. I'm tired of hearing his defenders saying that he followed "proper procedure" by informing his superiors. You know what proper procedure is when you hear that a 55 year old guy is showering with and fondling an 11 year old boy? Call the police.

Anything short of that is not enough of an effort. Even Paterno admits he "could have done more."

But last night in College Station, PA, we saw thousands of students take to the streets in outrage. More people were more upset at the firing of an 84 year old man than they were at the molestation of over a dozen 7-12 year old boys. More people were more enraged at Paterno being forced out of Happy Valley, than they were over these defenseless boys being forced to participate in gruesome sexual acts.

They're rioting over a football coach being fired. Who rioted over the molestations? Where are our priorities?

We have one pervert who is unwilling/unable to control his disgusting urges. Then we have a few dozen people (including Paterno) who helped cover things up and placed the importance of Penn State Football above the well-being and safety of these boys. And now we have thousands of people taking to the streets in support of one of the most instrumental people in this cover-up. Why? Because he built a library on campus? Because he won 400+ games? Because he was the "father" of Penn State?

"We Are Penn State" is a motto of that school. It started as an anti-Segregation chant that originated when the school would play in the South. Now the chant has been used in defense of someone who placed Penn State Football ahead of the safety of young boys. That chant has been used in defense of a man who had the power to stop boys from being raped and all he did was "inform his superiors." "We Are Penn State" has become a slogan of people who support a football coach more than they support the well-being of young boys.

I'm glad the PSU trustees did the right thing and fired Paterno. And Paterno can ask for prayers for the victims, but one phone call to the police would have done so much more. Paterno could have been a guardian angel to those boys. Instead, he turned a blind eye. The sin is on his head. And the people defending him are defending a man who turned a blind eye to rape and molestation.

World Series of Poker Championship Tonight

Tonight, the final 3 players left in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event will play each other live (well, 15 minutes delayed) on ESPN starting at 9 Eastern. I've thoroughly enjoyed the way ESPN is now covering poker with this unedited style. The tension is increased as we don't get to see the players' cards until the hand is over, and we get to see the smaller battles that set-up the huge, game-changing hands. As a poker fan, that's much more entertaining than just watching Ace-King go all-in against pocket 8s and seeing who wins a 50/50 hand.

Here are the three remaining players:

Pius Heinz (Germany):
Heinz has a commanding chip lead with over 52% of the chips in play. He nearly has twice as many chips as the other two players. He's aggressive, fearless, will raise with any two cards. His style, combined with such a chip lead make him very dangerous. He's very good at applying constant pressure on his opponents.

Ben Lamb (USA):
Lamb won a WSOP event in the summer, and is perhaps the best at reading people among the three finalists. However, he's only still alive due to some lucky breaks that saved him from his own bad decisions. He needs to either continue to get lucky, or use his reading ability to chop at Heinz's stack of chips.

He also looks like a young Tim Thomas.

Martin Staszko (Czech Republic):
Staszko is the oldest of the remaining three (Heinz is 22, Lamb is 26, Stazko is 35), yet ironically has the least amount of poker experience. He's a solid, level-headed type of player that understands game theory well (he's a world renowned chess player). He understands situations, but has occasionally struggled to understand the people he's playing against.

For Heinz to win, he needs to avoid disaster. He needs to prevent himself from being too aggressive and bluffing off his chips. It's a fine line, because he also needs to put the pressure on his opponents.

For Lamb to win, he needs to take his time and not let Heinz win all the small pots. Lamb needs to wait for an opportunity to take a big pot. He has plenty of time, so long as his chip stack isn't steadily decreasing. He needs to tread water and wait for the right time to strike. He needs to attack Stazsko in order to keep himself afloat.

For Staszko to win, he needs some cards. If he gets a few big hands, hits a few flops, he's skilled enough to extract maximum value from good fortune. But if he's not getting any cards, he'll see his chips slowly leave him. The other two players are more aggressive, and Stazsko might get run over if he doesn't either get cards or change his game.

I think Heinz will win. He has the chips and the proper set of skills to use them.

Missouri to SEC*

It's official, The Missouri Tigers will be joining the SEC, and will become part of the East Division. Even though there will only be two SEC teams west of Columbia, MO (Texas A&M and Arkansas). The SEC now has 14 teams, and we'll all see how well that works before leagues move toward 16 teams.

My big question is, when will conferences start dropping teams? That, from a legal perspective, is so much more difficult to do. But does Vanderbilt belong in the SEC? Does Iowa State deserve to be in the Big XII?

The musical chairs continue. The Big XII can afford to lose Missouri because they've added TCU and West Virginia. They'll still have ten teams, and could add the likes of Louisville. Or why not Houston?

So now the SEC's territory spreads from Gainesville, FL to College Station, TX. From Baton Rouge, LA to Columbia, MO. From Lexington, KY to Columbia, SC. And now in the SEC there are now three teams named "Tigers," two named "Bulldogs," and two playing in towns called Columbia.

Who's next for the SEC? If they decide to expand to 16, why not target Texas and Oklahoma? Or maybe Miami and Virginia Tech. In all the inter-conference maneuverings, the SEC has been the most desired conference to be in. Nobody has left the SEC, and their options for expansion are the most extensive.

Bruins Win Third Straight

After starting the season 3-7, the Bruins have won 3 straight. They pummeled the Islanders 6-2 thanks to some hot streaks that were extended.

Horton scored twice, Krejci and Lucic scored, and Seguin scored a goal. In his last 7 games, Lucic has scored 7 goals and 5 assists. Sometimes Lucic goes through frustrating slumps. But when he pushes himself, when he skates, the goals come in bunches. And he leaves an imprint on the game.

Did you know Tyler Seguin is 7th in the NHL in scoring? He's scored 8 now, and has 69 games to score 3 goals in order to match his total from last season.

The Seguin-Bergeron-Marchand line was fierce last night. They were a few inches from scoring 3 goals instead of just 1.

And last night, the Penalty Killing was tenacious. Speaking of the PK unit, Paille's face will be examined by a specialist after he took a slapshot from Steve Staios.

The B's beating the Islanders shouldn't be much of a surprise. The Islanders kind of suck.

The Bruins have a slightly tougher test on Thursday when they host the Oilers, who lead the Northwest Division.

Photo Credits:
AP Photo

BCS Standings

Alabama might be the 3rd best team in the country, maybe the 2nd best. I like Alabama. But they've had their shot. And they blew it. They missed field goals, ran a foolish trick play and couldn't score a touchdown in the biggest game of their season. Maybe they're better than Stanford, and certainly better than Boise State. But the Tide had a shot and lost. Other teams deserve a shot.

Here's the BCS rankings after this weekend's games:

1. LSU Tigers - Can't argue against this, but there's still one AP voter that selected Boise State as #1. What the fuck?

2. Oklahoma State Cowboys - 50.1 points per game, they still have to get through Iowa State, Texas Tech, and #6 Oklahoma.

3. Alabama Crimson Tide - They've beaten #8 Arkansas, #12 Penn State, but they have no offense apart from Richardson.

4. Stanford Cardinal - If they beat #7 Oregon this weekend, how can you argue against them rising to 3rd?

5. Boise State Broncos - As #15 Georgia rises in the rankings, Boise State starts looking legitimate.

6. Oklahoma Sooners - They can spoil Oklahoma State's title hopes but they lost Ryan Broyles, so that will be tough.

7. Oregon Ducks - They've only lost to the #1 team in the country.

8. Arkansas Razorbacks - They've only lost to the #3 team in the country. If they can beat LSU on 11/25, then the SEC West will have eliminated itself from the National Championship.

9. Clemson Tigers - Can clinch the ACC Atlantic with a win on Saturday.

10. Virginia Tech Hokies - Their only loss came to Clemson. Who says the ACC isn't that good?

Imagine this playoff:
#1 LSU vs. #8 Arkansas
#2 Oklahoma State vs. #7 Oregon Ducks
#3 Alabama vs. #6 Oklahoma
#4 Stanford vs. #5 Boise State

It's too bad we won't see that play out.

Bruins 4, Seguin 3, Maple Leafs 0

Thank you, Kessel.

The Bruins match up extremely well with the Maple Leaf's. Toronto's strength is offense, and the Bruins are the best team in the NHL at neutralizing a few key forwards. Just ask Stamkos and the Sedins from last year's playoffs. The B's have Chara, Seidenberg, and of course, Tim Thomas.

The Leafs also have questionable goaltending, and inept defensemen. The Bruins' forwards aren't amazingly talented (except for Seguin) but the Leafs' are so easily exploited that goals are inevitable.

Anyway, to Seguin. His first career hat-trick and he does it 25 miles from his hometown. His first goal was on the Power Play and was a great example of a scorer's ability to hide themselves in dangerous positions. It was also a prime example of Toronto's lousy defending, and the effectiveness of shifting the puck around with a man advantage.

His second goal was sheer skill and coordination.

It also came after he made a good defensive play in the neutral zone. Which is what the Bruins really like to see.

And his third goal, he just flat out beat Komisarek, then Scrivens.

Seguin had 11 goals and 11 assists last year. He's already at 7 and 7 this season. He's on pace for about 49 goals and 49 assists. He has arrived. Thank you, Kessel.

Other Bruins had great nights, of course. Lucic scored twice with an assist. He's red hot. Bergeron assisted all 3 of Seguin's goals, and I think the Bruins have solidified at least one line combo. And David Krejci actually did something, quadrupling his season point total with a goal and 2 assists. He came into this game with just 1 goal and 0 assists.

The Bruins have dominated Toronto twice this season. They match up perfectly against them, able to neutralize the Leafs' strengths and exploit their weaknesses.

They can continue to win tonight (it's so weird to have less than a week between games) as they host the very bad Islanders. They're averaging just over 2 goals per game. But they also don't allow many goals. Still, they have yet to win on the road.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Flashbacks of 2007

We all turned our clocks back an hour on Saturday night. The Giants turned theirs back 4 years on Sunday evening. The Giants shutdown the Pats offense, then won thanks to a flag route in the end zone. And even though the defense didn't allow a ton of points, they couldn't stop the big drive at the end of the game. They weren't clutch.

As bad as the defense looked on that final drive, where was the offense. I know people hate the fact that the offense seemingly needs 35 points in order to mask the defense's shortcomings. But turning the ball over 4 times isn't exactly helpful. There's no doubt that the Patriots' talent is heavily weighted on the offensive side of the ball, so when that unit foes 5/15 on 3rd downs and turns the ball over 4 times, I think they deserve some criticism.

Both of Brady's interceptions were simply bad passes. He's had a lot of those this year. He was nearly picked again. And again. He then fumbled, which wasn't so much his fault. My point is, the Giants scored 10 points off the second Brady pick, and that fumble.

Then Edelman dropped the ball on a punt return after a 3 and out.

Criticize the defense all you want, and they deserve it. It's not a well constructed unit. But can you honestly tell me that this offense has performed to the level it's capable of?

I don't think it has.

Pats are at the Jets Sunday night and that is a massively important game with the Pats, Jets, and Bills all tied at the top of the AFC East. The Patriots haven't won a big road game in a long time, and they don't get much bigger than this one.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo