Bruins Vanquish Devils

It's fitting that the Bruins achieved win #6 of their streak against the Devils. 6 as in 666, as in the Devil (even though 666 actually refers to Nero Caesar, not the Devil. Yes, I am that much of a nerd that I know that). And unlike the other games, they didn't pour 6+ goals in order to win it. They grinded this win out, against a determined New Jersey team.

The Bruins got contributions from guys who aren't on the top two lines. Gregory Campbell showed up big time, with two goal-triggering passes. He's the reason why Chris Kelly and Shawn Thornton scored goals.

The Bruins earned this one. They started a bit slower than the Devils, who came out determined. They withstood the onslaught and kept themselves in the game. And in the 3rd period, they willed their way to win. Which was extra impressive because they've been cruising in the 3rd period lately. They reached down and found that little extra something and they've now won 6 straight.

Just a bit of a tangent here: How good is Zdeno Chara? He might be the most complete player in the NHL. Obviously he's a dominating defensive force. But he plays in every key situation. The Bruins tried (and succeeded with) that set-play off the faceoff with a winger fainting wide then cutting to the center of the ice. Who has been the defenseman who made the tape-to-tape pass before both goals? Chara.

He's +9 during this streak, +10 on the season, with a goal and 12 assists. There are a handful of defensemen who have more points than that, but none of them are anywhere near as defensively stifling as Chara.

Bruins host the Blue Jackets Thursday night. They're dead-last in the NHL with a 3-13-1 record and are 0-7 on the road. This is a great opportunity for win #7 so long as complacency doesn't set in.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

PapelGone

The Phillies have officially acquired Jonathan Papelbon after he passed his physical yesterday. The former Red Sox closer signed a deal worth $50 million over 4 years, or $12.5 per season. And in an offseason that Red Sox fans want to see their team dramatically improve, it looks like they've gotten significantly worse. At the moment, at least.

The Red Sox must fill this loss by acquiring someone else. Bard is simply not good enough, as demonstrated by his performance down the stretch. And Aceves is no guarantee to succeed in the role either. And why not keep him where he is right now?

Heath Bell is a candidate for the job. He's recorded 40+ saves in each of the last three seasons. However, he's 34 years old (Papelbon turns 31 next week), and has no post-season experience. He'll be coming from San Diego to Boston, which is a drastically different environment.

There's 36 year old Francisco Cordero, who has over 300 career Saves, but also has no playoff experience.

There's 31 year old Ryan Madson, who doesn't have much of a track record as a closer before last season.

There's Francisco Rodriguez, who turns 30 in January, has extensive playoff experience, but he hasn't had a 30+ save season since 2009.

So there are options out there, and none of the above closers would be that bad. But none are improvements over Papelbon.

I know $12.5 million is a lot for a relief pitcher, but how much do the Red Sox spend on designated hitters, and oft-injured right-fielders? How about extensions for inconsistent starting pitchers?

I guess my biggest problem is that Papelbon is one of the Red Sox players that was likable. He was actually trying, and seemed to hate losing. He wasn't an elite closer and he can be replaced, but it's just not a pleasant way to begin an offseason.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

LSU vs. Oklahoma State... Unless...*

Stanford lost. Boise State lost. The only unbeatens left are LSU, Oklahoma State, and Houston. With Houston's schedule, they're not going to get a national title shot without lots of help. So the Championship game will be LSU's stifling defense (allowing 10.7 points per game), against Oklahoma State's relentless offense (scoring 51.7 per game). Unless either of them lose, of course.

And that's possible. LSU still has to play #6 Arkansas. Oklahoma State must face #5 Oklahoma. If either team fails to win these big games (or any other game), then the BCS becomes a mess. And based on the history of the BCS, I think we're destined for a mess.

If Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State, how do you shut them out of the title game? How about Oregon, who only lost to LSU? What about Alabama, who only lost to LSU? Then again, if your only loss is to LSU, doesn't that mean you had an opportunity to win a title shot and failed? Is it more damaging to lose to a contender than it is to lose to a random team like Texas Tech? Should it be more damaging?

If LSU and Oklahoma State run the table, then the BCS has done its job. If not, then a playoff would be the only answer to solve the National Championship puzzle.

Bruins Slice Sabres

The Bruins extended their winning streak to 5 and also ended Buffalo's at 4. I think it's safe to say that the Bruins turned a corner on November 1st against Ottawa. Since then, they've scored 30 goals, and allowed only 10.

One of the biggest reasons for the onslaught of goals is Tyler Seguin and the Seguin-Bergeron-Marchand line. They were +3 Saturday night and Seguin has already matched his 2010-11 total with 11 goals. He's on pace for 60. The only Bruin to ever score 60+ goals in a season was an Italian guy named Phil. He did it three times. The last Bruin to score 50+ was Cam Neely in 1993-94.

It's not just one line, though. While Seguin is scoring the pretty goals, Lucic and Horton are generating ugly ones. They've combined for 8 goals during this streak. Neither of these guys were producing at the start of the season and it was killing the team. But now they're both playing physical, and allowing the game to come to them.

Apart from Seguin, this team doesn't have a pure scorer. They rely on depth, and being able to grind their opponents down. Right now they have two lines playing very well, a third line that's producing (Chris Kelly had a goal and an assist) and the 4th line is doing what the 4th line is supposed to do. Not only that, the defensemen are contributing with timely pinches and breakout passes.

Everything is clicking right now for the Bruins. This level of play is difficult to maintain for very long, but the Bruins just need a few of these parts playing well at the same time in order to succeed. As opposed to back in October when it was just Thomas and Seguin playing well.

Bruins host the Devils Tuesday night.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Pats Soar Over Jets

A lot of people didn't give the Patriots a chance in this game. But I was cautiously optimistic. Why? Because I don't think the Jets are that good.

Sure, the Pats' defense was a slapped together hodgepodge of obscure practice squad players. During player introductions, I was surprised NBC had photos for all of them. And it's not like the Patriots' defense has been a dominating force before this latest rash of injuries. But Mark Sanchez and the Jets' offense are not well equipped to take advantage of these weaknesses.

This game featured a weak defense facing a weak offense, and a strong offense facing a strong defense. And it came down to which team made the most/biggest mistakes, and which team best took advantage of those mistakes.

The Jets made the biggest and the most mistakes. A muffed punt, a missed 24 yard field goal, they gave Brady the ball back with time before the end of the half, Greene couldn't catch a ball and that turned into a pick, and Sanchez threw an interception that was his own fault. The Jets also looked confused at all times. They were never entirely certain what they were doing, let alone had any idea what the Patriots were going to do.

The Pats took advantage of these mistakes. And they didn't make many of their own. There was a botched shotgun snap that Brady was able to recover. And the safety, of course. That was basically it. The Pats didn't turn the ball over, they didn't allow many big plays.

The Pats also improved as the game progressed. Especially Tom Brady. Up until that drive before halftime, he was 6/14 for 129 yards (76.2 rating). He finished the game 20/25 for 200 yards and 3 TDs (139.6 rating). He was two different quarterbacks. One was clumsy and random. The other was efficient and ruthless.

The Pats were still in the game despite the slow offensive start because of the defense. Andre Carter and Rob Ninkovich had career games. Carter was credited with 4.5 sacks, and Ninkovich intercepted two passes. It wasn't pretty, but the Red Zone defense was tight, they didn't allow big plays, and they occasionally got to Sanchez.

Rob Gronkowski had yet another monstrous performance. 8 catches for 113 yards and 2 TDs. Did you know that Belichick drafted him? That's right. The guy everyone has been critical of as a GM drafted Gronk in the 2nd round. He's already caught 18 TD passes in his just-starting career.

By the way, Wes Welker's 46 yards put him over 1,000 yards for the season. It's Week 10.

Chad Ochocinco made the most noise he's made all season. 2 catches for 65 yards, one of them was a huge 53 yarder. He's not going to get cut. He might not be a significant positive contributor, but unlike Haynesworth, he's not a negative.

So things weren't as bad as we thought they were. But this win isn't unbelievably impressive either. The Jets are a 5-4 team and they played like a 5-4 team. The Pats' schedule from here on out is very easy, and with 2 wins against the Jets in their pocket, and Buffalo struggling, there's no excuse to not win the AFC East.

Pats host Kansas City on Monday night.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

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.