Colts Put Peyton Out to Pasture

Peyton Manning was due a $28 million option on Thursday. The Colts will release him before that option triggers. And that makes absolutely perfect sense.

There's a chance he could remain in Indy with a restructured deal. I'm sure he and the Colts will try to get something done that would keep him in blue and white. At the same time, there are a number of teams that would welcome Peyton, and lay palms on the ground before him as he rides into town on a donkey. And the Colts have a draft pick to acquire a replacement. So a mutually agreeable parting of ways is very likely.

If I were the Colts, I'd keep Peyton. I'd also draft Andrew Luck. And I'd trade all my other picks to draft RG3 as well. Why not?

It would be a triumvirate of stereotypical QBs. The veteran unwilling to admit he's in the twilight of his career. Whose greatest injury isn't to his neck, but is to his ego. The by-the-book "game manager" white boy QB from Stanford. The black gunslinging playmaker with flare, a Heisman Trophy, and question marks about transitioning his game to the NFL.

Have a film crew follow the team around, hire Al Pacino to be the coach and invite Cameron Diaz to scowl from the owner's box and you have Any Given Sunday 2: Indiana's Temple of Doom.

Bruins Escape Toronto With Two Points

It was ugly at times. The Bruins needed to get points out of this game. They needed some of their big names to play up to their reputations and they needed some new faces to contribute. They needed players to step out of their comfort zone. They needed 2 goals from Jordan Caron. They needed a fight from Dennis Seidenberg.

Caron is my newest favorite player. He's moving with more assertiveness now. With Paille, Peverley, and Horton off the ice, the Bruins need forwards. And Caron has answered the call. That goal against the Rangers seemed to boost his confidence and playing with Chris Kelly appears to be benefiting both players.

Seidenberg's fight said a lot about the character of this team. It was a spontaneous thing. Colby Armstrong came a long way to give him a hit, and Seidenberg didn't like it. Adam McQuaid didn't like it either and tried to fight Colby. But Seidenberg wanted Colby for himself. And even though the big German doesn't fight very often, he did quite well.

The goaltending was shaky. The penalty kill was ineffective. The power play unit was flat. There are still a number of problems the Bruins need to work out before the playoffs start. BUT, they deserved the two points they got. They needed them and they earned them.

Bruins host the Sabres on Thursday.

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Why the Celtics Shouldn't Trade Rondo

I don't think the Celtics are Championship contenders. So I wouldn't mind if they traded some of their big names in an effort to build for the future. This team, as currently assembled, has no future. And their present isn't that good either. People in this town are exhilarated to win 4 straight and improve to 19-17, thus tightening their grasp on 7th place in the East.

One player that shouldn't be traded, unless you got significant compensation in return or could acquire a clearly superior player, is Rajon Rondo. Yesterday's triple-double was the latest example of his explosiveness. He's young, talented, and he helps you win games.

We know Rondo's faults. They've been meticulously and repeatedly documented the last few months. Never have so many written so much about such a small number of minor shortcomings. And those in favor of trading him repeatedly say stuff like "you can't build a team around him."

So?

Was the 2007-08 team built around him? Nope. That worked out well.

He doesn't have to be the centerpiece of the team. And he's proven that when he's surrounded by talent, he does extremely well. More importantly, the team does extremely well. You don't need to build around him in order to win. Yet he can still help you win.

There are better point-guards out there. But they're not cheap to pay for or easy to find. And it doesn't seem like Rondo's value in a trade would be very high. So how does trading your only young talent for medium value help you build for the future? How does dropping your youngest star help your future?

It doesn't make sense.

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Bounty Hunters

This is a big story. But could you imagine how much bigger it would be if those evil Patriots were involved?

The Saints allegedly managed a pool of cash up to $50,000 and rewarded defensive players for inflicting injuries on opponents. Knocking out an opposing player was worth a $1,500 bonus. A "cart-off" was worth $1,000.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams oversaw the fund - with the knowledge of head coach Sean Payton - back in 2009 when the Saints won the Super Bowl.

The amount of the bonuses is low for pro athletes, but it's still unauthorized compensation that goes beyond the salary cap. And that's against the rules. No asterisks for the 2009 Championship necessary, but the Saints should be severely punished for running such a fund.

The nature of the bonuses is kind of sickening. Cart-offs? Does a player get a new car for ending a QBs career? Then again, it's a violent sport. People don't hit each other with the intent of NOT hurting each other.

Still, the whole knockout and cart-off thing means players are encouraged to go for the head and legs. The NFL has gotten serious about injuries from those kinds of hits and this is their chance to fully demonstrate that seriousness.

It's horrible for PR. The NFL suspends so many players, fines them so often for dirty hits. They can't let programs like these continue now that they've been unearthed. And the fact that the head coach knew about it is all the more damning.

The problem isn't localized to New Orleans. And I'd be utterly stunned if there is a franchise in the NFL that has never had such an informal Pain Payment Program at one point in time.

It is a contact sport. Injuries happen. But ultimately injuries should be viewed as part of the game, not the goal of the game.

Bruins Lose to New York, Then Lose to New York

You can't help but respect the New York Rangers. Their style and strategy is so similarly to the Bruins. Excellent goaltending, mistake-free defense, offense from multiple sources, and an unwavering willingness to drop the gloves and fight. There's no blueprint to beat them. No schemes or tricks. You have to out-execute them. You have to make more plays, win more battles, commit fewer errors.

Yesterday afternoon the Bruins made fewer plays, won fewer battles, and committed more errors. Even if the B's had gotten a few bounces and won, I wouldn't have been happy with their performance. They're inconsistent. They've been inconsistent all season.

Some might gripe that bad luck cost the Bruins. A puck ricocheted off Greg Zanon's stick then his body and into the Bruins' net. Another puck bounced around behind Lundqvist without crossing the line. Oh and there was that weird non-icing call in the Islanders game on Saturday. And don't forget about the injuries to Peverley, Horton, and now Paille, Rask, and Ference.

These are the types of excuses you'd expect from Yawkey Way, not Causeway Street. And they are just that, excuses.

Did the Bruins play at their best, or even close to their best against the Rangers? Maybe for a 20 minute chunk of the game. The other 40 minutes were a display of mediocrity punctuated by the occasional bad decision. Chara passing to Kelly in the middle of the ice and with three Rangers in the area. New York's second goal saw Carl Hagelin streak down the ice, burning the Bruins' defensemen and making them look like they played free safety for the New England Patriots.

The timeout was effective. The Bruins played much better after that. The Rangers played much worse. Then the Rangers answered the Bruins' wave of momentum with one of their own. And the B's never answered back.

It's been a long time since we've seen 60 consecutive minutes of quality hockey from this team. Even during their winning stretch, they'd play 40 minutes of so-so hockey, turn it on in the 3rd period, and win. And we praised them for it.

I don't doubt they'll be able to advance past the likes of Ottawa or New Jersey in the playoffs, even if they're not stringing together more than 40 straight minutes of good hockey. But when it's time to face Philadelphia, or Pittsburgh, or the Rangers, there will need to be more consistency.

Bruins are in Toronto tomorrow night.

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AP Photo

Hats How You Do It

David Krejci scored just over a minute into the game. And he scored to end it. And he scored to tie it in the 3rd. That's a nice hat-trick right there. The second of his career.

Krejci's line was the story of the game. Julien shifted him back to center, and put Seguin on the wing. It worked well. In the first 10 minutes the line generated 3 scoring chances, scoring on 2 of them.

I like the idea of Seguin, Krejci, and Lucic together. All three can make plays in their own way and help their linemates out. It takes some pressure off Krejci to make all the clever plays, Seguin can benefit from Lucic's physical play, and Lucic has two skilled linemates to feed him the puck in the slot.

I also like Rolston on a line with Bergeron and Marchand. He's not electrifying, but he's solid.

Speaking of Marchand, I enjoyed seeing him once again get under an opponent's skin. He hasn't been very successful at that since the Vancouver game. I'm glad he finally drew more penalties than he committed.

The Bruins dominated the 1st period, then played messy in the 2nd, grinded out the 3rd, and ripped the game from the Devils in OT. In their last 4 periods of hockey, they've played 3 good ones. That's an improvement.

If Martin Brodeur weren't Martin Brodeur, the B's would have ended the 1st period up 5-0.

In the 2nd, they tried too hard to be fast in the neutral zone, and it bit them. I'm not a big fan of emphasizing speed through the middle of the ice. I'd rather see a smart play as opposed to a quick play.

With the acquisitions of Mottau and Zanon, Joe Corvo is literally playing for a job. His giveaway in the 2nd won't help him. He's not bad, and I wouldn't say he's struggling. He's on a team with 5 other very good defensemen, that all play well within Julien's system. He's just half a step behind all of them. And this is the time to see if maybe Zanon and/or Mottau can keep up better than Corvo can.

The Bruins will try to make it two straight Saturday afternoon when they host the Islanders, who have the 4th worst record in the NHL.

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Ottawhat?

The Bruins haven't been able to win back-to-back games since January 12th. That trend was extended last night in a 1-0 loss to Ottawa that probably should have been a 2-0 or 3-0 loss. The Bruins played the first 50 minutes before generating any sustained pressure, they struggled to maintain possession of the puck, and they seemed disjointed, as if this was their first time playing with each other.

It was as if the whole team were Deadline Day new arrivals.

I know there's injuries to key players. During this stretch we're really seeing how valuable Rich Peverley is. But the turnovers, the poor passes, David Krejci trying to carry the puck around opponents like he's in a Bobby Orr highlight video, it's all inexcusable.

It doesn't just hurt the defense, either. It kills the offense. The Bruins are struggling to score goals, which means they need as many opportunities as possible. A sniper only needs one shot to kill a guy, but a bad shooter needs a dozen. The B's turning the puck over at your offensive blue-line is like a bad shooter throwing bullets away.

Hopefully it's just a product of returning home from a long homestand. Then again, this win-lose-win-lose pattern has persisted for a month and a half now.

The playoffs are around the corner. And Ottawa is only a point behind, although the Bruins have 4 games in hand. Winning the division looks like it will be extra important this year as the 2nd place Northeast team might be the 5th or 6th seed in the playoffs. There are a number of Atlantic Division teams that could occupy the 4th, 5th, and maybe even the 6th spots.

The Bruins host one of those Atlantic Division teams on Thursday as the Devils come to town.

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The Danica 500

Before the race, and the rain delay, and the fire, Danica Patrick was the big story in Daytona. She was making her Sprint Cup debut in the series' biggest race. And it didn't go well. She was involved in an accident on Lap 2, which also collected 5 time series Champion Jimmie Johnson and last year's 500 winner Trevor Bayne. Danica's crew patched her car up and she finished a few dozen laps behind the leaders in 38th place.

She was obviously disappointed with the result, but seemed happy for the 138 laps of experience behind the wheel of a Sprint Cup car. She was happy to learn.

And that's the problem. That's why she struggled in the Nationwide Series last year. She's trying to learn how to do it before she does it. And that's not how racing works.

You think when Dale Earnhardt Sr. took his first green flags he was thinking about learning? No. How about Tony Stewart? Kyle Busch? Jeff Gordon? These guys got into their cars, drove as hard and as fast as possible. How else can you know how hard you can push a car until you've pushed it too hard?

You don't learn by not making mistakes. You learn by making them. And she's trying too hard to avoid them.

She needs to remember how to forget to think. Just drive. Racing drivers are missing that certain part of the brain that thinks about the bad things that might happen in a racecar. I'm not questioning Danica's bravery. She's much braver than I to sit in a tub of metal and go 220 MPH. She's not afraid of the danger, she's afraid of not doing well. I think she's so concerned with not being bad that she's preventing herself from being good.

She has the skill set. And she doesn't make the rookie mistakes you'd expect a newcomer to stock car racing would make. But there's no aggressiveness, no assertiveness, no coloring outside the lines. She's like a baseball player that doesn't swing because they're afraid to strike out.

I don't think it's a gender thing. I've seen female drivers with less skills than Danica, but also more conviction. You don't need balls in your pants to have them on the track. She just needs to stop thinking about being a good driver and just drive. She needs to stop being so cautious.

After all, "caution" is a bad word in racing.

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AP Photo