Bruins Win Third Straight, 3-0 Over Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning sit ahead of the Bruins in the standings of whatever division the Bruins are now in. The Atlantic division, I think. However, the B's have now beaten the Lightning three times.

And that's thanks mostly to Tuukka Rask. He stopped all 28 Tampa Bay shots in this one. He's stopped 84 of 85 shots against the Lightning this year. That's a 0.988 SV%. His most impressive save on Monday was a right-pad stop of what would have been a Steven Stamkos goal.

Stamkos would leave the game with a broken right tibia suffered while charging the net and striking the post. He's one of the premier players in the League, his stardom somewhat wasted in a hockey apathetic market, so hopefully he comes back soon and comes back well.

The Lightning might have been able to steal this game with a couple of power play goals. Thankfully the Bruins' penalty-kill is as good as ever. The B's killed 4 Lightning power plays, and have gone 6 straight games without allowing a power play goal. They've amassed 22 consecutive kills.

Bergeron has been scoring this year and scored a goal in this game goal in this game, defensemen have been contributing on offense (Krug and Bartkowski with assists), and the newcomers are doing well. Jarome Iginla scored his 4th, and now has 11 points. And Loui Eriksson doesn't seem to be suffering any adverse effects from the concussion.

So a good win for the Bruins, a good divisional win against a quality opponent. The Bruins are 8-1-0 within their division. And that's very good.

The Bruins host Columbus on Thursday.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Elise Amendola

The Tom Brady-Peyton Manning Era Is Nearing an End

I'm not saying the Brady-Manning era is over. It clearly is not since the two future Hall of Famers have the second and third best records in the AFC. Nor am I suggesting that Brady and Manning are the only elite QBs in the League. But for over a decade they have been at the center of AFC football, winning 4 Championships, representing the AFC in 7 Super Bowls, and claiming 6 MVP awards.

But Manning is 37. Brady's 36. How much longer can these guys continue to be so prominent in the game?

On Sunday Manning was limping on an apparently injured ankle. Brady's been denying that he has an injured throwing hand, but it appears to be swollen. How much longer can these guys endure the brutality of the game? How many more years can they play 16 games in 17 weeks, then play in even tougher postseason games? How much longer can they play at the highest level?

Manning's been sacked 265 times in his career. Brady 329. That doesn't include all the hits after they've released the ball, all the times they've been blocked hard during an interception or fumble return.

How many more throws do their arms have? How many more scrambles do their legs have? How many more progressions do their eyes have? How many more audibles do their minds have?

Manning is having an excellent year in Denver. Brady's 2013 season hasn't been nearly as impressive, but the team is 7-2 and there have been glimpses of greatness. Last week's win over Pittsburgh was vintage Brady. And his game-winning TD pass against the Saints was sheer brilliance.

If the season ended today, the Patriots and Broncos would be the 2 and 3 seeds in the AFC playoffs, respectively. The Broncos have the 2nd best record in the Conference and the Patriots the 3rd best. Peyton is putting up absurd numbers out in Denver. Brady has struggled, but once again has the support of a strong defense, which makes the Patriots a dangerous team in the playoffs.

The Broncos face the Pats on November 24th in Foxborough.

So enjoy this rivalry while it lasts. This might be one of the final years that both these guys can play at the top of their game, competing for Super Bowls and MVPs.

Bruins Crack the Maple Leafs

NESN's Dale Arnold described Saturday night's meeting between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs as "Game 8" of the series that ended last spring in dramatic fashion. Gloriously dramatic for the Bruins, and painfully dramatic for the Leafs.

In many ways, this was indeed a continuation of the series between these teams. That's what makes these rivalries so interesting. There's history. There are good and bad memories, grudges, a hopeless desire for revenge, a greedy desire to continue to beat your opponent.

I must admit that until this game, I hadn't been very interested in Bruins hockey. You go from the Stanley Cup Finals to regular season game #1 of 82. You also have a Red Sox playoff run drawing all attention to it. It took an Original 6 rivalry to ignite my interest in the 2013-14 Bruins.

Because I hate the Leafs. I hate Phil Kessel. I hate van Riemsdyk and I don't know why and that makes me hate him more. I hate Toronto fans. And I hate their city and their crack smoking mayor.

So I was very pleased to see the Bruins score a pair of power play goals. Which is not common for them to do. I was thrilled to see Patrice Bergeron score yet another game-winning goal against Toronto. I was happy to see Loui Eriksson get back into his groove. And I was ecstatic to see Jarome Iginla playing physical, Bruins style hockey. I think it suits him. He's winning me over.

And now I'm hooked. For the next 5-7 months. It's hockey season.

Bruins host the Lightning Monday afternoon, another rematch of a memorable playoff series.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

You People Need to Get Over the Tim Thomas White House Thing

The Florida Panthers are in town tonight to play the Bruins. That means Tim Thomas... will likely be inactive due to lower body issues. The former Bruins goalie, who won two Vezinas and a Conn Smythe in Boston, won't be between the pipes. He made the trip but we'll see if he even dresses.

Look, I think criticizing Thomas for the way he de-activated himself is a legit criticism. And I can even understand blaming his on-ice performance for the team's struggles in 2011-12. Those are rational. They make logical sense. In my opinion I think what he did for this team overshadows that lackluster 2011-12 season. And I think the way he exited the team shouldn't dictate how we view his entire Bruins tenure. You may not like how he left, but you have to appreciate what he did while he was here.

However, when you continue to criticize him for not going to the White House, you're venturing away from logic. You need to get over that. It was years ago. He made a political statement. Who cares? People make political statements all the time and we ignore them.

The people who criticize Thomas then go on lectures about him being "selfish" and creating a distraction for his team. Several more logical leaps and bounds later and suddenly Thomas' absence at the White House is responsible for the team's struggles that season. Media people, like Tom Caron on WEEI today, blame Thomas for forcing his teammates to answer questions about the event. Then they blame that distraction for the team's difficulties.

There is nothing more outrageous to a member of the media than refusing to answer their questions. It appalls them. And media people will invariably find a way to turn your lack of cooperation with them into something with a broader impact. In this case, Thomas didn't talk to the press about the White House, so that forced his teammates to talk (because I'm sure the media would not have asked them questions had Thomas talked), and that distracted a team of grown men from playing hockey at 100%. Thomas' selfishness was the reason that a Championship winning team wilted in the First Round a year later.

Thomas was the reason Bergeron and Lucic failed to score in that playoff series. Thomas is the reason Krejci and Marchand only scored one goal apiece. Rich Peverly was somehow immune because he scored 3 goals. Maybe Pevs was a member of the Tea Party.

I will blame Thomas' on-ice performance for the team's struggles in that series and that year. That's a fair complaint. He was not the same goalie in 2011-12 as he was in 2010-11. He looked kind of like he looks this season. Slower. Clunky. Borderline clumsy. Thomas could only manage to play in 59 games that year. And in 2011 he only played 57 regular season games. Then 25 playoff games. He was worn out.

I'm tired of the White House non-visit being blown out of proportion. I'm tired of media people getting sanctimonious whenever an athlete dare refuse them an interview. I'm tired of Thomas doing something off the ice being blamed for a team's struggles on the ice.

Tim Thomas was a great goalie. He was a weirdo. He left town in a selfish way. And once he didn't want to go to the White House. The end. Get over it.

The Best Thursday Night Lineup in College Football History?

Tonight four Top 10 BCS teams will play in a pair of games with massive National Championship implications. Have four Top 10 BCS teams ever played each other on a Thursday night before? I don't no, nor do I care.

At 7:30pm Eastern on Fox Sports 1, undefeated Baylor hosts 7-1 Oklahoma. The Bears are ranked 6th in the BCS and in order to keep any National Championship hopes alive, they must win out. They're also in a tight conference battle in the Big 12. Oklahoma is also involved in that fight with a 4-1 conference record. The #10 Sooners must beat Baylor then hope Texas (5-0 in the Big 12) lose in the conference.

At 9:00pm on ESPN, #5 Stanford hosts #3 Oregon. The Cardinal are Oregon's biggest roadblock to an undefeated season and possible National Championship berth. Stanford have the 19th best scoring defense, allowing less than 20 points per game. The Ducks have the 2nd best offense in the country, averaging 55.6 points per game. Tonight will be the hardest test for both units.

Every year, the Ducks find a way to lose a pivotal game. They lost to Stanford 17-14 in overtime last season, LSU and USC in 2011, the BCS title game in 2010, Boise State and Stanford in '09, Boise State, Stanford, and Cal in 2008, and so on. They're 64-10 since '08, but with 0 National titles, and only 2 BCS bowl wins.

The Ducks don't finish.

I think Oregon loses a close game, probably due to some special teams mistake. And Oklahoma upends Baylor in a not-so-close game. Then huge sighs of relief will rise up from Tuscaloosa, Tallahassee, and Columbus.

Shane Victorino and Jonny Gomes on Conan

Shane Victorino and Jonny Gomes appeared on Conan last night. I have to say that Gomes has the crazy eyes. And Victorino's shiftiness and nervous energy kind of scares me at times.

They talked with Conan about beard-pulling, chemistry of the team, Jake Peavy buying a duckboat, Shane Victorino's high pain threshold...

Then they talked about how much the City of Boston meant to the success of the Red Sox this year.

Artie Lange was the next guest and he talked about his hatred of Alex Rodriguez. He also talked about his recovery from drug addiction, although he did so in a funny way.

Finally, just for laughs, here's a classic Conan clip of him playing in an olde tyme base-ball game.

Is it weird that I'm really turned on by how shy and demure one of the women is?

People to Thank for the Red Sox World Series

Time to go to Hallmark and get some thank-you cards for a lot of people who made this World Series Championship possible. Here are the people who you should send your cards to...

1. The Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers took all of the Red Sox' baggage. The Sox had a bad kidney (Gonzalez), infected tonsils (Crawford), and an appendix about to burst (Beckett), and the Dodgers accepted all of them. Then the Dodgers paid for most of the surgery. The Dodgers deserve their own duckboat in Saturday's parade for taking all of this payroll and malignant personality off of the Red Sox roster.

2. The Red Sox owners
The owners did the best thing that owners can do: delegate. Bob Kraft didn't become a good owner until he eased up and delegated. The Red Sox owners were good when they let Theo Epstein do his job, then they became overbearing, they then pulled back in response to the failures of the 2012 season. The best thing the Red Sox owners did in 2013 was what they didn't do.

3. Koji Uehara
Where would this team be if Uehara didn't emerge as one of the best closers in the game? Bailey and Hanrahan got hurt. Uehara filled a role that had been vacant since Papelbon was allowed to leave. And Uehara filled that role's brains out.

4. Ben Cherington
The Red Sox GM didn't go nuts, he didn't try to sign any "wow" free agents. He acquired guys who were hungry to win. Savvy ballplayers who knew how to do the little things. He didn't care that Stephen Drew was related to J.D. Drew. He signed Mike Napoli, who was starving for a ring. He made many small moves that combined to make a big difference.

The timing was right as there really weren't many big name free agents on the market anyway.

5. John Lackey
This guy pitched his ass off. He got no run support all season long. We all hated him. Many wanted him to be traded. He's a 35-year-old recovering from surgery, he pitched 189.1 innings in the regular season then 26 more in the postseason (including 1 in relief). And he still argued with Farrell to get just one more out in Game 6. He went from slacker to gamer. Lackey's hunger in 2013 (for doing well, not for beer and chicken) was a key part to the hunger this team had.

And again, give thanks to the Dodgers for not wanting to take this guy from us.

6. John Farrell
His in-game decisions weren't always correct. But trading for John Farrell was an important part to this team's success. He didn't try to discipline the players, he tried to make them more self-disciplined. He got the pitching staff to refocus, and he brought with him an attitude geared toward winning. Most importantly, he didn't put his own ego ahead of anything. If he made a mistake, he learned from it and made different moves. Pride is not one of John Farrell's faults.

7. J.J. Hardy, Jason Kipnis, Jose Bautista
I can't say I remember the All-Star Game. But these three guys all knocked in runs for the AL team. And that's why the Sox had homefield advantage in the World Series. Thanks, guys!

8. Pedroia, Lester, Ellsbury, all the rest of the players
The players who were here in 2011 and 2012 became reinvigorated. And the guys who weren't here brought a fresh energy. All the players, from Pedroia to Lester to Victorino to Bogaerts to Workman to Tazawa. They all gave 100%. Which you sadly could not say about the 2011 or 2012 Sox.

8. The Fans
Yes you. Your outrage over this team's failure in 2012 caused so much to change. In 2011, we weren't as angry as we should have been. And the owners thought they could use Francona as a scapegoat and we'd be happy with his dismissal. We were complacent for a time, until the team failed again in 2012. And the horrible managing of Bobby Valentine became evident.

We as fans actually accepted Bobby V. That's kind of sad. He was shit. Once the fans demanded that he be banished, along with all the other cancerous players and contracts, that's when things turned around. We threatened a revolution in Red Sox Nation and the front office responded.

So pat yourself on the back for being pissed about the 2012 season, then also ask yourself why you didn't start that season with the same skepticism.

Hopefully in 2014 Ben Cherington can continue to do his job, and the front office won't inflate attendance figures. Marketing people can market the team, and baseball people can assemble it, and baseball players can play baseball.

RED SOX WIN THE WORLD SERIES!!!

This is unreal. This team was picked to finish last in their division. Fans were hoping that they'd flirt with .500 and contend for a Wild Card spot. 108 wins later and it's duckboat time.

The bats finally woke up Wednesday night. Shane Victorino and Mike Napoli returned to the lineup. People not named David Ortiz got big hits. Victorino had a massive impact, going 2 for 3 with 4 RBI. Napoli hit an RBI single in the 4th. Victorino's 3-run double in the 3rd came with 2 outs. So Michael Wacha was only an out away from escaping that inning, just like he escaped the 2nd. Five of the Sox' 6 runs were scored with 2 outs.

It was only a matter of time before the bats woke up. And that the 22-year-old Wacha was knocked around. Who was going to adjust better after Game 2? Wacha to the veteran Sox batters, or the Sox batters to Wacha? The Sox lineup isn't loaded with stars, but it's packed with savvy players that know how to work at-bats and figure out pitchers.

The Cardinals did not figure out John Lackey. He wasn't dominant, but he made pitches when he had to. He allowed 9 hits in his 6.2 innings. He seemed to save his best pitches for the most important at-bats. He struck out Jon Jay with runners on second and third in the 2nd inning. He struck out David Freese to end the 4th, also with two runners on. Of the 9 hits he allowed, only 1 wasn't a single, and only 1 was allowed with runners in scoring position.

The Sox scored 5 of their 6 runs with 2 outs. Lackey shut the Cardinals down with 2 outs, at least until the 7th. Wacha's inability to get the third out and Lackey's ability to get it was the difference in this game.

What can you say about this team?

They never learned how to lose.

The 2011 and 2012 Sox found ways to lose. They seemed to go out of their way to lose. This team never learned how. They never lost more than 3 games in a row all season long. And they only had five 3-game losing streaks. Only one of those streaks came after the All-Star Game.

Losing was foreign to them. It was distasteful. They hated it. Once they lost they found a way to win the next day. They were 43-21 in games after a loss. That's a .672 pace, which would win 109 games in a 162 game season. In the playoffs they were 4-1 after a loss.

They found ways to win. When a reliever blew a save, the offense would rally. When the offense struggled to score, the pitching would bear down. Down 5-1 in the 8th against Detroit? No problem. David Ortiz will hit a Grand Slam to tie it.

Just magic. They made the city believe in them again. They made a cynic like me believe in them again. Faith restored.

I can't wait for Spring Training.

Photo Credit:
Greg M. Cooper/USA Today Sports