WORLD CUP TO RUSSIA IN 2018, QATAR IN 2022

Russia won the bid to host the 2018 World Cup. They beat out competing bids from Belgium/Netherlands, England, and Portugal/Spain. And that makes sense. Russia's becoming more and more of a player in the game of soccer, it's a massive country, a growing economy, and the World Cup has never been played there.

But Qatar winning the bid to host the 2022 Cup is a bit surprising. Only 1.7 million people live there. And granted, it's a rich country, but it's just so tiny. How many soccer stadiums can they have in the 164th largest country in the world?

Qatar defeated bids from the US, Japan, South Korea, and Australia.

I know that expanding the game to new places is important, and 3 out of 4 of those countries have hosted World Cups in recent memory, but Qatar? They don't even follow the "q with a u" rule.

And what about the weather? June and July in Qatar see average daily temperatures surpass 106 degrees. And for night games, enjoy the average LOW temperature of 84.

I'd been hoping that the US would host the 2022 World Cup. And failing that, Australia. But it looks as though if I want to attend a World Cup soccer game, I have to go to kidnap capital of the world Brazil in 2014, or mafia run Russia in 2018, or a country that has a "defense co-operation" agreement with Iran in 2022.

I'm pretty sure the members of FIFA received some A-rab money for all this.

BRUINS HOLD ON TO 3-0 LEAD... FINALLY

One thing the Bruins lacked in their painful collapse to the Flyers a few months ago was Tim Thomas in net. It's not that Rask had a bad series, he just didn't have a very good one. But last night, Timmy shut down the Flyers, stopping all 41 shots (including a penalty shot) for his 5th shutout of the season.

Fun fact: Thomas didn't collect his 5th career shutout until 13 years after he was drafted. Now he has 22.

But it was really a team shutout. Thomas played his part, but the Bruins as a team blocked 16 shots, 4 each by Boychuk and Chara. They also did something they hadn't done in 6 straight games: score first.

The return of David Krejci has reignited the Bruins' #1 line, and the Power Play. When he was on the ice, the Bruins' entry into the zone was just so much better, so much smoother. That's how Bergeron got his PP goal (technically unassisted, but it was Krejci and Lucic who set events in motion).

Seguin scored on a breakaway. It was nice to see both he and Ryder do something on offense once more. Ryder's settled into a nice drought of production. After 4 goals and 6 assists in his first 12 games, he's contributed 2 goals and 2 assists in his last 11 games. That's Michael Ryder for you. Unreliable and occasional offense.

Lucic's empty-netter was his 11th of the season, and that leads the team. It's both good for him that he's atop the stat sheet in the category, and also kind of scary for the rest of the forwards.

The Bruins now have the best road record in the NHL at 9-3-1. If only they could figure out how to play at home.

Hopefully, they learned a few lessons from this game. They adjusted their neutral zone play and their breakout. They were more fluid on offense. The forwards still aren't physical enough, though. Look at the Flyers. Their top-scorers are also their top penalty-minutes guys. They're big, aggressive, and punishing. There are some forwards on the Bruins like that, but not many. And for a team that struggles to score, they need physical players to win battles on the boards, wear opponents out, draw penalties, et cetera.

Bruins host the Lightning tonight.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

WHY THE JETS GAME IS SO IMPORTANT

As if you hadn't heard, the Patriots play the Jets Monday night. And I for one, cannot wait. Because this is the most important game of the regular season. The winner will likely claim the AFC East title, an inside track to the #1 seed in the AFC, and an almost guaranteed bye in the playoffs as at least the #2 seed.

The loser, even if they finish with the 2nd or 3rd best record in the Conference, will get nothing better than a 5 seed. That means no bye, that means playing on the road.

So if the Patriots lose, they could be forced to travel to Indianapolis or San Diego to start the playoffs, despite having a better record AND beating both those teams in the regular season.

That may sound like a raw deal, but that's just how it is.

So it's safe to say that whoever wins this game will get an extra week off (in this topsy-turvy, anyone-can-beat-anyone NFL, how vital is that?), and get to play at home. The loser gets a tough road game, then another tough road game, then likely another tough road game.

This is not a must win game for either team. It's not like a playoff game, because you can't lose a playoff game and still have a chance to win the Super Bowl. The loser of this game will be in the playoffs, they'll just have a much more difficult road to travel. But the winner will get to skip a round, and play at home.

BRUINS TRADE HUNWICK

Marc Savard is close to returning, and we all knew that they had to shed some salary to clear sufficient cap room for him to return. So the Bruins sent Matt Hunwick and his $1.45 million salary to Colorado. In return, they got Colby Cohen, a 21 year old defenseman out of BU. Cohen is known more for his offense. You may remember him scoring BU's OT game-winner in the NCAA Finals a few years back. Word is, he still needs a lot of work to be a good positional defenseman.

What can you say about this deal. The Bruins trade a decent young defenseman who can contribute on offense, and get back a potentially decent young defenseman who can contribute on offense. But they free up cap space for Savard. And they need Savard.

And while I like that the NHL has a salary cap, I just wish there were more ways for teams to hang on to talent that they develop. Exemptions, or other write-offs would be nice. And it'd also be nice if teams like the Coyotes and Predators could be contracted so that average team revenue wouldn't go down, so the cap wouldn't go down.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

BRUINS GO DOWN IN THE SOUTH

The Bruins started the season 7-2-0, and are since 5-6-2. Offensive inconsistency has been the primary culprit for this mediocrity. At the start of the season, there were several forwards (plus Chara) that were red hot. Those hot streaks have cooled down, and now the Bruins have to work desperately for goals. And when they do score, it seems to be more luck than skill.

Not having Krejci and Savard is a big factor. But there really are too many non-scoring forwards on the roster. And last night in Atlanta, Boychuk, Seidenberg, and Chara were the Bruins' leading shooters. Three defensemen, outshooting all other forwards. That shouldn't happen.

Hopefully, when Krejci and Savard return, the goals will also return. Even then, those two are playmakers, not play-finishers. I fear the inconsistency will remain.

For now, the Bruins have to be more disciplined on defense. They're not scoring, but their defensive lapses in the neutral zone make their offensive issues so much worse. They've got to play smarter, and try to get through the offensive droughts without allowing 3 or 4 goals. They've got to find ways to win 1-0 and 2-1. Though, that doesn't frequently happen in the NHL these days.

They're at Philadelphia Wednesday night, and the Flyers are likely the best team they've faced this season. Perhaps that will inspire some focus.

Photo Credits:
AP Photo

BRADY GOBBLES LIONS FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER

The QB Rating stat, like all statistics, is imperfect. It doesn't, by itself, truly measure how great a quarterback's game/season/career is. But Tom Brady's maximum 158.3 from Thursday's win over the Lions is one time when the QB Rating is spot on.

After struggling to generate a rhythm in the first half, Brady spent the second half dissecting the Lions' defense. He was helped by some big defensive plays, which gave the Pats very good field position. And a 79 yard hook-up with Branch, which was as much the receivers' running as it was Brady's throwing.



And unlike against the Colts, the Patriots' offense maintained their assault. The defense was giving the ball back to Brady, and Brady spread it around to Welker, Gronkowski, and Branch. He added to the Patriots' lead, and what was a back-and-forth 24-24 game to start the 4th, very quickly turned into a slaughter.

I'm not going to dance in the streets for a win over a 2-9 Detroit team. Then again, the Patriots have continually struggled to make in-game adjustments. On offense, and also on defense, they figured out what Detroit was doing, figured out how to defeat it, and applied those adjustments with remarkable success.



Some of the nice looking numbers from the game: Tom Brady was 21/27, completing his last 10 pass attempts, for 341 yards, 4 touchdowns, and the afore-mentioned maximum 158.3 QB Rating.

Branch only caught 3 passes, but for 113 yards and 2 scores. Welker caught 8 passes for 90, and 2 touchdowns. 7 different Patriots caught passes (3 tight-ends, 2 backs, and only 2 WRs). BJG Ellis only ran for 59 yards, but averaged 4.9 per carry, and scored twice.



And how good has Devin McCourty been this season? He's no "shut-down corner," but he's done well in coverage, is a sure tackler, and has a nose for the football. He's a playmaker. Something the Patriots defense has been lacking for a few years.

The Patriots have an extended week to eat Lion leftovers, and prepare for the Jets, who come to town next Monday night. That's a fairly significant game.

Photo Credits:
AP Photo

TIGERS OUTBID THE RED SOX

It's a good thing the Tigers weren't also trying to buy Liverpool. In case you haven't heard, the word is that the Tigers have signed Victor Martinez to a 4 year, $50 million deal. I guess that was too much of a commitment for the Red Sox, who once signed JD Drew to a 5 year, $70 million deal. The Sox once spent $51 million just to talk to Matsuzaka. They once gave Mike Lowell a 4 year, $60 million deal. They extended Josh Beckett's deal by 4 years for $68 million. They signed Lackey to a 5 year, $82.5 million deal.

They also just spent nearly half a billion on a soccer team that is over $400 million in debt. But $50 million for a consistent hitting catcher was too much. That was just too much of a commitment for the Red Sox.

I'm tired of hearing John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Luchino come on WEEI and pat themselves on the backs for spending the second most money in baseball, for spending their budget. Maybe it's time to raise the budget, guys. The Sox spent the second most last year, and had the 10th overall record. So maybe they should realize "we made some big contract mistakes." And instead of not spending, they could help alleviate those mistakes by spending a little more.

I don't expect them to outbid the Yankees for Cliff Lee. But I do expect them to not lose quality free agents to the Detroit fucking Tigers. Detroit, like every other team in baseball, is looking to improve. The Sox are content to be "contenders." Even though, they're not contenders, not in the AL East.

The Sox owners are not interested in winning. At least, not in baseball anymore. They want to win Premier League titles, and FA Cups. They're bored with the Red Sox. They had our fun, and now they've moved on.

And every bullshit, propaganda explanation we get from the Globe, or from WEEI, or from the Front Office itself, will only piss me off further. How come nobody asks how much the Sox made in 2010? How much was their profit. We KNOW that their payroll was on budget. And they just made a major purchase, so they must have some funds lying around.

I don't care if the Sox have a payroll of $60 million, or $300 million. I WANT THEM TO WIN. I understand that owners can't spend more than they make. But you know what, don't take the profits you make from our team, then use it to buy a second-rate, collapsing soccer team in England. Henry, Werner, and Luchino aren't from here, so they might not realize that we don't like the British here. Maybe we should fill Fenway with water and pour tea in it.

Good luck in Detroit, Victor. The Tigers obviously care more about winning than the Red Sox.

BRUINS ELECTROCUTED

After winning 3 straight against subpar opponents, the Bruins have faltered against a pair of quality teams. They mounted a nice comeback Saturday night to salvage a point against the Kings, but still found themselves down 3-0. That happened again last night, except for the comeback part.

I hate Claude Julien and his "style" of play. He's too static, and that can be seen on the ice. The players don't react and independently adapt to what the opposition does. The Lightning owned the neutral zone with their 1-3-1 alignment, and the Bruins did little to change that.

Under Julien, the Bruins struggle whenever their opponents do anything that isn't standard.

And the Lightning didn't do much standard last night. They're fast, aggressive, deceptive, and always moving forward. I don't recall seeing a Lightning defenseman gather the puck in his zone, wait behind his net for a change, pass to the other defenseman, and continue with a basic A-B-C breakout. Instead, they skated. They pushed.

Rask got another hard luck loss. And while the defensive play of the Bruins was unfortunate, their lack of offense was the real killer. The box score credits the Bruins with 27 shots. I don't remember about 20 of them.

Thankfully, the Bruins will be in Miami Wednesday night to play the lowly Panthers. The B's crushed them 4-0 last week.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo