BC PULLS A "BOSTON COLLEGE"

I don't know if it's the water in the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, or fumes from the green line, but BC athletics have a very strange habit*. Win games they're supposed to lose (See BC football vs. #4 Notre Dame in South Bend in 2002), and lose games they're supposed to win (See 4th seeded BC basketball losing to Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the 2nd round of the 2005 NCAA tournament).

*Note: the hockey team wins a lot, regardless of opponent.

Once again, BC football has let me down.

I know this year the Eagles were going to be a step down from the 11 win team of a year ago. Not only did Matt Ryan leave, but the entire running game graduated. Ballhawk Jamie Silva left, and stud corner/returner DeJuan Tribble got drafted by San Diego.

But as much as BC took a step back, the entire ACC took ten steps back. Powerhouses FSU and Miami are inexplicably mediocre. Preseason favorites Virginia Tech and Clemson were exposed early in the year. Georgia Tech's adjusting to a new coach. Maryland, NC State, and Wake Forest are always stuck in 3rd gear.

When BC beat Virginia Tech a few weeks ago, there was legitimate hope they'd win the Atlantic Division, and then who knows. Even after losing to North Carolina - a solid team - they controlled their own destiny.

But the Clemson Tigers, under an interim coach, riding a 3 game losing streak, were too much for the Eagles, who were 4.5 point favorites at home.



A lackluster first half saw the Eagles down 17-0. But in the 4th, a blocked punt and an interception put BC in the driver's seat with a 21-17 lead. A 64 yard kickoff return set up a Clemson touchdown, and a BC fumble on the next drive was how the Eagles responded.

Here are the teams Clemson has beaten:
NC State
The Citadel
South Carolina State
And now... Boston College

A less than prestigious list that the Eagles are now a part of.

BC still needs a win to become bowl eligible, and will likely wind up in one of the lower ACC bowl games. One that will make the Florida Citrus Bowl look like the Rose Bowl.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

BRUINS KICK SOME ASS

146 penalty minutes, 4 unsportsmanlike minors, 6 fighting majors, and 7 game misconducts (that's an ejection, for those of you just learning hockey). Oh yeah, and 6 goals, 5 of which belonged to the Bruins. The only unfortunate thing is that this is the last time these teams play each other.

Dallas has two very interesting individuals on their roster. Sean Avery and Steve Ott. Both of these gentlemen were among the 7 kicked out of last night's game. And both of them have less than desirable reputations.

Avery is a pest, an agitator. That's all well and good. But when he pushes a player over the edge, he doesn't stand up for himself. He hides behind a teammate or official. It gets his team a lot of power plays, but it's also led him to be the most hated player in the NHL. Watch him curl into the fetal position right after boarding Paul Kariya.



Steve Ott is your classic cheap shot artist. His specialties are late hits, and elbows to the head. He also goes for the knees sometimes, usually when a player has his back turned and/or play has just come to a stop.



But here's the important stuff. Despite dealing with these two clowns, the Bruins kept their cool, and played hockey. Early in the 2nd, Ott went after Stephane Yelle's knees. Shawn Thornton came off the bench, went after Ott, and Ott refused to fight. A minute later, Patrice Bergeron wrapped a goal past Marty Turco to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead.

Of the 146 penalty minutes in the game, 66 involved Avery or Ott in some way (either their penalty, or a penalty committed against them).

Tim Thomas made 21 saves in the 2nd period, which allowed the Bruins to pull away in the 3rd. Kessel and Stuart scored, and Sturm put the icing on the cake.

Of course, the real story was all the between-play shenanigans. The roughing, the fighting, the ejections. Avery boarded Marc Savard, and in the 4-1 contest (this all took place 40 seconds after it became 4-1), there was no holding back. By the end of the scrum, Savard was defending Milan Lucic by going after Avery.



It speaks volumes about this team that the leading scorer - Savard - goes after a guy in order to help the team's hardest hitter and best fighter. Savard had 66 penalty minutes last year. He's already got 24 this season.

The Bruins didn't let Avery and Ott get under their collective skin. They focused their anger into beating them on the scoreboard. Then, with that accomplished, they beat them up on the ice. Or at least they tried to. Can't help it if Avery and Ott are turtles.

The B's are off until Thursday when they host the Maple Leafs.

Sources:
ESPN.com
BostonBruins.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Mary Schwalm

PEYTON MANNING'S DIARY: WEEK 8

Dear Diary,
I'm sorry I haven't spoke (or written, I guess, LOL) to you the past few weeks. I've been shooting 10 commercials a day. But I didn't get paid for any of them. I just decided to shoot a commercial for every product/service/company in the world, that way my agent can call them and offer my endorsement with the work already done.



But these days the advertising agencies don't seem to want me to be in their commercials. Unless I bring Eli with me. The economy must be really bad if they don't want me in commercials.

I've been sick the last two days with the sniffles. It was cold in Nashville Monday night. 45 degrees! Where were we? Santa's Workshop on the North Pole?



I remember asking Coach Fisher and Coach Tony if we could play the game inside, or postpone it, because it was so nippy. "I left my mittens and scarf in Indiana," I complained, but Coach Fisher just rolled his eyes and walked away. Jeff Saturday offered to keep me warm with his body heat. Then he winked at me. I told him to take care of Marvin, because he gets the coldest.

Monday's game was hard, and I almost cried on the sidelines. But I was afraid my tears would freeze to my face and I'd get hypothermia and die, so I held it in. I've said it before, I'll say it again: football should only be played when it's sunny, and warmer than 55 degrees.



We lost because it was cold and we have lots of injuries. At least, that's what Coach Tony said, and everyone on the TV seems to agree. We do have a lot of injuries. I played Monday night with a headache that really bothered me until Dallas Clark gave me a head massage and got rid of it.

I've been throwing more interceptions than I used to, but they're not my fault! The other teams must be cheating somehow. How else could it be possible?

I decided to talk to Bill Polian. He lets me call him Willy because he likes me so much. He's the one that complained about those mean old Patriots being mean to my teammates and made sure they'd get in trouble for it. This time, I asked him if we could make a rule eliminated the interception altogether. Not just for me, I think it hurts every quarterback's feelings when they throw one. Football is supposed to be fun, it isn't supposed to hurt. He said he'd try, then he gave me some gum.

Coach Tony decided to cheer us up this week with fun Halloween activities. Yesterday we bobbed for apples and Officer Tim from the Indianapolis Police gave us a talk about Halloween safety.

Guess what we did today...

JACKOLANTERN CARVING!!!

It was so much fun. Coach Tony said he loved mine, and it was real scary.

I can't wait for Halloween. Do you know what my costume is? It's a big secret, but I know I can trust you, diary. I'm going to be my favoritest character from my favoritest movie ever: Woody from Toy Story. I know it's not scary, but I always wanted to be a cowboy. Or an astronaut. Maybe next year I'll be Buzz!!!! Why can't there be 2 Halloweens a year?



Robert Mathis has the scariest costume in the history of Halloween. He's going as Rodney Harrison. When he said that, my heart skipped a beat. Coach Tony yelled at Robert and told him not to bring the costume into the locker room because it was too scary. I asked where Robert would be trick-or-treating on Friday so I could stay on the other side of town. Ghosts, goblins, and ghouls are scary, Rodney Harrison is terrifying!



I'm just glad I don't have to see him on Sunday.

Until next time diary, I love you. And Happy Halloween!

BOSTON: NO KINGS ALLOWED SINCE 1775

The World Champion Celtics picked up right where they left off, with a 90-85 win over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the PGA Tour back for another season, and young guys like Rajon Rondo and Leon Powe gaining more and more experience, you've got to like the Celtics' chances of a repeat.

The C's overcame a slow night from Kevin Garnett, who finished 5 of 15. Ray Allen also missed the mark a great deal, shooting 2 of 9 for 8 points. But the defense first Celtic philosophy kept them in the game. Pierce's 27, Rondo's 14 were the bulk of the offense. Tony Allen and Leon Powe provided the remainder off the bench, with 11 and 13 points respectively.

Combined, the bench was 11 of 24, a slightly better percentage than the 5 starters shot (45.8% compared to 44.0%).

When KG and Ray Ray get going, the offense is going to roll over the opposition.

And how about those rings? It's nice to see some tasteful championship jewelry for once. Rings should be flashy, but shouldn't be deafeningly loud.



Seeing Paul Pierce get choked up makes it clear that these guys won't be satisfied with just one ring.



The Celtics host the Bulls Friday night.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Winslow Townson

THOMAS' ENGLISH SHUTOUTS

I don't know what the "English" means, I just wanted to use a stupid title.

You very rarely see a goalie start games on back-to-back days. Coach Claude Julien, however, went against the norm and started Tim Thomas in net Tuesday night. It was a wise decision.

Thomas stopped every shot that reached him, recording 31 saves for his 2nd straight shutout. Unlike Monday night's outing, Thomas needed to make a few more spectacular saves. He went post-to-post, made saves on his back, and kept calm when the crease was crowded.



He hasn't allowed a goal in 132:14 of game time. He's stopped 61 straight shots on net. Last season, he didn't record a shutout until January. He already has 2 and it's not even November.

The Bruins have excelled on the road so far. They're 4-1-2 (10 points) away from the Garden, as opposed to 1-1-1 (3 points) at home. They're also 3-0-0 west of the Mississippi. Maybe the B's should start their home games at 10 PM Eastern time.

The road trip ends Thursday night in Calgary. I'm just going to assume Thomas will be starting in net.



Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck

NO BLOOD FOR OIL, NO GOALS FOR OILERS

The Bruins haven't lost to the Oilers in this decade, winning 7 straight contests coming into last night's game.

The 1st and 2nd stars were given to the two goalies in this tight match. The Bruins defensive play, and Edmonton's inability to finish, also deserves a "thank you" from Tim Thomas, who nabbed his 8th career shutout.

The Bruins were extremely aggressive on offense. Once they crossed the blue-line, they shot the puck. They didn't bother flirting, they just went straight for the bedroom. And for the most part, it failed. Scoring 1 time out of 36 attempts isn't a good success rate at the bar, or on the ice.

Thankfully, Thomas was on his game, and the Bruins owned their defensive side of the ice. Edmonton didn't get their first shot of the game until the Bruins shot 8 times.

The North by Northwest trip continues Tuesday night when the Bruins face the Canucks. Then they come back to Alberta to play Calgary.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jimmy Jeong

LUCIC'S HIT

Milan Lucic's check on Mike Van Ryn of the Maple Leafs. You've probably seen it a hundred times, even if you're not a Bruins fan. But it's a sick hit and should be viewed over and over.



Just a few thoughts about it:

You can see Van Ryn tighten himself up as he can feel a big hit coming. If he hadn't, he may have been very hurt by the check. The worst hits are the ones you don't anticipate, just ask Dean McAmmond...



Or Richard Zednick...



And props to the NHL for not bitching to YouTube about videos of game footage. Unlike MLB and the NFL, the NHL realizes that it's free advertising to have highlights online.

Hockey highlight shows (do any exist in the USA?) or sports highlight shows need to have a Jacked Up type of segment of the biggest hockey hits. With the speeds involved (20, 25 MPH frequently), they can get ridiculous.

NECESSARY WIN PUTS PATS BACK IN FIRST

The Red Sox were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Rays. Tom Brady's knee has been hacked more than a Crystal Lake camp counselor. And even though a 23-16 victory over the 2008 Rams won't be making NFL Films' Greatest Games, it was enough to propel the Patriots into a first place tie with the Bills.

Matt Cassel had one of his best games, even though his stat line doesn't show it. The 2 picks weren't his fault, and his performance in the 4th quarter of a late game was nice to see. He's struggled to stay consistent in vital situations like that, but he kept his cool, led the team downfield, and threw a perfect pass to Faulk to give the Pats the lead. On the game winning drive he was 4/4 for 49 yards and, of course, a touchdown.



Kvin Faulk had another big offensive day, and with Maroney on IR, Jordan out, and Morris out; the Patriots really needed his effort. He had 60 yards on the ground and 47 receiving yards. He's been the Patriots' MVP thus far.



It was the St. Louis Rams, so we shouldn't go nuts. Then again, they kicked the crap out of Dallas and their backup QB. In the end, what matters is wins and losses, regardless of who they're against. There's no BCS in the NFL, strength of schedule is next to irrelevant.

And the Pats are 5-2 with a backup quarterback. That's tied for the 2nd best record in the AFC, and 5th best in the NFL. And they haven't lost a close game.

An important stretch of games begins next Sunday night in Indianapolis. The schedule goes Colts, Bills, Jets, Dolphins. The Patriots can do a lot for themselves in the AFC East with some wins, or shoot themselves in the foot.

And if you didn't see any of the cheerleaders in their Halloween outfits, you missed out on a show and a half.

Sources:
ESPN.com
NFL.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Elise Amendola
AP Photo/Steven Senne