Everybody fights

So this weekend was apparently a weekend for fights. There was the anticipated fights (Ricky Hatton just dominating an outclassed Paulie Malignaggi to reclaim his place as the dominant junior welterweight in the world) and then there were the unanticipated ones.

Though it has not been chronicled much here in the Rant, Nick Petrecki of the BC Eagles has been a one man wreaking crew this season. It has led to many the thunderous (and often crowd pleasing for the Conte faithful) hits but has also led to many penalties. There are very few (if any) games that Petrecki has not headed to the sin bin for couple minutes of "me" time for laying the lumber a little too heavy. At times his team has suffered for his sins. He also seems to want to hit people not matter where they may be on the ice. I have routinely seen him chasing people deep into their own zone and getting caught deep allowing the other team to break with only forwards back on defense. Again, sometimes his team has paid for these mistakes in judgement. Apparently on Saturday, his tendencies brought on a little bad blood and after completely levelling a UMass player who came in a little too hard on John Muse, he started a melee which led to 8 players spending 10 minutes each in the penalty box (Nick got an extra two for his hit). Luckily, no one actually dropped their gloves so there were no game DQ's that would have cost BC players participation in this Friday's tilt against Harvard. I don't know if the fight made a difference in the game but it alomst certainly kicked up the physicality level and BC eventually fell 4-3 in overtime.

Let's move to the gridiron. In a classic unpleasant contest down in Miami, the Patriots pulled away in the second half to defeat the Dolphins 48-28. But the unpleasantness was not restricted to the normal division rival bad feelings. Midway through the 4th quarter, Matt Light got a little too pushy with Channing Crowder and they decided to trade some fisticuffs resulting in Crowder losing his helmet and both men losing out on participating in the remainder of the game. I've got to admit that I like seeing that toughness in the Pats offensive line. I think this team is starting to come together a little and with just a little bit of luck (and maybe some better decision making) they would currently be 9-2 instead of 7-4. But that's OK. They are still on track to make the playoffs, considering their toughest remaining opponents are Pittsburgh (11/30) and Arizona (12/21) and both of those games are at Gillette.

Keeping with the fighting theme, I move back to the ice and the AHL. Though I was not present for this event, my co-worker this morning informed me that he attended a Providence Bruins game against the Portland Pirates this weekend. For those of you who have never attended an AHL game, understand that there are more fights in the AHL than in the NHL. Guys are trying to earn their spot on the big team or sometimes they are simply too physical for the NHL and thus get to take out their aggression down at the lower level. There are fights in almost every AHL game. That there was a fight is not the story. The fighters, in this instance, are what make it noteworthy. Apparently, Nathan Gerbe took on Vladimir Sobotka. Gerbe v. Sobotka!!! Not exactly Klitchko v. Peter. Gerbe is 5' 6" (on a good day) and 160 pounds. Sobotka is 5' 10" and 183 pounds. Gerbe does play with a chip on his shoulder and I have no doubt that his pestering style aggravated Sobotka until they just decided to go at it. Both are goal scorers and not known for their fighting. Sobotka has 24 penalty minutes in 48 games with Boston last year. That's one MINOR penalty every two games (not exactly a fighter's PIM total). According to my co-worker, the normal pugilists on the teams were standing around almost laughing and pointing with a "Can you believe this!" look on their face. That Gerbe would take on a man 4 inches taller and 23 pounds heavy should not surprise anyone, after all he spent three years at BC taking on all comers and proving his worth. I'm sure he put on quite a show.

Let's move on to some weekend observations:

- The BCS is ready to be a mess again. As it stands right now, Alabama would face Texas for the national title. This makes sense right now but the results of Thanksgiving weekend could create quite a stir. Should Oklahoma State manage to beat Oklahoma we run the risk of one of the teams in the national championship not even winning their own conference. It Oklahoma State wins, then Texas Tech (currently #7 in the BCS) gets to play Missouri for the Big 12 title (provided they don't have a massive let down and lose to Baylor licking their wounds from that thrashing at the hands of Oklahoma) but Texas (beating up on A&M this weekend looking for "style points") would probably remain #2 even if Tech is able to beat Missouri in the Big 12 title game. Should Alabama defeat Florida in the SEC title game (and thus silence all the people who think Florida is the #1 team in the nation right now), then you could make the case that USC should make the national title game - BUT if Oregon State beats Oregon then USC would be in the national title game without having won its own conference either. I know, I know, it makes me dizzy too. In a just world, if Oklahoma State defeats Oklahoma and Tech beats Missouri, then Tech should be playing the winner of the SEC for the national title. The Big 12 and the SEC have been the two best conferences all season and the winner between them is rightfully the best team in the nation. But should the carnage continue and say FSU beats Florida, Auburn beats Alabama, and (though I hate the thought) Notre Dame beats USC, does Utah deserve a title shot? Food for thought. Or we can just follow our new President and have a playoff already!!

- For the second year in a row, BC football has a chance to win its conference. They never won the Big East. The closest they came was their final season when the watered down version of the league (because VTech and Miami had already departed for the ACC) came down to a game against a very terrible Syracuse team and they allowed a 3rd string converted corner back to run up, over, down, and sideways on them for an excess of 200 yards and lost their chance at a BCS bowl (maybe for the best as Alex Smith and Utah demolished the Pitt Panthers that year). Last year with one of the best teams in BC history, they were unable to put together a great performance in the ACC title game and fell to VTech. Now this year, with a battered, bruised, and largely mediocre team with no real quarterback to speak of, we once again have a shot at a BCS bowl. Beat Maryland on Saturday and its back to an ACC title game. Or do they lay an egg on Saturday like they did against the 'Cuse not so long ago. Check back next week for that.