Return of the Captain

So after turning down the $10 million dollar offer the Red Sox made at the beginning of the free agent period, Jason Varitek has signed with the Sox for $5 million this year and perhaps $3 million in 2010.  Do you think Varitek is thanking Scott Boras for having his best interests here?  Despite the money he was able to get for Texeira and others, Boras has failed Varitek and Ramirez in this post-season.  He had legitimate offers for both players in the range that they wanted to be and now both will have to settle for lower salaries.  I'm not complaining that the players are getting paid less, in this economy they should be, but that Boras the Uberagent has tried so hard to drive up the price on his clients that it has actually cost them money.

One of the worst things that may have happened this off-season is that the greed of the Yankees and their free agents (among others, it's not restricted to the Yankees by any means) has left a definitive bad taste in the mouth of not just the fans but other owners.  If lower gate revenues (almost guaranteed this year as evidenced by reduced ticket requests for even the Red Sox) weren't enough, this feeling is going to see many of next year's free agents not looking at the pay days that their colleagues received this year.

Any other season would have people beating down the door for people like Ben Sheets, Manny Ramirez, and Bobby Abreu.  Yet here we are, 12 days from pitchers and catchers and none of them has a job yet.

Tagged

OK...so this is a little off my normal topic but I was "tagged" so here it is... (technically I am supposed to tag 8 other people...but since I just did something like this on another site I'm just provided answers to the tag).

1. What are your nicknames?

The Rant or The Fan.  And some others...but that would be telling... : )

2. How do you style your hair?

There's supposed to be style?

3. What's new in your life right now?

The Bruins are actually in first place!!

4. How many colours are you wearing right now?

I am a rainbow (with some BC maroon and gold thrown in)

5. Are you and introvert or extrovert?

Introvert - why do you think I use the name Cam Pike

6. What was the last book you read?

Your Heart Belongs to Me - Dean Koontz

7. Do you nap a lot?

No.  Except on Saturday afternoons in the fall during boring afternoon football games.

8. If the person you secretly like is already taken, what would you do?

Try to convince them I was the better choice.

9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?

BC hockey's inconsistency and BU's ascendancy this season.

10. What's your favorite dessert?

A good strawberry milk shake.

11. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

30 minutes from out of bed to out of the house.

12. What websites do you visit daily?

CNN, ESPN, USCHO, InsideCollegeHockey.com, Boston.com, lordsofpain.net (wrestling news site)

13. What classes are you taking right now? And if you're not in school anymore, what's your job?

Bringing sports entertainment to the masses.

14. Do you like to clean?

No. But I do it anyway.

15. What's the last song that got stuck in your head?

Couldn't have been stuck very long because I can't remember.

16. What's the last movie you saw?

"Underworld: Rise of the Lycans"

17. What's better: eternal love or memorable?

Memorable

18. What colour do you look bet in?

Blue

19. Best time of your life?

2001 - Albany, 2008 - Denver...Both BC national titles and I was there.  Nothing like it.

20. What are you most looking forward to in the coming month?

Beanpot!

Back on the Right Track?

The Boston College hockey team got back on the winning track this weekend with two hard fought and exciting games over the University of Maine. While Maine is still a team on the rebuild this year they did eke out a 2-1 victory over the Eagles at Alfond back on November 9th so it was not a team to be taken lightly.

What I liked about the last two nights was that the team finally had some of its spark back. due to the plethora of away games the past two weeks I have only been able to watch the games on TV and the team clearly was lacking energy and that ability to close out games (evidenced by the two games they allowed to be tied up in the final minute of regulation). But this weekend the energy was back. They were hitting, skating hard, and making things happen. I would still like to see some more shots on net but those will hopefully come with the increased energy.

Two players that really seemed to elevate their play were Benn Ferriero and Brian Gibbons. Gibbons did not get a lot of points on the weekend but we was working hard every shift, hitting people (just ask Gustav Nyquist who nearly lost his head late in the third period last night when Gibbons came blasting off the bench and cleanly levelled him at center ice), and providing energy. Ferriero seems to have better games when he gets physical which he was this weekend. He's a strong skater with a solid frame and while he is also gifted offensively, much like Milan Lucic, when he brings that physical element to his game he gets more into the flow and becomes the complete player he can be which usually translates into points for him.

Sometimes the emotion can get a little too high as Petrecki will now sit for the game next weekend for his undisciplined (a word often linked to Nick Petrecki unfortunately) head-butting in the final minutes of the game. It will be interesting to see who will take Petrecki's place and make up for his physical presence in a game. The stretch between now and the 20th of February may make or break the Eagles season. They have several games against teams they must beat (Providence, Amherst, Lowell) and the Beanpot, where victories over Northeastern and BU would certainly solidify their hold on an NCAA berth and a chance to defend their national crown.

Looking for work

21 days until pitchers and catchers report...

...and Manny Ramirez still does not have a job.

I would be lying if I said that didn't make me happy.

Just desserts

It's good to see a school reward loyalty and excellence. Today Boston College promoted Frank Spaziani to head coach. This is a great decision. Spaziani has spent 12 years on the Heights and developed the Boston College defense into one of the best in the nation year in and year out. They may not have the superstars that many other schools have but Coach Spaziani seems to always get the best out of what he has to work with.

Congrats, Coach. I'm looking forward to next year!

More injuries

Now that Kessel has mono, the Bruins are going to have to dig deep to find that second scoring line. Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder has been potent all year and Savard has the ability to turn an average scorer into a 30 goal man, but if Lucic or Kobasew or some unknown does not step up the Bruins are looking at potentially losing that strangle-hold on 1st place.

Oh, boy - it could be a long month....

Perhaps its not too bad...

There have not been good tidings in the Boston sports world of late:

- The Sox lost out of Teixeira. On the surface this looks like a case of someone simply picking New York over Boston. But there seems to have been some underlying forces at work here. Teixeira, in his news conference the other day which announced the finalization of his deal with the Yankees, said that he had chosen New York before Christmas. Which begs the question, why did he meet with Sox brass after Christmas? It sounds like a blatant ploy to drive up his price. If that meeting after Christmas had yielded a bigger offer than the one that he received from the Yankees you can bet your job that he would have gone right back to the Yankees (or rather Scott Boras would have) and said that the asking price had gone up even though he had already made the decision to go there. After the press conference Scott Boras was on camera saying that the Yankees and their willingness to spend was great for baseball. Really? Great for baseball? Or does he just mean great for his inflated ego and wallet? How is driving up the price of decent players (A.J. Burnett) so that anyone who wants to sign someone similar needs to pay that inflated price good for baseball? C.C. Sabathia will be making more over the next few years than some teams have on their payroll, period. The Yankees have more money in 5 players than half the teams have for an entire roster. How is this good for baseball? A executive in the Yankee organization claimed it was sour grapes and that the teams voted in the current collective bargaining agreement with no cap and that they can't now bitch about that same lack of a cap. But I think he is missing the point, I think some teams truly felt that the luxury tax that teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets would pay for having inflated payrolls would discourage them from overpaying for free agents and that the redistribution of that money would actually help the lower market teams compete for the big talent. That has not happened. Now it appears even the Red Sox (the second deepest pocket in MLB) can't compete with the salaries that the Yankees are doling out. Scott Boras and his ways are ruining baseball and the Yankees seem to be willing participants in this foolishness.

- Coach Jeff Jagodzinski is fired from BC. On the surface this is a head scratcher. My friend, Fishfan, wrote me an email expressing outrage that the school would threaten to fire someone simply for interviewing for another job. I must admit I was a little taken aback at first myself. But then I thought about it. Here we are, beginning of recruiting season, and your head football coach is looking for another job. Not exactly the type of message you want to show recruits out on the trail...

Coach Jags - "So DT X, you should come to BC to play football."

DT X - "Why? You don't even want to be they so why should I bother?"

Coach Jags - "Um...well...you see...."

Not exactly inspiring young minds there. The school needs a commitment from someone who wants to be there and wants to advance the program and make a difference. Jags clearly was not interested in doing that. In his defense, he has not said anything negative about the school or about his firing or anything. He clearly still yearned to be a part of the NFL and coaching a college program was not for him. I think BC made the right decision in letting him go. Now they should reward Frank Spaziani for his commitment to the program and the excellent job he has done over the years as defensive coordinator and make him the head coach.

- BC basketball beats UNC only to lose to Harvard the next game. To say I saw this coming from a mile away would be an understatement. This is a typical pattern with this team even back to the Jim O'Brien days. They follow up a great effort against a top opponent with a dismal effort against a weak opponent. Not sure why. Maybe just the nature of having a bunch of kids who are prone to emotional highs and lows. What will be interesting will be to see if they can rebound and refocus now that the ACC schedule starts. No more out of conference cupcakes left to pound. You have to bring your best effort every night if you want to make the tourney. Personally I think this team is headed for the NIT. They need at least 7 wins in conference to make it and I'm not sure they have it. The losses to St. Louis and Harvard will be difficult to overcome. They might need 22 wins to get in.

- Bruins and Celtics struggling. After both getting off to fantastic starts the Celtics are 2-6 since Christmas and the Bruins have lost 2 in a row at home. The Celts look tired and unable to dig deep to put teams away late in games. The Bruins on Tuesday night look like the scuffling team of last year - good goaltending, neutral zone turnovers, bad passes, no consistency on the power play - basically not the team I have watched all season. Neither team was going to be able to keep up the pace they started the year with but over the next couple of weeks we will see if they can right the ship and get back on track.

....OK - I was wrong. It's pretty bad. But the Celts & Bruins have a long season ahead to get over this bump (the Bruins having a much bigger cushion to play with than the Celts). There is still hope for the BC basketball team to find more nights like their night in Chapel Hill. Jags was fired early enough in the recruiting season that it should not make a big difference in who comes to the Heights. There is always an outside chance Bud Selig will hire some psycho to assassinate Scott Boras and save baseball. Besides, the Sox did pretty well last year with the line up they had and they return almost everyone - hopefully with less injuries so they should at least be able to compete for the wild card (yes I am conceding the division to the Evil Empire). All that and the BC hockey team returns to the ice this weekend after the long Christmas break. There has to be a silver lining somewhere.