What I am thankful for

As we come to the holiday season I am reminded that we should always express our thanks for the good that life has given us. Here are 3 things I am thankful for this holiday season.

1) I am thankful that I am not a Notre Dame fan. After being one of the winningest programs in college football history the Golden Domers have fallen on tough times since the departure of Lou Holtz. Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham, and now Charlie Weis have all failed to make ND a national title contender. Even with top notch quarterbacks like Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen, the Irish had failed to win a bowl game in years until last season. They have lost repeatedly to USC and BC and have even lost twice in the past three years to Navy a team they had beaten an NCAA record number of times. Charlie Weis can and should be fired. With the cupcake schedule that Notre Dame routine puts together (including not wanting to even play BC following next years matchup) loaded with service academies and Big East opponents, it is actually appalling that Weis could not turn this team into a BCS contender. He has and NFL caliber quarterback (currently considered the #3 QB according to Mel Kiper's Big Board) and two big play wide receivers and they have put up decent numbers but the defense has been atrocious especially against the run. With Toby Gerhart and Stanford coming in next week the Irish are looking at 6-6 and possibly ending up in the GMAC bowl against Dan Lefevour and Central Michigan (a team that can beat ND). Not what the fans were thinking when they started the season as a national title sleeper.

2. I am thankful that I am not a BU hockey fan. Though it may seem like I am beating up on BC rivals, the fact is that no one has been a bigger dissapointment through the first 7 weeks of the college hockey season than the 3-7-1 BU Terriers. The defending national champions have failed to live up to lofty expectations which were certainly hurt by the early season injury to Nick Bonino. Even so, he came back last weekend and the Terriers were still shelled in Durham and needed a late goal to salvage a tie against UNH on Saturday. So far the points leader for the team is a defenseman. No one has scored more than 4 goals (that by a freshman) and their all everything goalie from last year currently is sitting on a 2-7 record with a 3.25 GAA and a .873 save percentage. The team that lead the nation in goals last year has been shut out twice already and has only scored more than 3 goals twice in 13 games including exhibition (both were victories). This team has more talent that this and I expect them to turn it around but the question is, can they do so before digging too deep of a hole to climb out of. They already have more losses than all of last season and are already 5 points behind conference leader UNH and the Wildcats have a game in hand.

3. I'm thankful for the return of Marc Savard & Milan Lucic. Last night the Bruins played a solid game against a pretty bad St. Louis team and in earning the victory produced their first 3-game win streak of the season. But the best part has been seeing Lucic back out there hitting everything that moves and even potting two goals in the past two games. With Savard back too, his passing and playmaking ability immediately make the Bruins a more dangerous scoring threat in all situations. It will take a few games for both players to be back at 100% but it certainly lifts this Bruins fan's spirits to see the full team out there.