Tuesday musings

Normally I would have written something on Monday talking about news from over the weekend but I just couldn't formulate the ideas yesterday. A little Monday blues after the events of this weekend. Considering what has been seen from the Boston teams of late I think we can definitively say that the honeymoon is over and the "City of Champions" tag can be mothballed for the time being. The way our teams are playing right now there is probably no titles in the foreseeable future (I have the right to change my mind come September). I find myself out of sorts at times, when I was growing up Boston was always the town of "almost". Buckner, Glen Wesley hits the crossbar, Parcells' Pats, Jamie O'Leary hits the crossbar. Since 2001 its been a parade of titles of varying degrees across all sports (yes, even the Revolution). I think that the ownership of many of the teams have learned how to win so I don't think it will be quite as long a drought between the next titles (1986 to 2001 was a looooong time - yes I am intentionally neglecting BU's hockey national title in 1995) but Bostonians may be waiting a few years.

On to my weekend observations:

- Frozen Fenway was a great way to start the weekend. It was cold, it was snowing. there was an ice rink at Fenway Park (by the way, how cool is that?? Ice rink at Fenway? does it get any better?). Unfortunately for us Eagle fans the product on the ice was not as good as the surroundings. Because of the snow, BC was unable to get their speed game going and looked downright lost on the ice for a period and three quarters. By the time they actually figured out how to play on that ice they were down 3-0 and just couldn't get that final shot off. Was this a great experience? Absolutely (though my toes would argue against that statement as they ceased to exist by the third period). The game itself was not one to write home about. It was sloppy, the snow slowed it down to limit quality scoring opportunities, 4 of the 5 goals we sloppy bouncers, and neither team looked good. It will be very interesting to see what BC has for BU a week from Friday when they meet at Conte for the final Hockey East tilt between the two teams this season (there is always Beanpot and tournament game possibilities). Boston College is the better team at this point in the season. Though BU has won two key Hockey East games one was against a scuffling UMass team and the other was a game that if played indoors may have gone drastically different. The Terriers are far from the championship form of last year and BC has proven over the last three games that they are still a young team looking to find a solid direction this season. It has cost them Pairwise positioning (currently out of the tournament - from #2 to out of the tourney in 2 weeks) and it could be a struggle to get back to form.

- Speaking of the Pairwise, currently the highest ranked Hockey East team is Vermont at #10. However, Vermont is only 6th in the conference standings. When was the last time that a Hockey East team was in the projected tourney field simply because they lead the conference and not because they were in the top 16 teams in the nation (New Hampshire). Some of the teams at the top of Hockey East are going to need to a hurting on the lower teams consistently in order to improve the RPI & strength of schedule for the conference in general so they can get more teams in the tourney.

- My comment on the Pats is only this - Brady tried to do too much and I think the injuries bothered him more than he would admit. And Wes Welker would not have made a difference in that game. Run defense would have.

- Good to see that Mark McGwire was finally able to admit he used steroids. It only took the rest of the league to get caught and for him to realize that it was not going to make his Hall of Fame chances any worse. What do we think went into his decision to come out? The fact that more and more writers and commentators (including the Rant) have said that steroids don't matter anymore. That we're all sick of hearing about it and just want it to go away. That many are even lobbying to allow the steroid users into Cooperstown in a special "steroid era" section. As I mentioned before in this space when news of Ortiz' use came out, if everyone was doing it, Big Mac was still doing it better than most and maybe that should be acknowledged. I don't give him absolution because he is still a coward for his "I'm not here to talk about the past" in front of Congress (at least he didn't lie - yes, I'm talking to you Mr. Palmeiro). He came out now because it was safe and he knew he wouldn't be able to keep his new Cardinals job without addressing it and putting it to bed before the season started. Not matter what he may be, he's still better than Bonds & Clemens. Time to own up gentlemen.

- The Bruins will make the playoffs. There I said it. They can't score and they are having trouble winning but they are still competing on a nightly basis and Stuart, Ference, Savard, and Bergeron will not be out forever. They will be a better team when they have all their players back in the line-up. Provided they can get 100% healthy (I would settle for 90% at this point - I think they made a pact that anyone with freshly minted contract extensions (Savard & Lucic) were not allowed to stay on the active roster at the same time this year), this team can make a run. It won't be easy as they have a 7 game road trip in early March but it can be done. Of course, landing Ilya Kovalchuk wouldn't hurt either (a man can dream, can't he? yes, I know, Atlanta is going to want way more than Chiarelli is willing to let go).