What I'm thankful for

As we pass Thanksgiving I try to find the things that I am thankful for this holiday season:

- I am thankful for Brian Gibbons. His goal with 38 seconds remaining against Dartmouth (combined with Almeida's OT tally) on Sunday afternoon rounded out a very successful weekend for BC sports. Men's basketball, women's basketball, women's' hockey, men's hockey, and football were all victorious and went a combined 7-0-1. This certainly eased the sting of the disaster in Foxboro.

- I am thankful for Tyrese Rice. Without him, the BC men's basketball team may not win a game this year. They were completely out of sorts in the game against UAB until Rice scored 24 second-half points for the victory. In their two losses this year Rice has been shut down as he was in the first half against UAB. The better teams in the country will be able to consistently do that. If Rice cannot elevate his game against the double-teams (a la Stephon Curry in last year's NCAA tourney) it will be a long season for the Eagles.

- I am thankful for the Pats remaining schedule. Fortunately for them, they play cupcakes the rest of the way. Their toughest opponent is Arizona at home. This team can still finish 11-5 despite how awful they looked on Sunday. If not for dropped passes by Randy Moss in the first half they could have had at least a 20-10 halftime lead which would have made for a very different contest.

- I am thankful for Blake Wheeler, Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Phil Kessel. This year the Bruins have been all about the youth movement. The smart signing of Wheeler has paid instant dividends. Lucic is consistently flattening anything that is not wearing a Bruins sweater. Krejci is making plays that are arguably the best this side of Marc Savard. Phil Kessel leads the team in goal scoring. These four guys have helped elevate the play of the veterans they play with and made the Bruins a team with depth who has proven they can take on the biggest and baddest in the league (I mean you Detroit) and still come out with a dominant victory. The kids bring energy to the team which have helped the Bruins to their best post-lockout start to a season.

- I am thankful for Mark Herzlich. He is the stalwart of the BC defense. At the beginning of the season the press talked about the return of Brian Toal and B.J. Raji being the key to any success BC would have this year but the play of Herzlich has been the true story. Toal is out for the season with a broken leg and Raji has been terrific in the middle but Herzlich has routinely made game changing plays. His interceptions in the past two weeks have directly led to 17 BC points and two clutch victories leading the Eagles back to the ACC title game in a season they were picked 5th in their own division.

- I am thankful for the stupidity of the BCS. Without the system where the national champion is decided by computers instead of players on the field, would we even be talking about the possibility of a team playing for the national title that had not even won its own conference (yes, boys and girls, Texas can get in should Missouri pull off the upset this weekend)? For that matter without the BCS, would we be paying as much attention to games early in the season because one little loss at the wrong moment can cost you the year (see USC)? Despite the obvious flaws, you have to admit these conversations make for great debates and great television. How can you tell Oklahoma that they do not belong and yet justify the decision to include Florida State in the national title game back in 1994? The situation is identical. Oklahoma lost to the #3 team in the nation. Texas lost to the #7 team. In retrospect, despite losing I think most people believe Texas is the better team than Texas Tech as the poll show. Therefore, Oklahoma's loss is less damaging and, in addition, they pounded Tech. Just like in 1994, a loss to BC at home was more damaging to Notre Dame than Florida State's loss to Notre Dame. They got it right in 1994 and I think they got it right this year, just as long as Oklahoma closes the deal and beats Missouri - but that can wait for another time.