Happy Returns

Up until Randy Moss signed last night, many people had chalked up this off-season as a big loss for the Patriots. I am inclined to disagree. People mention that the loss of Stallworth, Gay, and Samuel is some awful news. Though it is not what we were hoping for in our fondest dreams of keeping one of the greatest teams in NFL history together, it was inevitable.

Stallworth and Samuel were gone the minute that the season ended. Though the Pats may have attempted to throw money at them, no one really thought that these two guys were coming back. Samuel was bitter from the get-go over what happened in free agency last year and there was no way that he was going to resign. Stallworth had dropped to 4th on the depth chart at wide receiver and the amount of money that he was going to ask for is too much to spend on your 4th receiver. With Moss & Welker, the Pats still have their most potent weapons and Kelley Washington has been resigned as well. Don't forget that the Pats are still looking to resign Gaffney. A corps of Moss, Welker, Gaffney, Washington, and maybe even Chad Jackson (remember him) is more than adequate to be Brady's Bunch.

The loss of Gay is perhaps the biggest one the team has to face. They are now without arguably their two best corners from a year ago. They will either need draft help or maybe a draft-day trade as the free agent corner market is not the most robust this year. Outside of that, the Pats have not had the worst off-season. I have no doubt that the higher-ups in the organization recognized that Samuel & Stallworth were gone and have been planning for that for some time. It's the nature of the business, players come and go and the teams that can foresee these moves and plan strategically in advance are the ones that maintain success as the Pats have done since 2001.

Few observations on the weekend while I was in the Valley:

- Hockey East is wide open. The teams from 2 through 7 can end up in so many different combinations that its not even worth trying to sort them out. And this is with only two regular season games left. Some would say it is parity but I think that the quality in the conference has dipped considerably. Everyone is not raising themselves up but rather all the teams (with the exception of UNH) seem to be moving toward the middle. Which is why they only have 2 teams in the tourney while the WCHA has 8.

- Scariest team in NCAA hockey right now - North Dakota. They are a juggernaut that looks like they may not lose again. The last team I saw go on a run like this was the 1998 BC team that lost in the first round of the Beanpot and then did not lose again until Michigan in double OT.

- Just when you thought the Bruins were out to prove something they hit the wall and got smoked by Washington. Looks like Cristobal Huet brought a little of that Montreal luck with him to Washington. Montreal has owned the Bruins this year and has pounded them a few times. The game last night reminded me of those poundings. Or maybe its just playing Huet on Versus (6-1 loss, 8-2 loss, 10-2 loss). Scary.

Updates

- Now who is misremembering. Not only was a little kid taking pictures of him, but now someone allegedly remembers talking to Roger at the party and often referring to a conversation between his wife and Canseco's then wife about boobs. But he wasn't there...sure, Rog. I hope the Justice Department nails him to the wall!

- Don't look now but the Boston streak of good teams is rubbing off on the Bruins. 5-0-1 in their last six and a lovely shut out of Ottawa (granted they weren't really the same team as early in the season but still a big win for the B's).

- Eagle hockey enters a crucial weekend with two games against Providence. Win these two and they should seal up home ice (with some help from Vermont or BU) and solidify their NCAA hopes. (By the way, look to the right...why is BU even in the NCAA picture...they have not beaten a good team all year!)

- Finally, I will be in Paradise Valley this weekend so there will be no update to the PWR until Sunday night. Sorry to all of you who were looking for updates after the Thurs, Fri, and Sat games. Viva!!

Make up your mind

Yesterday Peter Forsberg was off the market saying that his foot was just not responding the way that he wanted it to and that meant not NHL comeback this season. Then today he turns around and leaves the door open saying that there is still a week left to the trade deadline. While he remains in limbo so too do a lot trade deals that teams are looking to make to improve their clubs.



The NHL needs to adjust something here. First it was Scott Neidermeyer and then Teemu Selanne playing the Hamlet game that left Anaheim in the lurch and when they decided to return it forced Anaheim to cut people it may have wanted to keep around. Now Forsberg isn't just holding up one team he is holding up the whole league. Anyone who wants to sign him is going to wait and see what he does before making a trade to better their club should Forsberg not return. This leaves both the teams looking to sign him and their potential trade partners holding thier breath. If we waits until the deadline, someone who could afford him but can't risk not making a trade will have to give up or risk passing the deadline.



There should be a deadline for signing former players. In my opinion it should be the start of the regular season. These guys are not in game shape no matter how tough their individual workouts may be. You force a team to essentially put someone in the lineup that will not be in synch with his teammates and has had no camp. It's unfair to the team.

Forsberg is hogging the spotlight because he can. He is one of the greatest players in the world and probably top 20 of all-time but he's holding the league ransom until he can make up his mind. It's selfish and will hurt more teams than just the one who signs him.

Empty Seats

Being at the BC/UMass-Lowell contest I saw a disturbing sight. Not that Scott Hansen's consistent bad refereeing that again altered a contest (not saying BC would have won without his refereeing but his bad calls certainly gave Lowell their second goal). Not the fact that BC lost. It was the number of empty seats at Conte Forum.

When I was in undergrad, the place was routinely empty. We were bad. As we suffered through 11-1 losses to UNH and Dave Hymovitz was the only one who could consistently score, you hoped there was light at the end of the tunnel. In walks Marty Reasoner and Brian Gionta two years later and we are consistent national title contenders.

After that, it was packed houses and students coming out in droves. Men named Bridge and Quinn starting yellow-shirted faithfuls who raised hell in Durham (needing a police escort to leave) and caught the ire of Northeastern fans at Matthews ("Do you have any hot sisters?" Derek?) and made "E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles, Eagles, Eagles!" a sign of pride. Where has that pride gone?

Basketball and football get all the press. Since moving to the ACC, before this year, we had one of the top winning percentages in league play in basketball. The football team has won 8 straight bowl games and been in 9 straight. Troy Bell, Jared Dudley, Matt Ryan, and Matthias Kiwanuka have become names in BC lore that will go down for years. The yellow-shirted Superfans go to these games and make a great impression on TV. But how many of them remember that is was the hockey fans that started that group with a little donation from the Pike's Peak club.

Though I love the success of the other clubs, the hockey team has been more successful. Since 1998, they have won a national title, been to seven Frozen Fours, five finals, won more Hockey East titles than any other team in the conference, and won three Beanpots (which is no small feat considering the record BU has in those contests). They are the most successful team on campus. Now, despite another good season, no one is coming to the games.

On Friday night, we were 12-2-2 in the sixteen games leading up to that contest. We had just won one of the most exciting Beanpot finals in years, and no one was there. The students at the Beanpot were loud, enthusiastic, and very much into the game. There weren't more than a few hundred students at the game Friday. The weather was fine. It was a normal game-time. It was only the beginning of a three-day weekend and not the start of Spring Break. Yet no one was there. With the alumni as quiet as usual (and I attribute their lack of attendance more to the start of February vacation then anything else), the building was way too silent.

Crowd noise affects a team. A loud crowd can lift it and a bad crowd can make a difference. The outnumbered Lowell fans were louder than the BC students. When I was a junior and Michigan State came to BC, we beat them on our home ice and they were number two in the nation. Me and some guys I was sitting with got very loud that night and were getting the rest of the fans into it as well. That week in the Heights (BC's student paper), Jerry York thanked the loud fans who came out because he said it gave his team a real boost to hear the support. Maybe he was exaggerating, but I don't think so. They are college kids and to have a loud crowd supporting you has to feel great and give you an emotional lift more so than even a professional athlete because they are just kids. We need that kind of crowd back. One that cares and not just one that goes to see the girls and find out where the party is later that night.

The worst part is that I see this hurting our recruiting. Though our national success helps, Maine has had nearly as good a run over the past 10 years as we've had and their building is a great place to see a game. If you have never been to Alfond, I highly recommend the trip to Orono as I could be the best home ice advantage in college hockey. Durham is almost as good as the regular fans get into it almost as much as the students. If I were a recruit, going to one of those buildings and hearing those crowds might make a difference to me. I want those kinds of crowds at Conte. I want fans that care that much. It would make a great atmosphere and our successful, nationally-ranked boys deserve it.

Aren't there laws to make?

So, like everyone else, I have been fascinated by the whole Clemens thing. As expressed in this blog before I reiterate that I still believe that Clemens took HGH and/or steriods. The words of Pettitte seem to back this up as does many of the things you saw on Capitol Hill earlier this week.

Yes, I believe that Clemens lied to Congress. If you follow my lying breakdown form my prior blog you understand why it makes more sense for Clemens to be lying that McNamee. Clemens has continued to keep his lying simple. He does not say Pettitte lied but rather that he misremembered. This has the beauty of not only allowing him to only tell a small lie but it actually doesn't contradict anything that Pettitte said. By saying that Pettitte "may" have "misremembered" the context of the conversation, he doesn't accuse his friend of lying nor does he tell a complicated lie. It's merely another denial.

McNamee adds details like they are going out of style but they all seem to keep coming back with some truth to them. And Clemens even comes close to backing those new accusations up by throwing his wife under the bus! It's great! I saw a great video of Clemens and he was facing the panel as he spoke but as soon as he got to the actual "I never used drugs" line he broke eye contact and looked at his ever expanding list of notes. For those of you who have ever cheated on a test in high school, you know that you never look at your crib sheet so blatantly if you want to get away with it. And any good poker player will tell you that the inability to maintain eye contact is a great tell when someone is lying. The comedy of this whole thing is great (even the Giggling Russian would have a good chuckle).

This leads to the real question of this piece, doesn't Congress make laws anymore? I know they kept getting called out of the hearing to cast votes but it seems that they are more concerned with baseball players sticking needles in their asses and Coach Hoodie taping opponents then the war and the recession. They need to let it go. I understand that the steroid thing is important because of the illegal nature of many of the activities and the poor example it sets for children and the fact that these substances are harmful, but why is Specter sticking his nose into Spygate?

All you Pats haters out there are enjoying this and thinking that this is going to bring them down. But this is not something that deserves Congressional review. One team got caught violating NFL rules (not federal laws) by taping opponents' signals. Other teams probably do similar things. If they want to investigate, let's investigate the whole league and see who else is cheating and how, don't just concentrate on one practice by the Pats (for which they have been punished by the league already). Congress needs to pay attention to what is important on a national scale and not the inner workings of the NFL disciplinary committee.

I know I'm biased as a Pats fan, but let's be honest (something no one in the whole Clemens thing seems completely capable of), the Pats got caught and won't do it again. Will Belichick find new ways to skirt the rules, you betcha! But that misses the point that every team is trying to find a way to skirt the rules. All you have to do is really look and you'll find it. Lets not forget that the majority of the NFL rulebook is designed because of things that people either have done or thought about doing that would have given them an unfair advantage. As long as there are gray areas, people will find them and exploit them or even downright violate rules to get an edge. Just ask Roger Clemens if you can get him to look you in the eye when he answers.