- 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!!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
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.
Friday, February 15, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Beanpot thoughts
Now that it is over, these are just a few thoughts I have:
- Nothing was funnier than when the jumbotron centered on Mike Brennan in the third when he got called for cross-checking and the camera centered on his face just as he was saying "What the f$%^?" The BC students, upon seeing this, promptly erupted into a load cheer and started chanting "What the f%^&! What the f%^&!!!" It was priceless. (This was even better than the inevitable "Safety School!" chant at the Harvard fans as they left dejected...classic!)
- After Gerbe's headfirst slide in game 1, it seemed only appropriate that Petrecki should make a feet first slide across center ice as the team mobbed him. That was just pure joy right there. For those of you who remember the 2004 Beanpot, you will remember a BC player actually jumping clear over the celebration pile after Ryan Murphy scored the OT winner to beat Sean Fields (who was other worldly that night).
- This was the first time in a long time that I have gone to the consolation game. I was impressed by the sheer number of Northeastern fans that were there. It's too bad that the refs closed their eyes at the end of the game. That kind of support for a team that has struggled of late (and played themselves out of the tournament as you can see in the space to the right) deserved to be rewarded. I'm not surprised that the BU faithful did not show up. It's tough to get to the Garden on a Monday for a 5pm game and when that game is a consolation game it makes it even tougher...trust me, I know.
- Not sure what, but something should have been done when the linesman inexplicably was in the middle of the blue line and took out Nick Petrecki on a play that lead to the third Harvard goal. What was he thinking? He should have been on the opposite side of the line. You almost never see the linesman because they are always along the boards or just dropping the puck. What he was doing, in the middle of the blue line, with an offensive rush coming at him is a question that will never be answered.
- Scary thought. Four of Harvard's five goals were wrist shots that found space over Muse's shoulders. They were clearly aiming for that all night and it showed and there was nothing Muse could do about it. He is not a large goaltender as Clemmensen, Kaltieinen, and Schneider were before him. When he goes down there is a lot of space to shoot at. I have faith in Coach Logue that he saw the same thing and will be finding a way to help Muse make the proper adjustments. Harvard is not a goal-scoring team. If he leaves that opening for a team like North Dakota, Miami, or New Hampshire, they'll put up a 10 spot.
- That being said, this was the 6th time this season BC has allowed 4 or more goals. They are 2-4-0 in those games. This was the 15th time this season they have scored 4 or more goals. They are 15-0-0 in those games and 79-0-1 in games when they score 4 or more since Oct. 2003 when they lost 6-4 to North Dakota in Grand Forks. They have yet to win a game this season where they have scored less than 4 goals (0-6-7).
- Nothing was funnier than when the jumbotron centered on Mike Brennan in the third when he got called for cross-checking and the camera centered on his face just as he was saying "What the f$%^?" The BC students, upon seeing this, promptly erupted into a load cheer and started chanting "What the f%^&! What the f%^&!!!" It was priceless. (This was even better than the inevitable "Safety School!" chant at the Harvard fans as they left dejected...classic!)
- After Gerbe's headfirst slide in game 1, it seemed only appropriate that Petrecki should make a feet first slide across center ice as the team mobbed him. That was just pure joy right there. For those of you who remember the 2004 Beanpot, you will remember a BC player actually jumping clear over the celebration pile after Ryan Murphy scored the OT winner to beat Sean Fields (who was other worldly that night).
- This was the first time in a long time that I have gone to the consolation game. I was impressed by the sheer number of Northeastern fans that were there. It's too bad that the refs closed their eyes at the end of the game. That kind of support for a team that has struggled of late (and played themselves out of the tournament as you can see in the space to the right) deserved to be rewarded. I'm not surprised that the BU faithful did not show up. It's tough to get to the Garden on a Monday for a 5pm game and when that game is a consolation game it makes it even tougher...trust me, I know.
- Not sure what, but something should have been done when the linesman inexplicably was in the middle of the blue line and took out Nick Petrecki on a play that lead to the third Harvard goal. What was he thinking? He should have been on the opposite side of the line. You almost never see the linesman because they are always along the boards or just dropping the puck. What he was doing, in the middle of the blue line, with an offensive rush coming at him is a question that will never be answered.
- Scary thought. Four of Harvard's five goals were wrist shots that found space over Muse's shoulders. They were clearly aiming for that all night and it showed and there was nothing Muse could do about it. He is not a large goaltender as Clemmensen, Kaltieinen, and Schneider were before him. When he goes down there is a lot of space to shoot at. I have faith in Coach Logue that he saw the same thing and will be finding a way to help Muse make the proper adjustments. Harvard is not a goal-scoring team. If he leaves that opening for a team like North Dakota, Miami, or New Hampshire, they'll put up a 10 spot.
- That being said, this was the 6th time this season BC has allowed 4 or more goals. They are 2-4-0 in those games. This was the 15th time this season they have scored 4 or more goals. They are 15-0-0 in those games and 79-0-1 in games when they score 4 or more since Oct. 2003 when they lost 6-4 to North Dakota in Grand Forks. They have yet to win a game this season where they have scored less than 4 goals (0-6-7).
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