Well folks I am sorry for not posting a rant for quite some time, but now that it is the holiday season again I am in a lot more chipper of a mood and ready to resume my postings on a regular basis. Sticking with the holiday season theme, with Thanksgiving having been celebrated last Thursday there was much for me to be thankful for, especially in terms of my sports allegiances. The Patriots are undefeated, despite a nail biter against the Eagles this past Sunday, the Red Sox are World Series Champions, Boston College is having an amazing fall season with the Football team competing for the ACC title this coming Saturday and the Men's Soccer team off an ACC title is the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. Also, over at the TD Banknorth Garden the Celtics are off to an NBA best 11-1 record and the Bruins, yes the usual woeful Bruins, even are competitive and have a winning record. So as one is able to see there are many reasons for a Boston sports fan to be thankful for all that has happened to them this past year. Well now having given my thanks, I will move on to some college football talk.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL:
I think if anyone was to pick one word to describe this college football season it would be "WOW." From week one when Appalachian State beat Michigan to this past week when Arkansas upset LSU, there have been upsets galore, and as of today Hawaii is the only team in Division 1 to currently be undefeated. Much has been talked about parity being the main reason why there have been so many upsets this year, with schools now only allowed to give 85 scholarships, but in my opinion the reasons are more teams are implementing the spread offense. If one is able to look at many of the top teams in the rankings, the majority of them run the spread. From a coaches perspective it is extremely difficult to prepare a defense for a game when the opposing team's quarterback is very talented at both running and passing the ball. All one has to do is ask soon to be former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr about his team's first two games of the season when they had to face Appalachian State and Oregon who both run a very effective spread offense.
With one week left in the regular season there is a very good chance that the BCS National Title Game will feature two teams that run the spread offense as good as anyone in the country, in the University of Missouri and West Virginia. Although Missouri uses the pass more than the run, and West Virginia uses the run more than the pass, both team's quarterbacks have such a dual threat in their ability to pass and run, that it is almost impossible for the the opposing team to guess what they are going to do. If anyone wants to see how effective the spread offense has become all they have to do is look at the leading contenders for the Heisman. Right now with the exception of Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, the current front runners for the Heisman are all quarterbacks of spread offenses, with Missouri's Chase Daniel, West Virginia's Pat White, Oregon's Dennis Dixon and Florida's Tim Tebow.
I am sad to see this season come to an end, but it was certainly a year to remember with all the great games, upsets and being able to watch some really exciting offenses and players.
As you all know by now however, I cannot conclude talking about college football without mentioning my Alma mater Boston College. The last time I posted a rant BC was still currently undefeated and in the top 5, and although they have now lost two games, there is still in my mind nothing to be ashamed of. If someone were to ask me prior to the season that BC would end the regular season 10-2 and be competing in the ACC title game, I would have taken that in a heart beat. In the past two years in the ACC, BC was the epitome in building up one's hope and then have those hopes shattered. The team always seemed to have been one win away from the title but were never able to come up with that big win at the end of the season. Although the two teams BC lost to this year were average at best in Florida State and Maryland, it was nice to see BC bounce back and win a HUGE game down in Death Valley against Clemson with the ACC Atlantic title on the line and then come back the following week and beat Miami for the first time since Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass in 1984. I am a realistic enough fan to know that BC's few weeks in the national title spotlight were fun, but chances were not that the dream was not going to last. But as I mentioned I am very proud of this team and what they have accomplished and I believe Coach Jags has the team on the right track. With one more win this upcoming week against Virginia Tech I hope to be spending New Years down on South Beach in Miami basking in the sun with a cold beverage in my right hand and reliving my Facebook profile picture.
NFL:
Well moving onto the NFL now. The season is coming down the homestretch, and until this weekend it looked like the Patriots were unstoppable. The Patriots are on track to break almost every offensive statistic, but this past Sunday against the Eagles they met a defense that was able to break through their stonewall of an offensive line and a defense that was able to shut down their most potent offensive weapon in Randy Moss. What the Patriots did display against the Eagles however was that Wes Welker could very easily be one of the best pickups of the off season. Randy Moss has received much of the press for his amazing play this year, and deservidly so, however week in and week out Welker continues to rack up the catches and yards after catch, and has also proved to be a valuable asset on special teams as well. With only five games remaining it looks like the Patriots could very easily finish the regular season undefeated, while it looks like their divisional rival Miami Dolphins could finish the season 0-16.
Up until a few weeks ago when the Patriots met the Colts it appeared that both those teams were the two best teams in the NFL. However, injuries have really hurt the Colts in the past few weeks. They have lost their freakish and speedy defensive end for the season in Dwight Freeney and Peyton Manning's go to receiver Marvin Harrison has been out for the past month as well with an injury. With these injuries the Colts have looked like an average team the past few weeks. Even kicker Adam Vinatieri has missed some easy field goals over the past few games, one of which cost his team a win at San Diego. With the Colts slipping in terms of their power ranking in the league the Cowboys and Packers have continued to move on up. Both teams showed in their Thanksgiving games that both have extremely potent offenses with the ability to put a lot of points on the board. Much has been talked about the Brady-Moss and Romo-Owens combinations, but in my opinion the Favre-Jennings connection has been nearly as effective as the two aforementioned. Favre is playing out of his mind this season. All one had to do was watch the second half of the Packers game against the Lions on Thursday when he completed twenty straight passes to see that the old man still has a great deal of talent. If it wasn't for Brady having such an amazing season in terms of statistics, Favre could easily be right in the mix of the MVP talk. The Packers since last Thanksgiving are 14-1, and a lot of that has to do with the resurgence of Favre, and it is amazing he has done it all with almost no running game to compliment his passing. The other team that has stuck out to me are the Cleveland Browns. The Browns may not go far in the Playoffs, but I think it will be a miracle that they actually have a very good shot at making the Playoffs. Quarterback Derek Anderson, wide receiver Braylon Edwards and tight end Kellen Winslow have resurrected the Browns offense, and the rate Anderson is playing this year I wonder if the Browns are tempted to trade Brady Quinn in the off season to try to get a high draft pick, because for the first time in years the Browns won't have a top 10 pick. Well that is about it for my NFL talk. I would tell you all to all clear your schedules on Thursday night to watch the Packers vs Cowboys, but since it is on the NFL Network, I am sure none of you will be able to.
CLOSING THOUGHT:
For my closing thought today I am going to talk about a Celtics player. Now obviously all the talk in the Celtics off season and now into the regular season has been about the Big Three in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, and they deserve much of the praise. Thus far this season, all three players have lived up to expectations. Garnett is getting his double-double every night, Allen has made two game winning three pointers, including on against the Bobcats this past Saturday, and Paul Pierce seems to finally be happy to play again now that he finally has a supporting cast. Despite all the attention that the Big Three has received, there has been one player that has stuck out to me thus far and that is guard Eddie House. Coming into the season, many said that the Celtics Achilles heel would be their lack of depth. Eddie House however has provided a spark off the bench. He brings experience to compliment fellow guard Rajon Rando's youth, as well as speed and intensity. As of right now he is only playing about twenty minutes a game, but every time he is in there he has given it his all and has been one of the more exciting Celtics players to watch. He has been shooting the ball well thus far, but it is not the points that has caught my eye but rather the passion he has played with. He is a guy that earns more "Tommy Points" than actual points a game, and he is a type of player that the Celtics have not seen since the likes of Dennis Johnson in the 80's. All one had to do was watch his steal and pass to Ray Allen as time expired in the game against the Bobcats on Saturday to see House's desire to win. The Celtics are finally relevant again, and much of that is because of the Big Three but Eddie House is a player that should not be lost in the shuffle.
Well that is about it for my Rant this week, but it was nice to write again, and as usual feel free to post any comments and continue to spread the word about the blog. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Boyce
