Three and Out: Bruins, Irish, Packers

I apologize for not writing to (all four of) my devoted fans for the past week or so. I was busy buying last-second Christmas gifts, moving boxes full of decorations for my grandparents cluttered mess of a house and enjoying the holiday season with my family and friends. I've been working on a few pieces this week and I've obviously failed to post any of them. So I felt that I needed to do something.

With that said, the whole "Three and Out" thing returns with some brief thoughts on the NHL's biggest surprise, college football's most "storied" program and whether the Packers would have been better off with No. 4 at the helm this season.

I hope you all had a great holiday and I wish that it continues through New Years and into 2009. It's been almost three months since I started writing this second-rate blog and I've enjoyed every minute of it. It's been good practice for me and I like telling my side of the story. I'm very thankful for you and your readership.

Three and Out

1. Last week I wrote about the Chicago Blackhawks and their surprising start. I mentioned that they're hanging tough with the defending champs in the Central Division. In fact, that's the only team they're chasing in the West. I went on to talk about how glad I was to see one of the Original Six find success. But Chicago isn't the only Original franchise that's turning heads this season.

As of today, the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins are seven points ahead of the East's second-best team, the New York Rangers. And while the San Jose Sharks are getting lots of attention for their 27-4-3 record, the Bruins aren't far behind. Today the Bruins trail the Sharks by a mere three points, good for second-best in the NHL. Their record of 25-5-4 is no fluke either. Boston has been dominating the East in every facet of the game: They lead the NHL in goals scored, are second in goals against and their power play has been on fire so far.

When I was rambling about Chicago last week I also told you how they have two very good goalies. Not to take anything away from them, but Boston's goalies rank second and third in the entire league in GAA. One may argue that Boston is not battle-tested in the playoffs and that they may not be for real. My defense to that would highlight two key points: 1) they have great goaltending, which usually rules in the playoffs and 2) this team can win as well on the road as they can at home. Only two other teams (Detroit and Philly) have lost four games or fewer both home and away. That's the sign of a great team.

2. If someone asks you what's new this holiday season and you really want to knock them off their feet, tell them that Notre Dame won a bowl game this year. Sure, they were 6-6 after the regular season and their best win came against the Naval Academy - but they won a bowl game! That's the first time someone can say that since 1995, a streak that included nine straight bowl losses.

Hawaii played a virtual home game against the Irish in the (what else?) Hawaii Bowl, but couldn't find a way to stop Jimmy Clausen. The kid finished with 401 yards - a Notre Dame bowl record - on only 22 completions. He also set a ND bowl record by tossing five touchdown passes. I truly believe that this game never should have been played. If you include the Hawaii Bowl, Notre Dame and Hawaii finished '08 with a combined record of 14-13. Postseason worthy? I think not.

However, this win did two things for Notre Dame. First, it refueled the ND hype machine for next season. That's something I don't like. Second, it almost guarantees that Charlie Weis will keep his job and get another shot to turn things around in South Bend. That's something I do like. Whether you feel that Charlie Weis should keep his job or not, head coaches need to be given a reasonable amount of time to prove themselves on the field. And again, call me old-school if you fancy, but Weis teaches his student-athletes about more than football. He gets them ready for life and (I think) Notre Dame is still one of the few places that values such a thing.


3. I logged onto ESPN.com the other day and, as always, quickly scrolled to the bottom of the front page to vote on the latest poll. It asked if the Packers would be in the playoffs this year if Brett Favre was still in Green Bay. You have to be kidding me. Like most of America, I'm a big Favre supporter. But that question is unfair to Aaron Rodgers.

The guy puts up better numbers than Favre (who, by the way, is always in shotgun throwing ten yard darts to avoid pressure and up his completion percentage) and has less to work with. The Jets can run and stop the run. The Packers? Not so much. And people may remember the success Brett had during his last season in Green Bay, but do they remember all the postgame press conferences where he couldn't believe that his team was winning so often? The 2007 Packers were a nice story of an overachieving team, with a legendary quarterback, that fell just short of a dream season. Period.

Rodgers finally got his chance to start and the Packers came down to Earth. Meanwhile, the Jets were signing free agent after free agent and Favre was traded to New York. Brett was set up with a great situation and Rodgers was left with inflated expectations. The rest is history. Remember: no one man - or woman for that matter - can make or break a team. It takes an entire group. And at the moment, Favre doesn't have anything that Rodgers lacks.


I'm out.