The Biggest Snub of Them All

        Coming into Selection Sunday every member of the Colorado Buffaloes Men's Basketball team was 100% confident they would be joining in on the Big Dance in the Round of 64, and they had every right to believe that. The Buffaloes had impressive wins over Texas, seeded number 5 at the time, as well as 3 over Kansas State. They did everything in their power to earn a respectable berth in the tournament, if not at least a final seed.

        Led by phenomenal sophomore guard Alec Burks (above), the Buffaloes looked poised to be a low-end tournament seed who could potentially make some noise in the early rounds. However as the selection process wound down on the Southeast bracket, there was one team who hadn't been included in the festivities. Colorado will be playing in a tournament all right, and they do have a number one seed, but it's the bitterness that comes with that seed that will linger with the Colorado team. The selection committee decided against including Colorado into the field of 68 teams for who knows what reason. Maybe the losses against San Francisco, Harvard, and New Mexico explain it. Whatever the reason, the Buffaloes will be dancing in the NIT tournament instead of as a feel good story of March Madness. This may go down as one of the top snubs of the decade because it surely doesn't make any sense at the moment.
         The head coach as well as his 5 seniors and a host of other people gathered in hopes that they would see the Buffaloes name come up on Selection Sunday, only to be let down by devastating news.
         The only thing I can give to the 5 Colorado seniors who will never make it to the Big Dance is my condolences, and good luck in the NIT tournament, as much of a Boston College fan I am, it would just make me feel better to know these guys win the NIT tournament.

Bruins Moves Make Them A Contender

      This past week has been a busy one for the men high up in management for the Boston Bruins. Peter Chiarelli has finally started to put together the pieces of a championship contender in Beantown. The Bruins front office started earlier this week making moves when the Bruins acquired Chris Kelly, 12 goals 11 assists 23 points, from the Ottawa Senators for a second-round draft pick in the upcoming 2011 NHL Draft. Kelly was well liked in Ottawa and was known as a high character player whom is very skilled in the faceoff circle. Kelly is also a player who has a lot of playoff experience including a cup finals appearance for the Sens in which Kelly had 5 points in the playoff run.

      Back at it again as if to signify the front office's drive to win now, the Bruins traded away disappointing young forward Blake Wheeler along with fan favorite defenseman Mark Stuart in exchange for center Rich Peverley and defenseman Boris Valabik. Peverley has had a solid season this year with 14 goals 20 assists 34 points after career highs in all 3 categories last season (22G 33A 55PTS). Peverley gives the Bruins more of an offensive punch than did the struggling Wheeler who has slid downhill after setting the bar high during his rookie season. Valabik has struggled to stay in the NHL as he has played his season with Atlanta's AHL affiliate. Valabik as some may remember was involved with his boyhood idol, fellow Slovakian Zdeno Chara, in an in-game tussle after Valabik laid a big hit on former Bruin Phil Kessel, where Chara came charging in to beat on his stunned opponent. Overall the Bruins are coming away as winners in the deal with the Thrashers, that's because as hard as it is to see Stuart leave, Wheeler is a welcome departure as Bruins fans will soon learn Peverley's offense will more than make up for the waste of space Wheeler was creating.

                                           (Valabik vs. Chara)
           Lastly is the most important trade in terms of short term contender chances go. After initial talks over 20 months ago didn't have Tomas Kaberle arriving in Boston, the recent talks have him playing in tonight's game against Ottawa in the black and gold. Some experts are saying that the price that the Bruins paid for Kaberle is too high as they traded away 2008 1st round draft pick Joe Colborne, and two future draft picks (2011 first-round pick and 2011 conditional pick). However, the reason that this trade was perfect for the Bruins is because they are playing for the here and now, as well as the fact that the lineup is stacked with young players currently and the draft picks were expendable. The knock on Kabs is that he doesn't play well in his own defensive zone and he doesn't play physical enough. Yet, the reason the Bruins brought him in wasn't to be the big bruising defenseman or to be a stay at home defender. Kaberle's offensive skill outweighs his defensive struggles, as so brought up by the experts. Kaberle is a 4 time all-star who played his entire career, until now, with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He is the #2 all-time leading defenseman in terms of points in Leafs history and the #11 all-time player in terms of points. Kaberle is a fantastic puck moving d-man as highlighted by his 35 assists so far this season.

       The piece that has been lacking the Bruins for so long may finally be in place and this years team seems that it can make a deep run into the playoffs. This may be the year that the Bruins break the 38 year Stanley Cup drought and finally bring the hardware back to Boston.

Celtics - Heat Showdown

There are HUGE playoff implications lurking in this regular season game between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, which will have the air of a playoff game from the get-go. Bragging rights and playoff seeding are both up for grabs in the East, well after the 2 slot that is. Sure both the Bulls and Magic may have legitimate chances to be a top two team in the East by season's end, but in reality, it seems almost crystal clear that the two best teams in the East will finish 1 and 2.

The only question remaining is which team, the Celtics or the heat will sit atop the conference standings and hold homecourt advantage.

The game on February 13th may be a huge telling point in whether the Celtics can reign supreme in the East or if the tide has turned with a younger Heat team. Age and health is a huge factor that will most likely come into the outcome of the season, and both will easily factor into this game. With the Celtics banged up and wounded, the Heat stand a very good chance of waltzing into Boston and escaping with a win. however, Boston has something called pride and determination and even with the health an issue on the bench as much as anywhere, the Celtics are able to win in a variety of ways.

Now that Ray Allen has his 3pointer record out of the way, the team can get back to focusing to the game itself and rid themselves of the distractions that occurred with the record. The Big 3 will have to step up in a big way starting with KG. Garnett is going to have to shut down Chris Bosh, maybe the most important piece of the Miami big 3. Pierce and Allen have to shoot the ball the way they can and Pierce needs to drive to the hoop and look to kick the ball out to Ray to find him open looks at the 3. Lastly, the Celtics need Rondo to just be himself, if he can dish out 15 assists the W should come easily for the Celtics.

The biggest question of the game for the Celtics may be: Who do you stop, Lebron or DWade? Personally, I believe that stopping DWade will be more of a key factor to a Celtics win than Lebron, however, I'm also just the one writing the blog and there's a reason I'm not behind the bench with Doc.

Whoever wins this game, the best team of the East will take one step closer to securing their spot atop the conference.

Unbeatable?

I know the word unbeatable has a cocky, conceited tone to it, but with the way that the New England Patriots have played as of late, it's a word that may actually be applicable here. After an embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Browns in week 9, the Patriots have been on an impressive 8 game winning streak taking out, and dismantling some very good teams along the way.

Having clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, the Patriots are the current odds-on favorites to win the Super Bowl. Sure, the last time the Patriots were such heavy favorites going into the playoffs we all remember how that turned out, as I'm sure a certain David Tyree does as well.

But there's just something different about this Patriots team, an air of confidence mixed with an sense of pride and responsibility. Without the big time players, like the Randy Moss' of old, many key role players have been the nucleus of a team that has formed into a major contender. Take for example, Danny Woodhead, released by the New York Jets early in the season, and look at the sparks he has provided with big runs and catches at key moments of big games. Another perfect example is Benjarvus Green-Ellis. One of the best names in football history which in turn has landed him the title of The Law Firm, BJGE has been a surprise story for a resurgent run game which has added another dimension to the Patriots already potent offense. Green-Ellis took all 16 games this season, but finally in the 4th quarter of Week 17, he accomplished what no other New England running back has since the 2004 season. The 1,000 yard milestone, previously only Corey Dillon and Antowain Smith had gained over 1,000 yards for Bill Belicheck's pass first offense. BJGE earned this achievement through hard work and determination this season turning himself into a dangerous threat rushing for 1,008 yards and 13 TDs, while NOT FUMBLING all season, perhaps the most incredible piece of information about the man they call the Law Firm.

The Patriots offense just clicked all season as they put up over 500points this season, where no other team eclipsed the 450 mark. Tom Brady's league leading 111 passer rating, and NFL Record 335 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, showed that even the luscious flowing locks couldn't slow him down this season.

Contributions from rookies this season were a big part of the success that this Patriots team had. There were multiple rookies who stepped up at key times during the season making big plays, however 4 rookies shined the brightest. Aaron Hernandez, the tight end out of the University of Florida, showed why the Patriots selected him even with his health concerns. Hernandez caught 45 passes for a total of 563 yards and 5 touchdowns. A prolific route runner in just his rookie season, Hernandez made many plays with his feet after the catch. Another star rookie playing the same position, Rob Gronkowski broke the previosuly established rookie records as well as overall total TD receptions by a Tight End. Gronkowski recorded 42 catches for 546 yards with 10 TDs. He really stepped his game up in what may have been one of the most important games of the season for the Patriots, in a 39-26 drubbing of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Gronkowski recorded 5 receptions for 72 yards including 3 TD receptions. Looking down the road, it appears that the Patriots are all set at the Tight End position. Flying completely under the radar was punter Zoltan Mesko, out of the University of Michigan. A guy who I believe deserves a lot more credit because when and if the Patriots punted, he did an excellent job of ball control and not giving teams a good chance to return for good yardage. Of course being the punter doesn't exactly come with the same type attention and fame as the skill positions, but I still believe that the job that Zoltan Mesko did in only his rookie season deserves at least some mention. Lastly, the final rookie who stood out is an obvious one. Devin McCourty, the Patriots first round draft selection showed why he was worth the 1st round status and was just recently named to the Pro Bowl roster as a reserve. McCourty ended the season with 7 interceptions and 82 total tackles. The most impressive stat about his interception total is not that it was one shy of the clubs rookie record of eight held by Mike Haynes, but the fact that he didn't have an interception until the 6 game of the season. His 7 interceptions came over the course of 11 games. Having perhaps one of, if not the best second half of the season for cornerbacks in the league, McCourty established himself as a special cover corner shutting down several big play receivers and making big plays in the process. The future looks bright for the Patriots as they hopefully will be able to continue their success with the great drafting done by this organization.

By the looks of it, many people have already decided to crown the Patriots champions and send them off to Disney. I'm not ready to do that just yet however they are my favorite going in to at least make it to the Super Bowl and pull off another one of their wins by a late field goal.

Here are my predictions for how the Patriots playoff run will go:

Divisional Round: Patriots 35 vs Jets 20
Conference Championship: Patriots 28 vs Steelers 17
Super Bowl: Patriots 31 vs Atlanta 28