Bad and Ugly

The less I say about the New Jersey Devils 4-1 loss to the visiting Phoenix Coyotes the better.
But to be fair,Marty Brodeur played well even though he allowed four goals.
Without his effort,Phoenix could have easily had twice that many and Zach Parise did score a shorthanded goal (15) to avoid a shutout.
Otherwise,nothing nice to say.
Poor skating,Far too many dumb penalties (10!) and a general theme of being pushed around.
Was this a bad night or a lack of effort?
I couldn't tell you,ask me after today's game against the Flyers.
I should have a better idea then.

Mount Union shockingly lost to Wisconsin Whitewater in the Division III title 31-21 in a rainstorm.
Many good reasons for the loss between a bad call that gave UWW 7 points,an astonishing lack of ball carrying fundamentals (3 fumbles) considering the conditions and as much as I hate to say it,some poor play calls by Larry Kehres.
Early with UWW up 7-0 and after a review of a Mount Union TD resulted in the ball being placed at the one foot line on 4th down,the scene seems perfect for a QB lean.
Instead a running play was called and stuffed.
Big swing there.
It seems to me that for a while,the Purple Raiders had video game syndrome.
As any of you out there that play video football know,sometimes you feel so confident of winning,you make dumb decisions and play call and before you know it-you are in deep trouble.
In any case,a nice game by Whitewater and a good season for Mount Union despite the loss.

The Cleveland Browns are at home today in an expected blizzard vs the Buffalo Bills.
A Cleveland win would wipe out another contender for the wild card spot.
The conditions seem to be made for Jamal Lewis and despite the Bills being a cold weather team,they are using a rookie QB in Trent Edwards and Edwards is a Stanford guy-watch for this to be a factor.
Our Pick-Browns 21-10

The Seattle Seahawks travel to Charlotte to take on the Carolina Panthers.
Short and sweet here.
Our Pick:Seahawks 35-13.

Bullpen Notes

Looks like the Batavia Muckdogs of the NY-Penn league could be looking for a new home soon.
The team is losing money and without a new owner could be leaving town.
Two unnamed cities are reportedly interested in moving the team.

Rumors are abound that this year will be the last year for the South Atlantic League in Columbus Georgia.
Word is that a money man has an option to buy the team and move it to Bowling Green,Kentucky for the 2009 season.
If true,that would likely force one of the Carolina teams to move to the Southern Division for good.

Until tomorrow

Photo Credits
Hockey-Bruce Bennett-Getty Images
Helmets-Helmet Project