The State of Sports Dec. 2nd

-Hockey

-Joe Thornton Trade
I barely follow hockey. In fact, I am even lucky I can tell you the starting goalie for my hometown Bruins. But, I would like to comment on this trade to the San Jose Sharks. This may be an important step for the organization of the Bruins. Fact is, they turned around and traded their franchise player for three guys ive never heard of.

All kidding aside, Bruins General Manager Mike O'Connell is quoted by the Herald as saying that they were in "dire need of a shakeup"..."Our focus was to see if we could try and better our hockey club"..."we tried to add depth"..."which all good teams have." O'Connell also said that he tried to not sign players at the beginning of the season. This put them in "a difficult situation" and they tried to "react quickly to a market." So they signed what they could. Thornton was the best availible Center and he was the teams captain from the 2002 campaign.

According to SI's Stephen Canella, "Thornton never was the fire-eyed leader the Bruins hoped to build a perennial contender around. He wasn't a vocal presence in the dressing room. He didn't relish the captain's role as a buffer between the media and his teammates. A top-shelf player who carried the team on the scoresheet, he never became a three-dimensional leader willing to hoist the franchise on his shoulders." In hockey the captain is regarded as the guy who steps it up to the media and generally representing his team. He just didn't do that.

"He has the skill to be an amazing player," says one inside source. "But he was given the captains role too early. The players tried to look up to him, and he just wasn't a good role model, so the attude in the locker room is flat." Thornton may have led by example, but not by action. And a lot of players just didnt appreciate that. So maybe, they really needed a change. "I think they have a very solid team," continues my source. "They should play a lot more passoinately. And they should be fine with three assistant captains in Brian Leetch, Hal Gil, and Glen Murray."

The best part about this trade is the Bruins added depth and cleared some money off the salary cap. They are supposed to save close to 1 million dollars on the deal. In the 2003 playoffs, he was supposed to step it up, and came through with an amazing zero goals. Captains are looked up to often to get through bad situations when things go wrong. The Bruins in their last ten games have been 2-7-1. That is a bad situation, and they needed to shake things up, and make take a chance to improve thier underperforming orgainzation. In this short term trade, we will see how things shape up for the Bruins for the rest of the season.

-Baseball

-Random thoughts on the moves for relievers this week

-The Phillys may have made a bad move in not signing Wagner to their much needed bullpen and not signing Tim Worrell to a contract, but Tom Gordon was a good idea. The signing of 17 million over three years was a really good idea. Maybe it was too much money, but both teams will get what they want. Gordon proved he could be the go to guy in the Yankees organization. His two year average has been 7-4, in 80 games and 85.2 IP with a 2.39 ERA. Maybe not in the playoffs, but with his averages in the last two seasons, you can insert him in where he truly wants to be; in the closer role. The closers role should fit for a man who once saved 46 games for the Red Sox. In the National League this guy should thrive because he will close out the close games for a team that desperately needed to find a replacement for its closer. The Phillys should now win the close ball games. Now all they need is a decent setup man or two.

-Speaking of Worell. I think that he will continue to do well in San Francisco. He signed a 2 year 4 Million deal with the Giants, who really got a bargain. He wanted to go to San Francisco because its an organization where he just did really well. He should shine setting up Armando Benitez, who is coming off a hamstring injury, and should have a lot of value for people in fantasy baseball. Benitez is no elite closer like Wagner, Lidge, or Rivera, but his value should go up with Worell setting him up, at least.

-Farnsworth signed with the Yankees for 17 Million. This deal includes a 1.5 mil. bonus and about 5 mil. base salary a year. The Yankees are hoping that the bullpen can be a strong point for them this season. They didnt want to take the chance on Gordon, because hes a little too old, but this really means nothing because old relievers have been doing well in recent years (IE-Mike Timlin, Gordon, Hoffman, and Mesa, etc.). Maybe they wanted an even harder throwing pitcher for that bullpen. We will see what happens this season, and who else they sign. Remember they will be counting on Leftie Procter and Righty Sturze for middle relief. Procter should do well, Sturze has shown signs of being good, but he is overrall inconsistent.

-Marlins will be one of those teams we will talk about 10 years from now. If everything from this fire sale pans out, they will just be a very, very good team with a good fan base and it will all be homegrown talent. The amount of draft picks they will have is going to be insane too. Reminicent of Billy Beane after the 01' season when he lost Giambi, Damon, and Ispringhausen. Speaking of the Athletics. They really made a good deal to get Loiza. It just solidifys that young rotation. Loizas no elite pitcher, but hes a good guy who can go 6+ and can possibly anchor the rotation for them.



-NCAA Football
-Top 25 picks:
-USC over UCLA. The game will be close. I wouldnt be surprised if this one goes down to the wire. Not like a shoot-out, but something similar to the Notre Dame game
-Texas over Colorado. Vince Young should redeem himself, and the Texas defense will have a field day with Joe Klatt.
-LSU over Georgia. LSU's got the defense, and Georgias got the offense with DJ Shockley. LSU will win because its defense will figure out a way to stop Shockley. Auburn won vs the Bama defense in an earlier SEC matchup because Bama really didnt have a defense. LSU will find a way to win with thier second best offense in the SEC.
-West VA over S. Florida. Whats the worst that could happen. West VA should win the Big East. Louisville over Uconn sounds good too.
-VA Tech should win. If Florida State wins for whatever reason, that would be the upset of all upsets in the ACC. VA Techs only loss was Miami. And Miami is finished third in the ACC. If Florida State wins this game, it screws up a lot of things in the BCS.
-Navy over Army for the trophy. Nothing like a good old rivalry game i guess.