It's Not About Death, Obviously

Rush's race-baiting on Steinbrenner death: "That cracker made a lot of African-American millionaires"

Redemption Song

A hit for Bob Marley, not so much for the Bruins. After the incident nearly two weeks ago, the Bruins finally got their chance at revenge on Matt Cooke. Unfortunately, other than Shawn Thornton dropping the mitts early in the game, Cooke was given virtually no attention as teammate Mike Rupp played agitator all night.

The B's looked lifeless for most of the game and even after Captain Z got into a scrap there was little fire in the hometown team. For a team that was supposedly fighting for a playoff spot, they sure as hell didn't play like one. On the brightside the NCAA tournament has had a hell of a lot of upsets and was far more entertaining than the effort put forth by the Black and Gold.

To Err is Human, Unless You're Tiger

As you've undoubtedly heard by now, Tiger Woods was unfaithful to his wife. This is certainly not the first time a celebrity athlete has been accused of cheating, but it may be the most publicized. Other than Kobe Bryant's alleged rape incident, it is hard to find another case of infidelity involving a billionaire athlete with such a stellar reputation. Woods was, and still is to many, the complete role model. He's never been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs, never acted unprofessionally (sans a few meltdowns on the course) and he's the last person many expected to be cheating on his wife. Except he was.

All the accolades aside, Tiger is a human. People can say that they thought he was above this, but let's face facts. He's a billionaire athlete. He's in prime physical shape. He travels practically every weekend. Did I mention he's a billionaire? Under the circumstances it is easy to see how his "personal failings" could have happened. The mistake happened, however, when he let it get too far. I'm not advocating cheating. I'm simply saying that if he did it once and cut ties he wouldn't have put himself in the situation in the first place. Simply put, he allowed himself to get caught.

Beyond being unfaithful, Woods is also guilty of another sin. Moral indignation. A quote from his "apology":

The virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate
and within one's own family. Personal sins should not require press releases and
problems within a family shouldn't have to mean public confessions.

Spare us, Tiger. The minute you began profitting from the public from your name and making millions of dollars, you lost the right to privacy. Being a public figure means that people will be curious as to why you crashed into a tree at 2 AM and continue to be when you leave a voicemail asking a mistress to change her phone settings. I agree that the matter should be resolved between him and his wife. But realistically, this is not something that will get better over night. He's got to admit and apologize for his "transgressions" and being the healing process of his image, not blame the media like so many other public figures.

Turkey For Me, Turkey For You

In honor of the most gluttonous holiday, I've comprised my five favorite things about Thanksgiving. Leave yours in the comments section if you feel compelled.

5. Stuffing. Everybody has their favorite side dish and mine is stuffing. I realize it's mostly bread crumbs but the way it compliments the gravy and turkey makes me thankful that someone discovered it.

4. Beer. No day consisting of eating and watching television would be complete without the ideal beverage. Once the tryptophan hits and you've got a few Sam Adams in you, Thanksgiving is complete.

3. Family. Love 'em or hate 'em, family is a crucial part of Turkey day. If you've ever spent Thanksgiving alone you know that it just isn't the same. Spending quality time with loved ones and no one judging you for getting that second helping of apple pie.

2. Turkey. The staple of Thanksgiving. I personally love it because it's just tradition and as I mentioned I have an affinity for stuffing and also mashed potatoes. Not to mention the turkey and gravy combo is like a Brady/Moss '07 and Manny/Ortiz '04 lovechild. Doesn't get much better.

1. Football. Whether it's high school, college or the NFL, football is everywhere on the final Thursday of November. Despite some lack luster NFL games and my alma mater losing a tough game, Thanksgiving Day football is my favorite part of the holiday. Now if we could just get some better games in the NFL, things would be perfect.

NFL = No Fun League

Last week, Titans owner Bud Adams was caught flipping the bird to the Bills faithful. Almost instantly he was fined by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for $250,000. I think it's good that he got fined because he was a bit out of line, but really what message is this sending? Is it Goodell holding owners accountable or reminding them whose boss? I like that Adams was taunting fans, especially after enduring the debacle in Foxborough earlier this year. Giving them an "explicit gesture" is going a little too far.

This isn't about Adams, however. This is about the pussification (emasculation) of the NFL. One week it's an owner being fined for being proud of his once 0-6 team. The next it's Rex Ryan bitching about Belichick and Co. throwing on third down. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you supposed to try and get first downs? As Herm Edwards once said, "You play to win the game." He gets it and apparently Ryan doesn't. Granted there was under a minute to play and the Patriots could have simply run the ball, but that could have led to a punting situation. As we've seen in earlier games, Belichick doesn't like to chance anything and if given the opportunity to ice a game he'll go for the jugular. The NFL needs more no-nonsense coaches like him because guys like Ryan talk about being disrespected when they haven't even earned respect in the first place.

Hand of God?

The luck of the Irish may have run out. As a result of the obvious handball by France's Thierry Henry, the French tied the game at one and ultimately won on a 2-1 aggregate. While I personally would have liked to see the Irish advance to the World Cup, there is no denying the travesty that has befallen them. What's worse yet, Henry admitted to the handball and has since stated his belief for a replay of the game. The original request by the Irish Football Association was squashed by FIFA, but a second request made by Ireland Captain Robbie Keane to the French Football Federation (FFF) may give new hope. If the FFF endorses the idea of a replay, which it's Captain Henry is already in favor of, then it could be brought to FIFA and a replay is a realistic possibility. For now, it is up to the powers that be to decide Ireland's World Cup fate. Let's hope their luck hasn't run out, for the country and the sport's sake.

State of the Hub

Over the weekend, strange things happened in Boston. First the Celtics lost two straight to teams they should have beaten (Atlanta and Indiana). Second, the Bruins found a way to lose in overtime while giving up the game-tying goal with just 0.4 seconds left. Then last and most bizarrely, the Patriots squandered a three score Fourth Quarter lead to lose to the rival Colts.

Most people immediately dismiss the Celtics and Bruins because their seasons are their infancy and the losses did not come to hated rivals. I'll agree with that. However, in both cases these were games the teams needed to win to prove something, at least to themselves. The Celtics took on a young Hawks team that currently leads the Eastern Conference, not to mention took them to seven games in 2008. The C's then come out and lose the next night at Indiana, who could be a first round playoff match-up, and things are questionable on Causeway. At least they followed it up with a solid win over a less than solid Golden State team last night.

The Bruins are in a similar situation. They had started to play better after an average start. David Krecji and Michael Ryder look to be headed back to last seasons scoring. They scored five goals against the defending champion Penguins. All this to give up the tying goal with under a second to play and then lose in overtime after a miscue from Tim Thomas. If the Bruins want to be contenders they have to get hot like they did last year, and they can start by winning games in which they have the lead in the final 10 seconds. They had already beaten the Pens earlier in the week in Boston and to beat them in Pittsburgh in a comeback effort would have been a good boost for this team. Instead, more disappointment and another lack luster performance on Monday, losing at home to the Islanders, 4-1.

Lastly, the state of the Patriots. They lost to the Colts. Often times this would not upset us New Englanders, but this time it's different. The Patriots lead 31-14. Tom Brady was awesome. The defense was good for three quarters. Then it all fell apart. Give Peyton Manning credit, he was his usual self throwing for four TD's and 300 yards. The biggest play, was not made by Manning however. Rather, it was Bill Belichick going for it on fourth and two from his own 28 yard-line with 2:08 to go. You've probably heard and read every side of the argument so I'll keep it short. My feeling is that Belichick did not trust his defense to stop the Colts, so what difference does it make if it is 30 yards or 70 yards? The difference is in the intangibles. Not a lot can go wrong when you only have to go 1/3 of a football field, but 3/4 is a much different story. Passes can get tipped, fumbles can happen, hell look at Laurence Maroney. In Bill we trust, but we can still question.

Footie Madness

In the ever competitive game of Women's soccer, it's really not whether you win or lose but if you can survive. In the past week, two separate instances have led to national publicity for the relatively tame sport. First, there was New Mexico State's Elizabeth Lambert kicking, punching and even pulling ponytails (above in red) on her way to internet fame. Lambert was later suspended indefinitely. Today, news broke of a high school girls state championship erupting into fisticuffs. Personally, both incidents don't bother me too much and I'll tell you why.

For starters, they involve student-athletes under the age of 25. Without sounding sexist, I think that most young adults from 16-22 have a lot to deal with. All the girls involved here undoubtedly have other things on their plate besides playing soccer. Having said that, I think it's understandable that things may get out of hand every once and awhile. Until this weekend, when was the last time we heard a story of violence associated with Women's sports? More than likely you can count the number of incidents on one hand. It's unfair that this had to happen, shining an ugly light on the sport. Now, think of how many melee's occur in college high school and college male sports. Almost, weekly there are players getting arrested, cheating to pass or more recently gouging eyes out. People will claim their outrage at these young ladies actions, but isn't that a bit hypocritical when young men are doing the same at a much more alarming rate?