Crosby's Return

Sidney Crosby returned to the ice Monday night and he didn't waste any time getting back to his high standard of play with 2 goals and 2 assists, in a 5-0 Penguins win over the hapless Islanders. This was Crosby's first game since January when he was sidelined with the most debated case of post concussion syndrome in the history of sports or the New England Journal of Medicine. Since Crosby began skating in training camp this season there was much speculation on when he would return, but true to his word he returned when he was ready and clearly looked the part. Crosby played almost 7 minutes in the first period and looked in game shape, he played an integral part in the power play, and looked good in the hard areas of ice, but every time he took a hit I felt myself grimacing not only for the his safety and the Penguins, but also for the fate of the NHL.

It was a great night the Penguins as a healthy Crosby makes the Pens the best team in the NHL, for that matter adding Crosby to a dozen teams in the NHL makes that team the best in the NHL. I can make a compelling case for the Nashville Predators as champs with a healthy Crosby centering Patrick Hornquist and Craig Smith. With Crosby in the lineup the Penguins are balanced at center and allow Malkin and Staal to go against the other teams' 2^nd and 3^rd D pairings. The Penguins added James Neal and Steve Sullivan in the off-season and Neal could potentially score 50 flanked to Crosby's right, and a mediocre power play should improve dramatically once Crosby, Malkin, Neal, and Letang get comfortable working together in game situations.

It was even a better night for the NHL, yes even for Pittsburgh's biggest rivals Philly and Washington, since a high tide lifts all boats and Crosby is the NHL's biggest wave. Die hard hockey fans are incredibly loyal and will watch anything involving a puck, but the casual sports fan, especially in this country wants stars. Crosby is that star, he is the best player since Wayne Gretzky and whether people are tuning in to cheer him, boo him, or just to see something special that is a major win for the NHL because the game itself has a way of pulling you in even if you didn't mean for it to happen. As for Philly and Washington, nothing improves ratings like a rivalry and both are natural rivals due to the history, proximity, and the fact that they are the best teams in the conference. Something else was very clearly evident when Crosby was hurt; Ovechkin has not been the same player without Crosby. Whether it is his lack of concern for his own end, or his inability to improve his natural talents, Ovechkin has not picked up the mantle of best player while Crosby was out. Hopefully for the league's sake Ovechkin will pick up his game now that Crosby has returned.

The major concern with Crosby's return is that one hard hit to the head will once again shelf hockey's best player in a generation for good. Crosby is only 24, but he seems much older, maybe it is because he entered the league as an 18 year old, or that he has already won a Stanley Cup and Olympic Gold medal. With his future uncertain he could easily go down as the second best player in hockey or the modern day Sandy Koufax and the fact that we are still in the early stages of understanding brain injuries make the future that much cloudier. For Crosby's sake and the sake of the Penguins I hope in 15 years I can think back to his return night and laugh at the uncertainty I felt for the future, but more importantly as a hockey fan I hope the league can do the same.

When winning isn't enough

I was going to write a NFL power poll this week, mid November seemed right to start to get a grip on the playoff race, any rankings done before week 10 are worthless, just ask any Buffalo Bills fan. On my way to compiling information for this poll, the Denver Broncos beat the Jets on Thursday to even both teams' records at 5-5 and the conversation once again became Tim Tebow. I said in this space before that it was criminal to have Tebow on the bench since we knew what the Broncos were with Kyle Orton under center, the answer is awful, and they needed to find out what they had in Tebow.

What we have found is that Tebow is a sub-par NFL thrower, dynamic runner, great leader, winner, and someone who angers so-called "analysts" and former players to no end. The NFL dominates the American sports landscape and culture, this leads to a sport that is talked about too much on all forms of communication. ESPN's weekly preview show "NFL Countdown" needs to be 3 hours long like we needed two weeks of lead up coverage to the Royal Weeding, but with this constant forum, former players and analysts have made it their mission to not allow Tebow to threaten the "sanctity" of the National Football League.

When I make the mistake of listening to these so called "analysts" the one thought that keeps coming to my mind is, "Are they talking about a game or the preservation of society?" Let's be honest they are football snobs who can't imagine that someone has the gall to try to play their game without being the cardboard cut-out quarterback. In their mind football is played by extraordinary human beings and the quarterback is a big man with a big arm who can make all the throws in a controlled 7 on 7 environment. Whether that same person is a competitor, leader, or winner is of no concern to these football snobs. Out one side of their mouth they talk about how hard it is to win in the NFL and out the other side of their mouth they dismiss Tebow for winning. Why do higher draft pick quarterbacks like Sam Bradford and Blaine Gabbert get time to improve and validate their salaries and high pick when they are the exact opposite of winners? Both are big with big arms and make all the throws in shorts, but in game situations they constantly make the wrong play. I watched Gabbert and Bradford stand in the pocket this past weekend and refuse to do anything out of the ordinary as they lost games both should have won. Where is the outrage about these two along with a host of others (Sanchez, Rivers, McCoy, Kolb, Jackson)? It goes to show you that the outrage is about Tebow playing the position differently than normal, no matter the consequences.

To make Tebow's situation even more hilarious is the fact that his own coach (John Fox) and GM (John Elway) would rather see him fail. They begrudgingly started him when the team was 1-4 and looked to be in a fight for the #1 overall pick in next year's draft. The only reason he even was allowed to start is because both Fox and Elway wanted to show the fans that he wasn't a viable future option at quarterback. Fox was forced to start Tebow in Miami after Tebow nearly completed a double digit comeback in the second half in the previous week vs. San Diego. After a historic comeback vs. Miami, Tebow and the Broncos were beaten soundly at home vs. Detroit in a game Tebow played very poorly. Unlike other young quarterbacks Tebow was not given a mulligan, the game became a sure sign that he wasn't QB material. On a side-note, watching the Detroit defense mock Tebow's religious beliefs was disgusting and shows where our country is currently that not an eye was batted when Christianity was mocked, can you imagine the outrage and Roger Goodell issued apologies if a player mocked a Muslim or Jewish players beliefs? Fox has continued to cut Tebow's offensive playbook and tell the media that he is the man behind the Bronco's success because he isn't allowing Tebow to do too much, but in reality anyone who watched the Broncos beat the division leading Raiders in Oakland knows that Tebow was successful dropping back to pass 30 times. Elway, who seems to be following the Michael Jordan post career failure playbook very closely, went even so far as to say Monday on a Denver radio station that "Tim is doing everything we thought he would when we started him." Really John, if you expected him to go 4-1 as a starter with comeback wins over the Phins, Raiders, and Jets, then why did Orton start the first 5 games. The fact is that Tebow is winning despite Elway and Fox, the least those two could do is admit as much.

It is easy to point out Tebow's flaws as a pocket quarterback and he has many, but I believe he will improve since throwing the football is a learned skill and he should have as much time as every other first round qb draft pick. His biggest skill as a passer is his ability to stay away from turnovers; the Broncos have only turned the ball over 5 times in his 5 starts (with only 1 INT) whereas they turned it over 12 times in Orton's 5 games. As much as stats head want you to believe that interceptions are random, other than tipped balls and receivers falling down, valuing the ball is a valuable skill for a quarterback (can I get a second from all Chargers fans). It is also easy to see that he is dynamic runner who has an innate ability to know when and where to run and quite frankly defensive backs want no part in trying to tackle him as Octo-dad (Cromartie) and Revis (my defensive player of the year doesn't avoid contact with a QB) showed Thursday night. What is harder to see is the effect Tebow has on his Bronco teammates. His teammates to a man say how much he inspires them, and it has been pointed out by the "experts" how much better the Broncos defense has been with Tebow starting. When asked about this point Pro Bowl Broncos defenders Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins gave Tebow credit as a leader and inspirational force for their unit. Unlike in other sports, you need to be emotionally invested in playing football and it is pretty clear that Tebow leads his teammates in this regard, and I will take Bailey and Dawkins' word over any outsider on ESPN radio (the closest second to former players who are angered by Tebow's success and how it affects their arrogant view of the NFL) giving their opinion. Broncos WR Eric Decker made the same points as Bailey and Dawkins and you could see the joy in all the Broncos players when Tebow scored to beat the Jets on Thursday. That game was a great example of what leadership and clutch play looks like and that can't be determined in shorts, during a 7 on 7, or at the scouting combine.

Tebow himself summed it up best after Thursday's win over the Jets when he said that he approaches football as a game and does his best to compete and improve daily. Games are supposed to fun and it is incredibly fun watching Tebow play and it is just an added bonus that he infuriates the NFL snobs so much in the process.

Early Season NHL observations

With the NBA heading for a "nuclear winter" with no games this year (at least Lebron will go another year without a title Cleveland fans) and a lot of court dates and press conferences where each side blames each other for this gigantic mess, sports fans looking for an alternative can always turn to the NHL. My advice for new fans is to start with small doses of "NHL Live" and "On the Fly" on the NHL network where Kevin Weeks (best dressed and most astute analyst) and company will explain the nuances of the game with a spotlight on goals and game defining plays. As we are nearing the quarter mark of the season, I thought this would be an ideal time to check on some of the bigger stories in the NHL this season.

The Stanley Cup Hangover is real: The subjectivity of what winning the cup does to your attitude and mindset for next season is debatable, but what is not debatable is how playing the most physically demanding game in sports (Stanley Cup playoffs) into June affects the next season beginning in October. Both Boston (8-7, 16 points) and Vancouver (9-8-1, 19 points) are experiencing the roller coaster ride this early season that comes with playing a game 7 for the cup the previous year. Both teams are capable of rebounding and contending come playoff time, but the early hole they are putting themselves in this season will only make the climb that much more difficult. For Boston, an anemic power play and scoring outside of Seguin (11G, 9A, league leading +14) and Lucic are concerns for a team in the best division in hockey. While in Vancouver, the loss of depth on the blue line and the inconsistent nature of Luongo (7-5-1, 2.97 GAA, .896 Save %) leave them in the bottom half of the Western conference playoff bracket in mid November.

The Blackhawks are once again the best team in hockey: Speaking of the Cup hangover, Chicago to a man admitted they were victims of it last season. Duncan Keith said it was hard to focus mentally and the team cited the physical drain of the year before as the primary reason they squeaked into the playoffs last season as the #8 seed. After a long summer break the Hawks are back to being the best team in the game behind 5 superstars and a new and improved set of grinders and glue guys. Goaltender Corey Crawford (8-4-2, 2.72 GAA, .905 Save %) has emerged as the steady influence the team needs in net after the failed Mary Turco (now on NHL network) experiment last season. The Captain, Toews leads the team in goals with 9 and is a +7 which is the lowest among the core group; Kane (6 G, 13 A, +11), Hossa (8, 10, +13), Sharp (5, 12, +10), Keith (2, 8, +8). With solid role players like Montador, Mayers, Carcillo, Stalberg, and Bolland anything less than a return trip to the Cup finals will be a disappointment for this team.

After Chicago is where the surprises start in the West, starting with Dallas: The Stars are 11-5-0 after completing the toughest 3 game road trip in hockey (Wash, Pittsburgh, Detroit) and are currently second in the West. Even more impressive is the fact that this team lost its best player over the summer when Brad Richards left via free agency from the money in New York City. The line of best GM's in hockey has to start behind Hall of Famer Joe Nieuwendyk, who traded for Kari Lehtonen (11-2, 2.20 GAA, .934 Save %) last season and watched him develop into one of the best in the game. Nieuwendyk struck gold again this summer when he took a low risk high reward chance on Sheldon Souray (4G, 9A, +9), who has proven that he is still capable of playing major minutes at the NHL level. If you want to win a bet with someone who knows the NHL, just ask them who the coach of the Stars is? The answer is Glenn Gulutzan, who is carrying out Nieuwendyk's plan on the ice. An "all for one" theme has allowed the Stars to replace Richards in house and it helps when you have the best line in hockey with the Eriksson (9,8, +10), Benn (5,14, +7), Ryder (6,5, +8) trio. Solid goaltending and depth will allow the Stars to contend all season; it is just a shame they have to play in front of a half empty arena at home.

And Minnesota: The Wild are 3^rd in the West with a 9-5-3 record behind a new bench boss that Pittsburgh Penguins fans know well, Mike Yeo. Yeo was an assistant and power play coordinator for the Pens when they went to two straight Cup finals. He coached Minnesota's AHL team in Houston last season before being named coach of the Wild this summer. He has implemented a puck possession system that has the Wild atop of their division with balanced scoring that has seen 7 players score between 7 and 11 points through 17 games. Maybe more importantly all 7 of the Wild leading scorers are plus players and goalies, Backstrom (5-4-2, 2.14 GAA, .927 Save %) and Harding (4-1-1, 1.78 GAA, .948 Save %) have been the team's best defenders. Heatley (5G, 6A, +2) and Setoguchi (4G, 4A, +1) have delivered what was expected when Minnesota traded for them this summer and their winning ways along with Yeo's have this team primed for a playoff run, much needed news for Minnesota sports fans after watching the Vikes @ GB last night.

It is not just the kids in Oil City: Edmonton is 9-6-2 and currently sits behind Minnesota in 4^th place in the West, even after a 2-4 recently concluded road trip. The rebuilding effort in Edmonton was supposed to take years, but the Oilers are more than frisky this season behind future stars Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (7G, 7A, +1), Taylor Hall (3, 7, -), and Jordan Eberle (4, 9, -). The key to this year's fast start has been the great play provided by veterans Ryan Smyth (10G, 7A, +2) and Khabibulin (7-2-2, 1.78 GAA, .948 Save %). The team sold high on Dustin Penner last year at the trade deadline and is in position to do the same with Sam Gagner this season and maybe even Ryan Whitney (4 games played) and Ales Hemsky (6 games played) if they prove healthy in the interim. Cam Barker is proving why you never give up on the 3^rd overall pick in a draft by playing over 20 mins/game and quarterbacking the power play. Who knows if the Oilers youth will catch up with them over the long season, but the future is bright and the present is fun.

The Leafs are the biggest surprise in the East: Chalk is reigning more in the East than West, but Toronto is in the upper half of Eastern playoff picture and most surprisingly they are doing it with a 3^rd string goaltender. James Reimer was undefeated in regulation (4-0-1, 2.58 GAA, .912 Save %) before he suffered a concussion, with the effects of that injury continuing to sideline him. Jonas Gustavsson (2-2, 3.21 GAA, .893 Save %) and Ben Scrivens (4-4, 3.78 GAA, .878 Save %) have been mediocre at best and the Leafs will have to continue to outscore opponents as long as they are between the pipes. Scoring hasn't been a problem so far with the league's leading scorer, Phil Kessel (12G, 12 A, +9) and linemate Lupol (9G, 10A, +7). Kessel and Lupol have developed great chemistry at even strength and on the power play. Grabovski (5,5 +2) anchors one of the best complimentary lines in the game and continues the Leafs theme of speed throughout all four forward lines. Phaneuf (2,10, +12) is back to his Norris trophy form of a few years back and his recent play makes Calgary's firing of Daryl Sutter seem almost too kind after that robbery of a trade for the Leafs. It will be interesting to see if the Leafs can continue to score, but let's hope Reimer gets healthy to see what this team's true ceiling is.

Speaking of injuries and more specifically concussions: Sidney Crosby hasn't played this season, it currently has been over 300 calendar days since he last played in a game. The Pen's (10-4-3) continue to win without Crosby over the long haul and Malkin, Staal, and Letang for shorter time periods. Fluery (9-2-1, 1.87 GAA, .932 Save %) and James Neal (11G, 6A) have been outstanding while coach, Dan Bylsma continues to show he is among the best in the business with the injuries that hover over Pittsburgh. No injury hangs over a team or a sport more than Crosby's concussion hangs over the Pens and the NHL. Rules have been changed and the spotlight is shining brightly on the issue, but the NHL is still without a transcendent player and the biggest personality to grow the game. Crosby continues to practice and claims he will return, but only when healthy, but the more time that passes makes the parallels to other sports greats who had to retire early due to injuries (Koufax and Sayers) all the more relevant.

Brendan Shanahan > Colin Campbell: Colin Campbell did not get it and was never going to get the new NHL, his last few years were embarrassing as his personal bias against teams and players were revealed. His league mandated decisions on player discipline were a joke at best and mercifully he was forced into retirement last year as the mandate on concussions was issued. On the other end of the spectrum is Brendan Shanahan, who has been a revelation as the league's hammer on player discipline this season. The biggest change for the better on Shanahan's watch is that the league is open about why players were suspended or not suspended and Shanahan communicates with players through phone calls and video on a regular basis. All decisions are not going to be unanimous, I disagree with the league's decision to not suspend Lucic after he barrel rolled Ryan Miller Saturday night and gave him a concussion, but at least Shanahan was proactive about why the decision was made. Points can be argued on both sides, but at least under Shanahan as opposed to Campbell, there is dialogue and the curtain has been removed on player discipline.

It is not all roses for the league, paging Gary Bettman: Even though Winnipeg is 6-9-3 and last in the Southeast division, they have been a rousing success because of where they play. Last night the atmosphere was electric as Winnipeg welcomed the Cup contending Lightning to town and that has been commonplace for every Jets game this season. Hockey teams need to play in front of hockey fans and the fact that the Dallas Stars, Phoenix Coyotes, New York Islanders, and Florida Panthers are all on life support while the NHL and specifically Bettman "try to make it work" in their current cities while hockey fans in Canada are without teams is a travesty. Bettman's goal should be to get hockey teams to passionate cities and fan bases and with Quebec, Hamilton, Toronto, and Barrie all expressing interest in teams the Winnipeg example should be the driving force for Bettman to get the moving vans started.

So far, so good for the experiment in Philly: I said in my preseason preview that Philly was the most interesting team in the league after their controversial summer overhaul and they are well on their way to proving they were right. They are tied atop the Eastern standings at 10-4-3, but how they got there is the interesting part. I thought they would ride goaltending and defense while their forward lines came together, but it has been the forwards who are leading this team with the goaltending and D being dragged along. Claude Giroux (11G, 10A, +3) has emerged as one of the best 2 way forwards in the league and Jaromir Jagr (6,11, +6) has been a contributing veteran presence, much to my surprise. Briere (5,8, +3) and Van Riemsdyk (6,7, -) provide scoring depth and while everyone was counting on Braydon Scheen, it has been '11 first round pick, Sean Couturier (3,5, +8) who has been the impact rookie. Bryzgalov (8-4, 2.85 GAA, .899 Save %) has been mediocre in net, but a revelation with the media. His candidness and the language barrier has made his media sessions a blast and the Philly brass has tried to restrict the media access to him after games, but he just can't stay away from the mic's. Pronger has missed significant time on the blue line and only Timonen is more than a plus 3 player on the back end, but the team's fast start has been impressive even if the heavy playoff lifting will be the better judge of this overhaul.

3 days too late

A few days ago I wrote that it was a sad day to be a Penn State alum, well today is a better day to be a Penn State graduate. The board of trustee's made the correct decision to fire PSU President Graham Spanier and football coach Joe Paterno, yes the decision was about 3 days too late, but the board of trustee's finally showed that football program and the President's decision to protect this program was not bigger than the University itself. Paterno did not deserve the right to have a final day in the sun, which is what Saturday's final home game of the season would have turned into; he deserved to be fired via phone call and not be in charge of when he retires. When you are the head of an organization that failed as badly as Penn State (PSU football in particular) did in this instance you lose all rights to determine your fate. One hypothetical question, if it was a 10 year old boy you were related to or knew that was allegedly raped in that shower by Sandusky, would you want Paterno to go out in front of a cheering crowd of over 100,000 people when all he did was pass this information on to his superior?

Sandusky will get his day in court and hopefully an 8 by 8 prison cell for the rest of his life and though Paterno will escape the legal system he is very guilty of moral failure in this situation, which just happens to involve one of the worst crimes imaginable. As more victims come out of the woodwork, you can only hope that it becomes harder and harder for Paterno, McQueary, Curley, and Spanier to look at themselves in the mirror since they allowed Sandusky to contain on his way after he was caught in the act in their football complex way back in 2002. Paterno clearly didn't get it, he promised to "serve the university for his remaining days on this earth" in his final prepared statement, really? How about the innocent victims who have had their lives ruined by Sandusky's actions and Paterno and Co.'s inaction? With the Penn State housecleaning in process McQueary should not be allowed near the field this weekend or any other weekend of Penn State football. If interim coach Tom Bradley or the interim AD won't make this decision then the board of trustee's should. The last few weeks of this season can't end quickly enough and that is shame for the players on this year's team who are caught up in the biggest college sports scandal ever, but it is the truth. Only a full housecleaning of the PSU football program and decision makers and new people making in those positions will allow the University, town, and state to move forward.

As for the "kids" who rioted after the decision to fire Paterno was made, as someone who witnessed a riot in Beaver canyon when the basketball team lost to Temple in the sweet 16 during the '01 tourney, all I can say is that PSU students have always liked the riot more than the reason for it. My advice would be to read the Grand Jury indictment and lay off the Wednesday night happy hours. As more of the victims come forward and reveal their stories they are more pain (emotionally and financial) in store for PSU and anyone associated with the school, but at least the board of trustee's restored order with the much needed firing of Paterno and Spanier.

The End

It is a sad day to be as I am, a Penn State alum, even one who never fully drank the PSU football kool-aid and looked at the program with an eye of skepticism. I graduated from Happy Valley in 2002 while the team was going through one of their worst runs of the Paterno era. Under .500 for three of the four years I was a student and no BCS bowl appearances left Paterno answering questions about his future and his ability to coach at a high level at his advanced age. Since then he has steadied the ship on the field primarily due to a down Big 10 conference, but there has been an underlying feeling among Penn State supporters that only his retirement will allow the team to bring in a coaching staff that will embrace the forward pass and offensive ingenuity. For the past decade as complaints about the way Paterno's teams played offense the general feeling was that it was poor form to question Paterno since he was a legend and the man who put Penn State on the map. He also personally had a hand in building the college with millions of dollars going to libraries and on campus improvements for the general student body. Even if his age was a constant joke, the feeling was he deserved to go out on his own.

That has all changed this week with the revelations that Paterno was made aware of former defensive cordinator Jerry Sandusky's sexual assualt of young boys at the PSU football facility and that he only took this information to his immediate supervisor and not to the police. That would be like the President of the United States saying that he couldn't do anything in DC without getting the mayor's permission. Paterno is Penn State and is bigger than any AD, or college official even the President of the University. Paterno made this fact known when under pressure to resign in the early 2000's he flat out told the PSU President that he and only he would determine when he retired. It was Paterno's human moral obligation to report what he knew not only to the AD and President, but also to the police and he should have been following up with those parties after the fact. He might have done what was necessary by the legal definition, but he passed the buck and let everyone associated with PSU down and most importantly didn't protect the young boys who were being sexually abused by someone he knew well at his football compound under his watch. There is plenty of blame to go around in this vomit inducing incident as all of these men of power choose to protect the image of Penn State and Penn State football and in turn protected a violent sexual predator while hanging out to dry innocent young victims of sexual abuse. Paterno seemed above this, he donated most of his money back to the school, lived in the same small off campus home he had resided in for 50 years, and after a lengthy battle by the media his salary was revealed to be a 1/3rd of what most big time college coaches make, but in the end the ideal of the PSU program blinded his moral compass and allowed this incident to become a first paragraph story of his life and the end of his career at PSU.

As I said previously there is plenty of blame to go around, but it isn't really a surprise that a small town DA refused to follow up on reports about Sandusky in 1998 and that administrators wanted to keep the PSU football money making train going full speed, but Paterno as the face of PSU needed to do more then and explain himself now and his refusal to talk about what happened just adds to the carnage. He should have been in front of the media Monday morning stating what he knew, what he did, and what he didn't do. Instead, he hid behind a statement and cancelled his regular Tuesday press conference no doubt on advice from his legal team as he continued to attend practice.

The nature of this crime is the worst scandal to hit a college program, this is in a different category than selling rings for ink and paying players with cash, parties, and strippers. If an adult was beating a 10 year old in the street with a bat on College Ave. would that get reported to the police? I tend to think it might, yet somehow sexual abuse by a former coach got lost in the endless layers of college sports administration?

A full house cleaning is needed at Penn State beginning with Paterno and the college President and I don't know how anyone not related to a current player can attend Saturday's home game vs. Nebraska. PSU has one of the biggest and most devoted fan base in all of sports, but Saturday is the perfect opportunity to take a stand. Empty seats and protests outside of the stadium should be the minimum required for the PSU community as they express the outrage felt over this scandal. It is time for a new motto for the football program, "Success with honor" seems like a creul joke right now.