By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
May I have your attention please? The real Boston Bruins have finally stood up.
With a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Black and Gold extended their points streak to seven games and now sit atop the Northeast division.
Marc Savard has been a key part of all this with a four-game point streak and rewarded the Bruins for their seven-year, $35 million arrangement with his 200th career goal. It kind of makes you think, however. Savard just proved his worth to the team as it tanked in his absence and has flourished since his return and he gets handed the same money as Tim Thomas, but will need to serve two more years to get it.
Savard is 32-years-old and this will probably be his last big payday. Same could be said for Thomas when he signed his huge deal. The difference is Thomas is 35 and a fundamentally flawed goaltender who will surely not live up to the money the team has invested in him. Savard, even though he most likely will not maintain 70-plus point seasons, but his contributions as a leader can supersede point totals. On the other hand, a 38-year-old netminder who can't stop the puck because he has terrible positioning and rebound control and now doesn't have the reflexes to make up for it anymore doesn't have a place on very many hockey teams. Bruins fans that endured the Jeff Hackett and Felix Potvin eras can attest to that.
This isn't to say that they shouldn't have extended Thomas. He's provided stability that had been missing in net for the Bruins for year. But the exhorbinant amount is what hurts. What could they have done with that money? Well, among other things, perhaps re-sign Phil Kessel? Anyone who thinks that the Bruins would not be any better with Kessel on this team need to step back from the Black and Gold Kool-Aid. They've had enough. And the idea that he didn't want to play here? Maybe truth. But more likely Kessel felt he was just worth more money and didn't want to play for a fraction of his market value. And it's also very believable that if it was at all feasable without tearing down the team, the Bruins would have offered him more money.
Hindsight is 20/20, but the Black and Gold should have seen that that money could have been used for some better purpose. The Bruins are on the right track, but had a chance to be really special.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Massachusetts high school football should be ashamed of itself
By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
College football fans are upset because they don't have the opportunity to watch a tournament. Massachusetts high school football fans should be upset that they have too many to watch.
Massashusetts is one of only two states in the COUNTRY that does not have a true state champion in football. In the past, the top teams in Western Mass. and Central Mass. would play each other for a regional championship, while Eastern Mass. would feature the top representatives from Northeast Mass. and Southeast Mass.
This year, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association began a trend moving in the wrong direction, splitting Western and Central Mass., giving each of them a regional tournament. under the new alignment, the top four teams in each division play a semifinal, with the winners playing a final game for regional bragging rights. It's old news at this point as this realignment was actually announced last year, but it's certainly fresh in my mind after covering a Western Mass. football playoff game last night.
The worst part is the MIAA has the gall to call these games Super Bowls. While there's nothing wrong with claiming yourself champion of your region, wouldn't it mean more if you could at least have the reward of playing for a state title?
Much larger states in terms of area and population manage to hold statewide championships. Why can't a state like Massachusetts? Bottom line is money. The MIAA can get more gate by holding multiple tournaments at multiple sites. Massachusetts might not have the best talent in the nation, but there is passion for the sport here and teams come out. With regional playoffs and championships, the MIAA knows that the odds of natural rivals facing each other in games, or teams that played classics earlier in the year, are way up and both are a huge draw. That was proven correct this week with matchups between regional rivals such as Palmer vs. Ware and St. John's vs. Shrewsbury as well as Frontier and Athol, who played a thriller earlier in the season.
Those will make an argument that this at least gives the perceived weaker teams from Cenral and Western Mass. a chance to win a championship, that they wouldn't have a chance to compete with the Eastern Mass. powers. Maybe that's true, but shouldn't they at least have a chance? Isn't that what a tournament is all about?
I am reminded of a time when I was working in Southwest Vermont, covering area high school sports, as well as a couple teams just over the border in New York. That year Cambridge, a town of less than 2,000 people, beat two teams from towns up to three times their size to go to the state championship. Granted, they lost in the title game, but it illustrates my point that in tournament play, anything can happen.
Massachusetts has sacrificed having the best teams from each area playing each other for a real title so that they can have more tickets sold by having the parents of 4-6 teams pay to watch in the slim hopes they can win a phony title.
Congratulations, Massachusetts.
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
College football fans are upset because they don't have the opportunity to watch a tournament. Massachusetts high school football fans should be upset that they have too many to watch.
Massashusetts is one of only two states in the COUNTRY that does not have a true state champion in football. In the past, the top teams in Western Mass. and Central Mass. would play each other for a regional championship, while Eastern Mass. would feature the top representatives from Northeast Mass. and Southeast Mass.
This year, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association began a trend moving in the wrong direction, splitting Western and Central Mass., giving each of them a regional tournament. under the new alignment, the top four teams in each division play a semifinal, with the winners playing a final game for regional bragging rights. It's old news at this point as this realignment was actually announced last year, but it's certainly fresh in my mind after covering a Western Mass. football playoff game last night.
The worst part is the MIAA has the gall to call these games Super Bowls. While there's nothing wrong with claiming yourself champion of your region, wouldn't it mean more if you could at least have the reward of playing for a state title?
Much larger states in terms of area and population manage to hold statewide championships. Why can't a state like Massachusetts? Bottom line is money. The MIAA can get more gate by holding multiple tournaments at multiple sites. Massachusetts might not have the best talent in the nation, but there is passion for the sport here and teams come out. With regional playoffs and championships, the MIAA knows that the odds of natural rivals facing each other in games, or teams that played classics earlier in the year, are way up and both are a huge draw. That was proven correct this week with matchups between regional rivals such as Palmer vs. Ware and St. John's vs. Shrewsbury as well as Frontier and Athol, who played a thriller earlier in the season.
Those will make an argument that this at least gives the perceived weaker teams from Cenral and Western Mass. a chance to win a championship, that they wouldn't have a chance to compete with the Eastern Mass. powers. Maybe that's true, but shouldn't they at least have a chance? Isn't that what a tournament is all about?
I am reminded of a time when I was working in Southwest Vermont, covering area high school sports, as well as a couple teams just over the border in New York. That year Cambridge, a town of less than 2,000 people, beat two teams from towns up to three times their size to go to the state championship. Granted, they lost in the title game, but it illustrates my point that in tournament play, anything can happen.
Massachusetts has sacrificed having the best teams from each area playing each other for a real title so that they can have more tickets sold by having the parents of 4-6 teams pay to watch in the slim hopes they can win a phony title.
Congratulations, Massachusetts.
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