Dawning of a New Day

In the hopes of keeping anyone reading this sorry fucking excuse for a blog, I will be revising my writing habits. Rather than putting together long, verbose pieces that usually pull together about 12 different topics, I'm going to try to keep them short, sweet, and much more frequent.

So, here goes nothing.

• Brett Favre is still Brett Favre. Just when all hope seemed lost, and it appeared that Favre had finally settled into being a controlled, patient and smart QB, his season ends with an awful, across the body, on the run, into the middle of the field INT that, if he had run it, would have at least given Ryan Longwell a shot at a 48-yarder. But no, Brett is Wrangler man, and if there's one thing the Wrangler jean commercials have taught us, Brett plays like he's playing touch football, which means rolling right and throwing back across his body:

• The Pens are struggling in general right now, but a lot has been made of their struggling power play. However, a comment by Mike Milbury during the Pens/Flyers game on Sunday got me thinking. Milbury commented that people shouldn't be all that surprised that the Pens PP sucks this year, because it was only ranked 20th in the league last year. Now, some might say, hey, Gonch was out for 3/4 of the season, and we all know what he does for the PP. And it's true, the guy might be the best point man in the league - he can pass, he can skate, he can rip the puck, but he also knows how to get the puck on net, and towards friendly sticks, which might be the most important thing he does.
  
  But with that in mind, look at the 2 PP goals from Sunday: one was all Gonch's, but the result of a great screen. The other was Cooke redirecting in front of the net.
  
  So, I propose to you that what the Pens need more than anything is a guy like Ryan Malone.
  
  Compare the Pens powerplay for 2005-2008 with the power play from 2008-2010. Those first 3 seasons include Crosby's first which was a near-last place finish, a first-round exit and the loss in the Cup Finals. The last 2 are this year, and the Cup Champion team from last.
  
  2005-2008: 1336 chances, 265 goals, 19.8%
  2008-2010: 583 chances, 96 goals, 16.5%
  
  What's the one big change between the two periods? Ryan Malone. We're only talking about a difference of 19 goals over that period, but is it out the question to suggest that Malone's absence may have something to do with it?
  
  
• John Clayton was writing today that the Saints/Colts Super Bowl is proof that offense is more important now than defense. I disagree. The Colts are the league's #8 scoring defense this year, despite throwing in the towel against the Jets and Bills at the end. As for the Saints, yeah, they aren't great, but they won by forcing turnovers and making plays.
  
  And let's also not get too far ahead of ourselves. It's just one season. Look at the last 4 Super Bowl champs. Why did they win? Defense. That's crystal clear for the Giants and Steelers, and don't forget that the Colts' big run was fueled by a hot defense.
  
  Video (1:06) with thanks to the mersh (Btw: when you watch it, it's almost like they're trying too hard to look excited. I don't buy this "Saints fans are so great" bullshit. 99% of them are bandwagoners. Which, I guess is how you get your start, but still. Fuck that.).
  

Saints Video: Bourbon Street