NSN Blog

It was a fun and entertaining boys hockey game at the Spartan Arena last night as Rutland and Colchester skated to a 5 all tie in a game video cast on NSN.
Colchester came back from a 5-3 deficit to tie it including getting the tying goal with 12 seconds left in regulation.
Many times I call it a good tie if you come from behind to tie a team and a bad tie if the other team ties you, but Raider coach Chris Creed was very happy with the tie because his team battled one of the top teams in the state toe to toe.
I agree! I think it was a good tie for both teams!

I agree that Minnesota's Adrian Peterson should be the NFL MVP, but I don't think it would be an injustice or a travesty if Peyton Manning or Tom Brady win it.
If you are talking about Player of the Year, I think there is no question that it's Adrian Peterson, but MVP to me is a different category all together and is much more subjective.

The Miss Universe Pageant was held last night in Las Vegas and the winner is:
Olivia Culpo of Cranston, Rhode Island who was Miss Rhode Island, then Miss USA and now Miss Universe.
She is the niece of Castleton mens basketball coach Paul Culpo.
Olivia is a sophomore at Boston University.

ESPN ran a column today in their NFL section picking their top 10 MVP's as of right now(this point in the season). They have Adrian Peterson 4th, based on their belief that quarterback play means so much more to a team. Um, does anyone realize that the Vikings might be win-less if it were not for one Adrian Purple Jesus Peterson? Wow. They rationalize that what Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and even Aaron Rodgers(huh?), have done are far more significant. The Vikings have Christian Freaking Ponder at Quarterback! He's thrown for less than 100 yards in like 3 games! I'm not sure how they determine the definition of MVP is but the acronym clearly stands for Most Valuable Player. I get it that Peyton Manning has had yet another career year as the Broncos signal-caller-but the last two games what has he done? Not much. As for Brady he led a masterful comeback the other night against the San Francisco 49ers. However, as ESPN correctly pointed out-and seemingly contradicted themselves-of the three top pass defenses he has faced(Arizona, Seattle, and SF) he has thrown 4 TD's and 5 Interceptions). That my friends is not the mark of an MVP, sorry. Further, as for Rodgers even being in this conversation-ahead of Matt Ryan(who one could argue has been more consistent throughout the 2012 season right?), or defensive stalwart, JJ Watt, I don't get it. Really? Rodgers has been more up and down than Hugh Hefner's labido for cryin' out loud. Adrian Peterson is putting together one of the top seasons in the history of professional football and they have him ranked fourth behind the three mentioned above. I don't know if they do drug testing in Bristol, but they might want to consider it. It's still a stretch to think that AP is going to catch Eric Dickerson, however, if he does, there's no way in my mind(especially if the Vikings make the playoffs with Christian Pee My Pants Ponder at QB) he shouldn't win MVP. Disclaimer-I am completely biased but it seems like what I've said above throws bias out of the equation. Right?

Second thought on the NFL. There were several Giants fans whom I remember listening to on sports talk shows(like The Really Big Show w/George Commo and Jack Healey, 9am-11am, M-F on nsnradio.net) proclaiming Eli Manning as the NFL's best quarterback. Way ahead of Aaron Rodgers, way ahead of Manning, and Tom Brady-not to mention Brees. What say you now completely biased Giants fans? I'm sure he still is, right? Here is Eli's line from last week's game vs. the Atlanta Falcons: E. Manning 13/25 161 6.4 0 2 1-2 4.8 40.7 For those of you scoring at home that's a QB rating of 40.7 on the end there. 2 interceptions vs. 1 touchdown toward the middle of that line and a whopping 161 yards passing. No where in that stat line does it say anything about someone catching the ball against their face mask. Ugh. Anyway, point is, the Brady's, Peyton Mannings, and Aaron Rodgers of the world are simply better. I'm betting Eli loves the fact that the Jets are a three ring circus too in New York. Less pressure on him-at least from the media one would think. Let's face it, Mark Sanchez has put up #'s like Eli's against Atlanta all year long-Eli did it, and he's done it more than once now this year-and mums the word on New York's Golden Boy. It is what it is NY Giants fans. Eli is about as Elite as a hot dog vendor in midtown Manhattan. That is, you can find one just about everywhere, just like you can find a slightly above average quarterback to run your ball club.

I feel really bad for Tim Tebow. I think he might even call Rex Ryan an ahole at this point. How could he not right? What the Jets organization has done to this guy is something else-something else in a very bad way, at least in my opinion.

Tough loss for my club last night against Hazen. We'll get better-and that's all you can do-get better every day.

George Commo's Blog - Wednesday 12-19-12
Remember when the Celtics and Lakers used to matter in the NBA? Seems like a long time ago ...
Celts are 12-12 after an 11 point loss to the Bulls last night in Chicago ... LA is 12-14. They won last night ... but they had to rally from 18 points down at home to beat the lowly Charlotte Bobcats 101-100. Impressive comeback, huh? It allowed them to extend Charlotte's losing streak to 12 straight games. Wow ... I'm impressed.
The Lakers should get better as they get Gasol and Nash back from injuries ... the Celts also should be better when they get Avery Bradley back ... but come on! These are the Celtics and the Lakers!
Sad.

I'm not a big Jim Boeheim fan or a big Syracuse fan either for that matter, but I don't care how you cut it 900 wins is 900 wins.
You have to give the guy his due!
I'm one who says longevity is a good thing, not a bad thing.
You can't achieve 500 home runs , 3000 hits or 900 wins unless you've been around for awhile.
900 wins is 30 wins a year for 30 years. Boeheim has averaged something like 25 wins a year. That's not only longevity, but it's also consistency. Not bad!
One of my pet peeves is when people say, yeah he's got 3000 hits or yeah he's got 500 home runs, but he's been around a long time or yeah he's got 900 wins, but he's been around a long time as if longevity is the only criteria. Hardly!

Just thinking Mark Sanchez was taken #5 overall in the NFL draft and Tom Brady was chosen #199. Amazing!

Looks like the Burr and Burton boys basketball team might be a contender in Division 2. The Bulldogs were pretty impressive in their victory over Mill River last night!

I never thought I would open up one of my blogs talking about this team but I guess I have to. The New York Jets. My god. That organization is something else. From the top to the bottom. From the moment this traveling circus began with the signing of Tim Tebow, who has been completely misused all year long by the way, until last night, it has been a complete horror show. A complete embarrassing, over covered by the media, puke worthy JOKE! This team has been handled the exact opposite of how a professional football team should be handled since day one. I'm going to spark debate and stick up for Mark Sanchez here. Now hear me out. I am not saying that Mark Sanchez is a good quarterback, because he is not. He stinks as a matter of fact. The only productive thing he did all year other than ink his contract was have a glorious couple of months with Eva Longoria. What in gods name was she thinking anyways?? I don't think she was to be honest with you. Anyways, back to Sanchez. As a coach, you always want to be loyal. If you watch a player develop over time and see how much work he or she is putting in, you are always going to be loyal to that player. You are at least going to give that player an opportunity, as well as a second chance, and third chance to at least prove themselves. But Rex Ryan's "loyalty" to Mark Sanchez has been taken to a completely separate level. It's actually gotten to the point where it has become embarrassing for Sanchez. It really is. It's embarrassing for Sanchez to still be out there. It is ruining his career week by week by being put out in a situation that he is simply not good enough to be in. It's starting to wear on Sanchez. It's so evident. You can see it in his body language. He is done. He does not want to be out there. He can't be out there, and Rex Ryan should have realized this three or four weeks ago. Ryan staying "loyal" to Sanchez is actually not being "loyal" because it's ruining his career. So I'm putting more of the blame for this disaster on Rex Ryan and the executives because of their handling of Sanchez and of course the media circus that came with Tebow, which is exactly what they wanted. I actually felt bad for Sanchez. I have never been able to 125% positively point out that an athlete is both physically and mentally DONE like I have been able to do with Sanchez this year. There had to have been somebody else behind the scene telling Ryan that he must keep Sanchez in because Ryan, I have a hard time believing, can't be that stupid. Some of the executives I can see being that stupid. The only reason why they mean anything is because of their wallet but back to the story. There has to be! We will all know at some point, but until then, the Jets are done, and deservedly so. They're bad. Simple as that.

Are the Toronto Blue Jays finally going to be for real again in the AL East? One would jump to a quick conclusion and say yes. They have done some work this off season to get this team back into contention, and boy what a job they have done. The most recent being 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey in a sign and trade deal with the New York Mets. Dickey, along with new additions Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle, have solidified the Blue Jays pitching staff with Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow. You also can't forget about the additions of Melky Cabrera, Jose Reyes, and Emilio Bonifacio to add to an already powerful lineup. The Blue Jays like to hit the long ball. As a matter of fact, I have been on the record of saying that all they try to do is hit home runs. Well can you imagine them hitting home runs now with these guys on base?? They are going to be dangerous. The top four in the AL East is going to be hard to predict other than the Yankees at the top. I really don't know what will happen. The Blue Jays have a tendency to start off strong and then fade off as the season goes along but I believe they have made the moves to better equip a season long run. Was Baltimore a fluke last year? I don't think so. Tampa somehow is always in the mix and will continue to be. Boston is terrible and hasn't done a thing this off season, although, I do believe they are going to do something big for a big name pitcher. So right now I'm going to go New York, Baltimore, Toronto, Tampa, Boston, in that order. I also believe the top four will all be within three or four games this year. Man, I can't wait.

Can we all agree that Adrian Peterson is an absolute athletic freak of nature and a front runner for the MVP in the NFL?? Think about it. If the playoffs were to start today, the lowly Minnesota Vikings would be in the playoffs and it is most certainly almost all because of the season Adrian Peterson is having. For you to sit here and say it is not because of Peterson then you're completely oblivious to reality. The guy is unreal, and not even one year removed from a major knee surgery?? Unbelievable. He's my vote right now, that's for sure. Not to mention the fact that he is close to Eric Dickerson's single season rushing record. Without Adrian Peterson, this Viking team would maybe be a four win team. He's the most valuable player to his team, plain and simple. I actually enjoyed watching him single handily rip my fantasy football team in half this weekend. I just had to sit back and say to myself, "well, this guy is just unbelievable, if I'm going to lose to somebody, it may as well be to a guy like Peterson, and after a game like that." I certainly hope the Vikings make the playoffs not only for Peterson but because believe it or not, the Giants have once again, taken another week off and allowed the pathetic Cowboys to have a chance. Now I do not expect the Cowboys to make the playoffs, but man, I would be upset if they did. That team is the second coming of the Jets. They are designed to mess things up, and will in my opinion. Washington is now in the mix too. It will be an interesting final two weeks in the NFC that's for sure. Back to Peterson, he's an animal, a freak of nature, the ultimate team player, and the MVP in my book.

A congratulations has to go out to Coach Jim Boeheim for winning his 900th game last night, regardless of whether or not you like him. I am not a huge fan of Coach Boeheim, but he must be doing something right if he's won that many games. He, in my opinion is still not in the ranks of Coach K, Coach Knight, Coach Wooden, or a Coach Smith, but he's up there. Syracuse year in and year out continues to be in the hunt and Coach Boeheim obviously has something to do with it. He has the respect of his peers as well so we have to look at that too. Being a Coach K and Duke fan would I want him to ever pass Coach K?? Absolutely not. It is, though, a great achievement and he deserves our congrats. Speaking of my Dukies, we got a new number 1 in the nation. I have been saying all year long that they are the best team in the country. They are. They're better this year than they were last year with Rivers because they connect well and work well with each other. They also play tremendous defense. Everything is definitely up for grabs don't get me wrong, but right now, Duke is #1.

Some high school action tonight here on NSN. We have Hazen coming to LI for some boys basketball action in what should be a good game. I will be over in Gorham, NH for the Varsity Girls and Varsity Boys tilt between Littleton and Gorham. The winter season is in full swing and you can catch it all right here on NSN!