Enthusiasm, Enthusiasm...

So, another weekend, and another couple of wins for my Isles and a big win for my Jets. Plus, the Mets resigned Glavine on Friday, so all members of the BOG had nice weekends.

First, Glavine. Now, I know he is no longer a #1 starter. At best, he is a #3. I'd put him up against pretty much any #3 in the NL at this point and feel comfortable. He is wily, he is smart, and he is good. Now, he annoyed many Met fans with the Atlanta flirtation, but the guy has to think about his family first, I do not begrudge him that. And, being a man of his word, he re-upped before the winter meetings, meaning Omar can concentrate on Zito, and/or working a trade for another starter.

As for my Jets, when was the last time we fans have been able to thouroughly enjoy the Jets opening up a big old can of whoop-ass on the opposition? The Colts playoff game a few years ago? The first half was as complete as possible. Five possessions, 5 scores. Get a field goal on the first drive, then force a fumble on the Packers first drive, and get a TD from it, then add on 3 more scores. Chad had 241 yards passing in the first half alone. Cedric Houston had 2 TD's and 105 yards rushing. Cotchery had 99 yards receiving and a TD. Just dominating on both sides of the ball.

The second half was a tad of a downer for a while, as Green Bay put up 10 points, cutting the lead to 31-10, then recovered and on-side kick. Now, last year, and pretty much every year before that, Jets fans would have gotten worried that the wheels were about to fall off. Not this year. The defense is playing so well since the week off. And they stepped up here, forcing a 3 and out. Bryan Thomas has been a beast this year, with another 1.5 sacks yesterday, and a forced fumble. Kerry Rhodes had another INT (and is planning on gold plating the ball since it was against Favre, not that that is rare these days). Dyson had an INT as well. Chad was not as good in the second half, then again, they ran more in order to burn the clock. Possibly the only downer was Ellis getting cut-blocked, and missing a couple of series. Apparently, he went all Piazza v Mota after the game, looking for the offending party. Nothing came of it however.

Mangini has something special going on here. The players are playing hard for him. Chad is recovered. The wide receivers are on fire. And if he stickws with 2 backs, it has to be Houston and Washington, they pair up very well together. Sorry Barlow.

Now we get to your FIRST PLACE NEW YORK ISLANDERS! After losing 2 straight in the wake of Yashin's injury (scoring 2 goals in each game), they turned in a great weekend. First, a 5-3 beating of the Penguins, behind two goals each from Victor Kolzlov and Mike Sillinger, as well as one from Satan. DiPietro made 34 saves. Andy Hilbert had 2 assists, tripling his points for the year. The only troubling aspect of the game was the number of penalties they took, 12 in total. Not a good move against Crosby Malkin and Staal. But they won.

Last night (late afternoon really) though was a thing of beauty. After the first period, Isles 4, Rangers 0. Satan, Simon and Asham had a goal each. But the star was Victor Kozlov, who put in 4. Kozlov had been looking like Oleg Kvasha redux until this past week. The Yashin injury seems to have lit a fire under his butt. DiPietro, despite allowing 4 goals, made 39 saves. Brendan Shannahan had 3 for the Rangers, and made it 5-4 in the third, but Kozlov put in the final 2 to finish the Rangers off. So this morning, the Isles are in first.

Interesting note on the game last night. After being shelled in the first period, Olympic Gold Winner Henrik Lundquist asked out of the game. Now, odds are Renney would have pulled him anyway, but when your starting goalie begs off, you have to wonder. Especially in a game against your biggest rival. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. But for now, I can chuckle.

Busy week this week. Baseball's Winter Meetings get underway in Orlando. The Jets have the Bills in Orchard Park (please stop McGahee). The Isles have 3 games, all home, Ottawa Tuesday, Montreal Thursday and Florida Saturday. They then have nearly a week off, playing again on Friday Dec 15 against Pittsburgh in Pitt. I'm hoping for some big wins for all 3 teams.