Weekend Preview

Well, the Mets are kind of dormant, though Newsday says they are ready to sit down and talk dollars and years with Zito. Omar of course also needs to look for some bullpen help, to replace losses (Bradford, Oliver) and the suspended (Mota). It will be interesting to see who he picks up off the non-tendered FA list, as he has had some success there the past couple of years.

Anyhow, moving on, we have a big game for the Jets on Sunday, as they face the Vikings. Now, a lot has been made of the Vikings run defense, but despite that, they are 2-5 in their last 7 games. Now, the Jets of course do not have a great running game, so the fact they are facing a great run defense is going to expose that glaring weakness even more. As a result, this game will hang on Chad. He is going to have to shake off last weeks poor game, and history shows us that he typically follows up bad games with good ones. The fear though is that if he is unable to get the ball to the receivers, it will be a long day. And if he starts throwing it to guys in purple, forget it.

I will be somewhat disappointed if they fail to make the playoffs. There are at least 4 games that could have gone the other way, the Colts, the first Patriots game, and the Brown game of course, and the Bills game, which they just flat out failed to show up for. Say they win 2 of those, they are basically in the mix, and actually would be in good shape to win the division. Then again, after last season, the strides this year, considering they are learning new systems on both sides of the ball are fantastic. Of course, last season was torpedoed once they lost Chad and Fiedler in the same game. Perhaps if Fieldler had been healthy, they could have gone 8-8.

My other team, the Islanders, have back to back games this weekend, in Pittsburgh tonight, and home against Atlanta tomorrow. This is followed by a couple of days rest before a second visit to MSG to take on the Rangers. We could see the return of Alexei Yashin at some point in the next 3 games. For my money, I would play him tonight, then again on Tuesday, giving him a couple of days to rest before the rivalry game. Then again, Nolan may play it safe and hold him out till Tuesday. I'd rather him face a game situation before then, but I'm just a blogger, and Nolan is a great coach. The Isles have faired OK since Yash went down, but they desperately need him back, and healthy.

One more point on the Islanders. ESPN is running a vote to have fans pick the best 3 forward lines of all time, from among 50 top forwards in NHL history. Lots of great players on the list, but for some reason, only Mike Bossy is listed. Bryan Trottier, one of the best 2 way centers of all time, winner of 5 Stanley Cups is left off. In his place, we have players such as Sidney Crosby (who is going to belong on this list in a few years, but does not right now), and Eric Lindros, who gets a concussion if he puts his head down on a pillow too hard, and has won NOTHING in his career. Bossy of course was one of the greatest shooters of all time, and he was forced to retire early because of his bad back. Had he stayed healthy, and maintained his pace, he would have broken the goals scored record before Gretzky. His place is of course well deserved. But leaving off Trottier is a sin of ommission, and further cements the fact that ESPN hockey coverage is for the birds. Putting Crosby on the list was done solely to market him and the league, not to give fans the chance to pick the best players.

That's all for now.

Have a Happy Hanukkah!