Monday Moaning

Let's start at the end this time....Normally I end Monday Moaning with some Fighting Irish Hockey news....Well it's fresh in my head, so I'm starting off with it this time.

This weekend the Irish hosted the Shillelagh Tournament in Hoffman Estates Illinois...the other teams participating were U-Mass Lowell (8-8), Minnesota-Duluth (8-4-6), and Union College (8-7-1)...Besides getting a chance at the number one ranked Fighting Irish (14-3-2), these teams along with Notre Dame got to attend the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field on New Years Day...Nice bonus.


Friday the Irish defeated Union 3-1....The Notre Dame goal scorers were...Justin White, Ben Ryan, and Dan Kissel....Goalie Jordan Pearce made 20 save in the victory.

Saturday Notre Dame beat Minnesota-Duluth 3-1 for the tournament title....The Irish goal scorers were Garrett Regan with 2, and Ryan Thang....Pearce made 19 saves on his way to being named the tournaments Most Outstanding Player.

Next up...Let's talk a little College Football...Two games this week made me really happy...First Ole Miss beating Texas Tech....I don't know what it is, but I always find myself rooting for Houston Nut...How can you not cheer for a guy named NUT? i love his fire, and he always gets his teams up for big games....The other game was Utah taking down Alabama....The Utes rolled right over the Tide, and I loved it....I've got nothing against Alabama, except that I hate Nick Saban...I love seeing the non-BCS schools do well...especially when you think about it and realize that Utah and some other teams out there would own the BIG LEAST....The system is broken and needs to be fixed....I'm not Saying the Utes should be #1, but they should have a fair crack at it.

That said, USC looked tough against Penn State, and their victory also makes me think there should be a playoff....I'd love to see the Trojans against Oklahoma, or Florida, or Texas, or Utah....How great College Football could be.

What's next? How about the NFL playoffs...Arizona's defense knuckled up against Atlanta....The Chargers took out League MVP (my a$$) Peyton Manning and the Colts....Baltimore and Ed Reed put the Dolphins in their place....And the once dead Eagles knocked the Vikings out....I broke even for the weekend, but it was close.....I can't wait for next week.

Now I'm jumping off sports for minute here....While playing with my son today he was telling me how glad he was that Santa brought him his Thomas the Train Adventure Canyon....He loves trains and he has played with this thing so much...It's really cool, and it wasn't that hard to put together....With all the train tracks in this house I've become an expert....I already knew he was happy with it, but it was nice to hear....My daughter let us know right away how pleased she was with her big ticket items....She got the Barbie Cruise Ship....Which took me a little longer to figure out it's construction...Haven't spent much time at sea....She also loves her Easy Bake Oven....Like Father like Daughter....She actually asked Santa for that for her and Mom, because Mom doesn't cook so well, and she didn't get one when she was a little girl...How f**king sweet is that?

So this got me thinking.....What was my favorite gift as a kid...It took me some time to think about....Their was the Ryne Sanberg jersey my dad got me when I was 10....There was the Gretzky model Titan stick my brother got me when I was 12....There were countless toys...But then it came to me....It's something I still have, and I'll probably give it to the little Beeze....My first goalie mask...I got it when I was 13....My Dad said if you're gonna be a goalie, you should look like one....So now I ask....what was your favorite Childhood gift?

By the way, my favorite gift this year was a book my wife got me, called Saving Face...The Art and History of the Goalie Mask....It's sweet.

That's it for now.

Later, The BEEZE.