Random thoughts on a bus...

So I'm on a 4 hour bus ride to NYC and I figured what better way to pass the tim them blog about my random sports thoughts. It'll be like a mailbag but without anyone writing in.

Alex Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks was recently fined for his comments against referee Auger. He blamed Auger for purposefully calling penalties because of a personal grudge. It dates back to a hit Burrows had on a player which caused Auger some heat. I'm not familiar with this hit, so I can't speak to it. However, Burrows claims Auger approached him in the warmup skate and said he was going to be essentially gunning for him. Late in the game there were two penalties called on Burrows. One was a legit diving call and the other was a phantom interference call. I saw the game and believed they were both BS. But I guess there's a case to be made for the first penalty. My question is...what's the actual truth?

I tend to side with Burrows. The NHL has done a terrible job of being forthcoming with the facts. Burrows is not a whiney player who goes off whenever things don't go his way. If this were say Sean Avery...I would not even give it a second thought. But the way the NHL handled this I believe Burrows account. Why would Burrows just make something like this up knowing full well he would be fined and/or suspended? It makes no sense to me. We have still not heard Auger's account of the interaction which has been documented that they spoke during pre-game warm-ups. I don't think Burrows has handled it very well though. He called a ref out to the media which is always a no no. He shouldve mentioned something to the coach before the game if even as a joke. Then if the coach knew this could've been handled via back channels and Auger would be suspended or at least fined.

Honestly the NHL did what it had to do by fining Burrows. Still seems a bit odd to me...

Second thing I'll weigh in on. Lane Kiffin leaving Tennessee and bolting for USC. I've had mixed emotions. On one hand I think its a dick move to the university and its players. All the kids that believed Kiffin when he was recruiting them must feel betrayed. How effective will he be when he recruits for USC? Will anyone even believe him? Plus he left after 1 year...kind of a lot of broken promises he left on the table.

However USC was his dream job. And if Kiffin lost every game this past year who's to say he wouldn't be fired? And if it was his dream job can you blame him for taking it?

I think the bigger question is how far does loyalty go? Teams don't honor contracts so why should players/coaches have to always honor them too? Especially if the coach then owes the school money if he leaves early. After thinking about it I agree with Kiffin's choice if USC was truly his dream job. I can't say any of us wouldn't leave our current job if our dream job came knocking. Its a once in a lifetime opportunity and I support it. With that said...I think Lane Kiffin is an idiot and a terrible coach. But that has nothing to do with me condoning his actions.

I was going to blog on the affairs of the Bills and their head coaching search, but I felt I'll leave that for Monday's bus ride home. Have a safe weekend everyone! Oh and while I'm in NYC I'm going to be at the NYI/Sabres game 2 rows from the glass. I can't wait.

Go Sabres and Go Ravens!

-Brett