Thursday Therrien's

What an odd looking dude. My Dad always liked Therrien, but I was indifferent. He didn't seem to adjust to the players at hand, instead trying to force his system on the roster. Only in hockey can a man take you to the championship series one year, yet get fired seven months later. Fun fact about Michel, in 1985, he won the Calder Cup with the Sherbrooke Canadiens as a teammate to future HOF and huge asshole Patrick Roy. This clip pretty much explains why the old man has a bromance with Mike. He tells it like it is.

Pitt lost last night, boo f'n hoo. If anybody thought the Panthers were gonna go undefeated in Big East play, you're just not that intelligent. Pitt plays at Seton Hall on Sunday (2 pm/ESPN Full Court), former gun shot victim Herb Pope will be facing his hometown team. The only time I watched Seton Hall play, Pope looked really lazy, but of course, I said the same thing about Greg Monroe and look how that worked out.

The Buccos have officially signed Octavio Dotel to a one-year contract that includes an option year. The terms have yet to be announced, but supposedly he will make around $3 million for the first year, which is fair. Octavio is fun to watch, as he challenges guys with high heat and misses a lot of bats, unfortunately with the high heat comes a propensity to let up the long ball. Let's hope PNC Park neutralizes that just a bit. The Bucs dropped Anthony Claggett from the 40-man roster, which was inevitable. We'll see what the Pirates do with their glut of out-fielders, but in the meantime, check out what FanGraphs has to say about out most recent acquisitions. Also, this is a pretty plain and simple explanation of wOBA (weighted on-base average), a stat that helps us figure out how many runs a batter creates at the plate and on the base paths.

The Pens play the Crapitols tonight. Follow the game on the Empty Netters blog over at the PG, or join the discussion at the PensBlog. Or you could just do yourself a favor and watch the game. JS. Right now this the best individual rivalry in sports- forget Kobe/LeBron, Sid/Ovie is where it's at. And let us not forget Geno and Ovie aren't exactly butt buddies. While scrolling through the PensBlog, I stumbled upon these beauties. You best know I'm a gets mines.

In Steelers news, BTSC has a good look at who the 'Lers might take in the draft. I love C.J. Spiller, but if the Steelers draft him in the first round, I am going to be mightily pissed off. No more skill players on the first day; you can get good WR/RB later, but good linemen and secondary players come early (key word here is "good").

Also, if you have time, go rent The Hurt Locker. Just a really good movie. It's intense from start to finish, and it's the first movie I can remember that gives us a look at what war is like in the 21st Century. It's not political either (of course, you can make it political, but you can do that with anything), just a very honest telling of what goes on for American troops in the Middle East.

Jersey Shore finale tonight, and then the reunion show afterward. I wish they just did this like the Biggest Loser, where a new season started immediately after the finale. Although not too many people visit the Jersey Shore outside of the summer. Which makes me wonder, where do these people vacation in the winter? Cozumel?