12 straight

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been playing the best hockey that Pittsburgh has seen in a very long time. After starting the season on a low note, the Pens have won twelve straight games and during this streak Captain Sidney Crosby has had a point in every game. The Pens went from fourth in the Atlantic division to a one-point lead over rival Philadelphia. The Pens’ streak will be tested again this week as they travel to Philadelphia on Tuesday to play a tough Flyers’ team. The Penguins have the best record in the NHL at 21-8-2 and are on the verge of their second President’s trophy and first since 1993.

Crawford Moving Outside of the Tank

Carl Crawford has been a Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Ray since he was drafted 52^nd overall in the 1999 MLB Draft. He played his first game for Tampa in 2002 and his last in 2010. Crawford has been the prominent Rays’ player in history, but on Wednesday he signed a 7 year 142 million dollar deal with divisional rival the Boston Red Sox. Crawford was always a fan favorite in Tampa and many thought he would be a Ray throughout his career, but he decided to sign elsewhere leaving a gap in left field for the Rays.

Pens Streaking

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Columbus Bluejacket last night 7-2 which gave the Pens a nine game winning streak. The pens started off the season on a low note with goalie marc-Andre Fleury losing is first few games, but lately Fleury has been back to his ld ways which has given the pens a confidence boost. Sidney Crosby has been leading the way with two hat tricks in his last two home games. If the penguins continue to play the way they have in the past few weeks the will have a good chance of winning their fourth Stanley Cup.

TCU Big East Bound

The Big East athletic conference has announced this week that Texas Christian University will be joining the conference starting in the 2012-2013 academic year.  TCU will be making the jump from the Mountain West Conference in order to play in a BCS conference in football. Although they are primarily making the move for football, all TCU men and women sports will be moving to the Big East Conference. The move may seem unusual since TCU is not in the Mid-Atlantic area and other teams will now be adding the extra expenses to make the trip to Texas in order to play them.

Thanksgiving Day Tradition

The Detroit Lions have been playing in one of the Thanksgiving Day Classic games since the early 1900’s. Detroit has had some success in these games throughout their existence, but lately Thanksgiving Day has been a day of losing for the Lions. The Lions haven’t won a game on Thanksgiving since they defeated the Green Bay Packers in 2003. The Dallas Cowboys are another team that plays every Thanksgiving Day, but is it time for other teams to get a chance to play or should these teams continue this tradition? I know that the NFL has added a third game to the football lineup on Thanksgiving, but with the Lions being as bad as they have been over the years do they deserve to play in this national game every year?

Boise State Upset

The Boise State Broncos were on the verge of another undefeated season and extending their NCAA leading winning streak, but the streak and the shot at a BCS bid ended versus the Nevada Wolf Pack. Boise State started the game by scoring 17 straight points on their first three drives to give them a 17-0 lead, but Nevada took the game over in the second half outscoring Boise 24-7. Nevada and Boise are both tied for the lead on top of the Western Athletic Conference with 6-1 records. Boise State had hoped to be ranked in the AP top 5 all season, but they dropped to number 9 after they lost to Nevada.

Fleury Returning To Starting Form

When Marc-Andre Fleury began the 2010-2011 season, he hoped that it had started out differently. Fleury started the season 1-6, which is the worst start that he has had while playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins. His starting position was in jeopardy because of Brent Johnson who was playing his best hockey in a long time, winning 6 games for the Pens. Coach Bylsma gave Fleury another shot Friday night versus the Tampa Bay Lightning and he took advantage of this opportunity by being named the first star of the game and helping lead the Pens to a 5-1 win. The Penguins also beat the Atlanta Thrashers Saturday night with Fleury in net. Fleury is beginning to show signs of his old ways when he led the Penguins to two straight Stanley Cup Finals. The Penguins’ season not only relies on its star players Crosby and Malkin, but on defense with Marc-Andre Fleur