So now what?

You know when people say that things always look better in the morning if you're tired and upset about something? Well, they lied. After 10 straight hours of non-disturbed sleep, I'm still upset (maybe it's because I just read the paper?). It sounds silly and it sounds juvenile, I know, but I can't help myself. I wish I didn't care so much but I do.

First off, I want to see how Federer responds to this. After that Wimbledon loss he was going around like a guy who didn't know what had hit him until the finals of the US Open (oh yes, there was a little respite when he won gold in doubles but let's not forget he had a minor meltdown after losing to Blake in singles). I don't want that to happen again this time around. Especially because it's only the beginning of the year. He looks in much better shape than last year, physically, mentally he looked fine until he played Nadal. I think he should be able to recover from this fairly easily and hopefully he can get some more titles under his belt this year. I still think the main thing stopping Federer from beating Nadal on hard courts is himself and his mental blocks and insecurities that come up when he plays Nadal. I really do think that there was some huge mental things going on in the fifth set yesterday. That's no good, Fed.. You can do better than that. You know that too. That's why you broke down. Pick yourself up and get back to winning. A title or too before the clay season hits would do you some good. And who knows, maybe you can beat Nadal on clay....

Now.... as for the Habs...... I don't know what to say here.... The only thing I can do is keep believing that they can pick it up and make this work somehow.....I'm trying to be positive but it's not working too well when I see that this month is going to be brutal for the team even if they had all their guys healthy and motivated....I know it's fashionable to bash Carbonneau right now, but I'm doing it. I think everyone - and that means Carbo too - needs to step up and take some responsibility right now. A team is not just about that one talented guy who may or may not be doing what he's supposed to do. It's not about the less talented guy who's working his butt off but can't score. It's about the whole team - which includes the headcoach - doing their best to support each other and help the team do well. I read an interesting thing a few months ago about San Jose and someone said - I cant remember if it was the coach or one of the players - that after a loss or a game of not playing well, everyone steps up and acknowledgs that they need to be better. They all push each other to be better.

Right now, the Habs don't appear to be acting like a team. They're acting like a bunch of guys who got randomly thrown together on the same team. And that is just plain sad. I feel that the Habs have two choices. They can wake up from what's quickly turning into a nightmare and show that great work that they have done earlier in the season - and let's not forget that they showed some great work while missing some of their top guys - or they can continue going down this dark hole and make the list of one of the more dysfuntional teams in the league. Hey, maybe it's something about this division. Boston was terrible for a very long time, the Leafs had stunk for the last 40 years, the Sens are headed for the golf courses in April for the first time in 12 years, the Sabres have a tradition of being dysfuntional and now it's our turn. Welcome to the Division of Dysfuntional Teams everyone! Whooopieee!