Where I cover the bases of the four major Boston sports teams…sorry Blazers maybe next time
I think I have to lead with the Celtics. I know the Sox are playing the Yankees right now but coming off the Bulls series and then that thing last night against the Magic it’s gotta be the green. After watching the first ever eight game first round series I think one thing has become abundantly clear. The Celtics have a tough time matching up against teams with a bunch of young lottery type guys i.e. the Hawks and the Bulls.
The pure athleticism of those teams give the C’s fits but there’s an advantage to having a mix of young guys and savvy vets and that has shown to be true in the Celtics last two first round series. That’s the only explanation I have for the fact that for some reason the C’s don’t seem to realize they are playing a game until the fourth quarter. Don’t get me wrong I’m glad they’re a good fourth quarter team but it makes it a lot harder to win when you you’re digging yourself out of a giant hole every game.
By the way for everyone that’s saying the Celtics can’t survive all these overtime games and long series…they haven’t been playing the first 35-40 minutes. They’re just going through the motions and then when the fourth quarter rolls around they decide to stop messing around, which has led to overtime games and gut-wrenching final minutes. But damn it’s fun to watch.
Have you noticed how a playoff series can really make you hate a player on the opposing team? I mean normally I don’t like the players on the other team but during the playoffs I’m wishing all the bad things in the world will happen to Brad Miller and no one else. I don’t really have anything against the guy, I’m sure Bulls fans feel the same way about Big Baby.
It’s actually kind of funny. I didn’t hate Derek Rose or Ben Gordon, nor do I hate Dwight Howard, but Joachim Noah, Brad Miller and Turkowlu…f them. It’s always the guys that are slappies that you hate. Bulls fans probably don’t hate Rondo but they probably despise Eddie House, Big Baby and of course Scal. With that said I’m sure Bulls fans do hate Pierce because for whatever reason everyone hates Pierce. Ok maybe they hate Rondo too.
As far as this series against the Magic goes I think it’s going to be a long series but the Celtics are going to win. The Magic aren’t quite ready yet. They’re good, very good but they make too many fatal mistakes that a team like the Celtics feed off of…like jacking threes when they are up by double digits when they should be pounding the ball inside where the Celtics are thin in numbers.
Let’s be honest the LeBron-a-liers are coming out of the east. It’s been made clear that it’s going to be a LeBron-Kobe final but in order for LeBron to be crowned king, lord and savior doesn’t he have to play the team that kept him from winning last year? Don’t you think he wants to be the one to knock the Celtics out? I mean if you were LeBron wouldn’t you want to beat the Celtics on their home court so you can stare down a seething KG? I know that’s how I’d want it to go down if I were him.
I read a post on Bill Simmons twitter and it said something to the effect of ‘don’t you except to see Lebron sitting courtside for game 7 (C’s-Bulls) in a suit like Clubber Lang in Rocky III’. After I read that I couldn’t get it out of my head. I was 100% sure he was going to do it. Even as a Celtics fan I thinkthat would have been righteous.
The Red Sox have been playing pretty well as of late and one thing I’ve learned from being a Sox fan it’s April and May really aren’t all that important. As long as you play .500 ball you’re ok. Look at all the teams that have gotten off to great starts and faltered down the stretch. Does anyone thin that the Blue Jays are going to be leading the division in August? No offense to the Blue Jays, they will certainly have something to say about who will win the division I just don’t think it’s going to be them.
If there is one glaring issue with the Sox it’s Big Papi. It’s no secret people are starting to worry about him. I’m still confident in him. He’s coming off the injury and it’s only early May. Would you rather see him struggle to get things going but come on strong later in the season or have him come out gangbusters like A-Rod and hit 15 dingers in April and May then fold like origami when it counts? That’s what I thought.
All is going to be ok anyway, we’ve got Youk, Petey and everybody’s favorite new Sox Jason Bay. I love that guy. Best gift we’ve ever received from Canada. Honestly the lone bad part of my trip home for the Patriot’s Day game was the fact that they didn’t have a Jason Bay version of the t-shirt I wanted. Not that it matters though because it would only be house wear, I got some nasty looks when wearing my Celtics hat in Philly the other day.
One of the things that has really been bothering me thought is this…where is Jerry Remy??? This is a serious issue not having NESN and having to watch/listen to the games via MLB Network…plus no K-Tap! AH!
Side note: Eck has been a nice fill in tonight but easy with the Joba taking his glove off thing.
Everyone seems to love the Patriots draft and I, as always, don’t question anything Belichick does. Call me a homer, that’s fine but until he does something that doesn’t work well I’m not listening to your negativity. The guy knows what he’s doing and even when the Pats do miss on a draft pick it doesn’t kill them like other teams.
Exhibit A – the NYJ – Vernon Gholston & Mark Sanchez sure they’ve got potential but if they turn out to be busts those will seriously hinder the Jets ability to right the ship. Whereas in New England’s case if say Laurence Maroney turns out to be a bust, which I do not believe he is, the team has the ability to make do without him.
That’s why I think this year seems to be another slam dunk of a draft. They reloaded at DB with Chung and Butler got some younger guys to fill in and play as reserves on the O-line, got another big nose tackle and of course stockpiled picks for next year’s draft, when they will take Tim Tebow in the third round.
On top of all that they also cleared some cap room in the offseason and made some other financially motivated moves, which means they are planning on keeping a number of the guys who have expiring contracts after this year. They also completely overhauled the secondary by adding Bodden and Springs. Now they have two solid corners, two solid safeties in Sanders and Meriweather, who showed that after a year of learning under Belichick that he’s ready to be an impact player.
Oh yeah I almost forgot. TOM BRADY IS COMING BACK.
Now how do you like them apples?
No way I could cover the bases without talking about the Bruins. I’d just like to say a quick thank you to EA and 2k Sports, sometimes it’s amazing how much you can not only learn from playing sports games but how much it can shape your interest. For example I wanted to really pay attention to the B’s this year and I ended up buying NHL 09 and boom I love hockey again. I would not be surprised if there was a direct correlation between the years I bought hockey video games and the years I watch the most hockey. Thanks NHL 94!
Don’t you think it’s time we ‘cue the Duckboats’ (viva the Stool!) for B’s? We can’t have BU as our championship representative for hockey. It’s not right. But a B’s championship would be the perfect way to cap off the O-thousands. That’s right O-thousands, it’s not the aughts, I’m sorry we’re talking about a decade not a rifle.
Unfortunately the one of the major draw backs to living in PA now is that I can only watch the hockey games that are on Versus, which up until this past week were pretty much exclusively Red Wings game. I don’t hold it against them. I’m just saying it’s tough to have to wait for Barry Melrose to give you your highlights. From what I’ve seen I think we are going to see a very, very exciting series between the B’s and the Pen’s to see who goes on to face the Red Wings.
I really hope the Bruins can get in there and vie for a title. But regardless I think this season has definitely revitalized Boston’s hockey sprit and that’s good because Boston is a great hockey town and the winter is so much more fun whenever one is rocking the black and gold.
Showing posts with label Boston Celtics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boston Celtics. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Oh Well at Least the Celtics are on Fire
Links featuring…the Yankees spending spree, say it ain’t so Tex and you just got Rondo’d.
The Yankees will pay a 26.9 million dollar Luxury tax this season. The only other team that will have to pay luxury tax this season is Detroit. Both failed to make the playoffs last season…so when will teams learn that signing as many big name free agents to huge contracts isn’t the best route to the playoffs…see Rockies, Colorado and Rays, Tampa Bay. To be fair the Sox paid 13.9 million for being over the cap a couple years ago.
(ESPN)
And that’s going to go up because unless there is some kind of Rafael Furcal thing going on here the Yankees just landed Mark Teixeira for 8 years 180 million…nice…at least that will put an end to all the Manny to the Yankees rumors. Seriously though the Yankees have committed over 400 million to three players…that is ridiculous. I think I know where to get some of that money that the automakers need. Apparently the Yankees missed the whole people that bought houses they couldn’t afford and are now defaulting and losing said houses memo. I will excited to see one of those comparison charts that espn or si run showing how many good teams you could field with the Yankees payroll.
I have to admit when I heard that the Yankees signed him I was pretty deflated I think he would have been a great signing for the Sox. He really would have helped to fill the void that is left by Manny. No matter how much we might say they don’t miss him we do and weei’s phones will be ringing off the hook in May if the team is struggling to score runs. With that said the Sox are still in good shape. They’ll get Mike Lowell back healthy, Youk won’t have to move back to third, they have the reigning MVP, top flight pitching and they don’t have 400 million invested in three guys. If I could have one Christmas wish it would be for those three signings to turn out like Carl Pavano and AJ Burnett. I really feel like we’ve got a good shot at two out of three.
(Extra Bases)
ps – I read a great comment on Deadspin today in regards to Teixeira signing with NY. It read something along the lines of ‘No way I am learning how to spell his name now’. I thought that was great.
Luckily my depression over the Teixeira signing was quickly swept away thanks to the Celtics.
The Celtics are…well you get the point. The Green captured their 19th straight win tonight cruising to a 110-91 victory over the 76ers. This is one of those times where the scheduling really works out well for the league and TV because now the C’s put their streak on the line against the Lakers in a Christmas day Finals rematch. I wonder how many storylines they’ve gone through with Kobe for Christmas day, there were at least two Shaq-Kobe games now this year we have the Celtics-Lakers rivalry renewed – Kobe is like the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, you know except he’s actually good.
That should be a monster game and speaking of monster games you know who’s playing monster games right now…yup…my guy Rajon Rondo. Rondo scored a team high 18 (tied with KG) against the 76ers and this season he’s averaging 11.3 points, 5 boards and 7.5 assists. I think it goes without saying that the Rondo trade was one of the best moves Danny Ainge has made, but maybe more important and more overlooked is the fact that while trying to bring KG and Ray Allen to Boston he refused to deal Rondo. I love this guy, it’s almost unhealthy…almost.
(Hoops World)
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Bill Simmons and thanks (I would imagine) to his recent tiff with the WWL he’s started a Sports Guy Unplugged blog. It takes a little digging but you can find some of his old BSG posts that he put up a few months ago. I do hope he’ll write some non-espn stuff for this site. I’ve always liked most of the things he writes for Page 2 but sometimes its like Sports Guy-lite. I realize that he draws ire from a lot of people because he talks about Boston so much but you have to appreciate that he’s tried to stay true to himself as a sports fan. For some reason the whole Simmons-ESPN thing reminds me of the Cartoon Wars episode of South Park. Eventually we’ll find out that Simmons is really a group of Manatees that move balls with pop culture references, athletes, teams and point spreads across a big tank and drop them in an idea bin thus creating his column. It will all end with someone telling the head of ESPN that he has to cancel Simmons column because it’s offensive while another person tells him either it’s all ok or nothing is ok.
(Sports Guy Unplugged)
The Yankees will pay a 26.9 million dollar Luxury tax this season. The only other team that will have to pay luxury tax this season is Detroit. Both failed to make the playoffs last season…so when will teams learn that signing as many big name free agents to huge contracts isn’t the best route to the playoffs…see Rockies, Colorado and Rays, Tampa Bay. To be fair the Sox paid 13.9 million for being over the cap a couple years ago.
(ESPN)
And that’s going to go up because unless there is some kind of Rafael Furcal thing going on here the Yankees just landed Mark Teixeira for 8 years 180 million…nice…at least that will put an end to all the Manny to the Yankees rumors. Seriously though the Yankees have committed over 400 million to three players…that is ridiculous. I think I know where to get some of that money that the automakers need. Apparently the Yankees missed the whole people that bought houses they couldn’t afford and are now defaulting and losing said houses memo. I will excited to see one of those comparison charts that espn or si run showing how many good teams you could field with the Yankees payroll.
I have to admit when I heard that the Yankees signed him I was pretty deflated I think he would have been a great signing for the Sox. He really would have helped to fill the void that is left by Manny. No matter how much we might say they don’t miss him we do and weei’s phones will be ringing off the hook in May if the team is struggling to score runs. With that said the Sox are still in good shape. They’ll get Mike Lowell back healthy, Youk won’t have to move back to third, they have the reigning MVP, top flight pitching and they don’t have 400 million invested in three guys. If I could have one Christmas wish it would be for those three signings to turn out like Carl Pavano and AJ Burnett. I really feel like we’ve got a good shot at two out of three.
(Extra Bases)
ps – I read a great comment on Deadspin today in regards to Teixeira signing with NY. It read something along the lines of ‘No way I am learning how to spell his name now’. I thought that was great.
Luckily my depression over the Teixeira signing was quickly swept away thanks to the Celtics.
The Celtics are…well you get the point. The Green captured their 19th straight win tonight cruising to a 110-91 victory over the 76ers. This is one of those times where the scheduling really works out well for the league and TV because now the C’s put their streak on the line against the Lakers in a Christmas day Finals rematch. I wonder how many storylines they’ve gone through with Kobe for Christmas day, there were at least two Shaq-Kobe games now this year we have the Celtics-Lakers rivalry renewed – Kobe is like the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, you know except he’s actually good.
That should be a monster game and speaking of monster games you know who’s playing monster games right now…yup…my guy Rajon Rondo. Rondo scored a team high 18 (tied with KG) against the 76ers and this season he’s averaging 11.3 points, 5 boards and 7.5 assists. I think it goes without saying that the Rondo trade was one of the best moves Danny Ainge has made, but maybe more important and more overlooked is the fact that while trying to bring KG and Ray Allen to Boston he refused to deal Rondo. I love this guy, it’s almost unhealthy…almost.
(Hoops World)
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Bill Simmons and thanks (I would imagine) to his recent tiff with the WWL he’s started a Sports Guy Unplugged blog. It takes a little digging but you can find some of his old BSG posts that he put up a few months ago. I do hope he’ll write some non-espn stuff for this site. I’ve always liked most of the things he writes for Page 2 but sometimes its like Sports Guy-lite. I realize that he draws ire from a lot of people because he talks about Boston so much but you have to appreciate that he’s tried to stay true to himself as a sports fan. For some reason the whole Simmons-ESPN thing reminds me of the Cartoon Wars episode of South Park. Eventually we’ll find out that Simmons is really a group of Manatees that move balls with pop culture references, athletes, teams and point spreads across a big tank and drop them in an idea bin thus creating his column. It will all end with someone telling the head of ESPN that he has to cancel Simmons column because it’s offensive while another person tells him either it’s all ok or nothing is ok.
(Sports Guy Unplugged)
Friday, October 31, 2008
Hello Banner Number 17
Well I know one place Bron Bron will have absolutely no interest in coming when he’s a free agent in 2010. He has to hate Boston more than any other athlete right now right? They blocked his route to the finals and robbed him of a LeBron vs. Kobe showdown for the NBA and Best Player on Planet Earth titles. I can’t think of anyone else that would loathe the hub more right now than King James.
I’d just like to thank David Stern for bringing us an opening night that had the Celtics playing the Cavs at the Garden, during which the Celtics got their (totally sweet and classy) championship rings and raised banner number 17 to the crowed rafters.
For a borderline meaningless game one of 82 last night was rife with subplots. Like I said you had the blood boiling hatred I would imagine LeBron has for Boston, you had the history of the Celtics and their return to prominence on full display with the ring ceremony and then you had 48 minutes of LeBron and Pierce going shot for shot once again.
I realize that the Big Three aren’t exactly spring chickens but this has become a good rivalry game and will be as long as LeBron is in Cleveland.
LeBron did a lot to become one of those guys that fans in Boston love to hate. He forced the Celtics to a game seven doing everything humanly possible to end their dream season and last night he stayed in the locker room until after the Celtics ring ceremony.
I think that was a great move by LeBron. I know every team that wins a championship does the ring presentation and banner raising on opening day and there is always a team that has to stand there and watch. I loved LeBron’s ‘f that’ attitude, I don’t blame him I wouldn’t want to watch either. And you knew he was sitting in the locker room fuming and ready to throw down when he hit the court.
Unfortunately for King James he stuggled through a tough 9-for-21 shooting night and the Celtics shook off the emotion of the pre-game festivities to hold the Cavs to just 13 third quarter points to take the win.
LeBron did have a chance to win it late but he drove the lane and missed a shot then missed two free throws and had to watch Paul Pierce drop 27 to take another win away from him.
Pierce obviously loves his life right now. Before the game they were showing highlights from last season on Comcast Sports Net and I saw the Garnett-Allen-Pierce press conference and Pierce has a shit-eating grin the entire time. No wonder he took the mic and rambled on during the pregame. He suffered through some tough times in Boston and even though he asked for a trade two years ago (don’t blame him) he stuck it out and now he’s finally able to truly be looked at as a Celtic great.
As far as the Celtics go you’re not great without winning a championship.
p.s. my guy Rajon Rondo had 14 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals. Plus he was 4-of-5 from the floor. To those Kentucky kids in Daytona that gave me crap for being happy that Rondo came out early…he’s better than you gave him credit for. He might not be a great shooter but he hits most of the shots he needs to.
Oh and you go Leon Powe.
Is there a guy with a bigger smile on his face than Danny Ainge right now? After changing his approach to the team about 15 times he not only totally redeemed himself (with some help from Kevin McHale) by getting KG and Jesus Shuttlesworth but he drafted well getting Rondo and Powe and made great moves to bring in Eddie House, James Posey and PJ Brown.
Long story short Danny was getting killed two years ago and now he has the same job title as Red…and Rich Pitino…hopefully it will continue to travel down the Red road and not veer off into Pitino territory.
1-0…one step closer to banner number 18.
I’d just like to thank David Stern for bringing us an opening night that had the Celtics playing the Cavs at the Garden, during which the Celtics got their (totally sweet and classy) championship rings and raised banner number 17 to the crowed rafters.
For a borderline meaningless game one of 82 last night was rife with subplots. Like I said you had the blood boiling hatred I would imagine LeBron has for Boston, you had the history of the Celtics and their return to prominence on full display with the ring ceremony and then you had 48 minutes of LeBron and Pierce going shot for shot once again.
I realize that the Big Three aren’t exactly spring chickens but this has become a good rivalry game and will be as long as LeBron is in Cleveland.
LeBron did a lot to become one of those guys that fans in Boston love to hate. He forced the Celtics to a game seven doing everything humanly possible to end their dream season and last night he stayed in the locker room until after the Celtics ring ceremony.
I think that was a great move by LeBron. I know every team that wins a championship does the ring presentation and banner raising on opening day and there is always a team that has to stand there and watch. I loved LeBron’s ‘f that’ attitude, I don’t blame him I wouldn’t want to watch either. And you knew he was sitting in the locker room fuming and ready to throw down when he hit the court.
Unfortunately for King James he stuggled through a tough 9-for-21 shooting night and the Celtics shook off the emotion of the pre-game festivities to hold the Cavs to just 13 third quarter points to take the win.
LeBron did have a chance to win it late but he drove the lane and missed a shot then missed two free throws and had to watch Paul Pierce drop 27 to take another win away from him.
Pierce obviously loves his life right now. Before the game they were showing highlights from last season on Comcast Sports Net and I saw the Garnett-Allen-Pierce press conference and Pierce has a shit-eating grin the entire time. No wonder he took the mic and rambled on during the pregame. He suffered through some tough times in Boston and even though he asked for a trade two years ago (don’t blame him) he stuck it out and now he’s finally able to truly be looked at as a Celtic great.
As far as the Celtics go you’re not great without winning a championship.
p.s. my guy Rajon Rondo had 14 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals. Plus he was 4-of-5 from the floor. To those Kentucky kids in Daytona that gave me crap for being happy that Rondo came out early…he’s better than you gave him credit for. He might not be a great shooter but he hits most of the shots he needs to.
Oh and you go Leon Powe.
Is there a guy with a bigger smile on his face than Danny Ainge right now? After changing his approach to the team about 15 times he not only totally redeemed himself (with some help from Kevin McHale) by getting KG and Jesus Shuttlesworth but he drafted well getting Rondo and Powe and made great moves to bring in Eddie House, James Posey and PJ Brown.
Long story short Danny was getting killed two years ago and now he has the same job title as Red…and Rich Pitino…hopefully it will continue to travel down the Red road and not veer off into Pitino territory.
1-0…one step closer to banner number 18.
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