Nothing I hear about this guy can shock me.

Since it came to light in February that A-Rod used performance enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003, he has been made a pariah, representing everything that is wrong with professional baseball. He was supposed to be baseball's last remaining light, the golden boy who was supposed to break Barry Bonds' home run record without the help of a single supplement. Many considered the steroid era in baseball to be over - all the heavy hitters had been chased from the game, and there was a new policy in place to punish those who did test positive. The new era of hitters (Pujols, Howard, Ortiz, Texiera) were doing it without steroids, and A-Rod was supposed to be the poster child.

Continue reading "The continuing s show that has become Alex Rodriguezs professional career"

The consensus among the talking heads here in Boston is that this Celtics team isn't going too far this year. They're getting literally less than nothing from their bench? Check. Their defensive captain and the unquestioned heart of their team is out for the playoffs? Check. Their opponent is a young, athletic team with a lot of poise and a nasty streak to boot? Check.

In tonight's game, you can add to the list that they were on the wrong end of a lot of calls that probably shouldn't have been made, as Tommy Heinsohn was quick to point out in his signature growling manner.

But damn if they didn't put forth one of the most ballsy efforts I've ever seen. 

There are no two ways about it - the captain is gassed. After carrying the team on his back for 26 games in Kevin Garnett's absence, it's understandable that Pierce doesn't have much left in the tank, and he has shown it several times in this series, including a couple of shots that were VERY short early on in the game. But in typical Paul Pierce fashion, he was there when the team needed him the most. It's moments like these where the greatest players shine, and Pierce's taking over the game in the final minute and a half really display the type of player, the type of leader, and the type of heart he has.

Continue reading "Another game another epic battle"

With the exception of Game 3's blowout victory, neither team has had any breathing room at all in this series. And as I paced around the room with my heart in my throat while the teams traded blows, I realized that this could be a matchup we'll be seeing in the NBA playoffs for a while.

It was a matchup that the Celtics did not deserve to win today. Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen each played great basketball and Kendrick Perkins was solid down low, but despite his 29 points, Paul Pierce looked sluggish and made some critical errors that were very uncharacteristic of him. His Twitter update yesterday extolled the virtues of Portello's italian sausages in Chicago. He looked like he had eaten a few before the game today. 

Continue reading "The agony of defeat"

So you can imagine how I was feeling when I got an email entitled "Breaking Sports News" that confirmed my worst fears about Kevin Garnett's injury. To the co-workers I startled when I began screaming obscenities - my bad. 

I guess we all knew this was coming. He hadn't played for 8 straight games, and in the 4 games he appeared in a few weeks ago, he looked every bit the part of a guy who's knees aren't what they were when he was 23. Garnett is almost 33 years old. The only speed he knows is full speed, and he's been playing that way since he was 19 years old. Even if he was able to play, he would be a shadow of what he was even last year.

Continue reading "Whats next for the Celtics"

It's these types of days that bad news hits you the hardest. 

Mark "the Bird" Fidrych was working on his truck this afternoon, something that was not out of the ordinary for him. He spent his days hauling gravel for a local business, working on his farm, helping out at his mother-in-law's diner, and making the occasional charitable appearance for the town Little League, pancake breakfast, or some other charitable event. In other words, he was the furthest thing you'd expect from a former AL Rookie of the Year who talked to the baseball and strutted around on the mound like a rooster in a hen house. 

Continue reading "Free Bird RIP 1954-2009"

Which is why I was surprised to see that Joe Dumars decided to trade for a mercurial shoot-first guard with a less-than stellar playoff record. They jettisoned their team leader and a guy who has proven himself time and time again in the playoffs for a guy who has never been a leader, never played defense, and most likely won't win a championship before he retires. 

Then I thought about it. Joe Dumars obviously knows something that we don't. After all, he's made a career out of making moves and taking chances that look ridiculous at the time. Chauncey Billups had played for half of the teams in the NBA before Dumars picked him up. Ben Wallace never averaged more than 5 points and 8 boards when Dumars grabbed him off the scrap heap in 2000. Tayshaun Prince would blow away in a light breeze and yet Dumars had the foresight to make him a first round pick.

Continue reading "What is Joe Dumars thinking"

Our boys have been pegged as the NBA's best this year by almost all of the experts, and it's hard not to have visions of another Larry O'Brien trophy dancing in our heads. We all know how hard it is to win back-to-back championships (just ask the other championship teams in our town), but for a team that's bringing back almost all of its core players, who now have a year of experience playing together, you have to like the chances. 

As if you're not excited enough, here's some video evidence that'll have you more amped than Gus Johnson on a coke binge.

Continue reading "Seasons Greetings"

This is my attempt at making sense of the last 6 months of Red Sox baseball. Not always an easy thing to do, but this seems like as good a therapy as any.

The Good

1. The emergence of Dustin Pedroia. We knew he could play in this league. What we didn't expect was for him to become a legitimate MVP candidate. Come on - the guy is generously listed at 5'9 and 180 in the team's yearbook. If he's a hair over 5'6, Jason Varitek will win a batting title next year. But he was the best 2nd baseman in the league this year, finishing at the top of the league in hits, runs, and batting average. And he did all this while playing Gold-glove caliber defense. And at 25, he's only going to get better. His choice of "The Wash" as his at-bat music also strikes me as hilarious.

Continue reading "The 2008 Red Sox - defining moments"

On the one hand - they've been here before. This is the same team who took us to the brink in 2004, getting beaten like a red-headed stepchild in Game 3 of the ALCS only to come storming back to win the next 8 games in a row. This is also the team that won Game 1 of the ALCS last year, lost the next 3, then went on an absolute tear and erased any doubts that they were the best team in the MLB. The core guys from those two teams are still here, and they've got a flair for the dramatic. There's no telling what could happen.

For some reason, and I'm sure I can't explain it any better than the rest of you, this year feels different. Sure, Josh Beckett has looked like he's pitching in a slow-pitch softball league, and David Ortiz couldn't hit the ball off a tee, but with the talent on this team should be good enough to pick them up. 

Continue reading "The fate of 2008 hangs in the balance"

However, every time I do get the time to watch a game, I always think the same thing -- this is a team to be excited about. 

In the 5-plus years it's been since Henry, Lucchino, and Theo took the reins from John Harrington and Dan Duquette, they worked toward a goal to turn the franchise around by rebuilding the farm system, bringing in guys who bought into their system, and shedding bad contracts. 

Last Thursday, this regime took the final step to make the franchise fit the mold they had in mind when they came in. Gone are the days of the mercurial superstar in Boston. Gone are the days of special treatment, phantom injuries, and extended All-Star breaks. This team has no superstars, no controversial characters, no one who will stir things up. All we have here is a bunch of solid baseball players who go out every day and do what they get paid to do. A new chapter of Red Sox history is being written as we speak.

Continue reading "Thoughts while watching the game"