No Fun League

Despite Tampa Bay fixing game five for Las Vegas bookies, along with game six they held on to advance making my logic behind the Redsox loosing make more sense than if they had lost. More importantly though we have to have a discussion about the no fun league.

Countless numbers of coaches and players in the NFL have been fined over the past three seasons but over the past few months the fines have been comming out of no where. Apparently after scoring a touchdown a player is supposed to walk back to the sideline instead of celebrating. We can all blame Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson for ruining it for everybody but no it's not just touchdowns. It's hits, comments, looks, everything. Roger Goodell aka The commish, seems to be fining anyone who smiles or hits at more than a half pace speed. The money being fined is usually around $10,000 or so and the money supposidly all goes to charity. The NFL is lucky their isn't other semi-elite football leagues like the NBA is dealing with because I guarentee the entire league would leave, and the only people left would be Matt Cassell and the Detroit Lions. My proposal is stop fining everybody for everything. When players can just play the game instead of wondering if they can do this or that, I guarentee that fineable plays would drop. Goodell is ruining what was once a great league, maybe even a sport that was becomming America's new pasttime. Fortunatly for the NFL the MLB had that whole steroid thing, but if the "pansy" NFL league continues it's shenanagans, it's not only going to loose respect, but fans. And incase Goodell didn't take economics in college, Fans = money...

I'm Back

There has been a delay of writing all summer, and for my one or two fans at most, I appoligize. I feel I should at least begin by bragging. I predicted the MLB playoffs last March and only got 50% of the teams right. However, I did predict three teams exact record. Not an easy thing to do over the course of 162 game season. Let the record show that on March 29th B Shea only predicted two playoff teams right. I also had the Phillies in the World Series. Not bad at all.


Today however marks the final two teams left in the hunt for october. Tampa Bay is up 5-0 in the 7th as of right now and will beat the Boston Redsox. Tonight, I want to explain why the Redsox will not be making the world series.

A) Jason Varitek: Currently 0-11 in the ALCS against Tampa Bay. Slighty worse than his piss poor regular season. But, the one thing that has kept him in the line-up and not on the DL is his ability to handle the pitching staff. So far this ALCS he's let up 0,9,9, and 13 runs. Currently Tampa Bay has 7 runs. Clearly, V-tek has lost it. Thank god his contract is up after tonight. Have fun signing with someone like Washington Jason.

B) Not taking pitches: For some reason Boston has been good at taking the first pitch, but after that it's nothing but swinging like batting practice. I have never seen so many 1-1 or 1-2 count, pop fly outs. This is because the Redsox batters have been nervous for the first time in years.

C) Ortiz: I'm saying it on October 16th. Big papi is done. Not as a Red sock, but as a feared MLB hitter.

D) The Boston Media: Thanks for blowing the Manny thing out of control. Who needs that production, especially at a time when no one can hit the ball. Manny is the one hitter in baseball who cannot be rattled. Even though he has faired well, no one is scared of Jason Bay. Manny just adds that postseason presense and talent that everyone in the locker room can feed off of.

E) Theo Epstein: Why is Timlin on the post season roster? Oh, yeah, and why is it that when a few Boston Media personal like the co-hosts of the Vagina Monologues, Dennis and Callahan rip Manny, you trade him? At least Schilling might come back next year. Theo gets a D for this season, and only because he made the playoffs.

F) Tampa Bay: I'm going to give them credit. Despite the fact that Boston has more fan weather Tampa Bay fans than any other city in the world ( even Tampa Bay ) they have played unbelieveably. Pitching has been amazin, except for game two. The hitters are playing like they have all won rings in the past. And Joe Madden is managing like a legend, something Francona has forgotton how to do. Good luck against Phili Tampa.

Calling out the Wiz

First off, if you ask me who my favorite basketball team is I would say the Boston Celtics. Thus making them my team. They are also other people's team as well but my team.


Now to my real problem with you. For you to say that we would have been fine with Tony Allen instead of James Posey is ludurcious. Are you out of your mind? That is one of the stupidest comments I have ever heard of in my life. Who is the better shooter? Posey. The better defender? Posey. More versatile? Posey. More clutch? Posey. Don't get me wrong, I like Tony Allen. He is a good defender who can slash to the hole. But the Celtics have Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett to go the hole and draw fouls. What the Celtics needed this season was someone who could stretch the floor and knock down shots. Posey helped fill that hole. Posey's real value was in his leadership and experience. Posey had those pre game hugs where the starters said that he had a different thing to say every time. Posey is an ultimate glue guy. Keeps everyone together. Now I'm not saying he is the true team leader, KG and Pierce are, but he was certainly a key.

Posey is also a experienced winner. Before Sam Cassell arrived for the last 2 months, Posey was the only guy with a championship. He had what the Big Three was striving for. Its no accident that this guy has been a big contributor on 2 championship teams. In that Heat/Mavs finals, he was the guy that had to guard Dirk and did a great job. In The Comeback Game in this past finals, he had 18 and buried 2 huge threes in the 4th including one to cut the Laker lead to 2 after being down five. Plus he is so versatile where he can guard a 2, a 3, and some 4s. And when the Celtics went small he was drawing power forwards away from the hoop to open up lanes for Rondo, Pierce and KG. The guy is probably one of the more coveted free agents this year because he is a winner and has a ton of intangibles you need on a championship club.

The Celtics needed this guy if they were to win this year. He helped share his experience to the Big Three. Even they will tell you that. Even Danny Anige will tell you that. In fact Anige said he provided a type of craziness that was good for the team. Jeff Van Gundy was drooling about the guy during the finals saying that he would to coach a James Posey. For this year it was important to have him because he is clutch and had a ring. Next year I would love to have him back but at the right price. Now that the Big Three and the rest of the team has championship experience they know what their in for. But if he doesn't come back, his presence will be missed come playoff time. Believe that.

And in my eyes Wizard, you my boy but you lost a lot of credibility in my book.

Sports and Tampa.

What do you mean "your" celtics? The Celtics belong to everybody sir. I'm going to call you out on some lies to being this blog. At no point can anyone love alien face Sam Cassell. At no point is stealing the ball from Sebastian Telfair impressive. And how many games has scallups won this year? Tell me how he helped, other than the game were he carried pierce off to the locker room. Next, I feel you are over-hyping James Posey. He contributed, but I feel we could have won the championship without him. Tony Allen would have seen more playing time if their was no Posey and he showed he is still not scared to go to the hoop. Then you rip my boy Karson Kressley. Who are you to rip this huge Redsox fan? Would you have smelled Doug Mirabelli's Jockstrap? Plus his sexual orientation is unknown, so who knows what he would do at the playboy mansion. You were wrong about Schilling. I believe he is a hall of famer despite his wins in the low 200's, and his personality. That spineless fish of a human shouldn't talk publicly unless it's about baseball. And their is still zero proof he had a bloody sock nation. ketchup inside a sock looks alot like blood. Keep thinking Jason Varitek will come around, and keep thinking Kevin Cash is a solid backup. Varitek certaintly calls a great game, but he has done nothing for this bullpen. And Kevin Cash couldn't hit a beachball. Lugo is awful, and despite everything he has done offensivly, you still managed to miss his league leading, sixteen errors. The sox have manny being manny and manny being Carl Everett. This man is a disgrace to baseball, the the way the redsox are handling it is awful. Attacking players and elderly employees, along with not performing on the field? Theo and Francona are showing no class as they continue to let these actions go unpunished. Maybe a strong moral stance would have got them at least one win in Tampa. Finally, out of all the things you have said B Shea, your comments about the Tampa Bay fans is the most off. The fans remind me of college fans, or even better, little league world series fans. The reason they make noise and go crazy all games is because half of Tropicana field is sox fans. They want to be heard and the best way to hear them is to win. They beat the Redsox up and down all series.

Tampa Bay fans have just swept the Boston Redsox for the second time this season. The first time Boston has been swept twice in one season by one team since 2001. The question lies, is this team for real? Last year Balitmore took a AL East lead into July only to finish 4th in the division. A few years back the Washington Nationals took a league leading record into July, only to fizzle out and finish last in a good NL East. Who's to say Tampa Bay isn't going to be like the previous surprises? A team so good at home (33-13) and 500 on the road (19-19), despite averaging 19,000 fans per game. A pay roll of 44 Million, in a division with Boston and New York who pay over 140. What makes this team click? My bold prediction as of July 4th, is that Tampa Bay will make the playoffs, as a wild card team. Starting pitching is what will carry them. Baltimore and Washington lacked pitching on their runs. This team can flat out pitch. Their bullpen has questions but should remain stable as long as steroid ghost troy percival remains healthy. Rookie of the year, Evan Longoria has came up to the MLB alot quicker than anyone had thought and has performed well. The offense is shaky but you can't count out a young fired up team. When your number five pitcher Andy Sonnanstine has nine wins, your doing something right. Finally, when you get to play the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Orioles for the majority of your remaining games, your going to be sitting pretty... I am currently on the Rays Bandwagon and will continue to be. Go Rays

Stung by the Rays

Ya boy went down to St. Pete earlier this week with my dad to catch the first 2 games of the Rays/Red Sox series. I walked away from the first 2 games with 4 impressions.

1) The Rays are good. I mean really good. They are going to be in this race until the final day. People expect them to go on some long losing streak soon but I see differently. I saw Shields and Garza shut down the Sox and I have never seen any 2 pitchers do that in the Theo/Tito Era. With Shields, Garza, and Kazmir the Rays have 3 good pitchers that wont allow this team to go on a losing streak. Their bullpen is much improved with Dan Wheeler and Troy Percival at the back end. It'll be interesting to see how they handle the loss of Percival but with guys like Grant Balfour coming out of the pen throwing 99. Also, they come up with the hits when they need it. BJ Upton set the tone with a lead off home run on Monday. Evan Longoria came up with a huge hit on Tuesday as well as flash the leather and kill a Sox rally.

2) Rays fans are AWFUL. I cant emphasize this enough. They don't know how or when to cheer. On Tuesday, two loser in Johnny Gomes shirts were jumping up and down and giving each other high fives on the first out of the game! If you just walked in you would have thought they won the World Series. They bang their cowbells every chance they get. They explode if the Rays get a bloop hit in the 4th inning with 2 outs. On Monday, they were counting outs in the 7th. I know its their first real team in Tampa but still, they have seen Sox fans cheer for 10 years down there. You would think they learned something.

3) Something is wrong with Manny. Manny was 0-11 in this series. He was late on every fastball. He was going after every first pitch and he popped up on the first base foul line at least 5 times when I was down there. Manny has struggled recently and something has to be wrong. Either he misses Papi or his altercation with the traveling secretary is weighing on him. I don't know whats wrong but we need Manny to get hot again.

4) We miss Papi. With JD Drew playing out of his mind it hid the loss of Papi but now its starting to show its ugly head. In this series we have struggled to score runs. On Tuesday with 2 on, JD struck out looking on three pitches. In that situation, you know that David Ortiz is going to come through. As hot as JD Drew as been if you ask any pitcher they would still rather face Drew than David Ortiz.

Sox Talk

The Red Sox have reached the real halfway point of the season. Through 81 games they are 49-32. Pretty much exactly where I thought they would be considering all the injuries they've been through. Papi, Beckett, Dice-K, and Lowell have all been down at some point this year. One word that describes this baseball season for the Sox is depth. So many guys have come up and contributed. Masterson, Colon, Lowrie, Moss, and Hansen have been surprises. Now I'll give a old fashion analysis position by position of this team.


Catcher- I don't care what Varitek hits. No one handles a pitching staff like Tek. We all saw how valuable he was in 2006 when he got hurt and the Sox just collapsed. He is a streaky hitter and he always goes through slumps but he always ends ups hitting around his career numbers of .265/20/82/.348 OBP. Kevin Cash has been a surprise. Hes been handling Wake well and anything you get with his bat is a plus.


First Base- Youk's been as sold as he has ever been. He always gets off to hot starts and then cools off a bit but hes still getting on base at a high rate (.374) and hitting well (.303). I thinks its safe to say that we will see him at the All Star Game this year. Sean Casey has been a valuable bat off the bench and is a solid backup to Youk when he needs a day off.


Second Base- Dustin Pedroia is another player who should be getting into the All Star Game and probably as the starter for the American League. Pedroia has been great all year and he is the perfect guy to be hitting behind Jacoby because he never strikes out and is extremely patient.

Shortstop- If you are just looking at numbers for Lugo, .274 avg/366 OBP/.347 slug, then you would think that Lugo has been fine. But sometimes the numbers lie. And in this case they do. That .274 average is a soft .274 in my opinion. We are halfway through the year and Lugo has 1 home run and 18 RBI. Hes projected to have 39 RBI this year. His career average is 61 RBI. I don't know if he can turn it around but I hope so.

Third Base- I didn't expect Lowell to have a super year like he did last year but hes coming damn close. 11 homers, .287 avg, and 41 RBI is fine by me at this point of the season. He keeps coming up with clutch hits like he did the other night against the D'backs.

DH- For Papi to be out as long as he has and we are still leading the division, I'll take that any day. We should be even better when he comes back and start to pull away from the pesky Rays.

Outfield- Manny's being Manny. Jacoby has had his struggles but when hes on base he causes chaos. Coco has been key and has contributed with Papi going down. JD Drew has been the offensive MVP and has carried this team since Papi went down. Its been unbelievable to watch. Hopefully he continues it when Papi gets back because he is not going to be hitting 3rd and his hot streak came when he started hitting in front of Manny. The 3 hole belongs to David Ortiz.


Starters- Beckett has just been a little off all year but in his last start he showed that he was back. Lester has been great all year. Hes been very consistent all year and hes leading the team in innings pitched. Hes made huge strides and if the playoffs started today, he would the number 2 guy. Dice-K has been good until his last start but I'm willing to give him a pass on that. He still has outing where he'll drive you insane but as long as he gets the win I'll live. Wake has been doing what hes done for the past 10 years. Masterson has stepped up huge giving us quality starts and wins.


Bullpen-If there is one real weakness on this team, its the bullpen. Pap has a couple of fluke blown saves and I'm not worried about him at all. Okie has struggled big time. He needs to turn it around somehow, some way. Delcarmen has rebounded after a rough beginning to the year. I have like what Hansen and Aardsma has brought to the table. Power right handers out the pen. Aardsma has come on strong as of late. I'm we will make some deal at the deadline for some bull pen help.

38 Was Special

Recently, Curt Schilling had surgery on his throwing shoulder, effectively ending his season and possibly his career (at least with the Red Sox). That got me thinking about Big Schill's career and his time with the Red Sox. Schill is one of the best post season pitchers of all time, highlighted with his 10-2 record and a 2.23 ERA. I remember watching that 2001 world series vs the Yankees where it seemed he pitched every game. Pitching in 3 games on 3 days rest is the stuff legends are made of. That series helped him create a legacy of post season dominance. But then came 2004. He came to Boston to win a World Series and he promised it. Think back to the off season of 2003. The Red Sox were coming off a devastating 2003 ALCS lost to Yankees and "curse" talk was higher than ever. Before Schilling said he was coming to win a World Series, have you ever heard someone say that about the Red Sox? No, people were afraid to become next Bill Buckner or Mike Torrez. Schill was doing to commercials saying he was coming to Boston to break a 86 year old curse.


If the 2001 World Series didn't show that Schill is the ultimate gamer, than the 2004 post season proved it. Every Red Sox will remember how all hope was lost when Schilling got rocked in Game 1. If the guy we brought here to beat the Yankees couldn't get it done, then who else was going to do it? Later we find out that he had a messed up tendon in his right ankle and he couldn't push off the rubber with it. So now our big gun is down and the Sox are done 0-3 to the Yankees. David Oritz and Dave Roberts bring the series back to New York where Schill risks his career and plays with his tendon stitched all up. He goes out and puts on a show and ties the series up at 3 apiece. The rest is history.


Schilling has never really recovered from that injury. While hes pitched, he hasn't been the same. Last year, he added to his legacy by pitching and winning in the playoffs with a low 90s fastball by pitching with smarts and pure guts. I'll always remember what Curt Schilling did for the Red Sox. He promised us a World Series. He brought us 2. The Red Sox will miss when it comes playoff time. Say what you want about the guy but if I had a game to win, the guy I want pitching is Curt Schilling. I think he's a Hall of Famer. I know the Wiz will call me a biased ass but hey I call 'em like I see 'em. 3 World Series titles, 1 World Series MVP. Sound Hall worthy to me. So I'd just like to say, thanks Curt, thanks for coming to Boston.

Still on Cloud 9

Two days after watching my team, the Boston Celtics, win the NBA Championship and I'm still as happy as I was while watching the trophy presentation on Tuesday. I still cant say enough about this team. People thought Ray Allen was done during the first 2 and half rounds of the playoffs and he ended up setting a NBA Finals record for 3 pointers made with 22. Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins made huge strides during this season and they are only going to get better. Also, as much as the Big 3 (and yes, i am going to start calling them that) was tremendous during the regular season and the playoffs, the Celtics don't win this title without the play and leadership of James Posey. He was so good all season. He is the definition of a big time role, veteran player coming through in the clutch. I hope he stays because he is just such a key to this team.


Doc and Danny took a lot heat the past couple of years and now they have built a NBA Championship team. Doc showed what he can do with the tools and that he is one of the top coaches in the league. Danny came through and stuck to his plan from the beginning. As good as the trades for KG and Ray were, I look to the drafts that he's had. Danny is a good judge of talent when it comes to the draft. Leon Powe and Big Baby were second round picks. The players in the trade for KG are an example. Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green (even though hes not in the league anymore), and Delonte in the Ray Allen trade. I'm excited to see what's next.


As for the Lakers, they just absolutely smoked. For me, it was great to see cause I hate the Lakers. Phil Jackson looked clueless at times on the bench and had to go with Chris Mihm at one point. I say from now on whenever a coach just goes to a desperate move like that, I say we call it a Mihm. Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Sasha Vujacic proved that they are softer than Carson Kressely at the Playboy Mansion. Hopefully all the Kobe/MJ talk is done for now because he got absolutely shut down this series.


I'll probably been writing about this for a couple more days. I'm just in heaven right now. They say there can only be one. And I'm glad its us.

Banner 17

The Boston Celtics are the NBA Champions for 2007-08. Words cant describe how happy I am. Ive been a Celtic fan my whole life. I was raised on the greatness of Larry Bird. The Celtics were the first team that I can remember. There's pictures of me, of when I was little, watching the Celtics play with a Larry Bird hoop right behind me. Also, there's some pictures of me wearing a Snoopy/Joe Cool style sweatshirt. Those who know me know how much I love the Celtics.


Somewhere along the way I absolutely feel in love with this team. I love all these players. From Pierce and KG to Big Baby and Sam Cassell. So many great moments that I can remember from this past year. Ray's game winner against the Bobcats. Pierce riding KG's back against Houston. Posey coming up huge against the Mavs at home. The domination of the Texas teams. Going 7-2 when KG was out with injury. Powe's game winner for the T'wolves. KG picking Sebastian Telfair's pocket to win the game. Name a player and I'll tell you a time when he helped this team win. I know I'm jumping all over the place but I cant help it. I will always remember this team. It was a joy to watch this team grow up from pre season in Rome, to a 66 win regular season, and capping it off with a dramatic playoff run and winning the NBA championship.


Legacies were made during this season, too. Kevin Garnett, by winning the championship, has cemented his place in NBA history. With a ring now I feel that he is a top 20 all time player, if not top 15. The way he has performed this year by changing the culture with the Celtics. He was just so much more emotional last night. It was an amazing thing to watch just how much winning this championship meant to him. Kissing the floor, screaming towards the rafters, crying during the post game interview, hugging Bill Russell saying "I got my own". Last was the best of his life and he came up big in the biggest game of the year and his life. By doing so, he has shut up all his critics including Peter Vecsey who in my opinion has lost all credibility by quoting Ron Artest on KG's ability to win.

Larry Bird once that you don't how it feels to be a Celtic until you have won a championship. Last night, Paul Pierce has become a true true Celtic. By winning this, I think that he is in the all time Celtics starting five with Bird, McHale, Russell, and Cooz. I have always been a Paul Pierce fan and I haven't seen any player take the type of heat he has gotten in this town. He showed everyone in the world that he is a top flight player in this league. Just knowing about what this guy has gone through in his career. From dropping to 10th in the draft, to almost dying with the stabbing incident, to playing on some bad teams, and now being the NBA Finals MVP.


There's just so much to talk about this season that I cant really think of it all now. Just a unbelievable season. I'm sure I'll talk about it some more in the near future.

Cry Baby Sasha

First of all, the worlds toughest athlete is by far Sasha Vujacic, and not Tiger Woods. Tiger woods may have had the most improbable puts in consecetive days in PGA tour history, just to tie, but Sasha has came out and said that the Celtics, "play to rough". This comment makes me so mad, I'm just going to forget that you gave up on the Celtics in game four. First of all, your Sasha Vujacic. No more than 5% of NBA fans can even pronounce your name. The name Sasha itself is derived from the American house cat. You made it out of your filthy country, Yugoslavia which 99% of Americans can't point out on a map. You weigh 195 pounds and your 6-7. Are you serious Sasha? I've seen infants with more spine than you. How can you complain about toughness when you cash your 1.5 million dollar check per season, while your family back in Yugoslavia fights in a race war. Take your 1.5 million and buy Yugoslavia, i'm sure thats how much it is on the market. This is the NBA, not girls junior high volleyball. It's great defense that leads you to shoot 3-19 in your last two games you wimp, not people playing rough. Its the NBA, what do you expect. No one in the world other than Bill (I'm about to die of high cholesterol) Plaske, that fat worthless, nobody from LA expected the Lakers to score their season AVERAGE of 108, and through five games, the soft lakers haven't put up anything higher than 103. Its good defense you crybaby puke Sasha. Man up and hit a shot, or sit on the bench and let some other foreign, soft, nobody try to hit a shot you punk. Enjoy being traded in the next two years for cash considerations and a bag of balls you girl...

Celtics and Tiger

It was a tough lost for the Celtics last night in Game 5. The Celts got down early again and fought their way back on the strength of Paul Pierce. KG got into early foul trouble and he never got into a real rhythm and struggled. Game 6 is tomorrow and its a quick turnaround for both teams. The Garden is going to rockin' and its going to be tons of fun. The team, as always, will be lifted by the crowd. I am extremely excited and nervous at the same time. Its going to come down to defense as it always does.


This weekends U.S. Open event and especially today's playoff proved why I love sports so much. Tiger Woods won and hit amazing shot after amazing shot on basically one leg and after not playing in such a long time. Also, mega underdog Rocco Mediate matched Tiger shot for shot and almost pulled it out. It was awesome to watch. And its about time someone kind of stood up to Tiger and not just wilt under the pressure.

Tiger also once again proved why I think he is the most mentally tough athlete of today, if not of all time. Battling pain in his surgically repaired knee, he mounted about 3 or 4 comebacks in the tournament to pull out this win. They have been showing a commercial about Tiger and his dad and how his dad said that he will meet no one that is more mentally tough than himself. That is Tiger's greatest strength above every other golfer out there. In the clutch situations, you just know that Tiger is going to come through.

The Comeback Game

I'll admit it. I was preparing to get ready for a Game 5, tied at 2-2 with the Lakers. In that first half the Lakers played unbelievable hitting every shot. Lamar Odom was playing like he was Larry Bird (I know its wrong to put those two in the same sentence but still). Luke Walton and Trevor Ariza were hitting shots. Pierce and KG still were off their game a little bit. Then Jordan Farmar hit a buzzer beater 3 off the glass to push the halftime lead to 18. It didn't look good at all. All that happened and Kobe didn't even have a field goal yet.


Then the second half, it was completely different. Doc made the adjustment to go small and spread the floor. Pierce took the challenge to guard Kobe and did a great job. Posey and Eddie House were hitting shots and Ray Allen played a marvelous game. It was just an unbelievable game to witness. Everyone contributed. Doc coached great. Pierce, KG, and Allen played great. The role players played great. The defense was great. I cant stop using the word great. Sam Cassell had a great F-bomb laden speech after the Celts took the lead. Amazing.


It truly was one of the greatest games in franchise history and one of the greatest games in Boston sports history. I'm glad that I saw it and now the Celtics are this close to a 17th championship. Unbelievable.

Various Thoughts 2

I didn't know that "milestones" are a stat like batting average and ERA. Thanks for that news. I'm not surprised with anything that comes out about Roger Clemens anymore. Who knows whats next?


Last night, the Celtics struggled vs. the Lakers and lost by 6. I didn't expect to sweep this series but we still had a chance to go up 3-0. Pierce and KG struggled mightily and I don't expect that to happen again. Even though Kobe had a good game, no one else on the Lakers had a good game except for Sasha Vujacic and his hair band. I'm worried about Rajon Rondo and his ankle injury. If he is not 100% then our offense will struggle. Hopefully that means more Eddie House and less Sam Cassell. But I am still confident with the Celtics and tomorrow's Game 4 is the biggest game of the year.


On Manny and Youk's dust up last week, I support Manny up until he gave Youk a little slap. I love Youk but sometimes when he flips out after he makes an out, it does get a little annoying. Youk fired back and Manny got a little chippy. Like I said I back, Manny up till the slap but it wont evolve into anything huge.


Hideki Okajima has not been as money as he was last year. His numbers seem ok but those numbers lie. He has been awful against Baltimore and even worse with inherited runners on. If Okie struggles and every other middle reliever struggles then the Sox are in trouble. Okie needs to turn it around or someone in the pen needs to step up cause we need the bridge to Paplebon.


The Ramblin' Gamblin' ref Tim Donaghy is at it again. He says that the Kings/Lakers series was fixed back in 2002. I remember watching that Game 6 and just laughing at how bad the officials were. I don't want to believe anything Donaghy says because he is such a scumbag. Either this is true and the game was fixed or he just picked the most blatant home called game on the history of earth to help save his ass. You decide.


Ken Griffey Jr hit his 600th career home run the other day. Every kid that grew up in the '90s like me, is a Ken Griffey fan. One of the worst sports injustices ever is that injuries robbed him of hitting 800 home runs. It should of been him that is the all time leader in home runs and not He Who Shall Not Be Named.


Finally, Cedric Benson was released by the Bears for his second alcohol related arrest. Next stop : the Raiders.

Viva Viagra...

Manny hit 500, along with hitting first baseman/utility stud, Kevin Youkilis most recently. Both events in the long run will not be remembered. Milestones are the most over exaggerated statistic out there and mean the least about a persons talent and value to a team. Congrats to Manny, but lets move on. B Shea says the Celtic's can't win without Pierce? I don't know if they couldn't win but by the way the Lakers play defense, I could go out and pop a three.

So Roger Clemens is in the news again. Viva Viagra this time. The New York Daily News has reported that the former star pitcher and current funny man, Roger Clemens hid Viagra in his locker and took it before games as a steroid. Victor Conte, founder of BALCO said that the supplement can be used as a performance enhancer. Finally, I understand how South African runner, Oscar Pistorius and his lack of human legs can run so fast. I wonder if hes missing more than just his legs? Clemons, undoubtingly will come out and deny in the very near future, but at this point where is his credibility? Somehow however in the news today, an even more rediculous, bizarre story made it's way into headlines. The Los Angeles Lakers and Las Vegas have agreed to be 9.5 favorites over the best team in the NBA, the Boston Celtics. Throughout the postseason I have had a relatively good time betting the lines, but this is outragous. Did games one and two mean anything to oddsmakers? The only thing more rediculous than this story is Shelly Smith actually getting a paycheck to be on TV, but that's a whole different story. ..

For tonight, in the betting world, you have to take the Boston Celtics +9.5. For me, I took them straight up at +400. I also like the over in this game at 196. Other solid plays for today include the RedSox -220 over the Baltimore Orioles, and the over in the Dogers/Padres game at 7 runs.

The Truth Prevails

When Paul Pierce went down early in the third quarter and he was clutching his knee, I saw our title dreams fade away. Pierce is our best one on one scorer and our most clutch player. Usually when he goes down, he gets right back up. But this time he didn't get right back up. ABC went to commercial and the first shot they show is Pierce grimacing in a wheel chair. When I saw that my heart jumped into my throat. While he was out everyone else stepped up but I kept looking at that corner where the players come out of the locker room. Then when I saw come out, I was completely re energized and you could feel the team and the entire building get a lift. Then Pierce hit the 2 three's to give the Celtics the lead and we were off.


Pierce is the heart and soul of this team. His been the longest tenured Celtic, knows all the history that comes with a Boston/LA match up, and is the captain. We need him to win. Like I said, he's the go-to-guy, the facilitator, and our best perimeter defender. For any idiot to say he was faking an injury (Bill Plaschke and Phil Jackson) is disgusting. Whats the benefit of the team for him to leave for 3 minutes in the NBA Finals? He said he heard his knee pop and he was probably more scared than anything. He is hurt and people saying he is faking is erroneous. He says his knee is sore and stiff but he'll be ready for Game 2.

500

First off, I said that you could make a case that Celtics/Lakers is a better rivalry than Red Sox/Yankees. I never said that it was better. If you put a gun to my head, I would say Sox/Yankees is better. But its a hell of a lot closer than you make it seem, my good man. Also, your jokes are hit or miss. Just like the Tigers. Ba-dum-dum.


Last night, Manny reached a career milestone by hitting his 500th career milestone. It was also a classic Manny game in a Red Sox uniform. In the 4th, he coasted towards a easy fly ball and let it drop off his glove. The guy reached second and ended up scoring, giving Baltimore the lead. Then later in the game, he absolutely crushed a ball deep into right-center. So many times, Red Sox fans have seen Manny make a bad play in the field and then hit a bomb. Manny is the best right handed that I have ever seen and arguably the greatest right handed hitter of all time. He's the best at hitting home runs the other way. I think hes last 4 home runs this year have been to the opposite field. Thank goodness that we didn't trade him the 10 times we could have. Next up : 600

Ob La Da Brother

B Shea, come on... The Lakers Celtics is a bigger rivalry than the RedSox Yankees. Is that some sort of joke? They play each other twice a year, and haven't met in the playoffs in 21 years. The Rivalry is as dead as OJ Simpsons credibility. And what is this "various thoughts" thing you do now. If your going to think, at least try and sound like an adult. Nice prediction about the Spurs. I mean, they went out and died quicker than, Jeremy Gonzalez. I know it may be a little soon but it was the best metaphor i could come up with. Expect Colon to fizzle down the stretch like bad keg beer. Stop crying about fingernails too. Clay Buckholtz is missing one so your insensitive comments could be offending him. That's really it for your comments this week. You were so wrong.

B Shea predicts seven games for the NBA finals between Boston and LA and as usuall I am going to disagree and bring some sense to this blog. Boston wins the NBA title in six games. Detroit posed the greatest threat to Boston and they rose up and overcome. LA is so surprising because I don't understand how they made it this far. Pau Gasol is a great player but he's no Shaq. Kobe is playing like a God right now and thats all they have going for them. The Lakers had the 19th best defense in basketball with the best offense. Boston had the best defense in basketball with the 10th best offense. Something is going to give, and I can't see it helping LA. Every matchup offsets the other in this series. Perkins and Garnett will get theirs, but so will Gasol and Odom. The young Rondo will have a much easier task of guarding Fisher as opposed to Chauncey Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Billups. Kobe Bryant vs Ray Allen should be interesting. Both are known for shooting rather than defense, but with help Ray Allen won't be giving up anymore than 30 a game to Bryant. The match up that Boston will be able to expose is Paul Pierce over Vladimir Radmanovic. The overpaid Russian had a decent season getting eight points and three boards a game, but that isn't going to cut it in the finals. Why I think Boston will win in six, at the most is because of the bench. Eddie House will be able to run the point because of LA's weak defense, giving up energy and points from the bench. Posey, Brown, Powe, Davis, and maybe even Cassell will see playing time. Comming off the bench for LA will be Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, and Ronnie ( my heart hurts ) Turiaf. These guys couldn't intiminate a girls high school team, let alone the team with the best record in basketball, along with the best record against the West.

As for tonight, since I started my "lock of the day" I am 3-1. I need to bump this up by making two big locks for tonight. I like the Orioles (+114) with Garrett Olson on the mound to beat the Redsox and I also like the Geogia Force (-4.5) to beat the Tampa Bay Storm in some exciting Areana football.

ps, my Turiaf joke was funny...

Lakers vs Celtics

The Boston Celtics are in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1987. Even better, they are going up against the Los Angeles Lakers. I am so excited. The Celts went on the road and beat to Pistons to advance. They were down by 10 early in the fourth and Paul Pierce made a ton of key plays. He had a nice And 1 and sweet pull up jumper. KG have a few big hoops. James Posey made a huge steal on Tayshaun Prince with about 1:30 left in the game. It was a great comeback road win and it was even better to see them keep their poise down the stretch.


Now its Celtics vs Lakers in the NBA Finals. So much of the NBA's history comes from these two teams. The Celtics have 16 championships and the Lakers have 14. The two franchises have had some many great battles. They have met in the Finals 10 times and this will make it 11. So many great players have played on the teams. Russell. Wilt. Cousy. West. Hondo. Baylor. Heinsohn. Goodrich. Bird. Magic. McHale. Kareem. Parish. Worthy. And the list goes on and on. Now Pierce, Garnett, and Allen will take on Kobe, Gasol, and Odom in the next installment of the Celtics/Lakers rivalry. You could make a case that the Celtic/Laker rivalry is more intense than the Red Sox/Yankee rivalry but that's for another day. Its the way it should be. Everyone knows it. Heck, even my mom said its the way it should be.


These 2 teams are very evenly matched. The Lakers have a high powered offense while the Celtics have the great defense. This series also brings up many great story lines. Pierce, KG, and Allen looking for the first rings. Kobe looking for a ring without Shaq. Pierce going back to play in LA in the Finals. Phil Jackson looking to pass Red Auerbach for most championships for a coach against the Celtics. This is going to be so much fun. Celtics in 7. Lets get it on.

Various Thoughts

I only included the Bruins in The Golden Era because of the miracle run they had to the 7th game of the first round this year. Plus, the magnitude of the other 3 pro teams outweighs anything negative the Bruins have done in the last ten years.


Now its time for some of my various thoughts on the sports world. I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist but has anyone else noticed how ESPN doesn't show replays on any questionable calls by referees? In Game 7 of the Celtics/Cavs, there were a lot of bad calls or missed calls by the refs and you can hear the crowd react to the replay on the Jumbo Tron and then ESPN doesn't bother to show the replay. Last night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, KG got called for 2 moving screens in a row and to me they both looked questionable. Especially the second one. So I sat there and waited for the replay. Never came. But when the refs make a good call, ESPN shows the replay 7 times. From all angles and then the stupid super slo-mo version that they show on every replay. Look for it in Game 5 tomorrow night.


With the emergence of Bartolo Colon in his first 2 starts for the Red Sox, do not be surprised in the Red Sox tinker with a 6 man rotation. They were talking about this off season but Curt Schilling got hurt. Right now with Clay Buchholz hurt, they have the normal 5 man rotation. But when he gets back, I would not be shocked if the Sox go to a 6 man rotation. All the pitchers will have a day of extra rest and that could be huge heading into the stretch. Beckett talked about how, last post season, him missing a couple weeks on the D.L. really kept him fresh for the playoffs. Just imagine for the rest of the season a rotation of Beckett, Dice-K, Lester, Wake, Colon, and Buchholz. I'm not really counting on Schilling to pitch at all this year considering hes only thrown a baseball twice. But in case he comes back, I wouldn't be surprised of he goes to bullpen to help with that bridge to get to Papelbon. Just throwing it out there.


With the New York Mets on the verge of a total implosion, I am not looking too good on picking them to come out of the National League. Just by looking at them, they have no team chemistry. Willie Randolph is on the verge of being fired even though Mets management says hes safe. I'm gonna give till the All Star break before I change my mind on them going to World Series.


Tonight the Spurs look to even up their Western Conference Final versus the Lakers. I'm calling Ginobili having another 30 point night along with Tim Duncan going for a 20/20 game. The Spurs are too good and too tough minded to go down 3-1 to the Lakers. That series will probably go 7 games along with the Celtics/Pistons series.


Speaking of the Celtics/Pistons series, has anyone else noticed that Richard Hamilton has the longest finger nails ever on a basketball player. No wonder he gets open so much. He gashes whoever is guarding him with his Wolverine-nails and gets an open jumper. In Game 3, he gashed Cassell. Last night, they showed a clip of Ray Allen talking to the refs, showing him his arms and pointing of the scratches that Hamilton has probably given him. Check it out next game.


And that is it for my various thoughts this week.

Lacrosse Story Still Involving Duke...

Not to take away from Jon Lester's amazing performance B Shea but you said that the Royals have a "legit" offense. Was that a serious comment or some sort of a joke? Unless legit means in the bottom 30% of every offensive catagory, dead last in home runs, and second to last in RBI's, then yes, they are legit. What a rediculous thing to say. Also, when the Bruins haven't won a playoff series since 2000, It's hard to consider them in a "golden era". Keep having a distugsting hometown bias and see where that gets you when Boston sports go mid 90's on us again.

The last of the Duke rapist are officially ineligable in the NCAA, after their granted fifth year of playing. Duke was defeated 10-9 by Johns Hopkins ending this rape story which everyone but Al Sharpton is sick of. In the other semi-final game Syracuse came from five goals down to defeat Virginia in double overtime. So the Dukeless championship is Johns Hopkins vs Syracuse. I like Syracuse to win its tenth title in it's storied history, and finally, end this Duke scandel for good.

As for betting, my lock of the day is the Lakers (+5) over the Spurs.

The Golden Era

All I know Wiz, is that I wanted the Pistons in this round. It wouldn't be the same if we didn't have to go through the Pistons to go to the Finals. In 2004, it wouldn't have been the same if the Red Sox didn't have to go through Yankees to go to the World Series. And Wiz, I hope your right and we have a nice quick series.


Jon Lester threw a no hitter last night. No one deserves a no hitter more than this kid. In a two year span he was diagnosed with cancer, beat the cancer, came back and got a win in his first start back, won Game 4 of the World Series, and capped it off with a no hitter. Last night, he was absolutely terrific. He seemed to get better as the game wore on. On his final pitch, he threw 96. The Royals have a legit offense and Lester just absolutely shut them down. It was great to see and Lester didn't seem that fazed by it. He has been through so much, that a no hitter doesn't even register. Every one in the ball park was ecstatic. Francona and Lester shared a emotional hug. I cant wait to see how Lester pitches now.


Last night also continued the Golden Era of sports here in Boston. I say that this era started in 2001 with the Patriots first Super Bowl win. Since that time, us fans have seen 5 championships, a perfect regular season for the Pats, a couple of no hitters and millions of other great moments. The Celtics on working towards another championship and the Bruins are a young and exciting team. The Red Sox have 2 of the last 4 World Series and are arguably the best team in baseball this year. The Pats came within 2 minutues of 19-0 and I would say are still the favorite for next year. This is why other cities hate us and I'm glad they hate us. No city will probably ever have all 4 major teams so good at the same time. This is truly The Golden Era of Boston Sports and I'm glad I'm here to witness the magic.


Also last night was a perfect 2 day period. Lester's no no and Pierce's Game 7 performance will always be remembered together. Now we have Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Fianls tonight. This is such a important game tonight because the Pistons have been off for awhile and the Celtics are in a rhythm. People say that Chauncey Billups is going to tool on Rondo. While Rondo will have a tough time guarding him but Billups has to guard Rondo too and Rondo is the last person that I would want to guard if I was coming off a hamstring injury. Also Ray Allen has to give us some points. He has beef with Rip Hamilton and hopefully that will give him a little extra motivation. Look for the Celtics to run a lot when they have the chance and not try to play the half court game with them. Lets get it on.

Beasts of the East...

You have to be out of your mind to say that we, the celtics fans wanted to play the Detroit Pistons in the conference finals. I would have much rather seen the Raptors or Sixers as opposed to Detroit. The Celtics have a hard enough time with teams like the Hawks in the playoffs. However, despite your stupid idiotic comment it's not all bad in Celtic land.

Detroit this season is 1-2 against Boston, and their one win came with 0.01 seconds left on a good up fake by Chancey Billups, and awful defense by 12th man Tony Allen, who I believe has no right dressing, especially over my boy, Brian (Scallups) Scalabrine. Billups went on to get fouled and hit two freebies leaving Boston to lose by two. The other two games this year weren't dominated by Boston, but should have set up a good game plan by unproven coach Doc Rivers. This series is going to be simple. The Atlanta Hawks were young and fired up, Detroit is old and is trying to do their best Atlanta Braves impression. ( fourteen straight playoff appearances, one title) The Cleveland Cavaliers had Lebron who gets every call and never gets called himself, for anything, Detroit has no one of that nature. Detroit is a simple, exellant shooting team. How do you beat them? Go inside, go inside, and then fake a three, and go back Inside! Right now Ray Allen couldn't make a junior high team, but that won't matter this round. Garnett, Perkins, Powe, and Davis should combine everygame for at least sixty. Rasheed Wallace hasn't stepped in the paint since 2004, and Rip Hamilton does most of his estimated running of six miles per game on offense. Tayshaun Prince and Chancey Billups are great defenders but tend to back off of a player with the ball inside, to avoid being called for a foul. Then there's the bench. Am I supposed to be afraid of Jason Maxiell and Rodney Stuckey. Maxiell is a great defender but tends to get into foul trouble early, mostly due to his over-aggresivness. Stuckey may have averaged 26 some odd points in college (Eastern Washington) but this is the best defense in the NBA. The old Detroit starters are all going to be looking at 39-40 minutes a game which will not fare well, especially with Chancey's lingering hamstring injury. I am still sticking to my orignal prediction of Boston in four games over Detroit. I don't expect home court to matter because of Michigan's economy. It's hard to get behind your team when unemployment is over eight percent.

As for past blogs, I was right about Big Brown winning the preakness, but was a little off with the quinnella, trifecta. I was also right about Conneticut over Atlanta in that WNBA action. For tonight my lock of the day is the Cubs (-130) over the Astros. I also like the over (184) in game seven tonight between the Hornets and the Spurs, along with the Detroit Redwings (-155) over the Dallas Stars.

Pistons vs Celtics

Wiz, I kind of agree with you that part of the reason Pistorius was allowed to participate in the upcoming Olympics is ratings for TV. If he makes a team and is in a race, I will probably tune in and watch. But other than that, I could care less about Olympics track and feild events.


Yesterday afternoon the Celtics prevailed in one of the best Game 7s in recent memory. I would say it ranks up high in the list of all time Game 7s. Pierce and LeBron had a duel similar to Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins. Pierce would come down hit a jumper and then LeBron would do the same. It was just a great game to watch and I cant wait to see it on NBA TV or ESPN Classic in the near future. There were also two unlikely heroes for the Celtics in this game that every championship team gets along the way. Eddie House played a good game. Him chasing the ball from one end of the court to the other, beat Wally, dive on the floor, and tip it to Posey gave the team and the crowd a huge lift. I'm glad to see that Eddie is back in the rotation because he gives the team a huge lift. He knows how to run the offense and with Ray Allen struggling, he can knock down shots. Another unlikely hero was veteran PJ Brown. PJ came off the bench and had 10 huge points. With the Celtics only up 1 and after LeBron made a mini run by himself, PJ nailed the biggest shot the game. Then he made a great defensive play and played LeBron good on his drive and made LeBron take a tough lay up which he missed. Also the Celtics had some luck from above with Pierce's free throw with 7 seconds. That was the spirit of Red from above helping that shot go down.


Now we have what the Celtics wanted, the fans wanted, and what the NBA wanted. Its the Boston Celtics vs the Detriot Pistons for the right to go to the NBA Finals. These two teams are very evenly matched. The Pistons are well rested while the Celtics are coming off a very emotional series. This is going to be such a fun series to watch. Its going to be reminiscent of the classic Celtics/Pistons battles of the 80s. I cant wait for it. The roller coaster ride continues.

fake people can mean a lot of things...

When a person calls another person, "fake" it generally implies that they act in a certain way that they are not. When I call a person fake, I am refering to South African runner, Oscar Pistorius. Don't get me wrong, I repect the disabled, and I am for equality, but how in the world are his prosthetic legs or running blades not considered a, "mechanical advantage". Was the OJ Simpson jury called upon to make a ruling again or has The Court of Arbitration for Sport lost their mind. I thought the problem with the olympics was that it was being held in communist China. Since our politically correct culture won't allow us to say anything negative, I guess i'm going to have to. This is 100%, a ruling for ratings. Joe America, (who's not a real person, just a representive of the populas) probably isn't going to watch the olympics. When you tell Joe that a guy with no legs is running, he might tune in. Fortunatly, for tradition, Mr. Pistorius hasn't made the South African team just yet, and his best qualifying time in his life doesn't even meet the minimum requirement to make the olympics.

I want to talk about the ruling in detail now. The The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that he didn't have a mechanical advatage. I guess he put on his best prosthetic legs for that appearance. A runner uses everypart of his body to achieve his best time. Does Oscar Pistorius even stretch? The most comman injury in sport is, a bruise. Pistorius can only bruise on about 70% of his body because metal legs reportedly don't bruise. For a runner however, the most comman injuries include foot, ankle, and knee injuries, and all the muscles inbetween. Pistorius get's to avoid these as well. Pistorius calls his legs, "Running Blades". Physically, Blades have much less wind resistance than flesh. When someone says, "Break a leg", what does that mean for Pistorius? I'm sure he's a nice guy who simply wants equality, but he's missing two legs. In a competive world of sport, he will never be seen as equal. While the world roots for him, i'll be the one cheering on tradition.

In other news, the LA Lakers beat my western conference finals predition, the Utah Jazz. It was a great game to watch, much like all the other games this postseason. Hopefully we can be blessed to see Chris Paul prove to the world that he deserved the MVP over that crybaby Kobe Bryant.

Finally, today is the preakness. Horse racing has always been one of the most exciting events in sports and despite PETA's views, it is great for American tradition. Today like most of the country, I like Big Brown to win at 1/2 odds. For the quinella I am liking Big Brown and Yankee Bravo. For the trifecta we are going to go with Big Brown, Yankee Brave, and Hey Byrn. Also, my lock of the day is Conneticut (-11) over Atlanta in some hardcore WNBA action...

Celtics and Pats

Wizard, its good to have you back but apparently you have gone a little crazy. There is no need to panic and change the starting line up. What has killed us these last 2 games has been our bench, not the starting line up. In the 2 games we have won, the Celtics bench has outscored the Cavs bench. Now vice versa, in the 2 games that we have lost the Cavs have outscored our bench. James Posey and Leon Powe have the play better. PJ Brown was the only bench guy to come to play in Game 4. Yes, Rondo has struggled this series and especially Games 3 and 4. But in the second half of Game 4, I thought he played well. He was aggressive early in the third which is what I want to see. Sometimes I think Doc keeps Rondo on the bench a little too long and sticks with Sam longer than he should. Sam has played terrible on the road this post season and apparently can only make shots at home. Also, I thought we went away from KG in the 4th and when he did have the ball he wasn't aggressive enough. I like when the ball goes inside to KG early and they play inside out. Pierce took a dumb 3 in the 4th and those are the metal mistakes that we didn't make in the regular season but are making now. I still feel that we are the better team and will still win but with all that said, why do I have a feeling that LeBron is about to go off? One last thing Wiz, the Celtics regular season record was 66-16. They only play 82 games in the NBA, bro.

I love when announcers make things up during a broadcast. Like when Tom Jackson said that the Patriots hate Bill Belichick after the first game of the year and they promptly went 14-2 and won the Super Bowl. Or when Joe Morgan analyzes a baseball game. A perfect example happened last night during the Celtics/Cavs game. When Pierce fouled LeBron and wrapped him and kind of went in the crowd, Kevin Harlan, the TNT commentator went into a frenzy about how Pierce and LeBron don't like each other and have a rivalry that is simmering over into the playoffs. That could not be further from the truth. Pierce and LeBron have never had any type of confrontation. Just another example of announcer making things up.


Today Roger Goodell met with Matt Walsh and Walsh told his side of the story. They showed the tapes and it was really nothing new. Walsh said that he always kept the camera during halftime and never showed the tape to the coaches. But Mark Schlerth refuses to listen to that. He continues to believe that you can tape the signals in the first half and break it down during halftime and use it in third quarter. He and Chris Carter were an absolute joke. They just refused to listen to what Goodell had to say and continue to believe that the Pats cheated. ESPN just has a blatant agenda against Belichick and the Pats and its really sad to see. ESPN's football coverage is a joke. Marvin Harrison is connected in some way to a shooting and there's hardly any coverage on that. I don't agree with a lot of things WEEI's Pete Sheppherd says but if that was a Patriots player connected into a situation like that, there would be 4 hours worth of NFL Live some how connecting Spy Gate to the shooting.

Really Rediculous Road Ruh Roh's

Haven't had time to blog in a while. I've been under more stress than a Roger Clemens lawyer... Time for me to dismiss everything B Shea says. To begin I do believe Paul Pierce should have been fined by the NBA for his hand gesture towards the hawks bench, but not $25,000. It's a thing he has done hundreds of times before but has somehow gone unnoticed. Roger Clemens continues to be funnier than any other human on TV. Everytime he opens his mouth bad things come out of it. He needs to pull a Mark Mcguire and just dissapear.

Finally, the re-occuring theme of B Shea's blogs all year. Rondo is a good point guard. I said it before, he impressed me this year, but when the playoff's come around, that means nothing. Rondo has been a bigger dissapointment than the short lived XFL. We can say he needs to play better, but I think he is giving us his best. He isn't Chris Paul, Deron Williams, or Tony Parker. In game three of the Eastern Conference semi-finals the Celtics had thirteen points. That sounds like a Knicks first quarter. The argument is that Rondo sets the pace, then Alien face comes in to change the pace of the game. Why can't Sam Cassell just start and then have Rondo off the bench to change the pace. Doc Rivers has done a sub-par job coaching, at best! Everytime Rondo shoots I get nervous, and in game six of the opening round against Atlanta, I knew the game was over before he even attempted the game tying three.

So the question still lies, what do the Celtics do to win on the road? My guess is to start James Posey, KG, Pierce, Powe, and Cassell. This way Posey can continue to shut down Lebron James, while opening up shooting attempts for Pierce and Cassell. Leon Powe has been playing unbelievable on both sides of the ball all post season, where as Perkins has yet to man up. KG with the help of Powe should be able to contain the 7`3 Z man. I find this starting line-up the best way to put points up on the board, while taking the Cleveland crowd out of the game.

For tonight, the Celtics are the underdog for the first time this postseason. (+2.5) This should be the first wake up call for them all postseason, because let's be honest, who was nervous against Atlanta in game seven? A team that went 66-17 in the regular season, and 31-10 on the road ( Both led the NBA ) should not have this big a problem on the road. I look for Boston to snap out of this funk and win tonight 97-88.

Road Woes

Tonight the Celtics look to end their road woes tonight in Game 4 against Cleveland. They got punched in the face in Game 3 and for the first time this postseason got blown out. Tonight is a big game for the Celtics. I don't think we have to do any changes strategy wise, it just comes down to more effort and more intensity. They have to rotate better defensively and that's all effort.
Pierce and Ray Allen have to play better offensively. They need to make shots. Pierce needs to go to basket strong early and by doing that that will open up things for Allen to get some looks at the basket. Tonight I think the Celtics get their first road win on the road tonight and go up 3-1. I think Pierce and Allen will finally play well, KG will be KG, and Rondo will play much much much better than he did in Game 3.


In the shock of the century, former USC guard OJ Mayo has been linked in allegations that he has accepted cash and other gifts from a sports agency. It was just a matter of time before something like this came out. The thing about situations like these it doesn't really affect the player. It affects the school most because they end losing scholarships while the player is off in the NBA making millions. ESPN did a big time piece on this whole situation and the guy that was giving Mayo the money pulled a "No comment" which usually means "Yes, I'm guilty" in the world. I'm interested to see how this thing turns out.

Rocket Man

No player ever in sports has had their reputation tarnished in a short period than Roger Clemens. It all started in December when he was found on the Mitchell Report after being dimed out by his former trainer Brian Mcnamee. He has come out and swore up and down that he is innocent, gone on 60 Minutes and drank the most bottles of water ever for an interview, and then he went before Congress and came up with new words for us to use as well as sign autographs for the Congressmen. His only defense has been a Jose Canseco pool party where he says he wasn't there but then we find out he was. Canseco has also been the only to defend him and that's the last person that you want to have your back. For Red Sox fans it has been and absolute joy for us to watch the Rocket squirm on TV in front of the world. We thought it couldn't get any better. Then the New York Daily News has a storyof Clemens having a decade long affair with country music star Mindy McCready that could of began when she was 15 and he was 28. Now that is a little ridiculous. McCready says that they didn't do anything until she was 18. Roger denies the affair but McCready confirms it. So chalk up another lie to the Rocket. Then after that story about 47,451,289,974,361,947 other women have come out and said they have had relations with the Clem-bag. Strippers and bartenders across America said that Clemens has given them tickets, jewelry, and vacations. There is no telling what is going to happen next. He's probably got a few kids out there somewhere with more K-names. What he's got to do is just stop talking because every time he talks something comes out that just buries him deeper and deeper. Wait, on second thought he should just keep talking. I wanna see if he has connections to mob.

Cavs vs Celtics

Tonight at 8:00 is Game 1 of the Boston Celtics vs the Cleveland Cavaliers. This is going to be a difficult series for the Celtics. The Cavs have a solid inside game with Big Z, solid perimeter shooters with Wally, Delonte West, and Boobie Gibson, a good bench, and of course, LeBron James. It is impossible to stop LeBron. Paul Pierce, James Posey, and even Tony Allen will all draw the assignment to guard him but really everyone on the floor will have to help out in various ways. Perk and KG have to always show on screens and control the paint. I wouldn't really double LeBron because he is such a good passer and the Cavs have some shooters. I would see that Celtics just play the same team defense that they have been playing all year. There really is no scheme that Doc Rivers and the Celtics are going to draw up. Its just going to be what its been all year. Great Defense.

Also I would look to see the Celtics really work Ray Allen on offense. Wally is probably going to guard him and Wally has never been a good defender so you can run Ray Allen off a lot of screens. By doing that you should tire Wally out and his legs will be gone from his jump shot.


The New Orleans Hornets have dominated the Spurs in the first 2 games of that series. They have fed off their home crowd and made the Spurs look old. I will never count out the Spurs like I did in the first round. The Spurs will handle their business on their home court and make the necessary adjustments to try and slow down Chris Paul. Paul is a lot like LeBron where he is impossible to guard. Duncan and Manu have a couple rough games but they are the defending champions so I think that they will take the 2 games in San Antonio to tie up the series.

Game 7

Last night in Game 6, the Celtics played their worst 4th quarter of the entire season. It was just a poorly played quarter by everyone. Now the Celts have a do or die Game 7 tomorrow against the Atlanta Hawks. I still think that we will win but we should of closed the Hawks out last night. What I didn't like about last night was no one looked like they wanted to shoot the ball in the 4th. KG kept making the extra pass when I would like to see him put his head down and go to the rim. Pierce fouling out on a bogus call didn't help any cause he would have been the guy to attack the hoop. Also since when do you get a tech for tossing you headband towards your bench? Its not like he threw it on the court. But in this Game 7, I would like to see KG or Pierce pull a Cedric Maxwell and say jump on my back cause I'm gonna carry us today. I want someone to do that tomorrow and then do it for the rest of the postseason. We should be able to get this win in front of a packed house in the Garden. Having the home court is huge but if the Celtics are gonna win a championship, they have to prove they can win on the road in the postseason. But lets get this Game 7 first.

Pierce and the "Gang Symbol"

Wizard, I love the Bobcats pick for 6th next year. Larry Brown is worth at least 7-10 wins next year. The Bobcats have good, young athletic players and all they need is a little coaching. Larry Brown will have them playing hard and playing smart. He is great at rebuilding teams and getting them to the playoffs. He did take the Clippers to the playoffs back in '93. Also, I expect Pat Riley to take the head coaching job of the Heat back right after the lottery where they a top 2 pick and can either Micheal Beasley or Derrick Rose.


Shame on the NBA for putting a unnecessary black mark on one of its top players. David Stern and the NBA has botched this whole Paul Pierce and the hand gesture story. That was the most non threatening gesture I have ever seen. Now all of the news people think Paul Pierce is in a gang. A gang. Pierce is 30 years old, about to get married, and has a kid. Now morons that know nothing think that Pierce is in gang and threatening Al Hortford. People are calling in on the radio making assumptions on Pierce. Some preacher is saying that Pierce should 50,000 dollars to a inner city youth fund. This thing is an absolute joke. Pierce does tons of charity work for inner city youths here in Boston and back in his hometown of Inglewood. Pierce does the gesture every game in the intros. He says it stands for "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" and I believe him. I see players every night do it after the hit a three. I can see if Pierce flipped Hortford the bird but not this. The way the NBA worded the fine was a sham too. They could of just said that he was fined for walking towards the Hawk bench on a timeout but they worded it saying for "showing gang related symbol". I'd like to know who in the NBA office is sitting there checking every game for which players are throwing up gang signs. Its just a damn shame. Its just a non story that people are making a story.


As for Game 5 tonight, look for the Celtics to come out with great energy and try to work KG in the post early and often. I hope KG will not settle for the fall away jumper and take it right at whoever is guarding him. Also if the Celtics get out to a big lead, I look to have the Celts keep the foot on the gas pedal. Now the team sees that the Hawks aren't going away no matter the deficit. Also the Celts have to play better defense and I think they will. Its a huge game tonight.

The Phoenix Suns, Larry Brown, Barry Zito, and Other Unnecessary Sporting Figures

I first want to appoligize once again for my moronic counterpart B Shea, even though I have agreed with most of his latest blogs. I then want to appoligize for my lack of blogging lately. Because of Final exams all week I haven't had the time, but now it's over and I can go back to being right about so many things.

B Shea's prediction of the Suns in five isn't looking good right now. However, down three to one, and clearly with a formula to beat San Antonio, I still like the Suns in seven, like I Originally predicted.

Larry Brown is on the move again, this time comming to save the Charlotte Bobcats who are currently represented by Eastern Michigan Alumni, Earl Boykins. Now a face that reaches taller than 5`5 can lead this team of young guns and poor draft picks. (Ex: Adam Morrison) The question still lies however, Does this team have a chance even with a great coach? Brown most recently couldn't save the New York Knicks who clearly had more talent then, than the Bobcats have now. The difference this time around is that Charlotte actually has people who want to be coached. Bold prediction time; I like the Bobcats to finish sixth in the east next season, pending Michael Jordan doesn't keep interfering with all their practices.

Barry Zito, Pitcher for the San Francisco Giants has been moved to the bullpen. Normally, I enjoy the Giants fail as a professional baseball team after the way the immortalized Barry Bonds* and his cheating home run chase but the way they seem to be giving up on the highest paid pitcher in baseball is sad for all baseball fans. Despite being 0-6 as a starter, his ERA is only 7.53 which means their is still hope. I'm looking for him to bounce back from this and finish the season as strong as anyone on the worst team in the National League can finish a season.

At last Pat Riley has left the Heat, and at a good time too. Other than the Knicks, no team in basketball has less of a future than the Miami Heat. I enjoy Riley leaving as coach because this way he can hire a good coach, wait for him to become succesful, fire him for no reason, then take that team to the playoffs. Good luck Wade... At least your contract is up in two years.

And finally, the Denver Nuggets. Fire George Karl, trade Carmelo Anthony before he drinks and drives his way out of Denver, and start all over through the draft, because this team will never win. To play such poor defense night in and night out and to loose a series four games to none without even caring is saddening. At least they aren't the Knicks...

Pats Draft and Suns/Spurs

The New England Patriots finally got the young linebacker they needed yesterday in the draft. Trading their 7th pick to the Saints and getting the 10th pick, the Pats drafted Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo. Everything I have read about him says that he is a smart player and that he is versatile. Being smart and versatile are two things the Pats are looking for when they acquire players. Mayo should be able to step in and contribute right away. He'll also be able to learn from Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, and possibly Junior Seau if he returns. We will have to wait and see if he plays inside or outside but he will probably play both at some point during the season. Up until this point of the draft, the Pats have drafted another linebacker and 2 conerbacks. Linebacker and conerback are the two positions where we lack the most depth so its good to see those needs addressed.

It is not uncommon for a team to continually get beat by another team in the playoffs every year. It took the Pistons awhile to beat Bird and the Celtics in the 80s. Then those same Pistons frustrated Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the late 80s and early 90s. That is the same dilemma facing the Phoenix Suns now. They have been bounced by the Spurs twice in the playoffs and now they are down 0-3 to them. I picked the Suns because I thought the Spurs got old quickly. But that is clearly not the case. Phoenix blew Game 1. Came out flat in the second half of Game 2. And got smoked on their home court in Game 3. The Suns are about to get swept. One thing I would like to see is Steve Nash man up and play some damn defense on Tony Parker. Parker had some many open shots in Game 3, that its a miracle he didn't score 55. Or maybe have Mike D'Antoni put in DJ Strawberry on him but it could be too little, too late for that. This Suns team as presently constituted will probably be blown up possibly. If not, maybe a full year of Shaq will help but I think the Spurs are in their heads. I don't know if they can ever beat the Spurs.


Here is a warning to Al Hortford and the Hawks : Don't piss off Paul Pierce. He's liable to go off for 40 and I think he will.

The Other 1-2 Punch

Right now the Red Sox are on a roll. They are hitting great, the pitching has been decent to good, and their having the classic Fenway comeback wins. And this all started when Coco Crisp went down with a apparent injury and Jacoby Ellsbury has been playing full time. Jacoby seems to be on base every time he comes up. He's got a .444 OBP and he's batting around .300. Tonight against the Angels he belted 2 home runs. The kid is an absolute stud. He, along with Dustin Pedroia, have been getting on base lately and setting the table for Papi and Manny. During this great run the Sox have been on, Jacoby and Pedroia have been in the middle of it all. Tonight was a perfect example. The game game was tied at 6 in the bottom of the 8th when Jacoby led off with a perfectly placed bunt single in between the first baseman, pitcher, and second baseman. Then Pedroia smoked a ball down the 3rd base line and Ellsbury turned on the jets and scored all the way from first to give the Sox a 7-6 lead. This is just a continuation of Games 3 and 4 of last years World Series where they hit great and were all over the bases. Coco is great defensive center fielder but Theo Epstein has to find someone to take this guy soon because Jacoby is the spark plug for this team. He gives them energy. He's perfect on stealing bases. Him and Pedroia are the perfect 1-2 to start lead a line up.

Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury are my two favorite players on the Red Sox and they may approach "Nomar Status" in my book. Back when I was a kid and Nomar was the best shortstop in baseball, I was absolutely obsessed with Nomar. I did his same batting stance, right down to the toe-tapping and batting glove adjustment. I collected almost every baseball card he was on, I had a bunch of t shirts that his name on it. Probably one of my greatest moments in my life when I went to Fenway and I got his autograph on a Red Sox program with Darren Bragg on the cover. I was absolutely speechless. So all in all, Nomar Status is just the select few athletes that I will serious man-love for (like the Wiz has for Brian Scalabrine). Probably the only athlete that has reached and maybe even surpass Nomar Status is Tom Brady (perhaps it should be changed to Brady Staus but Nomar came first and was my first love I guess). Larry Bird to me is just God but he was before my time, so in my book hes just God. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are approaching Nomar Status with every win. Pedroia and Ellsbury are on their way up. Its just a matter of time really.

NBA Playoffs

If we were in the Big Show right now Wiz, they would be playing the Mr. Rogers Neighborhood make believe music. Its easy to play the what if game on this type of topic. I like to live in reality my good man. The reality is that no one got hurt, thank god, and Carmelo made a mistake. I like to believe that people deserve second chances.


Now on to the NBA Playoffs. We'll start in the Eastern Conference.
Atlanta Hawks vs Boston Celtics- The Celtic defense is just too good. The Celtics have a much better bench and the Garden will shaking. I'm looking forward to the point guard match up between Rondo and Mike Bibby. Bibby always plays well in the playoffs and this is Rondo's first taste of playoffs action. Should be a sweep but 5 games at the most.
Phildelphia 76ers vs Detroit Pistons- The 76ers are better than people think and they will give the Pistons some trouble. Rasheed dosent like to go inside anymore and just hangs around the perimiter now. The 76ers will try and run and run with all those athletes but Detroit is very good at forcing a team to play the halfcourt game. Pistons in 6.
Toranto Raptors vs Orlando Magic- This is an interesting series. The Bosh/Howard match up is one of the best indivdual matchups of the first round. The Raptors are better without TJ Ford and with Jose Calderon. But now Ford is back starting and Calderon is back on the bench playing 20 minutes a game. The Raptors have a ton of shooters and they can get hot for a series but Howard and Hedo Turkaglu are just too much. Magic in 6.
Washington Wizards vs Cleveland Cavilaries- The best first round series in the East. The Wizards can really score and they seem better with Gilbert Arenas coming off the bench. However, as Stephen A. Smith would say, they have called out LeBron. Deshawn Stevenson has called him overrated and Gilbert has been talking on his blog. LeBron plays out of his mind and carrys his sorry supporting cast past the Wizards in 7 games.

Cavs vs Celtics
LeBron cant carry is sorry supporting cast past the Celtics. Ben Wallace cant handle KG and the Celtic bench will be a huge key. Whoever Wally Szczerbiak guards weather Pierce or Ray Allen has a feild day. Tony Allen and James Posey coming off the bench to guard LeBron will be big. LeBron still has a good series but his sorry supporting cast (I'm just gonna refer to them as SSC. Its just eaiser.) dosent do much. Celtics in 6.
Magic vs Pistons
Dwight Howard has the time of his life in this series. Sheed wants no piece of of the paint on defese. Howard will abuse him. However, Sheed draws Howard out the 3 point line and allows Billups and Hamilton to pentrate. I would not be shocked if the Magic win this series but I think the Pistons end up winning in 7.

Eastern Confernce Finals- Pistons vs Celtics
Its that 80s show all over again on this time it will be good. KG has has 3 great games vs the Pistons and has abused Sheed all year. Like I keep saying Sheed wants no part of the paint. This is going to be such a great series. Rondo took a big step in the last Celtics/Pistons matchup. He did a great job on Billups in that game. Once again the Celtic bench will be key. I look for Sam I Am to hit a big shot as well as James Posey. Celtics in 7, baby.


Western Conference
Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Lakers- The Nuggets can be scary because they are so good at scoring the basketball but other than Marcus Cambey, they have no interest in defense. Kobe will have a crazy sereis becuase he'll be able to score at will vs the Nuggets. I think Carmelo and AI have a good series as well but the Nuggets lack of knowledge at the defensive end does them in. Tougher than people think but Lakers in 6.
Dallas Mavericks vs New Orleans Hornets- Upset special. Dirk has got that killer instcit back as he has been carrying the Mavs lately. Dont be shocked in Josh Howard gaurds Chris Paul. I would have Howard gaurd Paul and put Kidd on Morris Peterson. Howard can handle Paul and he should give him some problems with his length and it saves Kidd's legs for offense. The Hornets have little playoff expirence and those that have some were not pleasent expirences. Mavs in 6.
Phoniex Suns vs San Antonio Spurs- The Suns got Shaq just for this matchup. Shaq gives Tim Duncan trouble and Shaq can just concentrate on defense and let Amare and Nash go crazy on offense. The Spurs havent really showed their ususal championship guts this year really. Manu has to go crazy and average 30, I think. This isnt gonna be as close as people think. The Suns have been waiting for this all year and Shaq gives them championship confidence. Suns in 5.
Utah Jazz vs Houston Rockets- The Jazz are so good at home and not too good on the road. The Rockets dont have Rafer Alston for the first 2 games and dont have Yao Ming at all. Tracy McGrady has to have a huge series for the Rokcets to win and he has the history of first round faliure. The second longest win streak in NBA history loses in the first round. Jazz in 6.


Jazz vs Lakers- This gonna be a great series. The key matchup is Carlos Boozer vs Pau Gasol. That should be a great matchup. If I'm not mistaken, the Lakers went into Utah and blew them out so they have that going for them. Deron Willams will have the best series out of everyone in the series. The Jazz are too shaky on the road tho so I'm gonna go with the Lakers in 6.

Mavs vs Suns- Too many weapons for the Mavs to cover. Amare will be unstopable. The Mavs did go into Pheonix and came back from 13 down to win but I dont think that will happen again. This is where the Suns get to run as opposed to in the first round where it was half court game. Suns in 6.

Western Conference Finals- Suns vs Lakers
Shaq vs Kobe. All week we'll be seeing ESPN showing all the Shaq and Kobe stories from the past. We'll see the stupid clip of Shaq giving Kobe a piggy back ride and all those stupid clips. But other than that it should be a great West Final to go with the East Final. Im going with the Lakers be cause I need and want to see a Celtic/Laker NBA Final. Lakers in 7.



NBA Final- Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics.
The most storied rivalry in basketball gets renewd this year. On ESPN Classic and NBA TV, we will get to see all the Celtic/Laker games from years past which is phenomal. The Celtics have more offensive weapons plus the fantastic defense. KG, Pierce and Allen wont let this slip away. Posey and TA's defense on Kobe will be key. Leon Powe will be huge as will Eddie House and Sam I am. The C's swept the Lakers this year. Granted that was before the Lakers had Gasol. But let me ask you this question. Is there really much a difference bewteen the Lakers with Gasol or the Lakers with Andrew Bynum? I dont really see much a differnce. Gasol is better offensively while Bynum is better defensivly. This series will the most watched final ever. It's going to be so much fun, I'm getting goosebumbs just thinking about it. Celtics in 7 and it goes down as one of the best Finals ever.