Boston-Homer

My cup hath runeth over as far as great sporting events goes. I have been extremely lucky in my day, and I hope it continues. I witnessed the greatest day in American Ryder Cup history in 1999; attended six World Cup games in 1994, including a semi-final between Italy and Bulgaria; witnessed Holy Cross clinch two berths into the NCAA hoops tourney (rushed the court once), watched the Red Sox dismantle the Indians 24-6 (John Valentine had 10 RBI) in the playoffs on their way to a comeback from 0-2 down in the series. My third Celtics playoff game of my life might in fact be the top of this particular mountain. I don’t think I will go to the Garden and see a better game, just like Jack Nicholson said, “is this as good as it gets?” In his case he was worried, in my case I think I am at ease with game seven being the best I will see; I think a lot of people in that stadium yesterday will say the same thing.
Halfway through the third quarter when LeBron and Pierce were matching baskets I turned to my buddy Phil and said, "this is just like Bird and Dominique" (my dad was at that game, and says it was at the top of his list). He knew exactly what I meant. After beating up on each other for six games they saved their best for last. Pierce had only been scoring 16 points a game, including a four point outburst in game one. LeBron was held in check for most of the series, but just like a fat baby wearing a diaper, we were all waiting for a bomb. I thought LeBron could win one game in this series on his shear talent. Pierce made sure it didn’t happen.
The lasting memory of the game will be Pierce laying on the floor after the pivotal jump ball. Pierce laid-out, won the ball, then called timeout. He lay on his back, ball in hand simply jubilant that he had won the ball back. At that point in the game there was exactly one minute left and the Celtics were up 3. If the Cavs win the jump ball the game could have gone the other way. Pierce has always worked hard, he is one of my favorite Celtics of all time. He works hard and although he scowls and whines a little bit (but not as much as LeBron…) he has been through the roughest patch this franchise has seen and he has stuck in there. His patience is paying off, only 14 more games to play until he gets that ring…
The Pistons series will be interesting because I think it will be brutally boring if you are someone who loves 90+ point scoring and up-tempo hoops. These are the two best defenses in basketball, every point will be earned. The Billups – Rondo, House, Cassell, Tony Allen match-up will be very interesting. Billups is a bigger guy who beats up Rondo a little bit. Billups averaged 22 points in the three games they played this year. The back-ups are not known for their defense. House had a great game six and seven, adding energy but he is not a great defender. Cassell simply blows right now, he cannot score and he would struggle to guard a YMCA pick-up hoopster at this point. Allen has been sitting a lot and that means two things: rest or rust. It will be interesting to see how enterprising Doc is in stopping Billups, whose bum hamstring is apparently 100%.
I think the Celts are going to have a hard time winning this series. The veteran Pistons do not look as shaky as they did last year. A rallying cry on the radio today was that Cavs beat the Pistons last year and we just beat the Cavs. What a ridiculous concept, the Pistons were not good last year and gutted it out to get as far as they did. LeBron was a buzz saw in that series. This year is very different. I think the Pistons will be able to come into the Garden and steal one. The Cavs had their chance in game one and didn’t have the experience. In a close game in the Garden the Pistons can come out with a win, which scares me. I don’t think the Celts have the same ability to go into Detroit and get a game. With that being said, I have to go with the Celts in (gulp) 7…
The NBA blew it last night. Why did they give the Hornets and Spurs 4 days off?! They could have had a game seven double header on Sunday instead of having the game start at 10:00 last night. They hid the defending champs and the most exciting point guard in recent memory on a Monday. Great job NBA.
So happy for John Lester, I saw none of the game and turned the radio on at 10:00 to hear the great news. 4 no hitters in 7 years? Unreal. Jason Varitek deserves a lot of credit for all of those, especially considering the last two have been by pitchers who have less than 30 career starts (Buckholtz was making his second start ever). Just goes to show his value to this team.