Thursday, May 29, 2008

Alright, so I have to be honest. I have grown a little tired of talking about the Celtics and I have definitely grown tired of the NBA having the games start so late. There is no way for anyone under the age of 16 to stay up and watch the end of any of the Conference Finals, and the finals will all start after 9:00, even on Father's Day. I have no idea what the NBA is thinking, but it does not make any sense to me. For a league who has struggled with its identity, wouldn't you think they would want people to see the new and improved league? I guess not. Anyway, C's lose tomorrow night then take game seven.

If the Red Sox lose but no one is awake to watch it, does it really happen? If this happened last year they would be KILLED on the radio. The Celtics have proven a fantastic distraction to the road weary Red Sox. I think the Sox and C's are a combined 12-25 on the road...wow...

Its Friday and what better way to waste time than with a bunch of links... Happy Weekend...

Here is a interesting tidbit... the British Office was actually taken from the Japanese Office...

Legends of the Hidden Temple...enjoy

The best 12 year old football player ever...

Dimtri Martin, absolutely hilarious...

Very cool clip of a lion recognizing old owners...

Chris Farley at his finest...

Kevin Spacey doing impersonations, better than Frank Caliendo...

Digital Short, laser cats...

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Here are my thoughts before game four on Sunday night these thoughts will be followed by some in-game thoughts throughout the game

Well the Celtics bucked two trends in the span of 2 nights. What an unreal performance by the Pistons on Thursday night followed by a great Celtics effort on Saturday night. Looking ahead to game four I think the Celtics are very dangerous. They are playing with house money . They have home court advantage back and can play loose and free tonight. In their 100th game of the season the Celtics will look to win their 77th game. With Billups hurting and now more time being asked of Stuckey, I think the Celtics win game four in a very closely battled game.

6:39 left in first quarter: Well the Celtics came out flat and are down 13-4 after McDyess hit a free throw. This game has started in exactly the opposite way as game three. Celts might not score 14 points this quarter…

End of First: Well that quarter was a tale of two halves. The one thing I missed though was Maxiell blocking KG. I stepped out of the room for 15 minutes and I guess I missed it and all of the replays, oh well... The Celtics chipped away and found their way to the free throw line. I was surprised Billups didnt get a rest. It should be interesting to see how his minutes go the rest of the game.

On a side note: Are those hydroxycut "before" and "after" shots the most fake of any "before" and "after" pictures ever?

Doc Rivers just complimented Michelle Tafoya twice in one of those sideline interviews. Good thing he didnt ask her to kiss him

4:55 left in second quarter: The Celtics are hanging around, they cant seem to get closer than 5 points though... I need to talk about two things before I forget. Is anyone else highly annoyed by the P.A. announcer at the Pistons games? The only thing more annoying in my mind are those awful Heinenken commercials with that horrible jingle. It drives me crazy. The second thing is Kendrick Perkins. He might be the new poster boy for players I can understand opposing fans absolutely hating. His posing bothers me and he seems constantly constipated…

How about the week Detriot fans are having. The Stanley Cup finals and Eastern Conf. Finals have synced up so they are playing on the same nights. People always talk about Boston sports and how great they are doing. But does it get any better than Detriot right now?
Halftime: It was always preached to me that you need to start and finish halves strong. The Celts have a hard time doing that sometimes, but they finished the half strong going on a 6-0 run in the last two minutes. It seems as if the win on Saturday has given the C's a little confidence even when trailing on the road. The key to the second half will be the ability to play solid defense and keep Billups in check.
Stuart Scott passes my "would I have the urge to punch him if he was sitting behind me at the ballpark" test. That puts him on the list with Chris Berman....

8:oo min left in third quarter: Celtics come out flat again to start half. Personally I think how a team starts and finishes quarters is largely placed on the shoulders of the coach. And the Celtics never seem to really start and finished quarters well. They dont do it consistently enough... Maybe Doc is a little too focused on Michelle Tafoya…

My current living situation forced me to listen to the rest of the game on the radio as I drove into Boston. The entire fourth quarter felt like game six of the Cleveland series. The Celts could not climb that final mountain and get the lead. It was disappointing, but if you told me the C's would get one win on the road this weekend I would have taken it. Now back to Boston for this three game series...

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

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.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

A few months ago I wrote about the Celtics game I went to in New Orleans. The Celtics lost in a way that scared me. I couldn't find the post on the now defunct (defunked?) lunchhournews.com to back up this claim. I pretty much said the Celtics got frazzled, they lost composure in a hostile environment. Rivers trotted out Cassell, Pierce, Brown, Big Baby, and Perkins in the fourth quarter of that game. I never thought I would see that unit again...until I saw it IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF GAME FOUR! They were terrible, the entire team was terrible in the fourth quarter proving they cannot win on the road in the playoffs.

A trend is a trend. The Celtics now have two trends in the playoffs; they win at home and lose on the road. This trend will continue until they meet the Pistons in the next round. The Pistons are good enough to beat the C's in the Garden. For the C's to make the Finals and win, they need to exorcise the road demon or else they will be exercising in the off-season earlier than they want (see what I did there).

If you open your paper up, flip to the AL East standings and flip them up-side-down it might look like 1998. If you turn it back to 2008 you might be shocked to see the Tampa Bay Rays at the top and the New York Yankees at the bottom. You also might find Hank Steinbrenner sitting in his office rocking back and forth battling the chills. If the Rays were in any other division I would be rooting for them. But I need the Sox to turn it around, this Celtics thing is going leave a deep wound that the Sox might be able to stitch up... Can the Rays keep this up, I say yes. The All-Star will be when they begin a slide. Will the Yankees fix themselves? No, the trading deadline will prove that when they make a big splash and it does not pay off. Hughes and Kennedy have been a nightmare. The Yanks also need to find a permanent home for Chamberlain, is he a starter or a closer.

Arlen Spector needs to find a day job. This endless digging for answers is so vindictive. Asking for a "Mitchell Report" type investigation is ridiculous. Firstly, the steriods problem was a wide broad search. This is a witch hunt. There is nothing regarding other NFL teams and the width of any problems. Spector thinks that his Eagles were wronged against the Pats in the Super Bowl. He wanted Matt Walsh, he got his MacNamee and he found nothing new. In a country at war and struggling with an energy crisis he is finding time to make this a big deal. What a joke.

Links:
Is the Sports Guy on the move? Deadspin seems to think so

Here is his new blog. Maybe he wants to fill a position at The Boston Globe, they have lost a lot of sports journalists...

Did you see Manny's catch, high-five, and double play? Awesome....

Man Cave? I would have expected more, but gotta love the idea...

Sunday, May 11, 2008

What do you call the opposite of a road warrior? Give up? The answer: The Boston Celtics. In another sad showing, the C's were waxed in Cleveland. They were down 12 points after four minutes of basketball and never cut the deficit under that in the next 44 minutes. They played terrible defense (again), looked scared (again), and were out-husseled (again!). Rondo and Cassel combined for 3-16 shooting from the field, 8 total points, 2 assists in 42 minutes. Rondo has lost his confidence on the road. The fear when Cassell came to town was that Rondo would lose minutes and thus confidence. It didn't happen until the playoffs when Cassell has been allowed to chuck up shots and shoot terribly on the road (0-6 in game 3). With every loss on the road the C's get into a deeper psychological hole. If they don't dig themselves out they won't be lifting up the Larry O'Brien trophy in September when the Finals ends...
The road troubles seem to be affecting everyone, in the second round as of Saturday night the home teams are 12-1, the Pistons being the only team to win on the road.



With Tiger not playing this week at the Players Championship due to his knee surgery it just does not feel the same. I know that his presence in tournaments makes them more enjoyable for me. It begs the question, has Tiger ruined professional golf more than helped it? Obviouslythat question can be answered in a ton of ways. Yes, he has improved the game immeasurably. However, as a spectator sport his absence makes golf not truly worth watching. I watched a chunk of the Player's Championship, but it just is not the same. Without him at a tournament I have a hard time watching. It will be interesting to see the ratings, maybe I am the only one who feels this way. But something tells me I am not.

(That paragraph was written before the tournament ended. What a finish, and as someone who has always begrudingly liked Sergio I was happy to see him win. I really only dislike him when he is playing in the Ryder Cup... So I guess Tiger does not always create good finishes. Just like Sergio said after he won today "I would like to first off thank Tiger for not being here...it makes it a lot easier on all of us.")

Manchester United won the English Premier League on Sunday. It is the first time in four years. They beat Wiggan and Chelsea tied with Bolton to give United the outright league championship. On May 21st Chelsea and United will face off in Moscow for the Champions League trophy in a very rare all English affair in the European wide club tournament. England has secured itself as the best league in the world, and I would love to argue that with anyone.

The Sox had some interesting finished in the past week. Johnathan Papelbon blew two saves, one we can attribute to Julio Lugo. Jed Lowrie just got sent down to make room for Sean Casey. Lugo is an overpaid bum who should be replaced by Jed Lowrie. More on the Sox this week, it does not feel like baseball season with the Celts in the playoffs. What a strange feeling...

Links:
What a mess O.J Mayo is in...

Watch these two interviews with Kevin Garnett...the guy oozes intensity... With Bill Russel and one with John Thompson

Finally, the disaster in Myanmar is worth your time and maybe a little bit of your money... Dan Rivers went into the country and was literally hunted down by the police for filming inside the country.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Quick Hits

In lue of a big preview of the Celts series I will leave it at this. Celts will win in six games. I just dont see the Cavs giving the C's as much trouble as the Hawks. The Hawks were athletic and got to the hoop and when they won the free throw battle they won. The Cavs are more perimeter focused, they have a lot of jump shooters. LeBron can obviously win a series, but I think the C's have a lot of guys (and fouls) they can use on him. James Posey and Paul Pierce will get the brunt of the work, but Tony Allen might get some minutes too. I look for the C's to double him and make his supporting cast hit big shots. I dont think they can sustain good shooting for enough games to take the series.
My one concern is KG. Ben Wallace and Ilguaskas are monsters. If KG can float out and bring those guys out of the paint using that deadly jumper it will open up things for Pierce and Rondo in the lanes. But look for KG's rebound numbers to go down.
The Hornets are making my "Hornets in seven" prediction lok silly. The Spurs seem old and Chris Paul is a trancendent player. We will se what happens in San Antonio, I think this series still goes the full seven, with the Hornets taking advantage of home court.
Pistons are in full control of a young and green Magic team, and the Lakers should be fine against the Jazz.
So Celts in six, I think they win by seven points tonight. Pierce has a big game and Ray Allen snaps out of his min-funk.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Before Game Seven

Good God, I am nervous. The lead up to this game feels a lot like the Pats-Giants Super Bowl. I felt good until right before the game. This feels the same way. I spent the morning diving into the Boston Globe and Atlanta Journal Constitution. Dan Shaughnessy said this game was an "embarrassment." A game that should never have happened, a game that will be forgotten if the Celts win and move deeper into the playoffs; but possibly a game that could morph into a rallying cry for every underdog from here forward. Just as the Yankees - Red Sox 2004 series will forever be a rallying point for teams down 3-0... back to check in at halftime. Kevin Garnett just screamed on the Jumbotron, it nevers get old...hopefully this isnt the last time we see it this season....

First Quarter:
It seems like the refs are not going to get too involved in this game. Game sevens are under a microscope, and the NBA does not need the refs blowing a series for either team. The Hawks are getting to the bucket but not getting the calls. The Celtics owned the glass, but Joe Johnson was allowed to run a little too free and he hit his only three attempts, all from behind the arc. Celts need to keep the pace where it is and make sure Joe Johnson doesnt get hot and carry the Hawks...

Second Quarter:
This game is D-U-N done. There is no way the Hawks come back. The refs are not giving them any fouls going to the hoop, they can't score, and they are not forcing the Celts to miss so they can get out and run. They showed Mike Woodson talking to his team before the game, he told them to "defend, rebound, and get out and run." They have done none of those things, and that is why they might struggle to score 70 points. Their dominance at home today will lead to the constant questions of their Jekyll and Hyde act. If it keeps up can they win the Championship? Only time will tell...

End of Game:
Phew, well the Celts escaped this one. A seven game series against an eight seed is a little embarrassing, however the way they won their home games was unreal. They absolutely dominated game seven. People can talk about how this series should not have gone this far, but it means they are forgetting how good the Celts and Hawks were at home. Personally I don't think the Celts will struggle with the Cavs in the next round, especially on the road. This series was like a great tennis match between two monster servers. Each player managed to hold serve, and the better tennis player held on during the tie-breaker. The Cavs are an outside shooting team without the type of explosiveness that the Hawks had. I understand LeBron can win a series by himself, but the Celts defense is the best in the league, and they will be prepared.
The Celts beat the Hawks all three times they faced them in the regular season. They won by 23 the first game in November, the final two games were competetive though. The Celts won by 10 and 9. So this Hawks team was improving all season.
More to some this week on the Celts and the playoffs...

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Thoughts before a game seven...

I figured I needed to get some thoughts out before Sunday's game seven, just so I can get some credit for any profound comment I make. Or so I can eat crow when I am way off base (much more likely).
Game six was a tough game to watch. I had the feeling nearly the whole game that the Hawks were going to pull out a win. The bandwagon fans were loud and the Hawks were feeding off of it. The refs were giving the Hawks every call going to the hoop, ending in a +22 free throw difference (47-25). The biggest foul call was the one against Pierce that caused him to foul out. It was a ticky-tack call that really had no bearing on the outcome of the play. His absence in the final 10 seconds when the C's had a chance to tie was huge. The Hawks could focus solely on Ray Allen and KG is a non-factor in a three point deficit.
Before last night's game my buddy Burke asked me if losing two games on the road was a big deal. I said losing two isn't bad, but losing three could be detrimental. They had the opportunity to exorcise the demons on the road, and all they did was awaken more demons.
Whatever happens in game seven it will be a microcosm of the entire series. Either a) the Celts earned home court and utilized it by dominating the Hawks in four games; or b) the favorite let the underdog stick around too long and let them believe they could win.
My favorite non-Celtic plot of the playoffs is getting to watch Tony Parker and Chris Paul battle for the next 34 weeks in their second round match-up. These two guys are so talented and although I don't think the match-up will predict the outcome (the benches and David West will decide that I believe) I think they will be truly entertaining. The teams split their regular season 2-2. Paul outscored Parker 22ppg to Parker's 19.5 ppg. Paul also had 9.5 assists to Parker's 5.5. It will be a fantastic series that I think the Hornets will take it in 7 games (I will get the crow ready for that one...)
Oh, and Celtics win by 20 in game seven and move on to play Cleveland...

Thursday, May 01, 2008

A walk through the garden.

What a fantastic night at the Garden On Wednesday. Although it was a late start for an old fart the game kept me intrigued and not staring at the clock.
If the Celts make it through this round, which I think they will, we will have learned one very important thing about them thus far. The road Celtics and the home Celtics are not equal in the playoffs. They have three big name players, but none of them seem to have the ability to calm down the team when the crowd and opposition are rolling with momentum.
When a team mismantles another like the Celtics have done to the Hawks in Boston it is perplexing that intensity can't travel with them. It has been a story of four teams in this series. Two good ones and two bad ones.
The bench was off the charts last night. Cassell and Powe were dominant when they were in. Doc Rivers even gave Tony Allen a brief run, which was nice to see until he started chucking up 3's.
A question I think that needs to be answered at this point in his career is where does Paul Pierce fall in all-time Celtics? That might be a two part Blogathon...
The Celtics trip through the playoffs is not going to be as easy as I thought it was going to be. The Magic are the only team to have dispatched their opponent quickly and effectively. The Celtics have used more energy than they had planned in this series. That might come back to haunt them later on, especially on the road.

The Kentucky Derby is this weekend. It is firmly placed on my list of things I want to do before I die. The Masters and Derby both hold that sense of tradition that I dont think any other sporting event in the country holds, except maybe the Mayor's Cup...

Speaking of traditions, here is John Daly making an ass of himself... this time shirtless. Viewer Discretion is advised.