Boston Bias: The best local coverage of Boston's four pro sports teams (Red Sox, B's, Celts, Pats)

Reports Of The Celtics Demise (From Myself & Many Others) Were Very Premature

2012-01-28T00:10:00.002-08:00

I'm a big boy so I can admit when I'm wrong about something. After the last two nights, the Boston Celtics have proven to me, the Eastern Conference and the NBA that they're not hopeless.

You would think that their 27-point comeback in Orlando on Thursday would leave them dead for tonight's game at TD Garden against the Pacers, a team that had beaten them twice already, yet the Celts (9-9) won their fourth straight 94-87.

It was the second night of a back-to-back, vs. a playoff team but Boston didn't care as they recorded their fifth win in the last six tries.

Did I mention that Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Jermaine O'Neal and Keyon Dooling were all out? It makes no sense that this team would find its legs and defensive identity with such a shortage of bodies but welcome to the NBA in 2011-12.

Indiana (12-6) had no answer for Paul Pierce (28 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks), who is playing some inspired basketball. Building off his nice game against the Magic, Chris Wilcox added 14 points and six rebounds off the bench.

Kevin Garnett and Mickael Pietrus each had 13 points and eight rebounds while Brandon Bass scored 12.

The fantasy stud but real life enigma Danny Granger led the Pacers with 21 points. Paul George had 16 points, David West scored 14 and Roy Hibbert added 11 points.

I honestly can't explain how the Celts have morphed from a joke to a solid, competitive team in the span of a few weeks. Whatever the reason, I love it since I was pretty much dreading their games earlier in the season.

The C's led from start to finish: 23-17 after the first quarter, 42-34 at halftime and 71-61 after three quarters.

Boston shot 45.8% and held Indiana to 35.0%. The Celtics made five more 3s (6-1) which made up for the Pacers advantage at the free throw line (30-12). I don't think I've ever seen a team lose when they shot 30 of 31 from the line but the Pacers screwed themselves by going 1 of 19 from downtown. Boston grabbed three more rebounds (45-42) and dished out 10 more assists (21-11) without Rondo! The Pacers had three more steals (9-6) but the Celtics had four more blocks (7-3).

Indiana's age showed in the fast break points (23-6) but Boston beat them with the old man game down low (48-42) in the paint.

The Cleveland Cavaliers visit the Garden on Sunday in the first leg of a home-and-home series. The Cavs are still in full out rebuilding mode Post-LeBron but their No. 1 pick, point guard Kyrie Irving out of Duke, looks like a real good one.

If the C's can continue this defensive intensity and efficiency on the offensive end, they are going to be tough to beat when Rondo and Allen return. Moreover, I'm not going to underestimate them or doubt head coach Doc Rivers for the rest of the regular season.

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Just Your Run Of The Mill 27-Point Comeback Win By The Celtics Over The Magic, In Orlando

2012-01-26T22:45:00.001-08:00

You have to hand it to the Orlando Magic. Twice in the last four days they've made losing to the Boston Celtics an art form.

After scoring a franchise-low 56 points in a pathetic 87-56 loss at TD Garden on Monday, the Magic (12-6) topped themselves with a 91-83 loss to the Celtics (8-9) at Amway Center tonight that will be talked about for years to come.

Orlando was up 27 points (52-25) with 3:11 left in the first half but somehow, they squandered that insurmountable lead to Boston, who was missing Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Jermaine O'Neal.

It was the Celtics' third straight win and their second against a quality team (both vs. the Magic). Boston undoubtedly has their number, the third and final chapter in the regular season is not until April 18 back at the Garden.

As befitting a game as batshit crazy as this one, the Celts got unexpectedly great contributions from rookie guard E'Twaun Moore (career-high 16 points, 4 of 4 on 3s) and Chris Wilcox (4 points, 3 rebounds, steal), who gave them a spark off the bench when Kevin Garnett (12 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals) needed a break.

Let's also not forget the spectacular all-around game by Paul Pierce (24 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds) and Mickael Pietrus' (12 points) fine performance in his former home arena. Brandon Bass added 10 points, two steals and two blocks against his old team as well.

Somehow when he faced only KG, Wilcox and Greg Stiemsma (4 fouls in 7 minutes), Dwight Howard managed only 16 points and 16 rebounds. I guess that's what happens when you shoot 50% from the floor (6 of 12) and 50% from the foul line (4-8).

Jason Richardson had 13 points, Ryan Anderson added 12 points, Jameer Nelson had 11 points and Hedo Turkoglu scored 10 but none of them could help Orlando avoid an eight-point fourth quarter. Really.

Glen Davis (3 for 11, 7 points) was horrible for the second time in a row against his old team; I'm shocked that such a mentally stable guy would psyche himself out like that.

What this victory meant for the Celtics and their fans is that despite many things going against them, this squad has an abundance of heart and resolve. They had every excuse to pack it in tonight, especially when they went down big right away but they kept plugging away and eventually the Magic cracked/the Celtics executed.

Orlando led 32-16 after the first quarter and 58-37 at halftime-they scored more in the first half then they did on Monday! Boston came alive in the third (27-17) and sealed it in the fourth (27-8).

After starting out ice cold, the Celtics finished with a very respectable 46.6% shooting percentage to 38.0% for the Magic. Boston hit five more 3s (10-5) but Orlando hit five more free throws (18-13). The Magic had nine more rebounds (46-37) but the Celts had seven more assists (23-16). Orlando had four more steals (10-6) but Boston had eight more blocks (11-3) which is insane when you think about it. The Magic owned the paint (38-22) and converted way more off turnovers (25-15).

With a game tomorrow night against the Pacers at TD Garden, a team that has already beaten them twice, I will give the C's a pass for what almost certainly will be a loss. Tonight's win showed that with improved health and a few shrewd moves, they could make some noise in the Eastern Conference after all this season.

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Zdeno Chara Makes It Easy For Bruins Fans Watching The All-Star Festivities

2012-01-26T22:18:00.001-08:00

The 2012 NHL All-Star draft took place tonight in Ottawa with captains Daniel Alfredsson and Zdeno Chara sticking tight to their teammates and other obvious connections.

Chara had the first pick overall (after a coin flip) in the second annual draft (which really spices up the weekend) and he took Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk while Alfredsson selected teammate (and fellow Swede) Erik Karlsson.

With his next pick, Chara took teammate Tim Thomas. Alfredsson stuck to his Senator and Swede theme as he also chose Henrik Lundqvist (assistant captain), Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek, the Sedin sisters plus Claude Giroux (who grew up in the area) and former Ottawa goaltender Brian Elliott.

Chara made Tyler Seguin sweat for a while but he eventually took him along with former Bruin Phil Kessel. Haha Seguin and Kessel on the same team.

Sharks forward Logan Couture was Mr. Irrelevant but the good-natured youngster seemed to take it in stride. There was no pouting like Kessel last season. After all, he got a new car and a donation to the charity of his choosing so who cares? They are all big boys that should be able to handle it.

Joffrey Lupul (assistant captain) and Jamie Benn are also on Team Chara along with Marian Hossa, Evgeni Malkin, Kimmo Timonen, Corey Perry, Carey Price, Ryan Suter, Jimmy Howard, Brian Campbell, Patrick Kane, Dion Phaneuf, Jarome Iginla, Dennis Wideman, Marian Gaborik and Jordan Eberle.

Team Alfredsson is rounded out by Jonathan Quick, Kris Letang, Steven Stamkos, Shea Weber, Dan Giardi, Keith Yandle, James Neal, Alexander Edler, John Tavares, Scott Hartnell and Jason Pominville.

Chara's rookies are Luke Adam, Raphael Diaz, Colin Greening, Cody Hodgson, Ryan Johansen and Gabriel Landeskog.

Alfredsson's rookies are Sean Courtier, Justin Faulk, Carl Hagelin, Nick Johnson, Matt Read and Craig Smith.

The skills competition takes place on Saturday night, that's the only event that the rookies will participate in.

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New Closer Andrew Bailey Agrees To 1-Year Deal With The Boston Red Sox

2012-01-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

The list of players eligible for salary arbitration with the Boston Red Sox gets shorter by the day.

It was new closer Andrew Bailey's turn to get paid today as he agreed to a one-year deal worth $3.9 million. In penny-pinching Oakland last season, he made $465,000. He asked for $4.7 million and the Red Sox offered $3.35 million.

The 27-year-old Bailey can earn an additional $100,000 in performance bonuses: $50,000 for finishing 50 games and another $50,000 for finishing 55 games.

You'll remember that Bailey was acquired before New Year's in a deal with the A's. Boston got him and outfielder Ryan Sweeney in exchange for outfielder Josh Reddick, infield prospect Miles Head and minor league pitcher Raul Alcantara.

Now it comes down to David Ortiz and Alfredo Aceves who are the only remaining members of the Red Sox that are eligible for salary arbitration.

UPDATE 1/26: The Red Sox officially signed Cody Ross today and designated reliever Scott Atchison for assignment.

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Time For Some Rest: Capitals Beat Bruins 5-3 In Final Game Before All-Star Break

2012-01-24T20:35:00.001-08:00

It is cliche to say it, I think every announcer in each professional sport is obligated to roll out this line but the All-Star break really couldn't come at a better time for the Boston Bruins.

After falling 5-3 tonight to the Washington Capitals (26-19-3) at the Verizon Center, the B's (31-14-2) completed a very tough stretch (6 of 7 on the road) with an uneven 3-4 mark.

Now, most of the team (except Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara, Tyler Seguin, head coach Claude Julien and his assistants) get almost a week off since their next game isn't until next Tuesday against Ottawa. That kicks off a three-game stretch at TD Garden, a place that they haven't occupied too much lately.

The Caps got a hat trick from Mathieu Perreault in an exciting contest that wasn't decided until former Bruins scapegoat Dennis Wideman scored an empty-netter. It was an impressive win for Washington considering that their superstar Alex Ovechkin was out due to a suspension.

Thomas took a seat on the bench this evening, giving him more time to write some vital Facebook posts and Tuukka Rask (18 saves; 11-5-2) got the start.

Rich Peverley (8th of the season) gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the first period at 17:46 when his centering pass deflected off a Washington stick and past Tomas Vokoun (29 saves). Patrice Bergeron and Dennis Seidenberg had the assists.

Depending on how much you enjoy defense, the second period was either thrilling or frustrating. Cody Eakin (4th of the season) tied it at 1 when his easy shot dropped off Rask's blocker and slowly crossed the goal line at 2:14. Just 41 seconds later, the Capitals did a solid Bruins impersonation as Perreault (5th in the season) struck in the vulnerable minute (copyright New Jack Edwards), at 2:55. It went off his skate but for some reason, it wasn't reviewed.

Tyler Seguin (19th of the season) tied it at 2 thanks to an ugly turnover by a Capitals defenseman. Seguin walked in on Vokoun and beat him with a sweet roofed backhander. Steven Kampfer (taking Andrew Ference's place-serving his second game of a three-game suspension) had the assist.

Johnny Boychuk handed a breakaway to Perreault at 14:23 and he was able to score his second goal of the game.

President Obama's favorite Bruin Brad Marchand (17th of the season) tied it at 3 late in the second thanks to a power-play goal. He followed Seidenberg's shot from the point and flipped in the rebound. Bergeron had the second assist.

At 3-3 heading into the third and with only 20 minutes before the All-Star break, the Bruins had a nice opportunity to earn two points on the road but they couldn't do it. Perreault completed his hat trick at 7:18 from Roman Hamrlik (2 assists) and Marcus Johansson. Perreault was in the right place in front of Rask since the puck found him by the net and he reacted quickly.

Wideman's (9th of the season) length of the rink clear came with 27 seconds left, a nice moment for him against his old team and a proper send-off as he goes to Ottawa this weekend for the All-Star game (really).

The Fantasy Draft is on Thursday, the skills competition is on Saturday and the game is on Sunday. I'll keep you posted with any notable information about the aforementioned Bruins that will be in Canada's capital.

After a nightmare in October, the B's were spectacular in November, December and early January. I'm confident they'll come back fresh and ready to tackle the final 35 games in the regular season as they get ready for the stretch run and the playoffs.

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Orlando Celebrates Big Baby & Von Wafer's Return to Boston By Scoring A Franchise-Low 56 Points

2012-01-23T21:48:00.001-08:00

The Boston Celtics only had 10 players available tonight as they hosted the Orlando Magic at TD Garden. A whopping five (Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Mickael Pietrus, Keyon Dooling and Chris Wilcox) Celtics missed the game due to various injuries.

The Magic (11-5) came in as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conferences and an early surprise in the NBA. In Glen Davis and more importantly Von Wafer's return to Boston, the Celts (7-9) won 87-56 as the Magic did their best to spit on James Naismith's grave.

It was Boston's first win against a .500 team plus it was in the second night of a back-to-back, truly one of the most surprising results in recent Boston sports history.

Orlando set a new franchise record for fewest points in a game, worst shooting percentage (24.6%), fewest points in a half (20 in the 2nd) and total field goals (16). Dwight Howard (18 points, 14 rebounds) was 4 of 15 from the floor and 10 of 18 from the foul line. As far as I can tell, he still hasn't developed any kind of post game that doesn't involve dunks or awkward spin moves that don't work. Well at least he's cleaned up his free throws, oh wait.

Big Baby got a video montage dedicated to him and he proceeded to have a horrid game: six points (2 of 9 shooting) and 11 rebounds off the bench. Wafer had five points off the bench.

Avery Bradley and Sasha Pavlovic (9 points) will be able to tell their grandkids that not only did they start a game for the Celts but they also helped to beat one of the most overrated teams in not only the NBA but professional sports. Orlando hasn't changed their style at all the last few years: surround Howard with a bunch of one-dimensional 3-point shooters. The issue is that when those 3s aren't falling (4 of 16), they have nobody that can drive and get to the line (or in Howard's case, make free throws).

Paul Pierce had another solid game with 19 points and seven assists. Kevin Garnett added 14 points, 10 rebounds and five steals while Jermaine O'Neal had nine rebounds and took three charges. Ex-Magic forward Brandon Bass had 19 points and eight rebounds off the bench while Marquis Daniels finally looked like himself with eight points and five assists.

Boston shot 42.3% from the field and hit all 19 of its free throws. The Celts grabbed two more rebounds (46-44), had nine more assists (21-12), eight more steals (13-5), three more blocks (9-6) and eight less turnovers (23-15). The C's owned fast break points (11-4), points in the paint (34-16) and points off turnovers (24-6).

In a weird scheduling quirk, these same teams meet again on Thursday in Orlando. I'm going to guess that the Magic will score a few more points the second time around. There is absolutely no way that Orlando can play worse so I'll be impressed if Boston can beat them again in the second of three meetings this season.

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Your New Red Sox Outfielder: Cody Ross

2012-01-23T21:06:00.001-08:00

You're a smarter person than myself if you can calmly explain to me the thinking behind the moves by the Boston Red Sox this winter.

They are doing everything they can to avoid addressing their biggest need-a dependable No. 4 or 5 starter yet they continue to add utility players, relievers, washed up starters and outfielders.

Tonight, they agreed to a one-year $3 million contract with former San Francisco outfielder Cody Ross. He's 31 but the Red Sox will be his sixth MLB franchise in an eight-year career.

Last season with the Giants, in 121 games he hit 14 home runs, 52 RBIs, 97 hits, 25 doubles with 54 runs scored. His batting average was .240 with a .325 OBP and .405 SLG for a .730 OPS.

His best year was with the Marlins in 2009. He had 24 home runs, 90 RBIs, 151 hits, 37 doubles and scored 73 runs. His batting average was .270 with a .321 OBP and .469 SLG for a .790 OPS.

He's a career .261 hitter with .323 OBP and .456 SLG for a .779 OPS. In his career, he's hit .282 against lefties with a .912 OPS. The only reason the average baseball fan knows who he is lies in the 2010 NLCS MVP award that he won for San Francisco during their remarkable World Series title run.

With Carl Crawford's wrist flaring up last week and needing surgery plus Ryan Kalish's unknown status, it's a fair bet that Ross will be an Opening Day starter for the Red Sox in either left or right field. You just have to look around the AL East (CC Sabathia, Ricky Romero, David Price) to realize why they picked up another righthanded hitter that plays in the outfield and can hit lefties.

Now how about Roy Oswalt?

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President Obama Hosts The Bruins At The White House, Minus One Key Player

2012-01-23T20:42:00.001-08:00

It's been my experience in life that nothing brings down the mood at a party or during a meal like a discussion of politics or religion. I'm tolerant of any beliefs in either but I have a very short fuse for people that feel the need to inject those subjects in every conversation.

By all accounts, the Boston Bruins had a wonderful day at the White House on Monday as they were hosted by President Barack Obama. They took the tour like every other championship team and got stand on stage while Obama detailed their 2010-11 title run and the good deeds of the franchise in the community. They also presented Obama with a custom Bruins jersey (No. 11 like Gregory Campbell).

Besides the fact of where it was located, it was not a political event, at all. Unfortunately B's goaltender Tim Thomas had another view of the proceedings since he was the only team member not to attend. The lame decision was made even more pathetic when Thomas issued a statement through his Facebook account defending his move. Everybody knows that goalies are naturally flaky, it's a lonely position (like kickers in the NFL) but this is a new low.

Ugh. I don't expect much from professional athletes. I know that most of them are way too self-absorbed and not well-informed to provide any type of interesting commentary on basically anything (look at Twitter every day). This won't make me dislike Thomas or stop rooting for the guy but it certainly doesn't help his cause.

I had a feeling that he was a religious freak since his kids go to a Christian elementary school in Peabody that no normal family would choose. Thomas is awkward in interviews and not well-spoken but I never dreamed that he would make such a dumb decision like this. On a day when it should have been all about the team and what they accomplished, he shifted the focus to himself (for whatever reason). The ironic part is that he's one of only two Americans (Steven Kampfer is the other) on the team; do you think all the Canadien and Europeans care as much about a trip to the White House? Probably not but at least they realized what the day was all about.

Strictly on timing, he's lucky that the Patriots are in the Super Bowl otherwise this story would have a lot more legs. Likewise, he's going to the All-Star game in Ottawa this weekend but if there were a busier schedule this week, I think he'd get grilled more by the media and rightfully so.

Stick to stopping the puck Tim, nobody needs to know your political opinions if they are as poorly constructed as today's fiasco leads one to believe.

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Patriots Are Headed Back To The Super Bowl After A 23-20 Win Over The Ravens

2012-01-22T23:13:00.000-08:00

It had been four years since the New England Patriots reached the Super Bowl. For most of this season, I never would have believed that this current edition of the Pats had a prayer of reaching Super Bowl 46 in Indianapolis but thanks to many breaks and good fortune, they put themselves in the AFC Championship game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Through another series of insane events, the Patriots (15-3) beat the Ravens (13-5) 23-20 this afternoon at Gillette Stadium. With the Giants' (12-7) 20-17 overtime win in San Francisco (14-4), New England will meet New York on February 5 in a rematch from four seasons ago.

As I look over the box score from today hours after the fact, I still can't really explain how the Pats managed to hold off the Ravens. It seemed like New England did everything in its power to self-destruct and lose but somehow they found a way to win thanks to Billy Cundiff missing a possible game-tying 32-yard field goal right before the fourth quarter ended.

New England was in great shape when their defense finally forced a turnover, in the fourth quarter. Joe Flacco (22 of 36, 306 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) was picked off on an incredible effort by Brandon Spikes. With six minutes and change plus the ball at midfield, the Pats just needed to get a decent drive and put some more points on the board. That's when offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien decided that was the perfect time to have Tom Brady (22 of 36, 239 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs) throw a bomb to Matthew Slater. Did I mention that Slater was triple-covered?

Jimmy Smith picked off Brady's pass and returned it 39 yards. The Patriots defense forced a turnover on downs after that but New England's offense went 3 and out and that's when the Ravens went right down the field before Cundiff choked in the most epic fashion. Sterling Moore saved the season as he knocked the ball out of Lee Evans' hands (what would have been a TD) then broke up another pass in the plays leading up to the ill-fated kick. The Ravens had to go for the field goal and the rest is history.

New England's 10th straight win was marked by the first time in 36 games that Brady didn't throw a touchdown pass. It doesn't matter though since he's going to his fifth Super Bowl, tying John Elway's record. This will be Bill Belichick's fifth Super Bowl, only Don Shula (6) has coached in more. Brady needs one more Super Bowl win to tie Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana's record (4).

I don't know how Baltimore lost a game when A) Flacco outplayed Brady, B) They won the turnover battle 3-1 and C) New England's defense outplayed its offense. I'll freely admit that the Patriots got lucky in some sense but on the other hand, the team that took more risks (going for it on 4th down) was rightfully rewarded while the team that was too conservative (kicking a field goal on 4th and 1) was ultimately punished.

We all wondered what would happen when Brady and Co. weren't hanging 30+ on an opponent. That transpired today yet the much-maligned Patriots defense, led by Vince Wilfork (6 tackles, 1 sack, 3 tackles for loss), Spikes (9 tackles) and Moore made just enough plays to survive.

Another crazy stat: BenJarvus Green-Ellis (15 carries, 68 yards, TD) had one more rushing yard than Ravens superstar Ray Rice (21 carries, 67 yards).

Baltimore did about as good a job as one could expect against Rob Gronkowski (5 catches, 87 yards), Aaron Hernandez (7 catches, 66 yards), Wes Welker (6 catches, 53 yards) and Deion Branch (2 catches, 18 yards) yet they still lost.

Anquan Boldin (6 catches, 101 yards) and Torrey Smith (3 catches, 82 yards, TD) benefited from Flacco's solid performance.

Stephen Gostkowski had the only points of the first quarter, a 29-yard field goal. Cundiff tied it with a 20-yard field goal early in the second quarter. Green-Ellis gave the Patriots the biggest lead of the game, at 10-3, with a 7-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. The Ravens and Flacco responded with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Dennis Pitta. Gostkowski's 35-yard field gave New England a 13-10 halftime lead.

New England's red zone offense struggled all day and the third quarter was no different as they settled for a 24-yard field goal by Gostkowski and a 16-10 lead.

Flacco found Smith for a 29-yard touchdown pass when the former Maryland Terp broke not one but two weak tackle attempts by the Patriots secondary. Compounding that bitter feeling, Danny Woodhead fumbled the ensuing kickoff. The Patriots defense held Baltimore to a 39-yard field goal by Cundiff and a 20-16 deficit entering the fourth.

New England answered with their biggest drive of the season which ended with Brady diving over the pile at the goalline for a touchdown on 4th and 1.

This will be the sixth Super Bowl for Patriots owner Robert Kraft (a record). Overall, it is the seventh Super Bowl appearance for the franchise which puts it one behind Dallas and Pittsburgh. The Patriots are 7-1 in AFC Championship games, 4-0 at home. Brady and Belichick are the first QB-coach duo to win five conference championships in the Super Bowl era. Brady tied Montana for most playoff wins (16) all time.

Gronk suffered a brutal ankle injury in the third quarter but he somehow returned later in the game so I think that with almost two weeks of rest and care, he should be able to play in the Super Bowl. Only a bionic guy like him could survive getting rolled up by Bernard Pollard (yes that man), something that would hurt most mortals.

In the next 12 days, we'll talk much more in depth about the Giants and the stakes in this incredible matchup. For now, let's enjoy this improbable win which puts the Pats one win away from the top.

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Bruins & Flyers Played A Hell Of A Game

2012-01-22T22:41:00.001-08:00

If you call yourself a Boston Bruins fan, the last two days were as close to hockey porn as you'll ever get in the regular season.

The B's fell in an overtime classic yesterday to the Rangers 3-2 and then they came back today to win a wild one 6-5 in a shootout over the Flyers.

Boston's (31-13-2) second straight win over Philadelphia (28-14-5) at the Wells Fargo Center had a bit of everything: fights, a natural hat trick, great goals, an injury and crazy momentum swings.

Tim Thomas (33 saves; 20-9-0) had his worst game of the season but he was still able to grab two points thanks to two saves in the shootout-against Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds. Ilya Bryzgalov (32 saves) gave up shootout goals to David Krejci and Tyler Seguin on the only attempt he faced.

With three goals in the first period, it looked like the Bruins might roll over the Flyers again like they did in December. Patrice Bergeron (15th of the season) scored 50 seconds into the game from Brad Marchand and Seguin. Milan Lucic and Tom Sestito (some no-name goon) fought shortly after that and Philly used that momentum as Maxime Talbot (11th of the season) tied it up at one.

Seguin (18th of the season) made it 2-1 with a power-play goal from Bergeron and Benoit Pouliot at 9:02. Chris Kelly and Brayden Schenn fought less than a minute later. Then Lucic's wrister (17th of the season) increased Boston's lead to 3-1 at 12:30, from Krejci and Adam McQuaid.

Scott Hartnell scored a natural hat trick (3 consecutive goals) in the second period to give Philadelphia a 4-3 lead. Shawn Thornton also fought Jody Shelley after Shelley gave Kelly a cheap shot.

Krejci (11th of the season) and Gregory Campbell (6th of the season) gave the B's the lead once again, at 5-4 early in the third period but Talbot's second goal of the game tied it at 5 and sent it to overtime.

The B's have to be exhausted after the physical toll of the past two games but at least they're tied with New York for first-place in the Eastern Conference. They were taking the train after the Flyers game to Washington, D.C. Tomorrow is an off day but the team gets to visit President Obama at the White House as a reward for winning the Stanley Cup last spring. Their last game before the All-Star break is on Tuesday in D.C. against the Capitals.

Andrew Ference missed today since the NHL handed down a three-game suspension for his dirty hit in the Rangers game. Also, Steven Kampfer (who took his place), left the game after taking a huge (clean) hit. They'll have to see how Kampfer looks tomorrow to figure out if he'll play on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, Boston and Philadelphia will only meet once more in the regular season: St. Patrick's Day (1 p.m. start) at TD Garden. Can you say sloppy? Haha that should be a great atmosphere.

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The Washington Wizards Are A Disgrace

2012-01-22T21:56:00.000-08:00

I only listened to the first half of the Celtics-Wizards game on the radio this afternoon as I drove back from Rhode Island and then I periodically checked my phone for the score during breaks in the Patriots-Ravens game (don't ask me why).

Still, I'm not afraid to say that Washington (2-14) is a disgrace since they lost to Boston (6-9) 100-94 at the Verizon Center.

Rajon Rondo missed his second straight game with a wrist injury while Keyon Dooling (5th straight) and Chris Wilcox (6th straight) were also out resting their old bones. To make matters worse for the Celtics, Ray Allen sprained his ankle in the second quarter and never returned. Luckily for the Green, they were playing what I'm comfortable in labeling the worst team in the NBA.

If you're keeping score at home, half of Boston's wins so far this season are against Washington. What's more, the C's only have two road victories and would you believe that they were both in our nation's capital?

The Avery Bradley magical mystery tour continued as he got his third career NBA start. In 41 minutes, he put up a truly unique stat line: three points (on 1 of 8 shooting), seven assists, six rebounds and six turnovers.

WEEI's Sean Grande (Celtics radio play-by-play guy) brought up something that I never knew: Bradley was the top recruit in the high school class of 2009, ahead of No. 2 John Wall. Speaking of Wall, he led the Wizards with 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Unless Bradley's mom, dad or another close relative was in charge of those rankings, I'll never get that designation (not that it matters).

Paul Pierce had an outstanding game, he nearly put up a triple-double with 34 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and three steals. It was the fifth 30-point, 10-assist performance of his career (tying Antoine Walker's franchise record for the past 20 years) and first time he'd done it in almost six years. He's also only the third guy in the NBA (joining LeBron and Russell Westbrook) to have 34-10-8.

Kevin Garnett (17 points) was the only other Celtics starter in double-figures. Mickael Pietrus (14 points) and Brandon Bass (13 points, 9 assists) continued to be pseudo-starters off the bench.

Nick Young had 19 points for the Wizards while JaVale McGee scored 13 points and Jordan Crawford had 12 off the bench.

It's a shame that these teams only meet once more (March 25 in Boston) this season since it is one of the only guaranteed victories for the Celts these days.

Things will be much different tomorrow night as the Orlando Magic and Dwight Howard come to Boston for the first of two meetings this week. Boston has no answer for Howard (not that many do) so expect him to put up monster numbers and for his team to roll since it's a back-to-back, the Celtics are short-handed and they're playing a good opponent.

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Scutaro Shipped To Rockies; Bard Avoids Arbitration

2012-01-22T00:14:00.000-08:00

What is it with the Boston Red Sox and shortstops? Since they traded franchise icon Nomar Garciaparra in 2004 (which turned out well), the formerly coveted position has turned into a revolving door of mostly middling players.

Tonight, the Red Sox traded Marco Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies for pitcher Clayton Mortensen. The righty is 26 and a former first-round sandwich pick in 2007 by the Cardinals. He was traded to Oakland in the Matt Holliday deal and then traded to Colorado last winter for a minor leaguer.

This will be Mortensen's fourth MLB franchise. He put up decent numbers last season: 2-4 with 3.86 ERA in 16 games (6 starts) but from the looks of this move, it was all about dumping salary.

Boston picked up Scutaro's $6 million option earlier this winter so needless to say, it was odd to see him get traded soon after that. Even worse, all that the Red Sox have left at shortstop for 2012 are the dynamic scrub duo of Mike Aviles and Nick Punto. Don't tell me that Jose Iglesias will be the starter since he can't hit enough to play full-time in MLB.

The one positive aspect of this move is that it frees up money to pursue Roy Oswalt, who they desperately need. ESPNBoston also mentioned Cody Ross, a rumor that I hadn't heard before reading that tidbit. He's OK and he would help if Carl Crawford misses time (after wrist surgery) but I'm much more interested in Oswalt just because he has way more potential to help.

No matter how you spin it, the Red Sox seem destined for another third-place finish in the AL East again (for the third year in a row) behind the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays. While those teams have improved themselves (NY) or kept its core intact (TB), the Red Sox have plugged holes (closer, set-up) but not improved their biggest issues (chemistry, starting pitching). Plus, they added the most self-absorbed and arrogant manager in MLB.

I'm not jumping off the bandwagon, I'll always root for the Red Sox but over the past few seasons, they've made it very hard to like them. Ownership is driven just by making money and not winning games, what should really matter. Likewise, many of their players over the last few years have been obsessed with personal statistics. how much they're getting paid and other inconsequential things. In other words, the Red Sox are now No. 4 in my top four (Bruins, Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox) rankings of local professional teams. It will take so much to change that any time soon.

In other Red Sox news today, the team reached a one-year, non-guaranteed contract for 2012 with Daniel Bard. They avoided arbitration with the reliever who will try to become a starter in spring training. Now only Alfredo Aceves, Andrew Bailey and David Ortiz are left to sign before February 1, the deadline for when the Red Sox are forced to go to a hearing with any of those guys if they haven't reached an agreement yet.

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OT Thriller: Rangers Beat Bruins 3-2 In Possible Eastern Conference Final Preview

2012-01-21T23:37:00.001-08:00

There aren't many NHL regular season games that get hyped up since with 82 to select for every team each year, you need to pick and choose what to devote extra time and attention to.

When the top two teams in the Eastern Conference-the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers-met this afternoon at TD Garden, it was the first time the Original 6 rivals had faced off in 2011-12. Not surprisingly, the game was spectacular even though the B's (30-13-2) came up on the short end as the Rangers (30-12-4) won 3-2 in overtime on Marian Gaborik's goal with four seconds left.

I had the same feeling after this one that I did when the Bruins lost to the Red Wings in a shootout the day after Thanksgiving. I want more, specifically in the playoffs. New York is a real threat in the East and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them and Boston as the top two seeds. Therefore an Eastern Conference Final between them (Boston vs. New York) wouldn't be too much to ask.

Other good news is that these teams will meet three more times in the regular season, starting Valentine's Day back at the Garden. Then Boston goes to New York on March 4 and April Fool's Day (both Sunday afternoon national games).

After a scoreless first period, that was still filled with action, the Rangers got on the board first at 1:31 into the second when captain Ryan Callahan (16th of the season) jumped out of the penalty box and beat Tuukka Rask (30 saves; 11-5-1).

Heavyweights Shawn Thornton and Mike Rupp fought less than two minutes later and although it was a split decision, Boston seemed to gain more momentum from the scrap. Andrew Ference (4th of the season) scored a goal for the second straight game as he took a pass from David Krejci and made a pretty move to his backhand to work around Henrik Lundqvist (32 saves). Milan Lucic had the second assist.

Gaborik (24th of the season) made it 2-1 at 14:30 after a blocked shot bounced right to him and needless to say, he knew what to do with it.

Another Bruins defenseman scored, always a good sign, as Adam McQuaid (2nd of the season) and his regal mullet whipped a wrist shot from the point. Rich Peverley and Ference had the assists.

The third period was scoreless as both teams pressed for the game-winner. Ference was whistled for a game-misconduct at 1:50 in overtime as he charged into Ryan McDonagh when the Rangers defenseman had his back to him close to the boards. It was an ugly hit and Ference admitted as much after the game. McDonagh left with an injury but he's lucky it wasn't more serious; as for Ference, the B's already recalled Steven Kampfer so they clearly think that Ference (who has a conference call with the NHL tomorrow) will get suspended for at least a game.

Boston successfully killed the 4-on-3 power play for over three minutes but Gaborik had three chances to beat Rask and you can't allow that many to a guy with his type of skills. Tuukka made two unbelievable saves but he wasn't able to squeeze the second one, Gaborik stuck with it and was rewarded with a clutch goal. Rask was understandably frustrated and his old temper showed itself when he smashed his goalie stick against the goal afterwards.

The Bruins hit the road for another tough test against the other true contender in the Eastern Conference: the Philadelphia Flyers. They'll play at 3 p.m. tomorrow, meaning that nobody and I mean nobody in New England will be watching it live since that's when Patriots-Ravens kicks off. Oh well, I look forward to watching it later tomorrow night on DVR.

You have to think that the Flyers will show up this time after getting waxed 6-0 on December 17 at home against the Bruins. It's another possible playoff preview. Philly won't have any extra rest over Boston since they played the Devils this afternoon and won 4-1.

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If Rondo Can't Play, The C's Should Forfeit

2012-01-20T23:33:00.000-08:00

If there was any doubt that as currently constructed, the Boston Celtics are Rajon Rondo's team, I submit to you tonight's game against the Phoenix Suns.

Rondo sat out with his wrist injury meaning that Avery Bradley (10 points, 3 steals), who started, and E'Twaun Moore both "took" his spot. The results were predictably ugly even against a team as mediocre as the Phoenix Suns. Marcin Gortat had 24 points and 12 rebounds as the Suns (6-9) beat the Celtics (5-9) 79-71 at TD Garden.

Boston's point total was a season-low and they also dropped their first game this season to a sub .500 opponent (they are now 5-1 against their fellow dredge of the NBA).

Four of the five Celtics starters scored in double-figures but that's extremely misleading since Ray Allen led them with 14 points. Paul Pierce had 12 points while Kevin Garnett had 10 points. Brandon Bass scored 11 points off the bench.

Phoenix still can't play a lick of defense but that didn't stop Boston from making them look like the Celtics circa 2007-08. You know things are bad when 95-year-old Grant Hill (9 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks) looks like he has way more energy than your guys.

Steve Nash had a very quiet 11 points and nine assists while former Boston College star Jared Dudley posted 12 points off the bench.

I could write more about this one but why bother? It was awful, pathetic, embarrassing, etc. Rondo is expected back on Sunday as the Celts travel to Washington to play the Wizards-who they've already beaten twice. Boston has a stretch of three games in four days since they'll host Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic on Monday.

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AFC Championship Injury Report For Patriots vs. Ravens

2012-01-20T23:16:00.000-08:00

I think we can all agree that it's almost time to play football, enough with breaking down what we think will happen (but most certainly won't) when the Patriots host the Ravens on Sunday in the AFC Championship.

We still have to wait another day for the real action to start but at least today, we got one step closer with both teams releasing their injury report. Haha, well I should say New England's injury report. All Baltimore had was Ed Reed and he's probable so that doesn't count.

The Patriots have 14 players listed as questionable: Deion Branch (knee), Marcus Cannon (ankle), Patrick Chung (knee), Dane Fletcher (thumb), Aaron Hernandez (concussion), James Ihedigbo (shoulder), Kyle Love (ankle), Logan Mankins (knee), Rob Ninkovich (hip), Nate Solder (concussion), Brandon Spikes (knee), Sebastian Vollmer (back), Wes Welker (knee) and Tracy White (abdomen).

Since they're dealing with head injuries, Hernandez and Solder are the hardest to gauge. Vollmer hasn't played since Week 12 so I doubt that he'll suit up but other than that, I think everyone else will be ready (including Hernandez, Solder I'm less sure of).

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Book Your Flights To The UK: Pats vs. Rams At Wembley Stadium On October 28, 2012

2012-01-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

Totally out of nowhere late last night on Twitter, I saw a tweet that the New England Patriots would face the St. Louis Rams in London, England next season.

When I went to bed, I hoped that bad dream would disappear but sadly the teams confirmed it today. The Patriots and Rams will play on October 28, 2012 at London's famed Wembley Stadium.

This will be the second time in four seasons that New England will travel to the UK, after they went there in October 2009 and trounced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

There are only a few things that the NFL as a whole has been wrong about in the last decade: Thursday night games and this joke of a trip to England. Take it from somebody that studied abroad in college: nobody in Europe, the UK or England gives a shit about the NFL. They don't understand it and they never will.

So what's the point of the NFL still making that trip every year? Well like everything in pro sports (and life), it revolves around money and expanding markets. I also read this morning that apparently St. Louis is locked into London games for the next three seasons. Haha I guess people in Europe and the UK can't get enough of Sam Bradford, Steven Jackson and new Rams head coach Jeff Fisher.

Next season's game will count as a home game for St. Louis so New England will still have its usual eight home games in 2012. However with the time changes and travel times, the games in London are much more of a burden and a novelty to teams than a reward for the players and coaches.

“We are honored to be selected for this year’s game and eager to return,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said in an NFL press release. “We had such a great experience during our last visit to London. We are proud to have great support from our fans when we are on the road. The United Kingdom is home to some of our most passionate Patriots fans, including the UKPatriots, who are among our most active fan clubs overall, not just overseas. We look forward to another memorable experience.”

There are rumors of the NFL permanently moving a franchise to the UK or Europe which is insane. The NBA has had similar rumors in the last few years and I have to say, give me a break. An exhibition game or trip here or there is one thing but moving a team there? Haha that is such a joke, I don't even know what to say.

If you need me, I'll be saving up my pounds (English currency) to get to London next October for that Pats-Rams game (two days before my birthday!).

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It Only Takes 1 Period For The Bruins To Wake Up & Morph Into Themselves Again

2012-01-19T22:54:00.000-08:00

Down 1-0 after two periods tonight at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, the Boston Bruins were in desperate need of a spark or else they'd return home having lost three of their last four games (all on the road, two against bad teams).

Thankfully, the B's (30-13-1) responded like championship teams do. They potted four goals in the third to take a 4-1 win over the Devils (26-18-2). It was a stellar end to what had been a rocky road trip.

The two points ensured that Boston has still yet to lose back-to-back road games this season, a pretty remarkable statistic.

Petr Sykora (12th of the season) gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead at 18:29 of the first. It was a backbreaker for many reasons; it came off yet another defensive zone miscue by the Bruins and it was also late in the period. Dainius Zubrus stole the puck behind the net and fed Sykora, who was able to beat Boston goaltender Tim Thomas (30 saves; 19-9-0).

Gregory Campbell earned the Gordie Howe hat trick (fight, goal, assist). He fought some scrub named Brad Mills (not the Astros manager) in the first then assisted on the game-tying goal in the third and scored the marker that made it 3-1. Not a bad night for Colin's little boy.

I have no idea what changed for the B's in the third but I was a big fan since they closely resembled the freight train that ran through the NHL in November and December. Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur (21 saves) looked good in the first two periods but he was nowhere to be seen in the third as Boston bombarded him with quality scoring opportunities.

Andrew Ference (3rd of the season) tied it up 3:01 into the third with a pretty slap shot over Brodeur's glove. Shawn Thornton and Campbell had the assists.

The mercurial Nathan Horton-who's hot right now-netted the game-winner at 7:10 on the power play. His 17th of the season was all thanks to David Krejci's sweet pass, all he had to do was tap it in. Rich Peverley (back after missing two games) had the other assist.

For the 14th time this season-according to NESN's Jack Edwards-the Bruins doubled up by scoring another goal in less than a minute, at 7:45. Campbell (5th of the season) knocked in a rebound after an outstanding shift by his linemates Thornton and Daniel Paille.

Chris Kelly's (14th of the season) empty-netter sealed it at 19:13 and it also put him one away from a career-high in goals, before the All-Star break no less.

It's amazing what one period can do for a team. This win should give the Bruins a much better feeling as they head into their biggest game and stretch of games so far this season.

They host the New York Rangers-1 point ahead of them, 1st in the Eastern Conference-on Saturday afternoon. It's the first time the Original 6 foes have met in 2011-12. Boston goes to Philadelphia on Sunday, visits the White House on Monday and plays the Capitals in D.C. on Tuesday before getting a much deserved rest for the All-Star break.

UPDATE 1/20: Steven Kampfer and Jordan Caron were assigned to the Providence Bruins for the weekend. The Baby B's have three games this weekend so it will give these youngsters plenty of ice time, something they won't get in Boston anytime soon (barring injuries or suspensions).

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Celtics Snap Five-Game Losing Streak But Rondo Hurts His Wrist In The Process

2012-01-18T21:59:00.000-08:00

You'd be hard-pressed to draw up a more irrelevant game in the 2011-12 NBA regular season that what transpired this evening at TD Garden. It was seats for soldiers night which felt like a cruel joke. Hopefully nobody paid full price for this preseason style matchup.

The Toronto Raptors visited the Boston Celtics with both teams coming in riding five-game losing streaks. Boston (5-8) played its customary frontrunner role as they won 96-73 in a game that was only memorable since Rajon Rondo (21 points) suffered what could have been a gruesome injury late in the third quarter.

In the playoffs last spring against the Miami Heat when Rondo dislocated his elbow yet somehow (hello needles!) came back in the same game, I dubbed him Gumby. His limbs and bones don't act like you or I. So when Linas Kleiza of all people hit him with a flagrant foul, causing Rondo to land awkwardly with all his weight on his wrist, you had to think it was broken.

After staying down on the parquet for a long time, Rondo got up slowly and retreated to the locker room with the medical staff. It was later announced as a "sore wrist" which was a laughable impression of a Patriots injury report. Apparently, Rondo is day-to-day which is promising news since without him, this ill-fated season turns downright meaningless.

The Raptors (4-11) basically lost before the game started since their best player-Andrea Bargnani-was a last-minute scratch with a calf injury. This contest was so dull, it made me daydream about such paradoxes like why does Toronto even have an NBA team? The Grizzlies moved out of Vancouver years ago so why are the Raptors still in Canada? It makes zero sense, Canadians could care less about basketball.

Kevin Garnett had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Celtics while Brandon Bass (13 points, 9 rebounds) and Mickael Pietrus (12 points) had big outputs off the bench. This one was never in doubt so it was nice to see Bass play more minutes (31) than any of the starters.

Paul Pierce had eight points and seven assists, Jermaine O'Neal added eight points and seven rebounds but Ray Allen (6 points) continued to fall into a shooting slump.

UMass-Amherst product Gary Forbes led the Raptors with 18 points, off the bench no less. I think he's the only Minuteman currently in the NBA besides greybeard Marcus Camby. DeMar DeRozan (11 points) was the only other Toronto player in double figures.

I predict that Boston will go on a fraudulent winning-streak since they are about to embark on what undoubtedly is their easiest three-game stretch of the season: vs. Phoenix on Friday and at Washington on Sunday.

Right now, the Celtics are beating up on the bums of the NBA and once they meet a playoff contender, they fold. It's just that easy to explain.

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Zdeno Chara, Daniel Alfredsson Named 2012 NHL All-Star Game Captains

2012-01-18T11:39:00.000-08:00

Bruins captain and defenseman Zdeno Chara and Senators captain and winger Daniel Alfredsson were both named 2012 NHL All-Star captains for their respective teams today.

The NHL All-Star game is January 29th and thanks to the NHL's brilliant new All-Star rules, each player will take turns selecting players for their respective teams on January 26th at the NHL All-Star player fantasy draft. The skills competition is on Saturday and the game is on Sunday.

Chara, a former Senator, played with Alfredsson for four seasons between 2001-02 and 2005-06. Each player is a key member of their respective teams, as Chara is eying another Stanley Cup run while Alfredsson is third in scoring on the surprising Senators, who are fifth in the Eastern Conference and only one point behind the Bruins.

Each player has a few teammates to choose from. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas and winger Tyler Seguin were both named All-Stars while the hometown Senators have defenseman Erik Karlsson, center Jason Spezza, winger Milan Michalek and rookie winger Colin Greening thanks to the usual ballot stuffing by Canadian fans that have nothing better to do.

I have to think that Chara will take Thomas first but it would be funny if either captain threw a curve ball and selected one of the other captain's teammates.

Chara was excited when upon hearing the news, as he talked about it with CSNNE.COM

"It's another honor on top of being selected as an All-Star. I found out this morning so I'm a little bit surprised. I'm going to at least try to see how it is to be in the position that some GMs are in or people that are making those decisions. In the group of players that are being selected I don't think you can make a wrong choice."

Last year's memorable moment was obviously Phil Kessel being picked last (complete with Alex Ovechkin taking pictures of him) and it was overall a successful (and my favorite) All-Star Weekend. Let's hope this year's draft provides some more fireworks.

UPDATE 1/20: Claude Julien and his assistants (Doug Houda, Doug Jarvis and Geoff Ward) will coach Chara's team in the All-Star game.

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Lightning Snap Seven-Game Losing Streak, Beat The Bruins 5-3 in Tampa Bay

2012-01-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

To call the Tampa Bay Lightning a huge disappointment so far in 2011-12 would be an understatement. The same team that pushed the Boston Bruins to seven games last spring in the Eastern Conference Finals, came into tonight's action tied for the worst mark in the conference.

Playing their second game in as many nights, the B's (29-13-1) didn't seem to have their normal jump in their skates so they fell 5-3 to the Lightning (18-23-4) at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

As crazy is it sounds, this was Tampa's first win in 2012 since they ended a seven-game losing streak with the victory.

This served as the final game that Brad Marchand will miss (due to suspension) and Rich Peverley is also expected back in the next contest after sitting out the last two in Florida. Those two can't return soon enough since Boston desperately needs their energy, speed and skill. As expected, Jordan Caron and Zach Hamill are not even close to adequate replacements for those two guys. On Thursday, I hope to see the youngsters back in the press box as healthy scratches.

If we're being fair, it is reasonable to say that Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (26 saves; 18-9-0) isn't playing up to his normal insane level. Tonight was the third time in his last six starts that he's allowed four goals. In fact, including the empty-netter, Boston allowed five goals for the first time this season.

Don't take that as me blaming the loss solely on Thomas since three of the four goals were the end result of bad defensive zone play by the normally stout B's.

It also helps that the Lightning led three times and the Bruins never led; they rallied three times but they ran out of life late in the third-a product of back-to-back nights. Ex-Harvard star Dominic Moore (4th of the season) had the game-winner at 16:15 when he put one over Thomas's shoulder from Ryan Malone and Steve Downie. Steven Stamkos added his NHL-leading 31st goal, the empty-netter, at 19:39 to seal it.

Vincent Lecavalier (18th of the season) gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead 7:11 into the first thanks to some sloppy clearing attempts and coverage by the Bruins which allowed him to get close to Thomas and poke in the rebound. Ex-BU star Matt Gilroy and ex-UVM star Martin St. Louis assisted on Lecavalier's goal.

Nathan Horton (15th of the season) tied it at 1 with the first of his two goals, at 4:28 into the second. He followed his own shot-like in basketball-and was able to eventually put it past Lightning goaltender Mathieu Garon (26 saves) for an unassisted tally.

Milan Lucic should have earned an assist on Tom Pyatt's goal (5th of the season) since Looch's terrible giveaway led directly to Pyatt beating Thomas on a rebound. Gilroy and Downie assisted at 14:11 of the second.

Horton answered at 16:48 off another rebound, assisted by Andrew Ference and David Krejci. My best comparison for Horton in terms of recent Boston sports history is former Red Sox slugger Brian Daubach. The streakiest players you can imagine, good or bad.

Tampa Bay was the recipient of another blunder by Boston as Ryan Malone (10th of the season) stuffed in a chance from in close after the B's failed to clear the zone properly. Moore and former Bruins prospect Nate Thompson assisted at 4:58.

Nobody in the NHL has more breakaways but scores less on them than Daniel Paille. He did it in the second period, hitting the post, so it was nice to see him cash in the second time he got the opportunity-in the third. Paille's shorthanded tally at 10:53 was his eighth of the season and it tied it at three with help from Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg.

Thomas made a pair of spectacular saves in the second: somehow keeping a deflection out after Stamkos-Lecavalier and St. Louis skated in on a 3-on-1 plus kicking out Teddy Purcell's one-timer to end the period.

There was plenty of metal ringing as Seguin also hit the post along with Lecavalier and Stamkos.

Getting Marchand and Peverley back in the lineup should give Boston the kick in the hockey pants that they desperately need right now. They were lucky to escape Florida with two points after beating the Panthers in a shootout on Monday.

In the two previous meetings, Boston has topped New Jersey. Most recently, the Bruins rolled 6-1 in Newark on January 4. The Devils have been playing well lately and they're only five points behind the B's so expect a more competitive game on Thursday.

That is the final game of this four-game road trip for Boston before returning home for one juicy matchup-the Rangers on Saturday-then two more on the road before the All-Star break.

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Lightning End Its Seven-Game Losing Streak, Beat Bruins 5-3 In Tampa Bay

2012-01-17T19:06:00.000-08:00

Nathan Horton had two goals 24 hours after being publicly called out by B's head coach Claude Julien but it wasn't enough as the Bruins dropped a tough one 5-3 to the lowly Tampa Bay Lightning.

Fresh off a shootout win against the Panthers last night, the Bruins knew they would have their hands full with an underachieving, yet supremely skilled Lightning team. Before the game, Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley alluded to how hard it is to sweep the two games in Florida each season. Unfortunately, their words would be prophetic to Bruins fans.

The B's showed some grit tonight, erasing three separate one-goal deficits but their shoddy defensive play, turnovers and spotty goaltending from Tim Thomas proved to be their undoing.

The first period was some of the sloppiest hockey I have seen from the Bruins this year. Chalk it up to the games in back-to-back nights but I think this team is better than that.

Vincent Lecavalier (18th of the season) put the Lightning on top in the first, as a pass from Matt Gilroy was broken up by David Krejci, leading to a goalmouth scramble that saw the Lightning captain catch Thomas out of position and find the back of the net.

Horton began his climb out of the dog house early in the second period. Horton intercepted a pass around the boards, attacked the net, found his own rebound and beat Mathieu Garon on a sprawling backhand.

Boston found themselves in a bad situation later in the frame, as Johnny Boychuck was caught in a 3-on-1 rush featuring Martin St. Louis, Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos. Boychuck laid out and Stamkos' shot deflected off of his skate and nearly beat Thomas, who thanks to the post was able to corral the puck.

Tampa made up for that opportunity shortly after, as Thomas dove out of the crease to make a save on Steve Downie but was helpless to stop Tom Pyatt from hammering home his fifth of the year.

The Bruins then tied the game 2-2 thanks to another goal from Horton, boosting his season total to 16.

Both teams exchanged quality scoring chances as Thomas robbed Teddy Purcell with five seconds left in the second period, keeping the game tied. Daniel Paille had a shorthanded breakaway attempt that grazed the crossbar. No worries though, as he would later score on a second shorthanded breakaway to tie the game after Ryan Malone gave Tampa a 3-2 lead.

The play picked up near the end of the third but the Bruins would find themselves on the short end of the stick in this one, as Dominic Moore connected with a quick slapshot that beat Thomas high glove side to give the Lightning the win.

Stamkos added his 31st goal of the year on an absolute hail mary of an empty netter.

Boston (29-13-1) has a day off tomorrow before flying to New Jersey to meet up with the Devils on Thursday night.

*Game Notes*

* Save the crap about the Lightning, their record and losing streak. Any team with Stamkos, Lecavalier and St. Louis can get it done any given night in the NHL. And yes, I almost threw up when they had that 3-on-1.

* Last night, I mentioned that the crowd was at the very least, 50-50 Bruins. I have to give the Lightning fans credit tonight, as they showed up and did their best to not turn this game into another faux home game for the Bruins. I just hope their feelings aren't still hurt from those mean advertisements from the playoffs last season.

* Given Julien's comments regarding Horton after last night's game, I was looking for both him and Lucic to have a bounce back game. Horton obviously looked good with two goals but Lucic was again invisible for long stretches, recording only two shots on goal in over 15 minutes of ice time.

* Clearly, the Bruins need to tighten up before their big games against the Rangers on Saturday and the Flyers on Sunday. Honestly, it all starts with their defense. Zdeno Chara and Joe Corvo looked sluggish with the puck tonight and out of position at times. I do think Boychuk and Dennis Seidenberg played well however.

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Troy Brown The 1st Of 4 Honorary Captains Named For The Patriots At Sunday's Game

2012-01-17T12:10:00.001-08:00

I'm not normally a huge fan of cheesy honorary captains, special guests for a coin flip and all that type of useless crap but I must say that what Patriots owner Robert Kraft is doing for this Sunday's AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium sounds great.

Since it is the 15-year anniversary of the 1996-97 Patriots, who went to the team's second Super Bowl and lost to the Packers 35-21, Kraft is honoring that memorable team by bringing back four of their top players.

Yesterday, it was announced that wide receiver Troy Brown, one of the greatest players in franchise history, was the first of four honorary captains that will appear. Kraft will prolong the drama by unveiling one name each tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.

Off the top of my head after a quick Wikipedia search, I'd guess the most likely candidates to appear on Sunday with Brown are offensive lineman Bruce Armstrong, quarterback Drew Bledsoe, tight end Ben Coates and linebacker Chris Slade.

Defensive end Willie McGinest, safety Lawyer Milloy and cornerback Ty Law were also starters on that team but they were just beginning their careers in the NFL and they weren't the franchise icons that they would later become over the next decade.

Hopefully, CBS steps up their game and gives these guys some camera time since God knows, there will be plenty of downtime during the broadcast. It's also a good thing to know about this since I assume they'll be doing something at halftime of the Patriots-Ravens game. Keep that in mind when you try your luck at the mile-long beer, food and bathroom lines at Gillette during the break.

UPDATE 1/18: Law is the second honorary captain, named today. Haha the two CSNE commentators get to spend more time together.

UPDATE 1/19: Tedy Bruschi is the third honorary captain, announced this afternoon. I guess Kraft is going for the later years guys that are still hanging around in the media and on TV (ESPN, CSNE).

UPDATE 1/20: Bledsoe was the final choice today, named by Kraft. In other AFC Championship news, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler will sing the national anthem. So wherever you're watching the game, get ready for an unlimited amount of bad jokes about Tyler.

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Sox Avoid Arbitration With Jacoby Ellsbury, Giving Him Record 1-Year Contract

2012-01-17T11:56:00.001-08:00

The Red Sox haven't had a salary arbitration hearing with a player since 2002 and by the looks of this offseason, new GM Ben Cherrington is trying to keep up the impressive streak started by his predecessor Theo Epstein.

Today, the team avoided arbitration with outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and infielder Mike Aviles. According to ESPNBoston.com, Ellsbury will get a record-setting one-year contract of $8.05 million which more than triples his salary from 2010. Terms of Aviles' deal were not disclosed.

In the last few days, the Red Sox have agreed to one-year deals with Ryan Sweeney, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Franklin Morales, Ellsbury and Aviles. That's in addition to Matt Albers who was the first one to get it done this winter.

The remaining arbitration eligible players are pitchers Alfredro Aceves, Daniel Bard and Andrew Bailey, who are all eligible for the first time meaning they won't be getting much money since they are young and don't have much major league service.

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Without Kendrick Perkins Patrolling The Paint, The Boston Celtics Don't Have A Soul

2012-01-16T22:03:00.001-08:00

Tonight was Kendrick Perkins's first return to Boston since his trade last February to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

It couldn't have gone much better for the former Celtics center since not only did he get plenty of love from the TD Garden crowd but the Thunder (12-2) held off the Celtics (4-8) for a 97-88 win.

For the record, that makes Boston exactly 24-24 since Perk left. During his time in Boston, they won 70% of their games.

I was saying to my buddy this weekend that the Celts are currently the easiest team to bet on in sports (maybe I should take my own advice). If they're playing a good team, bet against them and if they're playing an awful team, ride with the Green.

The numbers don't lie. Boston lost its fifth consecutive game, the longest streak in the Big Three era. They are now 0-7 against teams .500 or above this season. The Celtics haven't scored more than 90 points in their last six games (1-5). Finally, they've lost their last four games at home-somewhere that they used to own.

In fitting fashion since his game was never about numbers, Perkins put up seven points, five rebounds and a block in 28 minutes. For Boston, he was the most physical defender; an emotional player that was a consummate teammate and pro. With the Thunder now, you can already see the leadership he has brought to one of the NBA's top squads.

I hate the NBA but if I was ever brainwashed into getting the League Pass, since I'm pretty sure I'll never live in Oklahoma, it would be solely for the Thunder. With Kevin Durant (28 points, 7 rebounds) and Russell Westbrook (26 points, 7 rebounds), they possess the most exciting duo in the league. Add in fine role players like Thabo Sefolosha (19 points, 4 steals), Serge Ibaka (4 blocks) and James Harden (5 points) and you can see why they are a logical choice to win a title in the next two or three years.

For the Celtics, it was another dysfunctional night for their main guys. Paul Pierce (24 points) shot well but Kevin Garnett (12 points, 12 rebounds) and particularly Ray Allen (6 points) were awful. Rajon Rondo (12 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists) was ok but compared to Westbrook, he didn't do much. Jermaine O'Neal (12 points, 11 rebounds) had one of his best games as a Celtic but it was in a loss so you'll forget about it by tomorrow.

The Thunder were always in a comfortable spot and once it came down to the fourth quarter, they couldn't miss. It seemed like they hit every improbable shot. Boston's turnovers killed them as Oklahoma City was able to turn 19 Celtics turnovers into 24 points. On the flip side, the C's only converted the Thunder's 13 turnovers into two points. I don't know how that's possible.

After a brutal stretch of opponents, things ease up considerably for the Celtics as they face the Raptors, Suns and Wizards in their next three games. I expect Boston to win all three of those games but don't buy the hype if it happens. They've already proven they can beat bad teams; last time I checked, all those teams are hopeless. Toronto comes to the Garden on Wednesday night in a matchup that I wouldn't go to if I had free courtside seats.

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Patrice Bergeron's Two Goals Propel Bruins To 3-2 Shootout Win Over The Panthers

2012-01-16T17:24:00.000-08:00

In one hell of a hockey game, the Bruins grabbed two more points tonight in a 3-2 shootout victory over the Florida Panthers at the BankAtlantic Center.

Patrice Bergeron had two goals and Tuukka Rask (11-4-1) made 38 saves as the Bruins improved to 29-12-1 on the season. David Krejci and Bergeron scored in the shootout to give Boston two important points, as they won their first game in a six game in nine days stretch.

Selke Smooth Bergeron got the scoring started early in the contest and netted his 13th of the year thanks to a great back check by Benoit Pouliot. Pouliot and Tyler Seguin did a nice job corralling a loose puck in the neutral zone before finding Selke Smooth Bergeron in the high slot for a beautiful wrister.

After getting outplayed down the stretch in the first, the Bruins really came out on fire in the second, peppering Panthers (21-14-9) goalie Scott Clemmensen (33 saves) with shot after shot to open up the frame.

Jason Garrison answered for the Panthers midway through the second, blasting a slapper through traffic that beat Rask and knotted the game at one a piece. Garrison (12th of the year) leads all NHL defenseman in goals, though this particular shot took a tough bounce off of Dennis Seidenberg.

Bergeron tallied his 14th of the season at 14:40 of the second thanks to a nice play by Seguin. It was a 5-on-3 power play and the speedy winger carried the puck through the Panthers' zone before finding Bergeron down low for his second of the night.

Florida showed a ton of resiliency tonight and tied the game at two with less than five minutes to play in the second. Early in the first, Shawn Matthias had a great chance to score on Rask but the Finnish netminder robbed him on the breakaway attempt. Rask wouldn't be so lucky the second time around, as Matthias made the most of his second chance, burying his eighth of the year.

The third period had a furious pace, as the previously dead crowd started cheering for their respective teams (there were tons of Bruins fans in Sunrise as always). Both teams pushed the pace and fought hard, however both Rask and Clemmenson saw to it that this game was going to extra frames.

Overtime, as it usually is in the regular season, was short and sweet. Bergeron got whistled for a hooking penalty early on but the Bruins did a fantastic job killing off the 4-on-3 opportunity. Rask saved the game with 12 seconds left by stoning Kris Versteeg on a breakaway.

Bergeron and Krejci (who saw his 11-game point streak come to an end) scored for the Bruins in the shootout to escape Sunrise with the hard-fought W.

The B's make the trip to Tampa Bay tomorrow night for a date with the Lightning. The last time these two teams met was way back on October 8th, with the Bruins getting the win 4-1. Tampa Bay (except for Steven Stamkos) is in disarray and this is very much a winnable game for Boston, even considering the back to back.

*Game Notes*

* Brad Marchand may still be suspended for one more game but damn the second line is still legit without him. We know what we are going to get from Seguin and Selke Smooth but Benoit Pouliot is thriving in his new role on the Bruins' most explosive line. It's great to see the Bruins depth at every position keep paying off for them. When Marchand gets back into the lineup, it will be interesting to see how Pouliot affects his linemates on the third line.

* Speaking of the third line, Rich Peverley missed tonight's game and will presumably miss tomorrow as well for a family issue. Jordan Caron and Zach Hamill played on the wings with Chris Kelly and I think they did a decent job as a line. Both Caron and Hamill should relish this opportunity, as they both are key pieces to the Bruins future.

* Daniel Paille locked horns with Ed Jovanovski (still in the league!) in a hard-fought brawl in the first. Paille took exception to a Jovonovski hit and dropped the gloves for only the second time in his career. Gotta give the judge's decision to big Ed although he left the game for good after that since he reportedly broke his hand.

* NESN's camera's caught Shawn Thornton trying to jump in and fight Jovanovski before getting dismissed. Paille is a tough bastard but I don't really want to see him fighting, given his face and head injury history.

* Boston fans showed up big time once again in Florida. Cheering got a little more even later in the game, but still, what is it with Boston fans in Florida? Every Dolphins, Rays and Panthers game it seems like the crowd is split 50/50, if not 60/40 in favor of Boston. Clean that shit up Florida, you can't let the snowbirds take over like that.

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Peverley To Miss Next Two Games For The Bruins In The Sunshine State

2012-01-16T10:50:00.001-08:00

I bet you didn't realize that Saturday's game in Carolina signaled the halfway point of the 2011-12 regular season for the Boston Bruins.

Yes it is true, the defending Stanley Cup champions begin the second half of the calendar with a particularly tough stretch. They play six games (five on the road) in nine days before getting a breather for the All-Star game in Ottawa.

Tonight, they visit the Florida Panthers-tied with the Capitals for 1st place in the Southeast Division-before going to Tampa Bay tomorrow night to take on the Lightning, the worst team in the Eastern Conference (look it up). From there, they'll travel to New Jersey for a game with the Devils on Thursday before finally playing the New York Rangers (first time this season between the Eastern Conference's two best teams) on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden.

The unofficial first half of the season concludes with a game in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon (at the exact same time as the Patriots game) and then the B's go to Washington on Tuesday to face the Capitals. After that, they'll disperse and get almost a week off before their next contest-January 31 in Ottawa. The Senators have been playing great lately, believe it or not, they've pulled to within one point of the Bruins in the Northeast Divison.

In the here and now, Bruins winger Rich Peverley will miss the two games in Florida due to personal reasons. When I saw him mentioned on Twitter, I figured it was that pesky injury that nobody knows about (that has flared up at times already) but I felt bad when I realized he had to come back home to Boston to address what I can only assume is a family issue.

Zach Hamill will take Peverley's spot on the third line with Chris Kelly and Jordan Caron. Speaking of Caron, either him or Hamill will take a seat starting on Thursday since Brad Marchand returns on Thursday after his five-game suspension.

Finally, Tuukka Rask was the first goaltender off the ice today at the morning skate so he's expected to start in net for the B's. He got the shutout the last time the teams met on December 23, that 8-0 whitewashing of the Panthers. Tim Thomas should be the starter tomorrow night against the Lightning, a team he completely shutdown in the Eastern Conference finals last spring.

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Vicente Padilla Added To Legion Of Bums Vying For 4th-5th Spot In Boston's Rotation

2012-01-16T10:26:00.001-08:00

It rightfully hasn't been getting any attention but with today's reported signing of veteran Vicente Padilla, we can conclude that the Boston Red Sox are accumulating quite the collection of bums interested in being their fourth or fifth starter.

Thanks to John Lackey and Dice-K's injuries plus the defections of Erik Bedard and Tim Wakefield (prays), the Red Sox are in desperate need of depth behind Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and Josh Beckett. It looks like Daniel Bard and Alfredo Aceves will get a chance to be starters too, although I'm not a huge fan of those moves but who asked me?

Padilla is 34 and he missed most of last season with the Dodgers due to neck surgery. When he was able to take the ball for Los Angeles, it was strictly as a reliever. In his career, he has a 4.15 ERA with 91 strikeouts in 113 innings as a reliever. Still, he's been a starter for most of his life so we'll see what happens when he's in Boston.

I'm not expecting anything from him, Aaron Cook or Carlos Silva, the three most notable scrubs that the Red Sox have brought in on small money in hopes of one or two of them having decent seasons. They're all washed up and none of them were particularly good to begin with.

Funny note on Padilla: my buddy from college that is a Phillies fan always said that Padilla was terrible in day games when he was in Philly since he has a drinking problem so he was usually hungover. Haha, something to look forward to this season if he even makes it out of Spring Training before getting hurt-what he does best.

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Jarrod Saltalamacchia Avoids Arbitration, Inks 1-Year Deal With The Red Sox

2012-01-15T21:04:00.001-08:00

Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia is in for a nice raise after proving himself in 2011, his first full season in Boston.

He avoided arbitration with the team as they agreed on a one-year, $2.5 million contract today. Saltalamacchia made $750,000 last season.

In only 103 games, he threw out 28 potential basestealers, the most by a Red Sox catcher since Jason Varitek had 29 in 2002.

Still only 26-years-old, Saltalamacchia's best days are ahead of him and Boston made a shrewd move earlier this winter by signing free agent Kelly Shoppach (a former Red Sox prospect) to back up Salty. On paper, they appear to form the perfect platoon since Shoppach crushes right-handed pitchers and Saltalamacchia struggles against them. Plus, Shoppach is a quality defensive catcher which is something the Red Sox finally seem to be valuing rather than ignoring completely.

When you add in promising youngster Ryan Lavarnway, who will likely start the season in Pawtucket, Boston's catcher position is in better shape than it has been for years in terms of depth.

UPDATE 1/17: The Red Sox agreed to terms with lefty reliever Franklin Morales on a one-year, non-guaranteed contract. They avoided arbitration and terms were not disclosed.

After getting traded to Boston in May from Colorado, Morales had 28 scoreless outings in 36 appearances. Between the Rockies and Red Sox, he had career-highs in innings pitched (46.1), strikeouts (42) and holds (10) while having an ERA of 3.69 (19 ER).

At 25, he's a low risk guy that seems to have a decent arm. Since he's a lefty, it makes sense to give him a full season before moving on.

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Bring On The Ravens: New England Hosts Baltimore In The AFC Championship

2012-01-15T20:39:00.000-08:00

After hanging on this afternoon for a very shaky 20-13 win over the Houston Texans, the Baltimore Ravens advanced to the AFC Championship next Sunday (3 p.m.) at Gillette Stadium against the New England Patriots.

I was rooting for the Texans to win mostly because I didn't see a way that the Pats could lose to T.J. Yates but I have to admit that deep down, a New England-Baltimore matchup is much more appetizing. Let's be honest: so far pretty much everything has gone the Patriots's way regarding the playoffs so it's about time that they face a worthy opponent.

They were bound to play a good team eventually, you cannot luck into a Super Bowl title no matter what year it is.

When I look at Baltimore (13-4), I see a team that still features a fearsome defense led by the ageless linebacker Ray Lewis, safety Ed Reed, defensive lineman Haloti Ngata and defensive end Terrell Suggs. The Ravens also have Ray Rice, one of the best all-around running backs in the NFL and Anquan Boldin, who is a quality receiver albeit not quite what he used to be.

In my mind, the main thing that holds the Ravens back is quarterback Joe Flacco. Watching the game today reminded me how much Flacco is basically a poor man's Drew Bledsoe. He's tall and has a big arm but it also takes him hours to make decisions and he has a tendency to get happy feet in the pocket. I will say in his defense that his offensive line doesn't seem great but today, that just might have been a function of the Texans's excellent defense.

Rice will absolutely run over the Patriots's defense, Boldin will make some plays and Baltimore's defense will make Tom Brady and New England's offense work for however many points they get. The key for the Patriots is that they will need to make Flacco beat them. If that's the case, I like their chances since he's bound to throw a few passes up for grabs. Or if it's like today, his receivers will drop a bunch of catchable balls.

If Houston wasn't down to their third string, rookie quarterback, I am pretty sure they would have won. However, that doesn't matter. The Ravens are moving on and the Patriots will meet the same team that embarrassed them two years ago in the playoffs. It's an intriguing matchup from the sense of New England's outstanding offense against Baltimore's excellent defense.

As is usually the case in the playoffs (see Green Bay-New York tonight), it will most likely come down to who commits fewer penalties and mental mistakes. The winner of Baltimore vs. New England gets the winner of the NFC Championship: New York at San Francisco on February 5 in Indianapolis (worst Super Bowl site ever?).

The Ravens love to talk so it should be a fun and entertaining week of buildup leading into Sunday's meeting. I can't say that the Texans would have provided nearly as much fodder for talk radio, social media, etc.

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Patriots Trounce Broncos 45-10 To Advance To The 2012 AFC Championship Game

2012-01-14T23:14:00.001-08:00

It didn't take long tonight to figure out that the Denver Broncos weren't going to put up much of a fight against the New England Patriots, who looked sharp after their bye week.

In an AFC Divisional Round game at frigid Gillette Stadium, the Pats (14-3) jumped out to a 35-7 halftime lead and rolled to a 45-10 win.

New England's first playoff win since 2009 (technically the 2008 season) vaulted them into the AFC Championship game next Sunday, 3 p.m. at Gillette against the winner of tomorrow's Houston at Baltimore matchup.

Despite all of the attention on Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow (9 of 26, 136 passing yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs; 13 yards rushing) coming into this divisional round game, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (26 of 34, 363 passing yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT) showed that any comparisons between the two are laughable.

Brady's six touchdowns tied an NFL record while tight end Rob Gronkowski (10 catches, 145 yards) also tied a postseason record with three touchdown catches.

The limitations in Tebow's ability to throw intermediate routes and Denver's refusal to open up the playbook basically guaranteed that the Broncos were just happy to be here. They shocked Pittsburgh last week, which was a huge break for the Patriots, but they were an overmatched team in every sense of the word tonight.

Deion Branch (3 catches, 85 yards), Wes Welker (6 catches, 55 yards) and Aaron Hernandez (4 catches, 55 yards; 5 carries, 61 yards) each had a touchdown catch from Brady.

After getting gashed in the first quarter against Denver in December by their running game, New England's defense tightened it up and only allowed 144 yards on 40 carries (3.6 yards per rush). The Patriots recorded 5.5 sacks, including a couple kill shots on Tebow, who lacks much pocket presence or awareness.

Oddly enough, turnovers weren't a factor at all in the game since Brady had an interception and Stevan Ridley had a fumble. Denver only had one turnover, a fumble by Tebow that was caused by Dane Fletcher and recovered by Brandon Spikes.

For once the Patriots chose to receive the opening kickoff and the move paid off since Welker scored on a 7-yard touchdown catch less than two minutes into the drive.

Gronk scored his first touchdown in the first quarter, a 10-yard grab.

Willis McGahee (17 carries, 76 yards) got the Broncos on the board with a 5-yard touchdown run to start the second quarter but that's as close as Denver would get.

Once again, Denver failed to account for Gronkowski in the red zone as he caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Brady. Even more pathetic, the Broncos allowed two touchdowns in the last two minutes of the half.

Branch tightroped down the sideline for a 61-yard touchdown catch and then Gronk caught a 19-yard touchdown with five seconds left in the half.

The second half got so pathetic that I hoped for running time. A bunch of Broncos got hurt which only prolonged the agony for them.

Hernandez had the final Patriots touchdown, a 17-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.

Denver elected to kick a 41-yard field goal by Matt Prater when they were down 42-7 later in the third.

Stephen Gostkowski needed some work too so he was called on for a 20-yard chip shot in the fourth quarter.

The most interesting play in the fourth quarter was in garbage time when Broncos rookie linebacker Von Miller decided to take a cheap shot against Dan Connolly on a punt return. It sparked a rare football brawl on the sideline.

This game couldn't have worked out any better for New England. They avoided the Steelers, a team that they probably would have beaten but at least would have been much tougher than the Broncos. This win gives them plenty of confidence after two brutal losses the past few seasons in the playoffs, both at home.

Clearly, we're all rooting for the Texans tomorrow to upset the Ravens. With Baltimore's defense plus Ray Rice, they present many more challenges for the Patriots. Houston has a good defense and Arian Foster but I feel like the Pats could stack the line and make the immortal T.J. Yates beat them (unlikely).

Regardless, we should all be very happy at the moment. The Patriots are in the AFC Championship Game and regardless of who they face, they will be favored. Win once more at home and they'll be in the Super Bowl for the fifth time in the last 11 seasons.

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Pacers Beat The Celtics For The Second Time In Eight Days, 97-83 In Indiana

2012-01-14T22:46:00.000-08:00

Boy am I glad that I watched about three minutes total of tonight's Boston Celtics-Indiana Pacers game.

If I was a smarter man, I would have bet everything I have on the Pacers since there was no way the Celtics were going to beat them, particularly on the road after a back-to-back.

Sure enough, Boston (4-7) continues to be the easiest team to figure out in the NBA since they'll never beat good opponents. The Pacers (9-3) won 97-83 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse (sweet name).

The Celtics dropped their fourth straight game, making them 1-4 on the road. It was also their second loss to the Pacers (5-0 at home) in the last eight days. Finally, Boston has failed to score over 100 points in its last nine games.

I'd love to come up with a creative new way to make fun of the C's but since I hardly paid attention to this game that was a foregone conclusion before it started and I've been saying the same stuff for weeks, I'll just leave you with the facts from this one.

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce actually both led Boston with 21 points. The problem was that Ray Allen (7 points) and Rajon Rondo (6 points, 9 assists) didn't have it going. It seems like they can't all put it together on the same night anymore. Zombie Jermaine O'Neal grabbed 12 rebounds so that's something to be excited about.

Brandon Bass (10 points, 8 rebounds) was the only other Celtic in double-figures, off the bench. I'm happy to see that rookie E'Twan Moore played 20 minutes and notched seven points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals. With Keyon Dooling out last night and tonight, what better time to find out what Moore has? After all, he has much more of a future ahead of him than Dooling.

Not that it matters one bit but Chris Willcox missed tonight's game and he's expected to be out the next two games as well after hurting his calf last night vs. Chicago. The plethora of injuries on every NBA team is predictable specifically because of the lockout. It's clear that many guys, especially veterans, weren't in the best shape coming into training camp and they're paying for it now.

Danny Granger led the Pacers with 21 points. Darren Collison and Paul George both put up 17 points while Roy Hibbert had 11 points and nine rebounds.

The outcome was never in doubt as the Pacers led wire to wire. They were up 29-24 after one quarter and 56-48 at halftime. Indiana pushed it to 82-67 after three.

In a common theme of almost every loss so far, the Celtics made less free throws (22-14), pulled down less rebounds (52-45), had less steals (12-4), less blocks (10-6), less fast break points (23-13) and less points in the paint (42-24). But other than that, they played great.

It will only get more depressing for the Green and White in their next game since the Oklahoma City Thunder-one of the top teams in the NBA-visit TD Garden on Monday night. It will be Kendrick Perkins's first game against the Celtics since he was traded last season.

Not only can we wallow in self-pity from that mind-numbingly bad deal but to top it off, the Thunder will kick Boston's ass. Oh joy.

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Good Thing The Bruins Won't See The Hurricanes In The Playoffs

2012-01-14T22:06:00.001-08:00

In a game that was seen live from start to finish by probably a handful of people in New England tonight, the Boston Bruins fell 4-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes at the RBC Center.

The best part about this seemingly forgettable game as that I only saw bits and pieces due to the fact that I was over my friend's apartment for the Patriots-Broncos playoff game. Plus, when I wanted to see highlights tonight, it was basically impossible to find them.

Nevertheless, the B's (28-12-1) continued to lose against the Hurricanes (16-23-7) this season. Did you know that Carolina has beaten Boston all three times they've played so far? Of course, the first two were in October so that basically doesn't count.

Boston led 1-0 in the second period and 2-1 in the third period but they couldn't close the deal in the first of a four-game road trip.

After a scoreless first period, Patrice Bergeron (12th of the season) made it 1-0 at 6:13 in the second by cleaning up a rebound by Johnny Boychuk.

Patrick Dwyer (5th of the season) tied it at 1 for the Hurricanes by tipping in Brandon Sutter's shot at 10:30 in the second.

Milan Lucic (16th of the season) gave Boston a 2-1 advantage 1:21 into the third. His snap shot was assisted by David Krejci (he's riding a career-best 11-game point streak, the longest current one in the NHL).

Something named Justin Faulk (4th of the season)-presumably Kevin's brother-tied it at 2 when his shot went over Tim Thomas's shoulder. Tim Brent assisted on the tying goal at 13:58.

Another nobody that I've never heard of named Jay Harrison (7th of the season) added the insurance tally at 18:30 when his shot deflected off Boychuk past Thomas (17 saves; 18-8-0).

Eric Staal (11th of the season) added an empty-netter at 18:58 that was unassisted.

Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward made 33 saves in the win. Carolina is one of the worst teams in the NHL but I bet they'll beat the Bruins more than anybody else in the regular season. Weird. Right now, three of Carolina's 16 total wins are against Boston.

The Bruins head further south and will look to bounce back on Monday night when they face the Panthers. The last time those teams faced off (Dec. 23 at TD Garden), Boston hung an 8-0 beating on Florida. I'll venture to guess that it will be more competitive this time around.

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This Is Only Going To Get Worse: Celts Lose Their 3rd Straight, Season Slipping Away

2012-01-13T22:37:00.000-08:00

I pride myself on not being a typical honk that overreacts to every game and move by my favorite teams. Therefore, you have to believe me when I say "Blow it up Danny Ainge! Trade anybody but Rajon Rondo."

How are you enjoying your Boston Celtics experience in 2011-12 thus far, pretty terrible right? The C's (4-6) lost their third straight game tonight (all at home), 88-79 to the Chicago Bulls (11-2) at TD Garden.

Spare me the excuses that the Celtics and their apologists are already trotting out about it will take some time to get it together, short training camp, new faces, etc. Last time I checked, everyone had the same condensed offseason. Plus, it's a shorter season so bad starts are only magnified and more dire if you're unlucky enough to experience them.

Reigning MVP Derrick Rose had 25 points and seven assists but his supporting cast was equally impressive: all scored in double figures. Luol Deng had 21 points and 16 rebounds, Carlos Boozer and Ronnie Brewer added 12 points apiece and Joakim Noah had 10 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.

Like the Celtics of a few seasons ago, the Bulls are a championship contender because they play such great team defense (thanks Tom Thibodeau-greatest Salem State alum of all-time). They hit the glass hard and don't allow second chance opportunities, making it hard for teams that don't shoot well to beat them on most nights.

Ray Allen led the Celtics with a quiet 16 points while Rajon Rondo had 14 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and four steals. Paul Pierce had another bad shooting night (3 of 12) so he was held to 13 points. Finally, Brandon Bass had 10 points and nine rebounds as he was a late addition to the starting lineup. Who needs a center?

It's tough to choose where to begin when diagnosing Boston's issues. Clearly, they're way too old since they've only scored 100+ points three times so far this season. Most troubling, they've been held to under 80 in two of the last three losses. When you watch the games, you feel bad for Rondo because he has no teammates that can really keep up with him.

There's no shame in losing to the class of the Eastern Conference and one of the best teams in the NBA but the Celts aren't giving themselves a chance as they routinely start off games ice cold which results in double-digit first half deficits. Boston was down 20 (61-41 in the third quarter) but cut it down to one (67-66 after a Mickael Pietrus 3-pointer) in the fourth before predictably folding since they were so gassed from the big comeback.

Things are looking so bleak that even CSNE's Tommy Heinsohn sounded like he was on the verge of suicide in the first half when Boston trailed 26-13 (really) after the first quarter and 52-30 at halftime. When he can't be positive with his shamrock green colored glasses on, there's no hope for the rest of us.

The Bulls seem to put it on cruise control in the third quarter and to the Celtics' credit, they made it a game by playing well in that frame (26-15). Some careless turnovers by Chicago led to some runouts which is when Rondo is at his best.

Chicago closed it out in the fourth (21-20) to earn the NBA's top overall record and best mark on the road (7-2).

When you look at the box score, it's no surprise that Chicago won since they were better in almost every category that matters. The Bulls shot 4% better from the floor (45.3-41.3%), hit five more free throws (16-11), grabbed 12 more rebounds (46-34) and blocked three more shots (6-3).

I want to be positive but I just don't know how the Celtics are going to turn it around in the next few days or big picture, this entire season which I'm already getting sick of.

They travel to Indiana tomorrow night to face the Pacers, who won in Boston last Friday, before returning home on Monday to face the Oklahoma City Thunder-for my money the best team in the Western Conference. So yeah, get ready for a five-game losing streak. Ugh.

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Playoff Edition: Pats-Broncos Injury Report

2012-01-13T22:09:00.000-08:00

At long last, this week of unfathomable hype is almost over.

Hopefully you've survived this non-stop barrage of Tim Tebow related fluff pieces and other useless garbage since last Sunday night. By this time tomorrow, we'll know whether the New England Patriots or Denver Broncos are headed to the AFC Championship Game.

The injury report for both teams was released today and no surprise, the Patriots list 13 players as questionable despite the fact that they haven't played a game in two weeks.

The biggest question marks for New England are offensive linemen Logan Mankins (knee) and Sebastian Vollmer (back/foot). I am fully expecting at least one of them to be out since Mankins missed most of the last two games and Vollmer was out for the last five.

Others questionable for the Pats include safety Patrick Chung (knee); cornerback Kyle Arrington (foot); offensive linemen Marcus Cannon (ankle) and Dan Connolly (groin); linebackers Dane Fletcher (thumb), Rob Ninkovich (hip), Tracy White (abdomen) and Brandon Spikes (knee); safety James Ihedigbo (shoulder); wide receiver Wes Welker (knee) and special teams captain Matthew Slater (shoulder).

I'm assuming that almost everyone in that group will play for New England since everyone practiced the last few days for them. They've had more than enough rest so if they're on the 53-man roster, why wouldn't they be active?

The Broncos report was more interesting since not only was wide receiver Eric Decker (knee) ruled out, as expected, but the team was forced to sign long snapper David Binn today since former Patriot Lonie Paxton had an undisclosed family issue this week so he'll be out too. If there's a bad snap tomorrow, you'll know why since they signed Binn at the last possible moment. The only other guy listed as less than probable is Denver strong safety Brian Dawkins (neck) who is doubtful.

Check in tomorrow before kickoff to see who is in and out for each team.

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Bruins Scheduled To Visit President Obama At The White House On January 23

2012-01-13T21:54:00.001-08:00

One of the cooler things in American sports is when championship teams (college and professional) get to visit the White House sometime in the next year after they win their respective title.

It was announced today that the Boston Bruins will visit Barack Obama at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on January 23. As you would expect, they'll be in town already since they play the Washington Capitals the next night in DC. It'll be a busy couple days since they play in Philadelphia the day before the ceremony.

Teams usually give the President a personalized jersey (wonder what they do with all of them?) and Obama is expected to talk about the Boston Bruins Foundation which has raised and donated more than $7 million to various charities across the six New England states.

Hopefully NESN or the NHL Network will do some behind the scenes feature on this trip since it should be a memorable one for the Black & Gold. I'm not even sure if it was the custom back in 1972 (the last time the Bruins won a Cup) to visit the White House afterwards. Regardless, it's been a long time coming for them.

Can somebody please make sure that Tyler Seguin isn't late to it and that Brad Marchand is wearing a suit rather than going shirtless or wearing an Affliction shirt? Thanks in advance.

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Sox Avoid Arbitration With Ryan Sweeney, Invite Jason Varitek To Spring Training

2012-01-13T21:29:00.001-08:00

A couple quick notes about the Boston Red Sox from today. First, the team avoided arbitration and gave new outfielder Ryan Sweeney a one-year, $1.75 million contract for next season.

He made $1.4 million last season in Oakland and he should see significant time in right field for the Red Sox in 2012, assuming that Ryan Kalish isn't ready to go in April. Regardless, he's a good defensive replacement and perfect backup outfielder.

The other news which makes me puke is that the Red Sox have reportedly invited Jason Varitek to come to spring training as a non-roster invitee. As I said after the season ended in unforgettably miserable fashion, it's long overdue for the team and region to move on from Varitek. We all loved him at some point but by now this is all a charade.

This has money grab written all over it since I can see him only coming back so he can have one of those goofy retire in a Red Sox uniform ceremonies. You know the Red Sox owners want him to do it so they can sell a few more Fenway bricks to gullible rubes in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire.

If they bring Varitek or Tim Wakefield back specifically to be a pseudo mascot, shame on them (not to mention those guys). Have some pride please and let the new catchers have their time in the spotlight.

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P.K. Subban Catapults The Canadiens Back Into The Public Enemy Number 1 Slot

2012-01-13T04:35:00.000-08:00

It has been an interesting week for the Boston Bruins.

Last Saturday, they lost to the Canucks in a wild, tension filled game that wasn't over until the clock reached 0:00. Backlash from Vancouver (surprise surprise), Shawn Thornton and Mike Felger catching a Vancouver columnist off guard on live tv, Brad Marchand getting suspended five games for his "clip" on Sami Salo and later getting threatened by Alain Vigneault were all entertaining storylines in the wake of that disappointing loss.

Because of this, many fans (myself included) wondered where Vancouver now sits on the Pantheon of Hockey Villains. I placed them at the top, taking Montreal's spot as the team that I without a doubt, unequivocally loathed.

Well, it didn't take long for Montreal to grab their spot back. Like a boxer who had lost a championship fight in an upset, Montreal's actions in their 2-1 loss to the Bruins last night put them back on top.

Of course it started with none other than P.K. Subban, the immensely talented but absolute scumbag defenseman. With the Bruins up 2-0 thanks to goals by Jordan Caron and Milan Lucic, Subban launched his body towards David Krejci, elbowing him in the head, which was the initial point of contact.

Andrew Ference then saw the hit and stepped up to defend Krejci, who has a history of concussions. Subban obviously saw Ference coming and stood up for himself, squaring up with Ference like any other hockey player would do.

Just kidding, he turtled to the ice, covering his head and lying down on the ground while getting dragged around like a dog. Was he ashamed of his actions? Nope, he popped up and smiled about it. It's all a big joke to Subban. I mean how do you look yourself in the mirror and be proud of yourself, not only as a hockey player but as a man. More importantly, how do your teammates think of you? Probably like a loser.

Speaking of losers, Montreal's front office clearly has no tolerance for any players caught using the L-word in interviews, as evidenced by last night's in-game trade that sent Mike Cammalleri to the Calgary Flames for Rene Bourque.

So let me get this straight. A player on a struggling hockey team calls himself and his team out for underachieving and he gets shitcanned DURING a game? Insane.

Everyone knew something was up when Cammalleri wasn't seen on the Habs bench for the duration of the third period. Jack Edwards broke the news during the game and I instantly went on Twitter for some sort of confirmation.

I can't believe that Montreal has the balls to give up one of its most talented players and a Bruins killer at that, yet continues to employ a jackass like Subban. Just another classic example of Montreal being Montreal. I hate them once again.

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Bruins Pick Up Their Third Straight Win Against The Canadiens, 2-1 At TD Garden

2012-01-12T22:48:00.000-08:00

How much of a mess are the Montreal Canadiens this season? Well they pulled a bush league move that I've never even heard of by trading forward Michael Cammalleri to the Calgary Flames for forward Rene Bourque, between periods of a game.

The best part is that Cammalleri likely got shipped out of town because he ripped the Canadiens organization the other day for their "losing mentality". Just great stuff.

This all happened tonight as the Habs (16-20-7) fell 2-1 to the Bruins (28-11-1) in a meeting that was a complete snoozer as far as this storied rivalry goes.

Boston recorded its third straight win against Montreal-after starting the season with two consecutive losses-thanks to a fluky goal from Jordan Caron, a nice backhander from Milan Lucic and 33 saves by Tim Thomas (18-7-0).

The fact that Vancouver was here last weekend and also that the Canadiens sit 18 points behind the Bruins in the Northeast Division took some juice away from this matchup.

Of course, P.K. Subban had to do something cowardly while he was at the Garden so he chose to give David Krejci a forearm shiver to his head. Andrew Ference jumped all over Subban but all the Canadiens defenseman could do was lay on the ice with his hands covering his head. Really.

Caron was a surprise addition to the lineup after getting called up from Providence yesterday. He took Zach Hamill's spot. 1:23 into the proceedings, Johnny Boychuk's dump in took a crazy bounce off the back boards leaving Montreal goaltender Carey Price (28 saves) totally out of position (somewhere Roberto Luongo lectures the media). Caron (2nd of the season) got an easy tap-in with Zdeno Chara picking up the second assist.

After a scoreless second period, Lucic (15th of the season) scored the game-winner at 3:43 of the third on a backhander. Nathan Horton set him up from behind the net and Krejci (points in 10 straight games) had the other assist.

Ference was tagged with two penalties so the Canadiens took advantage as Yannick Weber (4th of the season) ended Thomas's shutout bid at 12:46 with a screened blast from the point.

This concluded a four-game homestand for the Bruins, all against Canadian teams. They went 3-1 and now they head out to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night. Hopefully nothing too crazy happens because I'll be watching only be watching bits and pieces of it between commercials during the Patriots-Broncos game.

Boston has one final game in Montreal, on February 15, but after that they can bid adieu to an opponent that is going nowhere fast this season. I'd be shocked if the Canadiens made the playoffs. At least they have a bunch of other professional teams and sports to focus on up there, oh wait.

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Tyler Seguin & Zdeno Chara Named To The 2012 NHL All-Star Roster In Ottawa

2012-01-12T10:52:00.000-08:00

A week after Tim Thomas was named as the fan selection for starting goaltender, the NHL announced today that Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and Tyler Seguin will join the Bruins netminder in Ottawa for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game on January 29th.

Bruins head coach Claude Julien and his assistants were also named to the All-Star Game last week as well so this year's festivities will have a distinct Black & Gold taste.

Seguin was inexplicably missing from this year's ballot despite starting the season on a scoring tear including posting his first career hat trick against the Maple Leafs on November 5th. Who can forget his amazing goal in that same game? And if you forgot about it, here it is.

Seguin has really turned a corner this season, as his 17 goals in just 38 games so far absolutely dwarfs his 11 goals in 74 games last season and leads the team. The speedy winger leads the league in Plus/Minus with a plus 33 and is third in the NHL in game-winning goals with five. Seguin was a write-in candidate in this year's All-Star balloting and his strong performance coupled with his all-world play has catapulted him into the forefront of All-Star discussion.

Chara is obviously one of, if not the best defenseman in the NHL and he is a perennial All-Star. Even if Chara played like garbage this year, he would still be invited off the strength of his record breaking slap shot in the hardest shot contest last season.

Chara has had a fantastic year once again as his +27 is good for second in the NHL (behind Seguin). His plus/minus is doubly impressive because Chara is always paired up against the opposition's top players such as Phil Kessel, Alex Ovechkin, the Sedins and Steven Stamkos.

I can't really make the argument for many other Bruins, as their team oriented style of play doesn't lend itself to individual accolades but one player that I thought would make the team is Patrice Bergeron. Selke Smooth is having his best season and has really shown his value to this team since Boston's second forward line has been its best thus far. He has never made an All-Star Game which boggles my mind, so for him to miss out on this year's contest is a little shocking but I'm sure he wouldn't complain about having a few extra days off.

The All-Star rosters will follow the same format as last year with both teams being decided by a draft on Friday night. Haha who can forget Kessel being Mr. Irrelevant last season? One of the all-time classic awkward moments in a sports broadcast-"Hey Phil!".

UPDATE 1/12: Jordan Caron was called up from Providence since Brad Marchand is still serving his five-game suspension. Caron is playing on a line with Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley, meaning that Zach Hamill is a healthy scratch.

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Sorry Folks, It's Going To Be A Long Season For Our Beloved Boston Celtics

2012-01-11T21:13:00.000-08:00

There is no better way to sum up the Celtics's game with the Mavericks tonight at the TD Garden than to list the last few plays in Dallas's 90-85 win.

With 25 seconds left, Paul Pierce shook off a brutal night (7 points) to hit a 3-pointer that tied it at 85. The problem was that there was way too much time left for the Mavs (6-5).

Everybody in the Garden except for apparently Celtics (4-5) head coach Doc Rivers and his team knew that Dirk Nowitzki (16 points, 7 rebounds) would get the last shot for Dallas. Kevin Garnett (16 points, 10 rebounds) was forced to guard him by himself and since this is 2012 and not say 2006, it didn't work. Dirk hit a crazy floater and got fouled with five seconds left. His free throw put Dallas up three points (88-85) with five seconds left.

No problem, the Celtics would get the last shot after all. Except not so much. Rajon Rondo (24 points, 7 assists) threw a crappy bounce pass at Ray Allen's (9 points) ankles and it bounced harmlessly out of bounds. It was over by then but just for good measure, Boston allowed a layup to Jason Terry (18 points) and Allen threw the inbounds pass away as time expired. Yuck.

In summation, this is who the Celtics are in 2011-12: frauds. They can beat up on the dredge of the NBA but when it comes time to play a decent opponent, they fold. This game was right there for them to snatch but all their minor mistakes added up to a particularly bitter loss. They have yet to beat a team that's over .500 this season or one that made the playoffs last season, something to chew on.

Everything that Boston does right now seems more difficult than it should be. Rondo is playing very well and Allen had been great before tonight but Pierce is lost and KG is a shell of his former self.

It's telling that the Celtics only got back into it this evening thanks to a second unit of Avery Bradley (4 points), Brandon Bass (8 points), Keyon Dooling (9 points) and Mickael Pietrus (5 points in his Celtic debut). Their younger legs allowed Rivers to put more ball pressure on the Mavs.

Shawn Marion had 15 points and seven rebounds for Dallas which has now won five of its last six games after starting 1-4. Without Tyson Chandler or J.J. Barea, I don't think they have a prayer of repeating but they'll be a factor in the Western Conference. Starting in place of Jason Kidd, old friend Delonte West had 12 points while Brendan Haywood had eight points and 11 rebounds.

After getting smoked by the Pacers on Friday and having four days off (probably as long as you can have this season in the NBA), the Celtics truly had no excuse for starting off so poorly once again. They got plenty of open looks but none of them were falling.

Dallas led 23-15 after the first quarter but Boston rallied to cut it to 42-41 at halftime. The Mavs pushed it further and were up 68-59 heading into the fourth before withstanding Boston's last spurt (26-22).

The Celts hit nine more free throws (23-14) but the Mavs grabbed eight more rebounds (43-35) including an embarrassing 12-2 edge in offensive boards. Dallas also played more big boy basketball with a 44-30 margin in points in the paint.

Things don't figure to get much better for the C's since this was the start of a three games in four days stretch. They face the Bulls (10-2) on Friday at the Garden before a rematch with the Pacers in Indiana on Saturday night. Chicago won three games in the past three nights showing that they are both legit and not prone to making excuses even though Derrick Rose (last season's MVP) sat out tonight. At this point, I'll be happy if Boston wins either of those games.

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Now Presenting: Your Bruins Anthem For The 2011-12 Season By Akrobatik

2012-01-11T11:42:00.000-08:00

One of the only thing that is lacking at Boston Bruins games these days is good music. For as long as I can remember, the TD Garden has played an awful mix of your dad's hair metal albums, Dropkick Murphys and nothing that could be categorized as remotely cool.

Well fear not hip hop loving Bruins fans. On Twitter this afternoon, I found a song on YouTube by Dorcester rapper Akrobatik called "Bru-Tang Killah B's." It was posted by the talented rapper himself, check him out @akrobatikmc on Twitter and give him a follow. Not only does he put out quality music but he's a huge Boston sports fan so he always has good takes on all the action.

I have always been a huge Wu-Tang Clan fan since back to my middle school days so it's awesome to hear Akrobatik do a parody of Wu-Tang's classic "Ain't Nuthing to Fuck With," except he completely revamps the lyrics to include numerous references to the current Bruins and the wonderful sport of hockey.

Maybe if we all like this song, listen to it, talk about it through social media (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), we can hear Akrobatik at Bruins games in the near future. For the love of God, anything other than "Shipping Up To Boston" and garbage songs from the 80s and 90s.

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Winnipeg Blows Three Leads, Loses 5-3 To The Bruins Thanks To A 3-goal 3rd Period

2012-01-10T22:13:00.001-08:00

On the surface, a home game against the Winnipeg Jets in January doesn't sound like anything special for a Boston Bruins fan. However, tonight was a prime example of how when you tune in on any given night, you can see something remarkable.

The Bruins (27-11-1) rallied three times against the Jets (20-17-5) and outscored them 3-0 in the third period to post a 5-3 win at TD Garden but all anyone will remember is Shawn Thornton's performance.

This was the first of five games that Boston didn't have Brad Marchand. It didn't seem to matter as like they have all season, the Bruins found a way to get it done despite missing a key player.

Boston's main enforcer-Thornton-earned a penalty shot in the second period after jumping out of the penalty box and collecting the puck. I admit that the holding call that led to the penalty shot was pretty lame but it was no worse than the same bizarre whistle for hooking that led to Winnipeg's Chris Thorburn taking a penalty shot in the first period.

Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (29 saves; 10-4-1) stuffed Thorburn's weak backhand attempt but Thornton managed to beat Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec (37 saves) with a nifty toe-drag, dangle and a hard backhander. It was a special moment for Thornton, his fourth goal of the season tied it at two while Boston was shorthanded.

Jets captain Andrew Ladd (14th of the season) gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 16:53 in the first period when he tipped in a shot from the point by Zach Bogosian.

Nathan Horton (13th of the season) tied it at one at 19:20 thanks to his net drive and a crisp feed from Milan Lucic (2 assists). Linemate David Krejci (2 assists; points in nine straight games) had the other assist.

The second period was a big one for former Bruins as Blake Wheeler put the Jets ahead 2-1 and Mark Stuart fought Thornton in a lengthy brawl. Wheeler's (9th of the season) tip in 31 seconds into the frame was thanks to Tobias Enstrom's shot.

After Thornton tied it then squared off with Stuart, the Jets took their final lead at 11:11 as Eric Fehr (1st of the season) took advantage of a bad giveaway in his own end by Joe Corvo. Fehr's shot also deflected off Corvo's skate past Rask.

It only took 6:41 into the third for the B's to vault ahead by two. This should come as no surprise since Boston is statistically the best third period team in the NHL (+37 goal differential after tonight). Horton scored eight seconds into the period after another easy tap in from close range. Krejci had the primary assist with Lucic providing the other assist.

Tyler Seguin (17th of the season) electrified the Garden with a game-winning goal at 3:06. Patrice Bergeron (2 assists) won the puck at the blue line and sent Seguin into the zone with a step on Winnipeg's defense. He didn't disappoint by tucking a backhander past Pavelec.

For good measure, Benoit Pouliot (8th of the season) made it 5-3 with a power-play tally at 6:41 from Bergeron and Rich Peverley. Pouliot's first shot hit the post but it bounced back to him and he was able to fight off a defenseman and scored on the rebound.

Montreal returns to the Garden and things haven't gotten any better for the Habs since they last appeared in Boston, a 3-2 loss on December 19. They are in last place in the Northeast Division and 12th place overall in the Eastern Conference. After losing the first two in the series, the Bruins have won the past two contests. The February 15th game in Montreal is the last regular season meeting and I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there will be no chance to see the Canadiens in the playoffs.

This means, we should all savor Thursday night when a rested Tim Thomas will get a chance to shutdown Monteal. It wraps up a four-game homestand for the Bruins, all against Canadian opponents.

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You Won't Be Seeing Marchand For The Next 5 Games Thanks To His Suspension

2012-01-09T16:39:00.000-08:00

As expected, Bruins forward Brad Marchand was suspended today by the NHL and it is a lengthy one as he will miss the next five games.

After a conference call with Brendan Shanahan-the NHL's vice president of player safety and hockey operations-the ruling came down this evening.

When I wrote my recap on Saturday night of the Bruins 4-3 loss to the Canucks, I didn't defend the cheap hit by Marchand on Sami Salo. My stance hasn't changed one bit since then despite all the whining from Vancouver that has made me cover my eyes and ears.

There is no excuse for that type of play. It was dirty and dangerous; if someone did it to a Bruin, we'd all be going crazy and calling for their head so it's only right that we remember it in this instance and not let our bias get the best of us.

Marchand is a player that is usually on the edge in terms of style. However, between this and the slew foot in Pittsburgh earlier this season (which cost him a fine from the NHL), it's clear that he needs to wake up and realize that he's way too valuable to his team to be pulling this Matt Cooke-esque bullshit.

Since he was suspended two games in 2011 for an elbowing incident against Columbus, Marchand had a track record which like being a bad student or a criminal meant that there was extra attention on him. He will miss games against the Jets, Canadiens, Hurricanes, Panthers and Lightning. If he doesn't appeal and starts serving it right away, expect him back in the lineup on Thursday, January 19 when the Bruins visit the Devils.

Benoit Pouliot should get bumped up to Marchand's spot on the second line with Zach Hammill replacing Pouliot on the third line. Jordan Caron might even get called up from Providence to practice with the team and be the extra body in case someone else gets hurt or suspended.

All we can hope is that Marchand learns his lesson from this meaty punishment. He'll lose out on $152,439.02 of game checks due to missing these five games so that should play a role as well in making him see the error in his ways. We all love Marchand and this one cowardly act won't change that, however I can't listen to any fan boys (or girls) that pretend that some type of suspension wasn't warranted. Get real folks.

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Pietrus Says He'll Debut For Celtics On Wednesday Against The Dallas Mavericks

2012-01-09T16:19:00.000-08:00

It's only eight games into the 66-game 2011-12 NBA season for the Boston Celtics but they were due for some good news.

Already as a fan of the team, I can feel my excitement level for them declining with each poor effort and signs of aging. Getting Mickael Pietrus on the court isn't going to transform the C's from an Eastern Conference wannabe to a contender but at least it's a positive development.

Speaking to the local media for the first time today after practice, Pietrus declared himself ready to make his debut on Wednesday when the Celtics (4-4) host the defending champion Dallas Mavericks (4-5 with a game tomorrow in Detroit) at TD Garden.

Assuming he's healthy and at least a fair representation of himself, Pietrus should give an immediate lift to Boston's up and down second unit. Right now, Keyon Dooling is their only guy that can hit 3-pointers off the bench. Likewise, Marquis Daniels is the only decent defender with some size. Pietrus has the ability to do both of those things along with providing energy and athleticism.

Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to how he'll perform on his new team but at least it is something to look forward to regarding the Celtics. Otherwise, I can't see many other reasons to get our hopes up about this squad that currently appears destined for another early-round playoff exit.

The Mavs game is the start of four straight against four of the better teams in the NBA (Dallas, Chicago, Indiana and Oklahoma City). How the Celtics fare in those four contests should tell us plenty in terms of whether they will be a threat in the Eastern Conference or just battling for the fourth or fifth spot.

In other Celtics news today, Jeff Green had his heart surgery this morning and all reports say it went well.

"Surgery went well, he had surgery today -- they're saying it went great," Rivers said. "Obviously our thoughts, our prayers and every part of our being is with Jeff right now.

"The second news we want to hear is that he'll be able to play again. That would be terrific. I don't care if it's with us -- I want it to be with us -- [but] I just want him to. Really, at the end of the day, that's what we want."

Best wishes to Jeff, I hope to see him back on a basketball court soon, especially for the Celtics.

UPDATE 1/10: Doc said at practice today that Pietrus will play tomorrow while Daniels is expected to miss the game with flu-like symptoms.

UPDATE 1/11: Pietrus and Daniels will play while E'Twaun Moore will backup Rondo. On the other side, former Celtic Delonte West will start for the injured Jason Kidd.

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Be Aware That The World As We Know It Could Very Well End On Saturday Night

2012-01-08T20:49:00.000-08:00

So by now you are aware that the Denver Broncos (9-8) beat the Pittsburgh Steelers (12-5) 29-23 this afternoon as Tim Tebow threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime.

Yesterday, the Cincinnati Bengals couldn't come through with a win (shocking, I know) at the Houston Texans, meaning the winner of today's AFC Wild Card game would advance to face the New England Patriots (13-3) next Saturday night (8 p.m.) at Gillette Stadium.

In terms of things falling into place for the Pats, they couldn't have asked for a better scenario to unfold for them. Denver was a heavy underdog but they managed to outlast Pittsburgh after building up a 20-6 halftime lead.

All New England has to do is beat the Broncos and they'll be in the AFC Championship game the following weekend against the winner of Sunday's Texans at Baltimore Ravens matchup.

As we learned first-hand from last season, you can't read too much into regular season meetings when you play the same team in the playoffs. The Patriots had blown the Jets out in December but then New York came into Gillette and shocked the Pats under a similar scenario: top seed, homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

New England sent Denver into a tailspin-they lost their last three regular season games but still backed into the AFC West-by winning 41-23 at Mile High on December 18. It seemed like the NFL had figured out Tebow but all he did today was shred one of the top defenses for 316 passing yards, two touchdowns plus 50 yards rushing and a touchdown.

Nobody in the world deserves as much attention as Tebow gets but at this point, it's impossible to argue that the guy isn't a winner that's beloved by his teammates and isn't that all that really matters?

Thomas (4 catches, 204 receiving yards) is a great young wide receiver along with Eric Decker, who hurt his knee today on a hit by Steelers linebacker James Harrison. Decker is scheduled to get an MRI tomorrow, I doubt he'll play this weekend. You can't really fear Willis McGahee at this stage in his career but he put up 1199 rushing yards in the regular season. He was held to 19 carries for 61 yards today and it looked like a fumble by him might cost Denver the season.

Denver also has a very underrated defense filled with playmakers, namely defensive end Elvis Dumervil, linebacker Von Miller (sure to be defensive rookie of the year) and the ageless cornerback supreme Champ Bailey. Their kicker Matt Prater is also one of the NFL's best.

The biggest issue for New England is that they don't want to be in a one-score game entering the fourth quarter, aka Tebow Time. The former Florida Gator and Heisman winner has an uncanny ability to lead his team back in crunch time so the best way to squash that is to build up an insurmountable lead like the Pats did the first time they played the Broncos.

I'm not going to hold my breath on it but is it too much to ask for the crowd to be loud on Saturday night? Hopefully the Pink Hats are phased out and mostly true Patriots fans make up a majority of the crowd. There is no excuse not to go crazy: the weather should be mild, it's a Saturday night, a trip to the AFC Championship game is on the line and it's a very winnable (Pats opened as 14-point favorites) contest. If people can't get excited for this one, well I guess Gillette will never be a good atmosphere.

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Congrats To The Vancouver Canucks, The 2011-12 Regular Season Stanley Cup Champs

2012-01-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

The biggest game of the regular season in the NHL took place this afternoon at TD Garden. Oddly enough at 1 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon, a Stanley Cup Finals rematch occurred with the Bruins hosting the Canucks.

I understand why the NHL chose to keep this away from primetime with the NFL playoffs beginning today as well but a matchup of this magnitude deserved even more of the spotlight. Regardless, the 4-3 win by Vancouver (26-13-3) over Boston (26-11-1) proved once and for all that the Canucks have not and will not change their pathetic style.

This much was clear yesterday when they mysteriously announced that franchise goaltender Roberto Luongo would get the day off. Yes, Vancouver won today and celebrated like the Jets in their annual September Super Bowl but make no mistake, that team just doesn't get it.

The B's were their own worst enemy as they got too caught up in setting a physical tone and therefore were goaded into dumb penalties. Milan Lucic was given a bogus game misconduct-later rescinded tonight in a baffling NBA-style move-for jumping in to help teammate Shawn Thornton when the enforcer was surrounded by six (no lie) Canucks. Bruins fans could live with that play but Brad Marchand's reckless flip of Sami Salo late in the second period cost Boston dearly as they gave up two goals on those concurrent penalties.

This all played right into Vancouver's hands since they still possess the top power play in the NHL. The Canucks were 4 for 11 on the man advantage, accounting for all their goals, while the Bruins did their best 2011 playoffs impression with an ugly 0 for 7 clip on the power play. That was obviously the difference in the game.

This was the first time in 2011-12 that Boston failed to win (22-1-1) when they scored three or more goals. Not surprisingly, it wasn't Tim Thomas's (32 saves; 17-7-0) best game but who could blame him?

The largest brawl of the game was 3:54 into the first period when the Canucks jumped Thornton. Eventually, Nathan Horton fought something named Dale Weise in a long, emotional bout. Don't ask me how Vancouver got a power play out of that scenario but they did and Ryan Kesler (11th of the season) gave them a 1-0 lead at 5:41. Boston had almost killed that power play but a deflection went right to Kesler and he knew what to do with it.

Marchand (16th of the season) tied it at 14:57 of the first when he took a beautiful pass from Tyler Seguin and put a backhander behind Canucks goaltender Cory Schneider (36 saves). Patrice Bergeron had the other assist.

After Daniel Paille was stoned on a penalty shot, haha he wristed it right into Schneider's glove, Rich Peverley (7th of the season) gave the B's their only lead of the game at 2-1, 7:12 into the second. Benoit Pouliot had the assist on Peverley's top shelf snipe job.

After Tyler Seguin was called for tripping, finger biter Alex Burrows (16th of the season) tied it at two with a power-play goal from Cody Hodgson and Kevin Bieksa at 15:21. Hodgson was originally credited with the goal but apparently Burrows tipped it past Thomas.

Exactly one minute after Marchand's gaffe, Henrik Sedin (11th of the season) scored a backbreaking goal with 13 seconds left in the second period. Yet again, it was a tip-in on a power-play. Alexander Edler and Bieksa had the assists.

Hodgson (10th of the season) scored the game-winner 1:09 into the third when his slap shot went over Thomas's shoulder. Dan Hamhuis had the lone assist on the fourth and final power-play strike.

Boston had no business being in the game at that point but they certainly made it interesting as David Krejci (10th of the season) scored 42 seconds later from Joe Corvo. Alone in front of Schneider, Krejci was able to take two shots before he beat the Marblehead native.

Speaking of Schneider, the former BC star deserves plenty of credit for holding it down despite a 19-10 shot advantage for the Bruins in the third period. There's no doubt in my mind that Luongo would have crumbled under similar circumstances. Local bias aside, Schneider is one of the NHL's top backups and like Tuukka Rask, he would start on many other teams. Hell, he should probably start on his own.

Since the only other times these clubs could meet is in June for the Stanley Cup Finals, that got me to thinking. If the B's make it that far, maybe I don't want to see the Canucks there. Not because Boston won't win but rather I've already had my fill of Vancouver's diving, flopping and embellishment on way too many plays. Boston meets Montreal six times per season. I'd much rather see the Bruins play the Blackhawks or Red Wings, super-skilled North American (that's the key I guess) teams that don't play such a lame style. Just an idea, that is all a long way off anyway.

The Bruins have their third installment of a four game homestand, all against Canadien teams, on Tuesday when they host the Winnipeg Jets. The teams have split the first two games with the Jets winning most recently 2-1 on December 6 in Winnipeg. Even if they're without Marchand (likely) and Lucic (not as likely since the misconduct was overturned), I am positive the Bruins will bounce back from today's disappointment and that loss to the Jets.

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Well That Didn't Take Long: Josh McDaniels Is Back With The Patriots For The Playoffs

2012-01-07T21:20:00.000-08:00

In a move that is only surprising in terms of its swiftness, former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has reportedly returned to the team to be Bill O'Brien's offensive assistant during the playoffs. His first day on the new/old job is tomorrow.

McDaniels was New England's offensive coordinator during the 2006-2008 seasons, his final game was the Super Bowl loss to the Giants. After two mostly terrible years as head coach of the Broncos, he was fired. Most recently, he was St. Louis' offensive coordinator (yes, they had one) last season. He will take over next season as O'Brien goes to Penn State.

"There's no way I can stand up in front of our football team and talk about loyalty and commitment and then leave the Patriots at the start of a playoff run," O'Brien said at his introductory news conference at Penn State. "I have committed to the New England Patriots to see them through this playoff run. There's not going to be a lot of sleep over the next two-to-three weeks. Any break I have, to make sure I have as much time as I can for Penn State."

Any Pats fan should love this move since the offense was never better than when it was in McDaniels' hands. With some time to readjust and learn the new players not to mention plays, I'm sure by next season it will seem like he never left. McDaniels is still only 35 which means, he'll crush it for a few more years in Foxborough and then take another head coaching job somewhere else in the NFL. That's how it goes when you're working with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

In that season (2007-08), Tom Brady set a single-season league record with 50 touchdown passes for an offense that averaged a league-best 411.2 yards. It also was first in yards passing, 295.7 and points per game, 36.8.

Now McDaniels will be reunited with Brady and another prolific offense in time for the Patriots practices for their divisional playoff game next Saturday. As the top-seeded team in the AFC, they earned home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs.

The Patriots were second in the league in overall yards with 428 per game and yards passing with 317.8. Their average of 32.1 points was third.

You can never have enough guys around that Belichick trusts. The fact that he let McDaniels go a few years ago and then return, shows that he still respects what he can do. Most importantly, on a coaching staff full of nobodies and never weres, McDaniels brings a legit resume filled with experience in his young career. You have to believe that in those coaches meetings-like the one we saw in "A Football Life"-McDaniels would be much more likely to speak up and heaven forbid, disagree with Belichick. These are all good things.

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Bill Parcells & Curtis Martin Among 15 NFL Hall Of Fame Finalists For Class Of 2012

2012-01-07T21:02:00.001-08:00

Some good news for longtime New England Patriots fans as former running back Curtis Martin and head coach Bill Parcells were among the 15 finalists for induction into the NFL Hall of Fame.

Look at this picture of the two of them that I found using a quick Google images search. It looks like its from 30 years ago. The crazy thing is that as you can tell, Parcells was the Jets coach at the time so it was the late 1990s.

This is the Tuna's first chance to get in (and I guarantee that he will) while Martin was previously eligible but didn't make the cut.

Martin is still the best running back on the Patriots that I've seen in my lifetime in terms of career span, ie. more than Corey Dillon's couple of great years. Martin was a professional on some good Patriots teams, including the one that made it to the 1997 Super Bowl against the Green Bay Packers. Seeing him go to the Jets, joining Parcells, was one of the toughest periods in recent franchise history.

Like most great coaches, Parcells was an egomaniac and he eventually clashed with Patriots owner Robert Kraft and escaped to the Jets for more control of the team (the famous groceries quotes). If it's any consolation, he's the second best coach in team history behind his former protege, Bill Belichick.

Voting for the 2012 Hall of Fame inductees takes place on Saturday, February 4 in Indianapolis (site of this season's Super Bowl). Let's hope that New England is in town, making this weekend extra special. If Martin gets in, can Tony Braxton introduce him?

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The Question Of 2011-12: Will The Boston Celtics Ever Beat A Good Team?

2012-01-06T21:57:00.000-08:00

I want to have hope for the Boston Celtics in 2011-12, I really do. However, when they've lost to every half-decent team (plus New Orleans) that they've played so far, I can't help but feel that they are front-running frauds.

Tonight, the Indiana Pacers came to TD Garden and they snapped Boston's (4-4) misleading (since it was against Detroit, Washington-twice-and New Jersey) four-game winning streak with an 87-74 beating that truthfully was never really in doubt.

For whatever reason, the Celts had no rhythm offensively other than Ray Allen, who had a game-high 23 points after missing Wednesday against New Jersey with the flu.

They tied a franchise low with 25 points in the first half. Somehow they were only down eight at that point but the Pacers (5-2) were efficient, younger and had more energy.

Paul Pierce had one of the worst shooting performances (3 of 17) in his career as he was held to 10 points. Kevin Garnett put up his now customary quiet 12 points and six rebounds while Rajon Rondo was held in check (11 points, 9 assists, 3 steals).

Four of the five Pacers that started scored in double-figures. Only David West (2 points, 10 rebounds), who spurned the Celtics' offer to come to Boston, had a bad game. Danny Granger led Indiana with a modest 15 points while Darren Collison (14 points), Paul George (12 points) and Roy Hibbert (11 points, 12 rebounds) all played well.

The two main reasons that the Pacers won were because they owned the glass (47-36 including 14-7 offensive rebounds) and their bench absolutely crushed Boston's (33-14).

George Hill (13 points) and Tyler Hansbrough (12 points) were both big sparks off the bench for Indiana that Boston had no answer for. The normally reliable Brandon Bass had his worst game in a Celtics uniform with five points (2 of 7 shooting) and four rebounds in 25 minutes.

I wouldn't normally say that four games is a reasonable sample size in an NBA season but since this particular one is only 66, I'd say the next nine days are vital for the C's. They have two more huge games at home: Wednesday vs. the defending champion Dallas Mavericks then Friday vs. Chicago. After that, they go to Indiana on Saturday and come home to face Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, January 16.

They need to beat either the Mavs or Bulls and then the Pacers the second time around to show that they are still elite in the Eastern Conference and by extension, the NBA. Otherwise, it's going to be a long and mediocre season.

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Roberto Luongo is Ready For The Bruins...Wait, He's Sitting Out Tomorrow?

2012-01-06T17:40:00.000-08:00

The Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks never had much history or bad blood, until last year. Pick your villain.

Aaron Rome leveled Nathan Horton, taking the winger out of the series as a result of a cheap hit at the blue line. Alex Burrows bit the fingers of Patrice Bergeron and Max Lapierre taunted the Bruins by mimicking the incident early in the series. Daniel and Henrik Sedin showed absolutely zero guts, getting bowled over by Tim Thomas and punched repeatedly by Brad Marchand. Lastly, Roberto Luongo talked shit about Thomas and criticized his goaltending style. You know, that same style that won two Vezina trophies in three years.

Quite simply, Vancouver made themselves look like fools both on the ice and off, especially considering the ridiculous riots that transpired in the wake of the Bruins Stanley Cup victory in Game 7.

Roberto Luongo, surprise surprise took himself out of the Bruins-Canucks rematch tomorrow at the TD Garden. Not because of injuries but since he wants backup goalie (and Marblehead, Massachusetts native and BC alum) Cory Schnieder to get the start in his hometown. Riiiight.

Let's document who said what and why Luongo is not starting tomorrow.

Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault explained that “Louie just got off a shutout and he’s playing really well. I just decided that Schneider was the guy.”

Makes sense, considering that the Bruins are the best team in the NHL. So Alain, your goalie is coming off of a shutout and is playing well, yet you don't want him playing in the biggest game of the regular season for both teams? I'm not buying it.

So what does Luongo have to say about this? Only exactly what you would expect from the Mr. Deeds butler lookalike.

“Obviously I would have liked to play the game, but in fairness to Cory, he’s from here and he deserves to play this game,” Luongo said. “I’m all for it.

“At the end of the day the win is what matters the most. Cory’s from here and we don’t get a chance to come here very often, it’s a good opportunity to play in front of his family and friends.”

Hey Roberto, you do realize that Cory played in front of the Bruins last year twice during the Finals. You remember, the two games when you got pulled? Just insanity all over the place.

I've already heard chatter from north of the border. People downplaying this move as if this game is just merely one out of 82. Please. Bruins-Canucks in Boston means more now than it ever has, especially for the Canucks. Way to show up and prove that you aren't the softest team in the league other than Montreal.

I caught up with die-hard Bruins fan and All-American everything Carly Benning (@carlybenning23) who emphasized that this was "Luongo's biggest game of the year, and he is throwing away his chance at redemption. EPIC FAIL" Epic fail indeed.

As eloquently as she put it, this reflects poorly on the Canucks. If it was indeed Vigneault's call, it tells us that he does not have confidence in the headcase Luongo coming back to Boston to exorcise his Finals demons. If it was indeed Luongo who decided to sit, this validates everything we have ever said about the man. He's supremely skilled but he has no heart. Either way, expect the Bruins to roll the Canucks up and exact revenge for the Horton hit by making Aaron Rome pay.

Oh wait, he's not playing either.

For the Bruins, Brad Marchand is expected to play after missing last night's game against Calgary with the flu. Also, Thomas got to rest in that contest with Tuukka Rask handling the goaltending duties. Expect the Finals MVP to be locked in tomorrow; even if Luongo is stapled to the bench, Thomas will always remember what the Canucks fraud goaltender said about him.

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Gronk & Welker Are 2011 Associated Press All-Pros, But You Already Knew That

2012-01-06T16:04:00.000-08:00

Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker and tight end Rob Gronkowski were both named to the 2011 Associated Press All-Pro team today.

This is a big honor since unlike the Pro Bowl, the AP All-Pro team is made up of the best players in the entire NFL regardless of conference. In total, there were 16 players from the NFC and 12 from the AFC.

Welker led the Patriots with 122 catches (on 172 targets) and 1569 yards (12.9 yards per catch). He also scored a career-high nine touchdowns. He had a ridiculous 21 catches of 20+ yards which is a ton for a slot receiver. He averaged 98.1 receiving yards per game with an amazing 732 yards after the catch and 77 first downs.

Gronkowski had 90 catches (on 124 targets) for an NFL record 1327 yards (14.7 yards per catch) and also a record 17 touchdowns. He had 22 catches that were 20+ yards and he averaged 82.9 receiving yards per game. Gronk had 656 yards after the catch and he picked up 69 (how fitting) first downs.

Everybody knows that they are the two most important targets for Tom Brady heading into the playoffs. Aaron Hernandez really emerged this season and particularly down the stretch but in a big situation, you want the ball going to Welker or Gronk because they'll almost always deliver. And if anyone is wondering why Brady isn't an All-Pro, have you ever heard of Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers? Both had better seasons.

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Claude Julien Named 2012 All-Star Coach

2012-01-06T12:15:00.001-08:00

Yesterday it was revealed that Bruins goalie Tim Thomas will be starting goaltender for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa. Today, head coach Claude Julien will join him as on the All-Star roster along with his assistants Doug Houda and Geoff Ward. Julien hails from Ottawa and will surely cherish the opportunity.

"The fact that you get an opportunity to coach the elite players of the league and the guys that get voted on, you see a different side of players," said Julien. "So the whole experience is a good one. The fact that it's in my hometown is great. It's an added bonus, and you've got your family and friends around. So, it'll be a lot of fun."

Julien has led the Bruins to an impressive season after a 3-7 start, putting them near the top of the Eastern Conference. Julien's squad has dominated every facet of the game as of late, as their 23 wins in their last 27 contests has proven. Offensively, the Bruins are approaching historic levels.

In games decided by 3 or more goals, the B's are 15-1. Scoring more than 3 goals a game hasn't been a problem for the B's, recording a league leading 138 goals so far this season. The Bruins have also scored twice within a minute 13 times this year, which leads the league.

Defensively, the Bruins are as stingy as ever thanks to the efforts of Tuukka Rask and Tim Thomas. Rask and Thomas are number one and two in the NHL in goals against average and save percentage. Suffocating defense has always been a hallmark of a Claude Julien coached team and this year is no different since they've allowed an NHL-low 69 goals so far.

It is amazing how far Julien and this team have come in the last few years. Going into the playoffs last season, most Bruins fans were calling for his head and now he is beloved throughout New England. Nothing like winning a championship, I guess.

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Your Next Head Coach Of Penn State Football: Bill O'Brien. Wait, What?

2012-01-05T22:31:00.000-08:00

There is settling in life and then there is choosing Bill O'Brien to be the new head football coach at Penn State.

This absurd rumor was validated tonight as ESPN's Chris Mortenson tweeted that New England's offensive coordinator has been chosen to lead the Nittany Lions starting next season. The official announcement from the University is expected on Saturday although O'Brien will stay with the Patriots throughout the postseason.

Let me say a few nice words about the anonymous guy that will soon take over the most toxic job in all of sports. First, he's from Andover, MA and he also played football and graduated from Brown University. Those are two local connections that I can relate to and appreciate.

Now let's get real. O'Brien has never been a head coach, at any level. Before coming to New England, he worked at such college powerhouses as Duke, Georgia Tech and Maryland. How many other, more qualified candidates turned down Penn State? I'd venture a guess that it was easily in double digits. If you've been keeping track, it's been nearly two months since they fired Joe Paterno so clearly, they've had ample time to assemble a good list.

O'Brien probably figured that this was the fastest way for him to be able to be the face of a program-college or professional. Still, wouldn't you rather just be the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars (another rumor about him) than jump into the absolute mess in Happy Valley, PA? I guess he figures he can be a hero and change the culture there. Good luck with that.

As for more pertinent matters with Patriots fans, how will this affect the team in the playoffs? Looking back in 2004-05 (the last Super Bowl champion), a similar scenario occurred with offensive coordinator Charlie Weis being a lame duck before he went to Notre Dame. The Pats ended up rolling through the playoffs and beating the Eagles in the Super Bowl for their third title in four seasons.

Everybody knows that the Bill Belichick coaching tree has not been fruitful when it comes to head coaching success. Usually, they (Eric Mangini, Josh McDaniels, Weis) have moderate success at first before completely losing it and getting fired a few years later. We just don't know much about O'Brien to say with any conviction that he'll be any different, especially under the circumstances.

If I'm Belichick, I'm cutting the phone lines to O'Brien's office at Gillette Stadium and also confiscating any cell phones he has. That is to ensure optimal focus while New England is still alive in the playoffs. After that, see ya later. Thanks for the memories Bill (O'Brien).

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Bruins Hit Two Grand Slams & Solo Shot Or Score TD & Safety, Crush Flames 9-0

2012-01-05T18:52:00.000-08:00

I'll be honest, I'm running out of superlatives to describe the 2011-12 edition of the Boston Bruins. Last night, they beat down the New Jersey Devils 6-1 on the road, and 24 hours later played host to the Calgary Flames, a team that they barely ever see.

24-hour break? Unfamiliar team? No problem, as the B's absolutely steamrolled the Flames (18-19-5) 9-0 before a packed TD Garden.

It was Boston's ninth win in its last ten games, continuing an insane run of 22-3-1 that has stretched from 2011 now into 2012. Also, counting last night's game, the B's have rattled off 15 straight goals. In two games, on back-to-back nights.

Tuukka Rask stopped all 25 shots for yet another shutout (his 3rd in 4 games), Selke Smooth Bergeron and Nathan Horton each had two goals for the Bruins, who ran their overall record to 26-10-1.

Boston's 53 points is good for second in the Eastern Conference, only behind the New York Rangers' 54 points.

Leading the way for the Bruins on offense was Bergeron, who has scored four goals in two games and Tyler Seguin, who was a plus 3 and had a goal and two assists one night after not registering a shot against the Devils. Even Benoit Pouliot managed to notch a career-high three assists as he was bumped up to the second line due to Brad Marchand's illness (flu). It was that kind of night.

Horton and the first line continued their dominant play as of late, as tonight's beatdown saw Horton score his 11th and 12th goal of the season. Milan Lucic (14th of the year) scored on a fluky deflection off of Jokinen's skates early in the first and David Krejci (9th of the season) extended his point streak to seven games on his sweet power-play goal thanks to a crisp cross-ice pass from Rich Peverley in the first period.

Chris Kelly (13th of the year) and Daniel Paille (7th of the year) rounded out the scoring for the best team in hockey.

Rask was solid between the pipes, making 25 saves and preserving his spot atop the league leaders in goals against average and save percentage (1.49 and .949 respectively).

With the B's running up scores like the 2007 Patriots, it is becoming increasingly difficult to critique their game. Literally every aspect of it is top notch, from their depth to their defense, from goaltending to special teams. It truly is a special time to be Bruins fan.

Up next on the menu is a date with the Vancouver Canucks, you know, that team that the Bruins defeated in the Stanley Cup Finals last year? It could have been easy to overlook the Flames tonight with the Canucks on the horizon but the Bruins did what they do best and took it one game at a time. In what should be the most emotional and entertaining game of the young season, the Bruins will look to prove once again why they are the best team in the NHL on Saturday afternoon in Boston.

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Tom Brady Named AFC Offensive Player Of The Month For December

2012-01-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

With the New England Patriots on a bye before their playoff game next Saturday night (8 p.m.) at Gillette Stadium, expect not much meaningful news to come out of Foxborough.

That is why I won't pay attention to practice news until next week. It means nothing when stars aren't practicing now. Moving on, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady won his second straight AFC Offensive Player of the Month award for December/January (since Week 17 ended on New Year's Day).

New England was 5-0 over that span (they're on an eight-game winning streak) and not surprisingly, Brady put up big numbers (124 of 190 for 1608 yards, 11 touchdowns, 2 interceptions).

In most seasons, Brady would be a shoe in for the NFL MVP award but not in 2011 which was the year of the quarterback. Aaron Rodgers of the Packers and Drew Brees of the Saints both had even more insane performances than Brady. Of course, all this talk of awards is ultimately meaningless. The Pats have lost their last three playoff games, including the last two at home (in their openers) so it's time for Brady and Co. to make a run deep into January.

The only other nugget of pertinent information related to the Patriots today is that rookie offensive lineman Marcus Cannon captured the 2011 Ed Block Courage Award as voted on by his teammates. I doubt anyone else received votes since who has a better or more inspiring story than him?

Keep in mind this weekend when you watch the AFC Divisional round games: if the Bengals beat the Texans, they'll come to Gillette. Otherwise it will come down to the winner of Steelers-Broncos.

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When The Regular Season Looks Like The Preseason: Celtics Scrubs Beat Nets Bums

2012-01-05T11:33:00.000-08:00

Even with a full lineup, the New Jersey Nets are not going to be good. With their three best players-Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries-all out with injuries, the Boston Celtics took advantage last night by winning the preseason-esque game 89-70 at TD Garden.

Boston's fourth win in a row was accomplished without Ray Allen, who sat out with the flu. I guess that proves that he's not a robot constructed by UConn coach Jim Calhoun.

New Jersey (1-6) is on another smooth path to a lottery pick which is a positive thing given next year's draft that should be loaded. Did I mention that they're moving to Brooklyn, NY?

The only two subplots that remotely interest me from this forgettable game were the performances of Nets rookie MarShon Brooks (17 points in his first NBA start) and Celtics second-year guard Avery Bradley (11 points, 2 steals, 1st NBA 3-pointer). Like myself, Brooks graduated from Providence College so it's extremely gratifying to see him make such an impact already coming out of a small school and a recently awful team.

I have hated on Bradley since the Celtics drafted him. He seems like a nice kid but I just wonder what dad, uncle or AAU coach was in his ear to leave Texas after one season. He simply wasn't ready for the rigors of the NBA. However, maybe after this game he'll gain some confidence and start to produce. Everybody knows how old the Celtics are so as their youngest player, he could have value.

Paul Pierce had a game-high 24 points, six rebounds and five assists. Kevin Garnett had 14 points and 12 rebounds while Brandon Bass had 15 points and a career-high 13 points off the bench.

Jordan Farmer (11 points) was the only other Net to score in double-figures.

Boston's bench outscored New Jersey's 36-31 in what will likely be a high-water mark for the regular season.

In a truly putrid first half, Boston led 18-17 after the first quarter but thanks to Brooks' 15 points, New Jersey was up 35-34 at halftime. The Celtics rolled to a 29-12 third quarter and 26-23 fourth quarter.

Things figure to pick up as the Celtics end their five-game homestand with three matchups with quality opponents: Indiana, Dallas and Chicago.

The Pacers (4-2) are at TD Garden on Friday night and it's not hyperbole to say I think Indiana will be in the 4-6 range when the Eastern Conference playoffs are set. They are an unsung young team with some talent (Danny Granger, Darren Collison, Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough). Who knows, maybe Larry Bird will grace us with his presence.

UPDATE 1/5: Allen didn't practice today and he's questionable for tomorrow night.

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Tim Thomas Wins Spot As Goalie on 2012 All-Star Fan Ballot In Ottawa

2012-01-05T07:52:00.000-08:00

Tim Thomas has had a magical ride over the last year and he has accumulated many honors and accolades, all of which could fill up a trophy case.

With the 2012 NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa approaching later this month (January 29), the league has released the winners of their fan voting contest. You guessed it, Thomas has been named as one of the six fan ballot winners. The remaining players on the teams will be selected by the NHL Hockey Operations Staff.

Thomas is 17-6 this season in 24 starts, while putting up a 1.90 goals against average as well as a .940 save percentage.

He has had one of the best seasons by a goaltender in NHL history last season and this honor shows that the fans across the world are appreciative of his effort. Thomas is also the only player from an American club to grab a starting spot in the fan ballots.

Joining Thomas will be Dion Phaneuf from the Maple Leafs as well as leading vote getter Erik Karlsson, Jason Spezza, Milan Michalek and Daniel Alfredsson, all from the host and ballot-stuffing Ottawa Senators.

Thomas led all goaltenders in votes with an amazing 626,540 total fan votes, over 128,000 more votes than the second-place finisher, James Reimer of the Maple Leafs.

Other Bruins skaters were not well represented on the fan ballot: Patrice Bergeron, (138,580), Tyler Seguin-who was inexplicably a write-in (121,135), Milan Lucic, (118,015) and Zdeno Chara, who was fifth in fan voting for defensemen with 463,650 votes.

UPDATE 1/6: Claude Julien along with his assistants Doug Houda and Geoff Ward will coach one of the All-Star teams.

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Bergeron Is Selke Smooth, Bruins Drop Devils 6-1 In The Garden State

2012-01-05T04:45:00.000-08:00

Patrice “Selke Smooth” Bergeron had two classic Bergeron goals and the first line got it going as the Bruins defeated the New Jersey Devils 6-1 last night at the Prudential Center in hell's gate aka Newark, N.J.

It was a great start to 2012 for the B's which included six unanswered goals.

Reeling from their disappointing showing against the Dallas Stars on New Years Eve, the Bruins (25-10-1) had three days to rest before the Devils (21-16-2) game, the first of 12 games in 18 days for the defending Stanley Cup Champs.

Shawn Thornton and Cam Janssen had a great bout to begin the game, with both heavyweights trading punches and waving off the linesmen over and over again. Janssen can go with absolutely anyone in the league and helped the Devils get off to a fast start.

David Clarkson (15th of the season) scored the Devils 1st and only goal of the night early in the first, taking a nice centering feed from Zach Parise and coming within two goals of matching his career high of 17. His 15 goals leads the Devils in scoring, which is pretty pathetic if you ask me.

Just when you thought that the Devils were going to make this a competitive game, it was the fourth line once again that calmed down the action and turned energy into efficiency. It started with Daniel Paille finding Andrew Ference at the blue line, whose shot redirected off of Gregory Campbell's (4th of the season) skate and past Martin Brodeur to tie the game at one.

David Krejci and Nathan Horton have certainly underachieved at times this season, but both looked great on the Bruins next goal. With a man advantage, Milan Lucic hit Krejci with a perfect pass to set up Horton for his 10th goal of the season.

The second period saw Bergeron display his Selke skills yet again and if this game was on NESN, Jack Edwards would've reminded us of this. With the Bruins down a man, Bergeron blocked a shot and then chased down the loose puck, drew a hooking penalty and simply undressed Brodeur to stake the visitors to a 3-1 lead.

At the intermission, Mike Milbury and Greg Jones talked about Bergeron’s move to beat Brodeur, more on that later.

Once the Bruins decided to straight up suffocate the Devils, they pretty much owned the rest of the action in the contest. Bergeron scored his second of the game on an excellent play from Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin, Krejci redirected a Dennis Seidenberg bomb and Shawn “Snipes” Thornton even scored a goal, albeit an absolutley gross one, sending the Devils fans home pissed off.

Another three goals in the third period, another shellacking from the spoked B, another two points.

All in all it was a total team effort. 12 Bruins had points. All but two Bruins had shots. All four lines made plays. It was a perfect win to bounce back from the Dallas debacle and should get them ready for the next stretch of brutal games, which continues tonight at the Garden vs Calgary.

*Game Notes*

*It's always good to see fellow Friars in any professional sport, however last night was extra special for me. Matt Taormina (’09) and Mark Fayne (’10) both suited up for the Devils tonight and even played on the same defensive pair at times. PC didn’t exactly have the best program in the Hockey East when they graduated, so it's nice to see both players get some shine.

*Sometimes it is like pulling teeth to get a glowing quote from Eddie Olczyk about the Bruins, but god damn if Pierre McGuire didn’t make up for it tonight. From the fourth line, to Bergeron, to the goaltending, it was as if Jack Edwards was operating McGuire like one of Jeff Dunham’s puppets. Only Jack is much funnier.

*One McGuire quote that jumped out at me was that the Bruins were “brilliantly built.” Raise your hand if you would have said that about the team two years ago with Byron Bitz, Derek Morris, Steve Begin and Miroslav Satan. If your hand is in the air, you're lying your balls off.

*Seriously, this team is as deep as any NHL team I can remember in the last few years. So much so that their second line (Bergy, Marchand, Seguin) is more effective and consistent than the first. Chemistry is huge in this sport and Bergeron’s second goal was a product of the newfound chemistry between the kids. It started with Marchand controlling the puck behind the net (shocker) and after he curled around Brodeur, Seguin and Bergeron both posted up down low. From here there are so many options for each player, whether it be a deflected shot or a simple one-timer. Bergeron wanted the latter, so he bounced outside and was wide open as the Devils defense was preoccupied with Seguin and Marchand. Marchand’s crisp pass found Bergy and we all know what happened next.

*No bias here at all, but the Enterprise Rent A Car Agent in their new ad campaign is fire. Straight fire. I'm willing to overlook the fact that she is in Vancouver.

*Not as fire as Timmy’s commercial for Discover with “Peggy” and the creepy cab driver. When he slinks into the seat at the end, I almost lost it. Can you win a Stanley Cup, Vezina, Conn Smythe AND and Oscar all in one year?

*Maybe Number 30 is in line for a SpikeTV Man Award for deflecting a shot from the wing with the crown of his helmet! Did you see that shit? A shot came in from his left side and rather than paddling the puck away, he stuck his head right in the line of fire and headed the puck to his left. Rediculous. You don’t do that unless you're having fun out there, word to Brett Favre.

*Feel free to start calling Bergeron “Selke Smooth”. Shit it's better than Poo Poo Pouliot.

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The Greg Stiemsma Era In Boston Is Everything I Dreamed It Would Be

2012-01-02T23:29:00.000-08:00

I might be unemployed but if Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers feels like stepping down at any point this season, I think I'm the man to take his place. Proving that your favorite blogger knows his hometown teams, I suggested last week after losing in New Orleans that Rivers should shake up his lineup with the only possible solution: replacing zombie Jermaine O'Neal with rookie Greg Stiemsma.

Five days later, Doc must have read my post since today he made the switch when O'Neal sat out with some old man injury (sore hamstring/broken dentures). Stiemsma's presence helped spark Boston (3-3) to its third straight win and second in as many nights against the Washington Wizards (0-5), 100-92 at TD Garden.

Don't be surprised if the Wizards are the worst team in the Eastern Conference this season or maybe even the entire league, they are that awful. Washington is the only winless team remaining in the NBA.

Before training camp, I can honestly say that I had never heard of Stiemsma. Truth be told, looking at pictures from his college days at Wisconsin, I remember him (which is saying something since everyone on the Badgers looks exactly the same). It tells you something about O'Neal that The Steamer is already better and more consistent than him at this juncture.

In 21 minutes, Stiemsma had 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks. He provides energy and a defensive presence that the Celts lack without him protecting the rim. Plus, it allows New England to embrace its racist roots. We always need a white scrub to root for on the C's-somewhere Brian Scalabrine weeps.

So while O'Neal and Kevin Garnett (10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) age in dog years, Ray Allen continues to defy all logic and not get older at all. Remember when everyone wanted to trade him a few seasons ago? Well it turns out ol' Ray is still the best shooter in the NBA. This evening he had a team-high 27 points including an absurd 6 of 7 on 3-pointers. His prego wife was loving it, proving that he's accurate off the floor as well. Rim shot!

Paul Pierce added a season-high 21 points in his third game and Rajon Rondo had 13 assists (7 turnovers), seven rebounds and six points. Brandon Bass continued to be excellent off the bench for Boston with 14 points and six rebounds.

Andray Blatche, who is a fat slug, put up a game-high 28 points and nine rebounds based mostly on long jumpers and free throws. If you know a more soft and less motivated big guy than him (that's American and not European), I'd be shocked.

JaVale McGee (17 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks) had another nice performance against the Celts. His length and athleticism really gives them trouble, it's a shame he's on a currently hopeless team. John Wall had 11 points and eight assists (7 turnovers) while Nick Young scored 10 points on a brutal shooting night (3 of 14).

Boston's bench outscored Washington's 21-17 thanks to Bass and Marquis Daniels (7 points).

Predictably on the second night of a back-to-back, against the same opponent, it was close the whole way. The Celtics won because they hit seven more 3-pointers (10-3) and shared the basketball (28-14 assists). The Wizards made five more free throws (19-14), had seven more steals (10-3), six more blocks (10-4), six more fast break points (17-11) and 12 more points in the paint (50-38).

Washington head coach Flip Saunders, who I nominate for the worst coach in the NBA, was ejected for arguing about a non-call 1:44 into the game. He doesn't deserve to get paid for this game, seriously. He probably just wanted more time to style his sweet lax bro hair.

Washington led 24-23 after one quarter and 48-47 at halftime. The Wizards were up 70-69 heading into the fourth but the winless team wasn't able to notch its first win of 2011-12. Boston took it home with a 31-22 last frame.

Another patsy comes to town on Wednesday night as the New Jersey Nets (1-5), who are about as bad as Washington, visit the Celtics. It should be another win for the Green which will tell us absolutely nothing about them. The only aspect of it that interests me is seeing how my guy Marshon Brooks (rookie from Providence College) does for the Nets. He's been putting up nice numbers off their bench so far.

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This Much Is Certain: The Celtics Will Beat Shitbum Teams In The 2011-12 Reg. Season

2012-01-01T23:04:00.001-08:00

I know we are only a few games into the 2011-12 NBA regular season but since it's shortened, I feel like I'm more justified in making knee-jerk reactions about the Boston Celtics. After all, that is what being a fan is all about.

Write this down in stone: barring things like back-to-backs or the end of long road trips, the Celts will pile up wins against bad teams and in the Eastern Conference particularly, there are plenty of those.

Tonight, Boston (2-3) won its first road game of the season by beating the Washington Wizards (0-4) 94-86 at the Verizon Center.

If you're ever played basketball at a YMCA or in a park, this was the classic old man team beating the younger one. The Celts used veteran intelligence to beat the much more athletic and quicker Wizards.

It also helped that Boston had the two best players on the court: Rajon Rondo recorded his first triple-double of the season (14th of his career) with 18 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds while Kevin Garnett had a breakout performance with 24 points and nine rebounds. KG was extra motivated since for whatever reason, he hates Washington's Andray Blatche (10 points).

John Wall (19 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds) is the franchise player for the Wizards which is fine and dandy but they're screwed as long as Flip Saunders-a supreme bozo-is the head coach and knuckleheads like Blatche, Nick Young (18 points) and JaVale McGee (16 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocks) are the best players around Wall.

Boston built up a nice lead with a solid first half. They were up 28-17 after the first quarter and 51-34 at halftime. Washington rallied in the third (26-22) and fourth (26-21) but the terrible first 24 minutes killed them.

Ray Allen scored 13 points for the Celts, Paul Pierce had nine points while Jermaine O'Neal and Brandon Bass (off the bench) notched eight points apiece.

For the game, the Celts shot nine percent better (50-41), hit three more 3-pointers (5-2), grabbed two more rebounds (41-39) and handed out 11 more assists (26-15) thanks to Rondo. The Wizards hit five more free throws (20-15), had two more steals (7-5), three more blocks (8-5) and eight more fast break points (19-11).

Boston's bench outscored Washington's by a 22-15 margin. I noted that because these same teams play tomorrow night at TD Garden. Just a beautiful scheduling move by David Stern (I know he isn't in charge of every schedule, humor me). The Celtics bench is deeper and better so they'll need it to play well again if they want to sweep this mini-series with the Wizards and keep Washington winless.

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For The Second Straight Season, New England Earns The No. 1 Seed In The AFC

2012-01-01T22:17:00.000-08:00

I've seen plenty of fake life stuff from the New England Patriots this season but fittingly, on the first day of 2012 (and the last day of the regular season), they topped anything else they had done in 2011.

One week after spotting the Dolphins a 17-0 halftime lead, the Pats (13-3) raised the stakes a bit higher by handing the Bills (6-10) a 21-0 advantage in the first quarter at Gillette Stadium. Luckily, it was still Buffalo so just like Miami they quickly coughed it up as New England rolled to a 49-21 victory (yes 49 unanswered points).

With the win (their eighth straight), the Patriots clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC to go along with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and the bye they had already secured. We found out tonight that New England will host either Cincinnati, Pittsburgh or Denver on Saturday, January 14 at 8 p.m. depending on who wins in the divisional round next weekend.

Mostly since the game was announced by the preseason hero unit of Don Criqui and Randy Cross, I'm not too interested in going to in depth on this absurd contest.

Tom Brady (23 of 35, 338 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception) went over 5000 yards (5235) for the season, the first time he's done that in his career. He also finished second all-time (behind Drew Brees) for yards in a season.

Also setting records was tight end Rob Gronkowski (8 catches, 108 yards, 2 TDs). He now has the most yards in a season for a tight end (1327). Bill Belichick will always pretend to not care about statistics but it's a proven fact that the Patriots gun for historical numbers like this. How else can you explain Brady playing at the end of blowouts and Gronkowski breaking the record on the last non-kneel of the regular season?

Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (29 of 46, 307 yards, 2 touchdowns), one of my favorite Harvard alums, was in a giving mood as he threw four interceptions. Sterling Moore made the first two picks of his career, the second of which he took back 21 yards for the final Patriots touchdown. Devin McCourty (who played some safety) and Antwaun Molden had the others.

Stevan Ridley (15 carries, 81 yards) and BenJarvus Green-Ellis (2 rushing touchdowns) proved to be a 1-2 rushing combination for the Pats. Look for New England to stick with that duo in the playoffs. Ridley has the explosive burst in the open field and Green-Ellis is better by the goalline.

I don't know if I've ever seen a quarter of football better sum up a franchise or a city than the first quarter today for the Bills. Buffalo got off to the perfect start thanks to a 4-yard run by Tashard Choice, an 18-yard catch by Steve Johnson and a 15-yard catch by C.J. Spiller.

In an omen of things to come, Johnson was flagged for a personal foul by lifting up his shirt to reveal an undershirt that said "Happy New Year." You can't make this stuff up. Bills head coach Chan Gailey decided to sit the talented Johnson for the rest of the game; Gailey made his point and I doubt that Johnson (who will be a free agent) will return to Buffalo next season. Way to be an idiot.

Green-Ellis' 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter got New England on the board and woke up the hungover and even more quiet than usual Gillette crowd. After that, Aaron Hernandez (7 catches, 138 yards) turned in the play of the game with a 39-yard catch and run for a score.

Brady threw an interception on the last drive of the first half but it didn't matter since the Pats had all the momentum and received the kickoff to start the second half.

Two Stephen Gostkowski field goals (47, 20) cut it to 21-20 Buffalo in the third quarter before Gronkowski put his team ahead for good with a 17-yard catch. Danny Woodhead added the two-point conversion run and New England led 28-21 late in the third quarter.

Things got silly in the fourth as Fitzpatrick threw it up for grabs on basically every play and even the Patriots' terrible secondary could take advantage of that. Green-Ellis added a 3-yard touchdown run and Gronkowski had a 7-yard touchdown catch before Moore's pick-six which was a big play for his confidence.

The crazy part about this team is that even after 16 games, nobody can say they know what will happen when the Pats have to face a worthy opponent and not a team that will piss down its leg and hand the game to them. They can beat anybody in the AFC playoffs and they can also lose to any of those same teams.

The offense can score plenty of points (49 was a season-high) but they basically have to be flawless to make up for the bumbling defense. Along those lines, if the defense can make a big stop or better yet force a turnover, the Patriots have an exponentially improved chance of winning.

All I know is that this team was in the same position last season with the No. 1 seed and a seemingly easy path to the Super Bowl. We all know how that ended up. New England has lost its last three playoff games and they've lost their openers for two years straight at home. That all has to change starting on January 14 and for the record, I don't want to face the Steelers. Bring me the Broncos or Bengals and I like the Patriots chances to get to the AFC Championship Game.

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2011 Was A Special Year For The Bruins, So Let's All Forget About New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T22:00:00.001-08:00

I hope you had a fun New Year's Eve and unlike me, you didn't plan the most overrated night of the year around watching the Boston Bruins visit the Dallas Stars.

For reasons unknown, the B's (24-10-1) were flat from the start and fell 4-2 to the Stars (21-15-1) at American Airlines Center. The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for Boston and left a sour taste in what otherwise was an unforgettable year for Bruins fans-the best of my Black and Gold rooting life.

Dallas put up three goals in the first period, including two on the power-play, meaning that it was never really interesting.

Former Bruins whipping boy/playoff hero Michael Ryder made his presence felt by scoring a goal against his old team.

If ever there was a team and player that earned a mulligan in 2011, it was the Bruins and goaltender Tim Thomas (23 saves; 16-6-0). So like a bad New Year's Eve party or night, I'll pretend like this contest never happened. Although two great things occurred: Rich Peverley returned after missing two games with an undisclosed injury and most importantly, NESN's Jack Edwards is finally on Twitter (@RealJackEdwards).

A little more than two minutes into the game, Dallas received a 2-man advantage. They took care of that at 3:21 as Loui Eriksson (13th of the season) scored on a one-timer from Alex Goligoski and Trevor Daley.

Tyler Seguin (15th of the season) tied it at one when his shot squirted past Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen (18 saves) at 11:39. David Krejci had the assist.

Daley benefited immensely on a crazy bounce when his harmless shot bounced off Thomas' back and over the goal line at 16:59. Tom Wandell had the assist.

Apparently nobody on the B's ever noticed that Ryder makes one move-a toe drag-despite all the practices and games with him. It worked as he scored his 15th of the season, a power-play goal at 19:20 that really gave Dallas control at the end of the first.

Once again, the last minute of a period proved to be fatal for Boston as Wandell (2nd of the season) scored at 19:00 from Adam Burish and Jamie Benn. With a 4-1 lead at the end of two, the Bruins were in the unfamiliar position of playing from way behind.

No excuses for Boston managing only 11 shots in the first two periods. They woke up much more in the third but by then, it was far too late.

Milan Lucic (13th of the season) scored on a one-timer at 1:08 from Krejci and Dennis Seidenberg. It was a powerful shot from the middle of the slot; it would be wonderful to see Looch get more points from that area. He does most of his work from in closer to the net.

Dallas and Boston had games in the past few seasons that were filled with brawls but all we got tonight was a minor bout between Jake Dowell and Gregory Campbell late in the third that was over almost as soon as it started.

This bizarre three-game road trip which strangely enough took a week (plus travel time) ends on Wednesday in Dirty Jersey as the Bruins visit the Devils. It's the second of four meetings between the teams, Boston won 4-3 at TD Garden on November 15.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY, THANKS FOR READING!

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Paul Pierce Makes His 2011-12 Debut & Magically The Celtics Are A Different Team

2011-12-30T21:02:00.000-08:00

I can't sit here and pretend that beating the Detroit Pistons means anything since they're one of the worst teams in the NBA.

Still, tonight's home opener for the Celtics couldn't have gone much better as Boston (1-3) rolled 96-85 at TD Garden over the Pistons (0-3), for their first win after a miserable three-game road trip to start the season.

Celts captain Paul Pierce made his inaugural appearance of the 2011-12 season and it was an effective one as he put up 12 points, five assists and four rebounds in just 23 minutes of action.

Facing Detroit for its home opener wasn't a sexy matchup by any means; I don't think the NBA could have conjured a much worse one in that regard but in terms of teams that the Celts could beat on most nights, it's hard to top the Pistons who are going nowhere fast.

To illustrate how much of a pushover Lawrence Frank's (it was nice to see that pipsqueak again) squad is, Jermaine O'Neal had a team-high 19 points and seven rebounds for the C's. Ray Allen added 17 points and Brandon Bass had 17 points off the bench.

As a team, Boston shot a perfect 19 of 19 from the free throw line which offset quiet performances from Rajon Rondo (9 points, 5 assists) and Kevin Garnett (8 points).

Greg Monroe led Detroit with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds. Tayshaun Prince and Jonas Jerebko were the other Pistons starters to score in double figures, both had 10 points. Austin Daye scored 11 points off the bench and rookie Brandon Knight put up 10 points.

Boston was in control from the start although they didn't really open it up until the second half. The Celts outscored the Pistons 24-22 in the first quarter and led 50-43 at halftime. A big third quarter (36-21) allowed Doc Rivers to not play the starters more than 29 minutes (which is big for such an old group). Detroit took the fourth (21-10) but who cares?

Boston shot much better than Detroit (52.2% to 43.0), made four more 3-pointers (7-3), had seven more assists (25-18), six more blocks (6-0) and six more points in the paint (11-5).

Up next for the C's, a home-and-home with the Washington Wizards on Sunday in DC and Monday in Boston. The Wizards (0-3) are still awful but they're young and athletic so I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they give the Celtics trouble in at least one of those games.

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Patriots-Bills Injury Report

2011-12-30T15:50:00.000-08:00

The 2011 NFL regular season concludes on Sunday, New Year's Day, and locally, the Patriots (12-3) host the Buffalo Bills (6-9) at Gillette Stadium at 1 p.m.

Everybody knows the stakes for the Pats, win and they clinch home-field throughout the AFC playoffs. They've already won the AFC East title and clinched a first-round bye.

The injury reports for both teams came out this afternoon and Buffalo has already declared five players out for their season-finale. Tackle Demetrius Bell (knee), tight end Mike Caussin (knee), kicker Dave Rayner (groin), quarterback/kick returner Brad Smith (hamstring) and guard Kraig Urbik (knee) are all free to get loaded on New Year's Eve since all they'll be doing on Sunday is standing on the sideline in street clothes.

New England's banged up offensive line will be missing guard Logan Mankins (knee) and tackle Sebastian Vollmer (back), who were ruled out. Bill Belichick had fun with this injury report as 16 Patriots are questionable.

Kyle Arrington (foot), Deion Branch (groin), Patrick Chung (foot), Dan Connolly (groin), Julian Edelman (back), Dane Fletcher (thumb), James Ihedigbo (shoulder), Matt Light (ankle), Devin McCourty (shoulder), Rob Ninkovich (hip), Matthew Slater (shoulder), Brandon Spikes (knee), Shane Vereen (hamstring), Brian Waters (ankle), Wes Welker (knee) and Tracy White (abdomen) are all 50-50 against their AFC East rivals.

I say it every week but since the Pats are off next week when the playoffs begin, it would be very nice to see Chung and/or Spikes get back on the field. It'll also be interesting to see if Light can play since he was a last-minute scratch last weekend against Miami.

Welker was fined $10,000 by the NFL for wearing an unauthorized hat. It was for an energy bar company he promotes, not some Jesus freak stuff like Jon Kitna used to sport so that makes me rest easier. As he pointed out on Twitter, Welker had worn this hat all season but for whatever reason, the NFL decided to fine him now. Weird.

Stay tuned to see who else is out on Sunday.

UPDATE 1/1: Defensive back Malcolm Williams was added to the 53-man roster and defensive end Alex Silvestro was signed to the practice squad, taking Williams' spot. Ross Ventrone wasn't activated since it would have exhausted his practice squad eligibility for his career (really). Also, Williams playing means that special teams all-star White is probably out tomorrow.

The inactives for the Pats are Mankins, Vollmer, White, Faulk, Vereen, Ron Brace and Ryan Mallett. The inactives for the Bills are Smith, Nesbitt, Urbik, defensive lineman Jarron Gilbert, Bell, wide receiver Kamar Aiken and tight end Fendi Onobun.

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Bruins Win Seventh In A Row, First Overtime Victory Of The Season

2011-12-28T23:06:00.001-08:00

People ask me all the time which Boston team is my favorite and my stock answer is that I like them all equally. The deeper truth is that like any fan, I go through peaks and valleys with each during their respective seasons.

After watching the Celtics mail it in tonight live, there was no better treat than a DVR recording of the Bruins-Coyotes game (which I didn't know the final outcome of).

Unlike the Celtics, who can't get out of their own way at the moment, the B's (24-9-1) are a juggernaut with no signs of slowing down. They battled through a holiday hangover and terrible ice conditions (yeah I said it) to win 2-1 in overtime at Jobing.com Arena against the Coyotes (18-15-4).

Dennis Seidenberg (2nd of the season) scored 58 seconds into the extra session, delivering Boston its first overtime victory of 2011-12 and also pushing the team's winning streak to seven games (2nd streak this season of 7+ wins). And oh by the way, the Bruins are back in first place overall in the Eastern Conference, ahead of the Rangers.

David Krejci (7th of the season) gave the large contingent (haha biggest crowd in Phoenix history, what a joke) of Bruins fans something to cheer about early as he scored 47 seconds into the game. A loose puck popped out to him and he wristed it past Coyotes goaltender Jason LaBarbera (27 saves). Nathan Horton and Brad Marchand had the assists although I can't say they did much to earn them.

The ageless Ray Whitney (13th of the season) continued his great first half by tying it up at 15:16 of the first period. It was all him as he made something out of nothing by stickhandling through two Bruins defenders and flipping a shot past Tuukka Rask (21 saves; 8-4-1).

Ex-Canucks goon Raffi Torres blatantly elbowed Andrew Ference later in the first but Adam McQuaid responded immediately by beating the shit out of Torres. I felt like I was back in high school watching ECW as Quaider opened up a huge gash on Torres' face.

Nothing really happened of note in the second or third periods beside a couple nice saves. Rask stuffed Whitney on a breakaway attempt and LaBarbera caught Marchand's shot on a partial breakaway.

Seidenberg's goal was like Krejci's in that it came out of nowhere. The defenseman was pinching in and he shot the puck on net. It appeared to deflect off Chris Kelly but Seidenberg was credited with the goal while Kelly and Benoit Pouliot had the assists.

The Bruins close out 2011-and what a year it was-by meeting the Stars in Dallas on Saturday night. Expect Tim Thomas (11 days of rest between appearances) to get the start as the B's look to beat former teammate Michael Ryder in his first game against Boston since helping them win the Stanley Cup in June.

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Cue The Excuses: Celtics Off To 0-3 Start After Embarrassing Loss In New Orleans

2011-12-28T22:35:00.000-08:00

I'm sick of the excuses for the Boston Celtics. I love this team but they started in the preseason and they're only going to get worse since they are off to a pathetic 0-3 start after losing 97-78 tonight to the New Orleans Hornets at the New Orleans Arena.

If you're a green teamer, you'll say it was the first back-to-back of the season for the Celts (0-3). They were playing their third game in four days and Paul Pierce sat out for the third straight time. Whichever bogus loser's lament you want to chose, Boston just began 2011-12 with three depressing losses on the road.

Sidenote, I love Tommy Heinsohn but his constant theme of harping on the refs (deserved or not) gets mighty old when your team sucks. Just saying.

By far, this one was the worst since at least in the other two (at New York and Miami), they showed some fight and competitive spirit before losing games they had no business winning. Nope, tonight they simply laid down to a team that not only was missing its best player-Eric Gordon-but likely won't even make the playoffs in the Western Conference.

After a 9-2 run to start the game by the C's, it was never really close as the Hornets (2-0) rolled in their home opener. One last excuse, it was the third home opener the Celts had to be the visiting team for.

Former Worcester Academy star Jarrett Jack had a game-high 21 points with nine assists while Carl Landry had 20 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans. Others in double-figures for the winners included former UConn star Emeka Okafor (13 points, 5 blocks), Marco Belinelli (13 points) and Chris Kaman added 12 off the bench.

Ray Allen led Boston with 15 points, Rajon Rondo was the only other Celtics starter to reach double-digits with 13 points. Brandon Bass (11 points) and Keyon Dooling (10 points) continue to score well off the bench.

The only real thing I learned from this contest was that Doc Rivers might as well start rookie Greg Stiemsma. In his first action of the season, the former D-League player and Wisconsin center had six blocks in 20 minutes. That's enough to convince me that he should start over the ghost of Jermaine O'Neal (2 points, 6 rebounds in 21 minutes). Well at least until Danny Ainge signs or trades for a better option.

New Orleans led 24-19 after the first quarter and 48-39 at halftime. Boston never really fought back as they draw even with the Hornets in the third (24-24) and eventually waved the white flag in the fourth (25-15 Hornets).

Boston's tired legs caused a bunch of ugly numbers for them. New Orleans shot 45.6% from the field which is average but looks great against Boston's 37.2%. The Celts hit three more 3-pointers (7-4) but the Hornets made eight more free throws (21-13), grabbed 11 more rebounds (48-37) and had three more steals (7-4). With no big-time inside presence, the Hornets still owned the paint (46-24).

It can only get better from here, right? Boston limps home and then faces the Detroit Pistons (0-2) at TD Garden on Friday night. It's hard to call a game before New Year's a must-win in the NBA but if the Celts lose to the Pistons and fall to 0-4, it might be time to start figuring out how to blow this all up.

Also, can Pierce suit up on Friday? Or is that too much to ask for a guy with a bruised heel? I hate to compare sports but could you imagine a Bruin or Patriot missing this much time for such a fraudulent and not very serious injury.

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Red Sox Finally Acquire The Closer They Need: Andrew Bailey From The Oakland A's

2011-12-28T16:12:00.000-08:00

It might have taken longer than I wanted but I have no complaints now that the Boston Red Sox have traded for Oakland A's closer Andrew Bailey.

The long-awaited deal finally went down this afternoon as Boston traded outfielder Josh Reddick along with minor leaguers Miles Head (1B) and Raul Alcantara (RHP) to Oakland for Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney.

First things first, the Red Sox no question got the best player in this trade: Bailey, a two-time All-Star. He's only been in MLB for three seasons but he made the midsummer's classic in both 2009 and 2010.

"Andrew's a proven top-quality closer in the American League. He's done it for three years and has had a lot of success," said general manager Ben Cherington. "He's converted a very high percentage of his opportunities. He's got the stuff and we really like his makeup for Boston."

In 2009-2011, he notched 26, 25 and 24 saves. In 2009, he was 6-3 (1.84 ERA, 0.88 WHIP) with 91 strikeouts, 24 walks, 17 earned runs (5 homers) and 49 hits in 83.1 innings pitched. In 2010 (1.47 ERA, 0.96 WHIP) he was 1-3 with 42 strikeouts, 13 walks, eight earned runs (3 homers), 34 hits in 49 innings pitched. Last season, he was 0-4 (3.24 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) with 41 strikeouts, 12 walks, 15 earned runs (3 homers), 34 hits in 41.2 innings pitched.

Bailey is 27, he'll turn 28 on May 31, 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds. So how is such a young, promising closer available? Well besides the fact that Oakland won't pay anybody, he was on the market most likely because of health concerns.

"We had a chance to look into Bailey's medical history and we got to know a lot more about what he's been through," Cherington said. "He had Tommy John surgery five years ago and has fully recovered from that. He had some elbow symptoms in 2010 and had a minor procedure after the 2010 season. Then he came into spring training in 2011, perhaps ramped up too quickly and had a setback and (there) appeared to be some scar tissue breakup.

"It was a minor scar tissue injury and he was able to recover from that and get back to pitching and perform well. His stuff and performance was solid down the stretch. We're very confident he'll come into camp ready to go and ready to help our team in 2012."

If you're not someone that plays fantasy baseball or doesn't follow all of MLB (hello MLB Network), not just the Red Sox or the American League East, you're forgiven for not knowing much about Bailey. He played for nothing but garbage A's teams and he also came from a small school (Wagner) not known for producing MLB talent.

With Bailey as the closer and Mark Melancon as the setup man, Boston has finally addressed its bullpen and done so in a smart and cheap way. Two young, hard-throwing guys that came up in the American League (Melancon made his name in Houston) project to do well in Boston. Along those lines, this means that Daniel Bard going to the starting rotation looks like more of a certainty. I'm not a huge fan of it but at least now, the Red Sox have suitable options for if he makes it out of spring training as a starter.

Sweeney is more of a throw in and he replaces Reddick in right field. If he's healthy, it's Ryan Kalish's job to lose but Sweeney is a more than capable backup. He plays great defense and looking at his batting numbers, he's better than I thought. Last season with the A's, in 108 games (264 at bats) he hit .265 with .346 OBP and .341 SLG. He scored 34 runs, had 70 hits, 11 doubles, three triples, one homer, 25 RBIs, 33 walks, 48 strikeouts and one stolen base.

He's been in MLB for parts of six seasons after getting drafted by the Chicago White Sox and playing in September for them in 2006 and 2007. He was traded to Oakland in January 2008 in the Gio Gonzalez for Nick Swisher deal. His best season was 2009 when he hit .293 with a .348 OBP and .407 SLG; in 134 games (484 at bats), he had 142 hits, 31 doubles, six homers, 53 RBIS, 40 walks and six stolen bases. In his career, Sweeney has a .283 average with a .342 OBP and .378 SLG.

I like Reddick but if we're being honest, I don't think he'll ever be more than a fourth outfielder on a good team. In Oakland, he'll probably have a starting job from day one and he won't have to worry about Kalish (who's better than him). Last season was Reddick's third in MLB but it marked the first time he really made an impact with the Red Sox. In 87 games (254 at bats), he hit .280 with a .327 OBP and .457 SLG. He put up 41 runs, 71 hits, 18 doubles, three triples, seven homers, 28 RBIs and 19 walks.

Reddick's plate discipline really improved last season and for a time in the middle of the summer, he carried the offense when he was on fire. For most of the second half, he was ice cold and could never really recover. Only time will tell if that was a blip on his career or a sign of things to come. He seemed like a good guy so I wish him luck in Oakland.

As for Head and Alcantara, who both came from Single A, I had never heard of either of them so that should tell you something. I follow a couple Red Sox prospects writers on Twitter and am much more well-informed about their guys in the minor leagues than most casual fans so I don't expect either of these players to do anything with the A's or anywhere else solely for the reason that I've never read one word about them (or at least don't remember doing so).

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