New York Beatings...may they continue..

First of all Aaron..my belated thanks for the kind words Monday regarding my 40th b-day. It sure has been a fun and exciting friendship the last 30+ years and hopefully many more. But one thing we have always enjoyed was sports and occasionally a little schadenfreude.. which brings us to the current sad state of New York sports compared to what we are enjoying in Boston.
You have to admit it has never been this good in Boston and that bad in NYC. For the 3 sports that matter in Boston I mean..
The new Celtics just put a 50 point whupping on the Knicks last night ( 45 points whatever ) which doesn't really show how good the C's are but really how bad and pathetic the Knicks are.
They were a mess way before the whole Isaiah sex-harrassment suit, and have done nothing to improve themselves but they may want to clean house by having Dolan fire himself and "little Zeke" and maybe turn them over to the capable sons of Steinbrenner Hank and Hal so they can trade for Kobe and sign him to a 20 year 900 million dollar contract extension and re-hire Larry Brown.
And the hits keep coming...
After the Spy-gate nonsense with the Patriots/Jets and the upcoming shellacking on Dec 16th (talk about 50 point beatings), and then the Football Giants turn to get abused just 2 weeks later, it should be a Merry X-mas and a Happy New Year for all Pats fans after watching them dismantle both NY football teams on the way towards hopefully an undefeated season and a victory in The Big Game ( no royalties paid for saying S___r B__l )
And last but not least..
The best rivalry in sports will get a lot better if Johan Santana lands in EITHER Boston or NYC this weekend or during the winter meetings next week. Honestly I would like nothing other than to step on the throats of the Yankees for the next 5-6 years by having Santana paired with Beckett and Dice-K in the rotation. The Sox are dealing clearly from a postion of strength after winning the World Series, having a farm system overstocked with talented prospects and of course tons of cash..so they win big by landing the prized lefty.
Even if he ends up in pinstripes it will certainly add to the drama ( OK the ridiculous over the top madness) that is Sox-Yanks and that would mean the Yanks have paid dearly in players/prospects and dollars. All of this after the very enjoyable A-Rod fiasco, (Thanks Boras and thank god he is not here) the gobs of cash given to Jorge,Mariano,Abreu ad all to keep up with the Sox, keep up with the Sox.. sounds funny doesn't it ?

**
But, being a hockey player since I was a kid, I feel I should add the Bruins to the mix since they are on the verge of becoming semi-relevant.. but there is no real Bruins - Rangers stuff to discuss but I have this.. enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8K7roZu3WU&mode=related&search

Monday Musings: November 26

It's been a while since I did a substantive post so I thought this morning might be a good time to recap what's going on in Boston sports (with my own little twist thrown in of course.)

First, I want to wish my boy Joey M. a happy 40th today. Joey M. is one of my best and longest standing friends. I've known him since third grade and he and I have done lots of cool stuff together over the years. Here's wishing him another 40 x 2 years of equal fun.

For starters, what a win by the Pats last night! I know everyone in New England is moping around thinking, "holy crap, we almost lost to the 5-5, McNabb-less Eagles last night. How is this possible when the spread was 24?!?" Well, these things happen. Take a look at the history books and you'll see a long string of unexpected "David vs. Goliath" upsets starting with the 1968 Bills (0-11) defeating the eventual Super Bowl champs, the NY Jets (who ultimately went 13-3.) There were also the 1985 Dolphins who prevented the Bears from besting their 17-0 record, beating the Bears on the national stage by a score of 38-24. That proved to be the Bears only loss that season on a way to a dominating Superbowl win over our beloved Pats.

You have to give Andy Reid, Jimmy Johnson, AJ Feeley and the no-name Eagles receiving corp. a ton of credit for a killer game night. First of all, Reid and Johnson schemed/coached the game like they were betting with house money. Onsides kicks in the first quarter? Trick plays? Bombs? All out blitzes? They threw the kitchen sink at the Pats and it almost worked. Then there was Feeley who was downright Brady-esque. He threw no fewer than 10 passes that were on a wire. And then their were the receivers who made unbelievable catch after unbelievable catch. I don't say this often but I take my hat off to those guys.

My second thought is, am I the only person in New England that is a little disappointed that our "hot stove" season for the Sox is already over? There will be no angst this off season over which pitcher we're going to post for. No upset stomachs over who will replace Damon in center field. No questions about who will close for the Sox or who will fill the fifth slot in the rotation. Don't get me wrong, this is a good thing. Now that Lowell and Schilling are wrapped up, we're essentially guaranteed that the same team that took the field in the 2007 World Series will be on the field on opening day in 2008. Just missing the drama a little I guess...

To that end, what are your thoughts on Boston going after Santana? Is it worth emptying the bank i.e. trading Ellsbury, Lester and Bucholtz to get THE most dominant left-hander in the game? This is a classic "bird in the hand" question but I have to say, after seeing what Ellsbury did in October and the sniff of what Bucholtz might bring, I say no. It pains me to think that way but this move has "Yankees" written all over it. As the Bronx Bombers have proven over the last several years, having too many veterans and not enough rookies/youth on a team can be deadly. Let's not monkey with success!

Last up, the Celtics. WOW! Are these guys good or what? This isn't anything that the press hasn't already told you but 11-1? When Ainge went out and acquired mssrs. Allen and Garnett, we all knew that we at least had a shot at the Eastern title. Now, it's not beyond the realm of belief to think that we could win it all provided we can stay healthy - and that's a BIG but. One thing that can't be underestimated is the play of Rondo and Perk along with the additions of House and Posey to the roster. Gotta give Danny an A+ for putting this team together (at least for now.)

One parting thought. After seeing the Eagles almost beat the Pats last night made me realize that we are probably not going to go undefeated this season. It's one thing when you are blowing teams out by 30-40 points and not really putting your players in jeopardy but last night was an all out war. If Belichick and the boys clinch home field throughout in two weeks by virtue of having a three game lead over the Colts and Steelers, I think you have to consider lightly resting some of your veterans. I know, call me crazy...

Sorry, I know the Bruins aren't that bad but I can't muster the energy to bring them up in this conversation. Oh yeah, I owe the Revs a belated pat on the back too. I know they are now officially the Bills of MLS but at least they make it to the big game every year!

p.s. Do you think the Dolphins are looking at Welker and saying, "why can't we get guys like that?"

Lowell is Staying Put!!!

As I predicted, this just in from Boston.com...

The Red Sox and third baseman Mike Lowell have reached an agreement on a new three-year deal. To read more, visit http://www.boston.com

Called on the Carpet

Okay "Anonymous," whomever you are. You've called me on the carpet. This is the place where I'm setting the record straight.

For those of you who are wondering what I'm talking about, last night, there was a lot of swirl around the Red Sox re-signing 3rd baseman, Mike Lowell. Based on a few reports I read, it sounded like a deal might get worked out before midnight. I've always wanted to break a story and I thought this might be my shot. So I took a crack at what the headline might look like. "Sox Sign Lowell for Four Years at $48 Million" is close to how it read. Well, it wasn't true. My bad.

Today, "Anonymous" wrote a comment on that post and said "where's your source on the story. I haven't heard that from anyone else." Well, rather than comment back which I meant to do but never got to, I deleted the post. I shouldn't have.

The reason I did delete it was that by this evening, it was obvious that the Sox hadn't re-signed Lowell yet so I thought, "gee, it's kind of dumb to keep that post up" so I deleted it. Shortly thereafter, mr. or mrs. anonymous called me on the carpet saying that I should explain myself.

Well, there you have it. I've confessed. I'll take my fifty lashes with a wet noodle now. ;)

Seriously though, I do appreciate you keeping me honest.

Schilling Back with the Red Sox?

Whether he's just playing with us or he really means it (I think the latter), it looks like Schilling will be back with the Red Sox in 2008.

If you asked me about this a couple of weeks ago I would have said there was a 30% likelihood this would happen. Now if we can just wrap up Lowell and get something in return for Coco, I'm feeling good about the starting line-up and rotation for 2008.

5 Reasons ARod is an Asshole

Do I even need to write this post? Am I telling you anything you don't already know? Probably not but I feel morally obligated to write this post. I'll keep it brief because otherwise I'll end up spinning into an endless diatribe about baseball's most hated player.

Here are five out of a thousand reasons to dislike this guy:

1. Is there any less classy move than announcing your decision to opt out of your contract in the final innings of game four (the deciding game) of the World Series. This was an FU to Red Sox fans, Yankees fans and any real baseball fan for that matter. In essence, ARod and his butthole manager, Scott Boras, we're saying "we're more important than the most important game of America's favorite pastime.
2. Asking for $350 million dollars when you've accomplished absolutely ZERO in the post season. I don't care that he's the best player in baseball during the regular season, the post season is when it counts. Ask Kirk Gibson, Mark Bellhorn or JD Drew. Jerk (ARod that is, not JD Drew) - these guys all went from regular season turds to post season heroes. Not Mr. July.
   
3. His teammates hated him in Seattle, Texas and New York. That tells you a lot about his character. He's not called "The Cooler" for nothing.
4. He tried to fight Jason Varitek in 2004. Really? Last time I checked, Varitek was one of the most respected guys in baseball.
5. He wears a purse when he's running to first base. Okay he doesn't really wear a purse but I've always loved this picture.
   

Feel free to add to this list in the comments 'cause there are a ton more reasons to dislike this guy.