Monday Musings: December 18 (Tuesday Edition)

A few thoughts as we head into the holiday season:

1. Roger Clemens on steroids? Who knew.
2. You have to feel a little bit bad for the Boston Bruins. They have the third best record in the NHL (second place in their division) yet you would think they were the Weston High School girls field hockey team in terms of the love they get. To that end, I was driving up to Maine last weekend and passed a ticket broker who had their "top events" listed on their sign out front. One of the items listed was "Bruins Tickets." I scratched my head on that one - do people in Maine know that you can by scalped Bruins tickets for about 50% of face value right now?
3. Patriots/Jets - was anyone else disappointed that Belichick didn't spit in Mangini's face after last Sunday's game? I didn't really expect any fireworks but there was a little part of me that was hoping for something more dramatic. Maybe even a friendly knee in the groin. Oh well.
   
   To that end, I was listening to WEEI last night and Big O. and the boys had Coach Belichick on. After about two minutes of discussion, I came to the conclusion that aliens had replaced Coach B. with a kinder, gentler, more humorous being. During the conversation, Belichick stopped Freddy, Steve, Pete and Big O. and asked them who they thought the Jets should go with at QB. He then sat back and listened to the boys trip all over themselves as they tried to impress Coach with their answers. What was shocking was the fact that B elichick seemed to be enjoying himself. It was nice to see a human side to Belichick.
   
4. To my fantasy boys -- you know who you are -- what are the odds that three of the top four seeds all fall in the first round? My Melrose Mildew (7 seed) is riding Adrian Peterson all the way to the finals baby!
5. Is the Santana deal going to get done or not? For all the pomp and circumstance about that deal, I can't believe that something isn't going to get done. Last Thursday on WEEI, Kirk Schilling practically guaranteed that the Sox would get Santana. As much as I'm conflicted about losing Ellsbury, having Santana alongside Beckett, Dice K, Bucholtz/Lester and Schilling is nothing short of awesome.
6. Poor ARod and Scott Boras aren't speaking. A lovers quarrel perhaps?
7. This is apropos of nothing but is Junior Seau gay? I don't care if he is or isn't but every time they show him in the locker room after a game, one has to wonder.
   
8. Anyone else excited about the Celts 20-2 start?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...

P-A-T-S Pats Pats Pats

So, I attended the Ravens/Pats game last night, courtesy of a friend at work. The seats were awesome - 20 rows back on the 35 yard line. Needless to say, the fans were incredible and the stadium was amazing. Anyway, enough verbal BJing for Baltimore. As you can guess, for most of the game, my meager "Go Pats" was lost in the see of noise created by the Baltimore fans. However, on those rare good plays in the first three quarters, I was able to locate some Pats fans to give high fives to. I have to say, it was incredibly great at the end of the game to have the fans go from 120 decibels to dead quiet - you could hear the crickets chirping. The fans were ready to ERUPT with cheers if they could just stop the Pats. The Ravens players didn't want to let them though - as they have all year. Pats pull out some serious magic out of their butts - regardless of what the Ravens players say - and won. What a game.

One other note, the fans were dejected both after AND before the game - like they knew they were going to lose. They just didn't know how heartbreaking the loss would be. I would hate to be a Ravens fan after that game.

Does a Bear *Poop* in the Woods?

Now we know (courtesy of my man Joe M.)