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MLB Pre-season Power Rankings 2009

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:36:46 EDT

Who knows what team is going to finish on top when it is all said and done, but these are the best teams in the land as it stands today:

1) Chicago Cubs - They might have a history of losing, and they have been a popular preseason pick for the last few years only to eventaully fall short of the fall classic, but on paper this is clearly the best team in the NL and arguably the entire MLB. The heart of the order (Soriano, Lee, Ramirez, and Bradley) is as dangerous as any in the game, Soto is a top 5 catcher, and Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot are the most underrated middle infielders in the NL. The Cubs rotation featuring Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Ryan Dempster, and Ted Lilly, if they can stay healthy, could be a formitable post-season staff. Don't forget about the 1-2 punch of Marmol and Gregg in the back of the pen to close down the game.

Celtics Weekly: Get Serious On Defense

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:41:25 EDT

I can't possibly be the only person watching the Celtics and Heat play right now that is noticing the Celtics have no energy on defense. Boston, both last night against the Bulls and tonight vs. the Wadeless Heat, seem content to sit back and give the opposition open shots in hopes of simply outscoring teams who can put up points as well as anyone in the league.

The stat ESPN just showed is that without Kevin Garnett the Celtics are giving up 99.5 points per game as apposed to 91.6 points per game with the Big Ticket in the lineup.

The fact is that the Celtics aren't missing KG's stats at either end of the floor. When Leon Powe and Glenn Davis played Garnett's minutes they were matching his numbers point for point and board for board. So if Garnett's statistical production is being accounted for, why are the Celtics only 9-6 when he is out of the lineup this season?

Celtics Weekly: Long Road Ahead for Scuffling C's

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:04:54 EST

After going a marginal 3-3 over their last 6, Bostons find themselves stumbling into a stretch of games which sees them matched up against 3 of the top 5 teams in the Eastern Conference. With Kevin Garnett remaining out of the lineup for this entire period of play, there are several guys who the Celtics are going to turn to to stem the tide and keep them in the hunt for homecourt throughout the playoffs:

Stephon Marbury: The guy can play, but the guy is clearly rusty. After not seeing any NBA action in over a year Marbury came out guns ablazing against Indiana, scoring 8 points off the bench, including 6 big ones in the final period. Yesterday against the Pistons, however, Marbury showed just exactly what an exented hiatis from the game can do to a guy, shooting 0-3 from the floor and having his pocket picked twice as he was walking up the court by the undrafted, career bench-warmer Will Bynum. The Celtics picked this guy up because he was a scorer that could run the point and compliment Eddie House off the bench. Therefore, what the Celtics need out of him is one thing: points. Marbury needs to go out and shoot and drive until he starts drawing double teams that open up House behind the arc or Leon Powe down low.

Celtics Weekly: Life Without KG a Good Thing?

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:26:25 EST

Okay, I wouldn't go that far, but the Celtics haven't exactly folded under the pressure when Kevin Garnett hasn't been able to suit up. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather see #5 in the lineup than not, but over the last two seasons The Big Ticket has missed a total of 15 games, during which the C's have gone an impressive 13-2 including last night's 128-108 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

With Garnett out of the lineup, there were several nagging aspects of the Celtics' game that were highlighted:

Can Perkins, Davis, and Powe carry Boston down low for 3 weeks? When the trio of "centers" on the Celtics' roster picked up a combined 5 personal fouls in the first 6 minutes of the game last night working on Shaq, I know I wasn't the only one saying, "this is going to be a long 2-3 weeks with these three knuckleheads as the only options to play the five." The three-amigos went on to shoot 8-9 from the field for a combined 20 points and 15 boards and only picked up 6 fouls the rest of the way. If Big Baby can show some consistancy shooting jumpers, Powe maintains his intensity down low, and Perkins keeps developing offensively down low the C's should be able to fight the Cavs for the #1 playoff spot in the East until KG gets back.

Celtics Weekly: 3 down,17 to go for new record...

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 11:20:53 EST

It seems all the Boston Celtics needed to get back on track was a short stretch of games against the relatively pathetic Atlantic Division. After thoroughly throttling the Raptors in Toronto, then coming home to squeek one out against the same Raptor squad in overtime, the C's knocked off the Nets to make it a cool three in row before heading off to New Jersey for their second straight home and home.

So what happened to that team that went on a 2-7 streak over the last few weeks? We can only hope that they have gone far away for a long time, but what has changed over the last three contests (putting aside the fact that the games were against lesser opponents) is the following:

1) Getting the ball to the big-3: Over the last three games Paul Pierce has averaged 24 points (4 above his season avg.), Garnett 18 (2 above his season avg.), and Allen 20 (2 above his season avg.). Those slight PPG increase may not seem like a big deal, but if the big-3 had scored 8 points a game more during the previous nine games, the C's go 7-2, their only loses coming to the Golden State and Cleveland.

Celtics Weekly: Positive Spin on recent 2-5

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:48:38 EST

I know, I know. Since breaking the longest franchise winning streak the Celtics are only 2 up and a stunning 5 down. However, I am here to offer all of the Boston fans, who I know are beside themselves right now, a little positive food for thought. Here are a few reasons why there shouldn't be Basketball panic in Bean Town:

1) 29-7 is an amazing record. If you were asked before the season if you would be happy with the Celtics winning 29 of their first 36 games, I'm sure every one of you would say "yes!". When you're the defending champs, everyone comes out gunning for you, and to tell you the truth, I'm surprised the Celts didn't go on a losing streak long before this.

2) The other top teams are sliding as well. Although not on as grand a scale, the Cavs and Magic, who are the C's top competitors in the East, have hit their own rough patches. Orlando has lost 2 of their last 5 (Detroit, Toronto) and the Cavs have dropped 2 of 3, one of those loses coming at the hands of the lowly Washington Wizards who the Celtics spanked a week ago by 25. This just goes to show that good teams can lose.

Boston Fans: SMARTEN UP!

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 0:08:59 EST

I live in New York, but for the holidays I went and stayed with my parents near Boston for a week. While I was driving around Massachusetts I got to listen to WEEI (which is a treat, because I only get ESPN radio in NY), but what I heard from most callers was very disapointing.

People were calling into the radio station talking about complete nonsense, which made me realize, "this is why sports fans from other cities hate us". Here are some of the things Boston sports fans were calling into WEEI to talk about that are absolutely ridiculous:

RED SOX:

"Come on Theo and do something already!" - Why do the Red Sox need to do something just for the sake of doing something? What does he really need to do? The Sox made it to within a game of the World Series last year and he has all the same players as last year, plus a healthy Lowell and Ortiz. The only pressing issues were (1) signing a 4th starter, which he did signing Brad Penny, (2) sign a catcher, locking up Varitek is just a matter of time, and (3) maybe strengthening the bullpen, which he has done as well.

Celtics Weekly: C's still the team to beat?

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:46:47 EST

It started out as a Christmas vacation for the ages. The Pats could gain a playoff birth in the final week of the season, the Sox could land Mark Teixeira and be on their way to another title, and the Celtics could win 20 in a row by knocking off the Lakers at home on Christmas day.

It didn't quite turn out that way.

But with the Patriots season over and with the burner on the Red Sox Hot Stove Report turned down to a simmer, we turn our attention fully to the Celtics (and Bruins I suppose). So after a pair of West Coast losses are the C's still the team to beat? The answer to that question is an simply: Yes.

While the loss on Christmas day to the Lakers was disapointing, it in no way proved that Los Angeles is the better team. At times L.A. even looked desperate as Luke Walton and Lamar Odom uncharacteristically tossed up threes (the two had made a combined 11 3-pointers the entire season coming into the game and knocked down 2 each against the C's) and the ever improving Rajon Rondo was able to pick apart the Laker D even though he was mired in foul trouble from the openning whistle.

The NFL hates the New England Patriots...

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:40:26 EST

I honestly do not believe that the NFL has it out of the Patriots, but the schedule change they made earlier today, flexing the Dolphins vs. Jets game from 1:00 to 4:00, really hurts New England.

The thing that bothers me is that there had to have been someone involved with this move that said, "If we make this schedule change and the Patriots win at 1:00, then the Jets are eliminated and could just lie down and let the Dolphins win, but if we leave the game at 1:00 then all three teams will have something to play for" and therefore someone more important simply said, "whatever".

I'm trying to follow the advice so often given by Bill Belichick and only worry about what the Patriots can do, but it is so hard. These two ideas keep bouncing back and forth inside my head:

Celtics Weekly: 'Win out' for the Holidays

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 15:54:33 EST

On December 8th during the producation of Pardon the Interuption, when Wilbon and Kornheiser were playing the percentages game, Tony Reali asked the two hosts what percent chance the Celtics had of making it to Christmas without losing a game. Wilbon said 40% and Kornheiser 60%, but both explained that the tough stretch for Boston would come when during a three game streak they faced the Hornets and Jazz at home and then went on the road to Atlanta. They added that If the C's could get by those teams successfully, then they would have a 100% chance of winning their next three games against Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia.

According to the PTI crew, chalk the Celtics up as 27-2.

Although the upcoming three games won't challenge Boston as much as the previos trio, they shouldn't necissarily be a cake walk either. Yes all three are at home against teams that currently have a losing record, but here's what we're looking at for matchups:

GM for a Day:Diamonds in the "non-tendered" rough

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:52:30 EST

Friday marked the date when teams sent a load of non-tendered players packing to join the already crowded free agent pool. Of those players, a large amount of whom are bottom-of-the-barrel type athletes, there are to be found a few possible sleepers:

Ty Wigginton - Probably the most sought-after non-tendered player on the market. Wigginton was let go by the Astros after signing a deal with them only a year ago. The now former Houston third baseman hit .285 last season with 23 homers in just 386 ABs. Wigginton is just 31 years old and is very consistant, hitting at least .275 with 22 HRs in each of his last three seasons, not to mention that he is versitile (having played second base for Tampa Bay two years ago) and can be picked up relatively cheaply at around $3.5 million a year. Apparently the Giants, Indians, Pirates, and Reds have all already shown interest.

Celtics Weekly: The new "Big Baby" is Chris Paul

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 2:59:58 EST

After watching the Celtics win their 22nd game of the season last night against the New Orleans Hornets three things became very obvious to me:

1) Paul Pierce is at his best in big games. During the four games prior to Friday night Pierce was shooting a sub-par 33% from the field, connected on only 3 three pointers, and averaged over 3 turnovers per game. But then the Hornets came to town. Against a team that is the best the Celtics have faced all month, a team which was a pre-season favorite to go to the NBA championship from the Western Conference, and on national television Paul Pierce dropped 28 points (9-17 from the field hitting 2 from downtown) while also contributing 6 boards and 6 assists as well as only 2 turnovers. Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are both future hall of famers, but when the game is on the line, I want the ball in the hands of Paul Pierce.

GM for a Day: Smoltz + Red Sox = Perfect Couple

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:18:14 EST

For the first time since his successful shoulder surgery in June, righty John Smoltz climbed to the top of a pitching mound earlier this week. Not only did he snap off his full repertoire of pitches, but he turned some heads as well.

One of those heads sat on the shoulders of Theo Epstein.

Smoltz, who is a free agent and on record as saying Boston is one of a very few places he would be willing to sign, is favored to land back in Atlanta where he has spent all 20 years of his career. The Tigers, who are of special significance since Smoltz is a Michigan native, are also interested in the future hall of famer.

Despite his allegiance to Atlanta or reveries of a heart-warming homecoming in Detroit, Boston is the best place for Smoltz.

Celtics Weekly: Getting lax after big leads

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 0:21:07 EST

When the Trail Blazers came to Boston Friday night they were supposed to give the Celtics a game. Portland was "faster" and "more athletic" which would lead to a bunch of transition points and easy baskets. The team that was ranked 4th in CBS's NBA power rankings didn't give the C's any sort of trouble. In fact, it was Boston that took advantage of what seemed to be a very lethargic Blazer defense to outscore Portland on the fast break and beat them at their own game.

It has become rather redundant to praise Boston for their continued success, but since they are playing so well it is difficult (and honestly rather tedious) to find something that the Celtics have done poorly recently. But I have done it! The last two games the Celts have had large leads in the third quarter (over 20) and have managed to somewhat waste them away. Yes, the lead last night never dropped below 11 after the half, but there was a point where the Celtics bench went on a cold streak which resulted in a 16-3 Portland run.

GM for a day: Lowell/Teixeira "Not about money"

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 1:09:09 EST

I know that Major League Baseball is a business, but I also know that sometimes the game and the players in it have more at stake than just the bottom line.

I love the thought of having Mark Teixeira in the Red Sox lineup next year and with the winter meets right around the corner that might very well become a reality very soon. But at what cost?

When I say cost, I'm not referring to a dollar amount, but I'm speaking about the way the organization will be remembered for years to come. With the signing of Teixeira the Red Sox will most likely be shipping Mike Lowell off elsewhere as Youk makes the move to third. This is the same Mike Lowell who was the MVP of the 2007 World Series and signed with the Sox for $10 million less than he could have elsewhere.

Jim Rice Hall of Fame bound?

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:08:39 EST

Perhaps I'm merely biased and simply love the idea of another Red Sox star being inshrined into baseball's holyland, but when faced with the question as to whether or not Jim Rice should be voted into the Hall of Fame this year my answer is a resounding Y-E-S!

The voting writers claim that in order to be considered as a candidate for Cooperstown you must be a "dominating" player of your generation. Here are several reasons why Jim Rice was just that:

Career Prime: During the 12 years of Jim Rice's prime (1975-86), he hit at a .303 clip while averaging over 30 HRs and 107 RBI a season. He hit over .315 4 times, 4 times had more than 120 RBI, and also hit 39 or more homeruns 4 times. That is outstanding.

All-star teams: Jim Rice was selected to 8 All star teams during those 12 years in his prime. The four years he wasn't selected were 1975: finished 3rd in MVP voting and 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting; 1976: common Sophomore slump (still hit 25 HRs); 1981: injured, only accumulated 451 ABs; and 1982: WON THE MVP.

Patriots Playbook: Patriots Playoff Picture

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:43:54 EST

Before Sunday's matchup against the Steelers there was a graphic flashed on the screen indicating the Matt Cassel, with his performance against the Dolphins 2 weeks ago, became only the 5th player ever to throw for 400 yards in back to back games. Of the other 4 QBs, the three relatively prolific ones, Dan Marino, Phil Simms, and Dan Fouts, went on to play well and win their next game while the relatively unknown player, Billy Volek, threw for only 111 yards in a losing effort.

Looking at those stats I wondered to myself, "Is Matt Cassel, at this point in his career, more like Marino or Volek?" Sadly, by the end of the game I got my answer.

I'm not saying that Cassel's four turnover performance in the Patriots' 33-10 drubing suffered at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers means he's going to end up a never-was like the Volek (now a backup in San Diego), but it does show that Cassel has a long road ahead of him. You can chalk this one up as a learning experience for the young QB who hadn't played a game in poor weather all season, and probably not ever in those conditions in his life, having grown up in California and playing (or sitting) his college ball at USC.

Celtics Weekly: Warrior Woes and Great Guard Play

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:31:28 EST

In a game where the Boston bench for the first time this season noticably underperformed, shooting only 4 of 12 from the field and largely contributing to the C's 13 point deficit at halftime, the Celtics' starters rose to the occasion to help lead the the green to a 119-111 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

All five Celtic staters played well above their season averages in minutes and the increase in playing time was reflected in the stats as Allen (25), Rondo (22), Pierce (21), and Garnett (21) all dropped more than 20 points. The story of the game, however, was two sided; the gigantic holes in Golden State's game showing in the second half and Rajon Rondo's offensive surge in the 3rd quarter.

The Warriors' large halftime lead was due in large part to their shooting 55% from the floor in the openning two quarters, and contrary to popular belief, that inflated fieldgoal percentage isn't necissarily a product of poor Celtics defense, but the Warriors' willingness to settle for long jumpshots and, at the same time, the ability to knock them down. On the fast break in the first half the C's played solid D by clogging the lane and forcing Golden State to take tough shots, and the trigger happy ballers from the west coast just happened to get them to fall.

Patriots Playbook: Weird feelings for Matt Cassel

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:26:33 EST

For all the females who are reading this in hopes of picking up some juicy insight on the total hunk that is Matt Cassel, I'm sorry, I'm not talking about that kind of feeling.

What I'm talking about is lack of fulfullment.

When I watch Cassel improve every game, move around in the pocket, throw on the run, rush for first downs, make tough throws, and win big games, I think, "Wow, look at this guy. He's young, he's got great talent, and he's a winner. I can't wait to watch him develope over the next 10 years and become a franchise quarterback!"

Then I remember that Cassel, assuming Brady's rehab continues as expected, will be wearing a different uniform next year.

Boston Sports Shoutout (Winning ways on the Road)

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:17:38 EST

A weekend full of watching Boston sports teams is a good time. A weekend full of watching Boston sports teams WIN BIG GAMES is a GREAT time.

The Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, and Boston College Eagles were all in action on the road on either Saturday or Sunday, and all four emerged from hard faught conference battles victorious. This is how it went down:

Boston College 24 - Wake Forest 21: The Boston sports weekend kicked off (literally) in Winston, North Carolina where the Boston College Eagles took to field to take on ACC Atlantic foe Wake Forest. The back and forth battle was decided when Dominique Davis made up for his two fumbles (both returned for touchdowns) by plunging into the endzone for a 1 yard score, putting BC in the lead to stay. The win saw the Eagles improve to 8-3 (4-3 in the ACC) which means if they win next week against Maryland (7-4, 4-3 in ACC), a team that got trounced by Florida St. this weekend at home 37-3, BC will win the ACC Atlantic (due the head to head tiebreaker they own against FSU) and play in the ACC championship game with a chance to earn an automatic bid to a BCS game (or in other words, the right to get destroyed by Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, or USC). If they happen to qualify for a BCS bowl, hopefully they get to play the winner from the Big East and at least have a shot at extending their 7 game active bowl winning streak (longest in the nation).

Celtics Weekly: The Big 3 vs. The Little 2?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:59:22 EST

If Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett are the Big Three, then I guess that makes Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins the Little Two.

Reggie Miller is a knucklehead, but he did make one good point last night. He mentioned that people just assumed the Celtics SHOULD win a championship because they went out and got Garnett and Allen to help support Pierce last year; but he also pointed out that that was a ridiculous assumption. He supported his arguement by providing instances where teams were stacked with hall of famers in order to win championships but ultimatley fell short: The Lakers' signings of Malone and Payton to compliment Shaq and Kobe, and the aquisition of Barkley and Pippen to back up Hakeem in Houston.

"The Celtics must have done something differently here to win a championship", Miller mused.

GM for a Day: AJ Burnett...proceed with caution

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 2:44:10 EST

Although at the beginning of the offseason Red Sox GM Theo Epstein expressed his opinion in say the Sox didn't need to make a lot of moves to improve a team that nearly went to its third World Series in five years, but it seems like Boston has been involved in negotiations with a majority of the big names on the market, most recently: AJ Burnett.

CBS is reporting the rumors are untrue because if they were valid the fireballer would have jumped at the five year deal worth upwards of $85 million; however, I feel as though Burnett might realize the Yankees are more desperate for starting pitching and since they have seemingly bottomless pockets they could possibly produce a bigger offer than the Red Sox, especially if Sabathia signs elsewhere (which is looking more and more likely now the Giants have jumped in on the action and Sabathia himself has said that he would rather pitch in the NL so he can hit, and preferably in his home state of California).

Celtics Weekly: Gettin the W minus the Big Ticket

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:43:45 EST

After suffering the loss of Kevin Garnett due to a ridiculous suspention, the Celtics were forced to play host to the New York Knicks Tuesday night without their All-star power forward. Despite almost blowing a 14 point fourth quarter lead, the C's were able to escape with a 110-101 victory over the now 6-5 Knicks.

Keys to Victory:

Equal distribution of contributions: The five players on the Celtics who played the most minutes last night (all 28+ mins) were Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Leon Powe, Ray Allen, and Kendrick Perkins. All five took between 9 and 14 shots, 4 of the 5 had 14-16 points (Pierce, who had 22, was inside that domain until he handled all of the C's possesions late in the game and got to the line 7 times in the last 2 mins), and with the team's leading rebounder out of the game, 4 of the 5 grabbed 7 or 8 boards (the exception being Allen). When one of your big guns goes down, everyone else has to fill in the missing pieces, and that's exactly what Boston was able to do last night.

GM for a day: Red Sox possible transactions

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:01:56 EST

While there aren't a whole lot of questions facing this off-season, and as Tony Massarittu said in a recent article, "[The Red Sox] are not truly desperate for anything. Even if the Sox make no moves, they will return with a club that came within one victory of another trip to the World Series." There are however few rumors circulating that would have perked my interest as a GM and one is as follows:

Sending Julio Lugo to the Tigers for either Dontrelle Willis or Nate Robertson. These talks fell through due to monitary restraints on the Tigers part, but it brings up the point that the Sox have two players on their current roster who don't have a place in the starting lineup, but could possibly be shipped out for young tallent; Lugo and Coco Crisp.

Celtics vs. Nuggets: Time to go Streaking

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:31:57 EST

Have you watched a Celtics game since the beginning of last season where Boston was as streaky as they were against the Nuggets?

After laboring to no avail throughout the first few games of the season to try and put up solid first quarter numbers the Celtics finally throw down 29 in the openning period against Denver only to post a putrid 13 in the second and go into the lockerrooms down by 6.

Although the Denver lead ballooned to 15 at one point in the third, when the Celts started to turn it on with clutch shooting from Allen, House, and Pierce, and took the lead going into the fourth, you thought for sure this was going to be just like Atlanta where the Cs stormed back from an early 16 point deficit or the game before against Toronto where the green and white were stymied in a 14 point hole for a good portion of the second and third periods before taking over down the stretch.

AL MVP Predictions:Vote No to Francisco Rodriguez

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:02:12 EST

If the Los Angeles Angels' closer Francisco Rodriguez wins the AL MVP I might cry.

The only solid statistic he has is 62 saves. All that stat is saying is that the Angels played more close games than any other team in the league. There isn't a legitimate baseball fan out there that would argue against the fact that if any of the top 10 closers in the game today were in Los Angeles this year that they wouldn't have saved the same amount of games.

It would be a travesty if Rodriguez won because he had his worst statistical season of his career. His ERA was a solid 2.24, but his WHIP was the highest of his career at 1.29. Compare that to Jonathan Papelbon (0.95), Mariano Rivera (0.67), or Joe Nathan (0.90). You might say, "WHIP is a worthless category", but the fact is that runners weren't just getting on base against him, they were scorching him for a .314 batting average. That is horrendous!! That .314 OBA is .034 points higher than his career average.

GM For a Day: The Most Boring Topic in Baseball

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:03:24 EST

The Boston Red Sox have a lot of question marks in both their lineup and starting rotation for the upcoming season; How will Oritz produce? Who will follow up Beckett, Matsuzaka, and Lester? Who will be the catcher on openning day? All of which are topics that could keep an enthusiastic baseball fan talking for hours.

I'm here to talk about something much less interesting, but not necissarily less important: The back end of the bullpen.

Last year 43 year old Mike Timlin, once the pivital set up man for Keith Foulke during the historic 2004 playoff run, singlehandedly lost several games for the Sox, not the least of which being an extra inning battle with the Tampa Bay Rays late in the season. A win in that game alone would have given the Red Sox a share of first place and at least a chance to play into home field advantage against those Rays, something that would have come in handy when playing game 7 of the ALCS.

Red Sox Young Gun Yardsale?

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:57:16 EST

Am I the only Red Sox fan who is going to be really upset if Boston ship off a bunch of their young tallent in order to aquire big bats or make room for free agent signings?

Don't get me wrong, I think Mark Teixeira is an amazing first baseman, both offensively and defensively, but I would be heart broken to see Kevin Youkilis starting at firstbase somewhere else next year after the numbers he put up in 2008. Youkilis could get moved to third, but then that means getting rid of Mike Lowell, a guy who is a year removed from being the World Series MVP...granted he had his fair share of injuries last year, but I'm not ready to give up on him yet.

I'm also hearing rumors swirling about possibly aquiring Khalil Greene from the Padres. I know he has played his entire career in a pitcher friendly ballpark and his numbers could improve by moving to Boston, but Jed Lowrie is one of these guys that offers more than just hitting statistics. He has an amazing glove, hustles, and hits for average from both sides of the plate...is it really necissary to go out and trade for a mediocre replacement?

NFL Predictions Week 10

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:45:33 EST

Upset of the week: Lions 24 - Jaguars 20

The lions are not as bad as everyone thinks they are.

Everyone will tell you, "you're only as good as your record", but those people are the ones who don't know enough about sports to actually analyze the games to determine the actually ability of a team.

The Lions havn't lost a game by more than 8 points in their last 4 and they've had 4th quarter leads in 5 of their 8 games this season. At times their defense is suspect, but in their last 4 contests they've averaged 24 points against, which isn't exactly stellar, but is a managable number.

Happy with the Patriots' season

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:46:41 EST

Tom Brady, the single most influential person in Boston sports, goes down in the first quarter of the first game of a highly anticipated NFL season and I am utterly pleased and overwhelmed with anticipation about New England Patriots football.

That's right, I am just as excited about this Patriots' squad as I was with last years' team at this point in the season and there are 3 reasons why:

It's exciting to watch regular season games again. Over the last few years it has be expected that the Patriots would win every game. You would sit down on Sunday and not wonder "will the Patriots win", but "how much will they win by". There was never a sense of accomplishment when they won, only dispointment when they lost. The joy of watching Patriots' regular season games was lost.