The Celtics and Ramblings....

The Boston Celtics are in a funk. Since losing Kevin Garnett to a mysterious knee injury, they have a pedestrian record of 5-5. A knee injury that is starting to eerily play out a lot like Garnett’s injury last year, an injury he never returned from. The Celtics are calling the injury a hyperextension of his knee. The same knee he injured last year. The Celtics are claiming that Garnett will be back for their game against Portland this Friday the 22nd. If he retunes on Friday, he would have missed almost a month of game action.
As you can see from last nights Celtics game against the Mavericks, Garnett’s defensive presence is sorely missed. They miss his intensity, his athleticism, and his long arms that can bother shots for many players on opposing teams. Dirk Nowitzky had a field day against the Celtics last night. Putting Rasheed Wallace, or Brian Scalabrine on Dirk did not get the job done. The Celtics defense has gone down hill since KG got injured and they need him back sooner rather than later in order for them to be a true contender.
Once KG returns to the lineup the Celtics will once again be the team to beat in the East. They have a very well rounded team that, with the addition of Rasheed, has excellent playoff weapons. When healthy, the Celtics are contenders to win the NBA title, if they are not healthy they are a team that will lose in the second round of the playoffs. We saw these outcomes in each of the past two years. In 2008, the Celtics had their first year with the Big 3. They remained healthy all year long and the Big 3 led the Celtics to a championship. However, last year, once KG got hurt, their season went down hill and they had to fight and claw their way out of the first round and they took the eventual runner-up Magic to 7 only to lose on their home court. If the Celtics are healthy they will have enough weapons to win the East and and have an excellent shot at beating the Western Conference Champions in the Finals. But when you rely on the knees of a 33 year old seven-footer who has played in over 1100 games in his career, IF is a very key word.
I think that once KG comes back on Friday and he gets some of the rust off from the hiatus, the Celtic fans will be much more relaxed and the fact that they lost their seventh home game last night, compared to just six in each of the last two seasons, won’t be so magnified. The talking heads on ESPN seem to forget the Celtics have the best road record in the NBA, which currently stands at 16-5. The Celtics will be fine.
NFL Playoffs:
Crazy weekend in the NFL playoffs….
The Jets closed out the games with a thrilling come from behind win which saw them gain their first 1st down late in the second quarter and didn’t see them cross the goal line until the fourth quarter. They punished the Chargers late with Shone Green who broke free on a key 53-yard rushing touchdown midway through the 4th quarter. The Colts got to the AFC Championship game by dismantling everyone’s favorite darling, the Ravens, who were over-hyped after a big win in Foxboro the opening weekend of the playoffs.
Over in the NFC the Vikings defense dominated against an inferior Cowboys team. Favre played a solid game and didn’t turn the ball over. He can possibly carry this game into the Superdome where they will face the Saints in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday. The Saints laid the smack down on the Cardinals who, despite reaching the Super Bowl last year, looked very weak and couldn’t handle the Saints offense. We will see what the Vikings defense can do to stop the Saints offense later on this week.
24
The new season of 24 started this past Sunday night and it picks up with Jack healthy from his trial and risky procedure that was done with his daughter Kim to save his life. He tries to get you to believe that he is moving back to LA with his daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter, but there is an on-going peace process between President Taylor and President Omar Hassan, which of course, being the 24 veterans that we all are, be disrupted with an assassination attempt. An old informant, who has been shot, tells Jack that he helped bring in an assassin that is trying to assassinate President Hassan, sucks Jack back into helping CTU, which is in NY now and looks remarkably fake and ridiculous. Furthermore there is someone on the inside that is helping the assassin. CTU quickly and swiftly finds evidence that incriminates a journalist who is having an affair with President Hassan. This seems curiously suspicious to Chloe who wants CTU czar Brian Hasting to follow up on a lead, but is too arrogant and stupid to think he has the wrong person, so Chloe asks Jack to help, which he reluctantly agrees. Long story short, Jack and new CTU head of field ops Cole Ortiz, played by Freddie Prinze Jr., thwart the assassins attempt to kill President Hassan and they kill the assassin shortly after.
This sets up the season, as we learn that the assassin, who has traces of weapons grade uranium on his body, is part a very intricate and deadly sect of a Russian Mob syndicate. We then learn that President Hassan’s brother has nuclear ambitions and is against the peace process, was this a surprise to anyone? Jack is now sucked in for the season, and has to work with Renee Walker in order to infiltrate the Russian Mob sect to try and buy the Uranium. Why this would work? I am not sure seeing how the Russians have a very lucrative offer and deal with President Hassan’s brother.
So we shall see where this season goes, from the premier it looks like a typical season of 24, you aren’t going to get blown away by dialogue and great acting, but watching Jack do his thing is always good entertainment.
I enjoyed the wildly predictable season premier of 24 and look forward to watching season 8 and finding out all the secrets that were set up in the premier.

Coming up later in the week I will break down the Conference Championship games.

2009 NFL Playoff Round 2!

So the Patriots are out, now what? Everyone is talking about how the dynasty is over, and you know what in a way it is. Will the Patriots be in the playoffs next year? Absolutely they will. Do they need some retooling? Of course, but who doesn’t need retooling from year to year. The Pats still have a solid core on the offensive side of the ball. They have Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Kevin Faulk (who is a free agent, but I expect them to resign him) and Wes Welker once he returns from his ACL/MCL injury by mid season. The offensive line has some promise as well with Logan Mankins, and Sebastian Vollmer having very solid seasons. On the defensive side of the ball is where the creative thinking needs to be done. They have some young guys who showed promise in Brandon Meriweather, Jerod Mayo, Pat Chung, Jonathan Wilhite, and then some veteran presence with Ty Warren, and they need to resign Vince Wilfork. The rest can be filled by the draft and free agency, and now that the Patriots didn’t make the final 8, they are able to sign free agents even if they don’t lose any of their current players. For those who don’t know, next year will most likely be played with no salary cap because the current CBA is going to expire therefore meaning that in order to sign free agents if you are one of the final 8 teams left you can only do so as a replacement for a free agent you lost. The Patriots have four picks in the first two rounds of what pundits are calling a very deep draft. They can easily play around with their picks and grab a running back, and some defensive help that will give them the foundation for the future and help them next year as well.
So guys step back off the ledge of the Tobin Bridge, everything will be fine. Brady will heal, as will Welker and Moss. They will bring in some creative minds for the offensive and defensive side of the ball (this would have made me look great if I had posted this article yesterday as Dean Peeves announced today that eh will not be back to coach the defensive side of the ball) and everything will be fine in Foxboro.
Round 2 of NFL Playoffs
Arizona v. New Orleans
The Cardinals come into New Orleans hot, coming off a crazy back and forth round 1 matchup with Green Bay in which Arizona jumped out to a big lead, only to squander it away and then miss a game winning field goal with under a minute to go only to recover a fumble on the first drive of overtime to win the game. The Cardinals have playoff experience and success behind them, while the Saints have, on paper at least, a better team. Remember the Saints are a team that started out 13-0 only to finish 0-3 and the only good team they lost to was the Cowboys in week 15. Midway through the Saints season, especially after they shellacked the Patriots, I thought, along with the rest of the talking heads, that nothing could derail the Saints, and that playing in the Superdome was the TOUGHEST place to play, but since they lost to the Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it doesn’t seem that way anymore. In addition you have the Cardinals, who lost in the Super Bowl last year, and everyone thought was a one-year wonder, right back in the thick of things. They looked spectacular on offense, and mediocre on defense last week, but the only part of that last sentence that matters is the spectacular on offense. What the Cardinals did last was show they can win a shootout, and that is what it will take to beat the Saints.
The Cardinals are now the team I have hitched my wagon too. Don’t worry I was accepted onto their bandwagon by the Josef Cousins. They have accepted my application and I am now riding the Cardinals back into the NFC Championship game. I think the Cardinals will put up plenty of points and stop the Saints when it counts. The Cardinals have Early Doucet who showed what he can do when team focus to heavily on Steve Breaston and Larry Fitzgerald. The Cardinals are a very tough matchup for the Saints. The Cardinals went on the road last year and showed everyone they can win when it counts. And is it just me, or do the Cardinals play their best when it matters the most. I like the Cardinals in a shootout. Cardinals 38 Saints 35
Dallas v. Minnesota
The Cowboys finally got off the Shnide and won a playoff game. They were the better team all year and they finally proved to America that they could win when it counts. They played spectacular defense against the Eagles and on offense they ran all over the Eagles defense. The Cowboys look like a solid all around team.
On the other side of the ball with the Vikings and Bret Favre who were all know is due for a clunker. Favre likes to run around and make the wild throws, although this year he reined it in just a bit, but he did blow some winnable games late in the season. The Vikings have an incredible D line and run game, but will Favre play second fiddle to them in this game? That is the key X-factor for the game. If Favre can manage the game and the Vikings can pound the ball with Adrian Peterson, they have an incredible chance of winning this game.
However, the X-factor for the Cowboys will be the amount of fans they will have in the stadium. Minnesota is notoriously known for not selling out games. Cowboy fans can easily procure plenty of seats and cause a lot of raucous for the Vikings. The Cowboys can run on the Vikings front 7 and thus open up the passing lanes for Tony Romo to Miles Austin, who will be able to run for Miles (sorry had to do it) on this Vikings D. I think the Cowboys go into the Metrodome and come out victorious. Cowboys 31 Vikings 23
Indianapolis v. Baltimore
The Ravens got here by dismantling my Patriots by pounding and pounding the football down the Patriots front 7. Normally the Patriots beat up on one-dimensional offenses, but not this week and the Ravens deserve all the credit in the world. They showed up to win, and the Patriots definitely did not. The Ravens have a great D and very solid running game. However, what they don’t have is a reliable quarterback. Joe Flacco can not be trusted to win a big playoff game by himself, so that means if the Ravens running game is stopped, or they fall behind early it will be very bad for the Ravens.
The Colts got a bad rap for resting their starters the last 2 weeks of the season, but if they win the Super Bowl no one will be able to second-guess Jim Caldwell. Unfortunately we have seen this movie before for the Colts. They start hot, rest some guys and then stumble in the playoffs because they are not used to playing meaningful football for over a month and it isn’t a light switch that you just turn on and all of a sudden there is electricity. The Colts have lost their first playoff game after a bye twice in the last five years, and that doesn’t include last year when they lost their first playoff game. In other words, in 3 of the last 4 years they lost in their first playoff game.
Now does this mean I think Indy is going down? No. I think Peyton Manning is ready to play and I think Baltimore played a perfect football game against a weak opponent. In their regular season matchup the Colts held the Ravens to five field goals and a 17-15 loss and people love to hype up certain teams after a round 1 victory, but don’t be fooled by the Ravens, this is the same team that shot themselves in the foot way too many times during the regular season. I think the Colts grind out a close football. Colts 24 Ravens 20
New York Jets v. San Diego
In what looks to be the most exciting matchup of the weekend, the Jets travel to San Diego to play in Mark Sanchez’s backyard. The Jets beat the Bengals for a second consecutive week and they did so by running the football, and to my surprise with Mark Sanchez managing an excellent game plan. The Jets are a very good team on D and they have an extremely confident coach (Rex Ryan handed out a schedule to his players that included a date for a Super Bowl parade) who knows how to scheme.
The Chargers have a very poor matchup with the Jets since they can’t run the football, which is the Jets main weakness on D. They have a very athletic and tall wide receiver in Vincent Jackson, with Phillip Rivers, who is an extremely confident and talented quarterback; throwing him the ball they have a chance to neutralize the Jets best defensive weapon, Darrelle Revis. Rivers has the ability to throw the ball to perfect spots where only Jackson can out jump Revis and retrieve a jump ball.
This is a very scary game to call because on the one hand you have a team that has won 11 in a row and is extremely hot coming into the playoffs, and then the other team is a team that struggled mightily to get into the playoffs and then beat a team in the first round that wasn’t too good to start with. The Jets D is solid, a Super Bowl caliber defense. As much as it pains me to say this, because I hate the Jets, but I think the Jets have an extremely favorable matchup and have an excellent chance at winning this game. However, at the end of the day I am going to trust my gut and go with the Chargers at home to prevail. I think the Chargers win a very close game, a game that can easily be won by the Jets if a call or two, or a turnover goes their way. Chargers 24 Jets 21
This weeks playoff matchups should be great and I hope the before each game the have a moment of silence for the fallen citizens of Haiti. What a tragic week for them and all the Haitian immigrants in America, my thoughts and prayers go out to them.
Next week we will break down the championship games. Should be great matchups and even though the Patriots are out, I am very excited for the rest of the playoffs.

2009 NFL Playoffs

2009 NFL Playoffs:

It’s that time of year again. The NFL Playoffs are back and for the first time in a while there is no clear-cut favorite to win it all.

Let’s recap the regular season.

The top seeds in the AFC and NFC got off to a combined 27-0 start only to stumble to a combined 1-5 finish. The Colts look a little better than the Saints do because at least the Colts rested their players in their two losses, where the Saints lost at home to a good team in the Cowboys in a great Saturday Night Matchup, but then put up two stinkers versus Tampa Bay who had 3 wins all season and Carolina who was playing without their top wide receiver.

In the AFC the Chargers, Patriots, Bengals, Jets, and Ravens round out the playoff teams. The Chargers finished strong with a 13-3 record while winning their final 11 games, which earns them a first round bye.

Next the Patriots stumbled into the playoffs with a 10-6 record and with a HUGE loss in Wes Welker who, according to reports, has a torn ACL/MCL http://tinyurl.com/welkerhurt they have a had a very Un-Patriot like season, showing that they cannot beat a good team on the road. They also showed their lack of defensive prowess, which has catapulted them into the playoffs and the Super Bowl in previous years.

The fourth seed in the AFC is Cincinnati. They too have had a very turbulent season suffering deaths to a member of their coaching staff and Chris Henry. These tragic losses have derailed what looked like a promising season with Carson Palmer returning to his old self and having a great season.

The Wild Card teams are the Jets and the Ravens who are linked through coaching. Rex Ryan, the rookie head coach for the Jets lead the Ravens to a 2008 AFC Championship game loss to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Steelers. The Jets are ranked first in overall defense, while the Ravens struggled on the defensive side of the ball this year, while playing better on offense. Joe Flacco has emerged a very solid young QB in this league.

After the Saints, the remaining NFL Playoff teams are Minnesota, Dallas, Arizona, Green Bay, and Philly. Minnesota wrapped up the two seed and a First round bye despite Brett Favre’s best efforts to blow the season in a similar fashion to last year with the Jets. They lost 3 of 4 games in December only to have a punishing win over a Giants team that wanted to hit the Links early.

Dallas is the “IT” team of the NFC now. After knocking off the then undefeated Saints they put up back to back shutouts on the Redskins and the Eagles, whom they happen to matchup with for the third time this season in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The Cowboys are known for a team that struggles in December and a team that can’t handle a snap for a game-tying extra point in the playoffs. Is this the year they finally shake those demons? You’ll have to wait until I get into my predictions.

The Cardinals had a strong season winning a lot of tough matchups on the road. While also losing a few close ones that should have went their way. They have a solid offense and defense. The Cardinals are also the defending NFC Champions so they are battle tested and know how to win in January.

The Wild Card teams are the Packers and the Eagles. The Eagles were playing for the an NFC East Championship, a #2 seed, and a first round and yet they were spanked by Dallas in the final week of the season. That could be a crushing blow to their title hopes. While the Packers were playing for nothing against the Cardinals who were also playing for nothing and beat the Cardinals, does that prove anything? I don’t think so.

Wild Card Weekend:

AFC:

Jets v. Bengals:

The playoffs start with a rematch of the final game of the 2009 regular season. The Jets whooped the Bengals tuchases 37-0. Now the Bengals technically had something to play for, (had they won the game they would have been the 3 seed and hosted the Houston Texans, and then gone to SD for a round 2 matchup) but if they favored a rematch with Jets in round 1 and then travelling to Indy for a round 2 game, they would have just played the game without showing anything to the Jets. Meanwhile the Jets needed to win in order to make the playoffs. In this rematch I like the idea that Cincy didn’t want to show the Jets anything where the Jets showed the Bengals a lot. Everyone is aware of Darrell Revis and his shutdown corner ability. He will be lined up across Chad Ochocinco who was held without a catch this past Sunday. The Bengals however will not go this game without getting the ball to Ochocinco. He will be able to get a few receptions. The way the Jets can be beat is by the Bengals running crossing routes with Laveranues Coles and their tight ends. Cincinnati can set up their passing game with their running game of Cedric Benson, who had over 1200 yards rushing. The Jets on the other hand have the #1 overall defense and looked very strong in that final matchup with the Bengals. However, they are starting a rookie QB who, despite what the media pundits would like you to believe, is not a superstar. He’s had some very weak games. I see him throwing a costly pick and the Bengals being able to move the ball effectively on the ground and pick up a victory. Bengals 20 Jets 14.

Ravens v. Patriots:

In the early game on Sunday the Ravens come to Foxboro for a rematch of a week 4 meeting in which the Patriots prevailed 27-21. In that game the Patriots were held to 85 yards on the ground and only 258 through the air. The Ravens were able to pick up 116 yards on the ground, but had a subpar game through the air. In case you forgot the Patriots won this game because Mark Clayton drop a pass that hit him right in the chest on 4^th down, late in the 4^th quarter, inside the red zone. If he makes that catch the Ravens most likely win the game. A catch the he makes probably 99 out of 100 times. However, in the rematch the game will be much different. As I mentioned earlier the Pats lost Wes Welker to injury in their finale and will have to rely on Julian Edelman to fill in for Welker. Edelman is a rookie who played QB at Kent State, but looks like a Welker clone. He can run the crossing routes and elude tackles in an eerily similar way that Welker does. The way the Pats win this game is by jumping out to an early lead, blitzing Flacco to get him moving a bit in the pocket to help protect their weak secondary, by converting on third down and by putting up points in the red zone in the second half of the game. They do that and they win, if they don’t and Flacco is able to throw on this secondary and the Ravens can open up their defense because they know the Patriots need to throw the ball it will be a tough day for the Patriots. If the Ravens are successful in beating the Patriots it will be the first time the Patriots lose a home playoff game in the Brady era. I think the Patriots will be able to use Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris to pound the ball into the Raven defense which will open up the throwing lanes for Brady and the Patriots will be successful against Flacco and force him to be uncomfortable in the pocket and the Patriots win the game. Patriots 27 Ravens 14.

NFC:

Eagles v. Cowboys:

This will be the third time these two teams meet with the Cowboys winning the prior two meetings, including a beat-down of the Eagles in the final game of the regular season where the Eagle had a ton to play for. Had the Eagles won on Sunday they would have had the #2 seed and first round bye to rest some banged up players. The Dallas defense has been on fire, they are coming off back-to-back games where they didn’t give up a point, and the game prior to that they ended the Saints perfect season. The Eagles are a team that has been to the playoffs before and done well including a trip to the Super Bowl a few years ago. This is tough one to call. On the one hand you have a team, the Cowboys, who never play well in December and January, but this year they have flipped the script and are playing very well coming into the playoffs. On the other hand we have the Eagles who normally play well in the playoffs but got run off the field in Dallas this past weekend. This game will be very close with the edge going to Dallas. I think Dallas has finally figured out their issues and can make a deep playoff run. Dallas 21 Eagles 20.

Packers v. Cardinals

In the last playoff game this week we have what seems to be a recurring theme this first weekend of the playoffs, a rematch of a game from the final regular season game. This game has the same kind of feeling I got from the Jets-Bengals game. The only difference is in this game no one had anything to play for this past weekend. Once Minnesota won the Cardinals had no chance at the #2 seed so there was no need for them to push for a win. As we all know the Packers ended up winning the game. The Cardinals are coming off a Super Bowl appearance and are playing at home. They have very fast, very talented receivers, even if Anquan Boldin is unable to go, which I think will not be the case. The Packers have a swarming defense, but with Kurt Warner taking the snaps the Cardinals will beat the Packers defense with quick slants. The Cardinals defense will have a tough assignment in trying to stop Aaron Rodgers who is playing very well and his years behind Bret Favre may be paying off. But I like the home team in this matchup. The Cardinals proved last year they are a team to be reckoned with and will show it again this postseason. Cardinals 30 Packers 21

Those are the predictions for round 1 of the postseason. I will be back in a week to go over round 2. And remember in each of the last four seasons a team playing Wild Card weekend has gone onto the Super Bowl. So who will it be this year…..? You’ll have to wait and see.

Run for Immortality

With the commencement of the NFL playoffs set the Patriots embark on their journey for four Super Bowls in six years, a feat only accomplished by the Steelers in the late 70’s. The Patriots start their run for Super Bowl immortality against the New York Jets in Foxboro. The Patriots come in as the number 4 seed behind the Chargers, Ravens, and Colts. The Chiefs round out the 6 playoff teams. In the NFC the playoff teams are Chicago, New Orleans, Philly, Seattle, Dallas, and the Giants. I will break down each of the leagues road to the Super Bowl.

AFC

First round byes: San Diego, and Baltimore

Saturday Jan 6^th 4:30pm: Kansas City VS. Indy. Indy is the home team and most likely will be favored, however Indy has been playing mediocre football the last month and they look even more vulnerable to the run than earlier in the year. KC comes in with arguably the best rusher in the NFL, Larry “Grandma Ma” Johnson. He should get the ball over 50 times, with 40 of those coming on the ground and slash the Indy D for 200 all purpose yards. This is the year that all the media isn’t slurping the Peyton Manning/Colts Kool Aid. This is the year the media is actually giving another team a shot at the Super Bowl, and I say it is about time and I agree. I have never been on an Indy bandwagon. With all that said I have the Chiefs. Of course since this is the year everyone is expecting the colts to lose, who knows, maybe Peyton can win a game in the playoffs when it matters.

Chiefs 41 Colts 35.

Sunday Jan 7^th 1:00 pm. NY Jets VS. New England Patriots. The Jets roll into Foxboro all confident and cocky because no one gave them a shot to win anything this year, let alone make the playoffs. They won ten games in a loaded AFC. Eric Mangini is returning to his old stomping grounds to face his old master. The Jets feel they have a chance to win because they came in to a rainy and wet Foxboro and beat the Patriots 17-14 without Rodney Harrison, Stephen Neal, and Ty Warren. They will all be in uniform this week. The Pats come in playing some very good football since the shutout loss in Miami a few weeks. They have a + 8 turnover margin since Brady called out his team saying they didn’t listen to their coach. Turnovers were a huge problem in back to back wins over the Lions and Bears, but this has been fixed. This could have been a fatal flaw for the Patriots, but not anymore. I think this will be a relatively easy victory for the Patriots. The Jets don’t have enough weapons on offense to beat the Patriots defense, which tied a franchise record for fewest points allowed in a season (2003).

Patriots 30 Jets 14

Divisional Round

KC vs. SD. This is matchup of the top two runners in football. LDT and LJ are both dominant backs who hit the hole hard and are tough to bring down. The teams split the season series. The difference in this game comes from the QB position and defense. KC probably has a slight slight edge over SD because of experience at the QB position; however, SD has a much better defense. SD has one of the best Linebackers in the game, and they are very good at stopping the run. I think even Marty ball cant lose this one. And keep in mind that Marty hasn’t won a playoff game since ’94.

Bolt’s 27 KC 19

New England vs. Baltimore. The Ravens are coming off the bye week and will face a very tough Patriots team that is coming off an emotional playoff victory over the Jets. The two teams didn’t face each other in the regular season. This is a matchup of two defensive juggernauts. They ranked one – two in defense in terms of points allowed per game. The Patriots have a clear advantage on offense. It is a wash on defense; the Patriots have the advantage on special teams. The difference in this game comes with coaching where the Pats have the advantage again. I don’t see Bill letting Steve McNair tear through the Pats defense, but I can see Tom Brady and company pick apart the Ravens defense. I think the Patriots win a defensive chess match.

Patriots 17 Ravens 13.

AFC Championship Game

New England versus San Diego

The Patriots will come into a nice weather stadium to face the very talented Chargers team. The Chargers have a great running game and a good defense. The Patriots have the fifth best run defense in the NFL. I think they can contain LDT, if anyone can. They are practically even in terms of passing defense, so much like the Pats – Ravens matchup this will come down to coaching and special teams. I think the Patriots have the edge in both. I think BB will devise a scheme to send pressure and confuse Rivers, and we all know the shortcomings of Marty Schottenheimer. They have been well documented. This will be a very entertaining game and a very well played game, but I think it will come down to a botched play call on the part of the Chargers. For intensive purposes this is the Super Bowl. The winner of this game will go on to win the Big One. Call me a homer, call me biased, but I have the Pats. I picked them in the preseason to go 12-4 and win the Super Bowl. They went 12-4 and now the Super Bowl part is within reach.

Pats 30 Bolt’s 20

NFC

I don’t really care about the NFC, but I am going to go with the heartfelt story of the Saints to play the Bears in the NFC title game and the saints will win to face the Patriots in the Super Bowl. My prediction on that later on.

Different Year, Same Results

2006 NFL PREDICTIONS
AFC				NFC
	Win	Loss			Win	Loss
East				East
Patriots (1)	12	4		Eagles (2)	12	4
Dolphins	7	9		Cowboys* (6)	10	6
Bills	5	11		Giants	9	7
Jets	3	13		Redskins	8	8
North				North
Bengals (4)	10	6		Bears (4)	9	7
Steelers* (6)	10	6		Vikings	8	8
Ravens	9	7		Packers	6	10
Browns	5	11		Lions	5	11
South				South
Colts (2)	12	4		Panthers (1)	12	4
Jaguars	9	7		Bucs	9	7
Titans	4	12		Falcons	8	8
Texans	3	13		Saints	3	13
West				West
Chargers (3)	11	5		Seahawks (3)	11	5
Broncos* (5)	10	6		Cardinals* (5)	10	6
Chiefs	9	7		Rams	6	10
Raiders	4	12		49ers	3	13
*Wild Card winners
PLAYOFFS
Wild Card Weekend				Divisional Playoffs
Steelers over Chargers				Colts over Steelers
Broncos over Bengals				Patriots over Broncos
Cowboys over Seahawks				Cowboys over Panthers
Cardinals over Bears				Eagles over Cardinals
Championship Game:				SUPER BOWL XLI:
Patriots over Colts				Patriots OVER COWBOYS
Cowboys over Eagles
Awards:
Super Bowl MVP - Tom Brady
NFL MVP - Larry Johnson
Rushing title - Larry Johnson
1st pick in the 2007 Draft - San Francisco 49ers

Get Well Wishes.

Friday was a sad day in Red Sox Nation. Losing players all year long to injuries like ACL/MCL sprains, or shoulder injuries are nothing compared to the news that the young lefty heard on Friday. Jon Lester was diagnosed with lymphoma, a treatable form of cancer. Anytime you hear the words cancer it is a cause for concern. Lester will be starting the road to recovery this week, and all I, or anyone else, can do is wish him the best of luck. When news of this severity surfaces it brings a realism to the world of sports. Jon Lester get healthy and strong as soon as possible and I wish you nothing but the best.

Waiting is the Hardest part...

Quick little thoughts on why the Patriots are heading back to the Super Bowl this year....

It is simple. The Patriots are going to win the East, for a few reasons. 1. They didn't get any worse than last yr, this includes Rodney coming back from injury, and Branch isn't going to hold out the whole season because he will still have 1 more yr on his contract. 2. Dillon will be back to his normal self, what people don't realize is he ran behind a makeshift offensive line last yr, plus he had those injuries. He is fully healthy and if the presence Laurence doesn’t motivate him to be his old self, I don’t know what will. 3. No one in the east got better enough to overtake the Patriots. Sure the sexy pick is for the Dolphins to overtake the Patriots, but seriously are you that concerned with an offense run by Culpepper. I think the signing of Culpepper makes the Dolphins worse than last year. Now, you may ask why, and ill tell you. With Fiedler, he managed a football game, played within himself, he didn’t try to go out there and make plays he couldn’t. What does Culpepper do? Exactly, the opposite of that. He will cost them a few games because of this. And as a side point we have to remember that last yr, with out Moss, he has 6TD’s to 12 INT’s before his injury, so he hasn’t played well since loosing his premier receiver, and in case you don’t know what the Dolphins roster looks like, they have no premier receiver. 4. Last I checked we still had Brady and Bill. They are the best combo since peanut butter and jelly was put together. Also we now have a proven defensive coordinator, and that is not taking anything any from Mangini, I wish him nothing but success in NY, but he was 34 when he coached this team last year. Peeves is proven winner under BB and wherever he went in college. 5. Losing Adam does hurt, a lot, but I am not that concerned. I take the Patriots front office at their word when they say they saw something in Adam that made them not want to resign him. I also just have this gut feeling that Gostkowski will be a very good FG kicker for the Patriots this season.

To sum everything up; the Pats are better than last yr. No one in the East will overtake their thrown and I will see you in Miami come Feb.

This is just a preview to the NFL Preview I will be coming out with soon.

The Times are a changin’

The Boston Celtics just wrapped up their Vegas Summer league Schedule with a 3-2 record. The team was lead by the usual suspects of Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson. They all showed improved forms from last year. Gomes just dominated from the field averaging 19PPG, 6RPG while shooting a spectacular 60% from the field and 86% from the line. Green showed he has some long range potential with his 56% three point shooting. Jefferson lost some weight that can hopefully keep his ankle healthy for a full season. Rondo and Telfair both played some spectacular Point. The surprise of the summer league has to be Allen Ray. He was a non-drafted invitee to the camp, and the Celtics faith in paid off. He averaged over 14PPG while shooting over 50% from the field. I like his chances to make the team.

Let’s break down the Celtics position by position and give my prediction from the upcoming season.

Point Guards (Delonte West, Telfair, Rondo)

The Celtics clearly were not satisfied with their point guard situation because they traded for one on draft night, and drafted one as well. I like the Telfair move. He is a very capable old school point guard who can deliver a pass with the best PG’s in the league. He needs to work on his shooting as he only shot 40% from the field in the summer league, but he can knock down that open jumper when needed. Rondo is a guy who also struggles with his shot. The book on him in college is that he is very capable of leading a team, but he can’t hit that open jumper. He showed signs that maybe that wasn’t the case as he shot 56% from the field in the summer league. But what this guy can do is dish out assists. West, we are all aware of West can do. People in the media and the league, and clearly the Celtics front office don’t think he can be a true point guard that can lead a team to a championship. I agree with that. He is a very capable slash guard who can shoot well and spell a true point at the 1, but if he was our main point guard it would be tough to get through the playoff tree.

Overall grade: B

Off Guards (Tony Allen, Paul Pierce, Allen Ray, Wally Szczerbiak, Gerald Green)

This is a talented bunch. PDub is worth every penny of his 3 year 60 million dollar extension. Tony Allen plays great D and can also jump out of the gym. Wally is a shooter, so is Allen Ray. Green is the guy poised for the breakout year. We saw signs of it towards the end of last year when he really put together some great games he clearly carried that over into the summer league. He is a guy who has tremendous upside, and remember he is only one year removed from high school.

Overall grade: A-

Forwards (Gomes, Brian Scalabrine, Leon Powe, Brian Grant)

None of these guys are going to start this season and only Gomes is expected to play quality minutes. We saw what Brian can do (nothing) last year. Brian grant was dumped by Phoenix because of money and he probably won’t even see minutes with the Celtics. Powe is a wildcard. He was drafted in the second round but late. He played in the Pac-10 which is a good conference to play in, but I’m not expecting too much from him. Gomes could be trade bait for possibly AI, because Ainge isn’t that high on him and feels his trade value is much higher than he is. I love Gomes, I loved him at PC, I loved him last year for the Celtics, but if he can reel in AI I wouldn’t mind losing him. (More on AI later on).

Overall grade: C

Big Men (Big Al, Theo Ratliff, Kendrick Perkins, Dwayne Jones)

Big Al and Perk are most likely going to start out of this group, Big Al at the 4, and Perk at the 5. Theo came with the Telfair in the deal with Portland. If he can give the Celtics 15-20 min a game rebound the ball well and block his shots, which is all we can ask of him. Jones is not going to see any playing time this year. I am expecting HUGE things out of Big Al and Perk. They both showed flashes of brilliance last year and the Celtics are hoping that they can sustain that for a full season. I think it will happen, of course I said this last year about Big Al right after I bought his jersey.

Overall grade: B

Depth Chart Starter Backup 3^rd string

PG: West Telfair Rondo

SG Wally Allen Ray

SF PDub Green Scalabrine

PF Big Al Gomes Powe

C Perk Ratliff

Prediction

This is a Celtic team that missed the playoffs last year. This year will be completely different. The landscape of the east is very different. Everyone is anointing the Bulls masters of the East because they got Big Ben, but I’m not as sure. This is new type of league where it favors teams that can run and score, FYI the Celtics can run and score. The Bulls have both Tyrus Thomas and Big Ben who can’t put the ball in the hole. The Cavs showed what LeBron is capable of when they came within 1 win of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat are the Heat. I don’t like the Nets I think the Celtics will finish ahead of them. The Celtics can get to 45-48 wins with this team. I like what Ainge has done with it. PDub showed that he can take his game to the next level. I think the Celtics win the Atlantic Division and get at least a 3 seed, but deserve it this time. However, if the Celtics pull off the deal for AI they lock up the 2 seed and get to 51-54 wins.

Side Bar

I would love to see AI come to the Celtics; I am not sure how this guy is the problem in Philly. He plays with his heart on his sleeve and he brings it every game of every season. Sure he will miss the occasional practice, but come on we’re talking about practice. I think if we can pull off the deal without giving up Green, Perk, PDub, Big Al, or West I do it. So how can the Celtics pull off the trade without throwing them into the deal? Just looking at the salary cap numbers the Celtics can trade Wally, Scalabrine, and Telfair for AI. Why would the Sixers do this trade? Because they want to get rid of AI and AI wants to leave after all these trade rumors. Wally is a good shooter that could compliment Webber. Telfair is the point guard they are looking for as well and Brian would be thrown in for money reasons.

If the Celtics are able to pull off the deal for AI they make the Eastern Conference Finals. There starting lineup would just insert AI into Wally’s position. This would be a great deal for the Celtics and I hope they pull it off.

I am expecting great things from the Celtics this year and I think they are going to deliver. I still think they are a year away from really truly contending for an NBA title, with or with our AI. AI would help them go further this year. The Celtics have a solid foundation for the future and they have a solid foundation for the present as well.

Soon to come, a preview of the upcoming Patriots season as well as more stuff on the Red Sox.

The Good, The Bad, and The Skinny

As we sit here on July 5^th, it is the halfway point of the 2006 season and I still cannot get a read on this year’s Red Sox team. After winning 14 of 15 against the NL East and people talking about them like they won the World Series they come down to earth and lose two straight to the Devil Rays. Not only did they lose these games to the Devil Rays it is everything else that came with it. We had our two best pitchers on the mound for the starts and they both took the L. The Yankees also lost their last two games so I guess that is a good thing and a bad thing. A good thing because we keep our lead in the AL East, a bad thing because we should have increased the lead. So with that said let’s hand out some grades and some moves we need to do to make this years team a world champion.

Pitching

The Sox have two Aces in Schilling and Beckett. They have a reliable consistent starter in Wake. A rookie pitcher who has pitched on thin ice in most his starts, but has gotten out of all of them while giving us a chance to win (Lester). And then we have a major major major question mark in Jason Johnson. This is a guy we got off the scraps from the Indians and in his first start for us, he had a rough two innings, but then settled down, but he took the loss. I am a little torn between who I want as my number 5 in the rotation. I have only seen one start for Johnson, albeit a bad one, but I willing to see what he has tonight in Tampa before I start calling for his head. Of course, the guy he is replacing in the rotation is no savior either. Matt Clement was not pitching well this year at all. He can’t get anyone out. So if I have to choose one of those two for my number 5 I take neither. We need to go out a get another starter. But more on that later. Our bullpen has been well chronicled. We have a bunch of rookies who I want to see out there much more than Taverez and Seanez. We have a nice matchup guy with Lopez. Take away what Timlin did yesterday he is having a great year. And of course we don’t need to reiterate how amazing Papelbon has been. He has one of the best years for a closer anytime anywhere.

Grade: Starting Staff B-, Bullpen C, Closer/Setup man: A

Offense

We were told at the beginning of Spring Training that this years Red Sox team wasn’t going to be your fathers Red Sox team. They weren’t supposed to mash the ball all around the field, they weren’t supposed to score a lot of runs, they weren’t supposed to have walk-off home runs every other week, and they were supposed to have a lot of holes in their lineup. But that just shows you what a team with two of the best power hitters in the game does. The old saying of “hitting is contagious” is definitely true. How else can you explain Lowell hitting over .300, Nixon hitting over .320, Gonzo hitting close to .270. (Now I know .270 doesn’t draw attention anywhere else but in Boston, but when you were supposed to hit .200 and the media said before the season that with Gonzo’s glove anything close to .270 would be amazing. It does warrant a mention.) A lot of players who weren’t supposed to do what they are doing are coming through. And because of that the Sox have scored 451 runs so far for an average of 5.5 runs a game, and they are on pace for over 900, that’s not too bad. Yuk in the top of the order has been a very pleasant surprise as well as his glove. Loretta is the typical number 2 guy that Edgar wasn’t last year. Ortiz is the best clutch hitter in the game, Manny is Manny. ‘Tek is having an off year with the average. Nixon is just hitting everything thrown at him. Crisp is getting more and more comfortable at the plate.

Grade: A

Defense

There isn’t much to say. The Sox have the best defense in the game. Earlier in the year they set the record for consecutive games without an error (17). Yuk is playing a great glove at first. Crisp is playing a centerfield that is making us forget about Jesus. Lowell, Gonzo, and Loretta are playing like gold glove winners. Just as a side point, Remy and Orsillo mentioned during yesterday’s game that Loretta and Gonzo have a combined five errors this season. Five errors from your middle infield that is unheard of.

Grade: A

Coaching

The coaching staff has been upgraded. They have a new pitching coach and new first and third base coaches. All of which have been upgrades. And I hate to say that about the pitching coach because Wallace had hip surgery and we feel for him and wish him a speedy recovery, but Nip has been great. Terry earned his 200^th win as a manager this season, and aside from some questionable decisions he has managed this team very well. I would love to see the young pitchers in there a little more. I want to see Hanson and Delcarmen in tight spots. Manny has been pitching very well.

Grade: B

Moves that should be made

The Sox need to upgrade their pitching staff. They don’t need to do anything with their lineup or defense. Adding another guy in the rotation and another guy in the bullpen will be great. Now I don’t think we should break the bank for anyone, I think it will be tough to land a Willis or Smoltz. Zito isn’t being traded. But I’d like to give Jake Pevey a look from San Diego. If the asking price isn’t too much why not make a deal with San Diego for the third time this year. Although a few days ago I heard the name Smoltz thrown out there for a Hanson, I am not sure how I feel about this. I think Smoltz will give the Red Sox a very realistic shot at another World Series ring, but Hanson is going to be a stud in this league. At the same time, it’s easier to fine a stud closer than an ace in the rotation. The Sox also need to add a bullpen guy to take over the Taverez or Seanez spot in the Bullpen. The Sox could go after someone like Joe Borowski who is pitching well down in Miami.

The Red Sox are not that far off from another World Series Title. Just need to add a few tiny pieces as the trading deadline.

Allow me to Re-intorduce myself...

Can we diagnose this embarrassment in the World Cup a failure for the US? I am not so certain. Sure they were ranked 5^th in the world in the FIFA rankings, their highest ranking ever. Sure they lost to Ghana, a team that has never qualified for the World Cup before 2006. However, this is a US team that finally earned its first World Cup point with their pathetic tie on Saturday to Italy, when the US couldn’t even score their own goal. This is also a US team that plays its games in a country that doesn’t care about soccer, or football depending on which American you are talking to. That can really be a factor in this story. Imagine yourself on a team that trains for 4 years for a tournament that is so popular throughout the world yet no one in America cares. When I tell people I watch the World Cup, or when people see that I am watching the World Cup people always say “why are you watching soccer, it’s so boring”. Is it? I find it very exciting and so do more and more Americans who slowly but surely are coming to terms with this international uber sport.

But back to the real topic... the games being played. The US opened up the 2006 World Cup with a loss to the Czech in which they looked completely flat and a team that didn’t deserve to be in the World Cup. In their second game they played to a tie with usual powerhouse Italy. In their third game they couldn’t handle Ghana, when everything else fell into place and all they needed was the win to advance out of group play. It’s sad, it’s upsetting, and it’s disappointing. The only reason why I don’t categorize the United States showing in the World Cup a failure is because you can see the seeds being planted for the future. The sport is growing in popularity and many more kids are playing the sport. Come 2010, the next World Cup, the US should be ranked even higher than 5^th in the world and they should have a better showing than this year.

It’s strange, normally Americans are used to dominating every sport we play, but it isn’t the case with soccer. The rest of the world has a leg up on us because soccer is the only sport they play. And sure this World Cup would have been different if it weren’t for the Ref’s. It’s ironic, Americans are new to this sport and yet we still are quick to blame the ref’s. Now I’m not saying that the ref’s didn’t screw up a ton of calls, because they did, but I am saying that the refs don’t play the game and we need to stop blaming the refs.

The refs in international soccer are also known for taking bribes and fixing games. I am not accusing anyone of anything, but I think it is a very big coincidence that the ref who officiated the US-Italy match, the ref who made a ton of bad calls, was found guilty of taking bribes and fixing matches. How can FIFA let this guy ref? again I am not saying he is still accepting bribes or fixing games, but if a ref were ever found guilty of doing that in the US he would never ref again, not even little league.

I think one of the main reasons soccer hasn’t been widely accepted as a sport in America is because of the rules. The refs are really quick to call red cards which mean you are out of the rest of that game as well as the next. Imagine getting a double technical foul in basketball and then you are done for the next game too. Now imagine that happening during the NBA finals. Does that make any sense? Not really. Another strange rule is the double yellow card. It’s fine that two yellow cards equals a red card, but it doesn’t make sense for yellow cards to carry over from game to game. Finally, you can only sub 3 times? Are you serious? What is the reason for that? Imagine playing hockey and telling the coaches, oh you can only sub 3 times in a game. Would people care about hockey? However, there are some rules I love about soccer. I love that the clock never stops. It makes the game much more intense and more fun to watch. Also well actually that is pretty much it, but I love soccer.

Although the US has been eliminated I will still have vesting interest in the World Cup. I personally thought England would win the Cup, but now that they lost one of their best players, it will be tough for them to make the finals, so I will love to see Brazil just dominate the rest of the World Cup. And I hope that Americans who watched the World Cup know the valiant effort the US gave and applaud them, and I hope the Idiot Americans that didn’t watch, who say soccer is a dumb sport, learn to love the sport and realize it is a great game to watch.

Ways to make Soccer in the US more popular

There a few ways that we, as Americans, can make soccer as big in America as it is for the rest of the world..

Firstly, we need a big name marketable star. We have tried in the past to bring some European soccer stars over to America, most famously with Pele and trying to lure him to the US for a 10 year $110 million dollar contract. However, I don’t think this strategy is a good one. We need a homegrown soccer superstar. We have a guy named Freddy Adu. Sure he is just turned 17, but this kid can play. Now I know he wasn’t born in America, ironically he was born in Ghana, but he is an American citizen, circa 2003. Right now he is rotting away on the bench for DC United. Why? How come this kid isn’t given a chance to play right away? If the kid has talent, which he does, he should be given the opportunity to play right away no matter what his age is. Because of this there is talk of him going to play oversees. This will be a huge mistake. Granted he will make boatloads more money in Europe, but this is what all our good players do. We need to bring the Americans back to America and let them play in our league. We need to build up a solid league with American superstars that the American people can relate to. If this happens we can help the sport grow.

Secondly we need to get MLS a major network TV deal. I don’t even know where you can watch a soccer game. I don’t think I have ever seen a regular season game on TV. If a network, let’s say ESPN, who no longer has Hockey, and doesn’t really show anything but Baseball on TV over the summer. (The MLS season run from the beginning of June until the end of October.) If ESPN picks up TV rights for MLS starting for the 2007 season that will give America 3 years of prime time exposure until the next World Cup in 2010. And of course along with a big network TV contract comes more advertising money that can be pumped into the sport allowing teams to spend more money on stars which will then allow teams in the MLS to keep the few superstars we have.

Now I don’t know what it was like when any other major sport was first introduced to the mainstream, (I’m only 22), but I’m sure they faced some of the same hardships that MLS does. People don’t fully understand the rules of soccer and until they do people will remain uninterested with the sport. I’m not too sure on how to fix this problem with American viewership other than the onus in on the fans to learn the sport, and the only way to learn all the rules is to watch the game of soccer.

No sport can grow in popularity without a big time TV contract. The fastest growing sport, the Arena Football League, didn’t start to boom until it received a TV deal with NBC. Once the AFL received its TV deal it was exposed to mainstream America and people learnt the rules of the sport, and learned to love the fast paced alternative to the NFL. Why can’t this be the case with MLS? Well it can. I beg ESPN to pick up TV rights to this great league.

NBA Champs: The Miami Heat

“We wanted it, we took it.” D Wade after the heat game 6 victory to win the NBA title.

Last night the Miami Heat won their first NBA title in franchise history. They came back from 2-0 series deficit to stun the state of Texas as they thought they would be crowned NBA champs this year. In game 6 last night, Wade, excuse me I mean the Heat came back from an early first quarter deficit to win the game. Now I have a few thoughts on this series and you are about to read them…

I had Dallas in 7 to start the series. I thought Dallas was the better team coming into the Finals. I thought Dallas had the momentum coming in, but I guess the series with Phoenix took too much out of them.

To start things off I would like to congratulate the Heat on winning the NBA title, because no matter what anyone will say, the Heat won the series and Dallas did not. But with that said I do believe that something fishy happened in this series. Now, I am not the kind of guy to yell conspiracy theory like the next fan of the NBA, but I am the guy who will point out some reasons why their may have been a conspiracy.

First things first, the free throws disparity was in huge favor of Miami. I went back and counted up the attempts and it backed up my statement (Mia:207, Dal: 155) and also included the deciding game in the series, game 5, in which Miami doubled up on free throw attempts (49-25). That is a huge disparity in free throw attempts for the game considering Shaq only took 12 FT’s. Now I know it has become commonplace to blame the ref’s for losses in every sport. The losing team never really lost the game, the ref’s did. It is very similar to Shawshank Redemption; no one in the prison committed any crimes. But with that said the Ref’s suck and something needs to be done.

The play that will be looked at forever is the phantom foul call on Dirk in overtime of game 5. While watching the game live I thought it could have been called a foul, but the more I look at that play there is no way that is a foul. No one even touched Wade on his way to the hoop. So you ask why Wade is getting a call that even Jordan wouldn’t receive. And there are two simple answers. The first is the NBA is in dire need of the next loveable superstar and Wade fits that bill. The second is the NBA does not want Shaq and Kobe on the same level. As long as Shaq didn’t win another title, fans could say Kobe or Shaq couldn’t win titles on their own. But now that Shaq has one without Kobe, David Stern can market Shaq as the better of the two and bring Kobe down another notch, and we all know how much the NBA loves to hate on Kobe now.

There was a second controversial call in game 5. While Wade was in middle of sinking the game winning free throws Avery Johnson signaled to Josh Howard to call a Timeout after the second free throw, however the Ref’s see this and think that Johnson was calling a timeout for then. Which is absurd, there is no reason to call a timeout there. Now, on the one hand the ref’s are not there to determine what the coach really means, but they are there to be the cooler heads. They are there to make sure the game is running as it is supposed to. So technically they had no obligation to huddle up and be like ok he didn’t want the timeout now, he wants it after the second free throw. But, at the same time they should have known the gravity of the situation and should have huddled up and corrected the situation. Now of course if the ref’s did do this it didn’t mean that the Mavs would have won the game, but they would have had a much better chance.

The ref’s weren’t the reason why the Dallas lost this series. They definitely hindered their chanced to win the series, but the reason why Dallas lost was because Dirk didn’t show up. He was shut down in the final four games of the series. Give credit to the Miami defense because Dirk was playing the best individual ball in the playoffs until Wade completely took the next step to the pantheon level of greatness. Wade completely raised his level of play in the finals, and put on one of the greatest performances in NBA Finals history.

While watching SportsCenter this morning, Tim Legler said DWade is the "greatest combo of athleticism and control that I have seen". Is he really? Kobe, Jordan, LeBron these guys aren’t better than Wade? Of course not, the guys in the media are trying to market Wade as THE next big thing in the NBA. It is crazy, because Wade is good, but how good is he really? I think most people can play the way Wade does when they have the Big Fella with them. Everyone is slurping what Mighty Mouse does. Wade deserves most of the praise he receives because he did play well even when Shaq isn’t around, but still the "greatest combo of athleticism and control that I have seen” that may be taking it a little too far.

Mark Cuban. This guy gets fined for all of his comments; of course they are all warranted, but even still. Is there any other sport that has an owner and commissioner clash so much as Cuban and Stern do? With that said, I totally think Cuban said to Stern about the league being fixed. I completely believe that Cuban would say something like that to the Commish, but there is a time and a place. You don’t yell that courtside after game 5, you do it in private and I’m sure David Stern told Cuban that.

As a whole the NBA Finals, as well as the rest of the NBA Playoffs were very well played and very exciting. This just adds to the growing popularity of the sport. Now all the League needs to do is solved the problem with the ref’s.

Just some quick thoughts on the Sox now…

I am very happy to see them on a 5 game winning streak after that embarrassing series with the twins last week. They really turned it around and they are playing much better baseball. I am very happy with Lester being our number 4 starter and we just need to get rid of Clement and find a new number 5 starter.

I am also pleased to see that they are taking the wheels off of our young arms in the ‘Pen. Craig Hanson, Manny Delcarmen, and Abe Alvarez should prosper with the big club and I want to see them in more pressure spots. And as I saw on Boston Sports Tonight this morning, Andy Gresh said that we finally have that flamethrower that can come in and just blow away the Yankee hitters late in the game. It will be very exciting to see how these kids turn out by the end of the year and if the plans stay on course, we will be raising another World Series Title come this October and all because of the kids.