2007 Winding Down

Well, 2007 is finally winding down and it is obvious that there are some serious bowl games to be played yet in this year. Well, not really, but there are a few left in this year. So far I have picked 8 winners and 7 losers, but today is another day. Before we get to the bowl picks for today though, it should be mentioned that the Celtics just keep on rolling along.

Last night they completed their four game west coast trip by beating the Lakers, well, actually they rolled over the the Lakers like a cement truck heading to the construction site. The closest the Lakers got in the second half was at 3:16 in the 3rd quarter when Kobe fed Derek Fisher for a three pointer that made the score 72-66. The Lakers didn't score again until the 4th quarter and by that time the Celtics had a 16 point lead that would never be threatened again.

As for the just completed road trip, the C's went to Sacramento on the 26th and won 89-69, a twenty point shellacking over a losing team. This was followed by a game on the 27th in Seattle that the Celtics won 104-96 over an even worse team than the Kings. Still it was Ray Allens first trip back to Seattle and it was their sixth set of back to back games this year (6-0 on the second game of these sets) so a close game was to be expected.

Following a day off the C's continued to impress by beating the Jazz on the 29th by a 104-98 score that included an embarrassed Paul Pierce who hit the winning basket with 28 seconds left in the game. In this game the Celtics trailed at half time as they just could not stop the Jazz from shooting over 60% in the first half. Once again though they out scored their opponent in the third quarter and only trailed by two going into the fourth. The Celtics were now 3-0 on the trip and rumbled into Los Angeles trying to do two things, prevent Phil Jackson from passing Red Auerbach on the win list and sweep the road trip.

Mission accomplished! Another double digit win and another milestone achieved!

Setting The Pace
The Celtics are now off to a better start than the Bulls team that won an NBA-record 72 games. Here are the best winning percentages before New Year's Day:
Team	Record	Pct.
1971-72 Lakers	36-3	.923*
1966-67 76ers	35-3	.921*
2007-08 Celtics	26-3	.897
1995-96 Bulls	25-3	.893*
* -- Won NBA title.

Some things are just meant to be and that is being accomplished by this Celtics team. As the box to the right says (lifted from ESPN.Com), the Celtics have joined a select few teams in the upper echelon of NBA history and the historic runs of the teams from Boston just keep on rolling (16-0 Patriots, 2007 World Series Champs) along in this last week of 2007.

Next on the docket for the Celtics will be a home game vs the Rockets on 1/2/2008 (got to get used to typing 2008) and another back to back as they face the Grizzlies on 1/4 at home and then travel to Detroit on 1/5. The Detroit game will be interesting since the Pistons beat the Celtics on 12/19 in Boston. I expect fireworks in that game!!

Enough about the Celtics though. Lets make our picks for today's Bowl Games!

The first game today at 12:30 is the Armed Forces Bowl! This game pits California (6-6) against Air Force (9-3). I think the Falcons will beat the Bears 31 - 27.

Next set of games has the Humanitarian bowl at 2:00 with Georgia Tech (7-5) playing Fresno State (8-4). Look for the rambling wreck to win this game 35-21. The other 2:00 game has #21 South Florida (9-3) playing Oregon (8-4). I just don't think that Oregon can hang with the Big East team and fully expect the Bulls to beat the Ducks 28-10.

Our 4:00 game features Kentucky (7-5) playing perennial bowl team Florida State (7-5) in the Music City bowl. Since Florida State has an academic scandal (gee another school in Florida with a thug reputation, who woulda thought that - ed) which will cause a good number of players to be left in Florida for this game, I expect the SEC to continue to roll as Kentucky blasts the Seminoles 35-10.

The 6:00 game features Indiana (7-5) vs Oklahoma State (6-6) in the insight.com bowl. I expect this game to be a shoot out and I even might watch a little bit of it on the NFL network. Indiana 31 - Oklahoma State 30.

The last game of the day will be at 7:30 on ESPN as the Clemson Tigers (9-3) take on the Auburn Tigers (8-4). This should be another good game but I fully expect the SEC team to beat the ACC team in a low scoring affair. Lets go with Auburn 18 over Clemson 17.

Well, time to do some menial errands on this last day in 2007. Catch you all later!

Misc 2007 stuff

Well, another year is fast becoming history and if you are a fan of any of the teams associated with Boston you have to be pretty happy. In fact this might be a very historic year for teams based in the Boston area as last night the Patriots became the first team in NFL history to go 16-0 and the Celtics improved their NBA best record to 25-3 (on pace for 73 wins) by beating the Utah Jazz on the road and guaranteeing themselves a winning road trip against west coast teams.

Even the Bruins are playing above .500 hockey and are just out of the playoffs with their 18-16-4 record. With the Revolution making it to the finals in MLS and the Red Sox winning the World Series Boston can rightly claim to be a championship contending town. The only question right now is can the Patriots find their way to the Super Bowl (only the Colts can prevent that imho)?

As for the Celtics, right now they are contenders, but in the rugged play of the NBA there is still a long, long, long way to go before they can even think about the playoffs. Still, you have to like the way the Celtics are playing as once again they turned up the defensive pressure in the second half last night. Yep, I am truly enjoying the Celtics season.

Turning quickly to bowl games this year, so far I picked winners in the San Diego Credit Union, Papajohns.com, New Mexico, Pioneer Las Vegas, Champs Sports, Texas, Emerald, and the Alamo bowl games. That is an 8 and 6 record so far. There is only one game today and that is the Petro Sun Independence bowl. Look for Colorado to run up the score against an up and down Alabama team. I don't even expect this one to be close, lets say 31 to 10 for the Buffaloes.

On the pro side today lets go with these winners:

Seattle +2 1/2
Cleveland - 9 1/2
New Orleans - 2 1/2
Cincinatti - 2 1/2
Buffalo +7 1/2
Carolina +2 1/2
Green Bay - 3 1/2
Jacksonville + 6 1/2
Pittsburgh -5 1/2
Dallas +8 1/2
Arizona -6 1/2
Minnesota -2 1/2
San Diego -6 1/2
Kansas City +5 1/2
Indianapolis +6 1/2

Tata for now!!!!!

The Mitchell Report

This all I have to say about this investigation, "Who the Frag Cares"! MLB players used performance enhancing drugs, well duh! The entire report can be found here at espn.com

Update: - Corrected mitchell's name!

Celtics Game 20 (Golden State goes down)

Another game another win. What more can you ask for in this season? Beats the frag out of me. Caught the last half of this game, as it was movie night in the s1c household (Live Free or Die Hard). I am beginning to think that starting to watch this team at the start of the 3rd quarter is the way to follow this team, as once again the men in green came out of the half-time break and took control of the game.

Less than five minutes into the quarter and it was 55-47 Celtics, as they just seemed to explode. Contributions were made by every starter even Rajon (did you even realize that Rajon had no points, not with his team leading 5 assists-ed). The best thing was that Big Baby stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park.

In 27 minutes of playing time he grabbed 9 boards (5 off), went 3-6 from the floor and 10 - 10 from the free throw line. More importantly, he had only 2 personal fouls. The Big Baby is growing into a BIG MAN right before our eyes.

As for the PGA, well the usual from them as they combined for 52 points in this game, lead by Paul Pierce's 26 points. These three just seem to get more comfortable every game that they play. It will be interesting to see how they respond to their up coming west coast trip. Actually I don't think it will be interesting I think it will be the first real test that this team has faced this year. Next game Friday night!!!!

updated - corrected my freaking spelling errors.

Okajima Speaks

UPDATED - Added the second half of the radio transcript.

The Globe has a transcript of an interview that Hidecki Okajima gave in Japan. He even thanks J. Buck of the Royals. A good read.

Second part of the interview as the Globe has reported it.

Celtics Game 19

Another game vs the eastern half of the NBA and another win. Especially, in a game where one of the big three went 1-8 from the field only to have Rajon Rondo step up and have his biggest game of the year. 18 points from the point guard and he pitched in with seven rebounds and five assists.

The only complaint I have is that late in the game instead of going for the knock out blow they should have gotten the ball to Kevin Garnett. At the end of the game the big guy has to touch the ball in order to make the offense more diverse. Still an eleven point win and going to 17 and 2 is very good in my books. Especially when you realize that the previous Celtics who reached these heights have pretty much always made the NBA Finals. I definitely like these Celtics!!!

07-08 Celtics Game 17

Well you have to hand it to them, this Celtics team just never gives up. For some reason I thought this game started at 7:30 so I didn't turn on the tube until 7:33. Yep, I was wrong (who knew), the game started at 7:00 so the score was 40something to 30something and the C's were on the short end. Still you could see that they had confidence that the double digit lead would shrink by half time in Philadelphia and sure enough it was down to 5 as the 76ers went in to the locker room up by 57-52.

Some thoughts that entered my mind while watching this game:

  1)  What the frag is up with Ray Allen's jump shot?
  2)  Will Tony Allen ever explode to the basket again?

First Ray's problems, just aren't making sense. It looks like he is just slightly off on his rhythm as to often the ball seems to circle the basket then fall off the rim. Another pretty poor night from the field as he went 3 for 12 (2 for 6 from 3 point territory). Still, he seems to be helping this team in little things so, once he gets his jumper back to being the Ray Allen jumper from the past, look out!!!

As for Tony's lack of explosiveness, every game it seems we see at least one drive to the basket where the ball never reaches the top of the rim. Just look at his drive just before the half where the ball hits the bottom of the rim as an example. Is it the bruise, is it the knee? Who the frag knows but something needs to change if he wants me to have any confidence in him when he enters the game.

Glen Davis needs to learn how to play defense better, 15 minutes and he had two fouls. I love his energy, but move the feet better and you will be able to stay on the floor for longer periods of time (Tommy thinks he needs to lose twenty pounds, but I don't know about that).

Still a 10 point win on the road is something to smile about these days, and it is becoming apparent that this team is a legitimate contender for the finals. It is good to know that after all these years of wearing my Celtics jacket in shame, I can wear it with pride again!!!

08 Season Win Shares Look #1

Well its 13:15 and still no Johan trade to the Sox. What's happening, you've got me! The latest information from the Globe and the Herald is that the Twins are approaching other teams, Mets, Angels and Dodgers (losers in the Marlin trades) to see if they can get anything better or maybe just to see if this is the best that they can get for Santana. I still think that unless the MFY's up the ante and add both Hughes and Kennedy this deal will get done. However, it is possible that the Twins may say, forget it, we will wait until the trade deadline and if we are out of contention we make a deal then. I really think that would be unlikely though since they know that he is leaving and they will want to get something for him. Will have to see. WEEI is saying that the Star Ledger has the Twins and Sox still working on a deal though at 1:29 p.m.

Still, the team is starting to take shape so I thought I would do the first Win Share look at the team for the 2008 season. So, here goes!!!

Pos.	Player	07 WS	CWS	3 yr Avg.	4 yr Avg.	Projected
DH	Ortiz	29	166	29.667	28.5	30
1b	Youkilis	20	53	15	13.25	21
2b	Pedroia	19	19	----	----	19
3b	Lowell	24	169	17	19.25	20
SS	Lugo	12	110	16.333	17.25	13
LF	Ramirez	15	354	26	26.25	22
CF	Ellsbury	6	6	----	----	15
RF	Drew	12	161	15.333	20	20
C	Varitek	15	122	14	15.25	14
SP1	Beckett	19	73	15	13.5	17
Sp2	Matsuzaka	12	12	----	----	12
Sp3	Schilling	10	254	10	13	12
Sp4	Lester	4	9	----	----	8
Sp5	Wakefield	10	154	11	10.25	10
Closer	Papelbon	12	34	11.333	----	15
Rel1	Okajima	10	10	----	----	8
Rel2	Delcarmen	5	9	3	----	4
Rel3	Timlin	4	120	7.667	7.25	3
Rel4	Tavarez	4	76	4.667	5.5	5
Rel5	Snyder	3	7	1	1.75	3
Rel6	Donnelly	2	37	4.667	4.75	3
4th Of	Crisp	16	71	15.667	15.25	10
B C	?????
M I F	Cora	4	70	4.33	7.5	5
C I F	?????
Totals		267	2096	221.664	218.5	289

Just looking at this right now there are only two slots left to be filled, the back up catcher and a back up infielder for the corners (though Cora can play and has played at 3rd). I also included Donnelly, but it is possible that he will not be available this coming year, of course he basically is only worth 1 more win in this scenario, so if he doesn't play, well no big loss and an easy replacement should be available. In fact if you look at THT's Win Shares for last year, you will see a lot of players that will give you just 3 win shares just in the AL, if you add NL well there are even more out there.

The second thing to look at, if you assume the 3 win shares equals one win, then this team is already at 96 wins in the projected and we have two more spots to fill. That looks good for the team.

ESPN Picks the Final Fours and Oh Yeah Some Trades

Well while the blogging has been light here a lot of things are shaking in the sports world. It looks like the Tigers have traded for Cabrera (thank you Mike Lowell and Thank you theo). The Sox are in the midst of making a trade for Johan Santana which might include Ellsbury (no, no please no) or Lester (yes, yes, yes) but who really knows. If Sean McAdam on Comcast sportsnet is right then even Coco wouldn't be part of the deal, who the fragging knows. Still something to keep an eye on over the next day or so, will have to keep you posted.

I thought I would take a look at what the ESPN guys have decided would be their final four picks this coming spring. Surprisingly only eight teams make their final four with UCLA (9), Memphis (9) and UNC (8) leading the way. The only other team to be listed by at least half of the experts was Louisville at 5. Will be interesting to see if the college basketball season goes true to form or if like the just finished football season it goes all topsy turvy. Later my friends!!