Red Sox 2008 Season Game 38 Preview

			@
J. Lester		2-2, 3.94		Boof Bonser		2-4, 4.29
Red Sox		23 - 14		Twins		17 - 16

Friday, May 9  Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome  ✠ 8:10 PM ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	23	14	-	8-2	7	3	21	16
Tampa	18	16	3.5	5-5	3	4	18	16
New York	18	18	4.5	5-5	4	3	18	18
Baltimore	17	18	5.0	3-7	8	5	16	19
Toronto	17	19	5.5	6-4	4	9	19	17

ESPN.Com Preview .
Yahoo's Preview .
ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
MLB.Com Press Pass
From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: Lester snapped a five-start winless streak with his second straight strong outing in a win over the Rays at Fenway Park last Sunday. After going eight innings of one-hit shutout ball in a no-decision against Roy Halladay and the Blue Jays, he struggled at the start but worked six effective innings to beat Tampa Bay. He is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA in his last four starts. The lefty pitched two scoreless innings of relief against the Twins in the final game of the regular season last year, his only work against Minnesota.

Twins: After a terrible first inning against the Tigers in which he threw 45 pitches and gave up six runs, Bonser turned into the hero of the game his last time out. The right-hander pitched five consecutive scoreless innings following the first. He retired 17 of the last 19 hitters he faced on just 54 pitches. He attributed it to locating his fastball and gaining control of his off-speed pitches. Bonser will face another tough challenge when he starts the opener of a four-game series against the Red Sox.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings and this year at Baseball Reference.

Sox Batting vs Bonser

Player	AB	H	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Ellsbury	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
D. Pedroia	6	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	.667
D. Ortiz	6	5	1	0	2	3	0	0	.833
M. Ramirez	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
M. Lowell	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
K. Youkilis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
J. Drew	2	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	.500
J. Varitek	4	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	.250
J. Lugo	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Totals	31	11	1	1	2	5	2	2	.355

Limited history vs these batters, but then again not bad numbers for that limited history. It should be noted that Boof's splits this year shows him doing slightly better vs right handers. Righties are hitting .255/.283/.383 while lefties are at .260/.308/.397 clips.

Pitching Comparisions Career

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Lester	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	0.00	0.00	0.00
Bonser	2	2	0	0	12	13	5	2	2	7	3.75	1.25	6.00

Both of Booth's starts have came at Fenway, and as you can see he is 2-0 against the Sox. Could be an interesting night. Taking a look at Lester's splits I see that he is actually doing better vs right handed hitters. Overall he is .250/.351/.411, but righties are .237/.353/.398 and lefties are .280/.345/.440 this year. Let us hope that the Twins aren't looking at those splits!!!

♊ - When all else fails, get a bigger hammer!

Game 26 of 2008 Red Sox Season Preview

Game 26 at Tampa Bay

AL East Standings  

Team	W	L	Pct	GB	X W	X L
Boston	15	10	.600	--	13	12
Baltimore	13	9	.591	0.5	11	11
Tampa Bay	12	11	.522	2.0	13	10
New York	12	12	.500	2.5	12	12
Toronto	10	14	.417	4.5	12	12

Clay Buchholz, RHP (1-1, 4.79) Red Sox (15-10) @ Edwin Jackson, RHP (2-2, 4.63) Rays (12-11)

Scouting Report: Red Sox: Buchholz pitched brilliantly in his last start, firing six shutout innings in a victory over the Rangers. He allowed five hits and struck out six. Opponents are hitting .274 against Buchholz. This will be his first career appearance against Tampa Bay. Buchholz has given up three earned runs or less in three of his four starts. Buchholz has pitched eight games in his young career, going 4-2 with a 3.12 ERA. Rays: Jackson suffered through another sub-par start Sunday against the White Sox when he allowed six earned runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander continues to show electric stuff, but struggles on the days when his stuff is not at its best. Jackson has worked to try and minimize the big inning, which he did not do well against the White Sox, when he allowed the White Sox to put away the game with a four-run fifth inning.

Associated links for tonights games:

MLB.coms probable.
ESPN.com preview.
ESPN.com recap.
ESPN.com boxscore.
MLB.com Press Pass.

Probable Line Up Vs Jackson

Player	PA	AB	H	2b	3b	HR	RBI	BB	K's	BA	OBP	SLG
Ellsbury	6	5	2	1	0	0	1	1	0	.400	.500	.600
Pedroia	5	3	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.667	.600	.667
Ortiz	14	9	4	1	0	1	4	5	1	.444	.643	.889
Ramirez	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Youkilis	8	7	1	1	0	0	0	1	3	.143	.250	.286
Drew	12	9	4	3	0	0	2	3	4	.444	.583	.778
Lowrie	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Cash	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Lugo	11	11	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.182	.182	.182

Totals

57

45

15

6

0

1

7

11

9

.333

.456

.533

Some pretty good numbers vs Jackson especially from Ortiz and Drew (Pedroia discarded since only 5 PA's). If I was Terry Francona though I would consider sitting Manny tonight and play Coco. In Coco's 14 PA's he is batting .308 / .357 / .462, which is better than Manny's 0-1. Still, Manny is on a roll so, it is defensible to start Manny.

Oh, even if Varitek is healthy, play Cash. At least he has no history which is better than Varitek's 0 for 7.

Pitcher Comparison

Player	GS	CG	GF	W	L	Sv	Sho	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Jackson	4	0	0	2	1	0	0	26 2/3	31	16	16	2	17	23	5.40	1.80
Buchholz	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0

As a starter Jackson has went 22 1/3 innings in 4 starts (high 6 twice, low 5) with both of his wins coming at the Tropicana field. In Tampa he has given up only 4 runs in 11 1/3 innings. So, this guy is tough at home. Very tough at home.

So, do not be surprised if Jackson is tough tonight at the Trop.!

2008 Bruins Playoffs Round 1 Game 7

Fantastic game 5, followed by a beautiful game 6 and now its time for game 7. Go Bruins!!!

Oh, yeah, I say the B's pull it off!!!

Open Thread

Is It 1967 For the Bruins?

A friend asked the following question after the Bruins made their comeback Saturday night; "Does this series at all remind you of the '67 World Series?". My immediate answer was, "Only if they win the series." Promising a recap / thought on that I have probably thought about sixteen hundred ways to make this post (ok, slight exaggeration). Herewith, are my thoughts on this Bruins team and the '67 Sox.

In 1967 I was still in elementary school in a very, very small town in the middle of Arkansas. My father was not a huge sport fan, but he enjoyed baseball and taught me how to follow teams from afar by looking at the box scores. This led to my first experience with algebra, but that is a story for another time. So, even though I remember the 1967 season and the World Series I followed that season from afar and I have to rely on accounts from friends, written stories and various shows that have high lighted the role that team had in the rebirth of Red Sox mania.

Without a doubt, that team brought the Sox back into the forefront of the Boston area. Decades had passed since the last time the Sox had made the World Series and the team was not really expected to make the series that year, but game after game the team had battled, staying in the pennant race. Yaz was having a triple crown season and late in the season seemed to come up with big hit after big hit. Still the race went down to the wire with 4 teams going into final weekend with a chance to win the division.

There was more to that season though than Yaz though. Looking at 1967 from Baseball Race you can see that on 7/9 the Sox were 6.0 games back of the White Sox, in 5th place at 41-39. The first day after the all star break they split a double header with the Orioles. The win in the first game made them 42-39, so they were on pace for an 84 win season. Nothing to really be excited about. Then the magic started to happen.

One week later the Sox were 48-40 and trailed the White Sox by 1.5 games and sitting in 3rd place. Another week went by and the Sox were at 54-41 and had trimmed the lead down to 1.0 games and were in 2nd place. The pennant race was on!

Two spectacular weeks and the Sox were on a major roll, 13 and 2 in those two weeks. That is went the excitement hit Boston. By the trading deadline, Boston was still in 2nd place 2.0 games back. By the end of August, the Sox were in first place .5 games ahead of Minnesota. From that point on, only the Angels would play better (.5 games) for the rest of the season.

Still, they needed a good finish. After splitting two games with Cleveland, the Twins came to Boston with a 1.0 game lead. Two wins later and the Sox were finally back in the World Series. Baseball was back on the map in Boston.

So, how does this relate to the Bruins?

Different level of frustration. In 1967 you had to win the American League to make the playoffs, which oh yeah, was the World Series. The Bruins had the best record of the East in the 2001-2002 season. They were the #1 seed and were set to play the #8 seed Canadians. That is a short time period, and of course they Bruins made the playoffs for the '02-'03, '03-'04, and '04-'05 seasons.

Two seasons of missing the playoffs is not the same as waiting decades.

The frustration with the Bruins has been that they kept on losing in the first round. The frustration is that the Bruins seemed to be discombobulated in the office. So, I think I will stick with my first answer, if the Bruins win this series then the magic will be back. Right now, there is excitement, but is it at the level of '67? I don't think so! No, to really get back on the map, the Bruins need to win this series, then the buzz will be about Hockey and next year the Bruins will see a return of their fans.

2008 Bruins Playoffs Round 1 Game 6

They smoked the Canadiens in game 5, can they do the same at home in game 6? Yes they can!

Bruins Playoff Round 1 Game 5

It is do or die time tonight. Personally, I think they can win this game tonight, but most likely the season will be over for the B's.

Open Thread!!!

bruins playoff game 4 vs le habs

Game 4 tonight!!!

Womens 2008 Final Four Preview

Well, the women get to play their final four games tonight. First up is the #1 Connecticut Huskies vs the #4 Stanford Cardinals. Maya Moore vs Candice Wiggins, well not really as I doubt that Moore will be guarding Wiggins or vice versa. Still it should be a very good game for oh, until about mid way of the second half, at which point I fully expect the Huskies to steadily increase their lead until the final buzzer.

The second game features the #3 Tennessee Volunteers vs the #6 Louisiana State Tigers. This will be the third game between these two conference rivals and will give one of them double bragging rights as this rivalry will continue to grow. In the past I would say that this is a slam dunk win for the Volunteers because of Pat Summit's ability to out coach her SEC rival, but not this year. This year the other coach is pretty good and I expect him to be up to the task. LSU squeezes out a victory.

2008 March Madness Final Four Games Recap

Well, that was enjoyable. Outside of World Series wins by the Sox, nothing makes me smile more than seeing North Carolina getting tarred. Both games ending up being double digit wins but seeing North Carolina down 40-12 after an 18-0 run by Kansas just made me smile. Roy Williams was again out coached, no surprise there, and again failed to win the championship.

So, we have the mid-major Conference representative, Memphis State vs the Mid Major representative, Kansas in Monday nights championship game. Must see TV for sure.
Makes me smile all day just to think about North Carolina being bounced.

2008 March Madness Final Four Games

Well it is Final Four time of the 2008 March Madness, and that means the college basketball season is down to three games, thats right, three games. Four teams left, three games and then it will be time to turn our eyes to the Celtics playoff run, the Bruins playoff run and regular season baseball.

The first game tonight will have the UCLA Bruins vs the Memphis State Tigers at 6:05 p.m. ET. Two contrasting styles as the brutal defense of the Bruins takes on the flashy offensive Tigers. In my opinion, the Tigers are getting no respect and while I believe that defense wins championships, offense wins a lot of semi-final games. I'm going with the Tigers in this game.

The second game has the UNC Tar Heels vs the Kansas Jayhawks at an approximate time of 8:47 p.m. ET. Of course the official "story line" of this game is the "Roy Williams faces his old team". While it is true that Williams did once coach the Kasas five, it is also true that was five fracking years ago, so this team is not Roy's old team but is the Bill Self team that broke the barrier allowing Self to reach the Final Four for the first time in his coaching career.

I'll admit that this game is tough for me to pick. I have an inherent hatred of UNC, I can not fragging stand the school, the team etc., but I have to admit that this UNC team is pretty good, in fact it is probably better than Kansas and should be considered the favorite, but you know what, I just can't stand Roy Williams and I hate, absolutely hate UNC. I'm going with the Jayhawks.

2008 March Madness Sweet Sixteen Day 1 Preview

Well, lets recap, round 1 I went 23-9 thanks to a lousy 9-7 record on day two of the round. In round 2 I went 9-7 thanks to Davidson, Michigan St. and West Virginia. Of course if I had been smart I would have realized that Kentucky and Baylor weren't going to win their first game let alone make the sweet sixteen. Still, I do have 3 of my four final four teams in this thing, so I am not going to be too bummed out.

So, tonight we have four games, West Virginia vs Xavier at 7:10 p.m. which I think might be a very good game. I'm going to pull for the Musketeers but do not count out West Virginia. Huggins has made this a good solid team that rebounds and plays man-to-man defense, a very tough man-to-man defense. I still give the edge to the Musketeers.

At 7:27 p.m. we get the Washington State vs UNC game. I would like to say that Washington State has no chance but they are a tough team. Still, UNC should handle the Cougars.

The 9:40 game has one of the Cinderella stories, Western Kentucky vs UCLA. The only thing that would make me smile more is to see Western Kentucky and Washington State win tonight, but UCLA will agoniziling sneak this game out in the final four minutes.

The last game has Louisville vs Tennessee. Since I have Tennessee going to the championship game, I am sticking with that initial prediction. Tennessee wins a close game but prevails to face UNC in the regional final.

Inane stat of the day - in the last 15 tournaments the two conferences that have sent the most teams to the final four (ACC - 13, SEC - 12), have only one team left in the tournament. If Tennessee makes the final four then it will be tied.

2008 March Madness Round 1 & 2 Recaps

Well that was an interesting first two rounds. Looking at my picks, well lets just say that I had the east bracket pegged, other than that, well, the only good thing to say is that I have six of the great eights still alive and three of the final four still alive. How about Davidson!!!!!

Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4
UNC	UNC
Indiana		UNC
Notre Dame	Wash. St.
Wash St.			Tennessee
Oklahoma	Louisville
Louisville		Tennessee
Butler	Tennessee
Tennessee
Kansas	Kansas
UNLV		Kansas
Clemson	Clemson
Vanderbilt			Kansas
Kansas St.	Wisconsin
Wisconsin		Georgetown
Gonzaga	Georgetown
Georgetown
Memphis	Memphis
Oregon		Memphis
Michigan St.	Pittsburgh		Memphis
Pittsburgh
Kentucky	Kentucky
Stanford		Texas
Miami	Texas
Texas
UCLA	UCLA
Texas A & M		UCLA
Drake	Drake
Connecticut			Duke
Baylor	Baylor
Xavier		Duke
West Virginia	Duke
Duke

A lot of misses once you get past the East. Still that is what makes this tournament so much fun, even when I knew that the team I picked was going to lose, I still found myself rooting for the Western Kentucky's, Davidsons, and Siena's. Will take a look at the third round after I finish watching Opening Day in Japan and have some time to look at who is left. Chow!!!!

Update: I noticed I had Duke going out in the first round, corrected.

2008 March Madness Round 1 Recap Day 1

This right here is what makes March Madness special. A mighty fine game that went right down to the wire. Not often does a 15 seed pull the upset in the first round (1991, 1993, 1997 and 2001) being the only times in this tournament history. An ACC team seeded 2 has never lost this game. In fact there have been only six # 2 teams that have previously won by 3 or fewer points their opening round game:

1. Arkansas beat Texas Southern - 79 - 78 in 1995
2. Tennessee beat Winthrop - 63 - 61 in 2006
3. Cincinatti beat N. Arizona - 65 - 62 in 1998
4. Duke beat Murray State - 71 - 68 in 1997
5. Kansas beat Utah State - 64 - 61 in 2003
6. Wake Forest beat E. Tenn. St. - 76 - 73 in 2003

Only Arkansas and Kansas advanced past the second round, surprisingly both made the championship games, in those tournaments. All other #2's won their games by more than a basket. In fact the average score is 80.46 to 64.09. In fact only 21 times (counting last night) in 89 wins has the number 2 team not won by double digits. Just to emphasize how rare last nights game was, 32 of the 89 wins were by greater than 20 points.

Well, that is the inane statistical portion of this post. Some pretty good games yesterday. Some stinkers also, still I'll take my 14-2 record after day one of this tournament, though I have to admit, what the hell was I thinking when I picked Kentucky! Geez!

Of course I blame the coach in the Ky game. Twice Marquette made sizable runs of 12-0 and 12-2 before he called a time out. Both cases the game clock moved 4+ minutes with his team not scoring or only scoring once. You just can't let that happen in a NCAA game.

Best game of yesterday was the Duke game, but the Xavier / Georgia game was also a pretty good one to watch. Xavier played like a 14 seed yesterday for the first half, but really turned it on in the second half. Well, enough rambling for now, so we will catch you later. Go hogs!!!! Soooie, pig Soooie!!!!!
Some good games today also.

2008 March Madness Round 1

Finally!!! The best three extended weekends (thu-sun) of sports is here. Should be a good tournament and as always, I will be glued to the TV! So, before the first game tips off lets get the picks out of the way!
First lets look at the East Bracket Winners

Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4
UNC	UNC
Indiana	.	UNC
Notre Dame	Wash St.
Wash. St.			Tennessee
Oklahoma	Louisville
Louisville		Tennessee
Butler	Tennessee
Tennessee

Not a lot of upsets there, in fact there are none. I think this bracket does have some possible ones though. I can easily see Indiana continuing their funk and being beaten by Arkansas. It is also possible that Notre Dame gets beat by George Mason and if I was the Butler Bulldogs I would be real worried about South Alabama. Still I just don't think that the upsets will happen.

Midwest Bracket Winners

Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4
Kansas	Kansas
UNLV		Kansas
Clemson	Clemson
Vanderbilt			Kansas
Kansas St.	Wisconsin
Wisconsin		Georgetown
Gonzaga	Georgetown
Georgetown

The only upset here (I don't consider a 5 over a 4 an upset) is the Kansas State win. While both teams have stud freshmen, I just think that Kansas State has more players and should squeak by USC.

Other interesting games in this bracket also. The UNLV vs Kent game should be good and so will the Clemson vs Villanova game. I also would not be surprised to see a weak 4 seed lose to Siena. The Gonzaga vs Davidson should be an intriguing game also.

South Bracket Winners

Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4
Memphis	Memphis
Oregon		Memphis
Michigan St.	Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh			Memphis
Kentucky	Kentucky
Stanford		Texas
Miami	Texas
Texas

Upset special here as Kentucky makes a surprising run to the sweet sixteen. The other first round game that I will be watching is the Michigan State vs Temple game. Temple could pull off the upset. I would also like to see St. Mary's beat Miami, that would be so sweet after the bubble babble about the ACC only getting four teams in the tourney.

West Bracket Winners

Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4
UCLA	UCLA
Texas A & M		UCLA
Drake	Drake
Connecticut			Duke
Baylor	Baylor
Xavier		Duke
West Virginia	Duke
Duke

Upsets in this region - Baylor says good by to the Dave Bliss era and makes the sweet 16!!! I also think that Drake can and should beat the Huskies of UConn.

In my final four I have Tennessee beating Kansas and Memphis beating Duke. This would set up a rematch of an earlier game where #1 Memphis lost to #2 Tennessee earlier this year. This time though, I have Memphis winning! Well that is my Sheet of Integrity Bracket. Now its time to watch some Basketball!!!

2008 NCAA Seeds

Ok, lets look at the seedings!!!! This is how I would see the teams assuming no upsets by Georgia or Illinois.

Seed	Reg 1	Reg 2	Reg 3	Reg 4
1	UNC	Memphis	UCLA	Kansas
2	G'Town	Duke	Texas	Tennessee
3	Vandy	Louisville	Wisc	Stanford
4	Drake	Clemson	Pitt	Indiana
5	Xavier	Mich. St.	Butler	U-Conn
6	Oklahoma	Kent St.	Marquette	BYU
7	UNLV	Kentucky	Miss. St.	Notre Dame
8	Arkansas	USC	W. Virginia	Wash. St.
9	Gonzaga	Miami (fl)	Dayton	Illinois St.
10	St. Mary's	Kansas St.	Arizona	Davidson
11	Tex. A & M	W. Kentucky	St. Joseph's	Baylor
12	Temple	S. Alabama	Mississippi	Purdue
13	George Mason	Cornell	Belmont	Austin Peay
14	Boise St.	Cal St. Ful.	Siena	Oral Roberts
15	San Diego	Winthrop	UMBC	Portland St.
16	Miss. Val. St. Coppin St.	Mount St. Mary's	Tx-Arlington	American

Ok, if either Georgia or Illinois wins, you remove S. Alabama and place that team in that slot for the region. If both teams win then you replace Mississippi.

Note - While I was working on this they announced that Mount St. Mary's would face Coppin State in the Play in game. This is because the NCAA does not like to have two historical Black Colleges to face each other in the play in game.

2008 Mens Tourney

Well it is that time of the year again, the best three weeks of college Basketball is about to kick off. Today there are five tournaments looking to get the automatic bids while teams on the bubble sit around and root, root, root for teams that are already in the dance to win.

First up is the Southland and the ACC tournaments at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon. Basically these are meaningless games as the winners won't cause any angst among the bubbleites (is that a word?). The Southland will only get one team in the dance and both UNC and Clemson are locks for the tournament which means they are only playing for their final seeding in Clemsons case and bragging rights (UNC is a mortal lock for a 1 seed).

Next up is the Big-12 tournament game at 3:00 p.m., with both of these teams (Texas and Kansas) also just playing for bragging rights and their final seeding. With the Tennessee loss yesterday (yeah boy!!! sooooie pig sooooie!!!) the winer of this game could become a #1 seed. Look for Kansas to win this game by 4+.

The last two championships though will have the VCU's of the world though reaching for the Maalox. At 3:30 the Big-10 and the SEC tip off and both have underdogs that can cause havoc in the brackets.

Wisconsin plays Illinois in the Big-10 and the fighting Illini are not a good team this year. With a 16-18 record an upset win here would leave a more worthy team looking in instead of putting on the dancing shoes. Wisconsin will be ready though so switch the tube to ESPN2 and watch the Georgia Bulldogs play the Arkansas Razorbacks. This is the upset special of the day as the Dogs can beat Arkansas (see 1/19/2008 for the last time these two teams met). Still, the hat is ready and the beer is cold, so I am ready for this game!!!!

Who will make the cut? Well, let us look at some RPI numbers and try to make a good guess for the teams.

Team	RPI	W's	L's	Bid
Memphis	3rd	32	1	Champ
UCLA	6th	29	3	Champ
Drake	10th	26	4	Champ
Butler	17th	29	3	Champ
Pittsburgh	19th	24	9	Champ
Kent St.	23rd	27	6	Champ
UNLV	26th	24	7	Champ
Davidson	36th	25	6	Champ
W. Ky.	41st	25	6	Champ
ORU	53rd	23	8	Champ
Temple	57th	20	12	Champ
George Mason	62nd	23	10	Champ
Cornell	66th	21	5	Champ
Siena	68th	22	10	Champ
Belmont	78th	24	8	Champ
Austin Peay	84th	24	10	Champ
Cal St. Fullerton	86th	22	8	Champ
American	89th	21	11	Champ
UMBC	90th	22	8	Champ
Portland St.	91st	21	9	Champ
Boise St.	92nd	23	8	Champ
San Diego	95th	20	13	Champ
Winthrop	109th	20	11	Champ
Mount St. Mary's	160th	18	14	Champ
Miss. Valley St.	237th	14	15	Champ
Coppin St.	246th	13	20	Champ

Just looking at RPI's there are fourteen teams that are presently in the dance would not be in this thing if we went by RPI alone to decide the contestants. Ah the beauty of March Madness!

So, who then is on the bubble? Well, lets take a gander at the top 50 (the Southland will also be above 65) RPI teams . (L means a Lock, A = Auto)

Tennessee(L), UNC(L), Memphis(A), Duke(L), Texas(L), UCLA(A), Georgetown(L), Kansas(L), Xavier(L), Drake(A), Vanderbilt(L), Louisville(L), Wisconsin(L), Michigan St.(L), Stanford(L), Indiana(L), Butler(A), Connecticut(L), Pittsburgh(A), Marquette(L), BYU(L), Clemson(L), Kent St.(A), Notre Dame(L), Oklahoma(L), UNLV(A), Washington St.(L), West Virginia(L), USC(L), Gonzaga(L), Arkansas(L), Miami (FL)(L), Dayton, Illinois State, Mississippi State(L), Davidson(A), Arizona(L), South Alabama, Saint Mary's(L), Texas A & M, Western Kentucky(A), St. Joseph's, Baylor(L), Massachusetts, Purdue(L), Ohio State, Kentucky(L), Mississippi, Creighton, and Kansas St.(L). (autos and L's make for 58).

Those are some big names in that top 50 and some surprising names in that mix (South Alabama, St. Joseph's just to name two of them). Will all of these teams make the dance? Not a chance. So let's look at some other criteria to decide the teams that will be leaping for joy!

Team	RPI	W's	L's	1-100 W	1-100 L	SOS
Creighton	49	20	10	4	7	71
Dayton	33	21	10	9	6	25
Illinois St.	34	23	9	5	5	65
U-Mass	44	21	10	6	7	66
Mississippi	48	21	10	7	4	70
Ohio St.	46	19	13	7	11	10
S. Alabama	38	24	6	4	3	120
St. Joseph's	42	21	11	8	7	51
Texas A & M	40	23	9	8	9	64

That is nine teams for only six spots, so actually this isn't too bad, I only have to get rid of 3 of the top 50 RPI teams. I think we can eliminate Creighton, U-Mass and Ohio State from these teams. So based on RPI we have our 65 teams but are we missing any?

Actually I think there are a couple of intriguing teams not in the top 50 of RPI that do merit some consideration. VCU with a 24-7 record and a 56 RPI ranking, New Mexico with a 24-8 record and a 59 RPI, and Utah State with a 23-10 record and a 70RPI.

Let us look at these teams with the same additional Criteria

Team	RPI	W's	L's	1-100 W	1-100 L	SOS
VCU	56	24	17	3	3	160
New Mexico	59	24	8	6	6	169
Utah St.	70	23	10	6	4	156

Well, they are all viable, based on the W/L record you could make a case for inserting them into the table above, but I think the SOS kills them. Still, I would not be surprised if one of these three make the tournament. Later I'll have a projected seeding chart.

Misc. Post on 1/30/2008

Freaking Cobwebs!!!!
Well we can't really blame funks or anything else on this break, just the what the heck am I going to write about / well that sucked type of thing. Have been looking at some numbers from the James hand book and also catching up on some reading that needed to be done. Oh, also B-fly and I have been enjoying the Dresden Files that was the Christmas gift from BH.



Ok, ok, that is no excuse but it is the only ones I am going to give you.



Good win by the Celtics last night and it looks like the Johan sweepstakes have been won by the NY Mets. Personally, just looking at the prospects that the Mets gave up, you have to think that the Twins blew this deal. The Lester, Coco, etal or the Yankees package was better for than Twins than this group of players. That of course is without me looking at any numbers, so, just like football picks, you should probably just ignore this statement by yours truly. Will be interesting to see the results of this trade in three years.



Oh, one more thing, another pic of the dog!

Misc. Post on 1/16/2008

Ok, so I have been in a funk.

I get that way when my Cowboys decide to lose a game at home in the play offs. Needless to say my predictions for the Sunday NFL games was, well way off. I still haven't really figured out how the Chargers beat the Colts with LT basically not providing anything and after Rivers went out of the game I thought they were absolutely toast. Norv Turner (who I of course liked until he went to Washington) has done a tremendous job with the Chargers this year. No way they beat the Patriots on this coming Sunday though, absolutely, positively no way.

As for the Cowboy game, give me a fragging break. I knew the team was in trouble when they allowed the Giants to score just before half time to tie the game at 14 all. What a fragging waste of a season (I knew I should have listened to my head). Oh well, that pretty much kills the football watching until next fall. Will have to see if I really have the time (ok, I will probably make the time) to watch games that I have no rooting interests in either team.

Hmm, I would get all indignant or up in arms about the Celtics losing back-to-back games to the Wizards, but I really can't get that upset about those games. I think that both games did show that Mr. Danny Ainge will need to get a quality back up point guard before the trading deadline. I think that if Rajon Rondo had been 80 to 100% healthy the C's would not have lost both of those fourth quarter leads. The problem is I don't see a lot of room in the salary cap scenarios for the Celtics to get a quality back up point guard.

Speaking of the Celtics they have a game tonight against a blistering hot Trail Blazer team which has gone 18-2 in their last twenty games. No Rajon, probably again tonight though as the back and a hamstring are causing the Celtics to put him at 50-50 status. If I'm Mr. Doc Rivers I think I would start House, but he probably goes with Allen. Will have to see. The Boston Herald preview for tonight’s game is here.


Well, with football winding down it is time to start looking at the College Basketball schedules. So far the Arkansas Razorbacks have done pretty well. Currently they have a 13-3 record with their last win being an overtime thriller against Alabama at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. That makes them 2-0 in the SEC and I really think that they need to be either 1st or 2nd in the SEC west if they want to guarantee a March Madness appearance. They also have a game tonight against South Carolina.

I really don't know much about the Gamecocks except that they are only 8-8 overall with an 0-2 record in the SEC. This is the SEC though, so every game is usually competitive. Will be following this game on the olde ESPN.com game tracker for sure tonight. Sure would be nice if the Pigs were able to start their SEC season off with a 3-0 record.


Enough for now, just remember - ♊ - all else fails get a bigger hammer.

oh one more thing - a pic of the dog:

Misc. Post on 1/13/2008 (Cowboys, Celtics, Patriots and oh my)

Well, you knew it couldn't last forever and last night for the first time this season the Celtics lost the second game of a back to back. Looking at the box score for this game what really stands out is that the Wizards were able to force fouls which turned into a 10 point advantage from the line. Also for the second game in a row the Celtics were manhandled on the boards. This game was not a typical game for this team this year. Oh well, you can't win them all (unless you are the Patriots).

Yesterday the frozen tundra of Lambeau field was on full display as the Packers simply blew away the Seahawks. If you remember I said this game might become a blow out, I just didn't think that the Packers would do it after being down 14 in the first two minutes of the game. Simply outstanding job by Favre and company. Final in this game was 42-20 (my prediction 24-18).

As for the perfect Patriots, well they almost got a perfect game from the wonder boy as he went 24 / 26 in his pass attempts. The defense did just enough to provide the final cushion of 31-20 (my prediction 31-16). Not bad at all for the Patriots.

Today is another football day as first the Colts take on the Chargers in Indianapolis at 1:00 p.m., followed by the Giants visiting the Cowboys at 4:30 p.m., hmmm, I wonder who I'm picking in that game.

First let's look at the Colts game. This is a rematch of these two teams, who played in week 10 in San Diego. You may remember that game as the Peyton interception game (6), or maybe the Vinatari blew one game. Whichever one pleases you the most, feel free to use, but I think the Chargers have a chance to actually win this game. The key will be whether the Colts can contain Ladamian Tomlinson without Dwight Freeney and force Rivers into being the key player for the Chargers. I say they don't contain LT and Rivers is just good enough to make this a shoot out. Colts in a nail biter win 35 to 31.

The last game of the day has the Dallas Cowboys facing the New York Giants. Will Jessica be at the stadium? How is Romo's thumb? Will Terrel Owens be effective playing with his "high" ankle sprain? Beats the frag out of me. These questions along with the whole hard to beat a team three times in a season worry me though. My head says the Cowboys will lose a heartbreaker 21-17, but my heart says Cowboys win 31-24. Lets go with the heart!

♊ - all else fails get a bigger hammer.

Misc. Post on 1/12/2008

Well, the NFL playoffs ramp up again today. After my 2-2 record last week in the wild card round, well you know that I am not going to win you any money so, reader beware.

First up is the Seahawks vs Packers game. The Packers are a good team and will be rested, healthy and raring to go at 4:30 p.m.. I would not be surprised to see this game become a blow out, but will go with Packers 24 - Seahawks 18.

The second game is at 8:00 and has the Jaguars vs the Patriots. Patriots 31 - Jags. 15.

That is is for now, peace and love.

Celtics 07-08 Season Game 34

22-25-16-23 = 86
30-14-24-9 = 77

ESPN.com Recap

Quarter by quarter score of game 34, as once again the Celtics avoided a two game losing streak. Due to other obligations, mainly sleep, I was unable to watch the first three quarters of this game, so I have no idea what this team looked like on the defensive end of the court in the first half, or how they were able to turn an eight point deficit into a three point lead at half time. In fact I can't even tell you what the third quarter looked like as the Nets took a five point lead into the fourth.

So, state all of the above, why am I even talking about this game? Well, I did watch the fourth quarter and I would love to say that the Celtics clamped down and played tough defense in the fourth, but the reality is that the Nets went cold, as cold a winter storm in the northeast.

Twelve seconds into the fourth quarter Glen "big baby" Davis committed an offensive foul and the Nets took their biggest lead of the fourth when they made the lay up to make the lead 63-70 at the 11:37 mark. The Celtics then went on a 13-0 run that secured this game. How did that lead unfold? Well, lets look at the play by play to see what the Nets did on each offensive possession from that point on:

1. Nachbar misses 3-pointer, offensive rebound by Collins who is fouled by Pierce.
2. Collins misses both free throws and Posey rebounds the ball. (65-70)
   
3. Richard Jefferson misses driving lay up. (67-70)
4. Nachbar misses 3-pointer, Paul Pierce defensive rebound. (67-70)
5. Vince Carter misses 3-pointer, House defensive rebound. (69-70)
6. Jefferson misses 22 foot jumper, Davis defensive rebound. (69-70)
7. Kidd bad pass, Posey steals. (69-70)
8. Jefferson bad pass. (71-70)
9. Boone bad pass. (71-70)
10. Davis blocks Kidd layup, Boone offensive rebound, Boone misses layup, Kidd offensive rebound, Jefferson misses layup, offensive rebound, Wright loose ball foul. (73-70)

Now just look at that, four missed layups and three missed 3-pointers. It is hard to sustain a lead when you are missing layups. It is also hard to maintain a lead if you are going to go 9-24 from the free throw line. As good as the Celtics played, it was the ineptness of the Nets that allowed them to win this game. Maybe the Nets were tired and ran out of gas in the fourth, but you should still make free throws and convert on lay ups. This was one game that the Celtics should have lost, but they found a way to win with a little bit of help from their opponent. I will take it!!!

From Espn.com - Celtics tie best record after 34 games!

Celtics Turning 30
Boston's 86-77 win over New Jersey gave the Celtics their 30th win after 34 games, tying the fastest a Celtics team reached win No. 30. Here's a look at the Celtics' teams that reached 30 wins the quickest:
Celtics team	Game # of 30th win	Final record
1959-60	34	59-16*
1961-62	34	60-20*
1984-85	36	63-19
1972-73	36	68-14
2007-08	34	???
* = Won NBA title

Celtics 07-08 Season Game 32

SATURDAY night!
SATURDAY night!
SATURDAY night!
SATURDAY night!
Gonna keep on dancin' to the rock and roll On Saturday night, Saturday night Dancin' to the rhythm in our heart and soul
On Saturday Night, Saturday night
IIIII just can't wait,
IIII got a date

ESPN.com's recap

Because I just don't buy the round two / boxing gloves hitting each other that comcast sports was selling last night. Still I have to admit that the game did resemble a boxing match in some aspects. First you had the knockdown in the first quarter when the Pistons went on a 15-0 run after KG went to the bench with his second foul (7:33 of the first). The score at the time of the foul 10-5. Of course this was part of the 17-0 run that basically finished off the first quarter as it took 7:69 between baskets for the Celtics in that quarter.

A knockdown in the first but the Celtics didn't waste much time in coming back in the second quarter. At 9:45 KG returned to the game (17-28). Four minutes later after a Ray Allen three pointer it was 31-32 and the effects of the knockdown had been completely erased. With :38 seconds left in the half the Celtics had came all the way back following a Pierce three pointer. 41-41 and not much time left in the half. Clearly the momentum had came full circle as the C's trailed by two going into the half.

The third quarter started with the Pistons allowing a basket to tie the game at the 11:00 minute mark but then quickly established a lead and extended it to as much as six points. With the clock showing 6:07, the Celtics finally took a lead in this quarter on a KG jumper, 53-52.

Personally I always think that basketball games are games of runs (it only takes two stops to have a 9-0 run with the three pointer), and this game was living up to that rational. The only worry I have about trading runs is if the team can take the lead. I never like it when a team gets close but can't seem to get over the hump. By taking the lead even if it was short lived (and it was short lived), I felt better about this game.

The teams basically traded baskets the rest of the third with no team getting more than four points ahead and the quarter ended with a three point deficit at 63-66. An entertaining game that kept you on the edge of your seats. The game had a playoff feel and the teams played like it was June not January as every shot was contested (mostly) the defense was keeping both teams at the 40% area and after that 17-0 run in the first neither team was able to put a prolonged run together.

The fourth quarter looked the same as the first three until the 6:54 mark. The Celtics finally took the lead and never looked back on two Garnett free throws. The lead would grow to four then fall back to one (81-80) but would never disappear. The key in this quarter, Glen "Big Baby" Davis, who scored 16 of his 20 points in the quarter. Starting at 5:54 of the quarter the Celtic scoring went:

• GD - Layup and one (79-74)
• Pierce dunk (on a beautiful steal) (81-76)
• GD - Driving layup and one (84-80)
• Tony Allen - two free throws (86-80)
• GD - Layup but missed the free throw (88-84)
• GD - Layup (90-85)
• Tony Allen - two free throws (92-85)

So out of the last 16 points "Big Baby" scored 10! Big contribution by the rookie, big contribution. A good win for the Celtics! Below stats from the Daily dime.

Boston's Not There Yet
By Adam S. Reisinger ESPN Research
The Celtics matched the best start through 30 games in NBA history with their 27th win Wednesday night. Five previous teams had started 27-3. Two of them (the '90-91 Blazers and the '71-72 Knicks) lost their 31st game to fall to 27-4. The other 3 teams … well, they took a while to suffer that fourth loss, so don't break out the champagne for the Celtics (27-3 entering Friday's game with Memphis) just yet.

Notably, all three of these teams set the single-season record for wins. The 76ers won 68 games, the Lakers broke that by winning 69, then the Bulls surpassed that mark, going 72-10.

Most Wins Before Fourth Loss
Year	Team	W-L
'95-96	Bulls	41-3
'71-72	Lakers	39-3
'66-67	76ers	37-3

Misc. Post on the 5th

Well another day has come and gone and another win by the Celtics last night. The good times just keep on rolling for the Celtics! Key in this game was Tony Allen coming off the bench and providing a spark and a scoring punch. As for Ray Allen only scoring 2 points, hey if he keeps on seeing the shot in sporadic bursts then he will continue to struggle, still he did have 5 assists so he is contributing.

Wild card weekend is here for the NFL. My picks:

1. Seattle beats Washington - 20-13.


2. Pittsburgh edges Jacksonville - 16-14.


3. Tampa beats NY - 24-10.


4. San Diego edges Tennessee - 31-28.

On a sad note, the blogosphere (and red sox nation) lost a voice earlier this year. Maj. Andrew Olmstead was killed in Iraq. Below is a picture of the Major with his wife. Rest in peace Major, and our hearts go out to your wife and family.

Misc. Post on the 3rd

Well not much going on sport in sports tonight. It's a slow night here at the s1c household also as I am just kicking back and listening to the radio (Dennis Miller will be on in 15 minutes). Right now a good part of the country has their eyes turned toward Iowa. I am sorry, but I could really, really, care less right now about Iowa.

There is one Bowl game tonight in that little town called Miami. Kansas is playing Virginia Tech. I think that Tech wins this one 35-31. That is all for now!!

Oh one other thing, ESPN.com is stating that Clemens told Wallace he took shots of B-12 and Lidocane. Yeah, right, I really believe you Rahger!

07/08 Celtics Game 30

Well at the time of this post West Virginia is just crushing Oklahoma. There goes that pick. Oh well, it is a good thing that no one is counting on my picks to make some pocket change. The regular season was screwy and now the bowl games are being screwy. You have to love college football.

Hmm, 20-point lead disappears and with 6:58 left in the game you are trailing your opponent (a visiting team) 84-81. What do you do? Well if you are the 27-3 Celtics you climb on the back of Kevin Garnett and let him carry you to the finish line.

A quick look at the final minutes shows that KG took six of the last twelve shots making five of those attempts. Add in his free throw and that is eleven of the last sixteen points scored by the Celtics in this game. There were two key things that stood out in this last dash for the win though:

1. Ray Allen continues to do the little things as he grabbed two offensive boards in the last two minutes of the game. Both led to KG baskets with Paul Pierce getting the assists.
2. Five of the last seven baskets had an assist associated with them, with four of those assists provided by PP.

That second item is something that I have noticed in this spectacular run so far this season. This team is comfortable with passing the ball to the open man in tight games. You have to have faith in your teammates if you expect to do well in the NBA and it is obvious that this team has faith in each other. Another good win for the Celtics.

Misc. Post on the 2nd!

Ok, so yesterday my football picks again stunk. What made me think that Hawaii could beat Georgia? How in the world did I pick a team with an interim coach, my beloved Hogs, and think they could beat Missouri? Those are the two biggest mistakes and of course since I was so stupid I went 2-4 as opposed to 4-2. Grrr.

The good news today, is that the soap opera of northwest Arkansas is finally over and hopefully the team can rebound from this fiasco and start to be a consistent winner again. Unfortunately, I think that the new coach will only be around just long enough to win a couple of SEC West titles and then will take his Larry Brown / Saban like ways to some other green grass program. Oh well, will have to see.

Meanwhile tonight we have the #9 West Virginia Mountaineers (10-2) vs the #4 Oklahoma Sooners (11-2) in the Fiesta bowl. Not for sure about this game but I am going to give the edge to Oklahoma, lets go with 24-23 for the Sooners.

Other than that bold predicition, not much else is happening (though the Celtics are playing well as we speak), so will say hasta la vista for now!

Oh yeah, I added a couple of new links, be sure and check them out!

2008 - Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year and may 2008 bring you everything you desire.

Well, looking at yesterday's bowls you can see why I do not bet on College Football. Sheesh, 2 and 4. Still, it is a new year and there is hope for new beginnings. So, let us look at today's bowl Games!

First up on the schedule is the Outback bowl which has #18 Wisconsin (9-3) playing #16 Tennessee (9-4). The Volunteers have speed and the Badgers are plodders. I go with speed here and say the Vols 31 to 17 over the Badgers.

Shades of old its Arkansas (8-4) in the Cotton Bowl! Who are they playing? Well it is #6 Missouri Tigers (11-2). Hmmm, I wonder who I picked (look to the right - ed). Missouri has speed, throws the ball and scores a ton of points each game, however, Oklahoma owned them this year. Arkansas has a defense, plays in the tough SEC and oh yeah, some junior running back that has place 2nd in the heisman trophy balloting the last two years. This game will be a barn burner. Arkansas 42 and Missouri 34.

Gator bowl has Texas Tech (8-4) vs #20 Virginia (9-3). Va blows this game open late and wins 28 to 17.

Capital One bowl is another Big 10 vs SEC match up. Florida (9-3) has this QB who did something special this year, 20/20 man will lead the Gators over the Michigan Wolverines (8-4) with a 35 - 21 outcome.

Rose Bowl has #13 Illinois (9-3) vs #7 USC (10-2) playing at 4:30. USC romps 35-17.

Our final Bowl game of the day is the Sugar Bowl. #10 Hawaii (12-0) is playing #5 Georgia (10-2). The only loss for the SEC today is this game in a tough nail biter Hawaii wins 31-28!!!

Happy New YEAR!!!!!!

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!!