Bruins Buzz

Posted on January 30, 2012 by jtulz07

If you didn’t catch it earlier today in his piece on Bergeron, the Boston Sports Blog would like to welcome our newest hockey writer, Andrew Mazze. It’s been a work in progress, but we wanted to make sure we found someone who loves the Bruins and knows a thing or two about hockey. The addition couldn’t have come at a better time as the Bruins are a hot topic this week for the site.

Thanks to the guys at I Love Boston Sports, a Boston sports apparel company, the Boston Sports Blog will be in the city Wednesday afternoon hanging out with Brad Marchand. I Love Boston Sports will be putting on the event, with Brad signing autographs and taking pictures, and asked us to come along for the ride. So clear your schedules Wednesday, February 1^st from 3-5pm and head to the Upper Crust on the BU Campus at 888 Comm Ave, right across from the Agganis Arena!

Mr. Underrated

Posted on January 30, 2012 by amazze

Although Tyler Seguin, Zdeno Chara, and Tim Thomas get all the publicity (and All-Star recognition), it is, Patrice Bergeron who leads the Bruins in points through 47 games this season. In addition to his offensive prowess, Bergeron is consistently one of the best faceoff men in the NHL and strong defensive center. His willingness to do the little things that go unnoticed on the stats sheet is the reason why he is a permanent assistant captain on the team; a guy who leads by example. Bergeron has been instrumental in Seguin’s development into an All-Star, unfortunately only the latter was afforded the honor of making the trip to Ottawa this weekend. Bergeron has been underrated by the mainstream media throughout his career, but the diehard Bruins fans know that the two-way pivot is critical to the team’s success.

Bergeron has always been a player I have enjoyed watching since he came to Boston as the 45^th pick overall in the 2003 NHL entry draft. He embodies the Bruin culture that Cam Neely and Peter Chiarelli have re-established here in Boston. I have nothing but respect for a selfless player who goes about his business in workman-like manner and has demonstrated the willingness to put team success before his own statistics. His resilience and determination were put on display when he came back from a serious concussion and broken nose suffered in 2007 and since then has battled through two more mild concussions. It’s obvious that each guy in the locker has nothing respect for Bergeron and the rest of the NHL needs to follow suit. Don’t say that to Patrice though, because he doesn’t care, he just wants to win another cup.

Surprise! Another Sh*t Signing For Red Sox

Posted on January 30, 2012 by TOB$

In other news over the weekend, the Red Sox signed John Maine. Pretty upset I even have to write this article. It’s more or less the same as this blog or this blog, but even more frustrating. John Maine hasn’t even pitched in the majors since May 2010.

Even though they only signed him to a minor league contract, its another move from the organization I don’t agree with. I may just be frustrated with this move because I always thought this guy could “break out” for my fantasy baseball team and just never broke out. Year after year and waiver wire pickup after waiver wire pickup he would let me down. He was a decent pitcher for a couple years, but that was back in ’06 and ’07. He’s been plagued by injuries throughout his career and has had his most troubles since shoulder surgery in 2010.

Maine had a stellar 7.43 ERA in the minors last year until he quit the team in June, saying he might retire. Stay hot Ben Cherington, yet another supergood transaction.

This article can be summed up pretty easily: John Maine is not the solution for the Red Sox pitching problems. They really need to stop wasting time trying to bring in guys like John Maine and make a serious attempt at fixing their rotation.

College Weekend Round Up

Posted on January 30, 2012 by christoph131

Kentucky, Missouri, Murray State, Syracuse, Duke, Baylor, & UNC all won with ease this weekend solidifying their spots in the top 10 for at least one more week. #5 Kansas lost by 8 against unranked Iowa State, which is their first loss in the Big 12 this season. Pittsburgh beat #10 Georgetown in which I predicted would be a tough game as always. #19 UConn continued to struggle against Notre Dame on Sunday. Lastly, #3 Ohio State beat #22 Michigan in a battle of the Big Ten.

Signs of Life on Causeway

Posted on January 27, 2012 by jtulz07

At this point I don’t think anyone knows what to say about the Celtics. Two weeks ago they were heading straight to the grave. But maybe we spoke too soon. Showing signs of life, the C’s picked up their third straight win last night, beating the Magic 91-83 in dramatic fashion. With Pierce leading the way, the Celtics overcame a 27 point deficit to hand the Magic an even more embarrassing loss than earlier this week’s 31 point massacre. E’Twaun Moore was huge off the bench, putting in 16 of his own, including a clutch three pointer down the stretch. He’s been my pick since day one. The kid has a big future in the NBA, just give him some time to develop. Oh, and in case you forgot, this turnaround has been without Rondo and Allen, making it even more confusing as to what’s going on with the Celts! By the way, congrats to Ray and his wife for welcoming in their fourth son, Wystan Ryan Allen, Wednesday night.

Anyways, the team has talent. That’s been obvious since day one. The surprise came when the talent didn’t mesh during games. The Celts have showed signs of brilliance, but seemed to struggle in finishing games out down the stretch. Granted, digging yourself a 27 point hole isn’t great either, but have they turned it around? Two weeks ago they would have fought back to within a few points, had the momentum on their side, and then with 5 minutes left let the fire go out and lose by double digits, letting us all down. We knew they were a better team than they were showing us. It’s still early in the short season but if anything, the past three games have given hope to Celtics fans. Maybe the flame is still burning on Causeway Street.

Dirk Not Scared: Easy to Say When Your on the Sidelines

Posted on January 27, 2012 by davecouture

Apparently winning one Championship means it’s okay to slack off during the off-season and come into camp completely out of shape. That’s not true, but don’t tell Dirk Nowitzki that. I had a lot of respect for this guy until recently. He’s listed as being out the past three games with the sore knee and is expected to miss a fourth tonight. Many sources have said Dirk is simply just out of shape. For a guy that was praised so much last season for his hard work and determination he certainly isn’t living up to the hype this season.

The best thing he’s probably done all season was his play-by-play announcing from the sideline. Hmmm… the knee looked all right when he jumped out of his seat to celebrate his team’s alley-oop the other night. To top it all off; during an interview recently Dirk was quoted as saying “I haven’t seen one team in the West that I’m scared of. I really haven’t.” Really Dirk? The 15-3 Thunder doesn’t scare you? Your team is tied for sixth place in the NBA, and their star player is averaging a mere 17.5 points per game; good for 26th in the NBA. He’s also averaging 5.4 rebounds per game, which certainly isn’t going to cut it. I don’t think the Mav’s even have a chance this year to repeat. If they even want a chance though they are going to need a lot more than just Dirk’s play-by-play skills to do it.

Patriots vs. Giants: Kickers

Posted on January 27, 2012 by davecouture

Today we will focus on which team has the edge in the kicking game. One of the things that gave me the idea to do a daily article evaluating each team in the super bowl was NFL.com, last week they came out with an evaluation article of each teams main positions. They gave Cundiff the edge over Gostkowski. They were definitely spot on with that one huh?

Lawrence Tynes is an average kicker at best. His field goal percentage isn’t all that bad at slightly over 79%, but if you look at the stats you notice he isn’t trusted to much to kick the ball over 40 yards, and it looks likes its all in good reason. Tynes only attempted eight kicks over 40 this season, and only converted four of them. 50% isn’t what you are looking for in a Super Bowl game. What are the Giants going to do on 4^th and 3 from the 28-yard line in a tie game with a couple minutes left? My bet is they’re going for it.

Overall Grade: C

Stephen Gostkowski may be one of the most underrated kickers in the league today. His average is just under 85% and he makes clutch kicks when called upon. The difference here is when asked to kick a field goal over forty; Gostkowski frequently comes through. He is 76% from over 40; converting on ten of thirteen field goals. The Patriots have trust in their kicker and that’s huge in a game like this when its expected to come down to as little as a field goal. Could this be an Adam Vinatieri like finish? I’d take it.

Overall Grade: B+

Edge: Patriots

NCAA Weekend Preview

Posted on January 27, 2012 by christoph131

I am going to just skip over Friday because the only ranked game consists of #23 Harvard vs. Yale… Not even gonna touch that one. On Saturday, #1 Kentucky looks to stay perfect in the SEC against LSU, which shouldn’t be tough considering their star-studded line up. #2 Missouri looks to bounce back from their loss against Oklahoma State with a game against Texas Tech. Normally you could count Texas Tech out but the way Missouri played the other night, they could be in trouble. #4 Syracuse will face a tough test when they play always-strong West Virginia in a battle of the Big East. #5 Kansas will most likely run over Iowa State, even though they have a pretty decent record so far. #10 Georgetown plays usually-ranked Pittsburgh in a big game. Even though the Panthers are unranked, they are going to give Georgetown a run for their money at 4:00 on ESPN.

On Sunday, #22 Michigan will look to take down power house #3 Ohio State. This in my opinion will be the game of the weekend. At night, Notre Dame will look to take advantage of #19 UConn’s recent struggles. However, UConn will be wearing their new uniforms (click here) , so maybe they can find some sort of spark that they have been lacking in recent weeks.

Winter X Games are Upon Us

Posted on January 26, 2012 by jtulz07

If your anything like me, the Winter X Games may be the only thing to get me through this winter with no snow. Maybe it’s the lack of snow and winter-like weather conditions around here this year, but the Winter X Games kind of snuck up on us. The 16th edition of the winter games kicked off today in Aspen and as always should make for an exciting week on the slopes. Regardless of the results at the end of the weekend, the highlight of the Winter X Games 2012 will be Sarah Burke and remembering her legendary presence. RIP Sarah

L.A. Divided

Posted on January 26, 2012 by nolankartholl

Sorry for a bit of an absence in my BSB presence, but I was taking some much needed vacation time out of the spotlight.

Anyway, looks like the Lakers may have a new rival in the cross-town Clippers. Finally emerging from the depths and putting together a formidable squad this year, the Clippers obviously have some serious talent on their roster. Last night there was obvious hostility between the two, led by none other than Ron Meta Worldpeace (or whatever his name is now). I still find his name a bit ironic for a person who is a pretty dirty basketball player, someone who answers interview questions with statements about baby teeth, yet changes his name to promote peace among men. Anyway, even Pau Gasol got into it a little last night with Chris Paul, which is flat out bullying if you ask me, even though I think CP3 could actually take him.

Regardless, the Lakers are proving to be a pretty serious squad this year, and Kobe is confirming he still has plenty left in the tank (even surpassing some of Jordan’s numbers in the beginning of 1996). Needless to say, this year’s NBA has some pretty fresh talent and a whole new approach to rivalries.

What are your thoughts on the new NBA balance of power?

(Fast Forward to 0:55 Mark)