Monthly Archives: November 2012

C’s Weekend Recap

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The Celtics split their weekend games with a win over Toronto 107-89 on Saturday afternoon, and a loss to the Pistons 103-83 on Sunday night.

On Saturday, Garnett dropped 15, Pierce 19, and Terry 20. Terry connected on 4 of 7 three-pointers. My favorite thing about the game on Saturday was Jared Sullinger recording his first double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Rondo added 20 assists as well.

On Sunday, things didn’t seem to go right for the C’s. Garnett was able to drop 15 again, but Pierce only put in 13, before leaving in the 4th quarter with what looks like an ankle injury. Jared Sullinger had another big night though with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Things did get scary late in the game, with Rondo’s consecutive 10+ assist streak on the line. The last two minutes revolved around plays being called for him to get an open shooter to give the ball to. He failed to do so until a broken play left Jared Sullinger at the top of the key who hit a deep shot to extend Rajon’s chance at the record. He is now 3 games behind John Stockton for 2nd highest.

The Celts play the 8-2 Spurs on Wednesday.

UFC 154: Condit vs. St-Pierre

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ImageUFC 154 will be held this Saturday November 17th in Montreal, Canada and will feature one of MMA’s most recognized fighters. Welterweight champion George “Rush” St-Pierre will be making his highly anticipated return to the octagon to face welterweight interim champion Carlos “Natural Born Killer” Condit in an Ultimate Fighting Championship event.

Tale of the Tape:

St-Pierre: Country: Canada, Age: 31, MMA Record: 22-2, Height: 5-11, Weight: 170lbs, Reach: 76 inches, Stance: Orthodox, Strength: Brazilian Jui-Jitsu and Muay Thai, Last 5 Fights: 5-0.

Condit: Country: USA, Age: 28, MMA Record: 28-5, Height: 6-2, Weight: 170lbs, Reach: 76 inches, Stance: Orthodox, Strength: Brazilian Jui-Jitsu, Last 5 Fights: 5-0.

Just at a glance it appears on paper that these two men are surprisingly similar, almost carbon copies of one another stat-wise (Condit does have St-Pierre on Height by 3 inches and MMA Record 28-5 to GSP’s 22-2). However, these next numbers will separate these two prime fighters a bit more.

Title Tabs: 

St-Pierre: UFC Title Bouts: 11, Championship Event Fight Record: 9-2 and currently the 6 time defending welterweight champ.

Condit: UFC Title Bouts: 1, WEC Title Bouts: 4, Championship Event Fight Record: 5-0 and interim welterweight champ after defeating Nick Diaz in a 5 round unanimous decision in UFC 143.

While Condit is technically undefeated in title fights, he’s only had one UFC title bout, and has only fought in six UFC contests going 5-1. Compare those numbers to GSP’ 9 and 2 UFC title bout record and his 16-2 UFC contest record, and it is clear that St-Pierre is the more decorated fighter in this one.

ImageBreakdown of the Brawl: George St-Pierre is highly regarded as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the MMA across the boards. He is a technician in the octagon and always gives opposing fighters fits with his balanced approach. He can beat you at every angle, whether it’s leg kicks to the head, or a counter jab to the face and his takedown defense is nearly flawless. However, there’s one weakness, his ground game. GSP can be vulnerable to ground-and-pound guys like UFC Legend Matt Hughes, who defeated GSP in his first UFC title match (Hughes won by submission with an arm bar).

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Condit on the other hand focuses more on utilizing his deadly leg kicks and flying knee attacks to wreak havoc on his opponents. Condit also has a solid ground game, using a mixture of submissions and ground-and-pound techniques to finish his opponents. Condit will have to try and throw GSP off of his normally well balanced fighting rhythm to have a chance at the title.


Unanimous Decision: I predict this fight to be “as good as advertised” for UFC fans and MMA fans alike. This fight brings a lot to the table for both fighters, as GSP is coming back from an ACL injury that prevented this fight from happening earlier last year. St-Pierre will look to prove he’s back and better than ever. While Condit will try and use this fight as proof that he’s a force to be reckoned with in the welterweight division and propel himself into a piece of UFC history.

I see this bout going about 4 rounds with George St-Pierre defeating Condit by way of knockout as GSP successfully defends his title for a 7th time and becomes the undisputed welterweight champion of the world.

BCS Shakedown: Ducks and Wildcats and Leprechauns Oh My

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ImageComputer Crash: By now we all know 9th ranked Texas A&M (15th ranked during the upset) and “Johnny Football” Manziel, sent shock waves down the spine of the BCS computer ranking system, as the Aggies knocked off Alabama last Saturday 29-24 in Tuscaloosa.

With that said, here’s a check up on the new top 4 BCS Standings and Projected Bowl Predictions according to ESPN.com:

BCS Standings: Top 4 as of November 11th: 1. Kansas State 2. Oregon 3. Notre Dame 4. Alabama

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With the Crimson Tide rolling to 4th in the BCS polls it is likely that they will be on the outside looking in for this year’s national championship contest. Alabama would have to win out (including the SEC championship game) and hope Kansas State, Oregon, or Notre Dame loses, to even have a chance at the title.

This means Kansas State and Oregon will likely be on a crash course to meet up in Miami for the title game. The Wildcats remaining opponents include Baylor and newly ranked number 15 Texas, while the Ducks will face number 13 Stanford and number 11 Oregon State.

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Both programs could see upsets coming their way, ( K-State falling to Baylor or Texas, Oregon dropping either Stanford or Oregon State) but both are projected to play in the championship game for now. While we can’t count out Notre Dame, with games left against Wake Forest and USC, they simply would not outrank the Wildcats or Ducks if all were to win out. Dame, much like Bama, would need K-State or Oregon to lose.

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Predicted Bowl Projections: While there are 35 bowl games in all, I will only focus on the BCS Bowl games. Here’s the projections as picked by ESPN’ Mark Schlabach and Brad Edwards:

1. Discover BCS National Championship: Kansas State vs Oregon (both projected the same pick)

2.  Rose Bowl:  Nebraska vs Notre Dame (both projected the same pick)

3. Allstate Sugar Bowl:  Georgia vs Clemson (both projected the same pick)

4. Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs LSU (Schlabach’ pick) or Oklahoma vs Texas A&M (Edwards’ pick)

5. Discover Orange Bowl:  Florida State vs Rutgers (both projected the same pick)

Here’s a link to the other 30 bowl projections: http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls/projections?season=2012

Final Thoughts: Seeing as how my last BCS article prediction (Oregon beating Bama in the title game) is shot out of the water now, I’d like to re-do my prediction. I whole-heatedly believe Oregon will win this year’s BCS National Championship against Kansas State, with the Ducks beating the Wildcats 30-24 in Miami.

Red Sox Sign Backup Catcher David Ross

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ImageDone Deal: The Boston Red Sox inked career backup catcher David Ross to a two-year 6.2 million dollar deal this Wednesday. Ross spent the last four seasons with the Atlanta Braves, backing up All-Star catcher Brian McCann, where he compiled 24 HR, 84 RBI, and a .268 batting average in that span. Ross is a career .238 hitter with 84 HR and 248 RBI. BoSox fans may not remember Ross, but he has played in Beantown before. He made 8 game appearances back in 2008.

ImageRoss Can Be Resourceful: Ross gives the Red Sox a viable back up option to help give starter Jarrod Saltalamacchia a break during the regular season (pending the Sox don’t try to ship Salty elsewhere this offseason). Ross, a 10 year veteran, can also help give a few catching pointers to the Sox young catcher Ryan Lavarnway (1 year of MLB experience). This inexpensive move helps bolster the position and brings flexibility to the catching depth chart.

Your Thoughts: With the Red Sox recent off-season move, what do you think their next one should be? Leave a comment below.

Throwback Thursday – Pats vs. Colts Rivalry

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I’m not exactly sure how I feel about the Patriots/Colts rivalry with the absence of Peyton Manning. Regardless, here’s a few throwbacks that will help you relive the intensity that ensued when the two AFC power houses would clash. Enjoy! … Continue reading →

C’s Keep Rolling

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The Celtics extended their win streak to 3 games after beating the Jazz 98-93 last night at the Garden. Rondo only had 6 points before leaving in the 2nd half with a hurt ankle. They said that he could come back but didn’t want to risk it. He did record 10 assists so he is still in the chase of the record, but did not hit the 11 mark.

Paul Pierce continued to show he can still play with 23 points, including three 3-pointers. Jeff Green stepped up big and put up 16 points in 27 minutes, while Garnett added 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists (one of which is worth watching if you check out ESPN today). He tossed it behind his back to Barbosa and it looked like he knew he was going to before the ball was even near him.

Speaking of Leandro Barbosa, talk about a great pick up. He hit 6 out of his 8 shots and put up 16 points while recording a game-high +13 points. The weirdest part about this game for me was that Jason Terry didn’t take one 3-pointer. I know it doesn’t matter since we are winning, but we are gonna need some outside shooters when we play bigger teams like the Lakers. The Celtics play the Nets tonight in Brooklyn at 8 p.m.

Rondo Streaking

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It seems as though Rajon Rondo has set an NBA record for most consecutive games with 11+ assists at 28 games. Everyone thought that he failed to do it after he tied the record last week, when he only got 10 assists in the stat book. However, today, the league statisticians went back and looked at the tape and saw that he assisted Brandon Bass in the 3rd quarter of that game, but the assist was given to Terry.  So its official, Rondo solely owns that record.

It seemed to end again on Monday night against the Bulls. But wait, once again it seems as though he had an assist that the scorers are looking into now. If they award it to him, he will have an active 29 game streak going.

Most people could care less about that record. He is on pace for another record, if he can keep up the solid play and I don’t jinx him. He is 3rd all-time with a 31-game streak of double digit assists. He is behind John Stockton (37 games), and Magic Johnson (46 games), probably the two best point guards of all time. The Celtics play tonight against the Jazz. Go C’s!

On a side note: Fab Melo and Kris Joseph have been assigned to the D-League with the Maine Red Claws, just as Danny Ainge anticipated.

Jets Still Talking

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Everyone knows that the Jets always talk trash. It’s in their nature. But this time, they are talking trash about one of their own. The New York Daily News polled 12 Jet’s players to see if they agreed with Rex Ryan’s decision to stick with Mark Sanchez after starting 3-6 this season. The media is all over it because they want to see Tebow and have the Tebow-mania frenzy that we saw last season.

An anonymous defensive starter said, “He’s terrible,”. This is true. The guy only completes 52% of his passes and it seems like he gets intercepted every other play when get gets in the Red Zone. Another player said there is “no other viable option”, meaning that Tebow is of little help to the offense.

Let’s hope that this can continue to pile up and eat away at the players so we can watch the Pats demolish them on Thanksgiving night. Go Pats!