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!

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.

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

Brady on SI Cover, Again

Posted on January 26, 2012 by jtulz07

With the hype of the Super Bowl surrounding us, Sports Illustrated has just issued their Super Bowl magazine this week featuring Tom Brady on the cover. This is Brady’s 15^th time on the cover so most Pats fans are just going to use that as another arguing point as to how much better Brady is than Eli, which obviously is a closed discussion. On the other hand, those who pay attention to detail, or even the superstitious readers already know what I’m getting at.

I’ll put it simple. Brady was on the same cover in 2008 for the Super Bowl preview against the Giants. A few months later, Brady was on the cover of another SI issue, just a week before he tore his ACL and MCL in September 2008 against the Chiefs. In regards to the superstitious, I apologize for even posting this, but it had to be said. On the bright side, there were 12 other times he was on the cover and everything was fine. If there’s one guy that doesn’t get fazed by this kind of superstition and hype, it’s Brady. I still have faith. No magazine cover jinx is going to stop Tom from joining the prestigious four ring club. Not on his watch.

Gronk En Fuego

Posted on January 25, 2012 by jtulz07

This honestly never gets old. I think Barstool put this up Monday, but my buddy Jake Hixon showed it to me the other night and I couldn’t not post it. Absolutely hilarious. We laugh at his reaction but he handled it pretty well for being that thrown off. I mean it wasn’t too far off any of his other post game interviews. Dominating the NFL, the party scene, and now Spanish interviews. How much more dominating can Gronk be? “Yo soy fiesta!!”

Thomas Denies President Obama

Posted on January 24, 2012 by jtulz07

Yesterday President Obama welcomed the 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins into the White House. Only one thing was missing. The 2011 Goaltender of the Year and Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP, Tim Thomas. This wasn’t a Home Alone situation, though. Timmy chose not to attend the prestigious ceremony on grounds of his own beliefs, stating, “The decision to stay away was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country.” I’m not big into politics or anything remotely close to it so I don’t have a firm stance in those terms. Personally, I’d be ecstatic to meet the President no matter who it is. But that’s just me. Some people have really strong feelings in this regard. I mean, any time the President’s involved it’s going to hit the news, let alone when he’s snubbed by an all-star athlete. So what do you guys think? Was it selfish and not classy of Thomas to bail on the White House trip with his team? Or does the man get away with his right to decline the visit because he’s a brick wall between the pipes?

Celtics Still Have Some Magic of Their Own

Posted on January 24, 2012 by jtulz07

Talk about beating the odds. With both Rondo and Allen sidelined with injuries, an undermanned Celtics team left it all out on the court to win BIG against an 11-4 Orlando Magic squad last night at the Garden. The Celts held the Magic to just 56 points, while putting up 87 themselves. Struggling out of the gates this year, the Celtics have sneakily been solid defensively, ranking third in the league while holding their opponents to an average of 88.3 points. On the other hand, our woes come in the form of offense, where the C’s are ranked 26^th in points scored, averaging around 89 per game. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You’re not going to compete with the best teams in the NBA when you can’t score.

Luckily the C’s proved me wrong last night, as their defense shone through. Sticking out were Avery Bradley and Sasha Pavlovic, as both stepped into starting spots and held their own defensively while also putting up a combined 15 points. If anything, last night’s win was a big mental boost for the team which has definitely been suffering harsh criticism over the past few weeks and rightfully so. The team has gone in spurts of brilliance but never quite long enough to hold out for the big wins. Example, coming within a point of Chicago in the 4^th quarter just to watch Rose and crew rip our hearts out down the stretch. Anyways, there is talent on this team, no doubt. We showed last night that we can compete with the best of them. Throw Allen and Rondo back into the mix and continue blending in the newcomers with the team’s historic chemistry, we’ll be alright.

Weekend Recap

Posted on January 23, 2012 by jtulz07

I think it’s safe to say this was one of the better weekends Boston has seen in a long while. We’ll start out with the obvious. Patriots are in the Super Bowl once again!! Now, there’s a sentence that never gets old. Although I figured it’d be in a more decisive manner, the Pats came out victorious yesterday, edging the Ravens 23-20 in the AFC Championship. With 27 seconds left I think everyone in the world thought this game was heading for overtime and who knows what could have happened. But the stars were aligned in Foxboro last night as Raven’s kicker Billy Cundiff botched a 32 yard routine field goal to tie the game at 23. Shanks for coming! Has a suicide watch been put on Cundiff yet? I sure hope so. In case anyone was wondering, the Bruins and Celtics both played yesterday too. With the Pats game overshadowing pretty much every other sports game in Boston, the two other teams were victorious on Sunday as well. The Bruins pulled past the Flyers 6-5 with Seguin netting the decisive goal in the shootout. Pierce stepped up his game and showed Boston why he is a Celtic as the team got a much needed win against Wizards 100-94. Both the Bruins and the Celts lost a game as well over the weekend, with the Celts falling to the Suns 79-71 in an ugly showing Friday night while the B’s suffered a very disappointing loss to the Rangers Saturday with just seconds left in overtime. Overall I’d say it was a great weekend in the City of Champions, with the Patriots continuing to prove their domination as they head to their 5^th Super Bowl in 12 years. This is going to be a long two weeks…Happy Monday!

Weekend Recap

Posted on January 16, 2012 by jtulz07

With the Pat’s bringing an abrupt end to Tebowmania, it’s hard to say we had a tough weekend in Boston sports, despite watching the Celts and Bruins fall to their respective opponents. Nobody’s worrying about the Bruins. They’ve established their dominance and continue to hold sole possession of first place in the Northeast Division, one point ahead of a red hot Ottawa team. The Celtics, on the other hand, are a bit more concerning. It’s hard to watch, because at times they show signs of brilliance. It’s there, somewhere, but not nearly as much as it needs to be. Many say that’s the aging factor coming through. Regardless, their defense hasn’t even been that bad. There’s just no way a team can win games in the NBA when you’re averaging under 90 points a game. On the bright side, the final stop on the road to the Super Bowl will go through Foxboro this Sunday as the Pats are set to face the Baltimore Ravens. The Pats will roll into Sunday’s game with plenty of momentum from this weekend’s victory against the Broncos. It’s been better but then again it’s also been worse for us in Boston. Hard to complain when your football team continues to build onto its second decade of dominance.

Canucks are a JOKE

Posted on January 9, 2012 by jtulz07

I know the Canucks won, but honestly, you have to feel bad for them. Vancouver is just so pathetic. Looking back to last year, I don’t think there was one team in the NHL that wanted the Canucks to win the Stanley Cup. The only city that did, Vancouver, showed how well they could hold it together after losing as they tore their own city to shreds.

You would think after that the team would want to show they’ve grown as they come back into Boston to face the team that stole the Cup from them, but nope. First, Luongo “handed over” the game to Schneider for sentimental reasons. Yeah right, because when it comes to intense and bitter rivalries, hockey players are always sentimental. I’m calling the bluff, along with everyone else. Robby was scared and wimped out of playing in Boston. Moving along to the game, how did the fact that Thornton got jumped by six Canucks not get discussed more? Granted he egged one of them on, all six proceeded to clobber him. Then after jumping to his defense, we end up on the bad end of a 5 on 3 power play. Ridiculous, but expected out of a team like Vancouver. Then to top it off, Thornton called out Weise after the two exchanged words in the box, and Weise completely backed down like a coward, without hesitation. Speaking to a Canadian reporter he stated, “But at the end of the day, that’s not really the type of guy I want to fight.” That’s the only thing I’ll give Weise credit for, knowing Thornton would have pounded his face in, deservingly so. But to sum it all up, the Canucks just proved how much of a joke they are and how clearly the better, more deserving team won the game that mattered in June, not in January.