Sick of the Void?

Posted on January 31, 2012 by christoph131

What is the point of Spring? (Assuming that spring starts after the Super Bowl on Sunday) And for those of you that say pre-season baseball, just stop. Can’t think of anything? Exactly. After football season, there is nothing good to watch until the Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs in June. Sure, Baseball starts in April, but it’s a long season.

There have been multiple articles about how College Basketball could easily fill that void. No one pays attention to college basketball until after the Super Bowl anyways. What if their season were to start around New Years and continue throughout the spring, with March Madness turning into May Madness. Of course there will be people that hate change (just like the BCS system) but it really does make sense. All of those students will not have to leave class for a month when their teams make it all the way. The semester will be over and they can focus purely on basketball. Also, they will only have to take one semester of light workloads, rather than both fall and spring.

“I’m partial, but I think the tournament is the greatest 3½ weeks of the sporting year. I think the tournament is powerful enough that it could be pushed back.” Says Pete Gillen of CBS Sports

I agree. I was in San Diego last year during San Diego States run in the tourney (before they lost to UConn), and it was electric. My friend and I were the only ones rooting for UConn and even then, we were scared to show it at times. However, when you’re at Hooters with a bunch of guys from the Navy, it’s hard to focus on anything but the obvious (drinks, babes, and wings).

College television ratings would sky rocket because there is nothing else to watch, everyone would be able to go out to bars and watch all the games because we would be out of school, rather than using our smartphones to get up-to-date scores, and we would have something to be excited about when we’re awaiting the Bruins to win the Stanley Cup and the Celtics to die off. What do you think?

Perk Posterized

Posted on January 31, 2012 by jtulz07

This is just brutal in every sense of the word. Sorry Perk.

Grief at the Garden

Posted on January 30, 2012 by jtulz07

At this point, most people have written off the Celtics. “They’re just too old.” Well I still have faith that not all will be lost this season. There’s still time to turn it around. Regardless, last night’s game was one of the more aggravating C’s games this year. I’m not saying this because they lost to the Cavs, although that hurts too, but because we had the win in the palm of our hands. Up 11 points in the 4^th quarter, the Celts let Cleveland go on a 12-0 run to finish off the game and win 88-87 with two seconds left. One single basket would have made the difference. We just can’t score, even against teams like the Cavs who let up close to 100 points a game. Again, our defense is solid. We’re pressuring teams and not letting up easy buckets. Avery Bradley has stepped up big time in Rondo’s absence, constantly down opponents’ throats on defense. The C’s just need to find their rhythm offensively. It’s there, somewhere in the mix of great basketball players in the Celtics lineup. The true test will be how they bounce back against the same Cavs team tomorrow night. After all, they have been hot as of late, winning four straight before losing last night.

Patriots vs. Giants: Head Coach

Posted on January 30, 2012 by davecouture

Happy Monday everyone, today we will take a look at one of the most important parts of both teams: Head Coaches

The Giants Tom Coughlin often finds himself on the hot seat during the regular season, but somehow manages to turn it all around late in the season and heads into the playoffs on a solid note. Coughlin is a good coach with a lot of experience but he is often questioned about being able to have control of an NFL team at his age. He has as much experience as almost any coach in the NFL as far as years in the league, but when it comes to winning it all, his stats are just average. Coughlin is a solid coach but seeing as who he is going up against, I’m sure you know where this is going.

Overall grade: B

Bill Belichick can go down as one of, if not the greatest coach in NFL history with a win this upcoming Sunday. As a head coach this will be Belichick’s fifth super bowl appearance since taking over as the Patriots head coach just over a decade ago. Bill is 3-1 career in the Super Bowl. Belichick is one of the best in history when it comes to making something out of nothing. The defense had terrible numbers as far as yards against this season, and that’s what everyone’s focus has been on. I could be wrong , but I’m pretty sure yards against isn’t what wins or loses a game, points do. The Patriots ranked 15th in points against; allowing 21.4 ppg. With a secondary as inexperienced as what they have, Belichick has done a great job with it. The Patriots bend but don’t break style has allowed them to be where they are today.

Overall grade: A+

Edge: Patriots

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.