Tonight the C’s turn over a new leaf on this young, yet disappointing season. Home opener at the garden against another winless team in the Detroit Pistons, hopefully the return of Pierce, and according to multiple sources, the introduction of Mickael Pietrus in a Celtics uniform. You best believe the garden will be electric. Anything short of a commanding win is unacceptable. The biggest IF is Pierce, though. Earlier this week Doc noted today as the earliest Pierce would play so let’s hope he’s ready. Sasha just isn’t cutting it as Pierce. In the three starts in Pierce’s place, Sasha’s averaging 4 points and 1.7 rebounds, slightly lower numbers than we’d expect out of Pierce. If all goes well, we’ll see him out on the floor tonight. Regardless, Rondo needs to continue taking control of the offense. Wednesday night we saw a different Rondo than the hustle and aggressiveness that came with the first two losses. If Rondo can be aggressive on the offensive side, as he always is on defense, then it’ll open up the floor for the rest of the team to step up as well. A lot of IFs in Boston tonight for sure, but don’t count out the Celts just yet.
Thank God for the Bruin’s huh? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a basketball guy, but after so much anticipation built up for the NBA to start back up, the past week has been nothing short of a major buzz kill to Celtics fans all over. Luckily for us, we’re from Boston and can rely on more than one team to keep us happy. Last night the Bruin’s improved their win streak to seven games, beating the Coyotes 2-1 in overtime. After scoring 17 seconds into the game, the Bruins didn’t find the net again until 58 seconds into overtime, off a deflection from a Seidenberg shot. Tuukka Rask may have only seen 22 pucks fly his way, but 21 saves was all he needed for his team to pull off the victory. This was their first overtime win that didn’t end in a shootout. Talk about playing great. The Bruins have won 21 of their last 24 since the start of November and have just moved past the Rangers for first place in the Eastern Conference. It’s just incredible to watch. There’s still plenty of regular season hockey to be played, but if the B’s keep up this momentum, I don’t see any reason Lord Stanley wouldn’t be back in Boston for the second straight year.
Today, the Red Sox finalized the deal that landed closer Andrew Bailey and right fielder Ryan Sweeney from the Oakland A’s for Josh Reddick and two boom-or bust Single A minor leaguers. All signs point to a great move by Ben Cherington and the Sox organization.
Bailey fills up the void at closer left by Jonathan Papelbon. I like this move because a.) Daniel Bard will be able to begin the transition to shore up the starting rotation and b.) Mark Melancon can move into a setup role that I think he is better suited (due to his non-overpowering repertoire). Bailey was the 2009 Rookie of the Year and has had some injury problems in the past, but the organization thinks they won’t affect him in the future. (After our luck last year with pitching injuries, lets knock on wood for this one). Let’s hope this guy can deal with the pressures of Boston a little better than Byung-Hyun Kim.
I loved Josh Reddick. He displayed the same grit and hardnosed play in right field that hadn’t been seen since Trot Nixon or Gabe Kapler. Hate to see the guy go after his successful job filling in for Nancy Drew last year. That being said, his Average and OBP were nothing special. Sweeney had pretty similar numbers against right-handers (both were primarily platoon outfielders against righties). Also, Sweeney is supposed to be a better fit in Fenway because he can spray a lot more hits off the monster instead of the pull-happy Reddick. Lastly, this trade opens up the position for Ryan Kalish, who looked like a great player for the future in the last two months of 2010 (before missing last year with shoulder surgery).
Should be interesting from here seeing what the Sox do to the roster in the last months before spring training. Considering the Sox now have a pretty inexpensive bullpen, look for them to spend some money for another starter to join the squad (Hiroki Kuroda, Joe Saunders, Edwin Jackson have all been rumored). Also, possibly a right fielder, most likely one for platooning against left-handed pitchers (possibly Cuban Yoenis Cespedes?).
The Patriots end their regular season at home on New Years Day this year, and if all goes well they won’t have to play any true away games throughout the playoffs. With a win Sunday the Patriots clinch the top seed in the AFC East and will have a chance to both playoff games leading up to the Super Bowl.
The Bills have looked absolutely terrible in the second half of the season, but did have a pleasant bounce back win against the Tebow led Broncos last week. The Patriots struggled greatly in their previous matchup with the Bills, but I look at that as a fluke. With Fred Jackson on IR and Ryan Fitzpatrick playing like the Fitzpatrick we all got to know in the past this Bills team cannot matchup talent wise with the Patriots and it will show this week. Expect the Pats to come out firing as this game has great playoff implications.
Deion Sanders is the man. Enough Said. But in case you don’t know why, let me elaborate. Deion Sanders came out the other day and announced to the world the following:
“Pilar (his wife) and I have decided to end our marriage and move on to the next phase of our individual lives with mutual respect… We arrived at this decision prayerfully and carefully in order to be able to pursue what is in both of our best personal interests.”
Just one problem, he forgot to inform his wife first. She was under the impression that Deion and her gold-digging self would work things out. However, he decided to become a divorcee for the second time and test out his game on the market. I’m sure he will do fine for himself.
Nothing better than an introduction blog. My name is Dan Tobin and I will be dealing with coverage for the Red Sox for the site. I could write a big spiel about how I F’in love the Sox, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be writing about them if I didn’t so I’ll spare you guys a cheesy paragraph.
I want to start things off on a little toss-up question: Which Major League Pitcher had a better 7 year stint during the steroid-era? Player A or Player B.
Interested to seeing the responses.
PLAYER A
GS
CG
SHO
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
W
L
WHIP
ERA
35
9
4
268
201
68
65
70
199
20
11
1.01
2.18
36
8
1
267
228
85
70
52
197
20
10
1.05
2.36
25
10
3
202
150
44
35
31
156
16
6
0.9
1.56
28
10
3
209.2
147
39
38
23
181
19
2
0.81
1.63
35
5
1
245
225
85
74
28
172
15
11
1.03
2.72
33
5
2
232.2
200
58
57
20
177
19
4
0.95
2.2
34
9
5
251
201
75
62
45
204
18
9
0.98
2.22
AVERAGE
32
8
3
239
193
65
57
38
184
18
8
0.97
2.16
PLAYER B
GS
CG
SHO
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
W
L
WHIP
ERA
31
13
4
241.1
158
65
51
67
305
17
8
0.93
1.9
33
3
2
233.2
188
82
75
67
251
19
7
1.09
2.89
29
5
1
213.1
160
56
49
37
313
23
4
0.92
2.07
29
7
4
217
128
44
42
32
284
18
6
0.74
1.74
18
1
0
116.2
84
33
31
25
163
7
3
0.93
2.39
30
2
0
199.1
144
62
50
40
239
20
4
0.92
2.26
29
3
0
186.2
147
52
46
47
206
14
4
1.04
2.22
AVERAGE
28
5
2
201
144
56
49
45
252
17
5
0.94
2.20
After analyzing the stats, Player A displayed greater control and consistency, which is displayed in his lower walk numbers over more innings pitched. He also proved dominant by limiting his ERA despite allowing more hits than Player B. Player B showed complete dominance in overpowering hitters with extremely low hit totals and high strikeout totals.
Personally, I would have to pick Player B, whose fourth season cannot be overlooked. He posted another incredibly K/9 rate and also an unheard of 0.74 WHIP and 1.74 ERA.
If you havent guessed yet, Player A was the “Mad Dog”- Greg Maddux. During this stint, he was NL Cy Young Four years in a row and a gold glove winner all seven years (he won the gold glove for the NL 16 times in a 17 year span). I found it amazing that he was able to have these great years in the steroid era through his incredible control of the strike zone.
Player B was Pedro Martinez. Pedro was hands down my favorite pitcher to watch during this stint. Pedro won the Cy Young in three of these years. He also put up these numbers against the AL East in a hitters ballpark named Fenway Park. He had the Pedro K count in the Boston Globe and he would make every game enjoyable for any fan. You never knew what you would get out of the guy, whether it was a 14 strikeout night, whether he’d start a bench clearing brawl, or whether he would toss a 70-year-old man to the ground.
Talk about a tough road trip. 97-78…I don’t even know where to begin. Last night’s game was just plain painful in every aspect of the word. Besides the first quarter, where we showed just a bit of life, they might as well have not even stepped foot on the court. Not once was there any momentum in the Celts favor. It just goes back to Rondo being the center, figuratively, of the team. The fire just wasn’t there for him tonight like it was the past two games, hence the reason the team seemed so flat. Now, that’s a lot of negativity, and they deserve it, but I’m not losing hope. On a side note, Stiemsma looked great out there defensively, which is the role we’re going to need him to play. Six blocks in the game and solid play on the boards. Anyways, it’s no excuse and I’ve gone to it the past three games, but in the back of my mind it feels good to know that Pierce wasn’t on the court for this. The C’s need his intensity out there. They’re definitely missing the captain. I guess we’ll have to see if they can get back on the right track Friday. Maybe the return of Pierce, mixed with a bit of Mickael Pietrus and a home opener at the Garden will be what the C’s need to ignite the flame.
Wednesday was not a good day for undefeated teams in college basketball. Both #4 Louisville and #13 Indiana lost their games, leaving only Syracuse, Baylor, Missouri, and Murray State as the undefeated teams in the top 25. (Keep in mind that Murray State has not played any high ranked teams, and won’t for the rest of the season so it is tough to tell how good they are) Baylor barely slipped by #14 Mississippi State in the final seconds of a close match.
#1 Syracuse, #2 Ohio State, & #3 Kentucky all won by more than 20 points, and with Louisville losing just their first game, they will most likely still remain in the top 8. #9 UConn rode Jeremy Lamb’s 22 points to a slight win over USF. As much as I hate to admit it, UNC will most likely move up to the 4th rank and Duke & Baylor will round out the next two spots, due to their weak upcoming schedule.
I was doing my hourly check of ESPN.com and was pretty surprised to see that the Pats found a way to land eight – yes, eight- players in the Pro Bowl. The fact that this team has been pretty make-shift since day 1 and found a way to send the most players to the Pro Bowl is a testament to how well prepared and why the Patriots have the best front office in the game. This also illustrates how Tom Brady makes everyone around him that much better. Besides Brady, they will be sending Wes, Gronk, WIlfork, Andre Carter, Waters, Mankins and Matthew Slater (he’s a special teamer so the Pats only actually send 7.5). I think that Hernandez should also have been sprinkled into the mix, but I guess you can only send one behemoth TE per team.
Nonetheless, the Pats have created a winning team with an eclectic mix of players on all sides of the ball. This organization flat out knows how to win and I have a feeling will be making a deep run into the playoffs, and that’s a lot coming from a Steelers fan.
Surprise, surprise, the Heat won. As if anyone gave the Celts a chance in the first place. I may sound like a broken record with this, but again I feel good about the team. Not often are you going to hear that about a team starting off the season 0-2. With 3 minutes left to play the Celtics had Miami within three points. What killed them for the second game in a row was the slow start. They found themselves digging out of a hole once again. I mean a 39 point second quarter is inexcusable. It just can’t happen. The defense needs to step it up. They can’t give up 69 points in a half, even if it is to Lebron and the Heat. Excuse me, especially if it’s Lebron and the Heat. Rondo wasn’t exactly as outstanding as on Christmas Day but he quietly put up 22 points and continues to be the glue that’s going to hold this team together. With that said, Ray’s going to do Ray. Give him the ball with .05 seconds and an inch of space and watch what he does with it. But that stuff is a given. What the Celts need is a bench that can keep them in games. Brandon Bass continued to show what he can do tonight and even Keyon Dooling showed some veteran fire late in the game with 13 points off the bench. If it wasn’t for Miami’s rookie point guard Norris Cole and his miracle shooting down the stretch, the game could’ve went either way. Throw Mickael Pietrus into the mix and return the Truth, C’s win this game for sure. Again, it’s hard to sit here with an 0-2 team and be happy, but you can’t be too worried. Anyways, things can only go up from here, right?
Tonight the C’s turn over a new leaf on this young, yet disappointing season. Home opener at the garden against another winless team in the Detroit Pistons, hopefully the return of Pierce, and according to multiple sources, the introduction of Mickael Pietrus in a Celtics uniform. You best believe the garden will be electric. Anything short of a commanding win is unacceptable. The biggest IF is Pierce, though. Earlier this week Doc noted today as the earliest Pierce would play so let’s hope he’s ready. Sasha just isn’t cutting it as Pierce. In the three starts in Pierce’s place, Sasha’s averaging 4 points and 1.7 rebounds, slightly lower numbers than we’d expect out of Pierce. If all goes well, we’ll see him out on the floor tonight. Regardless, Rondo needs to continue taking control of the offense. Wednesday night we saw a different Rondo than the hustle and aggressiveness that came with the first two losses. If Rondo can be aggressive on the offensive side, as he always is on defense, then it’ll open up the floor for the rest of the team to step up as well. A lot of IFs in Boston tonight for sure, but don’t count out the Celts just yet. 
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