Postseason Opposites

The Bruins and the Celtics entered their respective series' with momentum after convincing series wins over the Canadians and Knicks.  Now there are two very different happenings in their current series'.

The Bruins are off to an amazing start and now leading the series against the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 and have been scoring uncontrollably.  They took down the Flyers last night 5-1 led by Zdeno Chara's two goals and Tim Thomas' ability to control the net.  Thomas has been the most impressive goalie this season in my opinion.  He started off strong and then slowed down his performance before entering the playoffs.  This led the Bruins fans to become weary heading into the playoffs.  As we have seen in the past, often times the NHL playoffs, a hot goalie can lead their team to a Stanley Cup Championship and Tim Thomas has gotten hot at the right time.  He has been scary good against the Flyers which should mean no repeat of last year and a come behind win by the Flyers.  Also another good sign is that the Bruins are winning despite being 0-31 on the power play in the playoffs until Chara's slap shot in the second.

The Celtics on the other hand are down 0-2, however don't loose all hope because they are heading home and have a long rest before their next game.  Saturday's game is most defiantly an important one because we can't afford to go down in the series 3-0 especially to this Miami Heat team.  We will need a big game from our bench on Saturday and a good 30 point game from ANYONE couldn't hurt.  Paul Peirce needs to step it up and take control on the offensive end.  I know he's lacks some height on Lebron James, but he still needs to take the ball at him.  He needs to create contact and go to the line which is what the Heat have been doing so well.  Although i may sound negative, I still have high hopes and I firmly believe that the Heat are beatable and I look forward to watching the Celtics take one at home on Saturday.

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Patriots Post Draft

Well this past weekend was interesting for sure.  The Patriots ended up drafting offensive tackle Nate Solder from Colorado with the 17th overall pick and traded away the 28th overall pick to the New Orleans Saints so that they could draft running back Mark Ingram.  That pick confused me to an extent and because Ingram was supposedly high on the Patriots draft board and I felt that he had great value at 28.

The rest  of the Draft was very interesting if you are a Patriots fan.  They apparently reached on corner back Ras-I Dowling in the second round with the 33rd selection.  I'm not saying I'm not a fan of the selection, however with other corners available such as Aaron Williams of Texas, I don't know if taking an injury prone Dowling was the right way to go.  Also lets not forget that the defensive line and linebacker are positions we should have addressed.  When the 33rd selection came around, Brooks Reed of Arizona was still available and in my opinion had better value than Dowling. The with the next two picks, the 56th and 73rd, the Pats took two running backs Shane Vereen of Cal and Stevan Ridley of LSU respectively.  The more I think about these picks, the more I like them however I don't think that taking TWO running backs that high was a good idea even though I like the players themselves.

The most controversial pick we had was selecting quarterback Ryan Mallet of Arkansas with the the 74th overall pick in the third round.  He has tremendous value at that pick however with Tom Brady coming off the year he had, I don't know if it is a good idea to make him unhappy.  From an organizational standpoint, this pick is amazing.  We get a young quarterback to be mentored by Brady and sit under his wing for a couple of years.  We also have an option behind Brady in case he gets hurt which is something we didn't have last season.  The third scenario is we keep Mallet long enough to mature and develop and then trade him for future picks which is more likely because that's the Patriots way.

How bout them Saux?

The Red Sox have been playing better as of late and have clearly moved past the bottom of the AL East after starting the season 0-6 and have established themselves as the team they were supposed to be.  All of this may seem pointless on account of the fact that Sox are losing as we speak to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, however stay the course and understand that there are 162 games in baseball and tonight's game is merely number 30.  The Sox had big off season acquisitions in first basemen Adrian Gonzales and outfielder Carl Crawford, however thus far, they have yet to live up to expectations.

Over the past couple weeks though, the Red Sox have really been on a roll, winning 3 straight games  heading into tonight's game.  The Sox are currently 14-15 and only 3.5 games back behind the New York Yankees for first place.  The team has been lead by excellent hitting from David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, and Dustin Pedroia.  The pitching has also been improving and starting pitcher Josh Beckett seems to have found his old stuff and has been one of our best pitchers thus far this season.

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Too Old, Too Late? with a little rant

The Boston Celtics swept the New York Knicks in 4 games and they looked near unstoppable, prompting NBA analyst Steve Kerr to say that the Celtics are the team to beat for the rest of the postseason.  Unfortunately that proclamation seemed to have jinx the Celtics in the Miami Heat series.  The first game of the series was hard to watch if you were a Boston fan due to the fact that the Heat looked like a better team in all aspects on the court.  They made the Celtics look like a tired team of old men that couldn't keep up at all, not to mention the horrible display by Celtics Guard Paul Peirce on controlling his emotions.  I don't want to have a biased opinion which I know I have, but the NBA Officiating is absolute garbage and they continue to show it once again against the Celtics.  This is my blog therefore I can say what I feel and I sincerely feel that there not only is a gambling issue amongst officials in the NBA, but corruption from the higher levels of the Association itself.  I would not put it past NBA commissioner, David Stern, to have some control over which teams advance.  Everyone wants to see the team of stars win the NBA championship, which is why Stern was probably crying the night of "The Decision" because he was so overwhelmed with joy that everyone would be rooting for this new super team or be praying that they fail miserably.  Either way it involves a growth in the viewing ratings which is all that Stern cares about.

Sorry to get side tracked by my hate for the NBA officiating and the Commissioner, but game two wasn't much different than game one.  The Celtics were out classed athletically and were showing signs of fatigue, injuries, and old age.  Multiple long scoring runs by the heat put the game away, especially the 14-0 run that the Heat made in the fourth quarter when the game was tied at 80.  That run closed the door on the Celtics for game two and leaving the moral of the Celtics beaten.  I'm worried that this is a must win for Boston.

Bruins Start off the Second Round off Right

"How 'Bout them Bruins eh?"
 The Bruins came out big in the second round after they snuck past the Habs in the first round.  The Bruins have jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the Philadelphia Flyers after a thrilling overtime goal by David Krejci.  The game was tied at 2-2 heading into OT when Krejci was able to find the back of the net.  The goal was some what over-shadowed by the OUTSTANDING performance of Tim Thomas and his 52 saves, 22 of which were in the third period alone. Other goals in the game came from forwards Chris Kelly and Brand Marchand in this back and fourth .

It was a completely different story in game one, and it was all Bruins.  The Bruins ended up wining the game 7-3 led by David Krejci's 4 points. The game was never really in question as Boston jumped out to a 5-2 lead through two periods.  Brad Marchand and Gregory Campbell added a goal each in the third period to put the game completely out of reach and solidified the opening game win.

With momentum from the Canadian's series, the Bruins look to be headed toward an easy series win over the Flyers but lets not forget one very important thing, THE FLYER'S CAME BACK FROM A 3-0 DEFICIT AGAINST THE BRUINS LAST YEAR!  Hopefully Boston can avoid a relapse.

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Draft Day

 My favorite time of the year is upon us New England fans.  The couple of days in which we put our faith in the master mind himself to bring us back to the promised land.  The NFL Draft is three days dedicated towards the future and for New England this year, the defense is still a pressing issue that needs to be addressed. Richard Seymour was thoroughly missed this past season, and probably could have been a difference on the defensive side possibly leading to a Super Bowl.

The Patriots defiantly need to address a couple certain positions, but the most important positions that the team needs to address is the offensive line and the defensive line/pass rushing end.  Cameron Jordan of Cal, is a name that I have seen in many drafts and he certainly seems like a good fit to jump right in and compete with already establish linemen Ty Warren and Mike Wright.  Of course, we have 6 picks in the first three rounds so there will be plenty of opportunities to grab a pass rushing end or linebacker such as Brooks Reed from Arizona or a bookend offensive tackle or guard.  Nate Solder, Gabe Carimi, and Anthony Castonzo are options for the Patriots to take at either first round pick.

With a veteran offensive line and a injury prone defensive line, look for the Pats to grab some help up front on both sides of the ball.  Also don't count out them getting some more options at corner because outside of Leigh Bodden and Devin McCourty, they really don't have a reliable corner to step in or play in the nickel. Lastly, running back and a wide reciever that can stretch the field are also positions that could use some extra depth.Check out WalterFootball to see his Mock Draft.