Mass-destruction and a fond farewell

The last time any region has experienced a decade with as much dominance over the professional sports scene was probably in the 1960's when Massachusetts saw titles in the NBA practically every year, closed out the decade (1969-70 season) with a Stanley Cup, and sent the Sox to the 1967 World Series and the Patriots to the 1963 AFL Championship (both lost).

From 1961 until 1970 the city was home to nine titles in the big four of professional sports...of course eight of those came from the Celtics.

With the '08 baseball season in front of us still, we're looking at three more seasons before the end of the decade (starting from '01) and Boston already has six titles spread over three sports.

While there were more titles in the 1960's, by virtue of where the titles have come from - the Patriots (3), the Red Sox (2), and the Celtics (1) - and how much of it happened.

Consider - since 2001 the Patriots finally rose to prominence, becoming the most dominant football team of the decade, winning three Super Bowls, appearing in a fourth, and amassing the two longest regular season winning streaks in league history including the only undefeated 16-game regular season.

Move into baseball and you have the Red Sox who have swept their National League counterpart in the World Series twice - the first of the Championships after turning the table on the arch-rival Yankees. En route to delivering their first Series Title since 1918, the Sox became the first team to ever overcome an 0-3 deficit in the ALCS and had a hand in dealing the worst meltdown in the history of the post-season to their rivals. It was a thing of beauty. Add to all that the fact that the Sox are the only team to win two since 2001 and the Yankees are 0-2, it's only icing for the members of Red Sox Nation.

That brings us to the Celtics.

For the better part of the decade the Celtics have been awful. I mean, brutally bad. Not Knicks bad - they weren't carrying either the payroll nor the highly touted talent - but they were scraping the bottom.

In delivering this year's Championship, the team was part of the NBA's biggest turn around ever, extended their league leading number of championship banners to 17, and prevented Phil Jackson from passing Red Auerbach as the coach with the most Championships. Putting together this season's edition, Danny Ainge positioned the team to compete for the rest of the decade.

On the periphery, taking the place of previous Boston area teams that got to the Big Dance, but not able to seal the deal has been the New England Revolution. The Revs have been the runners up to the MLS Cup four times ('02, '05, '06, and '07).

Of the six major league sports now represented in Boston (including the Major League Lacrosse Boston Cannons), New England/Boston has made appearances in the finals of five of the leagues, missing out on only hockey. The Cannons lost by two goals in the 2004 championship game.

In the combined seven seasons since the inception of the 2001 seasons there have been 41 potential titles (hockey missed one due to labor strife). The teams from the Boston Bay area has had teams compete for 12 of those (29.3 percent) and won close to 15 percent of the titles.

By any account, those are impressive numbers.

Speaking of impressive numbers and the post season...

While he hasn't officially announced retirement, Curt Schilling is done. His shoulder is cooked.

It's been a fun ride while it's lasted. I haven't always agreed with Schill's opinions - but as someone who makes his scratch as a reporter, I can tell you, he's a reporter's dream. An absolute quote machine and a clutch performer.

He's the sort of person that I think I would not get along with in a personal relationship - but he'll always get a pass for bringing Boston their first World Series title since Babe Ruth was on the team.

I wish him well recovering from his shoulder surgeries and in whatever his subsequent career is.

Observations on the Hub of the (Sports) Universe

I guess Kermit was wrong...it's easy being Green.

During this decade Massachusetts has seen three Lombardi Trophies, two World Series titles, and just earned a seventeenth banner for the rafters of the Bahstin Gahden. Historically, there's still something missing...Bruins, I'm looking at you. You have two season left to get over the hump before the new decade begins.

Reebok has already commemorated the Celtics' achievement with a great ad that can be seen over at A Red Sox State of Maine.

Here's another from them -



From David Letterman -

"The hookers in Times Square are offering the Willie Randolph special. They'll screw you in the middle of the night when no one is looking."

An observation on Tiger's win...

It was impressive that he did this on one leg, but let's not confuse what Mark Twain called "a good walk spoiled," with things like Tyler Hamilton winning a stage of the Tour de France (and subsequently completing the race) while supporting his weight on a collar bone broken in two places (in one of the earliest stages of the Tour), or Reggie White playing with a torn hamstring (according to the doctors, the connection at the bottom had torn cleanly, causing the muscle to roll up like a window shade), or Drew Bledsoe playing with hardware holding the finger bones in his throwing hand together, or Jack Youngblood playing through the NFL playoffs on a broken leg.

It's golf.

It's not like Tiger is sprinting down to first and rounding the bag, or chasing down a fly-ball. He doesn't drive the lane with the big bodies laying some weight on him.

Let's keep this in perspective.

Woods was impressive winning the US Open on one leg. But let's be realistic - having been a caddy and seen the people who golf (and I saw a lot of Joh Daly-esque physiques out there) and I can honestly say - the hardest part of golf, from a conditioning and strain on the body stand-point over the course of 18 holes is borne by the caddies.

Young Guns...

I've mentioned this before, but I think it bears mentioning again.

Sox fans as a whole are getting spoiled.

Each time a pitcher goes down, he gets replaced with a more than adequate replacement as a starter. And it seems like the rotation just keeps getting younger.

The current rotation -

Masterson (23)- 4-1, 3.00
Lester (24) - 6-3, 3.18
Matsuzaka (27) - 8-0, 2.53
Beckett (28) - 7-4, 3.87
Wakefield (41) - 4-4, 4.19

Should the youngsters falter, Bartolo Colon is waiting in the wings, as is (likely) Schilling, who has not had to rush back due to the success of the youngsters. None of that includes young guys like David Pauley, Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard, or Michael Bowden.

Let's face it - from a starting pitching standpoint, the Sox are loaded. If the team's bullpen hasn't had so many meltdowns, none of the current starters (other than Masterson) would have fewer than six wins, and I would venture to say that Lester would have at least nine, as would Matsuzaka whose first start was a no decision.

First Amendment

Whenever a reporter or any other sort of pundit says something stupid, a-la Don Imus or Jemele Hill, and gets suspended or fired, all the idiots come out of the wood work defending the right of the idiot to say what they said, and claiming suppression of the reporters' rights to freedom of expression.

I want to remind all the idiots out there that, yes, people like Jemele Hill certainly have the right to make stupid, ill-thought out, and offensive statements. ESPN as her employer has the right to make a statement as well. They have a right to state their disapproval at being used as a forum to propagate any sort of writing they find offensive, and possibly damaging to their bottom line.

What the critics of ESPN don't get is that ESPN has not suppressed Hill's ability to express herself freely in our society. They have just removed themselves from being her forum, her vehicle for dissemination.

They have done nothing to violate her civil rights. It would be no different than ESPN refusing to give space on their site, or in their magazine to a neo-Nazi spokesman who wanted the company to print his editorial comments regarding the superiority of the Aryan Race.

Sure, Hill's statements were meant to be hyperbole, but it's unconscionable that she even typed the line, "Rooting for the Celtics is like saying Hitler was a victim," let alone submitted it for publication.

It's one thing to make the comparison to The Evil Empire - a Star Wars reference, a reference to a piece of fiction - and another to link a sports franchise and its fan base to the world's most notorious genocidal mass-murderer of the last century.

As much as Hill deserves the suspension and a subsequent firing, I want to know what ESPN is doing about the editors who let this travesty make it into print.

Contrast greater than just opposite coasts

There is a long list of things that Boston did differently than Los Angeles.

No excuses.

No whining about officials. From the coach or the players.

No bad knees.

No bad ankles.

No bad shoulders.

No travel issues.

No family issues.

No overwhelmed bench.

None of that would be an issue for the Celtics on the way to their 17th Championship.

They played hard. They supported their teammates. They got big contributions off the bench, grossly outscoring the Lakers bench. They played with intensity and pushed the Lakers around, imposing their will like champions, while the Lakers looked to the officials for charitable handouts.

They played the Finals as though they had found the fountain of youth after looking, at times, through the preliminary rounds of the playoffs like they were old.

The Lakers played as though they were expecting to be handed the championship - from their coach and the top of their roster to the last player off the bench. The Celtics played like they wanted it, like they could taste it. It didn't stop with the Celtics' Big Three - at times Rajon Rondo, Eddie House, James Posey, Leon Powe, and PJ Brown all came up big at some point whether rebounding, working the ball to the open shooter, or putting the ball in the hoop.

The bottom line - Boston came through when it counted.

No one on the Lakers can say the same.

17 and other thoughts

The Celtics were well on their way to raising the team's 17th banner no later than the middle of the second quarter, when the team did their best to break the spirit of the Lakers. For the green and white it wasn't a game, it was a statement. It was a statement to all the pundits that believed that the Lakers were a better team than the Celtics. It was an emphatic "in your face" to those who said the Lakers were deeper, those who said they had a better bench, those who said players like The Big Ticket was more Gar-not than Garnett.

There may have been no play that represented the desire of the Celtics old-timers better than the one Kevin Garnett had as time waned in the first half.

Late in the second, Garnett got knocked to the ground, and as he was falling, put a fastball off the glass and through the hoop. He finished the three point play. It was indicative of how more Boston wanted the game. It was part of a 26-6 run to close out the second quarter and put the team up by 23. It was shortly after the Celtics went ahead and started to get cutesy with the ball.

It appears they learned their lesson, forcing 11 turnovers in the first half.

For the first time in the post-season, the Celtics seemed to know how to stick the knife in.

By five minutes left in the third, the team was up by 30.

This wasn't a game. It wasn't a court. It was the slab in a morgue, and the Celtics forensic scientists dissecting the corpse that was the vaunted and heavily favored Laker team coming into the Finals.

By the fourth quarter the Boston was playing the part of doctor, while Los Angeles played...well...dead. Boston looked like they were playing a pick-up game in the yard while the Lakers looked miserable.

It was a celebration. A celebration for the lifers like PJ Brown, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce - all guys in their 30's, all guys that never got close to a ring. Now they all have 'em. They are part of a basketball legacy that accounts for more than 27 percent of the league's championships. And they were put together by a guy who was part of the last championship back in 1986.

For Boston fans it represented the region's sixth professional championship in the last seven seasons, spanning three sports. Joining the Patriots with three and the Red Sox with two, the Celtics have become the latest to earn the duck-boat parade through the canyons of downtown.

Somewhere Red Auerbach is smiling and smoking a cigar.

The Number Two -

Earlier in the evening Jon Lester continued his crusade to be considered among the Red Sox top pitchers and their top youngster. Lester, now 6-3 with a 3.18 ERA, dominated the Phillies for seven innings one day after Bartolo Colon was smoked for four runs in four innings, and the team lost a laugher to Philadelphia.

In his last six starts, Lester is 4-1, has pitched 39.1 innings and given up nine earned runs for a 2.06 ERA. That's not just good - that's a team's ace.

To put into perspective what Lester is doing - particularly in relation to the proposed Santana trade.

Lester is in his third season, has already started 16 games and logged more than 96 innings. Santana in his third season operated as both reliever and starter, and still only logged a total of 12 more innings than what Lester has already done before the All-Star break. In Santana's 27 appearances, he knocked out a 2.99 ERA and an 8-6 record. Lester's numbers compare favorably - and he's doing more for the team.

On a pace to have 18 more starts this season, should Lester keep pitching like this, he will win between 15 and 20 games and log 200 innings.

It's a long season and anything can happen, but until the Dice-man returns, the younger of Boston's cancer survivors is the team's ace.

Can't say I saw that coming.

One final pitching note -

Is it just me, or did the Sox jump on the first available excuse as quickly as possible to put Bartolo Colon back on the shelf (possibly saving him for the stretch run), in order to see whether or not Justin Masterson is for real?

Not quite the Fantastic Four....

But without them, the Celtics Big Three wouldn't be 48 minutes away from hoisting a seventeenth championship banner in the rafters of the Gahden (I refuse to call it by its corporate sponsored name - but more on that some other time). As important as The Big Ticket, The Truth, and The Rain Man have been to Boston's success, the three would still be coming up short against Los Angeles.

Each of the following four have been instrumental in the C's three wins -

Rajon Rondo - In game one Rondo notched 15 points and seven assists in a ten point Boston win to kick off the Finals. The fourth best Celtic on the floor tied the offensive output of the second best Laker.

Leon Powe - The hero of Game Two was arguably the second best player on the court, not just the Celtics, when he put up 21 points on 6 of 7 shooting in less than 15 minutes of play.

Eddie House - In game four House subbed in, taking over for Sam Cassell who had taken over for an injured Rondo. House put up 11 with four rebounds.

James Posey - The real horse of the bench in game four, Posey sunk 50 percent of his shots, including four of eight from behind the arc while helping to bring the Celtics back from their 24 point deficit. In a game where Lakers starters outscored Celtics starters 76-62, Posey and House were part of a Boston bench that smoked the Lakers bench by a 20-point margin, scoring 35 to the Laker bench's 15. Hell, Posey alone outscored the Laker bench by three.

On a Laker note -

During their playoff run leading up to the Finals, the acquisition of Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies was being hailed as one of biggest one-sided trades in NBA history. Gasol was being widely hailed as the move that would take pressure off of Kobe Bryant.

Here were some of the headlines predating the finals -

Utah Jazz: Gasol key acquisition for L.A.'s title run - The Salt Lake Tribune

With 19 rebounds, Gasol shows he can do more than score - The Press Enterprise (on May 29, in the wake of the San Antonio series)

Kupchak's deal for Gasol headlines Lakers' return to Finals - USA Today

Was Pau Gasol trade the worst in recent NBA history? - Orlando Sentinel

With the acquisition of Gasol, the Lakers were thought to be the deeper of the two teams in the Finals. The line that we were fed by the pundits was that the Lakers lost to the Celtics in the regular season, but that was before they had Gasol. He was the missing piece.

Before the finals the Lakers had the deeper team. They had the experience in guys like Kobe and Lamar Odom who were helping the young talent develop. They were the best team in the Western Conference because Kobe finally had help. They handled the defending champs in five games which included a convincing 30 point win in game two.

Four games later against Boston the pundits are writing their epitaphs for a heavily favored Laker team now down three-one, fans and pundits have started the "Kobe can't do it by himself," calls.

Fact of the matter is, either he has a team around him or he doesn't - that doesn't change from one series to the next. What does are match-ups. And the Celtics match-up better against the Lakers than anyone, including myself, gave them credit for before this series began.

Before the finals, Gasol was the missing piece - for most of the finals, he's just been missing.
He went from key-man in the middle to softer than Charmin. Odom was no longer the sage voice of experience helping to mentor the younger players - he was mostly just a no show. Phil Jackson was supposed to be the Hall of Famer that would coach circles around Doc Rivers - instead, he's a JAG (just another guy), who is doing little strategically to react to every move that Rivers makes...as though by the virtue of being Phil his team will find a way.

The Lakers depth off the bench - apparently a myth against a tough defensive team...consider this stat: including the C's game three loss, the Boston bench has outscored the L.A. bench by 26. Considering only the Boston wins, that margin jumps to 34 (in Lakers terms, should the series close out on Sunday, that number will heretofore be referred to as the number of The Beast).

Manhood

"DO YOU BELIEVE?"

-Doc Rivers, Celtics coach to his players during the fourth quarter of game four of the 2008 Finals.

At the end of the first half, I certainly didn't.

The Celtics were playing ugly, and the Lakers were taking the game to them. I have to admit, I was convinced that the Lakers were walking away with this one - so much so that I went to bed at half-time.

Jokingly, I told my wife that I was going to miss the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history.

When a team comes back from 24 points down on the opponent's home court, that's not just a comeback - that's a neutering. Paul Pierce and friends effectively took the Lakers' collective manhood.

A lot of articles will make a big deal out of the first and second half scores, but realistically, the comeback started at the in the second quarter. The Lakers blew their load in the first 12 minutes, outscoring the C's 35-14. The problem for L.A. is that in the subsequent quarters Boston outscored Phil Jackson's team by 3, then 16, then 8. After spotting them 21 in the first, the Celtics grabbed the Lakers by the balls and squeezed to the tune of 37 points for which L.A. had no answer.

After the first two games, I figured there was a good chance the Celtics could take the series in six if they could steal one in LA-LA-Land. After the way the two games went, I'm wondering if Doc Rivers will be keeping Kobe's and Jackson's balls in a jar next to the trophy on his awards shelf after Sunday's game five.

One final note - everyone, stop comparing Kobe to Michael Jordan. In a series like this Jordan would have put the team on his back and done everything possible to ensure a Bulls win. He wouldn't have walked off the court with time left on the clock. More and more in this series the league MVP has looked more like the league's biggest chump.

For more on this game, check out The Coffin Corner's take.

Manhood, part II...

Josh Beckett is second on the team in wins, in spite of being incredibly mediocre on the mound this season. Daisuke Matsuzaka had been the Red Sox ace before going down with a shoulder issue. Beckett did not pick up the slack.

Jon Lester did. Lester has been the team's second best pitcher and he came through again in his latest start, going seven innings and giving up only two earned runs against an Orioles team that has given the Sox problems lately.

The Sox are 9-6 in Lester's starts (Lester is 5-3, including a no-decision in a game where he pitched 8 innings of shut-out ball, a game the Sox won). Only four times this season has the lefty given up more than three earned runs, and the last time that happened was in April.

Since April 23, the last time Lester gave up more than three earned in a game, Lester has averaged 6.1 innings per start and has lowered his ERA from 5.40 to 3.43. In six of the nine starts Lester has given up two runs or fewer, including twice shutting a team out. During that stretch Lester is 4-1 and the team is 6-3. In spite of an ERA over three, Lester has been the team's best starter for the last six weeks, and against Baltimore, he showed it again.

The difference between first and last

Due to either injury or ineffectiveness the Yankees have started nine different pitchers. Primarily, in regards to the Red Sox, Boston has started eight different pitchers due to injury.

The quality of the two teams' pitching tells the story of the difference in the standings.

Through 66 games, Yankees starters have pitched 355 innings. Only three pitchers - Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, and Chien-Ming Wang - have thrown more than 60 innings. Only three - Pettitte, Wang, and Darrell Rasner - have averaged at least six innings per start. As a team, the Yankees have averaged five and a third innings per start. Take away Mussina, Pettitte, and Wang, and the remaining staff has averaged a paltry three and two thirds innings per start. In other words - based on the average of the 25 starts made by the other starters, the bullpen (in those 25 games) has logged 158 1/3 innings of work - the equivalent of 17.5 games worth of pitching.

The Sox starters, on the other hand, through 68 games, have racked up 406 1/3 innings - a six inning per start average. Only David Pauley, a minor leaguer who has had one spot start that lasted four and a third, has an average innings pitched below five and a third. The disparity between the two teams has resulted in the Yankees utilizing their bullpen for 44 1/3 innings more than the Sox, despite playing two fewer games. That means the Yankees have had their bullpen pitch the equivalent of roughly five more games than the Sox pen.

Consider some of the head to head comparisons -

Matsuzaka - 11 starts, 64 innings, 5.2 IP/G
Masterson - 4 starts, 24.1 innings, 6 IP/G
Colon - 5 starts, 29 innings, 5.2 IP/G
Lester - 14 starts, 82.1 innings, 6 IP/G
Beckett - 12 starts, 79 innings, 6.2 IP/G
Wakefield - 13 starts, 81 innings, 6.1 IP/G
Buchholz - 8 starts, 42.1 innings, 5.1 IP/G
Pauley - 1 start, 4.1 innings, 4.1 IP/G

Bruney - 1 start, 2 innings, 2 IP/G
Chamberlain - 2 starts, 6.2 innings, 3.1 IP/G
Rasner - 7 starts, 42 innings, 6 IP/G
Mussina - 14 starts, 75.1 innings, 5.1 IP/G
Wang - 14 starts, 90 innings, 6.1 IP/G
Pettitte - 13 starts, 79.1 innings, 6 IP/G
Hughes - 6 starts, 22 innings, 3.2 IP/G
Igawa - 1 start, 3 innings, 3 IP/G
Kennedy - 8 starts, 43.2 innings, 4.1 IP/G

While the comparison of the veterans isn't bad, where it really falls apart for the Yankees has been with the young pitchers that they needed to contribute, and the spot starters who, as previously noted, have been unable to even muster an average of four innings per start. The Sox, on the other hand, have actually improved team averages as both Masterson (6 IP/G) and Colon (5.2 IP/G) have both put up better or equivalent per game averages than have Matsuzaka (5.2 IP/G) and Buchholz (5.1 IP/G).

The Yankees, on the other hand, have had trouble plugging that five-hole, and it was thirty games into the season before they had a solution - Rasner - at the four spot. Consider that only Ian Kennedy, outside of the front four in the rotation, has even averaged as many as four innings per start at 4.1.

And let's be serious - Rasner has never started more than six games in the majors...ever. Already the deterioration has started. Rasner won his first three starts and lost his last four. In his first four starts Rasner averaged 6.1 IP and went 3-1. His last three - 0 - 3 and 5.2 IP.

When Rasner completely spits the bit, then what is the Yankee solution?

To stay competitive this season the Yankees will need to trade away some young talent and acquire someone that will give their bullpen a rest. Otherwise, they should get used to .500.

Spin control

The NBA is in full spin control and David Stern is sounding more and more like Roger Clemens in relation to the latest allegations from Tim Donaghy. Stern has been all bluster and no substance, attacking the character of the accuser while sidestepping any real comment on the claims themselves.

My guess is that Stern would like this to go away....probably as much, if not more than the NFL wants Arlen Specter to go away.

The problem is part of Stern's reasoning.

Sterns recent comments about Donaghy -

"Because a convicted felon said something about his colleagues in order to lower his time away, am I worried about that? I'm worried that someone is out there saying it, but you're the one who will either deal with it or not as part of the media. We've been as open and transparent as we can be...But we'll stay with it, and we have no doubt that Mr. Donaghy is the only one here that's guilty of criminal activity."

Those are made all the more interesting in light of this quote from 2006 when Donaghy was still on the league's payroll - "I think we have the best officials, the best-monitored officials, the best-developed officials in all of sports."

They have "the best-monitored officials" in all of sports? Yet a majority of the officials were, at the time, in violation of the league's gambling policy, and they knew nothing of Donaghy's violations?

Now Stern expects us to believe the denials the league is issuing?

That's the height of arrogance.

Of course, considering Donaghy's claims, in essence, are an indictment of Stern, he's going to deny the claims. Stern is telling us that the league has been transparent, and that the feds have found no violations beyond Donaghy's - but can anyone out there tell me exactly what the Feds were investigating? Were they investigating the league, or were they investigating Donaghy? Because if it was just Donaghy, it was out of the purview of their investigation, it was not an investigation into what other officials may have been doing. What did the league even investigate? Gambling?

What has really done by the league to look into this? I know they found that a whole bunch of other officials violated league rules and then were given a free pass. Hell, Stern suggested changing the rule to accommodate the violators. So why should I believe Stern on this? I mean, that could be construed as a payoff - a free pass in exchange for the silence of the violators...assuming that Donaghy is indeed telling the truth.

There are a lot of reasons that you could give for Donaghy lying about this, but Sterns reasons for possibly putting the fix on games has to do with a league whose net worth is in the billions. A lot of money is a lot of motivation to make sure the league continues netting maximum profits - and max profits are definitely not Sacramento making the finals over the Lakers.

Once again - I'm not saying I believe Donaghy. But I am saying that I don't think Stern is any more credible than Donaghy, and that Donaghy's claims have to be given at least enough weight to merit an investigation, if for no other reason than to put this to rest once and for all.

As for Stern - he might want to consider NOT taking a page from the Roger Clemens playbook on this one.

And let's just note - if an independent investigation reveals Donaghy to be correct - let's start talking about the validity of Phil Jackson's genius and post-season record.

Credibility and other things on my mind...

"I’ve never seen a game like that in all these years I’ve coached in The Finals"

-Phil Jackson on game two of the Finals when the Celtics went to the foul line by an almost 4 to 1 margin.

The same Phil Jackson whose Laker team benefited from a 28 to 10 margin in the fourth quarter of a semi-finals game against the Kings to get to a game 7. The same game that disgraced official Tim Donaghy implied was fixed to give the Lakers the win in order to get the team to game 7.

The same Phil Jackson whose Laker team, earlier in the playoffs, went to the line 43 times against the Jazz's 16.

Of course Jackson was going to point out the free-throw disparity, because the actual proportion of fouls called in that game - 4-3 (28 on L.A., 21 on Boston - which, of course, is more an indictment of the Lakers' play in that game than the officiating).

Game 3...

The third game is not a game that should have given the Lakers a lot of confidence. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett played poorly and the Lakers could only win by six, and they couldn't score 90 on their home floor against Boston.

At this point, I'm thinking the C's win in six, giving the Boston faithful something to celebrate on the parquet.

The Fix is in...

For years pundits and fans alike have speculated that the fix may very well be in when it comes to the post-season in the NBA. Now it seems as though most of those pundits are very quick to come to the NBA's defense in regards to Tim Donaghy's allegations about fixing games.

Of course, this is also the same press that was quick to dismiss Jose Canseco's allegations of steroid use in Major League Baseball, in spite of the fact that others before him - including the late Ken Caminiti, a former MVP and steroid user - had already made the same claims.

Personally, I think Donaghy is on the level regarding this. Or at the very least, he believes he is on the level.

Let's consider two very important facts in regards to that particular year -

First - a game seven would generate significant additional revenue for the league and give the Lakers an extra shot at getting to the finals.

Second - what team is going to garner the most viewers? The Kings or the Lakers? As such, which team is going to generate the most advertising revenue?

Circumstantially, the evidence really does favor Donaghy, and not just in this instance.

Anyone else waiting to hear Arlen Specter crying foul? I mean, this isn't a team trying to break the rules - this is a league trying to fix games, if what Donaghy says has even an iota of truth.

This requires an independent investigation far more than any issues the NFL is currently facing.

Here's one final NBA thought to leave everyone with - How, exactly, did David Stern turn the league around? Adding games in the playoffs?

Dontrelle Willis...

Am I the only one that saw this one coming?

Willis, often billed as the second coming of Lefty Grove, has had only one ace-like season under his belt when he went 22-10 with a 2.63 ERA en route to the World Series. Only once has he won more than 14 games. His ERA has increased by one run or more in each of the last three seasons.

This season Willis is no longer in the hitters' B-league and only twice has lasted more than two innings and only once as long as five. In five appearances he has averaged two innings per appearance and is giving up over ten runs per nine innings.

Okay, this is worse than what I thought, but I didn't think the Willis trade and signing was that great a move by Detroit.

Powe-etry in motion

With apologies to Edgar Allen, who was born in Boston in 1809...

Once upon a playoffs dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious story of champions past,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping on my parquet floor.
`'Tis someone off the bench,' I muttered, `dribbling on my parquet floor -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the hot, hot June,
And each separate air conditioner cooled upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my sports columns' surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Celtics of Yore -
For the rare and radiant Celtics whom the angels named the Big Three of Yore -
Champions here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each basketball short
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some Laker entreating a post-season win on my parquet floor -
Some Phil Jackson entreating the refs on my parquet floor; -
This it is, and nothing more,'

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Doc,' said I, `Mr. Rivers, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and through playoffs you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at the finals door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -
Kobe was there, and little more.

Deep into that player peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming of championships Celtics fans ceased to dream before
But the home-court advantage was unbroken, and the Celtics gave no token,
And the only words there spoken was the whispered words, `one more!'
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the words, `one more!'
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more!'

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped Three like those of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made they; not a minute stopped or stayed they;
But, with mien of lord, perched above rim on my parquet floor -
Perched by a bust of Russell just above my parquet floor -
Perched, and stood, and nothing more.

Then this ebony Three beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance they wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Garnett grim and Allen - stars wandering from other franchise's shores -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Playoff shore!'
Quoth the Three, `champions...evermore.'

Much I marveled these lanky Celtics to hear discourse so plainly,
Though their answer held little meaning – until they win the final four;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing Bird on his parquet floor -
Bird or Pierce above the backboard rim above the parquet floor,
With such a cry as `champions...evermore'

But the Russell, sitting lonely on the placid bench, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a uniform fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other champions have flown before -
On the morrow they will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then he said of the Lakers, `Nevermore.'

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only what came before,
Caught from some unhappy fanbase whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till in the cellar the fanbase bore -
Till the dirges of our hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "champions...Never-nevermore."'

But the Celtics still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of the big screen TV on the floor;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous Three of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous Three of yore
Meant in croaking `champions...evermore.'

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the players whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the TV-light gloated o'er,
But whose bright, wide-screen with the TV-light gloating o'er,
The Lakers' press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Auerbach whose foot-falls shuffled on the parquet floor.
`Coach,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - with those players he has sent thee
Rivers - Rivers recalls fondly our memories of the parquet floor!
Quaff, oh quaff in the Garden seats, and recall the glories of the parquet floor!'
Quoth the Russell, `Lakers...Nevermore.'

`Jackson!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if coach or devil! -
Whether Laker sent, or the playoffs tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this Celtic team enchanted -
In this Garden by Pierce and Powe haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in LA? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the Russell, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if coach or devil!
By that official that bends above us - by that hoop we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Arena,
Celtics clasp a sainted trophy somewhere away from their parquet floor -
Clasp a seventeenth radiant trophy, maybe on their parquet floor?'
Quoth the Rajon, `champions...evermore.'

`Be those words our sign of parting, Phil or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Nation's Pacific shore!
Leave no purple sock as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my dreams of winning unbroken! - quit the bench on the parquet floor!
Take thy team from out my Hub, and take thy Lakers from off my door!'
Quoth the Celtics, `Nevermore.'

And the Jackson, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the bench, of the refs complaining sitting by my parquet floor;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted – Champions again and forevermore!

Now that I have posted this, the boys in green better win.

Things I think about this weekend

• I think the finals are designed in such a way as to minimize the impact of home-court in the NBA. With three straight games coming up in Los Angeles, and the way the Celtics have played on the road, the Lakers still worry me. I think for the Celtics to win this thing they absolutely, positively need to take one in LA, and I think it needs to be one of the first two games they play against the Lakers, because I'm not convinced that they will be able to take the third if they drop two in a row.

• I think the Celtics lack the ability to stick the dagger in a team when they have it dead to rights. I think that was obvious when they nearly coughed up a 24-point lead, and over 40 points in fourth quarter to the Lakers in game two.

• I think that the Celtics tend to go away from what gave them their lead when they get one.

• I think with a 3-0 record and a 2.59 ERA (only one start in which he gave up more than one run) in four major league starts, the Red Sox are going to have a hard time justifying sending Justin Masterson back to AAA when Clay Buchholz gets healthy.

• I think it's amazing that people were positive that a horse with a cracked hoof had a shot at the triple crown. And that they were surprised when Big Brown didn't run well.

• I think Cedric Benson's an idiot. After being picked up for drunk driving this past weekend, he has lost the benefit of the doubt in relation to the incident last month on the boat. wherein police claim Benson was boating drunk.

• I think the Red Sox need to learn how to be the same team on the road as they are at home...or even half that team. Currently when they're on the road they're...well, they're the Baltimore Orioles.

• I think the more we see of him, the more everyone will realize that Jeremy Shockey is one of those supremely talented me-first guys who causes a team more harm then good with his selfishness. I still firmly believe that the Giants don't even make the Super Bowl, let alone win it, with a healthy Shockey.

• And one final note - I think the three most important people in the Celtics' win were Paul Pierce who has been the best player on the court in the first two games, Rajon Rondo who has been finding the open man seemingly every time he has touched the ball, and Leon Powe who played less than 15 minutes and scored 21 points.
  

Thoughts and opinions

Proportionately speaking, no two teams in any professional sport have dominated their league the way the Lakers and the Celtics have. This latest meeting is the 62nd NBA Championship and at the end of it, no matter who wins or who loses, the two teams will combine to account for 50 percent of the league's titles.

To put that into perspective - the next two teams with the most titles, the Bulls and Spurs, combine for 10 total titles.

Counting each conferences' entry into the finals as a separate entry, the two teams account for 49 of 124 possible appearances in the finals.

No two (professional) teams in the Unites States account for as large a percentage of finals competitors.

Even if you wanted to be anal and discount the five wins as the Minneapolis Lakers, that's still 27 championships and 43 appearances.

Just going Super Bowl Era alone, there are no two teams that even come close to approaching the 50 percent mark in combined titles. Of the 103 World Series played, the Yankees and Cardinals combine for around 33 or 34 percent of the titles at 36 combined. The closest is in the NHL where the Canadiens and the Maple Leafs make up 37 of the 83 titles that are held by teams still active in the league (in other words, there are teams no longer in existence that hold titles that would push it to 92 titles since the 1914-1915 seasons).

That's domination.

One last basketball observation - I would like to see the Celtics win, however, I don't think they will. How I hope I'm wrong regarding that.

Required reading...

Peter King's Tuesday Morning Quarterback, essentially his mail bag for his Monday Morning Quarterback column at si.com should be required reading this week for everybody. If you haven't read it, you should.

His readers, for the most part, are responding to his Monday column dealing with Aaron Kampman and the tornadoes that tore apart Iowa last week. They are some of the more eloquent and touching letters I have seen from any columnists' fan base, and deserving of both our time and consideration.

Three for four...

Winning a championship is an exceedingly difficult feat on any level of sports. Even getting to the big game is a chore.

Last year, after an undefeated season, the Patriots lost in the Super Bowl. To stress the "any level" point - the Aussie rules team I play on was bounced in the national tournament one game shy of the championship match after an undefeated season.

Boston teams are three for four in just getting to that championship game, with only the Bruins not making it quite as far as the other three. And they still made it to the post season.

Right now the teams are one and one, waiting on the Celtics to see if that winning percentage jumps to .667, or drops to .333.

Baaaad things, man

I am a cyclist. I bike and run to keep in shape and play Australian football.

I am not a cyclist on the level of my brother who bikes several hundred miles per week, but I do like to get out and ride. I might ride on average about 40 to 50 miles per week in season (when I am able to get out regularly) - sometimes more if I get serious alone time and get in a 25 mile ride.

My brother, on the other hand, will crank through 50 miles in a day and not think about it.

He's touched.

But I digress.

One of the biggest fears of a cyclist is motorists. Many are very inconsiderate of cyclists (granted, there are a number of boneheads that don't understand the idea of single file when riding bikes in groups), often accelerating to make a right turn in front of a bicyclist without really having enough room to do so, or not checking rear view mirrors before opening car doors.

Races are a sanctuary. We have the road to ourselves as we vie for position. Cars don't even enter our thoughts.

In light of this story about a race in Monterey, Mexico, maybe motorists need to stay in our thoughts.
For the most part I think the photo ganked from CNN speaks for itself. A drunk American motorist fell asleep at the wheel, veered into a race, injured 10 cyclists and killed one. This is the sort of thing that's on my mind every time I go out for a ride.

The Manhattan Project...

The Joba Experiment started with a whimper rather than a bang. The Yankees dominating set-up man lasted for only two and a third innings, barely throwing more than half his 62 pitches for strikes.

Here's the math on that, to put it in perspective -

It's a respectable 3.91 ERA (only one of his two runs were earned). However, it projects to 242 pitches over nine innings - which makes a sub-5.00 ERA unlikely. It also translates to 16 walks per nine and four hits - also unlikely to stay that low over nine if his pitch count is that elevated, particularly four a guy that is used to only going an inning to two innings, max, per start.

Consider, the following - according to the YES Network, Joba averages (as a reliever) 3.97 pitches per plate appearance - over the league average of 3.77. He faced 12 batters in his start. Assuming for 28 batters over a seven inning appearance, Chamberlain is throwing on average six more pitches than other starters.

That doesn't sound like a lot, but it's six more opportunities for a team to put a ball into play. It's also likely that someone not used to going more than two innings is going to have a higher average per plate appearance (his first start was 5.17 per plate appearance). While Chamberlain may straighten this out somewhat, Yankees fans will be foolish to expect him to be a dominant starter. He might turn into a good one, but you can get away with being a reliever with one or two dominant pitches - you can't get away with being a starter with fewer than three good pitches.

I for one, as a Sox fan, want to thank Hank Steinbrenner for taking their best reliever out of the pen so he can help the team only once every five days (and I think that it's likely to be a much lower average than that as this plays out).

For Yankees fans offended by this post - consider the following. Chamberlain has 39 career relief appearances. In those appearances he is 3-1 with 20 holds, 12 this season alone with one of his three wins. His only loss was in the start. That means that he had a hand in 13 of the Yankees 28 wins. That translates into a positive impact once every 4.5 games this season, but it also translates into a hand in almost 50 percent of the teams' wins. With approximately 21 starts left in the season, if he stays healthy, and assuming the team wins half his starts (giving him the benefit of the doubt that he will go 10-6 with 6 no decisions), that becomes a positive impact approximately in one out of every ten starts.

Yup, that's the sort of baseball IQ I like to see from the Yankees.

Substandard...

Sox phenom Justin Masterson finally had a mediocre start, giving up four runs in six innings. Masterson in his first two starts on the major league level has been lights out - so much so that the four runs he gave up last night failed to nudge his ERA over 3.00 (2.95). Still, Masterson secured his second major league win with what, so far, appears to be a substandard start for him.

Boston's Russian-Roulette bullpen managed to find the empty chamber and not shoot the team in the head last night, and the hitting came up big during Life Without Papi.

Nicked...

In light of the recent revelation that Nick Kaczur was nailed for illegally buying prescription pain killers, and the recent signing of veteran offensive tackle Oliver Ross, one has to wonder if Kaczur is short for the team. Generally considered by scouts to be the weakest starter on the O-line, Kaczur did himself no favors getting nailed by the Feds in April.

Pure Joy and other musings

There's a lot of talk about the right way to play the game - whether football, baseball, basketball, hockey, or whatever else out there people play. I've noted before in this space that when I was growing up that Pete Rose was the example.

Rose was a hard-nosed, blue-collar sort of player. He never took a play off, he didn't walk around the bases. Even on a home run, he ran down the line. He played every game like it was going to be the last time he was going to be allowed to step onto a field. Charlie Hustle brought an intensity to the game that few did. He played the game with love and respect. The Red Sox had Fred Lynn and Carlton Fisk - both of whom played with a similar intensity.

We used to say that these men played the game the "right way."

But that isn't the only way that is the "right" one.

There are others.

Manny Ramirez does not bring the intensity that those competitors did. At times he has infuriating and confounding lapses of concentration. But the man demonstrates a pure joy in playing the game. He revels in it.

We call it Manny being Manny, but its the Red Sox' man-child playing the game with the same sort of excitement as a five-year old child finding his first bicycle under the Christmas tree. He laughs, he jokes with the crowd, he slaps a high five with a fan at the outfield wall before doubling the runner off with a cannon throw back to the infield. He might be the best pure hitter I've ever seen.

Better than Yaz, Wade Boggs, or even the inimitable Tony Gwynn. There is a certain effortlessness to his swing, born, I suspect, of the joy with which he approaches the game.

It is as much the right way to play the game as the approach of Rose, Fisk, and Lynn. And it's part of the reason that Ramirez hit his 500th homer this weekend.

Big Papi...

The buzz in the national press is that the Red Sox are in trouble with the wrist injury to David Ortiz. They might be - but I think the bullpen woes have been a bigger problem than being without Ortiz for a month...or the remainder of the year, for that matter...will be.

The Sox have an enormous amount of depth - both in the line-up, and in the starting rotation - but pitchers that were lights out in the pen last year, are a crap-shoot this year.

Can they replace Ortiz's production? Maybe.

But I wouldn't be surprised, if he's lost for the season, to see the Sox make a run at someone like Junior Griffey, or even Adam Dunn in an effort to replace the production if they are unable to do it from within.

Of all the teams in the East, only the Sox are well enough stocked in minor league talent to pull something like that off.

1980's Redux

It's official.

The NBA finals are Lakers-Celtics. Three of the major players in the conference finals were three of the big players (including Detroit) from the 1980's.

I will admit - I was certain this was going to seven games before this game, and when the Celts coughed up the lead in the third quarter with some shabby play, it reinforced my belief that was the way the series was going.

It was nice to see the Celtics stick the dagger in. Paul Pierce was an absolute beast in the fourth quarter, taking over the game and refusing to lose. Maybe in that down time between the third and fourth quarters he thought back to all those seasons that he spent on losing squads.

Now the Celtics renew an old rivalry.

The Lakers and Celtics are the two most dominant teams in the history of the NBA, accounting for 30 of 61 possible titles. After this series, either way, they will account for half of all the titles in the NBA - either the Celtics will be at 17, or the Lakers will be at 15.

In all honesty - I'm rooting for the Celtics, but I think this is the Lakers' year. To make a football correlation - L.A. has looked energized lately, much like the Giants did in the playoffs. Boston, on the other hand, has been much like their football counterpart - the Patriots. Like the Pats, the Celts alternately looked tired, dominating, or passable in each post-season series approaching the finals.

The team has the ability to win the series. But do they still have the legs?

Go Celtics.

Composure

When I coached I was adamant with my kids - don't bitch about the officiating. Period.

I didn't want to hear it, and the officials sure as hell didn't want to hear it. I used to tell the kids that complaining about the officiating was the coach's prerogative - because, while annoying, I could live with it if I garnered us a 15-yard penalty. If one of my players cost the team by getting a 15 called on him for complaining to an official, then he was getting benched.

I only note this for Rasheed Wallace's skewed grip on reality as demonstrated in his profanity laced tirade about the called penalties and people flopping all over the place in Wednesday's game.

It's funny in as much the Pistons were regularly mugging Paul Pierce and not getting called. The refs gave the Pistons a gift flagrant against the C's P.J. Brown early in the game. The Pistons went to the line for 38 foul shots to the Celtics 30.

Wallace is only the tip of the ice-berg.

Detroit has made it to six consecutive conference finals. They've been there before. Which is what makes Wallace's teammates whining about the pleasantries between him and Kevin Garnett before and after each game puzzling.

While I'm sure they think they're trying to set an attitude throughout the team - all they're really doing is creating (at least the appearance of) a rift in the locker room.

Do his teammates really think that Wallace isn't playing his ass off from tip to horn? Do they expect him to put up Kevin Garnett numbers? Do they think that he should be able to completely neutralize Garnett? Garnett, the defensive player of the year, hasn't been able to neutralize Wallace.

The things happening in the Pistons locker-room are not indicative of a team that thinks it's going to win. Rather, it's indicative of a team looking for a scapegoat...reasons why they lost, rather than preparing for a game to win.

Don't get me wrong. I still feel as though Detroit is an extraordinarily dangerous team to the Celtics, and that they have a very good chance of winning given the fact that the Celtics have demonstrated time and again in these playoffs that they just don't have the cajones to go for the jugular when they have their opponents' backs to the wall.

But this is ridiculous.

Through every level of athletics I have participated in, I have had friends on opposing teams - youth, high school, college, club. On every level I have talked to those people before and/or after the games. Sometimes I've gone and a had a beer with them afterwards. Never have I gone easy because they guy I was against was someone I knew. If anything, I've typically been more intense if I've been matched up against a friend.

And I'm not getting paid.

I have a hard time believing that Wallace might be going easy on Garnett just because they're friends.

Unconvincing

It was nice to see the Celtics go ahead in the series with a 3-2 lead, but C's fans shouldn't be comfortable with that win. There was a lot of good to go with a lot of bad - let's take a look at the bad first...

The Celtics appear to lack a killer instinct. Up by 17 in the third quarter, the team got sloppy in the fourth, letting the Pistons get as close as one with little more than a minute to play. This didn't happen due to sterling play by the Pistons. Not to take anything away from Detroit, which capitalized when the Celtics got sloppy. And boy, was Boston a mess - passing in to traffic (Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett) when they had open jump shots, passing to the other team (Garnett), and turning over the ball with thoughtless penalties.

The fourth quarter was ugly and should inspire no confidence in Celtics fans.

The good? Ray Allen looked like...well, Ray Allen for the first time in the playoffs. Allen shot 60 percent and scored 29 points. Garnett, while having trouble protecting the ball at times, put up 33 points. But Kendrick Perkins might have been the biggest difference-maker for the Celtics.

Perkins played like a man possessed. Perkins had a double-double, putting up 18 points, had 16 rebounds (11 on the defensive boards), two steals, and two blocked shots.

I can't help but think that they need to close this out in Detroit, because a win in game seven is nowhere near a gimme.

Staying with the playoffs, I just need to comment on the following statement regarding the ending of the Lakers-Spurs playoff game -

"With the benefit of instant replay, it appears a foul should have been called," NBA spokesman Tim Frank said.

It took the league instant-freakin'-replay to figure out that one player landing on top of another constitutes a foul?! I'm sure that statement is a great consolation to Spurs fans everywhere. The Lakers get away with a blatant foul on an 87 percent free-throw shooter as time expires while up by only two. I keep hearing how the refs shouldn't decide the games, but let's face it, if they're not going to call that as time expires, then why shouldn't players body check shooters at the ends of playoff games? I commend the NBA for admitting the mistake - but trying to claim, by saying ""With the benefit of instant replay," that it was call that easily could have been missed...well that's just embarrassing and disgraceful.

Wind Sprints...

The Red Sox are suffering from Celtic syndrome - they're having trouble buying a win on the road lately. Road Warriors they're not. At least not so far this season.

I've decided that a good knuckleballer is the equivalent of pitching Russian roulette. Sure, a good one wins more than he loses, but there's always that one start that's like the bullet in the chamber.

It was nice to see Manny finally break out of his home run drought. It's a shame that Mike Timlin couldn't help make it count for something.

The Celtics were absolutely brutal in Detroit the other night. I don't think they can afford another game like that in this series - even in a loss as that's the sort of game that will give the Pistons the confidence that they can take the series if it goes to seven.

The good news for the Yankees is that this time last year they had 21 wins and were already 13.5 games back, tied with the Rays for last place as opposed to 25 wins and only 6.5 games back. The bad news is that the Yanks are once again in last and this year they trail the first place Rays.

Speaking of the Rays being in first as we near June and we're almost a third of the way through the season - is that the third, or the fourth sign of the apocalypse?

Vince Young evidently considered retirement at the end of his rookie year, noting that his heart wasn't into the game. Yeah - the guy to whom they handed the keys to the kingdom admitted that he wasn't thrilled by football. He claims to have prayed really hard in order to realize that football was God's calling for him. I don't know about anybody else, but the couple of times that I saw Young play last season, he looked more like the guy whose heart wasn't in it than someone imbued with God's will.

Anyone else out there think that the Dallas Cowboys are a powder keg on the verge of exploding? Terrell Owens' internal clock has got to be ready to hit midnight, they now have Pacman, Terrence Newman recently threw Roy Williams under the bus, and the team made no secret about the fact that Wade Phillips' successor is waiting in the wings.

Recently attended a roller derby event in Frederick. While entertaining, the whole thing appeared to be slower than film I have seen of the sport dating back to the 1950's. Personally, I'm hoping the sport catches on. Nothing quite like a chick in fishnets and roller skates body checking another one in hot pants. I'm hoping that as the women gain experience that the sport becomes faster and more entertaining. Truth be told - I still am not sure how scoring worked.

Knowing when to fold 'em and other thoughts

The components of a trade speak volumes as to what scouts think of a ballplayer's worth.

For example - a key component to the trade that brought Pedro Martinez to the Red Sox was Carl Pavano. While Pavano has largely struggled in his major league career, the scouts and major league brass saw enough potential to think he could be the ace of a staff.

Jon Lester was one of the demands by the Twins in the aborted Santana trade. Peter King at SI may have summed it up best in his Monday Morning QB column when he wrote...

Minnesota wanted, if you believe the reports, either Jon Lester or Jacoby Ellsbury, along with minor-leaguers Justin Masterson, a pitcher, and Jed Lowrie, an infielder.

Lester threw a no-hitter last week. Over his past five starts, he's thrown 34.1 innings and allowed 18 hits and six earned runs. Over his past five starts, Santana has pitched 32.1 innings and allowed 37 hits and 13 earned runs. I haven't even mentioned Masterson -- who, in two emergency-duty starts after being called up from Double-A, is 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA -- or Lowrie, who beat Minnesota with a homer May 10 before being sent back to the minors.

If Santana is the mark against which Lester has to be measured this season, so far it looks like the Sox got the best of this in not trading Lester.

But I digress.

Every now and then a trade happens that should send a message to the player or players involved.

This one speaks volumes, and most of what it says is, "hang up your spikes."

According to an AP report 26-year old minor league pitcher John Odom was traded last week for ten bats. The estimated retail price of said bats - $65.50 each when purchased in bulk. In essence, the pitcher who is 9-8 in three seasons with a 3.99 career ERA in AAA (primarily short season), was traded for $655.00 worth of equipment.

Once a draft pick of the San Francisco Giants, Odom was released at the end of 2007 and his contract was not picked up by any clubs with major league affiliates. Instead, he has been playing for independent league teams since.

It's one thing to be a key component in a trade, or to be a throw in for a major leaguer - but Odom was part of a trade between two independent league teams and was traded for equipment. Hope he has a college degree.

In spite of the trade, and the fact that his career has taken him further away from the majors, Odom has remained optimistic - "I don't really care," he said Friday. "It'll make a better story if I make it to the big leagues."

That's nice, but let's face it...you're not making it to the majors.

Say Hey?

Willie Randolph survived this weekend, but let's face a basic fact - if you're going to be accusing the press of racism in the way you're being covered - you better not have a piss-poor record since the previous June 1 with some of the highest priced talent in the majors.

As of Sunday, Randolph's Mets had gone 77-81 since June 1 of last year. It's now 77-83.

He was manager of one of the worst regular season collapses in the history of the game.

His clubhouse is a mess.

Yeah, it's not like the press can't just resort to the facts of his tenure as the Mets manager as an indictment. They need to resort to racism.

For the thick ones among you, that was sarcasm.

If things keep rolling like this, the Mets have to fire Randolph.

Fond Farewell

Earlier this week actor/director/producer Sydney Pollack died from stomach cancer.

Pollack was involved in directing and acting in a number of top notch films, but I mention him here only because he was involved in the production of the recently released Leatherheads and the excellent chess film Searching for Bobby Fischer.

If you're not familiar with Pollack's work, rent a film of his this weekend in honor of his memory. He was excellent as Dustin Hoffman's agent in Tootsie (which he also directed), or if you like something a little more serious, I highly recommend Three Days of the Condor, or Absence of Malice.

Questions

Assuming Bartolo Colon gets one more start while Clay Buchholz is on the disabled list and pitches reasonably well, does Buchholz stay in the minors?

If Colon isn't the answer in the five-hole, and the Sox are concerned that Buchholz isn't progressing as hoped, then is Justin Masterson the answer?

Can too much depth in the starting rotation be a problem? Consider - Currently the rotation is Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakedfield, Jon Lester, and Colon. Waiting in the wings or coming back from injury - Masterson, Buchholz, and Curt Schilling. The beauty for Schil is that the pressure will be off if he makes it back from the DL as he'll be moved into the five slot of the rotation.

The follow up question really is, then, who's the odd man out? Matsuzaka is pitching like an ace; Beckett is struggling, but that's unlikely to last; Wake is being Wake; and Lester is pitching better than any starter without a Japanese name - which leaves whoever is taking the last spot in the rotation - that leaves a pretty solid group of four starters from which to choose.

What's the likelihood that the Celtics will go to Detroit up two games to nil? I have my concerns. The Celtics outplayed what looked like a rusty Pistons squad in game one and didn't exactly take the game running away.

What are the chances that the NFL and the NFLPA come away from their impending talks with a much needed rookie salary cap? Considering Union big-wig Kevin Mawae has publicly expressed the need for one, I think the chances are pretty good. Should be interesting, though, to see if the Union looks for a concession from the owners for something that they have already noted as one of their own needs.

The Yankees are approximately where they were a year ago this time. Can they overcome the rough start two years in a row? I have my doubts. As I've noted before, Chien-Ming Wang is pitching like the number two starter he is, but would-be ace Andy Pettitte is pitching like a 2/3, Mussina is another year older and will have a couple of winning streaks peppered with starts like his last where he couldn't get out of the first. The one bright spot in the rotation has been Darrell Rasner - who's likely to fall back to Earth and begin pitching like he has in his past trips to the majors.

That doesn't even account for a line-up whose skills are eroding with age.

The Yankees aren't the only team performing well below expectations - can Detroit and Seattle overcome their sluggish starts as well?

Are the Rays for real?