October 2007 Archives

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The UMass Lowell men's basketball team was tabbed 12th in the Northeast-10 Conference, and the UML women were ranked 10th in preseason polls released earlier today.

Head coach Ken Barer's River Hawks are coming off of a 9-18 season and 6-16 in the NE-10.

Bentley finished first in the voting by NE-10 coaches. The Falcons were 32-1 last season and advanced to the Elite Eight of the Division 2 NCAA Tournament.

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The UML women's basketball team was picked 10th in the preseason poll of NE-10 coaches. Kathy O'Neil's River Hawks finished last season with a record of 10-17 (5-17 NE-10).

Bentley was the top pick on the women's side as well as the men's. Bentley was 23-8 last season, and Southern Connecticut State, who was chosen second in the poll, won the Division 2 National Championship last season.

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Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

So, you can see from the comments on the blog here just how popular my A-Rod over Lowell stance is…no need to rehash here…just go read for yourself.

However, what you may have missed is what’s going on over at LowellSun.com. Besides plastering my mug on the top of the front page, they also made the article the Top Story online, opening it up to comments from readers. Not to mention, they ran a poll question that received 533 responses, which we believe is a record. The results; 95% want Mike Lowell…5% agree with me to bring in Alex Rodriguez.

The comments were even harsher than the results. A sampling, along with a response from me:

“You are an IDIOT!!! How many homers did A-Rod have in the Post season? Maybe you are smart enough to figure that out.”—Frank from Lisle, Illinois

You know you’ve made it big time when you’re being called an IDIOT all the way out in the Midwest.

"Keep Mike Lowell; we don’t want A-Fraud here. Nice timing of his “announcement”, wasn’t it? Leave him where he belongs or let some other team pay his hefty price tag. A lot of good he did the Yankers this year-money down the drain.”--Gretchen from South Walpole, MA

Well, at least we can agree on insulting the Yankees. Or was “Yankers” just a typo?

“I think ARod wants to be with the Red Sox so that he can bring down the Sox like he did the Yankees! Go Sox!!!—jlandry1 from Andover, MA

The conspiracy theorists chime in. Guess we’ll have to investigate whether A-Rod was the second gunman in the grassy knoll, or if he planted the bombs that brought down the World Trade Center.

“A-Rod is low class and Lowell is high class. The area needs a great role model for the children…A-Rod is NOT that person.”—willyu, No town given

Young boys listen to rap music that advocates cop killing and domestic abuse, while our little girls want to dress and act like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. And you think A-Rod is a bad influence?

“If they don’t put forth a solid effort to re-sign Lowell then I’m sure they’ll be looking for the “knockout” and sign A-Rod. That will be the last time I ever watch, listen or read about the Red Sox. Promise.”—Merrimack from Boston

Do you also promise not to cheer for him after he belts his 50th homer in a Sox uniform? Or are you one of those people who still root against Randy Moss?

“Dumb question. Lowell. He at least knows what it’s like to be in a World Series. As for A-Rod? If it’s not happening to or for A-Rod it’s just not happening. What a putz!”—Boston Born from Carrolton, Ohio

When folks are using foreign languages to disparage you, you know you’re not a popular player. Or was the comment directed towards me?

“About a year or so ago I was talking to my nephew. I made the comment that I would rather have Mike Lowell than A-FRaud. He told me to take a drug test. I still feel that way, especially after Lowell gave his best Scott Brossius imitation & nailed clutch hit after clutch hit. We now see the true side of Rodriguez with the classless way he went out of his way to disrespect the Yankees. For whatever reason he felt like hurting them or maybe getting even for all the crap he took while in pinstripes. Good riddance Alex, hope your new teammates can count on you more than we were.”—Bob E. Yankee Fan from Visalia, California

Not only is Rodriguez a special player on the field, but off it as well, able to unite Sox and Yankees fans in at least one area…their hatred of him. Oh, and if you’re one of those Yankees fans who booed A-Rod while cheering druggies and steroid cheats like Steve Howe, Darryl Strawberry, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield, you should take your nephew’s advice.

Ghosts and goblins roaming through your neighborhood means its Halloween, but it also means the high school football season is winding down and the few remaining games have huge Super Bowl implications for conference leaders.

Last weekend’s action saw Chelmsford basically eliminate Andover from the MVC title race, knocking off the Warriors 43-29 in Andover. Coach Bruce Rich’s Lions remain atop the conference with a 5-0 record, 7-1 overall.

In other league action, Billerica remained a game behind Chelmsford after a 31-7 victory over winless Haverhill. The Indians face Chelmsford on Thanksgiving Day, which looms as a huge matchup…Lowell took another one on the chin, suffering a 43-0 knockout at the hands of Central Catholic. Making matters worse, the Raiders leader, Matt Welch, will miss the rest of the season with a hand injury…and Tewksbury sank the Middies, 28-20, in a game at Dracut.

(Conference standings after the jump)

In the Dual County League, conference leading Wayland was too much for Tyngsboro, taking a 48-23 decision…Westford, on the other hand, continued to roll, trouncing Concord-Carlisle 34-7…Acton-Boxboro was also victorious, topping Bedford 30-14…There are four teams with only one loss in the conference, setting up a wild finish.

Elsewhere, Wilmington kept its Cape Ann hopes alive with a 41-12 “W” over Ipswich…Greater Lowell eked out a 21-20 victory over defending Commonwealth champ Whittier…Melrose was too much for Burlington to handle, 32-21…Ayer romped past Hudson, 42-21…and Nashoba Tech stunned Keefe Tech, 33-26.

Finally, across state lines Bishop Guertin trounced Spaulding, 54-14…Alvirne fell in double overtime to visiting Keene, 31-28…and Pelham continued its stampede through Division 5, beating Newport 28-12 to improve to 8-0.

Our Monday Night Lights Game of the Week preview on SportsTalk Live focused on Shawsheen’s upcoming contest against Lynn Tech. Click on this link to hear head coach Al Costabile and quarterback Joe Gore discuss the big conference matchup.

For Red Sox Nation, the party continues. There’s a parade to attend. Lots of overpriced World Series merchandise to purchase. Jordan’s furniture refunds to collect. Hangovers to sleep off. Court fines to pay and community service to perform for the street rioters.

A quick aside here; If I were Leo DiCaprio (King of the World…get it?) I could solve the championship celebration nuttiness in a heartbeat. Take the first drunken idiot who decides to climb a light post or overturn a car and beat him. Not too badly, mind you. Just enough to get the point across. I know it sounds a bit draconian, but the rest of the morons would disperse in a heartbeat. OK, maybe not such a good idea. Now you see why I’m on sports duty and not the crime beat.

Anyway, when the celebration does die down, the BoSox brain trust has some serious decisions to make. Is Curt Schilling worth another year or two at around $13-mil per? (I say yes) Can Coco Crisp be packaged for anything of value? (Not unless they’re looking for a Juan Epstein look-alike in a Broadway revival of Welcome Back Kotter) Where can we squeeze in more $150-a-pop seats at Fenway? (I’m sure the structural engineers can work in some perches up and down Pesky’s pole)

But the juiciest issue facing Boston’s Boys of Summer this winter is what to do at the hot corner. Should they pony up the money to re-sign Mike Lowell, or should they did even deeper into their vast pockets and try to hook the biggest fish in the free agent waters, Alex Rodriguez?

On the surface, the decision appears quite simple. There’s a lot to like about Lowell. He’s a great guy, an acknowledged leader in the clubhouse, sucks up ground balls like a vacuum cleaner at third base and has experienced a resurgence at the plate since coming to Boston. Oh yeah, he was also just named World Series MVP.

Rodriguez will soon be named American League MVP for the third time, but he’s less popular around these parts than Michael Vick at the Westminster Dog Show. He’d cost the Gross National Product of a small European country to sign. Over the last four post-seasons, he’s morphed into Alex Cora in the batter’s box. And there’s this issue of a famous “disagreement” back in 2004 with the heart and soul of the Red Sox, Jason Varitek. (Though A-Rod wasn’t exactly chummy with Derek Jeter, so what’s a rift or two with another team’s captain?)

Sounds like a grand slam that Lowell is Theo Epstein’s target, doesn’t it? Don’t be so sure.

For starters, young Mr. Epstein can be downright Belichickian when it comes to old veterans. Pedro Martinez and Johnny Damon were much more ingrained in our hearts than the current third baseman, and you see where that got them at contract time. If Lowell, who turns 34 in February, demands a longer term commitment than Theo is willing to make, he’ll be dropped faster than Bridget Moynihan after asking for a ring.

Then there’s the issue of a certain team with a potential opening at third base. If the Yankees are serious about refusing to negotiate with Rodriguez now that he’s opted out of his contract (I say they’re bluffing), you can bet they’ll go hard after Lowell, which is very likely to drive the price out of the Red Sox ballpark.

As for whether the Red Sox have legitimate interest in A-Rod; why wouldn’t they? John Henry and company have already been down that road before, willing to jettison fan favorites Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra to make room for the game’s best player.

Is the likely $30-million a year contract a deal killer? Not necessarily. Ramirez only has a year remaining on his deal, so there’s $20-million that becomes available soon. Couple the potential savings from Schilling, Lowell and Crisp with the bargain basement contributions from Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, and you can easily slot Rodriguez in without even trading Manny. (Wouldn’t that be a scary 3-4-5 in the order?)

And let’s not forget, the Sox owners are smart businessmen. They fully understand the potential financial bonanza of having a good looking, eloquent superstar making nicey-nice with corporate suits off the field while chasing Barry Bonds’ home run record on it. So he’s not exactly viewed as a golden boy right now? Wait until the Sox public relations machine gets its catcher’s mitts on him. He’ll be more popular than a beer vendor at a NASCAR race.

Where do I stand on the issue? Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit to a little bias. You know that Lowell family Rodriguez married into? They have the same blood running through their veins as a certain sportswriter who’s about to make a few new enemies.

I love Mike Lowell. I appreciate everything he’s meant to the Red Sox in his short stay here. But when you have the opportunity to acquire the best player in the game, you have to at least swing for the fences. Alex Rodriguez in a Boston uniform would be a grand slam for the organization.

Of course, they could always keep Lowell, sign A-Rod to play shortstop and unload Julio Lugo. Hey, it’s not my money!

OK gang, let's hear it! Tell me how I've lost my mind. But then give me a logical explanation how the Red Sox would be a better team with Mike Lowell at third instead of A-Rod.

Rather than the typical summary (I'm breaking form a lot today, aren't I?), I’ve decided to live blog Game 4 from the bottom of the 6th inning on. Don’t know how many of you are watching the game and reading this at the same time, but feel free to pass along your comments and maybe we’ll get a little dialogue going. If nothing else, typing my thoughts as they come to mind will keep me from talking to myself.

If things hold up, we’ll be counting down the outs to Boston’s second World Series title in four years. In the process, we’ll give you a minute-by-minute running commentary of what’s going on, complete with my typical, goofy observations.

Just click on the “read full entry” tab and keep hitting refresh every few minutes. Enjoy! And talk to me!!!

Final Score
Redskins 7
Patriots 52

View from Mt. Olympus: Enough with the exhibition games. Bring on the Colts!

We’re going to break with format again and skip the Quality Quotes and Shining Stars section of this game recap. After all, when you beat up on a pretty good Joe Gibbs coached team this badly, you might as well hand out stars on the forehead to the entire roster, coaching staff, front office and even the cheerleaders. Instead, I’m going to touch on a couple of items, one of which is going to tick off a lot of Pats fans. But we’ll save that for later.

First, you have to love Tom Brady’s intensity. Did you see him go nuts and scream a bleepin’ expletive after that false start penalty? You know, the one that came in the 4th quarter of a 38-0 game? This is a guy who’s clearly not going to let the team he quarterbacks relax, even for an instant. If you think this team is going to forget about going undefeated and shift into a lower gear later in the season, just go back to that image of a ticked off Brady after a totally meaningless penalty and you’ll realize how faulty a premise that is.

As for the perfection thing, I believe it all comes down to next Sunday. Beat the Colts, and I think we’re going to see the first 16-0 team in NFL history. However, I’m not as confident as most New Englanders are about beating Indy. The defending Super Bowl champs have been just as impressive as the Patriots, even if they aren’t winning by as big a margin. Peyton Manning seems to have finally gotten “it,” sacrificing personal stats to establish a running game and ball control for the good of the team. The other thing to remember is that this rivalry has turned into Sox-Yankees. Basically, there’s no fear on either side. Both teams know they can beat the other. They’re not going to be intimidated no matter where the game takes place. It should be a classic. Like I said, I don’t know who wins, but I do know it’s probably going to be the highest rated television game in regular season history. I can’t wait!

Is anyone paying attention to what’s going on in San Francisco? The 49ers, after winning their first two games, have lost 5 in a row and appear to be regressing badly. They are currently in a 4-way tie for the 5th worst record in the NFL. Why do I bring this up? Well, because the Patriots own San Fran’s 1st round draft pick (they lost their own in Spygate). As of today, New England would pick somewhere between 5th and 8th in the first round. Tell me that isn’t a scary thought for the rest of the league.

Finally, the negative I alluded to earlier; I think Bill Belichick is getting awfully close to crossing the line between winning with dignity and winning without class. I didn’t have a problem with Tom Brady returning to the Dolphins game last week. I agree with the coach wholeheartedly that the game was in danger had Matt Cassel stayed in and turned the ball over once more. However, there was absolutely no need to go for it on 4th down in a 38-0 game, and to have Brady continuously throwing the ball on that drive against the Redskins. And there certainly wasn’t any need to be going for it on 4th down of a 45-0 game. The Redskins didn’t really make a big deal of it, so hopefully it doesn’t become a point of emphasis for the national media. I know most of you probably disagree with me and also realize there’s going to be a large chunk of the population outside New England that hates the Pats simply because people like to take down the top dog. But I love this team and I think there’s something historically special about it. It’s a shame if any classless acts, real or imagined, take away from the recognition the Patriots deserve and have rightfully earned.

That’s the view from here…how did you see it? Were the Patriots running up the score? Is the rest of the football world justified in turning Belichick’s boys into villains? How do you see the Pats-Colts game playing out?

World Series Game 3 Observations:

***Get the bubbly on ice. Dust off the champagne glasses and run them through the dishwasher. There’s going to be a celebration tonight at Coors Field, and a certain Rocky Mountain beer is not invited.

So much for the Mile High factor, losing Kevin Youkilis’ bat, and any other prayer the Rockies were hoping got answered. No matter where they’re played or under what conditions, baseball games are still won by pitching and timely hitting. And no objective analysis of this series (not that I’m totally objective) could come to any other conclusion than the Red Sox are a far superior team to Colorado in those categories. When you’re handing the ball to Josh Fogg with your season basically on the line, you’re not in good shape.

***Meet Jacoby Ellsbury, your center fielder and leadoff hitter for the next decade. They say speed kills, but what they really mean is speed that gets on base kills. This kid gets it, and is in for a fine career. Hard to believe he was playing at LeLacheur Park just two short years ago.

***It’s nice to see the much maligned players coming up big when it counts. J.D. Drew already was granted his forgiveness, and now we can also ease up on Julio Lugo and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Lugo has hit well in the World Series and with a big game tonight could legitimately stake a claim to series MVP because of his big defensive plays in Game 3. Dice-K also came up huge, just as I believed he would if he could just settle down and pound the strike zone. His stuff is far too good for such mediocre results. I’m very happy for him after reading how dejected he looked after the Game 3 loss in Cleveland. I only wish Eric Gagne could get to experience one of those moments.

***Speaking of Gagne, I’ve said it before…I’ll say it again. I don’t care how poorly the Canadian import is pitching, there still isn’t a circumstance known to mankind where I’d rather see Javier Lopez trotting out of the bullpen before the goggled one. Seriously Tito, Gagne at least gets an out here or there and tosses 1-2-3 innings in blowouts. When was the last time Lopez DIDN’T give up runs? Thankfully, it doesn’t matter any more.

***If you believe in karma, then you just know cancer survivor Jon Lester is going to toss six solid innings tonight and become the winning pitcher the night the Red Sox clinched their second World Series in 4-years.

***And finally, a pet peeve of mine. When they do record the final out, a part of me is going to cringe when the announcers refer to the Red Sox as World Champions. You will never see me type those words or speak them about any USA sports league’s winner. I don’t even refer to the Super Bowl Champions as World Champions despite us being the only country that plays the damn sport. As we’ve found out recently in basketball and at the World Baseball Classic, the term “World Champions” should be reserved for teams that win international tournaments open to ALL comers.

So please, raise a glass with me later on tonight (or early tomorrow morning) and toast the Boston Red Sox, 2007 World Series Champions.

Posted by Gayle Simone, Sun Staff

First I would like to disclose that I was at the Bruins game the night of Game 5 in the ALCS and I was at the Bruins game on the night the Sox hosted the Rockies for Game 2 of the World Series and I was at the Garden today for the Bruins game against Philly. (Teddy - do you still want to kidnap me and force me into counseling?)

Anyway, the first two games proved to be excellent games all around - both resulted in wins for the Black and Gold and the second had Zdeno Chara dropping the gloves for the first time in a Bruins uniform.

The third game started off great, but with 3:53 left to play in the opening stanza - the game dramatically changed for this Bruins fan.

Patrice Bergeron was hit from behind into the boards by Flyers D-man Randy Jones.

Bergeron simply crumbled to the ice and did not move as Jones continued to pursue the puck. It took a few moments for the refs and players to realize Bergeron was not moving. I think I was as motionless as Bergeron was. Sitting in the stands directly above where the hit took place all I could see was Bergeron's skates - and they were not moving.

Play was stopped for 15-minutes as medical personnel worked on the 22-year-old center; cutting away his jersey and shoulder pads before strapping him to a backboard and lifting him on a gurny.

With his legs taped together and his arms folded across his chest; Bergeron was led across the ice with his teammates showing support by skating along side him and tapping their sticks. Both Bruins and Flyers fans showed their support by standing and cheering for the young center. Jones was given the gate with a 5-minute boarding major and a game misconduct.

That was it for me, I could barely get excited for the penalty shot Phil Kessel was awarded in the second period - which he did not score on.
All I could was scroll my Blackberry looking for updates on Bergeron, in between phone calls from friends and family asking if it was a clean hit or not. For the record, I personally think it was a dirty hit. Bergeron was clearly facing the boards and Jones left his feet.

The Bruins fell to the Flyers 2-1; but honestly I could have cared less - all I wanted was updates on Bergeron.

My spirits finally started to lift after reading the statement from Dr. Bertram Zarins:

“After initially losing consciousness on the ice, Patrice has regained consciousness and has been taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where he is undergoing a series of tests.

We will continue to monitor Patrice and await the final results of his medical studies."

No doubt about it, Bergeron was very lucky the concussion and broken nose was all he suffered for injuries and no doubt his family, teammates and fans will rejoice in knowing the young center is going to be Okay.

As for Jones, he issued this statement while the game was still ongoing:

“Words really can't express the way that I feel right now,” Jones said. “I am very apologetic for the hit and what I did. It was not intentional. It is something that I have never done before and it is not part of my character. I am extremely sorry. I hope he does OK and everything works out for him. I wish him nothing but the best in his recovery.”

Best wishes to Bergeron and his family for a speedy recovery from this Bruins fan.

Now that this Bruins fan can breathe a sigh of relief, I'd like to get back to Chara's fight against Chicago's David Koci.

Chara took exception to Koci poking at Tim Thomas after the Bruins netminder covered the puck in front of the crease.

Koci had his nose broken last week when he exchanged punches with Toronto's Wade Belak. Chara not only reshattered Koci's nose; the 6-foot, 9-inch defenseman split open Koci's forhead as well. The Garden ice crew literally had to scrape the blood off the ice before play could be resumed.

As for the rest of the game, Phil Kessel undressed Chicago's defense twice with beautiful moves before beating Blackhawk goalie Nikolai Khabibulin for his fourth and fifth goals in the young hockey season.

It may still only be the first month of the hockey season but the Bruins are off to a good start with a record of 6-4-0 and sitting in second place behind Ottawa in the Eastern Division.
The Black and Gold are 3-1 at home and 3-3 on the road. Next up - Buffalo, who is struggling this year after losing Chris Drury and Daniel Briere to free agency, comes to town Thursday night. The Sabres are 4-5-0 thus far and are in last place in the Eastern Division.

Have the Bruins intrigued your interest enough to watch a few games, once the World Series is over? I can say after watching every game and being at three of the first four home games - this is not the same team that was on the ice last year. This team is harder to play against and fun to watch.

We haven’t posted one of these in a while, what with all the serious stuff going on around us…the World Series…a perfect NFL team…the #2 team in College Football…you know, stuff like that.

Anyway, I thought this might be a good time to draw your attention to a couple of items from the lighter side of the sports world that I found while scrolling through my 2nd favorite internet site:

-A Long Island mother was charged with reckless endangerment for hitting her daughter’s soccer coach with a folding chair. (Somewhere, George “The Animal” Steele is smiling) The woman was angered because the 67-year old coach stopped emailing her directions to the games. (That’s why I always respond to email)

-A Rockies fan so badly wants to take his son to a World Series game, he’s offering up his entire Playboy Magazine collection (25-years worth, in mint condition) for a pair of tickets. Two thoughts here; 1) how do you keep 25-years worth of Playboy in mint condition and 2) at Fenway, that wouldn’t even buy you a parking space, never mind a pair of tickets.

-You thought Heath Shuler was a stiff as an NFL Quarterback? Shuler was intercepted twice and his team was shutout in a football game between Congress and the Capitol Police. Seriously. Upon hearing the news, Drew Bledsoe decided to run for office, figuring he’d finally found the one QB controversy he could win. (OK, so I made the Bledsoe part up)

We’re a little delayed with The Victim’s picks today because our peerless pigskin prognosticator is off at Mohegan Sun betting the Breeder’s Cup. He claims to have hit 4-of-5 races he bet on Friday and 2-of-4 races Saturday at the time he checked in with his football selections. Not a bad performance with the ponies, assuming of course, he’s not making it all up…LOL!

Can our fearless football forecaster stay as hot picking the NFL’s stallions? Let’s find out:

Indianapolis (-6 ½) over Carolina
Miami (+9 1/2) over NY Giants
New England (-16 ½) over Washington

(The Monday night pick will be presented during SportsTalk Live. Due to technical issues, we didn’t get to air The Victim’s selection last Monday, but he did pick the Colts to cover at Jacksonville, so I’ve chalked that up in the win column for him.)

Last Week: 2-3
Season Record: 18-16-2
Monday Night Record: 5-2-1

Lost in the Red Sox and Patriots craziness is an amazing story developing over at The Heights.

Boston College is the 2nd ranked team in NCAA Football, a lofty perch the Eagles never soared to even in the golden days of Doug Flutie. They have a quarterback, Matt Ryan, who might very well win the Heisman Trophy. And if they win out, they’re very likely to play in the BCS title game.

A lot of people probably missed, or stopped clicking over to (that would be me), last night’s game at Virginia Tech, figuring BC was done when facing a 10-0 deficit in the final minutes of a sloppily played contest, held in the middle of a rain storm. However, I’ll bet a lot of you (me included) were scrambling for the clicker when the blurb came on during the Sox game that the Eagles has won 14-10.

I clicked over the ESPN just in time to catch the beginning of SportsCenter. What I saw was Ryan channeling Flutie Magic and scrambling all over the wet turf to toss a pair of late game TD’s. An improbable onside kick recovery was sandwiched between the scores, giving it all a feel of one of those games we’ll be talking about decades from now.

Too bad it kind of got lost in the shuffle.

So what do you think, gang? Do the Eagles really have a chance at the National Championship? Will Ryan win the Heisman? And with such a surprisingly strong anti-BC sentiment out there, is this something the entire region can rally behind?

World Series Game 2 Observations:

***The Sox head to the left coast with a 2-0 series lead, and the very real possibility that this series doesn’t come back to Fenway. A lot is being made about Boston losing a bat thanks to the no DH rule. Funny, but I don’t recall it being much of a hindrance when they swept the Cardinals in 2004, and St. Louis was a much better team than these Rockies. Remember; Josh Beckett is going in Game 5, so a win by either Dice-K or Lester pretty much guarantees Jonathan Papelbon won’t be doing his Riverdance on the Fenway infield, unless it’s part of the victory parade.

***Does Curt Schilling know how to rise to the occasion or what? I don’t care that he doesn’t throw the ball 95mph anymore. I don’t care that he doesn’t intimidate the opposition anymore. The man knows how to win in the playoffs, and even in this time of transition, he’s 3-0 in the post-season. He’s going to get his $13-million (or more) somewhere next year. I really hope it’s here.

***By the way, the only run Colorado did manage was tainted as far as I’m concerned. Major League Baseball has to do something about guys sitting on top of the plate and earning a free base for getting hit by a pitch that could be a strike. Sure, Schilling’s pitch to Willie Taveras was high, but it caught a nice chunk of home plate and Taveras’ hands were in the strike zone. The only thing you should be rewarded with in a case like that is a broken hand.

***What a performance by Hideki Okajima. The “other” Japanese free agent gobbling up multiple innings at a time, innings Eric Gagne was supposed to help with, was the key to the Game 2 victory in my eyes.

***Rockies rooters hoping the thin air and a change of scenery change the dynamic of the series, I have a question; do you have faith in Josh Fogg and Aaron Cook shutting down Boston’s bats? I didn’t think so!

That’s how I see it…what’s your view?

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The Boston Celtics announced today that the team has requested waivers on guards Dahntay Jones and Jackie Manuel. The training camp roster now stands at 14.

Jones appeared in six preseason games (averages: 2.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, 8.6 minutes) after signing as a free agent on September 26.

Manuel, who signed as a free agent on August 2, appeared in five preseason games (averages: 1.0 point, 4.6 minutes).

Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said earlier in the preseason that the ideal number of players for the team to keep would probably be 14, allowing the Celtics to pick up a player during the season if needed. Center Esteban Batista was released last week.

The Celtics host the Cleveland Cavaliers tomorrow night at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

I thought you folks might get a kick out of what they're thinking in Denver after the Game 1 debacle for the Rockies.

Our sister paper, The Denver Post, has the World Series completely blanketed from the Colorado side, with articles galore, interactive sections and a blog. After thoroughly digesting our coverage, you might want to head on over and see what the word is from the opposing side. (Click here) (here's the link to their Rockies blog) You'll notice that their comments pages and blogs have already been infiltrated by Red Sox Nation.

Here's just a quick sampling of what's out there:

"You could see the fear on the face of every Rockie and the arrogance, used in the good sense, of every player on the Sox."--Adamsjjw

"This series is over. The Rox looked shellshocked last night and are over their heads in this series. There isn’t a pitcher on the staff that can fool the Red Sox hitters."--Joe

"For all you doom and gloomers remember: (1) It’s a seven game series. (2) The Rox will compete tonight (and hit Schilling). (3) Beckett can’t pitch every game. (4) Once the series comes to Denver, the Sox will have to lose the DH or play a defensively poor player (Ortiz) to keep him in the line-up. (5) This team has heart, soul, and cajones…they will bounce back. The BoSox fans have earned the right to brag today. Their team played well and our pitching was weak. They have history on their side (whoopeee). We have MOJO!"--Bobby

Feel free to let them know how you feel. And when you get there, make sure you tell them we sent ya!

World Series Game 1 Observations:

***So much for Colorado’s hot streak. An 8-day layoff and a trip to the big boys league certainly cooled off the Rockies, didn’t it? Though I don’t think every night will be this easy, I do believe the Red Sox are a far superior team than their National League counterparts.

The pitching matchups all either favor Boston or are a tossup at best. As any good fantasy baseball owner will tell you, Colorado’ supposedly fearsome lineup isn’t as scary away from their mile high home. Unless the Sox completely collapse, I don’t see any scenario that has this series going longer than 5-games, with a sweep a very real possibility. Of course, I thought the same thing against the Indians, so take that for what it’s worth.

***Move over Reggie Jackson. There’s a new “Mr. October” and his name is Josh Beckett. No, he wasn’t the star of the game because of all the offense, but he would have been had he needed to be. Striking out the side in the first set the tone for the night, if not the series. Beckett’s in such a groove right now, no lineup is going to touch him and you can pencil Boston in for a win every time he heads to the mound.

Chew on these numbers: 33-innings, 35-K's, 2-Walks for the Sox ace this post-season. That's dominance!

***Any doubts about whether Jon Lester would start Game 4 were pretty much erased with Beckett being left in to pitch the 6th and 7th innings despite a 13-1 lead.

***As long as Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis are setting the table like they have been since Game 5 in Cleveland, the offense will continue to roll. It’s just too much for a pitcher, especially a National League hurler, to deal with having men constantly on base ahead of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. Even if the Dominican Destroyers aren’t bashing the ball, they’re going to work the count and draw walks, which makes the likes of Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek and J.D. Drew dangerous as well.

***Am I the only one who caught what Tim McCarver said in the 8th inning when Matt Holliday was at the plate? Something about "the bigger you are the longer the stroke." Tell me I didn't hear that correctly, because there's no possible way Joe Buck could have heard that and not busted a gut laughing.

That's how I see it...what's your view?

It’s been widely believed (and widely hoped for on this site) that Alex Rodriguez would opt out of his contract with the New York Yankees and test the free agency waters at the conclusion of the World Series. However, a source close to the soon-to-be AL MVP tells TheSunBlog he’s “betting on the 3rd baseman staying with the Yankees.”

The Yanks have made it known they won’t offer a deal should Rodriguez opt out of his contract, which the Texas Rangers pay a large portion of. New York had hoped to work out an extension before A-Rod exercised his out clause and began shopping his services to the rest of the league.

Agent Scott Boras is throwing around numbers in the $30-million a year for 10-years neighborhood. For the Yankees to get Rodriguez’ signature on an extension, they’d likely have to find a way to balance things out since they’re currently paying much less than that on the 10-years, $250-million deal A-Rod signed with Texas.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The Minnesota Celtics (Timberwolves) completed a deal to send a pair of former Celtics to Miami Heat in exchange for another former Celtic.

Rick Alonzo of the St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting that the Timberwolves have traded Ricky Davis and Mark Blount to the Miami Heat and will receive Antoine Walker, Michael Doleac, Wayne Simien and a conditional first-round pick.

Miami Heat head coach Pat Riley criticized Walker publicly earlier this preseason for his poor conditioning.

The Celtics traded Davis and Blount to the Timberwolves in January of 2006 in the trade that brought Wally Szczerbiak, Michael Olowokandi and Dwyane Jones to Boston.

Walker landed with the Heat in August of 2005 after his second stint with the Celtics. He was part of a sign-and-trade deal involving five teams.

-The Game of the week saw Westford down Tyngsboro, 27-12, in a Dual County League showdown. The win keeps the Grey Ghosts alive in the DCL title hunt. Westford is in a 3-way tie for second place with a 3-1 conference record, a half game behind 4-1 Wayland.

-Acton-Boxboro, also 3-1 in the DCL, was knocked out of first place thanks to a 14-13 overtime home loss against Lincoln-Sudbury (3-1). The Colonials could have tied the game in OT with a PAT, but went for the 2-point conversion and were stuffed…a gutsy call by head coach Bill Maver that backfired.

-In games involving MVC teams, Billerica rebounded from a tough loss in Dracut by upending St. John’s Prep. The Indians (3-1) sit in 3rd place behind Chelmsford (4-0) and Andover (4-1).

(Conference Standings after the jump)

-The Warriors destroyed Lowell, 34-0 in a game that saw Red Raiders QB Matt Welch go down with a dislocated finger on his throwing hand.

-In other MVC action, it was Tewksbury over Central Catholic (30-27)…Dracut in a much closer than anticipated final (20-14) over Haverhill…and Chelmsford in a romp over Methuen (28-0)

-Dracut tackles Tewksbury this weekend, and Middies Head Coach Patrick Murphy joined us for the opening segment of SportsTalk Live last night to discuss the contest. (Listen here)

-Shawsheen Tech continued to roll, 20-0 over defending CAC Large School Champion Whittier. The Rams are now 6-1 on the season.

-Other local winners included Greater Lowell over Lynn Tech (28-21)…Austin Prep over Cardinal Spellman (38-8)…Bedford over Newton-South (6-0)…Littleton over Maynard (46-6)…Concord-Carlisle over Boston Latin (14-0)…Wilmington over Triton Regional (7-3)…Burlington over Belmont (47-21)…Ayer over Narragansett Regional (28-20).

Some toys to chew on while wondering if Ellen DeGeneres’ hairdresser has recovered from the trauma. No, not the fact they took the dog away, but the fact people now know she’s the one responsible for Ellen’s hairstyle;

I’ll take 24 more players who care as little about winning and losing as Manny Ramirez does any day of the week. Question for the Manny bashers out there; do you really think the best right-handed hitter of this generation just shows up and produces those gaudy numbers? You don’t maintain that level of excellence without working extremely hard at your craft, which in my mind translates into caring very much.

Giving pep talks to fans over the airways…throwing out the first pitch in Game 7 of the ALCS while still a member of the Orioles. Has there ever been an athlete who loved playing in a city more than Kevin Millar loved playing in Boston? I still can’t, for the life of me, understand how people used to boo someone who enjoyed being a citizen of Red Sox Nation so much.

However, I can understand how his current team in Baltimore might not find Mr. Cowboy Up’s antics so amusing. I’m guessing that boss-employee relationship is about to turn more sour than the Karla Brooks Baehr-William Samaras union.

Congratulations Major League Baseball. You now have three games scheduled in Denver at the end of October. That’s the same Denver that’s already seen 1-3 inches of snow. Serves you right for A) stretching out your schedule so far into the Fall and B) awarding a team to Colorado in the first place, especially without the promise of a domed stadium.

How slow was Paul Byrd’s fastball before he started taking HGH?

Those who’ve paid attention are aware I’ve made some pretty foolish statements in the past (Dice-K for Cy Young anyone?), but I don’t think I’ve ever been more wrong about an athlete than I was about Dustin Pedroia. The guy who looks like everybody’s kid brother not only can hit in the majors, but has just enough pop to steal a game or two with a homer like he did in Game 7 against Cleveland.

Speaking of players I’ve been wrong about, I keep telling myself not to make any more Randy Moss references for a while because they’re starting to get redundant. Then “The Freak” goes out and makes another one of those “did he really just do what I think he just did” plays. In Miami, we saw a pair of them; the leaping grab over the shoulder of the defenders and the one-handed catch of a 50-yard pass while being bumped, held and spun around.

Tell me he doesn’t remind you of that older, physically superior relative who played keepaway from all the little kids at family outings.

Don’t you get the impression Bill Belichick is going to make sure Tom Brady breaks Peyton Manning’s single season touchdown record no matter how soon the Patriots clinch everything there is to clinch? It’s almost as if the coach told his star QB;

“Sorry about hanging you out to dry last year, Tommy Boy. For being such a good team guy and not ripping those stiffs in the press, how about we go out and sign the two best free agent receivers available, trade for a future Hall of Famer, then go out and erase that Frankenstein looking guy from the record books. Just get me prime seats to the Victoria’s Secret Christmas Fashion Show and we’ll call it even, OK?”

Red Sox vs. Indians ALCS Game 7 Observations:

***That was a little more nerve wracking than it needed to be. Time and time again, the Sox let Jake Westbrook off the hook, and it almost came back to haunt them. I can’t believe it, but I actually was glad when Eric Wedge took him out and brought in the previously untouchable Rafael Betancourt. Westbrook had settled into an almost unhittable groove (how on earth does Jake Westbrook become unhittable?) and the best thing that could have happened was getting him out of there, regardless of who was brought in.

***Don’t think I’ve ever been as wrong about a player as I was about Dustin Pedroia. The little man can indeed hit in the majors, and he has some pop, to boot. What a clutch, clutch home run that was, just when the Tribe had seized all the momentum.

***The old baseball adage “speed kills” was proven once again when Jacoby Ellsbury hit that ball (before Pedroia’s homer) to Casey Blake. I’m convinced Blake made the error because he was trying to rush the play (Ellsbury probably would have beaten it out anyway). That’s why it’s so important to make contact when you’re a speed player. It’s the reason Ellsbury is going to be a very good player in this league, while Coco Crisp, who is probably just as fast as Ellsbury, is destined to be a career defensive replacement. (the way Crisp plays center, he could end up being the greatest defensive replacement in the history of the game...LOL!)

***Can’t overstate how huge the blowout in Game 6 was, allowing Terry Francona to rest Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon one more day and allow them to pitch multiple innings Sunday. Would you have trusted Mike Timlin or Manny Delcarmen in a deciding game? And no, I didn’t want to see Josh Beckett, either. Not that I don’t think he COULD do it, but you never want to take someone out of their element if you don’t HAVE to do it.

***Am I the only one concerned about guys continuously making solid contact against Jonathan Papelbon?

***Now that my quest to run Crisp out of the lineup is complete (it better be!), it’s time to get Julio Lugo’s fanny on the bench. It took longer than with the Cereal Killer, but I’ve come around on the “get Alex Cora in there” movement. I don’t care how bad Cora hits, he can’t be worse than Lugo, and the improvement in the field alone is worth it. What on earth was Theo thinking bringing in a Tampa Devil Ray?

***But enough negativity…World Series, here we come!

P.S. Don't worry too much about the Rockies. I don't care how hot they are, they'll have had over a week off and will face Josh Beckett in Game 1. Not to mention, Boston is a better team.

That's the view from here...how did you see it?

Final Score
Patriots 49
Dolphins 28

View from Mt. Olympus: Add another blowout to the tally sheet! (For the record, I typed this sentence at 1:16 pm…right after Cleo Lemons’ fumble was recovered by the Pats)

Seriously, what else is there to say? I could sit here every week and follow the format, but it’s all repetitive at this point. So for this week, we’ll forget Shining Stars and just make some comments expressing my thoughts as I watched the Miami Massacre:

A few friends and relatives commented about how it’s almost boring to watch the Pats now. On the contrary, this is what sports is all about; the quest for perfection. I said it a few weeks ago, and it’s looking more valid every week; we are watching history in the making. The last time I saw anything close to this was 1986, when the Celtics used to toy with the opposition. Brady to Moss is like watching Bird and Walton see who could outdo the other with a no-look, backdoor pass. Enjoy the show.

Brady IS going to break Peyton Manning’s record. In fact, I think Bill Belichick is encouraging it as sort of a makeup gesture for saddling his QB with no help last year. When they flashed the stat that Tom Terrific had already topped last year’s 24-TD pass total, I joked to myself; the fact he managed 24 with that pathetic crew last year is a greater indication of his greatness than anything he’s doing this year. Then again, maybe it’s not such a joke.

Brady’s first incompletion came with 5:23 left in the 2nd quarter, when he threw the ball into the ground intentionally. Trust me folks, it’s nowhere near as easy as he’s making it look.

Randy Moss actually had two of his weekly “can you believe he just did that” moments; the 1st touchdown was one of those where you’re playing basketball against a bunch of little kids and you just reach up over them to grab rebounds. The second was a ho-hum, one-handed grab of a 50-yard 3-and-18 bomb. Just like play time.

Donte Stallworth certainly comes as advertised, teaching us that YAC (yards after catch) isn’t just something you do on your 21st birthday celebration.

Ya think Wes Welker knows how to get in the endzone? I love his hunger to score, diving between defenders into paydirt even in a game long ago decided.

Willie Andrews had a special teams game for the ages, returning a kick for a TD and downing a punt at the one.

You know it's a great time to be a New England sports fan when the Patriots are playing in Miami and beating the Dolphins so badly that the crowd starts chanting "let's go Red Sox!"

Will the Patriots defense be able to keep from chuckling when Belichick invariably rips into them for not being able to “contain” the Dolphins offense?

Quality Quotes: “It’s just one of those things where you’re just shaking your head saying ‘you’ve got to be kidding me?’ It just doesn’t even look fair."--Kyle Brady on Randy Moss' two spectacular TD receptions

That’s it from here…feel free to chime in with your own recollections/superlatives!

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Well, I forgot to tell Allan Houston to wait at least until Monday before calling it quits. Apparently word got out last night that Houston is endind his comeback bid with the New York Knicks. Way to mess up a half-decent column.

Houston officially made his return to practice last Friday, and he played minimally on Wednesday against the Celtics at the TD Banknorth Garden. He didn't play on Thursday night in the second half of back-to-back games.

The official announcement came in a statement last night.

Red Sox vs. Indians ALCS Game 6 Observations:

***So it’s on to Game 7, winner moves on, loser goes home. I like the Sox chances. I see Dice-K pitching OK. I see Boston’s rejuvenated offense getting to Jake Westbrook this time around. Most importantly, I see an Indians team that already looks beat. Whereas the Red Sox displayed no panic (thank you Manny) and a quite confidence despite being down 3-1, I’m beginning to think the Tribe lost this series in Game 5. Not only did they not look like they showed up to Fenway last night, they looked like they didn’t want to be there.

***I’m very happy for J.D. Drew, who I think has taken a lot of unfair criticism this post-season. Granted, he was a huge regular season disappointment, but did you know he was batting .313 in the ALCS? That was before the first inning grand slam, by the way. The much maligned right fielder is now up to .381 for the ALCS, and perhaps finally, can get the critics off his back and just play baseball.

***I'm not going to go overboard on the Jacoby Ellsbury thing right now, but isn't it funny how the team and the ballpark just seem to have that little extra spark when he's on the field?

***And let’s close this out by giving a shout out (HOLLA!) to Curt Schilling. Say what you will about him…you can’t argue with the playoff numbers. Josh Beckett is the best big game pitcher of this era, but I’ll state it once again; Schilling is the second guy on my list…still!

What do you think gang? On to the World Series? Or will Dice-K implode and the Indians move on?

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

It’s only one game, but perhaps the River Hawks might be a bit more competitive than many in Hockey East believed.

Blaise MacDonald’s young squad skated to a draw at UMass-Amherst, overcoming a two goal deficit to tie the Minutemen 2-2. (Read Chaz Scoggins’ game story) UMass was tied for 5th in the preseason poll, while UML was slotted out of the playoffs at #9, so while a tie is like kissing your sister, tying your sister university on the road is more like a win in this case.

I can’t close this post without mentioning my 2nd favorite Hockey East team. (Sorry, you'll have to indulge me since I covered the team for 5 1/2 years) UNH went into Agganis Arena and slapped around Boston University, 4-1 in a game that saw head coach Dick Umile win his 400th game. Umile’s Wildcats are conference co-favorites along with Boston College, but I think this is finally the year New Hampshire breaks through and wins the national title. Last night only served to solidify that belief in my mind.

Do yourselves a favor and get out to Tsongas Arena when New Hampshire comes to Lowell to play the River Hawks. Not only will you get to see one of the best teams in the country, but the Wildcats also feature fantastic Freshman James vanRiemsdyk, the #2 overall pick (Flyers) in last summer’s NHL draft. And who knows…the game might very well feature a UML team that’s the surprise of Hockey East.

The Victim’s roller coaster ride (up one week, down the next) has reached a new high following last week’s major upswing through the gambling world. Our peerless pigskin prognosticator now stands a season’s best 3-games over .500, with four more selections for this Sunday and the Monday nighter (given out on SportsTalk Live) waiting to be decided.

Will the up and down pattern continue? Will we reach new heights? Will the car fall off the track? Or will the ride be shut down for safety reasons?

On with the picks:

Miami (+16) over New England
San Francisco (+9) over NY Giants
Dallas (-9) over Minnesota
Pittsburgh (-3 ½) over Denver

Last week: 4-0-1
Season’s record: 16-13-2
Monday Night record: 4-2-1

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The Celtics issued this press release following the cancellation of the second half of Friday night's preseason game against the New Jersey Nets. The decision was made because of condensation on the court tha made the playing surface slippery and it was eventually deemed unsafe by players, coaches, and officials.

The release:

WORCESTER, MA - The Boston Celtics announced that they will offer fans the opportunity to receive discounted tickets for a future Celtics home game or receive a refund for tickets purchased for tonight's Celtics-Nets game, which was cancelled after the first half due to condensation on the DCU Center floor.

"We apologize to the Celtics fans of the Worcester area for any inconvenience they have experienced due to the problems with the playing surface which resulted in the cancellation of the second half of tonight's game," said Shawn Sullivan, Senior Vice President of Ticket Sales, Marketing, and Service.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

It was reported on sports radio WEEI earlier today that Celtics forward/center Scot Pollard would miss at least the next four games of the preseason.

There could be an update prior to tonight's game against the New Jersey Nets out in Worcester, but the latest official word from the Celtics -- as of this afternoon -- is that Pollard is day-to-day with no timetable to return. He is said to be making progress, slowly, each day which is being taken as an encouraging sign.

The next four Celtics preseason games will be away from the TD Banknorth Garden. Tonight's game takes place at the DCU Center in Worcester before the Celtics travel to Mohegan Sun to play the 76ers and then take trips to New York and New Jersey.

A bone bruise accompanied by inflammation in his right ankle has sidelined Pollard and forced him to return to Boston while the team began training camp in Europe.

Pollard, a 6'11" 265-pound big man, was a free agent signing this off-season. He is entering his 11th season. Last year he played in 24 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Pollard's career averages are 4.5 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 49 percent from the field in 16.9 minutes per game.

Red Sox vs. Indians ALCS Game 5 Observations:

***Josh Beckett (nothing else needs to be said)

***Will Terry Francona please put Coco Crisp out of his misery now? I haven’t seen anyone this overmatched since me in Trigonometry class. While Tito’s at it, he might want to give Alex Cora a start at short against tough righty Fausto Carmona. Even if Cora doesn’t manage to generate offense, his mediocre glove is leaps and bounds superior to Julio Lugo’s pathetic attempts to gobble up anything not hit straight at him.

***OK, you Manny bashers have a legit gripe. He should have been hustling and ended up on second base for that homer/non-homer, whether he thought it was gone or not. Luckily, it didn’t come back to haunt the Sox. I only ask that when you bash Ramirez, you also acknowledge that without him and Beckett, we’d already be discussing offseason moves instead of whether Jacoby Ellsbury should bat leadoff Saturday night.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Here are some background facts and figures about Eddie House. House, who you read about in today's paper, was a free agent acquisition this off-season and figures to see significant minutes in the Celtics backcourt mix.

Eddie House
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 175 lbs.
Age: 29
Years Pro: 7
College: Arizona State
Facts at Stats: Still holds a Pac-10 Conference single-game scoring record along with Kareem Abdul Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) with 61 points. ... House finished as the all-time leading scorer in Arizona St. history. ... In seven NBA seasons he has played for the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Clippers, Charlotte Bobcats, Milwaukee Bucks, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, and New Jersey Nets. ... His brother-in-law is Kings guard Mike Bibby, and his father-in-law is former NBA basketball player and former USC head coach Henry Bibby.

Been a little busy the last few days, so this one is a bit delayed. I think you’ll find it important nonetheless.

This past Tuesday, a 3-judge federal appeals court panel ruled that using players’ names and statistics in fantasy sports games is protected under the First Amendment, and that the various leagues and players associations are not entitled to licensing fees for their use.

Basically, the leagues and players had been trying to grab a slice of the increasingly profitable fantasy sports pie by forcing companies who ran these games either for free or for profit to pay rights fees. Thankfully, the court realized the absurdity of someone claiming to own the names and statistics of professional athletes in the public domain, especially when you can find all this information through any news vehicle available.

Now, there are some fantasy sports providers who already pay right fees to the leagues. I wonder if they’ll now cease making those payments. Even better, I wonder if they’ll now stop charging such high fees (as CBS Sportsline) does now that the door is open for more competitors to come in and provide fantasy services.

Oh, by the way, the case may be appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, so stay tuned.

What’s your take on this? Anyone side with the pro leagues?

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The Celtics felt that they improved significantly on defense just by the off-season roster changes, but the Knicks made them look like they were on another level.

New York shot 25.9 percent from the field, misfiring on 63 shots including a 2-of-13 shooting performance behind the three-point line.

If it weren’t for 30 points in the paint, you’d think the Knicks might have struggled to crack double-digits.

By the way, New York’s high scorers, Zach Randolph and Stephone Marbury only netted nine points apiece.

“You know in a game where you only have 13 turnovers, but only have 10 assists, that’s not a good sign,” Knicks head coach Isiah Thomas said.

The Celtics held the Knicks to 35 points and 30 percent shooting in the first half while blocking six shots.

New York was held to 16 percent shooting in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, the Celtics were hitting at a 56.3 percent clip from the field (70 percent from long range).

While Thomas lamented his team’s low assist total, Doc Rivers was happy to see practice drills carrying over into game situations. Specifically, he attributed the team’s success sharing the ball to no-dribble drills.

“Yesterday we had about 30 minutes where they can play they could run whatever they wanted, but no one could dribble,” Rivers said. “It makes it very difficult to play without putting the ball on the floor, but what it does is it forces you to make back cuts and move without the ball. I thought it was really good because New York was pressuring us and we were back cutting and we got a lot of the lay-ups.”

The Celtics did have 17 turnovers, something that Rivers wasn’t happy with. He said they’ll have to find the line between wanting to get out in transition and taking care of the ball.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

It doesn’t mean anything yet, but the Boston Celtics are 3-0 and Celtics fans are starting to think they can get used to this sort of thing.

Paul Pierce led all scorers with 22 points, Kevin Garnett added another 13 points, and Ray Allen contributed 14 points of his own as the Celtics wrapped up a 40-point win over the New York Knicks, 101-61, tonight at the TD Banknorth Garden.

More will be posted tonight, and of course in tomorrow's edition of The Sun.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Estaban Batista may play in the NBA, but it’s not going to be this year with the Celtics.

The 6’10”, 268-pound center appeared in one of Boston’s first two preseason games, scoring 7 points and grabbing 5 rebounds in 19 minutes, but he was the first cut made by the Celtics this training camp.

The Celtics, who head coach Doc Rivers admitted may be a little small at the “big” positions (power forward and center) now have just three players standing 6-foot-10 or taller. That is including free agent addition Scot Pollard who has been sidelined throughout training camp with an ankle injury.

Celtics Executive Director of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge declined comment on the decision to waive Batista, but Rivers said the move was made because they felt Batista probably wouldn’t make this year’s team.

“It was just the way it shook out really for us as far as who we thought” Rivers said. “Estaban I think has a shot to be in this league, but I didn’t think he was going to make our team. I’ve always believed that if you’re not going to keep the guy, and he has a chance to be in the league, I think you should cut him early.”

Batista is apparently planning to play overseas.

Nobody said evaluations were fair

Rivers said that he may try to get more minutes for guys who haven’t seen much action in the preseason games so far.

One of the major factor in making cuts will probably not be individual skills.

“(We look for) team,” Rivers said. “That’s most cases, with this team it’s 100 percent. We don’t really need the individual play. We need the team play for the guys that we’re going to keep. It’s tough on them as well because they don’t get a great look as far as minutes on the floor. I’m going to try to give a couple guys some more minutes in the next couple of games so we can get a better look at them.

So far this preseason Brandon Wallace has logged bust four minutes through the first two preseason games. Dahntay Jones has played just 10 minutes, and Jack Manuel played in the first game, but still hasn’t seen a full minute of action.

Allen expects to be back tomorrow

Tony Allen’s eye injury turns out to be a scratched cornea. He got hit in the eye by a Brandon Wallace elbow on Monday. He sat out the end of practice that day and didn’t participate in Tuesday’s practice.

Allen, who’s right eye was noticeably red, said that he had some blurriness while driving to the TD Banknorth Garden. Don't look for him in tonight's game, but expects to practice tomorrow with the team.

Red Sox vs. Indians ALCS Game 4 observations:

***Now I’m worried. If the Sox can get this thing back to Fenway, I think they can pull it off. But I’m really worried about Game 5, even with Beckett pitching.

First of all, there’s some concern about Beckett’s health. Secondly, even if he pitches another gem, Boston’s struggling offense might still not be able to muster anything against C.C. “Biggie” Sabathia. That would turn the contest into a crapshoot, with the first team able to strike against the bullpen likely to win it. That’s way too risky a proposition for my liking.

***Game 4 was the perfect example of why I don’t like Tim Wakefield on the mound in a playoff game. First things first; the loss wasn’t his fault. I pin the blame solely on an anemic offense that can’t generate runs against the like of Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd…at least not until they’re already in a deep hole. If Wake (and Dice-K before him) didn’t have to throw every single pitch knowing that their team hadn’t scored a run yet, perhaps they would have been able to relax a little more.

However, how does a guy go from pitching a no-hitter to completely losing it in the blink of an eye? That’s what the knuckleballer’s M.O. is, however, and he loses it so fast there’s not enough time to get a reliever warmed up to put out the fire. Perhaps next time (if there is a next time) Terry Francona hands the ball to Wake in the playoffs, he should have a reliever constantly warming up in the bullpen from the first pitch on.

Sound like a ridiculous idea? Probably, but no more ridiculous than relying on a knuckleballer with your season on the line in October. Oh, and before I forget, Wakefield’s presence also means we have to see Doug Mirabelli flailing away at the plate 3-times a night. GIVE ME A GUN NOW!!!

***Good to see the manager ignoring calls to get Jacoby Ellsbury’s bat atop the lineup. Now, Tito’s likely to stick with Coco Crisp because of the lefty on the mound in Game 5. Anybody notice that smile on Mark Shapiro’s (the Indians GM) face? He’s laughing his you-know-what’s off knowing those automatic outs are in Boston’s lineup instead of his.

Tito, I love the loyalty to your veterans. But Crisp is not a veteran. He’s done nothing for you to reward that faith. Sit his freakin ass on the bench and go with someone who at least has an offensive pulse.

***How about a round of applause for Julio Lugo, huh? (Can you tell I’m a bit angry today?) How much longer are we stuck with that stiff for?

***Asradubial Cabrera, or whatever his name is, is a royal pain in the butt! Dink hits. Leaping stabs of liners. I hate the guy, and I don’t even know what his name is!!!

***One more, for my friend DB; Pitchers like Manny Delcarmen are the reason middle relievers are a dime a dozen. They're the ultimae trick-or-treat guys. Never mind going from good one year to bad the next, they're often incosistent from game to game.

Well, that’s my rant. Let’s hear yours. Someone, please talk me off the ledge!!!!

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Despite the talk of not liking the lack of size without a healthy Scot Pollard, the Celtics announced today that they've waived center Esteban Batista.

Batista opened some eyes with his play this off-season in international competition. Batista signed as a free agent on September 26, 2007. The 6’10”, 268-pound center appeared in one preseason game, scoring 7 points and grabbing 5 rebounds in 19 minutes.

The training camp roster now has 16 players.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Tony Allen did not participate in practice today because of a right eye injury.

He was poked in the eye during Monday’s practice, and he sat out the final minutes of practice. Allen is doubtful for tomorrow night’s preseason game against the New York Knicks.

Allen, who is coming off of the second knee surgery of his career, played a total of 28 minutes, scoring eight points on 3 of 11 shooting.

No roster changes were announced following today’s practice, but changes could possibly be made prior to tomorrow night.

We will keep you posted.

On a side note, the Celtics All-Star trio of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen were on their way to shoot a commercial for ESPN following today’s practice. The word is that it will be one of the “This is SportsCenter” ads.

-Upset of the week comes courtesy of Dracut High. Pat Murphy’s Middies shocked previously undefeated Billerica, 26-15, serving notice to the rest of the MVC that this young squad must be reckoned with from here on out. (In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a Dracut High grad…LOL!)

-Big, big win for Al Pare and Lowell High. After spotting Methuen a 27-0 lead, Matt Welch led a furious comeback. Melvin Merh capped off the 31-30 “W” with a 37-yard field goal on the final play of the game to give Lowell its first conference victory of the season.

-Other local winners included MVC leading Chelmsford, Andover, Wilmington, Lawrence Academy, Shawsheen Tech, Littleton, Burlington.

-The Acton-Boxboro express rolled on, 48-27 over Newton-South. The Colonials (5-1 overall) sit atop the Dual County League with a 3-0 record.

-In other DCL action, Westford and Tyngsboro also posted wins, setting up a showdown this Friday night. Mike Woodlock’s Tigers continued their miraculous run of comeback victories, rebounding from a 26-0 deficit to beat Boston Latin. Woodlock and QB Colin Halloran joined Westford Coach Mike Parent and RB Riley O’Keefe on SportsTalk Live last night to discuss the upcoming showdown. (The audio clip can be found right here)

(Complete conference standings can be viewed after the jump)

-Finally, Exeter did it again, upending Bishop Guertin 28-21 in New Hampshire Division 2 action. Both teams now hold identical 6-1 records and could very well face off again in the state title contest.

Red Sox vs. Indians ALCS Game 3 Observations:

***Needless to say, things are getting serious. Either Tim Wakefield is going to have to pitch a gem, or the offense is going to have to explode. It’s not impossible to come back from a 3-1 deficit, especially when you have Josh Beckett going to the mound in Game 5. But if the offense continues to struggle, even Beckett may not be enough to save the Red Sox.

***It’s time to get Jacoby Ellsbury in the lineup. Put the sparkplug in the leadoff spot, get Pedroia out of there because he looks like he’s pressing, and sit Coco Crisp on the bench. It’s not like J.D. Drew is tearing it up, but at least he’s more of a threat than Coco. On a night where you’re already sticking Doug Mirabelli’s pathetic bat into the lineup, you need to manufacture all the runs you can, and Ellsbury atop the order might be just what the doctor ordered.

***Chaz Scoggins spent a good part of the year voicing concern about Boston’s inconsistent offense, and he’s being proven correct. If you can’t rough up Jake Westbrook, and even Joe Borowski is having success against you, then something’s wrong. Personally, I think it’s the composition of the lineup and the fact you have way too many easy outs in there right now. Can I say it again? I WANT TO SEE JACOBY ELLSBURY!

***I’m not going to blame Game 3 on Dice-K. I thought Matsuzaka pitched pretty well and it’s not like Cleveland was crushing the ball there in the 5th. But a pitcher with that kind of stuff should not be nibbling as much as the Dice Man does. 100-pitches to get 14-outs is not a recipe for success at any level.

While everyone…well, OK. Not everyone. Maybe 25% of us…head to the polls to elect a Fifth District Representative, let’s peek at some early exit poll numbers from other “special” elections Remember, only one person (me) was surveyed, making these results highly unscientific. About as unscientific as any organization that would hand out a Peace Prize to Yasser Arafat;

American League Championship Series: Red Sox 55%-Indians 45%
Like Niki Tsongas, Boston should prevail, though it’s going to be much tougher than a lot of us anticipated. The Red Sox have plenty of name recognition and spent a ton of money to earn front-runner status in this campaign, but the financially challenged Indians have run a strong grass-roots effort thanks to grown up minor league talent like Grady Sizemore.

Ultimately, the Sox should turn out enough baserunners at home plate to earn a couple of victories in Cleveland’s home district, ensuring that a country of red states and blue states unites into one Red Sox Nation.

American League Cy Young: Josh Beckett 50%-C.C. Sabathia 35%-John Lackey 15%
I realize the voting booths closed before the playoffs began, but those who cast their ballot for anyone other than Beckett probably wishes a hanging chad would nullify their vote. Sabathia’s performance in the last debate (Game 1 of the ALCS) was Admiral Stockdale-esque. The only time I’d rather see the Indians burly lefty instead of Boston’s October ace is at a hot dog eating contest.

Meanwhile Beckett, the major leagues’ only 20-game winner over the last two years, has scored like Lloyd Benson on Dan Quayle against 19-game winners Sabathia and John Lackey this post-season. Any outcome that doesn’t result in Beckett winning this election is grounds for an immediate recount.

Super Bowl XLII: Patriots 51%-Colts 49%
They share the stage November 4th and likely again on January 20, 2008. While a challenger will emerge from the NFC party, it’s safe to say the candidate that earns the AFC’s nomination will be sworn in as Super Bowl Champion.

How formidable are these two machines? I think the Patriots will go down as one of the best, if not THE best team in NFL history when all is said and done. And yet, I’m not so sure they will beat the Colts in Indianapolis, or in Foxboro, for that matter. For now, I’ll give a slight edge to New England, but the numbers are well within the margin of error.

The Craziest NFL Receiver Wearing #81: Terrell Owens 95%-Randy Moss 5%
T.O. reminds me of that old Three Stooges scene where Curly calls himself temperamental and Moe responds; “yeah, 5% temper, 95% mental.” After refusing to answer a question about Moss, here’s what Owens had to say during the town forum (aka press conference) after Sunday’s game:

“There were some questionable calls during the course of the game. Those calls could've went either way and put the momentum our way.”

Forget, for a second, the butchering of the English language. What kind of spin is this clown putting out there? Your team finished 21-points behind in your home state! The officials could have stuffed the ballot box and you still would have lost. In the meantime, Moss had an off game and still accounted for six receptions, one touchdown, and one of the most amazing plays you’ll ever see, even if he didn’t hold on to that other pass in the corner of the endzone. Plus, he continues to say and do all the right things. Talk about a flip-flop.

Sorry T.O. Until you learn to give more gracious concession speeches and stop leading the league in dropped balls, you’re going to be on more losing teams than Al Sharpton.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Roster cuts may be in the very near horizon for the Celtics. Head coach Doc Rivers said he expects that sometime before Wednesday’s third preseason game with the New York Knicks the team may cut down the current roster of 17 players.

He stressed that it was not a definite, and he obviously didn’t mention any names, but he did say that an ideal number of players on the roster may be 14 as opposed to 15. The reason being that it allows the team to pick up someone else during the season if needed.

Injury update

Scot Pollard still has not returned to practice for the Celtics. He is currently being shelved by a bone bruise and soft tissue inflammation in his ankle.

Rivers said he will be a needed presence, noting that the team is rather small without him off the bench. He reiterated his feeling that he’d like to keep Kevin Garnett from playing center.

“The problem comes when you play a team with a pretty big big and Perk (Kendrick Perkins) gets in foul trouble, then, you know, where do you go,” Rivers said. “Without Pollard you don’t really want to put KG on him because you’d rather for him to be a help defender.”

Rivers also said he hopes that New York's Eddy Curry is healthy for Wednesday’s game to let the Celtics see how things would work with Perkins out of the game and Pollard unavailable.

The only other injury note was Tony Allen getting poked in the eye and sitting for the final minutes of practice today.

The Captain hit’s the big three zero

Celtics captain Paul Pierce celebrated his 30th birthday on Saturday (he shares his birthday with Rivers.

Age has apparently not sunk in yet for Pierce as he said to reporters after practice, “Thirty is the new twenty.”

The Celtics captain said he is anxious to get back in front of a home crowd and is looking forward to an exciting atmosphere at Wednesday’s game. After returning from overseas and the NBA Live Europe trip, this will be the first home preseason game this season.

Final Score
Patriots 48
Cowboys 27

View from Mt. Olympus: Another message sent!

These are the kind of games Bill Belichick’s teams thrive on when they’re great; on the road…against a quality opponent…throw in a little adversity (the Pats actually trailed in the 3rd quarter) for good measure…and the Pats are always at their best. They lose these types of games when they’re not Super Bowl worthy, but when they’re loaded, they rarely drop one. In case there was any doubt about how special this year’s edition is, Sunday in Dallas should have answered them.

This offensive is unstoppable, as even injuries to their two top running backs and Ben Watson weren’t enough to keep Tom Brady and company from putting 48-points on the board, on the road, against a good defense. If Belichick and Brady are motivated to (and they just might be with all the Cameragate B.S. and continued chatter throughout the league), Tom Terrific could very well break Peyton Manning’s record for TD passes.

Let me also take a minute to talk about Randy Moss’ TD catch that was overturned. I thought it was a good call, by the way, as he dropped the ball too soon after landing. However, I’d say what Moss did was physically impossible, except I saw him do it. Running full speed, he somehow dragged his right foot while not only getting the left one down, but keeping it back and moving it to the side to ensure it stayed inbounds. Let me repeat that; running full speed, he had the body control to keep his foot back and to the side. Most humans are lucky just to get the foot down.

No wonder they called him The Freak.

Shining Stars: Instead of a star on the forehead each week, how about we just permanently tattoo one on Tom Brady’s forehead? 388-yards and 5-TD’s sounds pretty impressive, except he could have had more had they tried to late in the game. #12 is demolishing not only the New England record book, but he’s making an all-out assault on the NFL version as well with 21-touchdowns through 6-games. What more can be said? SIMPLY AWESOME!

How about the show (11-receptions, 124-yards, 2-TD’s) Wes Welker put on? His mom must have gotten on him for not earning honors last week, so the Pats “other” offseason acquisition at receiver came back with a vengeance…Let’s not leave out Dante Stallworth, who earns high marks for the second week in a row. His best day as a Patriot (7-134-1) earns a star on the forehead for the speedy deep threat and shows that he's finally healthy and settling in.

Let’s also hand one out to Randy Moss despite pedestrian numbers…for him. Then again, if 6-catches, 59-yards and 1-TD (plus that amazing non-catch) while opening up the field for guys like Welker and Stallworth to run wild is an off week, then we may want to consider a tattoo for The Freak as well…Can’t really say anyone on defense stood out, but we can’t ignore Junior Seau’s 3rd interception of the season, a career high for the ancient one. If after 18-years you’re still setting single-season highs, you can move up to the front of my class any day of the week.

Quality Quotes: “Well, they are that good.”—Cowboys coach Wade Phillips’ opening words in the post-game press conference

“I've always been a big fan of Tom Brady's. I've always had a saying that Peyton Manning has his wide receivers, why can’t Tom have his? Now that Tom has his, we'll see."—Randy Moss

You are not alone Randy. I think we’ve all wondered that. And TD record or not, I think we already have our answer.

That’s the view from where I sit…how do you see it?

Posted by Gayle Simone, Sun Staff

When the Bruins headed out West for their season opening five-game roadtrip; not too many people thought they would come home with a winning record - but guess what ... they did.

The Black and Gold will open up at home on the 18th with a 3-2-0 record.

Opening up with a 4-1 loss against Dallas on Oct. 5 had some thinking the Bruins were not going to fair well on the rest of the trip - but that's probably because no one (besides me and a few other die hard hockey fans) actually watched the game.

Dallas got extremely lucky on the first two goals and Marty Turco played outstanding in net for the Stars. The other two goals for Dallas were complete defensive breakdowns and can not be blamed completely on Manny Fernandez.

It wasn't a bad game persay; the Bruins just happened to run into some bad luck and a very solid goaltender.

From Dallas, the Bs took on Phoenix the very next night with Tim Thomas getting the start in net; Boston prevailed 3-1 for their first win of the young season- next stop Anaheim for a date with the defending Stanley Cup Champion Ducks.

Thomas was again in net and the Black and Gold struck first with a Chuck Kobasew goal just 1:05 into the game.

Unfortunately, the Bruins couldn't hold the lead and ended up losing 2-1. Still, not too shabby for the young Bruins team. One factor to keep in mind is Marc Savard missed his first game since the 2003-04 season due to a groin strain.

The next game was extremely entertaining if you like to see a lot of scoring (14 goals) with the Bruins coming out on top of the 8-6 tilt against Los Angeles.

Phil Kessel in his sophomore campaign notched his first NHL hat trick; rookie Milan Lucic got his first career NHL goal; Savard returned to the ice after missing one game and had 5 points (goal, 4 assists) to show just how important he is to Boston's offense.

Unfortunately, with all of the offense, the Black and Gold apparently forgot they had to play on both sides of the ice and completely left Fernandez to tend to the Kings himself- resulting in him giving up 6 goals.

The Bs final stop on the roadtrip took the team to San Jose where they met Joe Thorton and the Sharks.

Marco Sturm returned to the HP Pavillion for the first time since the November trade that brought him to Boston two-years ago. He made good work of being back with two assists.

Patrice Bergeron put the Bs on the board first and showed exactly why he plays with a soccer ball- he kicked the puck to himself before lifting it up over a sprawling Evgeni Nabokov.

The 1-0 lead would stand until just over 38 seconds left in the game when Milan Michalek took a pass from Joe Thornton to tie the game.

The tie did not last long, 26 seconds to be exact. Aaron Ward beat Nabokov for the game winner as he caught a jumping Sturm in his arms before they fell to the ice.

Thomas made 26 saves to earn his second win of the season.

Some observations of the Bs first five games of the season:

***Both power play units for Boston showed to be successful recording six goals. Savard showed how important he in quarterbacking the first unit earning four power play assists and one goal.

***Julien has stuck with his lines early in the season showing he has faith in his decisions and his teams. With the exception of moving Lucic up to the third line with Kessel and David Krejci and PJ Axelsson being moved to foruth-line duty with Shawn Thornton and Glen Metropolit. Consistency - so far, so good.

***The offense the team wants from Bergeron and Savard seems to be moving along so far. Bergy has three goals and two assists for five points in the clubs first five games; while Savvy has a goal and six assists for seven points in only four games played. The club as a whole recorded 14 goals in the five game trip.

***The youngsters are making some noise as well. Along with his first career hat trick, Kessel has five points in five games; Lucic has two points but more importantly has shown his strength on the ice by getting into two fights.

***The team showed up to play every single game and for 60 minutes. The defense - as long as they don't forget to play it - seems to be more solid than some of the skeptics thought.

***Thomas is fighting for the right to say he is the No. 1 netminder on this team going 2-1 in his three games played with a 1.34 GAA and .957 SV percentage. Manny on the other hand in his two starts comes home to Boston with 1-1-0 record; 5.00 GAA and .796 SV percentage. Again the numbers to me although accurate, do not portray the type of goalie Manny is - he did play the Kings game when the defensive side of the Bruins never showed up. Manny gave up 10 goals in his first two starts; while Thomas gave up four.

My guess is Thomas will get the start for the home opener this Thursday night when the Black and Gold take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Starting Manny in front of an already shakey fan base may not be the best decision for Claude Julien.

I still think this team is going to suprise a lot of opponents and fans. Did anyone think (besides me) that the Bruins would return from the five-game roadtrip with a winning record? Has your view of the team changed?

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

Red Sox vs. Indians ALCS Game 2 Observations:

***Nice win for the Tribe, who showed lots of fight. Their ace had been battered in a Game 1 loss…their 1A was chased early by the patient Sox bats…yet their bullpen still hung tough and waited out Boston’s reliable relief arms until they could get to the lousy ones. Not that I expected them to quit, but the Indians could very easily have gone into a tailspin. Instead, they pounded out a 13-6 victory and let the Red Sox know this was going to be a fight.

***It’s hard to disagree with the manager for the quick hook with Eric Gagne, but I don’t care how much he’s struggling, there’s never a good time to turn the ball over to Javier Lopez with men on base. Gagne should have been left in to get out of the mess himself, or not been put into the game at all. It is clear Terry Francona has no faith in his struggling reliever, so why use him in an important situation in the first place. But since he did turn the ball over to him, Tito should have let the veteran try to get out of the jam (it’s not like Gagne doesn’t have enough experience pitching in trouble…LOL!) instead of hoping Lopez and Lester could bail him out of trouble.

***I still feel good about the series. The Tribe’s aces have basically been neutralized…Manny and Papi continue to rake…and we still have the Beckett trump card to play at least one more time.

That's how I see it...what's your view?

While waiting for Gayle to chime in with her next report from Puckland, I figured I’d write a little something about the Bruins. And…hold onto your hats here…I’m actually going to say something nice about the team.

That was a fun game against the Kings Friday night, the perfect finish to a night that saw the Red Sox pound the Indians while leaving plenty of time to flick over and catch a little action on the frozen pond. Granted, 8-6 victories are very hard to come by in the playoffs, and a team with such porous defense and goaltending probably won’t play late into the Spring. But, for one night anyway, the contest was a welcome sight for B’s fans desperate for any wins and some excitement. It was a throwback to the good old days of high scoring hockey and a far cry from the soccer on ice we’ve been subjected to far too many times.

Besides, there may be stories in sports equal to Phil Kessel’s continued rise after a cancer scare, but there aren’t any better ones. Congrats on that first NHL hat trick…and many more please!

The Victim’s roller coaster ride through the wonderful amusement park that is the gambling world reached a new low point last week. That it was kicked off by a miraculous Patriots cover against Cleveland had to have the faithful frowning that bad karma was in the air. I mean, if the last minute fumble return for a TD didn't throw you for a loop, nothing will. The final mark of 1-4 also included a Monday night loser handed out on our call-in show that left the season's bank account in negative numbers.

Will our fearless football forecaster’s fortunes take another sharp turn on this roller coaster? Let’s find out (as always, the Monday Night selection will be handed out on SportsTalk Live):

Philadelphia (-3) over NY Jets
Tampa Bay (-3) over Tennessee
New England (-5 ½) over Dallas
New Orleans (+6 ½) over Seattle

Last week: 1-4
Season record: 12-13-1
Monday Night record: 3-2-1

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

Two observations:

***That had to be discouraging to the Indians. They sent their ace to the mound and he was completely outclassed. Even some of the outs were loud, including Dustin Pedroia’s leadoff liner that almost took C.C. Sabathia’s head off. Bottom line; the Tribe barely touched Boston’s ace Josh Beckett, while Boston’s Boys of Summer lit up Sabathia.

***As long as Manny’s in the type of groove he’s in, the Red Sox won’t be beat. The bases loaded at bat was really impressive and underscored what a great hitter Manny Ramirez is. With the bases juiced and an 0-2 count, Sabathia tried bouncing a couple to get Manny to swing. Ramirez never bit. The burly lefty continued trying to entice the Sox slugger to chase bad pitches, even when the count went full. Manny never chased, laying off two very good offerings that I’m willing to bet 90% of major league hitters would swing at.

Amazing patience…amazing pitch recognition…and when he does swing, he’s hitting the ball hard almost every time. Put that behind David Ortiz in a batting order, add in the kind of pitching the Sox are getting, and it’s an unbeatable combo.

Do the same to Fausto Carmona tonight, and the series is over for all intents and purposes.

What did you think of Game 1? A sign of things to come or a fluke that it was such a blowout?

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The Lowell Spinners were named the New York-Penn League nomination for the John H. Johnson President's Trophy, awarded annually to the best overall Minor League Baseball team that most exemplifies the standards of the complete baseball franchise.

The nomination means the Spinners will represent the 14-team New York-Penn League against representatives from each of the other 14 leagues in Minor League Baseball, all the way up to Triple-A leagues. The Minor League award will be presented to the overall winner at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee this December.

The John H. Johnson Trophy is presented the best overall Minor League Baseball franchise based on numerous factors, including contribution to and promotion of the baseball industry, contribution to community, long-term franchise stability, and financial success of the operation.

The Spinners sold out the entire season, running their sell-out streak to 308 games, which dates back to August 2, 1999. Lowell also celebrated its two-millionth fan in only its 12th season, impressive for a short season schedule.

The Spinners donated over $20,000 of equipment to local youth baseball teams through their Yankees Elimination Promotion (Y.E.P.) and introducing a new reading and writing initiative that brought the real-life Emily Elizabeth from the Clifford the Big Red Dog book series to meet and read to kids at local libraries.

Pitching with the Papelbons

Spinners Vice President of Communications Jon Goode and his wife have written a children's book with the Papelbon family. The book centers around three young Papelbons (Jonathan, Jeremy & Joshua) playing Little League baseball on the same team.

The proceeds from the book will benefit the C2 Mission (www.c2mission.org), a Foundation created by the Goodes to benefit children and families affected by Cerebral Palsy and Cystic Fibrosis.

The book is scheduled to be out on November 5th, but pre-orders are currently being accepted at pitchingwiththepapelbons.com. The books costs $14.95.

-Billerica and Chelmsford remain tied atop the MVC following impressive wins over Central Catholic and Lowell respectively

-Al Pare’s Red Raiders really struggled without Matt Welch (concussion). They’ve now lost 4-in a row and travel to Methuen this coming Friday

-Dracut may have had the most impressive victory of the week, knocking off #7 ranked St. John’s Prep

-Pelham improved to 6-0 after steamrolling Epping 55-13

-Bishop Guertin tuned up for its annual grudge match against Exeter by beating Merrimack 28-2. Cardinals head coach Tony Johnson, along with star players Ryan Burgess and Matt Cyr joined us Monday during the second half-hour of SportsTalk Live (listen to the audio here)

-Tyngsboro and Westford also came up with “W’s” last weekend. The teams square off October 19th, and we’ll preview that matchup during our Monday Night Lights segment this coming Monday

-Wilmington suffered a heartbreaking loss to Masconomet during in a crucial Cape Ann Conference showdown

The conference standings follow after the jump…as always, feel free to leave your thoughts on these notes or anything else of importance I may have missed.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Preseason game number two takes place today in London. Well, I believe it’s actually night in London, but game time here on the east coast is 2:30 in the afternoon.

The matchups should be interesting if nothing else. The Boston Celtics will be playing the Minnesota Celtics (Timberwolves) and a roster featuring Al Jefferson, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, Theo Ratliff.

Kevin Garnett also will be playing against the Timberwolves for the first time in his career.

But it is still preseason, and reading anything into wins or losses is like naming the MVP at the halfway point of the season.

That being said, there are a few things worth looking for in today’s game.

* First, how do the Celtics look on the defensive end? All the new faces and a new defensive guru in assistant coach Tom Thibodeau make the defensive end of the court an area of interest.

* Another thing to look for is whether or not Estaban Batista gets on the court. He was the only player not to get into the first preseason game (Scot Pollard was sent back to Boston). Doc Rivers expressed concern about the depth at the center position prior to the start of training camp and prior to the signing of Batista.

* Also, Garnett had nine more rebounds than the next highest total on the team in the first game. Leon Powe’s past performances have shown him as an aggressive player on the boards. Rookie Glen Davis did a good job on the boards in college as well as in summer league.

For those interested, here is a link to the box score from the Toronto game: Celtics-Raptors

The Red Sox will change things up in the ALCS, sending Curt Schilling to the mound in Game 2 against the Cleveland Indians.

Schilling was dominant in Game 3 of the ALDS. Daisuke Matsuzaka struggled before getting a quick hook in the second game against the Angels. So Terry Francona and the Sox brain trust decided to flip-flop the duo for the Indians series while also announcing Tim Wakefield would go in Game 4.

I think the manager is making the right move here. Dice-K has been very inconsistent, and tossing him against the red-hot Fausto Carmona would definitely put the Sox at a disadvantage if the Japanese star didn’t bring his “A” game. Schilling has been on fire lately, setting up a couple of heavyweight pitching matchups to start the series; Beckett vs. Sabathia and Schilling vs. Carmona.

This doesn’t mean I don’t believe Matsuzaka can be an asset before this post-season is over. I think he definitely gives Boston a leg up in Game 3 against either Jake Westbrook or Paul Byrd. Interestingly enough, the rotation setup would put Dice-K on the mound should there be a decisive Game 7.

That’s the view from here…how do you see it? Another wise move by Tito? Or should he have left well enough alone and continued to go with what worked in the opening playoff series?

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

More publicity for the Mill City thanks to The Fighter.

Mark Wahlberg was the first guest on the Regis and Kelly show this morning. Don’t ask what I was doing watching Regis and Kelly. I’m a serial channel surfer and wanted to see if the man slated to play Micky Ward would discuss the movie even though I’m sure he was on the show to promote a different flick. Anyway, the very first topic was The Fighter, and they spent a good minute or two discussing Wahlberg’s role and preparations. Among the highlights:

-They mentioned Micky Ward specifically and that he’s from Lowell, Massachusetts.

-Wahlberg said that Brad Pitt would co-star in the movie. Not is in negotiations to play, not he might, but he WOULD be in the movie.

-Mark also said he’s been training to play Micky for over a year, and when asked why so long, he said because the movie was supposed to be done by now.

-Wahlberg continuously stressed how important it was for him to do the role and the story justice, so he didn’t want this to be the typical Hollywood fight flick.

-Finally, Wahlberg stated that the schedule called for The Fighter to be shot “the middle to the end of next year.”

Again, nothing we haven’t seen in these pages before, but just confirmation from the key player in all this that the movie is on track, and that it will be as big a deal for the people involved as it is for those of us here in Lowell.

Here's the link to the Regis and Kelly Show website. They sometimes put pictures and video clips of their segments on there. As of right now, they haven't put this one up there, but if they do, we'll provide a link. The Sun is also efforting to get a transcript or clip of the segment.

(Update: Our sister blog, The Frosting, has a complete transcript of the segment. Make sure to check it out and visit often because Rachel Briere has more info and also updates any movie news as it breaks)

Raking a weekend’s worth of colorful thoughts and dumping them into one neat pile on your front doorstep:

Manny Ramirez doing “yard work” again makes that Red Sox that much more dangerous in the playoffs. I don’t think you can hit the ball any harder than Boston’s left fielder did on those Game 2 & 3 home runs. It sure looks like the time off to heal the oblique injury helped Manny rediscover his power stroke.

Ramirez is now tied with Bernie Williams for top billing on the all-time post-season home run list. However, Williams needed 121-playoff games to notch his 22-dingers. It only took Manny 87. So why is “Bernie Baseball” regarded as such a clutch October performer while Ramirez rarely gets his due? Could it be because the quirky Ramirez doesn’t appear on the talk shows, dispensing meaningless clichés and pretending to enjoy the questioners’ company?

Speaking of media friendly chaps, I hope nobody got trampled in that stampede to defend poor Joe Torre from the big bad Steinbrenner monster. He seems like a great guy, but I’d have a lot more respect for Torre if he’d stand up and tell Georgie Porgie what to do with his threats. If he needs any pointers, he can just rent The Bronx is Burning DVD set and see how Billy Martin did it.

What a shock to see Roger Clemens limping off the mound during a playoff game. Who could have ever predicted that? From TheSunBlog, May 6, 2007:

“The best part; Steinbrenner is tying up precious dollars on the fraud. Clemens will give New York a false sense of security through the summer months. He’ll pitch OK, but nowhere near the dominant ace level of the 80’s and 90’s, or the National League statistically “enhanced” (that word choice isn’t a coincidence) level of the past few years. And just when the Yanks need him most, September and October, he’ll come up with one of those nagging groin injuries that hamper him every year his team fails in the end.”

I’d pat myself on the back for nailing it on the head, but that one was easier than a drunken Hollywood starlet.

Do the Indians pay Trot Nixon’s salary in doughnuts? Holy cow! Major league outfielders aren’t supposed to be built like bloggers!

Anyone else think the Patriots put it on cruise control against the Browns the other day so as not to give the Cowboys any extra looks? New England built a 20-3 lead before putting the offense on hibernate mode. And just when the Browns pull to within ten points, Tom Brady leads a 9-play, 71-yard TD drive. Coincidence? Or are the Pats good enough to toy with the opposition?

As good as Bill Belichick’s boys look, we’d be foolish to overlook the 5-0 Colts. The last win might have been their most impressive yet. Missing Joseph Addai and Marvin Harrison, Indy put a 33-14 shellacking on Tampa Bay. The thing that really caught my eye? Without Bob Sanders, who it’s said makes the Colts defense tick, they held the Bucs to 17-yards rushing.

I can’t wait till November 4, 2007 and January 20, 2008. That latter date, in case you didn’t get it, is the AFC Championship, or the real Super Bowl if you will.

Boston College #4 in the latest college football polls? Did I see that correctly, or has the De Lorean time machine taken us back to 1984? If you see someone resembling Doug Flutie playing guitar at a school dance, you’d better head back to town square and make sure the flux capacitor is working properly.

A few observations from a sweeping Game-3 victory:

***Curt Schilling may be old. He may no longer have the overpowering stuff. But he certainly knows when it’s October, doesn’t he? With all due respect to Andy Pettitte, the Red Sox have the two best playoff pitchers on their side, which can’t be a very comforting thing to whoever survives the other ALDS or NLCS.

***Could it be that the time off to heal the oblique injury was just what Manny Ramirez needed to rediscover that sweet swing? Manny and David Ortiz going back to back for the first time all year is but another positive sign going forward.

***Don’t let the talking heads fool you; the outcome would have been no different had the Angels been completely healthy. Gary Mathews isn’t that much of a difference maker. And hey, so Vlad Guerrero was hurt? So is everyone else at this time of year. You think Papi is walking around healthy?

***Best part of the sweep? More rest for the weary and a chance to line up the rotation exactly how Terry Francona wants it.

Final Score
Browns 17
Patriots 34

View from Mt. Olympus: Back door cover!

The Patriots played their worst game of the year, yet still came away with a 17-point victory in a game where the winner was never in doubt, just the point spread. And as a reward to their loyal followers, the large majority of whom I’m sure bet on them, the Pats produced a miraculous late game cover with a fumble return for a touchdown on a very close/questionable call.

You have to credit the Browns for not getting completely blown out of Gillette Stadium, though I’m not sure how much of that was their play or New England’s sluggishness. The Pats seemed to take their foot off the offensive pedal a bit today, but the defense came up with some huge plays until giving up large chunks of yardage during the 4th quarter.

The record is now 5-0, the same as it is against the spread. A very intriguing matchup against the Cowboys in Dallas awaits, with the very real possibility that both teams enter the contest undefeated. I’m very much looking forward to that one, because I think it will give us a true indication of how good both teams are.

Shining Stars: The biggest star on the forehead is reserved for Ben Watson, the touchdown machine Tight End who’s now hit paydirt 5-times on the young season. Add to that 107-yards receiving (first time he’s topped 100-yards in his career), and the big guy’s finally displaying the greatness so many fantasy owners predicted…Before Watson’s heroics, it was Dante Stallworth’s day to shine. It looked like the Pats made a conscious effort to get the previously neglected Wide Receiver more involved, and it paid off in a big way early in the contest with 4-receptions for 65-yards and a nifty 34-yard TD catch and run.

Kudos as well to Sammy Morris for a 2nd straight 100-yard rushing day in relief of the injured Laurence Maroney. I know Maroney might be more of a home run threat, but I think Morris is a better back for this offense because of his straight ahead power running style…And of course, we can’t forget the maestro of the offense, Tom Brady. Completion percentage-wise, this was his worst day 22-38 (trade him now!!!), but the 3-TD’s and 0-INT’s are more than enough to earn the Pats class Valedictorian more high honors.

Other than Watson, the most impressive performances came on defense. Junior Seau had a pair of interceptions (though what was he thinking holding the ball out like that on the second one?), one of which came off a Mike Vrabel deflection and the other an Asante Samuel deflection. Asante came up with one of his own later, holding on to a ball that Adalius Thomas deflected. (BTW, that’s the 3rd straight game with a pick for the holdout CB. He now has 12 in his last 14-games and is in line for a big payday next offseason.) For those efforts, we’ll give Seau and Samuel stars on the forehead and a big thumbs up to the coach who runs the tip drill in practice….Tedy Bruschi was also strong, drilling Derek Anderson for a pair of sacks that helped set the tone early and no doubt contributed to the young QB’s struggles until the Pats called off the dogs and coasted home in the second half.

Quality Quotes: "Coming back was nice, but who wants to come back to a whooping. It is good to be back to see some of the faces. I just wish that we would have played better. This is a great crowd. I had a lot of years here with them. We went through a lot together. I just take my hat off to them. I really appreciated the standing ovation. It was tough to focus with all of that going on."--Willie McGinest on his return to Foxboro as an opponent

"It’s not in any way all about him. He’s a very unselfish player. He might be one of the most unselfish players I’ve ever coached."--Bill Belichick on Junior Seau

Funny, but didn't Junior come to Foxboro with a reputation as just that, a selfish player and a freelancer? That either speaks to how we can be wrong about people when we don't really see them day in day out. Or, it speaks to the culture Belichick has created in Foxboro where previously selfish players swallow their ego for the good of the team.

That’s how I see it…what’s the view from where you’re at? Was it just me or were the Pats toying with the Browns a bit there?

Slowly but surely, The Victim is winning converts. Before you know it, legions of fans will be wearing bags on their heads in honor of the fearless football forecaster who continues to defy the odds and make money for the minions who follow his advice.

Not that last week duplicated the 4-0 showing from the previous weekend of pigskin prognosticating, but any time you can turn in a performance even one game about the break-even point, that’s money in your pocket instead of the bookies. And if you haven’t dialed into SportsTalk Live for the Monday Night Football selections, you’re missing out on an even better winning percentage, so make sure you call in this week because that’s the only way you’re going to get that “guaranteed” winner.

On with the picks:

Cleveland (+16 ½) over New England
Indianapolis (-9 ½) over Tampa Bay
Denver (-1) over San Diego
Green Bay (-3) over Chicago

Last Week: 3-2
Season Record: 11-9-1
Monday Night Record: 3-1-1

Sox/Angels Game 2 Observations:

***Manny Ramirez was long overdue for one of these. Perhaps this will shut up the anti-Manny crowd which loves to take shots at him for anything and everything from dogging it, to faking injuries, to not being a productive hitter anymore (anyone listening to Mike Adams do his nightly hatchet job on WEEI knows what I’m talking about).

We’re blessed to have, and to have had, one of the greatest hitters of all-time smack dab in the middle of our lineup. Sure he’s quirky and a pain in the butt at times, plus he hasn’t exactly had a typical Ramirez season. But I’m glad he’s on our side. Go ahead and keep walking David Ortiz. Eventually, it was going to catch up to the Angels. And it did in a big way last night!

***Would somebody please just grab Dice-K by the throat and tell him to throw freakin’ strikes! For the love of god, a guy with his stuff doesn’t need to nibble like that. Like a lot of major leaguers, Matsuzaka is much less effective when pitching from the stretch, so it would behoove him to stop walking so many batters. I still think the light bulb is going to turn on one of these days and he’s going to become the dominant starter his stuff indicates he should be. Till then, I’ll settle for just throwing strikes.

It might also help if he’d just stay on the damn mound and throw the ball instead of going through that maddening “walk off the hill, wipe the sweat off the forehead and neck, rubdown the ball and take 45-seconds between pitches” routine. Mike Hargrove used to be known as the Human Rain Delay. Watching Dice-K pitch is twice as maddening!

***Nice to see J.D. Drew come through in the clutch. If Papi, Manny, Mike Lowell and Drew are all legitimate threats, Boston’s lineup will have more than enough punch to offset the automatic outs Coco Crisp and Jason Varitek have become.

***Great play by Danny Vinik, the anti-Steve Bartman. You helped your team win the game kid...now go ahead and open your eyes!

***Hope that scintillating Bruins game ended in time for the hockey fans out there to catch the end of the Sox game. Not that it could ever match the up and down thrills of soccer on ice, but those two baseball games last night sure did have some pretty good drama, didn't they?

That's how I see it...what's your view?

O.K. I know Tom Brady's a Yankees fan and has been photographed wearing an Evil Empire hat. He talked about being a Yanks fan years ago, long before he started dating Giselle and prancing around the Big Apple with the NY logo, so I don't get why people are making such a big deal of it now anyway. Besides, it's not like he grew up in New England, so we can understand him not being a member of Red Sox Nation. And at least he's smart enough not to show up at Fenway Park looking like that.

What in the world was going through LeBron's head though? It's the Indians first playoff appearance since 2001 and King James shows up at Jacobs Field proudly showing off a Yankees hat? Even better, he was born and raised in Ohio. If that isn't a big F-You to the fans of Cleveland, I don't know what is.

Just goes to show you the value of a college education!!!

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Can Celtics forward Brian Scalabrine be the X-Factor for the Celtics? The topic was raised by one of you folks in a comment.

Without pretending to have psychic abilities or influence over the decisions of the Celtics coaching staff, I'm taking up both sides of the topic.

“Scal” is a 6’9” 235-pound seventh year man who started 33 games in his NBA career. Scalabrine has averaged just under four points per game over his career (he scored 2.9 in his first season with the Celtics and 4.0 last season) and shot just under 40 percent from behind the three-point line (39.3). Click here to see his career stats

A second-round draft pick in 2001, he had most productive season came in 2004-05 with New Jersey as a role player off the bench.

Last year, his largest value was arguably his experience and ability to understand what the coaching staff was trying to implement. He did not fall victim to the same sort of lapses of concentration that youngsters like Gerald Green suffered through.

Several times he ended up -- more or less by default due to injuries -- guarding some of the oppositions best offensive players such as Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant.

Now, this year’s team figures to be vastly different in that the overall experience level should be higher. Six players on the training camp roster have been in the league longer than Scalabrine.

The 2007-08 bench will feature more players who’ve proven they’re NBA players than last season. James Posey, Tony Allen, Eddie House, Scot Pollard, and Scalabrine will come off the bench as well.

It seems the case could be made that Scalabrine is less likely to be an X-factor because of the increased talent level, versatility, and experience of the roster. After all, it’s not as if he were a starter on last year’s squad.

On the other hand if you want to make a case for Scalabrine as an X-factor, you might say his ability to play significant minutes in the frontcourt could allow the Celtics to use different lineup combinations.

It could also be said that he had his best seasons in a more defined role of the bench. The sort of role he may get back to this season. He a big body that is solid in rebounding and has some range on his jump shot. Those players can always be of use, and Ryan Gomes is now longer wearing green.

Click the comments link below and give your thoughts on Scal, the Celtics, and/or what you'll be looking for going into tomorrow's first preseason game.

Some Game 1 observations:

***Josh Beckett is quickly building a reputation as one of the great post-season pitchers of this era…heck, of any era. He now has 3-playoff shutouts (I’ll never forget the Yankee Stadium masterpiece, but I had completely forgotten about the other one) which places him 2nd on the all-time list. That’s amazing, when you think about it, because unlike some of the Yankees pitchers, he’s already accomplished it in this, only his 2nd career playoff year.

***I thought the series matchup was perfect for Boston, and so far it looks good. The Angels don’t match up well against the Sox, especially when you consider their ace, John Lackey, gets lit like a Christmas tree against this opponent. Now, even if the LAA’s win the next two (which I doubt), they’ll still need Lackey to beat Beckett in Game 4 to close it out. Start making plans for the ALCS!

***Big Papi is back, in a BIG way! I really started to get excited toward the end of the season when David Ortiz began banging it off and over the Green Monster, just as he did in the glory October days of 2003 & 2004. With Manny back behind him in the lineup, expect Papi to post huge playoff numbers.

***Despite the rough outing yesterday, I still think J.D. Drew will come through. However, I think before all’s said and done this month, Jacoby Ellsbury will replace Coco Crisp as the starting centerfielder and perhaps even move into the leadoff spot.

Those are my observations…what are yours?

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

No. There will be no live blogging from Europe. Just as well, I may have tried to stay there extra long if I had the chance.

I'm not a big fan of plugging other sites and/or outlets, but folks looking to keep up to date should check out Peter Stringer's Euroblog on Celtics.com.

He's been updating several times a day on everything from injuries and who performed well in scrimmages to guys shaving their heads in a sign of team unity.

Also, Comcast SportsNet team (formerly FSN New England for those who haven't been keeping up with the blog) has been on the scene in Europe giving dialy reports.

Tonight's lineup courtesy of our friends at Comcast SportsNet:

Tonight on "Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight" Mike Gorman and Donny Marshall discuss shaved heads and team unity; the second unit having its way with the first team; Tony Allen’s health; Kevin Garnett’s practice intensity; and Kendrick Perkins as the X-factor.

Comcast SportsNet will also post exclusive, uncut footage of today’s activities in Rome on Comcast SportsNet.com: Celtics video travelogue of Rome, Gorman Points Video Log No. 3, Doc Rivers one-on-one following practice, Bald Paul Pierce one-on-one following practice, Brandon Wallace one-on-one following practice.

In the fight to land the Micky Ward movie, Nicholas Paleologos sounds ready to score the bout a knockout for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the city of Lowell.

“I’m confident we’ll get the movie. The only question is when,” says Paleologos. “Right now, it looks like the Fall of 2008 is the likely start time. But with movies, a timeline is like New England weather. If you don’t like it, just wait a minute and it’ll change.”

As Executive Director of the Massachusetts Film Office, it’s Paleologos’ job to woo Paramount Pictures. He’s been flying back and forth to Los Angeles frequently since assuming the position in January of 2007 and believes he’s making progress based on the latest conversations with studio executives.

But more than just a job, bringing The Fighter to the place where the story unfolded is somewhat of a personal quest. Paleologos’ grandparents grew up in the Acre and he comes back to visit often, so he’s well aware of what the Mill City has going for it.

“It would be a shame not to shoot in Lowell, especially when it offers so many options,” says Paleologos. “I’m working hard to convince them they’ll get more bang for their buck here.”

For his part, Ward says “there’s no doubt the movie should be done here,” and appreciates Paleologos’ efforts. While the former Junior Welterweight Champion is not involved in talks with Paramount, he is in contact with Mark Wahlberg and screenwriter Scott Silver and gets the impression they also prefer the movie be shot here.

If the quest to land the flick ultimately proves successful, much of the credit belongs to another Lowellian. Paleologos says discussions with Paramount got the ball rolling on the recently passed tax relief legislation to make Massachusetts a more attractive destination to film a movie, but it was State Senator Steve Panagiotakos who made the bill a reality.

“With passage of this law, Massachusetts became the first or second most desirable state in the U.S. to shoot a movie,” said Paleologos, himself a former State Representative for 14-years. “Steve’s tireless work not only led to getting the legislation approved, but to rushing it through at an amazing pace, unheard of in this state.”

Panagiotakos shares Paleologos’ confidence in the movie ultimately being filmed in Massachusetts, though he says Lowell’s role is still in question. According to the Senator, one of the concerns is “finding a 25,000-50,000 square foot commercial property where a sound stage can be built and leased for six months.” He’s calling on any local realtors who have such a property, perhaps a vacant supermarket or warehouse, to contact Paleologos at the Massachusetts Film Office. “Absent that, the bulk of the movie will have to be shot elsewhere and the actors won’t be coming to Lowell.”

Paleologos also knows a thing or two about putting a production together. After leaving the state legislature in 1990, he went on to win a pair of Tony Awards for his work on Broadway as well as an Emmy nomination in 1997 for the HBO film In the Gloaming, which was directed by Christopher Reeve. His feature film credits include Quiz Show, Mississippi Burning and Ghosts of Mississippi.

That experience brings an understanding of how beneficial landing a major motion picture can be for a community. With Mark Wahlberg set to star as Micky and Brad Pitt reportedly close to signing on as Dickie Ecklund, The Fighter will likely have a $100-million budget. Paleologos says that’s worth “tens of millions of dollars to the region, perhaps up to $50-million when you consider salaries for local crews, production facilities, hotels, taxis and restaurants.”

Those figures don’t even take into account the long-term financial impact. The film industry spawns companies like Boston Movie Tours, which take visitors to locations where other feature films were shot. “And just look at Cheers,” says Paleologos. “It’s still one of the most popular stopping spots all these years after that show went off the air.”

Granted, the marquee names in this production would be Wahlberg, Pitt and Ward. But if film crews take over the cobblestone streets sometime next Fall, you can bet Lowell will be a place where everybody knows Nick Paleologos’ name as well.

Posted by Gayle Simone, Sun Staff

I am truly excited to see the Bruins hit the ice Friday night and yes, I will be watching the Black and Gold; not the Red Sox.

Before I get to my thoughts on this year's Bruins team I figured I'd recap from the last preseason game the Bs played against the Islanders.

Wow, now that was a long third period... just kidding.

The Black and Gold looked solid for the first two periods and honestly they looked pretty solid in the third, but mistakes are what cost them the game. One thing is for sure I could hear the guys on the ice from the 9th floor and the communication out there seems pretty good this far.

Unfortunately communication and play broke down as the Bs lost 4-2.

Marc Savard said it best after the game, "I think the boys are ready to go on a mission and that's how we have to look at it. We gotta be on a mission one game at a time."

Here's how I see the Bruins season unfolding this year....

GOALTENDING:
Last year Tim Thomas got the bulk of the starts and desperately needed help; this year he has the help when the team traded Petr Kalus and a 2009 fourth round draft pick for Manny Fernandez.

Last year's stats:

THOMAS: 66 Games played; 30-29-4; 3.13 GAA; NHL Career: 108 Games played; 45-43-14; 2.99 GAA
FERNANDEZ: 44 games played; 22-16-1; 2.55 GAA; NHL Career: 293 Games played; 125-113-32; 2.47 GAA

GRADE: C +
The goaltending has defintely been up graded from last season and knowing what Thomas did for the Bs last year and now the addition of another Manny in Boston.

DEFENSE:
The boys on the blue line weren't necessarily up graded; they didn't need to be. What they needed was a coach to let them play their game.
Look for Zdeno Chara to play a more physical game this year. Considering Andrew Ference, Aaron Ward and Dennis Wideman didn't start playing with the team until February - look for them to gel better with their teammates and be a lot more productive. Andrew Alberts grew a lot last year playing along side Chara, look for him to keep it rolling this season.

GRADE: B -
As long as everyone stays healthy, the Bs defense will be much stronger under Claude Julien's reign.

FORWARDS: These are the lines as I'd like to see them come Friday night.

Peter Schaefer-Savard-Glen Murray
Marco Sturm-Patrice Bergeron-Chuck Kobasew (Milan Lucic)
PJ Axelsson-Phil Kessel-David Krejci (Brandon Bochenski)
Jeremy Reich-Glen Metropolit-Shaen Thornton

If Murray stays healthy and Schaefer continues what he did in Ottawa, look for Savard to reach the 100 point plateau this season.

Bergy and Sturm played well together from the night Sturm first laced up the skates for the Black and Gold when he arrived via the trade, which I'd still like to forget. Kobasew came to the team in February, again via the trade but only played 10 games with the Bs due to an elbow injury.

Axy, Kessel and Krecji played phenomenal together in the last preseason game. Kessel and Krejci bring speed and finess to a third line while Axy brings leadership, experience and a strong sense of checking.

The addition of Thorton to this team automatically gives the Bs something they were lacking last year - toughness.

GRADE: A
I know some of you think the Bruins still have holes, but I disagree. Look for the top two lines to be a lot more consistent this year.

COACHING:
Where do I start? Many people think Claude Julien is the next coach to be fired by the Bruins, but I see him much differently.

He is a coach that knows how to deal with veterans as well as the young players.

In 238 NHL games coached, Julien posts a 119-86-10-23 record. Let's not forget he led the Montreal Canadiens to their best record in ten years in 2003-04. Julien was the coach behind the bench in 2004 when the Canadiens upset the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs.

Julien has been preaching, along with General Manager Peter Chiarelli, that the team needs to be "harder to play against."

GRADE: A
Look for Julien to secure not only his job but also Chiarelli's as he leads the Bruins to the post season after a two-year absence (I am not counting the year of the lockout).

OVERALL: B -
The Bruins will be fighting with Buffalo for the second and third spot in their own division - Ottawa takes the division easily this year. The Bs will finish the season with nearly 90 points and be seeded somewhere between 6-8 for the post season.

Do I think they will win the Stanley Cup, nope. That pick goes to Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks this year.

There you have it. My thoughts on the "current" Bruins team that open their season with a five game roadtrip spanning over the first two weeks of the season. Do y'all think I have blinders on or have I changed your mind?

Because I know how much you care, here’s how I see Major League Baseball’s playoffs breaking down. But first, let’s take a quick moment to recap the regular season projections posted March 31st:

We had 3-of-4 American League playoff entries, with only the underachieving A’s missing from my list. I did have the Yankees as the East winner and the Red Sox as the wild-card, but you’re not going to hold that against me are you? And yes, I had the Indians when everybody and their mother picked Detroit or Minnesota.

In the senior circuit, we went 2-for-4 on playoff squads. The Mets collapse cost me a chance to equal my AL total, but they choked and the Phillies didn’t need to prevail in what would have been a crazy wild-card scenario. As is, the Fightin’ Phils joined the Cubs as my only correct post-season selections. Not to sound phony here, but I gave serious thoughts to picking Arizona to win the West. Ultimately I didn’t, but I did say “they were coming on strong and watch out in ’08.” As for my Dodgers pick, that’s what I get for counting on Grady Little!

However, since none or you stuck your necks out (DB did make a few comments, but never gave a complete rundown), I think 5-of-8 isn’t bad. It’s no Meatloaf (67% or 2-out-of-3), but it ain’t bad. Anyway, here’s what the crystal ball shows for October:

Division Series
Red Sox over Angels in 3
Indians over Yankees in 5
Cubs over Diamondbacks in 5
Phillies over Rockies in 4

League Championship Serieships
Red Sox over Indians in 5
Cubs over Phillies in 7

World Series
Red Sox over Cubs in 6

What do you think? And let’s have some detail and discussion. Don’t just give me your World Series winner!

Another great week of high school football is in the books; plenty of great individual performances, some interesting results, and lots of reasons to be proud of your local schools. Here are some of the highlights:

*Peter Flynn’s Billerica Indians (4-0) prove they’re for real with a 34-27 victory over Andover

*Lowell’s struggles continue during a 13-7 overtime loss at Westford. The concussion suffered by star QB Ryan Welch didn’t help the cause, but what’s wrong with the Red Raiders?

*Chelmsford sends notice that they’ll have to be reckoned with after a convincing 28-6 win over previously unbeaten Tewksbury. The Lions (2-0 conference record) are tied with Billerica atop the MVC. Central Catholic (1-0) is ½ game behind.

*A late game TD pass from Colin Halloran to Tom Sullivan followed by Halloran's 2-pt. conversion toss to Mike DePasquale gives Tyngsboro its first ever Dual County League victory, 29-28 over Concord-Carlisle

*Wilmington, Shawsheen and Greater Lawrence remain undefeated at 4-0. Wilmington coach Bob Almeida joined in to SunTalk Live last night to preview the upcoming against powerhouse Masconomet (4-0). Click here to listen to the show audio

*The Bishop Guertin Express rolls on, 41-14 over Alvirne. Can Tony Johnson’s Cardinals be stopped?

*Get all your box scores here and statistics here

*Sun Stars of the Week showcases the top performers

Conference standings can be found by clicking the “View Full Entry” link…as always, your comments and trash-talking are encouraged!

Final Score
Patriots 34
Bengals 13

View from Mt. Olympus: Has anyone else stopped to think that we just might be watching the greatest team ever?

I fully realize how ridiculous it is to make such a statement only 4-weeks into the regular season. The safe thing would be to sit here, talk about another wonderful performance by the Patriots, basically repeat the exact same things I’ve said weeks 1-3, compliment the same players, offer the typical warnings about injury, what could go wrong, or how they have to get through the Colts and win the Super Bowl before even beginning a discussion about greatest team ever.

That’s what a wise writer would do unless he wants his words thrown back in his face when things go wrong. And pity the poor sap who might even think about broaching the subject with Bill Belichick or any of the players. But mark my words; by the time this year is done, people will mention this team in the same breath as the ’85 Bears, ’72 Dolphins, or any of the Packers, Steelers, 49ers and Cowboys entries of the Super Bowl era.

That’s how good the New England Patriots are this year. And if they go 15-1 or…ssshhhh, don’t say this too loud…undefeated, they will lay legitimate claim to the title Greatest Team Ever. I won’t bore you with stats such as no team has won its first 4-games by such a large margin since 1920 because you’ll be inundated with them as this run continues.

Just take my word for it. Sit back, enjoy the ride. You are watching history in the making, and a team that they’ll be talking about long after you and I are gone from the face of this earth.

Shining Stars: Ho-hum. Tom Brady and Randy Moss get stars on the forehead for their performances (stop me if you’ve heard this before). Here’s my favorite stat involving this dynamic duo; Brady has thrown 34-passes in Moss’ direction, and the receiver has come down with 31 of them. That first touchdown was as good as it gets and I can’t believe the announcing crew didn’t spend more time talking about how remarkable a catch it was; the body control, twisting in mid-air while leaping, grasping the ball with a defender in his shirt, all of this happening so close to the out of bounds marker yet Moss still being able to get both feet inbounds…simply amazing!

Sammy Morris also earns high honors, busting over the 100-yard mark in a spot start for the injured Laurence Maroney, while continuing to display a nose for the end zone…The Offensive Line joins the hit parade again, this time more-so for the fantastic job they did run-blocking, though the unit also held up pretty well under pressure from a good Bengals pass rush.

Mike Vrabel gets the star treatment, though for his TD catch instead of anything he did individually on defense. Talk about a guy making his catches count…And finally, how about a group award for the Defense, which didn’t have a single player make more than 5-tackles, yet held a great offense to 13-points at home.

Quality Quotes: "I think the main thing is not playing as a team right now. It definitely is evident playing against a team that plays as one and doesn't play as individuals. They play as a unit and as a group. And that's where we need to get to. It's evident to our team that's how you win championships. That's how you have a so-called dynasty -- you play as one. And it's a good example to us.”—Carson Palmer, Bengals QB

Geez! If you listened to certain Steelers and Eagles players, you’d have thought it was all about the cheating!

That’s the view from here…how do you see it? Anybody else want to go out on a limb and agree with me about where this team is headed? Or do you think I’m jumping the gun?

Spraying a champagne bottle worth of thoughts while hoping Jonathan Papelbon sobers up before the playoffs start:

OK, so the celebration was a bit over the top, and I can’t blame cranky old fogies (of which I’m usually one) who criticize the Red Sox for wildly celebrating when there’s still a lot of work to be done. But I have to admit, the Fenway drinkfest/dancefest Friday night was a lot of fun to watch if for no other reason than it once again demonstrates how, at heart, these grown men are really boys playing a kid’s game.

I will say this, however. Someday, probably right around the time he’s going to have warn his kids about the dangers of drinking, Papelbon is going to look at the footage of him prancing around the turf in his “spanx” and cringe. You can bet the producers of the Red Sox 2007 team video will work that dance routine in time and time again.

Did the Mets really just blow a 7-game lead with only 18-games remaining? Texas Hold ‘Em players dealt an offsuit 2-8 don’t fold that quickly!

Strangely enough, I didn’t take much joy in this Big Apple team’s demise. You never want to see a local boy like Tom Glavine have such a disastrous final week, and Pedro Martinez pitched pretty darned well in his return from shoulder surgery, so it would have been nice to see one of my personal favorites in the post-season again.

A few playoff predictions; J.D. Drew and Eric Gagne become fan-favorites…Roger Clemens re-injures his groin/hamstring/calf/quad/cranium, pick a muscle, any muscle…the average fan realizes just how awesome Chase Utley is…and the under-appreciated Terry Francona out-manages every other bench boss as the Red Sox beat the Cubs in a World Series featuring more over-blown nostalgia than a Ken Burns documentary.

That Jets fan suing Bill Belichick and the Patriots for fraud might want to think about sicking his attorney on Eric Mangini. The only people “deceived” are New Yorkers who thought their coach was a genius. Real men of genius don’t lose to 0-3 teams missing 11-of-22 starters, as Buffalo was the other day. That happens to be the same Bills team the Patriots plastered 38-7 a week ago, on a day where Bill Belichick’s boys didn’t exactly bring their “A” game.

“Mangenius” better rebound pretty quickly. Me thinks he’s burned a few bridges in the NFL coaching community, and there probably won’t be much of a rush to bring him on as an assistant when he’s canned as HC of the NYJ.

How about a little shout out (HOLLA!) to Shannon Hlebichuk and the UMass-Lowell Field Hockey squad. A pretty solid player in her own right (4th on the River Hawks all-time scoring list), the Nashua resident has taken it to a different level as head coach. Hlebichuk’s teams are working on a streak of four consecutive Final Four appearances, including a runner-up finish in 2003 and a National Championship in ’05. If that’s not a dynasty, it’s about as close as you can come.

This year’s edition, currently ranked 5th in the nation with a very good chance of moving up a spot in this week’s poll, features locals Michelle Perrault (Chelmsford), Jaime Hadley (Chelmsford) and Sammy Macy (Tewksbury). And in case you couldn’t tell, this is my way of telling you to stop by Cushing Field every now and then for a look-see, before some major college comes to its senses and swoops Hlebichuk away.