All is Right With the World

Two writeups for the price of one

This is how is should have been through the first four games. The Celtics shot down the Hawks in Game 5 by a score of 110-85. While the "big three" of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen all scored 20, 22, and 19 respectively, the Celtics were led by the grit and hustle of bench player Leon Powe. Upon coming off the bench in the first quarter Powe immediately drew two charges and grabbed 5 offensive rebounds. He was the energy the Celtics needed to get going. He finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds but did many things that a box score will not show you.

The Celtics showed why they won 66 games this year with their tough defense for all 48 minutes. Joe Johnson was "held" to just 21 points as the Celtics held the Hawks to 40% shooting. Sam Cassell finally showed signs of life with 13 points off the bench for the C's. Mike Bibby played horrific yet again in Boston with just 6 points and 1 assist.

The Celtics go back to Atlanta Friday night as they will try to eliminate the pesky Hawks and move on to face the winner of the Cavs-Wizards series.

The Boston Red Sox won in their last at bat for the second night in a row as Jason Varitek drove in the speedster Manny Ramirez in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Boston bats were silent yet again, but Daisuke Matsuzaka bailed them out by throwing 7 shutout innings of 2 hit ball. Papelbon came on in the ninth to pickup his 2nd win a row. David Oritz is showing signs of life again as he homered tonight and also singled in the bottom of the ninth to start the Red Sox rally.

The Red Sox currently hold a one game lead over the (gasp) Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. If the Red Sox can be in first place with this bad of an offense, it seems that they will coast to a second division title in as many years. There is no team in this division that remotely scares me. I will go so far as to say the Yankees will finish in third place this season, not making the playoffs. The Sox have the pitching to once again win the World Series. Let's just hope the bats come out of hibernation.

-Scottie

Lester-iffic

Tonight Jon Lester dazzled the Toronto Blue Jays through 8 innings, allowing only 1 hit while walking three en route to a dramatic 1-0 win for the Boston Red Sox tonight. Kevin Youkillis knocked in David Ortiz in the bottom of the ninth with two outs to snap Boston's five game losing streak.

Although Lester did not figure in the decision, he was the story tonight. For the third game in a row the Boston bats were unable to put runs together to make their outstanding starting pitching stand out. For the first time in his career, Jon Lester made a believer out of me. I always skeptical when Lester was on the mound because of his tendency to throw 100 pitches through 5 innings. I was a fan of trading Lester for Johan Santana this past offseason because I strongly believed Lester was a fluke. I was dead wrong. When Lester pounds the strike zone he is tough to figure out for opposing hitters. With the young arms the Boston Red Sox system has, I see big things for Lester. He will be a solid number three behind Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka for years to come.

Now that I am done praising Lester, it is time for a wake up call for the Red Sox bats. Tonight they had an excuse in the form of Roy Halladay. However in Tampa Bay, the bats were silenced by Edwin Jackson and James Shields. It is puzzling to me how the Sox are among the league leaders in most team offensive categories, but have looked this bad over the past three days. Thank God for the starting pitching over the past couple games.

One of my favorite players stepped up big with his glove yet again tonight. With a runner on second and two outs in the top of the ninth with a ball hit up the middle, Dustin Pedroia made an amazing diving stop, got up and fired to first to end the inning, preventing a run from scoring. The play was eerilly similar to the one he made last year against Baltimore's Miguel Tejada to perserve Clay Buchholz's no hitter. Dustin Pedroia simply gets the job done. No sophomore slump here.

The series continues tommorow with Daisuke Matsuzaka facing Dustin McGowan at 7:05 from Fenway Park.

-Scottie

And We Have a Series...

The events that took place tonight have me in a state of complete shock. I am so much in shock that I am not angry nor do I know who I should be angry with. A series that was suppose to be a 4 game tuneup for the Cavaliers has turned into a competitive series of its own. The Atlanta Hawks did the unthinkable tonight beating the Boston Celtics a second straight time and ensuring that the series will go back to Atlanta.

Why the Celtics lost:

1) Joe Johnson. The former Celtic scored 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter. He simply took the game over and no one could stop him. Ray Allen could do nothing to even slow down Johnson as he played like a man posessed. I would have like to seen Doc make an adjustment by putting James Posey or even Tony Allen on Johnson but that never happened.

2) Foul Shooting. The Celtics were a woeful 10-18 from the foul line. They actually almost shot a better percent from downtown than the stripe. The Hawks went 29-33 from the line. It is easy to make the argument that the game was won at the line.

3) Early Foul Trouble. After the initial on slaught that saw the Celtics jump out to a quick 16-3 lead, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Kendrick Perkins each picked up 2 quick fouls. They were never really able to get into the flow of the game after that point.

4) Lack of a Bench. It is well known that the Celts have a much deeper bench than the Hawks. Tonight the Celts bench was non-existent. Sam Cassell was suppose to be a veteran presence off the bench that was solely brought in for the playoffs. Tonight Sam played like dog crap (for lack of a better term), hoisting shots that can't find the rim and turning the ball over.

Yes, the Celtics are coming back to the Garden for Game 5. But the Hawks have all the momentum coming back into Boston. If the Celtics cannot fix the aforementioned behaviors, they could be in a world of trouble.

Game 5 is Wednesday night, time to be determined. Hopefully the shock will be worn off by then.

-Scottie

The Broom; Dallas Doomed; More Trash Talking Looms

After working all weekend, I finally found the time to catch up with whats going on in the world. Here are the top stories from the weekend and my reaction.

*The Boston Red Sox were unceremoniously swept this weekend by the Tampa Bay Rays. Yikes. The Sox wasted two outstanding starts by Clay Buchholz and Josh Beckett as Buchholz took a shutout into the 8th before surrendering a 2 run blast to Akiniori Iwmaura. Beckett struk out 13 in his start but recieved no run support as the Sox fell 3-0 in the final game of the series.

There is no doubt in my mind the Rays are an improved ball club, however, it is unacceptable to be swept by them if you are the Boston Red Sox. The Sox need David Ortiz to get back on track in the worst way. I am starting to get very annoyed with his lack of production and his "free pass" is losing is approaching its expiration date.

*The NFL Draft took place this weekend. Michigan offensive lineman Jake Long was selected first by the Miami Dolphins. The Kansas City Cheifs have to be the biggest winner from this weekend's draft with their selections of DT Glenn Dorsey, CB Brandon Flowers, and RB Jamaal Charles. The Tennessee Titans are the biggest losers from this weekend because they simply did not get anything they desparately needed. They had the chance to grab a wideout to give Vince Young someone to actually throw to. Instead they drafted another running back in Chris Johnson. That makes zero sense to me.

*With the Dallas Mavericks being blown out yet again by the New Orleans Hornets they find themselves on the brink of a first round elimination for the 2nd year in a row. Assuming the Mavs are eliminated, which they will be, look for owner Mark Cuban to make some drastic changes. If I was Cuban, I would shop Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, and essentially rebuild the team. The Devin Harris trade was a huge mistake for Cuban, one that I am sure he regrets making. But I feel it would be in his best interests to try and acquire the top pick in the draft, and get Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose, and build the team around them and pot smoking Josh Howard.

*The combination of Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain, and Mariano Rivera has proved lethal for the New York Yankees all season long. It is to bad the Yankees have zero pitching after Wang. I have said it before and I will say it again; The Yankees will not make the playoffs this year.

*It seems the NBA playoffs are all about trash talking these days. Whether its between LeBron and Deshawn Stevenson or Mike Bibby/Al Horford and the Boston Celtics, its everywhere. This definitely makes for an entertaining post season. You know it serious when Jay-Z comes to the defense of his buddy LeBron and writes a rap slamming Deshawn Stevenson. It is to bad that if Stevenson's buddy Soulja Boy writes a diss, everyone will laugh at them even more.

I have zero idea what Horford and Bibby are doing mocking the Celtics. There is a rather strong possibility the Celtics will win each of the next two games by 30 points a piece. Memo to Al Horford: You are not playing for the Florida Gators anymore. This is the NBA and you have not arrived yet. Prepare to be posterized several times in the next two games.

*After tonight's WWE pay per view, there is a new champion. For the twelfth time in his career Triple H has won the belt, defeating JBL, John Cena, and Randy Orton in a fatal four way match. Where the company goes next is anyone's guess. But I would not mind seeing an HBK-HHH feud for the next couple months. The company has rebounded strongly since the Benoit tragedy. And that was something that I thought would take a long time to overcome. Kudos to the WWE.

*I will stay away from the Bill Walton quote to close out this post. Instead I will turn t Vince Lombardi for a quote that summarizes how I feel about the Celtics loss to the Hawks in game 3.

"We didn’t lose. We just ran out of time."

-Vince Lombardi

-Scottie

Boston Massacre Continued

Mike "cry" Bibby and his fellow Atlanta Hawks should be calling country clubs around Georgia and start booking tee times. After calling out Boston fans for being "fairweather," Bibby delivered a stellar line of 12 points and 1 assist. Once again Bibby was outplayed by 2nd year guard Rajon Rondo who filled the stat sheet with 12 points 8 assists and 6 rebounds as the Celtics coasted to another easy victory.

Bibby delivered this quote after Game One:

“But a lot of these fans are bandwagon jumpers trying to get on this now. I played here last year, too. And I didn’t see three fourths of them. They’re for the team now and they might get a little rowdy but that’s about it.”

With a statement that strong, aren't you suppose to come out and deliever a gutsy performance that puts your team in position to win a game? Game three will be played in Atlanta. The Hawks are yet to sell out their playoff game which proves the phrase "Atlanta sports fan" is an oxeymoron.

Other News:

*DJ Augustin and AJ Abrams both broke my heart today by declaring for the NBA draft. This is now two years in a row where my other favorite college team, the Texas Longhorns, have been depleted by the draft. A man named Durrant left school early last year, and now AJ and DJ will join them. DJ figures to be a top 15 pick at best while AJ may not even go at all.

*Pacman Jones has been traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a 4th round pick. Pacman, TO, and Jessica Simpson all in one? Can we please have a camera follow the Cowboys around all season Truman Show style? Now that would be great TV.

*The flu bug has hit the Boston Red Sox in the worst way in late April. Daisuke Matsuzaka's was scratched from his start tonight because of it. Jason Varitek and Manny Delcarmen have also been affected by the bug. The Sox lost tonight 6-4 as Jon Lester pitched on short rest.

*The Barry Bonds' camp has hinted that there may be collusion going on with the baseball owners. His agent has stated that no one has even offered his client a contract worth the league minimum. Sorry, there is no collusion here. It's plain and simple, no team wants a lying and cheating a**hole in their clubhouse.

And I will leave you with another gem from Bill Walton:

"You look at Vladimir Radmanovic, this guy is cut from stone. As if Michelangelo was reading and a lightening bolt flashed before him."
-- Bill Walton, 2.8.2004

-Scottie

The Future is Bright

Tonight the top two men in the Boston lineup stats' looked something like this: 7 hits, 10 at bats, 4 runs scored, 3 runs batted in, 2 home runs, and 3 doubles. The top two men in the lineup are both 24 years old and look to be in there for years to come. They are center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury and 2007 Rookie of the Year, Dustin Pedroia.

Many were looking to deal Ellsbury over the winter for lefty ace Johan Santana. I was firm in my position that Ellsbury was not to be traded because he is a spark plug in the everyday lineup whereas Johan affects the game every fifth day. Tonight, Ellsbury proved my theory correct, at least for one game. Ellsbury homered twice and laid down a beautiful drag bunt to get on base setting up a game winning double by none other than Dustin Pedroia.

As of right now, the Sox have won 6 in a row and have been led by Pedroia hitting .364 with 12 RBI's out of the 2-hole. He has delivered game winning or tying doubles in 2 of the last three games. Sophomore slump? Hardly. These kids are here to say and I am loving every minute of it.

Other Tidbits

*Chris Paul has effectively shut me up over his first two NBA playoff games, single handedly embarassing Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks. Paul had the video game stats of 32 points and 17 assists. The Hornets will head to Dallas up 2-0 after blowing out the Mavs 127-103 tonight. So much for me thinking that Chris Paul was a fluke.

*The Spurs-Suns series will do down as a classic first round matchup. After game one's double overtime thriller, the two teams were back for game two tonight. The Spurs showed once again, while they are the most boring team in the league, they will win basketball games by being fundamentaly sound. The Spurs will head back to Phoenix up 2-0.

*In a "who really cares series?" the Orlando Magic beat the Toronto Raptors 104-103.

*Congrats to John Smoltz for achieving his 3,000 career strikeout tonight. It is too bad the Braves are atrocious and lost to the lowly Washington Nationals 6-0. I still do not understand why so many baseball writers had the Braves winning what could be the 2nd toughest division in baseball (behind the NL West).

*The Philadelphia Flyers won game 7 in overtime over the Washington Capitals. The Flyers will go on to face the much hated Montreal Canadiens.While I must admit I am not a hockey fan, if you do not get excited when your team is in the playoffs, check your pulse, you might be dead.

And I will leave you with a quote from my inspiration, Bill Walton.

"You talk about Shaq as a ballerina, what a pirouette from Yao!"
-- Bill Walton, as Ming twists in the lane. 2.11.2004

-Scottie

This Is Who I Am

I AM...

I am Scott Patterson
I am a die hard Boston sports fan
I am Providence Friar fanatic
I am a misplaced Texas Longhorn supporter
I am a wrestling fan
I am a homer

I BELIEVE...

I believe the Boston Red Sox are on the verge of a dynasty that will make the 1996-2000 Yankees' seem laughable
I believe the Boston Celtics will have two more titles before the Big Three dismantles
I believe Drew Bledsoe is a first ballot Hall of Famer
I believe Bret Favre is overrated
I believe Bill Walton is the wisest man of our time
I believe you will disagree with my views on many subjects

This is who I am...

I am Scott Patterson


-Scottie