Category: Uncategorized

You never know how much you miss something until it goes away. With all this isolation from human contact it made me reflect on what I miss most in the world of sports. I miss:

NFL Redzone and waiting for the inevitable update about a Jameis Winston interception.

Napkin coaching resignations that say I resign as the HC of the NYJ

Seeing Devlin Hodges quarterbacking the Steelers, but not announcers referring to him as “Duck”

Hearing Sam Wyche get on the PA system respond to unruly fans who are throwing things on the field say “Will the next person that sees anybody throw anything onto this field point them out, get them out of here and yell: You don’t live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJMa20xXykI

The Colts raising a banner for being an AFC Finalist

Dan Fouts and “Air Coryell”

The Houston Oilers, Baltimore Colts, St.Louis Cardinals and mostly the SAN DIEGO Chargers

Al Davis ruining the Raiders

Phony NFL injury designations

Seeing Robert Kraft with a 20-something year old and frequenting massage parlors

Letting Bill Parcells buy the groceries

Being onto Cincinnati

Hearing Wes Welker make multiple references in a press conference about Rex Ryan’s foot fetish – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkvBhMIAWHA

Rodney Harrison and Kevin Garnett’s intensity

Roger Goodell being booed in Foxboro

NBA post-game reports about their officials screwing up

Hearing the goat term in sports referring to a choker not Tom Brady

Instant replay reviews that last a lifetime and ones that the fan at home can figure out in one replay but the officials still need five minutes to make a decision

Talk about computerized strikezones

Seeing if Chris Sale can stay healthy…oops he can’t

Kirby Puckett and the Twins World Series champion team

Willie Stargell and the “We Are Family” World Series champions

Being shocked when Pedro Martinez gave up a run

Greg W. Harris throwing ambidextrously

Will McDonough commenting on Wade Boggs riding a horse while celebrating a World Series in Yankee Stadium. “First time I have ever seen a horse’s ass riding a horse’s ass”

Watching David Ortiz’s heroics

Seeing Red Sox-Yankees thrillers

Jason Varitek face washing Alex Rodriguez

Waiting for Jacoby Ellsbury to come off IR

George Steinbrenner

Anticipating pitching changes and switches

Rhetoric about how pitch clocks and not taking the time to throw intentional walks will speed up the game

Players pointing to their chest saying my bad when we damn well know whose bad it is

Manny being Manny

Jim Mora’s famous playoff quote

Allen Iverson’s practice rant

Bobby Knight’s game face press conference

Fighting in hockey and the Big Bad Bruins

John Wensink challenging the entire North Stars bench

Bruins players climbing into the stands of Madison Square Garden and Mike Milbury using his shoe as a deadly weapon

Getting to see Bobby Orr in his prime

Having Patrick Roy tell Canadiens President Ronald Corey in the middle of a game that he will never play a game for his franchise again

The Original 6

Tim Thomas saying “I guess I didn’t realize it was my job to pump his tires.“ about Roberto Luongo and I miss Luooongo chants

Patrice Bergeron trying to play through a collapsed lung, cracked rib, torn rib cartilage, and a separated shoulder

NHL playoffs sudden death overtime(s)

Mike Emrick and Kevin Harlan

Celtics fans wearing wife beater jerseys for a playoff game against Jason Kidd’s New Jersey Nets.

Beat LA chants

Red Auerbach swindling other teams

Kevin McHale on Cheers but not Kevin Garnett in Uncut Gems

Seeing Kareem wear an oxygen mask

LeBron losing another championship and NBA stars getting maintenance days

Hakeem Olajuwon’s dream shake

Julius Erving’s afro

Johnny Most refer to Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer as McFilthy and McNasty

Waiting for Bill Walton to get healthy

Kyrie blaming teammates and while I’m at it, LeBron blaming teammates and getting coaches fired.

Steph Curry hitting shots from half court

Watching Alex Rodriguez destroy Yankees chemistry

Bruce Hurst’s high leg kick

Billy Martin and Earl Weaver arguing with umpires

Mel Allen in This Week in Baseball and Peter Gammon’s Diamond Notes

March Madness buzzer beaters

Cal State Fullerton winning College World Series titles

Watching Big East basketball in its heyday

Seeing Uganda take on Zambia in the World Cup

Brady against Manning

Bird against Magic

Kobe Bryant, as I cant remember disliking a player so much and then transitioning to so dramatically liking him as his career wore on

Tom Brady in a Patriots uniform

And lastly…SPORTS in general…please come back soon. If you do, I may stop fast forwarding through some commercials.

It’s that time of year where I revive the On The Mark sports blog with some closing thoughts as we get ready for 2020.

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are preparing for their 11th straight year in the playoffs and 16 of 17 overall with the outlier being when they went 11-5 after Tom Brady got injured. Belichick is currently third all-time with 273 wins, 45 behind George Halas and 55 behind the allegedly immortal Don Shula. However, many Miami Dolphins expressed their frustration that Bill Belichick could be mentioned in the same breath as Shula because according to two-time Super Bowl champion Manny Fernandez “I just think it’s a shame that a guy who constantly gets caught cheating is even there because — I don’t know — his moral character leaves me kind of questioning.”

Manny, let me tell you what leaves me questioning. It’s how overrated Don Shula was. He coached for 33 years and after winning back-to-back Super Bowls in 1972-73, Shula’s teams didn’t win another over the final 22 seasons he coached. His teams only made it to two other Super Bowls and his playoff record all-time was barely above .500 at 19-17. Shula was a good coach, but his longevity is a big part of his success, more than his strategy and development of teams. Reminds me of how Carl Yaztremski’s records are somewhat inflated due to his longevity, but I digress. In comparison, Belichick has seven years he didn’t make the playoffs, and five of those were in his first six years of coaching the hapless Cleveland Browns. He is 31-11 in the playoffs, won six championships across two different eras and has maintained an unprecedented 19-year run of success in the salary cap era.

Belichick is flawed. Has he crossed lines…yes. With that said, there are countless stories of how teams long before and since Belichick have gained an edge by exploiting rules or lack of rules. So Manny, you can have your choir boy Shula, and I’ll take the evil Bill Belichick when it comes to motivation, team-building, strategizing and maximizing talent. By the way, Andy Reid is currently seventh all time and in 21 seasons has a 12-14 playoff record and one Super Bowl appearance.

While we are on the topics of comparisons, I thought it would be interesting to compare two pairs of quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady vs Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. I was motivated by all the accolades Brees has been getting for his being first all time in touchdowns. I compared four of the greatest QB’s of all time based on two guys that played most of their career indoors (Brees and Manning) and two guys that didn’t in Brady and Rogers. In researching Drew Brees, he has arguably had the cushiest schedule of all time for elite quarterbacks. Of the 16 games he plays every year, eight home games are in a dome, the Atlanta road game is in a dome, and the two other division teams Tampa Bay and Carolina, are warm weather teams. So out of the gate, he has 11 cushy environments to play in. As a sample size, I looked back Brees last six seasons, and he never plays more than two outdoor road games against teams in the cold and even then, most of those games against teams like the Giants, Eagles, Packers have been in September and October. Manning played most of his career with the Colts where he always had minimum half his season indoors and division rival Houston was also indoors so nine of 16 were guaranteed to be cozy. His last four seasons in Denver, he had to brave the elements, but he had compiled most of his stats prior.

Now when you look at Rodgers, playing in the elements of Green Bay, his stats are that much more impressive including only 83 interceptions in 180 games despite two road division games indoors. Brady has one cushy warm weather road game in Miami, and has an easy division, but has arguably played the toughest non-division opponents of the four due to their sustained excellence of the Patriots and the weighted scheduling the NFL does. Rodgers is an astonishingly bad 42-46 on the road and 9-7 in playoff games. For reference, Brady is 97-44 on the road and 30-10 in the playoffs. Peyton Manning was 85-48 on the road and 14-13 in the playoffs. Brees was 74-62 on the road and 8-7 in the playoffs.

Brees is a great quarterback and a great guy for that matter who I am actually a fan of. However, he greatly benefits from playing indoors and on turf. For people who argue Brady has been more successful because the Pats have had a defense and the Colts, Saints, and Packers really haven’t, that works both ways. When you have a defense and you are ahead most of the time, you pass a lot less. The Saints, Colts and Packers over the years were often in high scoring games, so their quarterbacks needed to keep passing and scoring. So when we consider the greats of all time, let’s make sure we consider the elements. Get it! ?

I am convinced Brady will not be back with the Patriots next year. Belichick was ready to move on two years ago, and may have if Robert Kraft didn’t step in and force his hand by making him trade Jimmy Garoppolo. Brady has taken discounts for most of his time with the Patriots and I believe he will be asked to again and he won’t this time. The only way he stays is if Kraft insists on buying the groceries again.

Since I was a kid, the two other teams I liked were the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers. The Vikings have vastly improved with a great running game and rebuilt offensive line, in spite of Kirk Cousins who simply wears me out with his ineptness in big games. He is now 5-14 in prime-time games, 0-9 on Monday Night Football, 12-23-2 on the road and get ready for this…7-28 all-time against teams with a winning record. So if you need a QB to beat the Lions, he is your man. As for the Chargers, Philip Rivers needs to retire. I feel bad he never won a Super Bowl and it will be an injustice because he had a fabulous career, but he has been downright awful this season.

Pistol Pete Carroll has done an outstanding coaching job this year leaving me pumped and jacked and ready to ferociously chew gum. With that said, I like the Niners Sunday despite a multitude of injuries and can’t see the Seahawks winning a playoff game on the road. If I’m the Chiefs, I want nothing to do with the Titans in round 1 if they make it. Not only did the Titans already beat them, but they are well-coached are balanced offensively and Tannehill looks like a different guy.

Lastly, on a basketball note, what an awesome Christmas Day game between the Clippers and the Lakers. I’ve been saying from Day 1 the Clippers are the better team simply because they are so talented defensively and Paul George can adequately cover LeBron. The final four minutes of that game were another example of why LeBron not only should not be mentioned with Michael Jordan, but not Kobe either. He had an open 3-pointer with 3:38 remaining and deferred and had a drive to the basket a few minutes later and inexplicably kicked it out to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope instead. This doesn’t even get into his key missed free throw or turnover in the closing seconds. Jordan and Bryant would have never deferred in those situations. It’s a good thing Kyrie Irving and Ray Allen hit the championship-winning shots they did, or LeBron would be 1-7 in the Finals.

Happy New Year everyone!

Was listening to the radio and heard longtime Celtics announcer Mike Gorman voice a strong opinion that Kevin Garnett shouldn’t have his number retired and it didn’t fit “his criteria”. I almost drove off the road. Garnett represented in my mind the perfect basketball player. He was about as much of an all-around player, leader by example, and motivator as you get. He did only win one championship, but aside from Pierce, he was one of the most dominant players of his time on and off the Celtics. So to help Garnett’s candidacy and in the name of Brett Favre, I decided it was time to unretire some numbers. As I explored this process, I asked myself the following questions as I reviewed retired numbers in the NBA:

• Do you have to be inducted into the Hall of Fame to qualify? – NO
• If you are a Hall of Famer and played some portion of your career with a team, should they automatically retire your number? – NO
• How long do you have to play and how long do you have to play for the franchise? – 6 or more years – okay that minimum number might be because of KG but I won’t admit it
• Did you have to be a starter? – Yes at least for the majority of your tenure
• Did you have intangibles and is that enough? – Not enough but if the intangibles put someone on the fence over the top and you won championships – okay
• When playing part of your career with the team that retired your number, did you have to outperform from previous destinations? – nah but certainly at minimum play at the same caliber
• Does your number being retired detract from the most deserving ones? – this is one of my biggest criteria
• Is your team using this as a PR stunt? – really annoying and I unretire anybody who fits this criteria

Let’s start with the team who has the most retired numbers and to some extent has made this process a bit of a circus, the Boston Celtics. In my review of the Celtics retired numbers, I would unretire the following:

Dennis Johnson – seven seasons – two championships – yes I know he made an impact with his intangibles and his clutch play but sorry and this was the toughest omission of all

Ed Macauley – six seasons – no championships – in this franchise – if you have no championships you are out

Cedric Maxwell – 8 seasons – 2 championships – was a malcontent towards the end and only averaged 11.5 PPG his last three unspectacular seasons.

Jim Loscutoff – 7 championships – 6 ppg and 5.5 rpg – this is a disgrace – I don’t care if you won seven championships – if you are a sentimental vote – you get unretired

There is no greater evidence to make my point than to compare the Celtics to the other premiere NBA franchise Los Angeles Lakers. Here are the Lakers retired numbers:

Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Gail Goodrich, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabaar, Shaquille O’Neal, James Worthy, Jerry West, Jamaal Wilkes – WOW – Talk about the cream of the crop and setting the standards for all professional sports teams for retired numbers. How come no Byron Scott, Kurt Rambis has four rings, Michael Cooper, Derek Fisher?…I guess no role players or multi-championship winners that weren’t superstars get numbers retired for the Lakers.

Another team who has retired numbers admirably is the Chicago Bulls – Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Bob Love, Jerry Sloan – Where are Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper (3 championship club members with the Bulls) and Will Perdue (4)? – Perdue was at least as good as Loscy

• Do you have to be inducted into the Hall of Fame to qualify?

Lou Hudson had his number retired for the Atlanta Hawks is on the all-time list of biggest omissions

• Does your number being retired detract from the most deserving ones?

Sorry New Jersey and now Brooklyn Nets, please unretire John Williamson and Bill Melchionni so Julius Erving can live in peace.

Sentimental or mistakes or getting attention for having a Hall of Famer play for your team:

Cleveland needs to unretire Bingo Smith??, Larry Nance – played seven seasons – missed two mostly with injury and won nothing and lastly Hall of Famer Nate Thurmond who played the last three seasons of his career with the Cavs – PR stunt

Denver needs to unretire Byron Beck and Dikembe Mutombo who played five of his 19 seasons with Denver.  Yes the finger wag is something I will never forget and sometimes mimic with my extraordinary shot-blocking abilities, and he led the Nuggets to one big playoff series comeback over Seattle, but no dice. Let Alex English and the human triple-double Fat Lever get the credit they deserve.

A question for Golden State Warriors fans – Who doesn’t belong in the rafters? Chris Mullin, Rick Barry, Nate Thurmond, Tom Meschery?

Houston, we have liftoff but unfortunately you need to unretire Clyde Drexler in spite of the one championship he was apart of because he only played 4 of his 16 seasons for you and if anything underachieved during that time span and if you don’t, we will think you are pulling a Cleveland like they did with Thurmond. By the way, how do you justify retiring Drexler, but not Kenny Smith, Robert Horry or Jerry Sichting’s bully…Ralph Sampson.

Memphis has announced they are eventually retiring Tony Allen and Zach Randolph  when the time comes. This is the first time I propose an announcement be rescinded before the Grizzlies embarrass themselves in a desperate ploy to put something in their rafters.

Miami – no-go with Tim Hardaway as he only played six of 15 seasons for you and won nothing. I also am still mad the Celtics drafted Michael Smith over you.

Phoenix – I love this one. Alvan Adams who played 14 seasons for the Suns had his number retired and then unretired when Grant Hill joined the team in 2007. Adams felt bad because poor Grant had always worn number 33 and didn’t want him to have to wear another number…perish the thought. I can see it now. While LeBron eventually keeps searching for teams he can latch on to win a championship and settles on Chicago, can you just see Michael Jordan saying, hey you know what LeBron, you can wear my 23 and I’ll tell the Bulls to take my number down for the time being.

Portland – uggh what a scary list as they by far have the longest list of glaring mistakes and that doesn’t include drafting Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan or Greg Oden over Kevin Durant or forget it I am just being mean now. Please Portland unretire Dave Twardzik, Larry Steele, Bob Gross, Lionel Hollins and maybe consider retiring Jerome Kersey just because I loved announcing his name as a kid in my driveway. I also nominate Kevin Duckworth because of his prototypical NBA body and because he was a Portland center that didn’t break down every five minutes.

For San Antonio, I am unretiring James Silas and perhaps the toughest unretire besides Dennis Johnson is former NBA superstar ? and Cal State Fullerton great Bruce Bowen. I only decided to put him on the list because he agreed to unretire it so LaMarcus Duckworth, I mean Aldridge could wear it. Since it got taken down anyway, let’s just be efficient and keep it down now.

One last note, the Miami Heat did an honorary retirement of Dan Marino which I am assuming was done out of pity since he could never win the big game. But the good news is and this is the best part, despite being retired, Marino’s number is still in circulation currently worn by NBA great Bam Adebayo.

Did I mention that Cal State Fullerton made the NCAA tournament?

What is going on with the alleged championship-caliber Boston Celtics? Last week we witnessed, a supposed eye opener when they got blown out by the significantly new and improved Cleveland Cavaliers? Boston allowed 250 points in the last two games including a home blowout to the Clippers and lost three in a row overall including falling behind Indiana by 26. Cleveland exposed flaws that have been visible for two months. The Celtics have been barely above .500 since December 6^th with a record of 18-15.  Not only is that the 15^th best record in the NBA during that span, but they are mired in mediocrity which is a true representation of who they are. Heck, even Cleveland who has been a punching bag for the last two months and has been mocked for all their losses and underachieving has essentially the same record as the Celtics during this stretch.

Eastern Conference Standings –  since December 6

Toronto 26-9

Washington 20-13

Indiana 19-14

Milwaukee 19-15

Miami 19-15

Boston 18-15

Philly 17-15

Cleveland 16-15

Chicago 17-17

To make matters worse, Kyrie Irving has lost confidence in his teammates and as the season has worn on and has been more and more undisciplined with his shot selection. Jaylen Brown is a fun athlete to watch, but can’t shoot consistently which is what scouts were worried about when he was drafted and will never be the player the Celtics envision without improving his shooting. The Celtics offense is built around the 3 and they simply don’t have any consistent shooters aside from Irving. Terry Rozier is improving and Jayson Tatum is routinely asked to do too much to compensate for the Celtics offensive shortcomings and he shows flashes, has amazing potential, but is not there yet and understandably so. The Celtics aren’t as good as last year, but are clearly better positioned for the future.

A passing draft

With the storied history of the Celtics franchise, it occurred to me recently what a poor job the franchise has done over the year drafting guards, specifically point guards in their 71-year history. When you think of the top Celtics of all-time, how many of them are guards? JoJo White stands alone as the only legitimate (point) guard drafted and who played for Boston throughout his career that was also all-star caliber. Bob Cousy wasn’t even drafted originally by Boston and they only stumbled upon him thanks to his unwillingness to sign with his draft team and the Celtics through dumb luck, drew his name in a dispersal draft. Rajon Rondo and Dennis Johnson were acquired via trade. Chauncey Billups would probably be second best after White, but Rick Pitino foolishly gave up on him. Sam Jones and Paul Westphal were shooting guards. Satch Sanders was 8-0 in championships but was more known for his defense and intangibles just like KC Jones. Danny Ainge has recently made this more of a priority by drafting Marcus Smart and Rozier, but Smart is limited offensively and Rozier’s upside remains to be seen.

Potpourri

I said the day it happened that Danny Ainge erred significantly by not taking Julius Randle over Marcus Smart. Think of the Celtics needs right now and how valuable a player Randle would be.

What Cleveland did at the trade deadline was Auerbachian and appropriately it was pulled off by a GM with the last name Altman. To acquire four versatile players of that caliber for players that were not contributing and in some cases detracting from success was incredible. George Hill, Rodney Hood and Jordan Clarkson would play integral roles on the Celtics and would arguably become three of their five best shooters. Larry Nance Jr is a bonus for his athleticism and intangibles and LeBron must have been privately drooling at what Koby Altman pulled off.

Kevin Love wanted to assure us he will fit in when he returns from injury. I love (no pun intended… or maybe pun intended) when an all-star feels the need to alert us that he will fit in.

I like Kobe Bryant more and more every day. When asked if he would help recruit players to the Lakers, he said “If I have to recruit and convince them to play for this franchise, than they aren’t the right ones.” Make no mistake, the Lakers are on the threshold of something magical and have an arsenal of young talent.

Isaiah Thomas and Rajon Rondo getting in a fight the other night was comical. Talk about two of the most insecure guys in the league. Did Rondo think he was proving his allegiance to Paul Pierce by giving Thomas a hard time about wanting his video the night of Pierce’s retirement? Rondo has so much baggage with coaches and control that it continues to derail what should have been a more promising career and gets attention for all the wrong reasons. Thomas claims he was stunned by the trade to Cleveland. Really?? Isaiah, you dissed the coaching staff, frequently criticized the team’s effort, didn’t know how to fit in when the offense didn’t revolve around you like it did with Boston and the team was playing horribly, but you were shocked?

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em

Speaking of insecurity, the narcissist is rumored to want to join the Warriors. LeBron wants to join Kevin Durant, who didn’t have the confidence to lead a team on his own and had to piggy back the success of three all-stars. Maybe he could continue his role as a player-coach and replace Steve Kerr and then find a way to ruin the Warriors success.

Shooting from the Lip

If someone were to tell you prior to the start of the 2017-18 NHL season, that the Las Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets and Boston Bruins would be three of the top five teams in the league at the 3/4 point, you might have sent them for drug-testing.

Lane Johnson of the Eagles criticized the Patriots for not letting their players have fun? I thought winning was fun. I thought getting to the AFC Championship game or Super Bowl virtually every year was what professional athletes play for. I thought it was a privilege and fun to learn from the best NFL coach of all-time and to go to battle with the best quarterback of all-time. When Johnson makes that kind of claim, it seems to me he is more about being individual than team. By the way, Rob Gronkowski manages to have a ton of fun, but he is often referenced as one of the hardest working players on the team.

Have to go back to watching the Olympics as I’m gearing up for Skijoring and the Biathlon. Wake me when it’s over.

Can someone explain to me why the Patriots should jump at the chance to trade Jimmy Garoppolo if the compensation is just one first round pick? When you evaluate the lopsided trades that were made yesterday during the NFL draft for QB’s that haven’t played a down or haven’t been in a successful, winning system like New England, Garoppolo’s price tag should be higher than ever.

Texans move up 13 spots to draft a QB for a2018 first round pick.

Chiefs move up 17 spots and send a first and third round pick to the Bills.

Bears channel their inner Herschel Walker and give up two third round picks and a fourth-round pick to move up one spot.

The Patriots should be patient as they are in the driver’s seat. Yes they risk losing Garoppolo without compensation after this season, but they also cover themselves if Brady gets hurt, if Brady significantly declines or if a team gets incredibly desperate during training camp.

The following video of Chicago sports fan is a reaction to:

1. Overpaying for QB Mitch Trubisky in the NFL draft
2. Frustration over the Blackhawks getting swept by the Predators
3. Losing three straight to the Celtics
4. The fact that a Bears QB hasn’t been in the Pro Bowl since 1985
5. All of the above

Watch and see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leawd2_xwHc

Thank you Xander Bogaerts. He finally addressed the elephant in the room after another embarrassing offensive effort by the Red Sox, who scored one combined run in two games against the Yankees including being shutout for the third time. No more David Ortiz. We all feared this would be a problem, but underestimated the intangibles Ortiz brought like leadership and how he took the pressure off everybody else.

Sox GM Dave Dombrowski was counting on a healthy Pablo Sandoval https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFANsGlWpmY and free agent Mitch Moreland to lift the offense and replace Ortiz’s production. Ask Chris (I have received four runs of support in my five starts) Sale how he feels about that.

On top of that, reigning Cy Young Rick Porcello has had one quality start out of five, Steven Wright has been awful and the leader of this listless ship John Farrell gives new meaning to uninspiring.

Meanwhile, the young and upstart New York Yankees minus an injured Gary Sanchez are 12-3 in their last 15 and look very strong. Pessimistic fans and scribes will tell you that Jacoby Ellsbury will eventually get hurt, C.C. Sabathia will have too much to eat and their young guns will be inconsistent, but I disagree. Their bullpen is tremendous even aside from Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman. Masahiro Tanaka is 10-1 in his last 11 decisions, looked dominant against Boston and is long past the injury issues he dealt with in 2015. Luis Severino was mentored by Pedro Martinez and he has been dominant while the hitting is solid but unspectacular. By the way Aaron Judge reminds me of Dave Winfield in stature.

Did you know Craig Kimbrel is 22-for-22 in save opportunities at Fenway Park?

I love Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Eric Thames. He leads the majors in home runs with 12 and had been playing in the Korean League for the last four years. And here come the steroids accusations! There is no better response than his own after he has already taken two voluntary tests this month.

“I just wanted to apply what I learned in Korea to see how it would fare here. I’m shocked at all the results. So, yeah, if people keep thinking I’m on stuff, I’ll be here every day. I have lots of blood and urine.”

A ton of admiration for how Philadelphia fans greeted Roger Goodell. Any city that has to have a jail inside their football stadium is one to admire. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxjkcGkZ47Y

Be rooting for a Pittsburgh-Edmonton Stanley Cup to see Sidney Crosby against Connor McDavid. McDavid is more than special. He is soon to be the Mike Trout of the NHL and is the heir apparent to Crosby. The difference is, he is likable and not a crybaby.

I wonder what is going through the mind of P.K Subban as he helps his playoff-undefeated Nashville Predators win their first Stanley Cup while Claude Julien and the Montreal Canadiens are well…on vacation.

So are the Toronto Raptors truly ready to dethrone that Cleveland Cavaliers? They have made it the second round twice and the Eastern Conference Finals last year only to lose in six to the LeBron’s. But this time is different. Trade deadline acquisitions Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker, a healthy Kyle Lowry could be the difference? I say no. Raptors take Cavs to seven games and lose.

For all the good things Doc Rivers did with the Celtics, he has been an abject failure with the Clippers. His teams have lost twice in the second round and are about to lose in the first round in back-to-back seasons. He and his players have continuously underachieved and Chris Paul is still without a championship.

I am officially on the Milwaukee Bucks bandwagon and am jumping on now after they lost to Toronto so it looks like I am not attaching myself to a winner. Thon Maker or Breaker. Chris Berman eat your heart out!

Good to be back after grazing in the land of goats.

Watched the second half of the Super Bowl again last weekend to process how everything truly unfolded. What I discovered was that one of the top announcing teams in the NFL; Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, were downright awful, didn’t have a pulse of the game or how it was changing and were emotionless until it became painfully obvious when the Patriots cut it to 28-20 that something historical was going on. They missed obvious turning points, barely if at all mentioned that history was in the making, again, until you couldn’t miss it and Aikman seemed like he would have been happier golfing with Jerry Jones or riding the coattails of Emmitt Smith than announcing the Super Bowl.

One other note. I will argue with anyone that the Falcons play-calling once Julio Jones made that amazing catch to get them in easy field goal range, was worse than Pete Carroll calling a pass on second down on the two yard line.  I maintain that the problem was with Carroll’s decision to call a pass would have been defendable if it wasn’t an inside slant that was high risk, low-reward as opposed to a fade pattern to Chris Matthews who was killing the Patriots. You had the element of surprise and two more downs to give it to Marshawn Lynch.

For the Falcons to pass in that situation when they essentially put the game away with a two- score lead while the Patriots had established huge offensive momentum was unforgiveable. The way the Falcons carelessly gave away two timeouts in the third quarter was awful as well and imagine how Matt Ryan’s last drive could have been different with 56 seconds left if he could have stopped the clock.  Yet Ryan and Kyle Shanahan still defended it.

Tom Brady might be the G.O.A.T but Dan Quinn is a goat.

Feeling the Heat

As the NBA trade deadline approaches next week, the topic of can anyone challenge a LeBron James coached team (not a typo) is up for debate again? Between the Heat and the Cavaliers, LeBron hasn’t had a legitimate challenger since he took his talents to South Beach.

But hence we have the Boston Celtics at 37-19, a mere three games behind Cleveland. Since dropping their third straight game on Jan. 24, they are 11-1 with their lone loss to the DeMarcus Cousinsless Sacramento Kings. Danny Ainge what are you going to do bolster this juggernaut? All these valuable draft picks and commodities that are improving value by the day. Marcus Smart untouchable? Terry Rozier…would rather not trade him? Jae Crowder…need the toughness and his improved shooting. Kelly Olynyk even seems to have located some basketball IQ.

Don’t fall for it. Boston has one emerging star who has yet to prove he can deliver in the playoffs in Isaiah Thomas.  Since the Bird-Magic era, there have been two…count them two teams in 37 years, that you might be able to argue won with either one or no superstars.

The 2003-04 Detroit Pistons led by Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince beat the feuding/distracted Shaq and Kobe and the aging Gary Payton and Karl Malone. The other was the 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks, who are truly the closest example, had Dirk Nowitzki and guys like Caron Butler, Tyson Chandler, Shawn Marion and the Jasons; Kidd and Terry. By the way, in case you forgot, the Mavs beat James, Chris Bosh and Wade (Insert choke symbol).

Virtually all the other 35 NBA champions either had three stars or two dominant superstars and the Celtics have neither. If you have a chance to land a star or impact player that is under contract for at least two more years, do it! Overpay because building through the draft doesn’t and shouldn’t get it done in a basketball market like Boston. Jimmy Butler at 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals per game would be worth it. Plus once you land one, others will come. Kevin Garnett doesn’t come here if the Celtics didn’t land Ray Allen.

Claudes

Can an organization be any more mismanaged than the Boston Bruins? President Cam Neely runs the team like one of his feeble fight partners he used to toy with. Don Sweeney is an organizational retread that has the charisma of a doorknob, not to mention the egregious trades and acquisitions he has made in his two-year tenure.

And the cap to this mess is the just recently completed Claude Julien circus. A great coach during his time in Boston that ended the Bruins 39 year Stanley Cup drought. He should have been fired two years ago and at minimum last year, but an indecisive management that is clearly intimidated by the media, sat back and did nothing. Now management finally does something right, and the backlash has been puzzling to say the least. Many Bruins fans point to the fact that Claude helped the Bruins overachieve and got the most out of this talentless roster. Was not making the playoffs the last two years and heading that direction a third year an overachieving? I’d hate to see what would have happened if he wasn’t here.

Regardless of the quality of the coach, sometimes your voice stops being heard, or you aren’t reaching or trusting the younger players or all the above? Claude needed to go and the fact that he went to Montreal is probably a good fit, but because the Canadiens picked him up, doesn’t mean it was a mistake to fire him. Unfortunately, there are two still clods running the show.

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

The Jets issued a statement to try and explain Darelle Revis’ involvement in a Pittsburgh street fight. The explanation didn’t mention that this was the closest Revis came to making a tackle all season.

The Knicks are still in disarray, Carmelo Anthony still doesn’t pass and Phil Jackson still needs Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O’Neal to have success.

Great news coming out of Tampa. Hal Steinbrenner sees an expanded role for AROD. Free steroids and unlimited narcissism for all.

Pats shouldn’t trade Jimmy Garoppolo unless they get a king’s ransom.

The Brooklyn Nets are so bad that not only do they have the worst record, the second-worst team, the Phoenix Suns have a whopping eight and a half game cushion.

Have the UCONN women lost yet?

It was all going to be different this time. Despite a 34-46 record over the previous five seasons, Rex Ryan brought his best friend and brother Rob to Buffalo to help the egregiously underachieving Bills defense turn it around in 2016. The Bills responded by giving up 50 points in the first two games and were 0-2.

But then on October 2^nd it happened. Rex Ryan’s annual Super Bowl opponent was on the schedule. Since Ryan’s teams don’t make the playoffs anymore, he lives for his two matchups with his rival Bill Belichick. Buffalo came into Foxboro and shutout the New England Patriots 16-0. How the heck did this happen? The Ryan brothers apparently devised an astounding game plan and somehow stopped undefeated (1-0) rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissette. Back-to-back wins over Arizona and the Patriots after starting 0-2, here come the Bills!

Rex was at his comedic best after the game mimicking Belichick’s famous “On to Cincinnati” by saying “On to L.A.” Rex you are hilarious. And then a 30-19 thumping of the Rams and a blowout of the hapless 49’ers by the Bills and it looks like we have a divisional race here?

Uh-oh, what the Bills didn’t anticipate was having to go into 2-4 Miami and face the juggernaut Dolphins who have the 20^th best offense and 24^th best run offense in the NFL. Bring on 439 yards of total offense, a 200 plus yard rushing game from Jay Ajayi and 22 unanswered points from Miami in the second half to hand the Bills their third loss of the season. I wonder if Rex lost his focus and was looking ahead to his Super Bowl game this coming week against New England.

What a bunch of frauds the Ryan brothers are. When former Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is the key to your success, then we call that a fluke. And how about Rob Ryan’s credentials? During his 12 seasons as defensive coordinator, this great defensive architect has had his defenses averaging ranking 23^rd, finishing in the top 10 twice and the bottom 12 – nine times. The cumulative record of Rob Ryan’s teams is 71-121. He has been a part of one playoff win and one winning season. Time for the Ryan boys to go quietly into the night.

There’s no crying in football…

Brace yourself. There is a Harbaugh complaining about officiating and rules again. It had been almost seven weeks since one of the Harbaugh brothers was complaining about something. Ravens coach John Harbaugh complained twice in a span of 11 days. These complaints only seem to happen when Baltimore is adversely affected by something that happens. This time it was Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh stating that a replay decision that was upheld during their 41-8 victory over Illinois was “the worst call he’s ever seen”. Hey maybe Jim can loan John some wins since the Ravens have dropped four straight.

Has Al Davis come back from the grave?…

The Raiders haven’t had a winning season in 13 years but are 5-2. Donald Trump has convinced me that their success is rigged.

Counterfeit ring…

I can’t tell you how much respect I have lost for Kevin Durant. Not because he left Oklahoma City! Not because he didn’t come to Boston. Because he didn’t have the faith in himself or have the desire to be the centerpiece in his own triumvirate. And then he trashes his Thunder teammates on the way out as being selfish? When his epitaph is written, yes he will be a champion, but no one will be talking about him. They will be talking about how he piggybacked onto a dynasty so he could have his championship ring(s). Now that is something that deserves an asterisk.

Karl Malone and Gary Payton tried to do this at the end of their career when they were well past their prime, I get that. Ray Bourque did it in hockey after two decades. It used to be that the mark of a superstar was winning a championship. This label seems meaningless now after Durant and LeBron James did what they did. I look at guys like Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson and John Stockton and we should respect them less because they didn’t try and orchestrate their way to secure a championship ring.

No Silver Lining…

So are there any storylines to be excited about this year in the NBA as we prepare for the inevitable rematch of the Cavaliers and Warriors. Can the Knicks be relevant again with veterans Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah? Will Rajon Rondo annoy the hell out of Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade? With Nerlens Noel and Ben Simmons already hurt, have the Sixers once again planned their tanking strategy? Without real contenders in place for the frontrunners, Commissioner Adam Silver has some work to do.

Long drought…

With the release of 2015 first round pick R.J. Hunter, General Manager Danny Ainge’s draft record continues to get worse. During his 13 years, Ainge has drafted 38 players. In 2004, he had his best year by far when he selected Al Jefferson, Delonte West and Tony Allen. Avery Bradley at 19^th in 2010 was great and beyond that the results are few and far between. Jeff Green at #5 was a disappointment, Randy Foye at #7 in 2006 was a nothing and the jury is still out on Marcus Smart in 2014 especially since Boston should have taken Julius Randle but drafted need instead of best player available.

Ainge made the great trades to land Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett and got some excellent complimentary pieces for the 2008 championship team. He also took apart the team by prematurely trading Kendrick Perkins and not resigning Allen.

Getting Al Horford was a big step, acquiring Isiah Thomas and Jae Crowder was impressive also. But the draft record has become concerning especially for a guy that spends so much time scouting and has built his reputation on it.

Something’s Gotta Give…

We know the Cubs haven’t won in a century, but the Indians haven’t won in 68 years. It seems like it is finally the Cubs time and on paper they are clearly the superior team, but games aren’t won on paper. Cleveland has overcome serious starting pitching injuries, but for the first time they won’t have the managerial edge as Joe Maddon is every bit as smart as Terry Francona. Nevertheless, I am sticking with the Indians who I predicted would win it all before the playoffs even started (putting it in writing will certainly jinx it).  James brought mojo back to the city of Cleveland, and for the 16^th time in North American sports history, the same city will win championships in different sports the same year.