Sunny days, sweeping the clouds away.  -Sesame Street

Public Service Announcement:  OK here we go!  NFL: The Day After.  Let’s take a look how things went down in week 3.               Read More »

Public Service Announcement:  OK, here we go! I feel horrible.  I’ve been stroking this Malkin kid and neglecting one of my own.  My new favorite hockey player.  Move over Evgeni.  Move over Sidney “Lady Bing”  Crosby.  Move over “El Ocho” Ovechkin.  There’s a new young gun in town.  His name is Phil “the Thrill ” Kessel.  The Boston Bruin’s own Phil Kessel.  The pride of Madison, Wisconsin Phil Kessel.  A natural born scorer.  A Harlem Globe Trotter on ice.  Electric?  Try high voltage.  Maxwell Dillon style. He has explosive speed.  TNT.  Dynomite.  Angus style.  He immediately becomes the best skater on the Bruins.  2004.   World Junior Championship.  Youngest kid on Team USA.  Led the tournament in goals.  Led the USA to a Silver.  2005.  World Junior Championship.  Took every possible honor.  Top scorer by a landslide.  Top forward.  Tournament MVP. 2006.  University of Minnesota.  Golden Gophers.  Inside College Hockey 2005-06 Rookie of the Year.  WCHA All-Rookie Team.  WCHA Rookie of the Year. Led WCHA in freshman scoring, assists and points.  Ranked 11th in the nation among all players in points. 2006.  Should have been drafted first.  Taken fifth by the Bruins.  A steal.  This kid can skate.  This kid can make plays.  This kid can score.  He can pass. He can see the ice.  Think pocket Kovalchuk. And, he’s only 18 years old.  He’s tearing up the preseason.  Tearing it up at practices.  General Manager Peter Chiarelli gushed at one session:  “He was definitely the best player out there.”  Side note:  Phil’s old man was a record-breaking quarterback at Northern Michigan University. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in 1981.  Played with the Birmingham Stallions in the USFL and the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL.  Good breeding.  Elektra style.  Phil Kessel.  Finally something to cheer about at the Bank North Garden.  Go B’s!                         Read More »

The quicker picker upper.  -Bounty

Public Service Announcement:  OK, here we go.  I’m officially putting a moratorium on all Red Sox articles until after the World Series. That’s right, no more Sox talk.  There’s nothing nice left to write about. To be honest, I’m barely watching.  So here we go.  No more Sox talk. Right after this.  The All Ex-Sox Team:       Read More »

Public Service Announcement:  OK, here we go.  I hate to do it.  I have no choice.  The 2004 Boston Red Sox.  Champions of the World.  Curse Busters.  Toasts of the town.  What in God’s name happened?  In two short years, we went from heroes to goats.  In two short years we have become irrelevant.  In two short years we have become crybabies.  I, for one, am disgusted.  The Boy Blunder should be ashamed of himself.  I hope he’s happy now.  No free rides in this town.  Your time is running out.  Patience is wearing thin.  Theo Ball.  Get rid of proven winners.  Get rid of clubhouse guys.  Get rid of depth.  Get rid of pitching.  Get rid of respectability.  Get rid of Pedro, the heart and soul.  Get rid of Pedro, who will now be pitching in the World Series.  Get rid of Johnny. King Idiot.  Get Rid of Johnny, leading a new team to the Promised Land.  Get rid of Johnny, perhaps the most unsung player in baseball.  Get rid of Johnny, sleeper MVP candidate.  Get rid of D-Lowe.  Big game pitcher extraordinaire.  Winning pitcher in each of the Red Sox post-season series winning games.  Will be pitching in this post-season.  Get rid of Kevin Millar.  Professional hitter and professional clubhouse guy.  Get rid of Orlando Cabrera.  Rent-a-wreck?  A-Gone? Get rid of Bill “the Killer” Miller.  Batting champ.  Gold Glove quality third baseman.  Get rid of Dave Roberts.  Catalyst.  Get rid of Bronson Arroyo.  Get rid of Mike Myers.  Get rid of Scott Williamson.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I understand losses of personnel are inherent to the business.  But when those losses are not replaced, trouble is looming.                     Read More »

So you wanna be a rock superstar, and live large.  A big house, 5 cars, you’re in charge.  -Cypress Hill

Public Service Announcement: Ok here we go.  My thought process goes as follows: The guy signed a contract.  He should honor it.  That’s the end of my thought process.  The T.O. comparison is unfair. Branch is no Terrell Owens.  Not on the field, not off.  However, it still bugs me.  He’s not out on the street panhandling.  His kids are not starving, Latrell Sprewell style: “I’ve got my family to feed.”  He doesn’t need new underwear.  Honor your contract.  What Deion Branch is worth, is not the issue.  That conversation should take place when it’s time.  When the contract is actually up. I know, I know, this football business is a mean, cruel, cutthroat business.  No doubt about it.  No guaranteed contracts.  Players are not protected.  But those are the rules.  Deion knew them coming in.  He signed a contract.  He should have honored it.  Whenever something like this happens, my brain immediately goes to the sound byte of Mo Vaughn: “It’s not about the money.”  We all learned then, and we all know now, it’s always about the money.         Read More »

Public Service Announcement:  I have seen the future of NFL football and its name is Reggie Bush.  Bruce Springsteen style.  Reginald Alfred Bush III.  St. Reggie.  St. Reggie didn’t gain 100 yards.  St. Reggie didn’t score a touchdown.  St. Reggie didn’t bust one out for 65, USC style.  St. Reggie did return three punts for 22 yards.  St. Reggie did catch eight balls for 58 yards.  St. Reggie did run the ball 14 times for 58 yards.  St. Reggie simply did it all.  Marshall Faulk style.  This guy is the new Mr. Excitement.  The new Mr. Electricity.  He has you riveted to the TV screen the way only special players do.  I couldn’t wait for the Saints to get the ball.  I couldn’t wait to see what St. Reggie was going to do next.  Was he gonna line up in the slot?  Was he gonna line up split wide?  Was he gonna run a screen?  Was he gonna run a reverse?  Was he gonna return a punt so I could hear Boomer say. “He..could…go…all… the…way!”  I could not stop watching this kid.  The way I couldn’t stop watching LeBronze his rookie year.  Bush:  “I felt like I was close to breaking a big one.”  He was.  Every touch.  It’s only a matter of time.  Joe Horn:  “Reggie is a beast.”  Yes he is Joe, yes he is.  Just wait till he gets good.                          Read More »

Here comes the king, here comes the big number one.

Public Service Announcement:  Take that Sports Illustrated.  That’s what you get.  That’s what you get for picking the Dolphins.  There’s your first place.  There’s your Super Bowl.  That’s what you get for selling the Patriots short.     Read More »

Sweeping the nation with my guns and ammunition.  -The Clash

Public Service Announcement:  OK, here we go. I have come to praise Omar Maniacal, not bury him.  If this guy does not get Executive of the Year, there is no justice.  Mets fan should adore him.  A local kid.  Where’s all that conversation about an all Spanish team today?  Hey Mad Dog, how you like Los Mets now?  Hmmm?  Winning seems to squelch that kind of talk.  It was Omar who signed Pedro for 4 years.  Stupid right?  He’ll never make it, right?  Wrong.  He’s just laying in wait for the playoffs.  Do you want to face him then?  And do not sleep on the fact that the rest of these guys do not come to Shea if Petey’s not in the bag.

It was Omar who signed Carlos Beltran.  Waste of money, right?  Not worth it, right?  MVP candidate.  Hitting the feathers off the ball.  It was Omar who signed Sandman #2.  He’s no good, right?  Another Loopy Looper, right?  35 saves and counting.  It was Omar who traded for Carlos Delgado.  Oh great, another Latin guy.  Over the hill. Right?  36 bombs and 100 RBIs.  It was Omar who traded for Lo Duca to replace Sam Champion’s boyfriend.  It’ll never work, right?  He’ll fall apart after the All-Star break, right?  Batting .314.  What about the Kaz Matsui experiment.  It was Omar who ended it.  Brought in Jose Valentin.  As brilliant a move as the big guns.  Solidified the weakest spot on the team.  Down goes Floyd.  What now?  It was Omar who went out and got Endy Chavez.  The gut has a .791 OPS for crying out loud.  Then Shawn Green?  Genius.  Kwame style.  This guy hits.  Yesterday’s doubleheader: 6 for 8.  Two bombs.  Four runs.  Three RBIs.  Almost single-handedly led the Mets to a series-ending sweep of the Braves.  Oh, you need help getting to Wagner?  No worries.  It was Omar who signed these guys:  Guillermo Mota, Roberto Hernandez, Pedro Feliciano and Chad Bradford.  Let’s throw Oliver Perez in the mix for good measure.  Looked like a star yesterday.  The kids?  It was Omar who convinced ownership to lock up Reyes and Wright, and build on them. Maniacal: “To get Jose and David signed in the same week makes this a very special week for the Mets.  We have stability with a core group of players.”   That’s an understatement.  Two MVP candidates themselves.  And let’s not forget, it was Omar who hired Willie.  Rumor has it, Willie was a little too black for some other teams.  Not the Mets.  And it’s paying off.  He should get Manager of the Year with the job he’s done.  Tonight the Mets play Brad Penny and the stumbling LA Dodgers.  I picked the Dodgers to reach the World Series.  I’ve been known to be wrong.  Keep Hope Alive.                       Read More »

We gotta win that fight.  I’m gonna get EVEN with those little Yankees! Let’s do it for Johnny, man. We’re gonna do it for Johnny!  -The Outsiders

Public Service Announcement:  Is there life? Is there life after death?  Lazarus style?  Do you believe?  Was I premature in my eulogy?  Did I speak to soon?  Papi back.  Manny back.  A-Gon back.  Trot back.  Varitek back.  No tear in Papelbon’s shoulder.  Dare I say it?  Are we back in it?  Kason Gabbard pitching lights out against Guillen’s World Champion Go-Go White Sox yesterday.  Julian Tavares Monday.  A chance to sweep tonight.  4-2 in their last six. Showing a little gumption. A little pride.  I believe in miracles.   If the Twinkies struggle down the stretch, say, going 13-12 in those games, the Sox would need to finish 18-5, and that’s assuming Minnesota doesn’t overtake the Tigers.  But hey, crazier things have happened.           Read More »

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.  -Emma Lazarus

Public Service Announcement:  Ok, here we go.  I thought my Red Sox funeral dirge would be it.  I thought my focus would turn to the New England Patriots.  I thought my mind would be free of the Sox collapse.  But this.  Talk about the apocalypse.  Down goes Clement.  Down goes Wakefield.  Down goes Varitek.  Down goes Nixon.  Down goes A-Gon.  Down goes Manny.  Down goes Wily Mo. Down goes Papelbon.  Could it get any worse?         Read More »