Some playoff thoughts to chew on as we wait for the playoffs to start late enough on Wednesday that it's almost Thursday ...

I am hoping I can keep my eyelids open to the final pitch, but given the way playoff baseball goes - you know, with the commercials and the pitching changes and the commercials and the mound meetings and the commercials and the stategy and the commercials - I'm not so confident I'll make it through. Besides, I'm reminded of the last time I stuck out a 10 p.m. start to the finish. It was the first game of the ALDS in Oakland in 2003, and I fought sleepiness and ruined any chance of being productive the following day only to see Derek Lowe give up a walk-off bunt single in extras. I'm not sure I can take that again.

In truth, though, those of us on the East Coast shouldn't complain (that doesn't mean we won't). I mean think about it - those on the left coast get screwed almost every day when it comes to sports television. All the important games start when the average person is still at work, and football starts before you finish your first bowl of Cheerios on Sunday. Football at 10 a.m.? No thanks. So if we have to watch one late baseball game, so be it. After all, the Angels have homefield advantage for a reason - they earned it. It's not their fault that the home field of which we speak is in Los Angeles of Anaheim.

Continue reading "After my bedtime"

I don't know if it's just me, but the playoffs never seem to officially start until the Sox play a game at Friendly Fenway. I mean, I watched the games in LA - or LA of Anaheim, or Anaheim in LA, or Anaheim in LA of California, United States - and came away psyched that the Sox were up 2-0, but it didn't have that playoff feel. It just felt like a road trip to the west coast. Maybe it was the fact that the glamorous LA fans were eating sushi off of asian-influenced rectangle plates instead of toting a steamed dog in one hand and a $7 Coors Light in the other. I don't know.

But the last two games in Boston were playoff baseball, 100 percent, pure and simple. Long, dramatic contests. Raw October nights, pink noses, rabid fans standing for every big pitch. My wife pinpointed it first - the chill in the air is the icing on the playoff baseball cake. You can look at the faces - of the players and the fans - and know immediately that it's time for October baseball in Boston.

Continue reading "Feeling Fenway"

As much as the 2004 Boston Red Sox season will forever stand out in my mind, the 2005 campaign lingers, as well. And for an entirely different reason.

The Red Sox were clearly dealing with a season-long World Series hangover in 2005, and I was therefore afflicted by the same disease. It was difficult not to be. Most of the games were lifeless, and the fans at Fenway seemed to be drunk enough on one World Series that it didn't matter that the team was supposed to be competing for another. As a fan, this was particularly disturbing - coming off the most intense six months of fandom in my lifetime, when every day literally revolved around the Red Sox and my mood changed sometimes with each pitch, I expected to be twice as ravenous. But I couldn't find the hunger. It was nothing tangible; the season just

Continue reading "Back for more"

So moved was I by the Patriots play on Sunday night that I picked up my cell phone in the middle of the second period and punched in the following analytical text message:

Patriots = bad at football.

The most distressing fact of all is that even if I had an entire keyboard and an empty page in front of me, I'm not sure I could say anything more.

I can't remember the last time I turned a Patriots game off with more than a quarter to play, and yet there I was Sunday night, choosing to fill time flipping between the NLCS and a re-run of a pre-season basketball game that didn't even feature a team from the entire east coast rather than watch the display of inteptitude in San Diego. I really couldn't take it anymore.

I know, I know; I can guess what you're saying: "Oh my, poor Patriots fan, can't stand to watch games without their precious quarterback under center." You know what: I wish that was the case. But it's not. I'm frustrated because with Tom Brady apparently went all knowledge of how to a)cover anybody; b)block anybody or c)muster some freakin' pride and hit somebody.

Continue reading "Texting the truth"

I remember reading a headline a few months back about how Sam Cassell had announced he was going to play one more year and then become an assistant coach in the league, and I recall thinking to myself, "You know what, good for him. I wish him the best with whatever team he signs with this season."

That was followed by a frightening and terrible realization: "Wait, he means in Boston?"

Fast forward to last week, and the first three pre-season games for the defending world champion Boston Celtics. Two things stood out in my mind almost immediately: Bill Walker can play in this league, and Gabe Pruitt could be a solid back-up combo guard. Whether either of those things happens in Boston remains to be seen, and one of the reasons that's an issue is Cassell.

Continue reading "Ready for the roster rollercoaster"

Baseball is an amazing game: You spend six months falling in love with 25 guys you've never met, spend almost 200 nights tuning in to see how they do, and then with one half-swing by J.D. Drew it's all over.

Eleven nailbiting and tantalizing postseason games, and that's it. See you next spring.

But what makes baseball unique - an occupation, really - is that the minute one season ends, another begins. I'll dutifully tune in to the World Series to see what's happening, of course, by my focus will be elsewhere. I'm already much more interested in watching the shape the 2009 Red Sox will take.

And there's already plenty to talk about.

Due to scouting diligence and the smarts to hang on to prospects, the Sox are pretty well set up to contend for a long time. The pitching staff is as deep as any in baseball - factor in a healthy Beckett with Matsuzaka, Lester, Wakefield, Buchholz, Masterson and future contributors Michael Bowden and Daniel Bard, and there's no shortage of quality arms available - and the lineup is sprinkled with homegrown talent, as well. Quite simply, there aren't many holes to fill.

Continue reading "Warming up the hot stove"

I blinked my eyes and - poof - the Darius Miles experiment was over.

The Celtics waived the lanky forward this week, after a mini-audition throughout the pre-season that featured short bursts of minutes. He may have never amounted to anything legitimate, but now we'll never know. Everyone said the Celtics were "taking a gamble" by signing Miles in the off-season, but what kind of gamble is it if you never let the guy have a chance.

Here's the thing: The Celtics are well-positioned to win, with or without Miles. He was never going to be a critical factor in the success of the team this season. That being said, I'd have loved to see him over the course of 82 games.

Obviously, Miles is still hobbled by knee problems that have plagued his entire career. He was a step or two slower and far less explosive in the games I saw him play in. But it's not pain that's slowing him down so much as rust. And you only shake off rust over time.

Continue reading "Done experimenting"

OK, I get it. Everyone in America hates the Patriots.

To a certain extent, I understand it. They have a recent history of domination, they were found guilty of a rather offensive crime, their coach isn't particularly pleasant, and the players offer little in the way of entertaining soundbites. The hatred has grown to the point that fans all around the country celebrated when Tom Brady went down with injury, noting - whether out loud or to themselves - that it was about time something bad happened to the Pats.

But is it really impossible at this point to imagine the Patriots winning a game outright? It seems that every Pats win is followed by some griping or whining from the other side - be it bitchy players (see Tomlinson, Ladainian) or cranky coaches or biased television commentators (see Jackson, Tom). And now there's a report on ESPN.com that the Rams compiled and sent a tape to the NFL of calls that should have been made during Sunday's game.

Continue reading "15 yards for unnecessary whining"