One of the most remarkable things about the Celtics' remarkable turnaround is that NBA players actually want to come here. You may remember the lure of playing in Boston almost got Reggie Miller off his couch, and now there's talk that future Hall-of-Famer Gary Payton called his agent the other night and said he'd like to come to Boston.

Now, this is amazing news for Bostonist. For years, our favorite non-Celtic players in the league were Kevin Garnett and Gary Payton. Then GP came to town for one decent if unsatisfying season, then a couple years later (you may have heard this) KG arrived in town. The thought of the two of them playing together - even if it's five years later than we'd hoped - makes us a little giddy.

Gary's 54 years old, but probably still has the defensive tenacity he always did, and can run the point to free Eddie House up for shooting and shooting only. Payton averaged 6.1 assists the year he was here, and that was while passing to Mark Blount and overwhelmed youngster Kendrick Perkins. It might seem a little easier now.

Tim Thomas was back in net for the Bruins last night, and the rust showed, as Pittsburgh dug the Bruins a 4-0 hole. The highlight of the first half of the game was Andrew Ference getting wunderkind Sidney Crosby into his first NHL fight. But the fight may have sparked the Bruins, as Sturm, Axelsson, Nokelainen and Wideman (which sounds like the world's weirdest law firm) scored four unanswered goals to tie it up. The Penguins won the shootout, but to grab a point from a 4-0 deficit is nothing to sneeze at.

Curt Schilling called out Roger Clemens to man up and either admit the truth or fight until the truth is known, whichever applies. He also says Jose Canseco should be stripped of his '88 AL MVP award, which could be great news for the nine remaining members of the Mike Greenwell fan club.

Image from the GP Foundation.