Sports Redux: O for Optimistic

We are optimistic about many things. We're optimistic about the Bruins' chances when it comes to the Stanley Cup. We're optimistic that the Red Sox will manage to land Johan Santana while keeping Jacoby Ellsbury on the roster. We're optimistic that the San Diego Charges will, after being defeated soundly at Gillette on Sunday, line up as a team at the 50-yard-line and bow down before Brady and Moss.

We can be optimistic all we want, the same as Charges QB Philip Rivers. But optimism doesn't guarantee that things are going to happen. If the word coming from the sources speaking to the San Diego Union-Tribune are to believed, Rivers' optimism about playing on Sunday might be countered by reality.

Rivers, as everyone who has been obsessively checking in will know, is listed as doubtful for Sunday's AFC Championship game, but the QB says he's optimistic that he'll play with what the AP is describing as a sprained right knee. But the Union-Tribune says that the injury is more severe: the sprain and a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. And anytime you start talking ACLs, things aren't looking good. Also listed as doubtful for Sunday: Antonio Gates, who is still battling that pesky toe injury.

Instead of mentioning the Randy Moss Situation today, we'll instead direct you to the Pats press conference series that took place Friday, as chronicled by the Globe's Mike Reiss. We'd like to thank Reiss for capturing the words uttered by players and staff and for describing how dapper - Sexy Beast Belichick included! - everyone looked during the time with reporters.

In actual gameday news, the Celts were in a tight battle with the 76ers for the first half of Friday night's game at the TDBN Garden, but Paul Pierce stepped up in the third quarter to help Boston pull away from Philly en route to a 116-89 victory. Ray Allen, apparently digging Pierce's 14-point third-quarter contribution (he finished the night with 22), added 10 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter to seal the win for Boston. While the players deserved kudos for getting the team to a 32-6 record, someone needs to buy a beer for mascot Lucky: the AP reports that our sprightly Irish fellow sprayed a woman wearing a Chargers shirt with Silly String. Atta boy!

Finally, in media news: Red Sox fans might find things all sorts of shaken up come the spring: hot off the rumors that NESN's Tina Cervasio was reportedly checking out the scene in New York's Fox 5 comes word that recent Sox radio announcer Glenn Geffner will spend 2008 calling games for the Marlins. Geffner was the brunt of some Red Sox scorn this year, but we wish the fellow well. He worked hard to try to fill Trup's shoes, but we just missed our Jerry.

Image by flickr user Scott's View of the World used under terms of a Creative Commons License