- The Bobcats are to the Celtics what the Giants were to the Patriots: confident, strong, capable of making a game of it (although we'd like to think that we won't see Jason Richardson celebrating a championship for at least another couple of years). The Celts barely beat the 'Cats in November, lost (embarrassingly) in January, and were challenged up until the end on Friday night, when Boston won, 108-100, at TD Banknorth Garden.

Not that we have anything against Charlotte, other than the fact that they were playing us. In fact, we completely loved the aforementioned Richardson's take on playing The Big Three and Little Nine. "Look at the guys on the roster," said Richardson, who scored a game-high 30 points and connected on four 3-pointers last night.

"You got Kevin Garnett, future Hall of Famer. Ray Allen, future Hall of Famer. Paul Pierce, future Hall of Famer. They're a top team in the East," the Globe quoted Richardson as saying post-game. "That brings everything out in you. I just love playing here. Great arena, great fans here, just love playing against those guys that bring the best out of my game."

The Celts stats of note? A total of 23 points (five of them 3-pointers) for Ray Allen; 19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 blocks for Kendrick Perkins; and a career high/team milestone 16 assists for Rajon Rondo. Rondo's total was the most by a Celtic since 1995, when Sherman Douglas recorded 18.

- The Pats are being beaten and bruised every which way they turn. Asante Samuels met with the Philly media on Friday as the shiny new addition to the Eagles lineup. Everyone is wondering about what's going on between the Pats and Randy Moss; no one who knows is talking. While there's good, unofficial news that Tedy Bruschi will be back in Patriots Blue, many others are likely to be left behind as the Pats look to late 2008.

- Everything's going swimmingly in Florida for the Red Sox, especially since Hank Steinbrenner is trying to stir up trouble and sounding like a moron in his efforts. The quote, as reported to us by Dan Shaughnessy:

Red Sox Nation? What a bunch of [expletive] that is. That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans. Go anywhere in America and you won't see Red Sox hats and jackets. You'll see Yankees hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We're going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order.

Our response? Shut up, learn how to win a playoff game, and go fawn over Tim McCarver. Next...

We typed "mixed bag" into our flickr search. This image by flickr user jeet_sen came up and we liked it.