Sports Redux: Strange Days

A very weird day in Boston sports. It's a day when Ghidorah takes the day off, but the Celtics still romp. A day when the Bruins' hard work and perseverance is rewarded with a trip to the torture chamber. And we still don't know what the hell is going on with the Red Sox.

So let's start there. The Blue Jays punished Clay Buchholz and a series of ineffective relievers en route to a 10-2 blowout. Kyle Snyder and Bryan Corey lit the matches in the 6th, while the Sox were trailing 4-2 already. Snyder surrendered two walks and a wild pitch, then Corey came in to pitch Jays batting practice, as six runs scored on four hits
during his watch, including a killer Frank Thomas home run. Finally, Julian Tavarez was wheeled in to the mound to stop the carnage. Snyder won't be seen around here much longer, it seems.

The good news? Good question. Buchholz pitched OK, if not great. Josh Beckett gets his first (of many?) chance to play stopper. And most importantly, sort of, is that the Red Sox are still undefeated in the United States this year.

Meanwhile, the Canadiens are undefeated against the Bruins in the US, Canada, Slovenia, Mongolia, the Pleiade Cluster, or wherever else the two teams meet up. So of course, the Bruins draw them in the first round. The B's (who lost a lackluster 3-0 to Buffalo) did at least salvage a point in the last loss to Montreal.

And nobody works cliches like hockey players. A sampling:
"It's another challenge presented to this team." - Aaron Ward
"We have to make sure we're ready to play." - Milan Lucic.
"We have to get ready for the playoffs." - Zdeno Chara.
"Everybody seems to want to have a look at the global outlook, I guess, at the fact that it's 11 in a row now that we haven't beaten them" - Coach Julien. Wait, that last one wasn't a cliche. But if the B's are going to shock the world, might as well slay your toughest demon first, right?

The Celtics, sans any of the Boston Three Party, still had enough to flatten the Bobcats 101-78. Leon Powe led the charge with 22 points; James Posey had 19 and Eddie House 16 as the depleted Celts were never actually challenged by the perpetually-depleted Charlottes. The win sealed the best record in the league and home court advantage all the way through the Finals. Just make sure you break that news gently to any Celtics fan who's been in a coma for 12 months.

It's Kansas and Memphis in the NCAA Finals. KU got revenge over old coach Roy Williams (too bad ESPN didn't hype that matchup enough) and smacked Carolina, while Memphis steamrolled UCLA.