Sports Redux: Bigmouth Strikes Again

Maybe, in retrospect, it's not the best idea for a guy to mouth off before a game everyone know he's going to lose. In four years, remember, Freddie Mitchell went from Super Bowl trashtalker to disgraced Indiana substitute teacher. Who knows what the future holds for Atlanta Hawk point guard Mike Bibby, but you've got to wonder why he's still talking while he utterly and completely fails to back it up on the court.

Not that the Celtics needed the extra motivation. They played - let's face it - a C+ game at best, and still rolled Atlanta out of the building, 96-77. It was a game with lots of hard fouls, offense in spurts (KG led the Celtics with 19, but his shot selection was questionable for long stretches), typically fierce defense (Atlanta shot 38%), and lots of jeering for Villain #1 in this first round mismatch.

Afterwards, Bibby was a little more subdued. "We have to go back and watch film and see how they are playing us," he said. We can save you some time, Mike; they're kicking your butts up and down the court, and they're not even playing their best. Have a great summer. If you're dying to see the Mouth in action, tickets to Games 3 and 4 in Atlanta are still available. Time's running short.

KG picked up his Defensive Player of the Year award before the game, and naturally called for all of his teammates to come over and accept it with him. Like they'd say no.

The Red Sox clubhouse is starting to look like a scene from Stephen King's The Stand. Daisuke Matsuzaka, last night's scheduled starter, was the latest victim of the superflu, so Jon Lester got moved up a day. He went five innings of thoroughly unspectacular ball. The Sox tied it in the fifth on an Ortiz home run, but the Angels got the go-ahead run on a Casey Kotchman homer off Craig Hansen (called up to help replace the many fallen), and added an insurance run in the ninth for a 6-4 win.

Justin Masterson will make his major league debut this afternoon in the series finale, after which the Sox will fly to Tampa, each member of the traveling party in his own biohazard suit. The last four survivors will be sent West to deal with Randall Flagg. Probably Manny, Tavarez, Papelbon, and Don Orsillo. Great.

The NFL reached an agreement with Matt Walsh to review the vast collection of smoking guns, damning videotapes, and other vital evidence he claims he collected when he worked for the Patriots. They won't meet until May 13th, since Walsh's demanding current position as an assistant golf pro in Hawaii makes scheduling conflicts inevitable.

TODAY: The Sox/Angels (get there early and you may be named spot-starter) play a matinee; tonight, the Revolution are in Dallas. The game's on ESPN2.

Photo by Charles Krupa/Associated Press.