Sports Redux: Even Home Court Advantage Has Failed

The Celtics thought - and so did we - that going home would make everything OK. It didn't.

The C's are officially in the doldrums, and even a return to the Garden couldn't break them out of their slump, as they lost a tight see-saw game to the Rockets, 89-85. The Celtics played very well at the beginning and then in spurts, but Houston, undermanned as they were (no Tracy McGrady or Shane Battier), kept plugging away, mostly on the inside presence of Yao Ming and the ridiculous 3-point shooting of Von Wafer. The defense was adequate, the bench better than usual (what got into Big Baby?), but the offense sputtered for long, long stretches. When you go six minutes with the only points coming from Gabe Pruitt, you've got issues. We think Rondo needs to spend the next couple days watching tape from earlier this year and reminding himself how explosive he can be. The Celtics visit (sigh) Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland on Friday.

The worst part of the Celtics' skid is that it brings all the half-assed rabble rousers out of the woodwork.

Big doings at Boston College. While the basketball team was getting upset by Harvard (this means Harvard is better than North Carolina, right?), the football team was officially saying farewell to coach Jeff Jagodzinski. Apparently, BC hasn't learned that everybody involved in football (and sports) (and most of life) is always always always looking for the next job. Jay at HubBlog sums it up pretty well.

The Red Sox are poised to make a couple of moves, everybody's saying. The names we're hearing are John Smoltz, 83-year-old Braves lifer, and Rocco Baldelli, a former Ray and New Englander who can and will provide depth in the outfield.