Sports Redux: Here Comes Stephon(?)

Have the Celtics landed their man? And how do we feel about this?

The grueling case of Marbury vs. Madison [Square Garden] seems to have come to an end, as the Knicks are reportedly buying out the contract of malcontented guard Stephon Marbury, who's been in street clothes all year while the Knicks anguished over how much they've been paying him and how many playoff games he's helped them win. Once he's cut loose from NYC, everyone seems to think he's headed straight here. The Celtics, of course, can't comment.

The question every Celtic fan is (or should be) asking is, what does this do to the team's famed chemistry? Marbury has left a trail of disappointed and angry teams behind him, true, but the only time he's been really happy(?) and productive was the year he helped take Minnesota to the Western Finals, playing with some guy who used to be a superstar in Minnesota and is now here. So there's that. Also, the guy who calls himself "Starbury" will have to come to grips with the idea of being a backup to a young point guard who's getting better every five minutes. CelticsBlog and John Hollinger think it's worth the gamble, since the C's can cut him at the first sign of malcontentitude.

Our suggestion: if they bring him in, don't put him in the rotation right away, but send him to Foxboro for a week to study in Randy Moss' masterclass of "How To Change From A Despicable Jerk to a Productive Member of A Great Team". It's the opposite of the class that Carl Everett teaches.

The C's did pick up one guy without baggage, signing Mikki Moore from the Kings to play some backup at the big-guy position (or maybe start, now that everyone's injured). Moore will play a slightly different version of the PJ Brown role from last year, bringing energy and defense (if a little less offense) off the bench. You may remember Moore from a short stint with the C's a few years ago, but judging by the attendance then, you probably don't.

The Bruins looked like a much different team than the group that spent the last two weeks limping through the Southeast. Home for the first time in six games, the B's smacked the Panthers around 6-1. Two of the goals coming from youngster Byron Bitz, who said it's not the first time a whole building chanted his name: "Couple times in college -- but 20,000 people's different than 4,000, so it was pretty cool."

The Red Sox play BC and the Twins in split-squad action tonight and tomorrow. Looking at sun-drenched photos of sun-drenched Florida and people wearing fewer than two coats just depresses us too much, so the best we'll do is look at the box score.

Photo from NBA.com.