Sports Redux: Foot. Put Down.

We check the ESPN SportsNation polls often. It's an addiction. Yesterday, the question "Who Will Win the Celtics/Bulls Series?" was red enough to almost double as the Reagan/Mondale election map. Not today, brother.

The defending champs went to Chicago, faced their first hostile road crowd of the playoffs, faced their first game with even fewer big men than they already had...and blew the Bulls off the floor. This wasn't close after the 2:00 mark of the second quarter. The final was 107-86, but it wasn't that close. In other words, it was a good time.

The C's started off on the right foot with Paul Pierce hitting his first six shots. Rajon Rondo (who would have had another triple-double if the Celtics had needed him down the stretch) got the offense moving, and set the tone for a defense that picked off enough passes that the confused and frightened Chicago crowd thought they were at a Bears game. When the Bulls DID get shots off, they routinely clanked off the rim and usually out of bounds. Game One hero Derrick Rose and Game Two superstar Ben Gordon both turned back into pumpkins, shooting 4-of-14 and 5-of-13, respectively. When Big Baby has six steals (including one coast-to-coast heist/layin that caused us to rub our eyes in disbelief), you know the defense is clickin'.

There's still a long way to go, of course; anyone old enough to remember last year knows that an athletic, young team is trickier to put away in the first round than you might think. But Chicago is a troubled city this morning, and apparently they're taking it out on Tony Allen. And sad Bull Kirk Hinrich said afterwards, "It was like one team was in the playoffs and one team was in the preseason." Game Four is Sunday.

Somewhere along the line, we're going to have to remember that we hate the Yankees. Tonight would be a good start. Sure, A-Rod's nursing his injuries (presumably kissing himself to make it feel better) but we have two bona fide villains in this series. First is Mr. Leigh Teixiera, who's about to learn how Red Sox fans feel about guys who are just about to come to Fenway and then go to New York instead. Also is tonight's starter Joba Chamberlain, who's planted himself in rivalry lore with his frequent fastballs at Youk's head. Stat geeks will note that Joba's ERAUI (a park-adjusted combination of earned-run average and blood-alcohol level) is the highest in the majors in years. It's not that hard to remember to hate these guys, apparently. Chad Finn provides ammo for the rest of the roster.

Photo by Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press.