Sports Redux: Rally Caps

If you thought that the Celtics were somehow going to overcome a 28-point deficit to defeat the Magic during their second-round showdown on Monday night, you weren't alone. It was clear that just about every single green- and white-clad soul inside the Garden on Monday and many of those watching at home thought that this team is the one team that could pull off such a comeback.

The crazy thing is that the team almost pulled it off. But in the end, four points was as close as the Celts could get to the visitors from Orlando. After a frenzied final two minutes of play that included the first 8-second violation we can remember since the days teams had 10 seconds to cross the half court line, the Celts were on the losing end of the 95-90 final score.

There's been something in the air at the Garden the last couple of days: the Bruins weren't showing much of their usual aggressiveness on Sunday and the Celtics were a completely passive bunch of fellas during the first half on Monday. The team threw no free throws in the first half - zero, zilch.

Doc Rivers wasn't having any of the possible excuses, especially the f-word: fatigue. "I don’t know if we could have played any worse and still had a chance to win," Rivers said. "But we will not be using fatigue as an excuse - not this team.”

While the Red Sox/Yankees showdown in New York required fans to sit tight for a couple of extra hours, the waiting was worth it for fans of the Olde Towne Team. Proving yet again that the construction of a new Yankee Stadium - or, at least, this new Yankee Stadium - might not have been the best idea. The Sox are officially undefeated in the House Near the House that Ruth Built, recording a 6-4 win in a late, late Bronx night. Jon Lester tied his career high with 10 strikeouts, Mike Lowell hit a second-inning rocket and Big Papi hit the ball. Hallelujah, here we go. Josh Beckett is slated to face Joba Chamberlain in tonight's showdown - we hope that Beckett shows up ready to deliver (for once this season).

While we hope the Bruins were busy figuring out what went wrong on Monday night, the rest of hockey was watching the coolest showdown between two ice stars in recent memory: Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. Crosby recorded his first playoff hat trick, scoring all three of the Penguins' goals during Game 2 of Pitt's showdown with Washington, but Ovechkin picked up his first such hat trick AND got just enough help from his team to skate to a 4-3 victory.

Photo by flickr user Paul Keleher