Sports Redux: Choose Your Own Destruction

So, Boston, which do you think is worse? The sudden, unexpected fatal heart attack that killed the Bruins last week? Or the slow bleeding-to-death-on-the-sidewalk feeling that permeated the Garden throughout the second half last night?

Two months ago or so, we felt like kings of the world. Now, we're back to being connoisseurs of pain and agony. For the Celtics, it's glib (but not untrue) that they weren't going to go much of anywhere sans KG and Leon, and maybe it's better that we don't have to watch a tired, overmatched team be ritually disemboweled by the Cavaliers (You think they were laughing their butts off in Cleveland last night?) Doesn't help ease the pain. The Celtics fell down hard, early, and even though Orlando played most of the last 36 minutes all but begging the C's to come back and make a contest of it, it just wasn't meant to be. Every time the Celtics got close, Howard dunked or Turkoglu hit a three. And the bleeding continued.

Nothing went right for the boys in green. Ray Allen led the team with a welcome 23, but Pierce and Rondo never got going, Howard neutralized anything inside, and Stephon Marbury officially turned back into a pumpkin, going 1-for-4 in 14 painful minutes. But, hey, at least we got in one last "Who Wants A T-Shirt" as the season circled down the drain and the bandwagon emptied out.

Now some harder work begins for the front office. Big Baby and Leon are both free agents, and the time to sign Rondo to a long-term deal is NOW, like rightthissecond. With those guys and Perk (signed for two more years), the future might just be in good hands. Still, as the Globe points out, KG's presence makes a huge difference. Now that's the kind of analysis you can't get just anywhere.

And so everyone's attention will turn to the Red Sox. Which may not be the best thing for them right now. The starting pitching's still kind of in shambles. David Ortiz (.208, and not a good .208) spent the weekend in Seattle brooding over a latte while the team was losing 2 of 3 to the Mariners. And yesterday's game ended in horrible fashion, as Nick Green's throwing error for the ages put the winning run on board in a 3-2 loss. If Jeff Bailey had only been 17 feet tall, the game might have gone to extra innings.

The first-place Blue Jays come to Fenway for a series starting tomorrow. In other wacky AL East news, TB manager Joe Maddon filled out his lineup card incorrectly, and screwed the pooch to the point where starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine had to bat third. So he went 1-for-3 with an RBI double. Someday, the Red Sox will start getting breaks like that again.

Photo by Winslow Townson/Associated Press.