Sports Redux: The Chronicles of Rondo

The Celtics are beating good teams by double digits. They're ticking off All-Star opponents. They're 4-0 after dispatching the Hornets last night at the Garden. And most importantly, they seem to have locked up their point guard for a few more years.

The C's aren't confirming it, but Rajon Rondo's agent says that his client is close to working out a 5-year extension worth $55 million. Finally (if true) a conclusion to a summer of the Celtics shopping Rondo around, Danny Ainge publicly calling out his maturity and leadership, and Bill Simmons saying "Not since Joe Piscopo has someone's suddenly ripped body been this disorienting." One guy who won't be praising Rondo is New Orleans PG Chris Paul, who tangled with Rondo in the first half, got matching technicals, and started to follow the Celtics into the locker room after the 97-87 final buzzer. He was pulled back, but this could get interesting, even if the teams don't meet until February. Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss asked the media, "Rajon has requested you not ask anything about Chris Paul now, tomorrow, or any other time." OK, we won't.

Enough with the extracurriculars; what happened in the game? Well, Paul Pierce carried the C's through the first half, winding up with a game-high 27. Rasheed Wallace on the offensive strategy: "We noticed Peja wasn’t playing no defense. So Doc was like, ‘Look, we’re going to drop it to Paul.’" This is the kind of high-level thinking that goes on in the huddle. Keeping the Hornets to 42% shooting and five offensive boards for the game didn't hurt, either. Sheed added 12, Ray Allen 17, and Rondo 10 assists.

The Revolution took care of business in the home half of their home-and-home playoff series with Chicago. They struggled through most of the first half and fell behind 1-0, but Emmanuel Osei headed in a free kick for his first MLS goal and the tie, and Shalrie Joseph scored in the 75th minute for the win. They'll play again in Chicago on Saturday, and a win or time moves them on. Coach Steve Nicol: "We would have preferred it went 10-nil." We're truly blessed to have so many quotable coaches working in this town right now.

The Bruins followed a win with a loss. Again. This time 1-0 to the Rangers. You can probably go onto your favorite Internet ticket scalping site and get dirt cheap tickets for every odd-numbered game the rest of the season.

And the Yankees won to take a commanding 3-1 World Series lead, but the big story out of this postseason must surely be that Alex Rodriguez has decorated his bedroom with pictures of himself as a centaur. So when you were spending all those years using the words "A-Rod" and "horse's ass" in the same sentence, you were closer than you knew.