Sports Redux: March Badness

The NCAA Tournament is rolling around just in time. Because we're actually starting to forget what hard-fought, competitive basketball looks like.

The Celtics, who won't come out and admit that they're sleepwalking to the playoffs, but come on, hung around with Cleveland for three quarters, then either packed it it (which is maddening) or (more troubling, and more likely) couldn't sustain it for four, as the Cavs raced away with the 104-93 win. LeBron James did his all-world thing with 30 points and 7 assists, but the Celtics were looking to Cleveland's Anderson Varejao as the difference between the two squads right now. Said Ray Allen, "Yeah, LeBron’s getting all the press and the hype and scoring the points, but [Varejao]’s giving himself up." In exactly the way the C's aren't.

The Celtics' lack of effort didn't go unnoticed by Cleveland. "To me, the Celtics look bored," said LeBron afterwards. "You don’t expect it from a veteran team," added Leon Powe, who - and we're not saying anything here, just pointing it out - was on the C's team two years ago that played every game like it mattered and is now on a Cleveland team doing the same. In one of those quotes that make us tear our hair out, Kendrick Perkins defended his team, saying, "I don’t really know where we’re at because we haven’t played them with our best game yet." Well...the clock's ticking, guys.

For a distraction, you can't beat March Madness. It's a weird tournament - no UConn, no Carolina, no Arizona - but it seems wide open, and that's pretty great. The closest thing we have to a local rooting interest is Vermont, who stunned Syracuse in Worcester a few years ago and now gets another shot at them. But one of the regionals is in Providence, and that's pretty local; among the teams heading there are Georgetown, Villanova and Tennessee. There's a printable bracket here, if you're new to the Internet and can't find one.

Health problems have surfaced in Red Sox camp. OF prospect Ryan Westmoreland's is the most serious, as he learned he has a rare blood vessel condition in his brain that's going to require near-immediate surgery. Kind of puts Daisuke's annual problem (his neck now) and Jed Lowrie's unspecified malady into perspective.