----------BEGIN TRANSMISSION---------- Gumshoes: Listen up. We have an important mission for you. Tom Brady, quarterback of the New England Patriots, is missing. New England media is asking questions. Fans are gettin' nervous. It's up to you to find him. The dossier: Thomas Brady. Grew up in California. Attended Michigan. Plays in New England. Cavorts in New York. Likes knit caps, Stetson, white flowers, cowboy boots, and throwing touchdown passes. Keep your eyes peeled for a......

Let's say you're going to the Celtics-Timberwolves game tonight. If you're like most of the people at Celtics games these days, chances are you weren't there last year. Which is perfectly legal on your part. But there's something you should know. Most of the Timberwolves played here last year, during that long, miserable 06-07 campaign, and several of them - promising, hardworking youngsters for the most part - were sent away to make room for......

"Half the guys in our league couldn't shoot 15-for-21 if they were in a gym by themselves," said Doc Rivers. The man would know, having coached Kedrick Brown, Gerald Green, and Brian Scalabrine over the years. But 15-for-21 were the numbers Toronto rained down on the C's from 3-point-land, dropping the C's to their first division loss of the season. It was perhaps the Celtics' poorest defensive game of the year; the Raptors shot 58%......

It's hard to work up a frenzy against the Cleveland Indians. They seem like a bunch of polite, plucky kids who we'd be pulling for in almost any other circumstance. Gone are the enemies of the mid-to-late-90's: villains like Roberto Alomar and Manny Ramirez. Gone are the mockable stars of that magical 1988 team: colorful characters like ex-con Rick Vaughan and voodoo worshipper Pedro Cerrano. Trot Nixon, who you may remember as one of the......

Green Kool-Aid is our favorite flavor. (Yes, Green is a flavor.) We've been chugging the semi-sour variety of it for three years now, as Danny Ainge has told us that we'd been assembling key parts for a magical youth movement that would lead the Celtics back to glory. And we've sipped the ultra-sour variety for a month, trying to figure out what kind of a youth movement features a creaky 32-year-old shooter. But today, the......

As fans, we can afford to be capricious. That's why the Kevin Garnett-to-the-Celtics rumors, which seemed way too expensive back in June when we thought we were building for the future, have us a little giddier now. ESPN is reporting that the trade talks are starting to swirl around again; the deal would still involve Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff (who is the Celtics MVP based on how much everyone lusts after his expiring contract), and......

Weren't we told that losing the Lottery wasn't a big deal? Since this was the most loaded draft in years, the story went, the Celtics would happily grab a good player with the #5 pick that would complement Paul Pierce and the burgeoning youth movement, and join in on the team that would compete soon and for years to come. Yeah; not so much. Like a rube on a carnival midway, Danny Ainge fell for......

The bewhiskered gent at right is General William Tecumseh Sherman, who split the South in two during the Civil War with his famous march through Georgia. Last night may not have been as deeply psychologically scarring for residents of the Peach State, but it was a pretty good whuppin' just the same. The Red Sox pounded the Braves 11-0, behind a slew of home runs and another great outing by the astounding Julian Tavarez. J.D.......

Go ahead, admit it. We will. Going into this season, we were counting on Schill, Daisuke, and Josh to guarantee us a .600 winning percentage, and we'd take our chances with the other guys. Not so fast. That guy with the 1.35 ERA, that guy who had the Blue Jays flapping their wings ineffectively all night? That old guy? That's Old Reliable Tim Wakefield, who improved to 2-1 with another bloodlessly effective outing. "He can......

This is why Bostonist generally tries to stay away from weather reporting. We were certain that the Red Sox would be washed out yesterday, but the rain stopped long enough for the Sox to whup on the Angels one more time. We're going to be sad to see them go. Josh Beckett was prepared for the original 10:05 AM start, telling reporters, "I think I laid down at 8 and went to sleep at 9.......

There are two types of people in the world: those who are willing to slog through rain, wind, possible snow (hey, you never know) and agony to complete a marathon, and...the other kind. Bostonist freely admits to being the other kind. But to everyone who wills their way through this, we tip our hats, raise our glasses, and count our blessings that we'll be home watching you on TV. If you have time to fiddle......

It seems like just yesterday that we were reading articles about the Sox home-field advantage, the way the team lights up the ballpark when they make it home to Yawkey Way. After Tuesday's 14-3 slaughter of the Mariners, Sox fans made their way into Fenway Park with cameras (lots and LOTS of cameras with very bright flashes) and the hopes that that advantage and the much-hyped Matsuzaka/Ichiro showdown would make for memorable baseball. It was......

-- Red Sox fans got their first real regular-season glimpse of their $147 million team on Wednesday night, as Boston handed Kansas City a 7-1 loss at Kauffman Stadium. Jason Varitek got his first hit of the regular season with a single in the fourth, JD Drew's stepping up, Kevin Youkilis hit the team's first home run in the seventh and Josh Beckett (five innings, two hits, five strikeouts, four walks) put in a decent......

If you haven't seen the finish of the Division II Championship between Barton and Winona State, check it out. It's absolutely astounding; Barton's Anthony Atkinson scores 10 points in 39 seconds to turn a sure loss into an unbelievable victory. (Barton is located in Wilson, North Carolina, just so you don't have to look it up.) It's hard to match that kind of a comeback, but the Celtics sure gave Toronto a chance last night.......

We were asking if Doc Rivers needed his head checked after letting the Celtics bench finish out the game against the Charlotte Bobcats. The Celtics were winning, but Paul Pierce got hit in the eye. Doc took him out, and then he let Big Al Jefferson rest a while. He says he wasn't trying to throw the game. If Doc were impersonating Kevin Nealon's "Subliminal Man" character on Saturday Night Live, he could have grunted......

Today is the big day for the Boston College Eagles as they play tenth-seeded Texas Tech in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Even if they're a little down, even if they lost Sean Williams, they can take Texas Tech. We'd love nothing more to see Bobby Knight silenced, just for a moment. To motivate you to root against Mr. Crazymaker himself and his Texas team, here's Bobby Knight's top soundbites. The "game faces"......

The brackets are here. Get it, and hide it from your boss! On second thought, your boss probably has one, too. The No. 1 seeds are Florida, North Carolina, Kansas, and Ohio State. Boston College is a seventh seed and will play against 10th seeded Texas Tech. At least they know what they'll be getting into with coach/professional nutter Bobby Knight. The Patriots buying frenzy continues, and they may have acquired a player who will......

Boston beat Seattle 118 to 103. And Al Jefferson is playing like a star, scoring 31 points in the game. The team also appears to have finally caught on to some basic defensive principles. On the downside, the Celtics are carrying more injuries with Ryan Gomes having a busted left foot and Delonte West still feeling the affects of the concussion he sustained against the Rockets. But the Celtics were able to beat the Sonics......

The Sunday Globe had a long profile of Bill Belichick - it's worth a read to see what makes the great man tick, but the most interesting part might be his former boss, Cleveland Browns owner* Art Modell saying "he felt 'like Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady,' trying to get Belichick to clean up his act." Which would make Belichick Eliza Doolittle. Try to get that image out of your head. Maybe this will......

In the Saturday afternoon matchup between the Celtics and the New Jersey Nets, the Celtics enjoyed a 96-88 victory in overtime. The Celtics started off looking ugly, but then they just flipped a switch and played like a pretty good team. The show belonged to Al Jefferson. He reached a career high, and the announcers went wild calling him "Big Al." Sure, the Celtics are still in the basement, but a three-game winning streak feels......

Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell, Celtics basketball announcer and breakfast-lover, apologized publicly last night for saying female NBA referee Violet Palmer needed to "go back to the kitchen." Maxwell stepped up and said he was sorry. He didn't get all whiny about it. However, Maxwell's defenders seem to be the whiny ones. WBZ' Chuck McKenney felt the need to do the whining for Maxwell. He heard the tape, and he wrote, "The comment was nothing like it......

Hockey players everywhere are thawing out in Dallas for the All-Star festivities, and several Bruins are making the most of it. While Bostonist was obsessing over the fancy new NHL uniforms, Iron Man Phil Kessel got the job done and scored three goals in the YoungStars game. The Bruins' Zdeno Chara won the hardest-shot competition as well, and he was a defenseman for the Eastern Conference in the All-Star game. That didn't work out as......

Celtics 110, Wizards 115: Look at that score! Bostonist was worried that the Celtics would be wiped out by Gilbert "Agent Zero" & Co., but the Wizards must've been checked out. The Celtics tied the game, but the Wizards won in overtime. The valiant Celtics were Ryan Gomes, who scored 31, and Al Jefferson, who scored 23. The Bruins lost to Ottawa zero to three yesterday, but a pretty big rumble broke out on the......

We say "World's Fastest" because the Patriots vs. Chargers game has already started. People have their Pats gear on, their brews out, and their munchies on the coffee table. Most likely, they aren't reading Bostonist. Heck, this Bostonist has one eye on the telly and the other on the computer screen. But, in the interest of staying consistent, Bostonist has the Redux for last night. Bruins 1, NY Rangers 3 - The Bruins lost again,......

The chances are high that Celtics fans will be surprised who the Men in Green choose in tomorrow night's draft. Last year's draft provided the C's with a trio of players that managed to contribute more than their fair share this past season, Al Jefferson being the most standout of the three. Many look at him as being a future NBA All-Star and the backbone of the Celtics future. Delonte West showed that in......