Movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn once famously said of preachy movies, "If you want to send a message, call Western Union.". Well, Western Union is now out of the telegram business, so the Celtics had to send a message to Detroit some other way, playing stifling defense, fundamental offense, and grinding out a win that - well, that sends the message - that they just might actually be the best team in the East. Everybody chipped......

Maybe it was being in L.A. one night after the Oscars, so the magic of the stars could rub off on them (because when you think "glamour", you think Coen Brothers). Maybe it wasn't. Probably it had a lot to do with the injury-riddled, overmatched Clippers. But whatever the reason, the results speak for themselves: the C's blasted LA last night, and come home with a 2-game winning streak. The Clippers only broke 20 points......

There's been a lot of praise heaped on Bruins goalie Tim Thomas this year, and it's all been deserved. The guy's been a huge reason why the B's are still very much in the playoff hunt. But man is mortal, and Tim looked anything but great last night in Florida, giving up four goals in 12 shots through two periods. His defense was far from blameless, but Tim's been great at covering for their mistakes.......

This Bostonist finally got around to seeing There Will Be Blood last night, so we're prepared to concede that the West can be a harsh and pitiless place. Until this week, the West had been very good to the Celtics. But now they're drinkin' our milkshake! The reeling C's have matched their longest losing streak of the year (two) after Baron Davis broke our hearts with a game-winning shot for the last of his 29......

The All-Star Break couldn't have come at a better time for the Celtics. It's a few extra days of rest for KG, of course, but after last night, almost everyone over 6'8" is in agony this morning and needs some time off. Brian Scalabrine fled the court with a groin pull very early, then Glen Davis went down VERY hard in the second half. He was in so much visible pain that they didn't immediately......

It was the rarest of rare occasions: a Beanpot final that didn't involve BU. Instead it was Boston College and Harvard, with the Eagles leading by two midway through the third period. BC almost blew it before taking control in overtime and winning on a Nick Petrecki goal. So two overtime wins for Boston College. And a very relieved Jerry York. BU beat Northeastern in the consolation game. Pitchers and catchers don't have to be......

It's a day that happens only in Boston, as far as we know. Maybe they do it in Milwaukee and Kansas City, but we doubt it; only Red Sox fans are maniacal enough to go out on a cold morning to watch some boxes be loaded in a truck. That's right, it's Truck Day - the day when the Sox equipment heads south for Fort Myers and Spring Training. It's the day when dozens of......

It seems that Mother Nature didn't think the Red Sox's doubleheader sweep of the Tigers on Thursday was impressive enough - the first games after that two-fer will be tidily bundled in another dual-game gameday. The Sox called Friday's scheduled game against their Interleague Play Atlanta visitors pretty early, deciding instead to go the route of a 1 p.m./7:35 p.m. Saturday schedule. The pitching breakdown: Dice-K vs. Braves pitcher Anthony Lerew in the afternoon game,......

You probably read yesterday that Jonathan Papelbon will, in fact, be the Red Sox closer this year, and probably for years to come. Why they didn't just announce this at the beginning of camp, when we all suspected this was going to happen eventually, is beyond us. But we still love the idea of players blogging, if it means Dan Shaughnessy will fade further into irrelevance. The bad news in Fort Myers is that......

We refuse - flat out refuse - to get emotionally caught up in a spring training game. Even if it's Sox-Yankees. Especially if A-Rod, Jeter, and Johnny Demon didn't make the trip down to Fort Myers. But if you saw a nuclear-bomb-like flash to the south yesterday evening, it may have been the million flashbulbs trained on the first U.S. meet-and-greet between the two Japanese superstars: Sox' Daisuke Matsuzaka and the Yankees' Hideki Matsui. "He......

Curt Shilling has a lot of things going for him. The bloody sock has been auctioned off, he's tossing down in Fort Myers and seems to be ready for another season in good health. He's crusading for support of a cure for ALS and working with his wife Shonda and her SHADE foundation – but all work is not charity. Of course he's still a star pitcher for the Olde Towne Team but he's also......

Last night, the Garden saw some serious ugly. After winning a few, Celtics fans had cause for optimism. However, they were facing the Houston Rockets, fifth in the West and fully stocked with Yao Ming. Even though the Rockets didn't exactly deliver a pitch-perfect performance, the Celtics collapsed quickly and never caught up. The final score was 111 to 80, and the Rockets made 15 three-pointers. The performance was so bad that we thought we......

You know Daisuke-mania has hit when The Onion chimes in on the story. Daisuke and his Ultimate Galactic Dragon Gyroball Pitch Power Explosion take the mound in Fort Myers tonight, trying to do to the overmatched Boston College squad what B.C. basketball did to Fairfield, New Hampshire and Sacred Heart this year. Also making his Spring debut (assuming he doesn't wander off) is Manny Ramirez. The Herald's Michael Silverman is the latest to take a......

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......

The weatherpeople are making that face. That face of unrestrainable glee, trying to contort itself into a look of worried sincerity. The face that means a storm is on the way. Luckily, a small part of all of our hearts headed down I-95 yesterday, as the Red Sox equipment truck left Fenway for the warm environs of Fort Myers. "Truck Day" is becoming one of those quaint little Boston traditions. It's our Groundhog Day......