Results tagged “mannyfernandez”

Sometimes, there's a fair-to-lousy team that just has a good team's number. It happens. The Celtics saw it with the Wizards and Hawks last year. Even in the days of the lowly Devil Rays, they still rose up and beat the Sox and Yankees more than their share. So it's not usually the end of the world.

This is getting a little out of control. Even Bruins goaltender Manny Fernandez realizes this: "It is unbelievable to do what we are doing...looking at those numbers kinds of scares me." The numbers he's talking about: 10 wins in a row, 9-0 for Manny at home, two regulation losses since Halloween.

Well, it was nice while it lasted. The Bruins and Celtics were on a combined 157-game winning streak (or did it just seem that way?), but it all came to an end at the hands of Washington goalie Brent Johnson, whose 33 saves stifled the B's attack and sent the locals away with only their second regulation loss since November started, 3-1.

Well, so much for that. BC's hopes of the ACC Championship and ending up in the Orange Bowl came crashing to earth yesterday, as the Eagles were pummeled by Virginia Tech 30-12 in the title game in Tampa. Hope the Music City Bowl is an acceptable substitute. Freshman quarterback Dominique Davis will rue this day, as he was sacked five times, threw two interceptions and fumbled. At least he'll get more chances.

Nothing is getting to the Bruins right now. Nothing can disturb their calm, shake their confidence, rattle their cages. Buffalo jumps out to a 3-1 lead in the first five minutes? Pfffft. Just nod grimly and get back to work.

One local team hung on to first place. So let's start with them.

With all the practice the Bruins have gotten in shootouts this young season, you have to believe they're going to win one at some point. For the third time, they had to accept one point from the OTL while their opponent (in this case, Buffalo) got the extra. "You almost feel like Groundhog Day here," said coach Claude Julien, which makes us realize we haven't seen that in a while.

If you made it through last night, go ahead on Monday (or Tuesday) and tell your boss you put in extra hours and deserve time-and-a-half. The Sox and Rays played for six and a half hours, eleven innings, time enough for players to get in and out of slumps, and almost time enough to forget that Josh Beckett's pitching has become a big red flashing question mark.

There's not enough lipstick in the world to cover up this pig. It's been a long, long time since we've had to report on a Patriots game that was this hard to think about, let alone write about. The Pats welcomed Miami to Foxboro with open arms, a red carpet, and a map to the end zone, and as a result are 38-13 victims.

This won't work all the time. There are going to be nights when lollygagging it in the first half, then turning it on in the second, won't be enough. Last night was not one of those nights. The Celtics came out in the first half sluggish, especially on defense. "Their biorhythms are off," said radio announcer Sean Grande, and it sure looked like he was right. The Sixers, struggling all season and trying to welcome...

Nothing makes the Cliche-O-Matic sputter and squeak like a Game Seven in the playoffs. Back to the wall. No tomorrow. Do or die. Now or never. All true, of course. So tonight, the Indians and the Red Sox will live the cliches. The Red Sox, of course, lived to fight another day on a supremely gutsy performance by Curt Schilling. Seven innings pitched, six hits, two runs, a thunderous ovation as he left the field...

After three innings last night, the mood at Fenway was as good as it gets. Josh Beckett was on the mound, and the Sox had staked him to a 4-0 lead. The team was hitting well, including superprospect Jacoby Ellsbury, who got his first major-league hit by zipping down the first-base line to beat the throw on a routine ground ball. The Sox even had a helper monkey named Ayla throw out the first pitch....