Both the Celtics and Bruins enjoyed days off on Monday, which meant that everyone could take a breather and take a look at Ghosts of Boston Athletes Past.
1
Results tagged “mattcassel”
Well. That was disappointing. The Celtics' 12-game winning streak is over, thanks to a loss to the Lakers that featured trash talking, great shooting (in spurts), surprising physicality from LA, and some really interesting refereeing. 110-109 in overtime was the final.
Could there be a new top dog in the Beanpot? It's still BU's tournament to lose - they're #1 in the country and have won 11 out of the last 13 - but after yesterday, there's a lot of hope down on Huntington Avenue that things might change this year. The Terriers barely survived a hungry Harvard team, falling behind early and needing a bunch of late scores. Meanwhile, the Huskies, #3 in the country and sniffing their first Beanpot since 1988, routed BC 6-1 on the strength of goalie Brad Thiessen, who stopped 45 out of 46.
Admit it. There were moments in those dark dark days of a few weeks ago where we worried about the Celtics. The relentless Cavaliers and the upstart Magic were challenging our rightful spot at the top of the East.
At what point do we ready the panic buttons? Two legitimate losses to two legitimate good teams (LA, Portland), one stinker that can be chalked up to Laker hangover (G.State)...but then, this, now. The Celtics' eight-game winning streak against the Knicks, which stretched back to those prehistoric pre-KG teams, is over. The C's looked flat, couldn't keep up with New York's speed and intensity, and fell 100-88.
We wish we could give you better news. We wish that the Jets had done their job, shocked Miami, and that the Patriots' season didn't come to a sudden thudding end as they flew home from Buffalo last night. For that matter, we wish the Jets' win had saved the career of Eric Mangini (nope) and the overmatched coach, the fossilized QB, and the road apple of a franchise could stick it out together for one more year.
Well, the Patriots did their part. On a snowy nasty day in Foxboro, the Pats did all they could to help the Cardinals get back to the airport and back to sunny Phoenix in record time, pasting Arizona 47-7 and allowing them to have the buses warming up at halftime. Matt Cassel threw for 345 yards, Lamont Jordan ran in two scores, and the Pats pulled everything shy of the Flutie drop kick to embarrass the NFC West "champs".
Let's throw out the necessary splash of cold water first. The Patriots aren't going to the playoffs unless Mia/NYJ or the Ravens flop. Which isn't impossible. But it's out of their hands, and even if they keep doing like they did yesterday and steamrolling collections of stiffs like the Oakland Raiders, it may not come to anything in the end. And if that's the case, we'll toast Bill and Matt for getting this team as far as they did, and congratulate the rest of America on their dream of a collection of crippling Patriots injuries coming true.
"Did you see the Slovak on Slovak battle?" Single best remark we heard after the Bruins skated to another win at the Garden (their eleventh straight - the longest such Bruins home streak since any of us can remember) on Saturday night.
Cousy, Russell, Auerbach, Havlicek, JoJo, Cowens, Bird, Parish, Kevin Gamble. In all the Celtics' many many championship seasons, no Green team has ever started 21-2. Until now.
Bostonist needs to take a moment and process the words we are about to write. Despite the way the 2008-2009 season is shaping up, despite the stats, despite the confidence on display each and every Patriots game, it still seems strange to feel this way.
"At times we sputtered," said Randy Moss after the game. It's hard to know exactly which times he's thinking of, since the Pats exploded for a 530-yard day and stomped Miami, 48-28. Matt Cassel has his biggest day ever (haven't we already said that about four times this year?), throwing for 415 of those yards and finding Moss for three TDs.
One local team hung on to first place. So let's start with them.
These injury-rattled 2008 Patriots may have finally settled on an identity. And it's not one that's going to please the kind of people who are only pleased by blowouts and offensive explosions. But football purists and fans of efficiency have to be pleased by the Pats' 20-10 win over Buffalo. It was a masterpiece of clock management, a triumph of minimalism.
Hey. If Daisuke Matsuzaka can be the shakiest, scariest 18-3 pitcher in baseball history, why can't the Patriots be the craziest, weakest 5-2 team in football? Maybe being the worst 12-4 team ever is a realistic goal. And why not?
If Sox fans were looking for something to get out of bed for this morning, a pair of our other local teams were ready to provide plenty of reason to go on. Monday Night Football! Bruins home opener! Who needs a World Series?
Is history going to repeat itself? Can the button-down boys of '08 remember what happened last year, and four years ago? Is Kevin Millar available for an inspirational speech/booze luge?
Well...forget 18-1. The Patriots were chewed up, spit out, massacred and other violent verbs last night in San Diego, as the Chargers finally figured out how to beat the Pats (play them in October, without Tom Brady) and romped to a 30-10 win that really didn't even seem that close.
That was a long wait for some bad news, wasn't it? The bad news is that past results are NOT indicative of future success, and apparently the Angels aren't going to go away quietly after all. Now the Red Sox have to learn from the adversity that they had to wait for until the second round in 2004 and 2007.
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.
Nobody's going to be boxing this one up and sending it to Canton. It was slow, grinding, methodical and (objectively, let's be honest) kind of boring. But it was also quiet and efficient. Coach Belichick doesn't want style points - not right now, anyway - and he got exactly what he wanted, which was a W at New York.
The Red Sox split their doubleheader with Toronto. The Rays split their doubleheader with New York. So nothing changes at the top of the division, but the clock continues to tick on the Jays and the Yankees, so that's what really matters right now.
We'll get to the picks and the standings in a minute. The Sox and Rays were both off last night; the Twins and White Sox both lost, so realistically, the chances of them both making a major run and the Red Sox losing the Wild Card is slim. Very slim. But let's not count any chickens yet.
"The show must go on," says Randy Moss. And the Patriots will have to be in New Jersey next Sunday, and back in Foxboro the Sunday after that, and so on. But it could be a long, long season. For seven and a half minutes, Tom Brady was in charge of the Patriots offense. And then, suddenly, he wasn't. And nobody this morning seems to be indicating anything other than season-ending surgery.
Due to rain, Friday night’s game was postponed. For those of you who had tickets, you can use them on September 13th for a day/night double header. Paul Byrd will make his debut in a Red Sox uniform tonight and look for Josh Beckett to pitch on Sunday. Who knows if these extra days off will work in the favor of Clay Buchholz, he’s had one miserable outing after another and we won’t be seeing him until he throw against Baltimore on Wednesday. Game time is at 7:05 and Roy Halladay, the human pterodactyl according to Robby Roadsteamer, will be on the hill for the Blue Jays.
« Previous
1
Next »