- The Bobcats are to the Celtics what the Giants were to the Patriots: confident, strong, capable of making a game of it (although we'd like to think that we won't see Jason Richardson celebrating a championship for at least another couple of years). The Celts barely beat the 'Cats in November, lost (embarrassingly) in January, and were challenged up until the end on Friday night, when Boston won, 108-100, at TD Banknorth Garden. Not......

All the Bostonists got together and thought of how to deal what is admittedly a rough day. 1. Let's start with what NOT to do. Do not under any circumstances say to anyone "It's only a game" or "There's always next year." 2. See the first rule. 3. Look to the Red Sox. At Porter, the BostonNOW newsie was handing out copies of a paper that featured The Debacle on the front cover. Rather than......

After one of the most painful, stunning, heart-breaking upsets in sports history, local football fans were left to pick their jaws up off the floor. Right up to the end, it seemed like the Patriots would win. In post-game interviews, coach Bill Belichick looked shell-shocked than usual. A few local newscasters wore expressions suggesting that close relatives had died. It was an ugly mood. On the way home, Bostonist walked past a few bars, which......

Any given team, any given night -- in this case, any given Saturday. The Jaguars are preparing to do what they can to put the Patriots' perfect season to an end, and they'll give it a shot tonight at 8:00 p.m. Bill Belichick would note that tonight's game features two teams with the same record - 0-0. But just about everyone else out there is putting their money or bragging rights on New England. We're......

Gifts were exchanged in Foxboro yesterday. From Miami to New England: a total lack of competition. From New England to Miami: Their foots off the gas pedal and a non-humiliation. 'Tis the season in the NFL. The Pats jumped out to an early lead, befitting a matchup of 14-0 against 1-13. Brady found Randy Moss twice (been a while since we've heard that!), then Laurence Maroney dashed away untouched for a career-long 59 yards for......

We could choose to be disappointed. We figured (and we weren't the only ones) that the combination of crappy weather, boisterous fans and motivated personnel would mean the Patriots would kick the Jets' butts up and down the field for three hours. We figured that, even though we're better than New York in every sport right now, yesterday would be a cathartic blowout to soothe any lingering anti-NY feelings around here. Well, not quite. The......

8:00 PM - We're coming to you live! Not from Bostonist HQ, which is in the danger zone of potential postgame revelry, but from our outpost in Central MA (Worcesterist?) where we've been each week to watch the Pats game. The Pats, by the way, just beat Washington 845-7. Mike Vrabel caught eleven touchdown passes. FoxSports is showing Bill Buckner one last time, just in case there was one person left in town who didn't......

Put the champagne back in the fridge. Josh Beckett couldn't deliver win #21, and the Red Sox couldn't beat the Twins, so we're going to have to go through this all over again until they finally clinch the East...or don't. "It's nice to have your [butt] whipped every once in a while. It'll bring you back down," says Josh, which we'll take his word for. Michael Cuddyer and Garrett Jones homered for Minnesota, and Ortiz......

Was there any doubt? The Patriots, good as they are, and now with the increased motivation of having the rest of the world hate them? Belichick, who is the smartest coach in the world anyway, now with the incentive to prove it? The wagons have been circled. You're either with us or against us. And the San Diego Chargers, who fancied themselves one of the elite teams in the NFL, got their butts handed to......

Ladies and gentlemen, may we present to you this week's nominee for Douchebag on the Diamond: Daniel Cabrera. Cabrera, 26, is a Gemini who throws and bats righty. He enjoys roaming about Camden Yards and, oh wait, headhunting. Or so it seems, at least, considering the fact that he fired a shot at Dustin Pedroia's head on Friday night during a Red Sox-Orioles matchup down in Fenway South Camden. The fact that the Sox, who......

A star college football player who didn't make the cut as a punter for the Patriots allegedly pitched a hissy fit royale after he didn't get picked. Instead of punching Bill Belichick or whoever it is who cut him from the team, 23-year-old Danny Baugher punched his own dad in the eye last Thursday in a Hanover parking lot. Police noted that Baugher was drunk at the time. Of course. He may have shut the......

Oh, hindsight. What tricks you play on fans, coaches and baseball bullpens. It made sense, in some respects, for Tampa Bay pseudo-starter Jason Hammel to be pulled from Friday night's game during the sixth inning. Considering that Hammel, a reliever bumped up to starting rotation placement, had walked consecutive batters when the DRays were holding onto a precious 1-0 lead, the decision to turn to the bullpen was one that many baseball enthusiasts would support......

The Red Sox rotation needs no introduction. We already have three ten-game winners, a potential Hall-of-Famer on the injured list, and warhorse Julian Tavarez on the back end. But, with possible apologies to Curt Schilling's one-hitter in Oakland, none of them have come up with a gem like youngster Kason Gabbard threw last night. The 25-year-old lefty threw the Sox' third complete game and second shutout last night, bedazzling the Royals to the tune of......

You'd think that the story of last night's Red Sox/Devil Rays series kickoff would be the glorious-yet-atypical change of character demonstrated by DR pitcher Scott Kazmir. Sure, we'll get to that, but c'mon - something huge happened. Julio Lugo safely hit the ball! And then he did it AGAIN! It had been a long, rough road for our offensively challenged shortstop - a road with 33 seemingly untravelable off-ramps along the way. Different spots in......

Things weren't exactly what one could consider promising yesterday afternoon, a few hours before the Red Sox and Yankees kicked off their series opener here in Boston. The skies were growling and peppered with sunshowers. Many of us were murmuring about whether we thought Alex Rodriguez was going to pull a stunt on the field (and whether Dustin Pedroia would be the first to lead the counter-attack). Starting pitcher Tim Wakefield was set to enter......

Forget the 2008 Presidential Race for now. The biggest decision any voter can make right now is the one forced on us by Major League Baseball. Since the All-Star game is in San Francisco, a National League park, the designated hitter is not an option. Which means the Red Sox had to designate David Ortiz to be in the First Baseman section of the All-Star ballot. Which means Kevin Youkilis is on the outside looking......

-- Like many a Red Sox fan, Bostonist was feeling cocky at the top of the ninth inning in Tuesday's game hosting Oakland. Why wouldn't we? The Sox had a 4-2 lead and Jonathan Papelbon was heading in to finish out the game. It was ovah. Until Travis Buck hit that two-run shot to right field. It was a big hit in more ways than one: it brought Oakland back into a game that it......

-- 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......

We're eagerly waiting to see how our local NCAA matchups shake out. Boston College takes on Texas Tech and Bobby Knight tomorrow, and Holy Cross faces off against Southern Illinois on Friday. In the other big college basketball tournament, the NIT, the UMass Minutemen defeated Alabama in overtime 89 to 87. They'll advance into the next round to play West Virginia. So let's not forget the NIT in the face of March Madness. Speaking of,......

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! A familiar foe in a familiar venue with the stakes as high as it gets. The winner of Pats v. Colts goes to Miami for a shot at the Super Bowl. It doesn't get much better than this. What does our beloved home squad, the New England Patriots, need to do in order to win this game? Indy came into New England (pre-FieldTurf, mind you) and took New England to task 27-20 on November......

OK, so maybe that 4th Super Bowl is a bit further away than Bostonist originally thought. The Pats were, sad to say, trounced by division rival Miami Dolphins on Sunday, 21-0. This one was ugly folks, from the jump. Alas, Bostonist should have had a bit of a clue that this could be coming, with Tommy's record down in Miami (a place he is under .500, 2-4 career) and the injuries the Pats were......

The Patriots totally trounced the Packers in their Lambeau meeting yesterday. The Pack, however, still has us beat in one ongoing challenge. Campbell's soup is again running their "Tackling Hunger" promotion and will award a can of soup for every pound the winning team weighs to a food bank of the team's choosing. Both the team with the most overall clicks and the team that's most improved by December 15 will win the award for......

The Pats flubbed another one this weekend in the Bostonist satellite office down in Foxboro, to the hated Jets of all teams, 17-14. This one was a mud bowl, and one would think that would benefit the home team, seeing they have control over their field. But, not this time around. And speaking of field conditions, can anyone respond and tell Bostonist why in the world the field at Gillette Stadium looked more like......

Couple thoughts and musings while lamenting a loss to the New England Patriots biggest rivals, and wondering why in 'tarnation did the Pats stop running the ball in the second half of the Indy game.... The Pats are 6-2 and in great shape in the AFC East. Yes, now we will have to head to Indy to get to the Super Bowl, but as all Bostonists are stating, Tom Brady is 10-0 in domes.......

The Patriots proved to a national audience Monday evening that this team is for real, and in all likelihood will be playing playoff games in January, and maybe one in February... (crossing fingers, dodging lightning bolts, knocking on wood) New England utterly dominated the Minnesota Vikings (who were billed as the "Denver Broncos of the NFC", who handed the Pats their lone defeat of the season) 31-7 last night, a few miles from the......

After what seemed like a 3 month lay-off, the Patriots were back in action Sunday afternoon, this time facing rival Buffalo in up-state New York to kick around the Bills, 28-6. The Patriots showed no signs of rust on Sunday, coming off their bye week, as they took it to the hometown Bills in front of their home crowd right from the starting gun. The Pats jumped out to an early lead by scoring......

The Pats took one with ease on Sunday, defeating division rival Miami Dolphins by a score of 20-10 at sold out Gillette stadium. The boys at the Bostonist satellite office in Foxboro have now defeated all three of their divisional foes, posting an early 3-0 record in the division, which is critical down the line for playoff scenarios. This contest took an interesting turn late in the week, as the Patriots were planning to......

The rumors of the death of the Patriots have been greatly exaggerated. That paraphrase couldn’t be more true to Bostonians after the Pats dismantled the Cincinnati Bengals 38-13, in Cincy (they did not PROTECT THEIR HOUSE; that Under Armour guy would be heated with them), no less. While this space tends to focus mostly on Touchdown Tommy Brady (and has received heat for so doing), this week, rookie running back Laurence Maroney stole the......

The New England Patriots had it taken to them last night at the Razor, yet again, by an old nemesis, the Denver Broncos, by a score of 17-7. While the score looks small, this one was never really in much doubt once the Broncos took a 10-0 lead, and kicker Stephen Gostkowski had his second field goal blocked in as many weeks, late in the second quarter. While Brady's numbers were gaudy, his overall......

Early in the third quarter, this one looked like it was about to get really ugly, as the Pats had jumped out to what looked like an insurmountable 24-0 lead over the Jets at the Meadowlands in New Jersey last night. But the Jets made it more than a game, but in the end, Tom Brady and the Patriots were up to the task, winning their 7th consecutive game against the hated Jets. This......