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......

It was about a week ago when we noted that the Bruins were in 6th place in the Prince of Wales Eastern Conference, which was a decent place to be, thus drawing the winner of the weak-sister Southeast Division. In that week, the B's have solidified the 6th spot, but are now officially in spittin' distance of bigger and better things. They've won blowouts this week, they've won shootouts, they've won at home, they've won......

The Bruins' win over Pittsburgh had a little something for everybody. It had scoring (including two by Marco Sturm), goaltending (Tim Thomas came one shot away from two straight shutouts), fighting (Milan Lucic exchanged pleasantries with Jarkko Ruutu for a good long satisfying while), and most importantly a win, which pulled the scorching-hot B's within four points of the Northeast Division lead. Kevin Paul Dupont analyzes why doing nothing might have been the best move......

"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%......

BootWatch: Tom Brady sprained his right ankle. It is a high ankle sprain viewed as minor, according to the local media types, and while it's a big enough deal to have rendered The Boot necessary in New York on Monday, it's not enough to keep QB Brady out of the Really, Really Big Game on February 3. We're going to go out on a limb here and state that we're not going to invest much......

The Bruins have, objectively, been pretty good this year. They're still in playoff position (it's tenuous, but still true), and have won some pretty exciting games. But for some reason, the sight of the Canadiens turns the B's into frightened little kittens, commiting penalties and hanging their goalies out to dry on power play after power play. The first power play, on a Marco Sturm elbow, led to a Montreal goal; then they scored a......

The Red Sox won their last seven games. The Celtics have a six-game winning streak. The Patriots haven't lost in - well, we can barely remember. Even the Bruins stopped Atlanta yesterday. So every local team finished 2007 on an up note (yes, Revs, we know, and we're sorry). The B's were headed for another stinkeroo for a while, but they finally found their offense, and pelted the surprised Thrashers. Dennis Wideman and P.J. Axelsson......

What moved you to speak out this year? A Lite Brite giving you the finger? The Red Sox? The death of Mr. Butch? As you can see, there aren't many surprises--the Red Sox, MIT student Star Simpson, and L'Affaire Aqua Teen Hunger Force dominated this list. 10. Mr. Lonelyhearts: Tom Brady 9. Live-Blogging Game 4 of the World Series 8. Socket to Me: Star Simpson Follow-Up 7. Breaking: Fake Bomb-Toting MIT Student So Not......

Well, the Twins aren't cooperating. Instead of being excited about the chance for yet another Minnesota star to come to Boston, they're dragging their feet on the inevitable Johan Santana trade. They now want Jacoby Ellsbury thrown in the mix, to counter Hank Steinbrenner's throwing-in of pitching prospect Phil Hughes. The Red Sox say maybe on Ellsbury, but that would mean no Jon Lester. The Yankees say if they don't hear from Minnesota soon, the......

One of our favorite little quirks in sports is that, when a hockey player is listed as active or inactive for a given game, the announcers say "so-and-so will [or will not] be dressed for tonight's game". It made us giggle as eighth-graders; it makes us giggle today. But giggling seems somehow inappropriate at today's Globe story about the New York artist named Kurt Kauper, who's causing a splash in the art and hockey world......

--State Senate President Therese Murray ruled that a nonbinding referendum on Governor Deval Patrick's plan to allow three casino licenses in the state could not be added to the March primary ballot. [Boston Globe] --Meanwhile, the state Senate voted 35 to 5 to pass a measure that would move next year's Massachusetts presidential primary from March 4 to February 5. [WBZ] --In an appalling case, a former Somerville police officer was found guilty yesterday......

--We're sure you've seen pictures of the dum-dum intern who told his boss he had a family emergency and then got busted going to a Halloween party instead. Unfortunately, he's local. Kevin Colvin, the dum-dum intern in a Tinkerbell costume, was working in Boston, and he wore his pretty costume in Worcester. As one Valleywag commenter put it, "He went out in Worcester wearing a fairy costume. Kid's lucky to be alive, never mind losing......

You'd think that a day on which we learned that the Pope would rather celebrate mass at Yankee Stadium than anywhere near Boston would be a grim one. Let's face it, that's kind of like George Steinbrenner holding a press conference to announce that Yankees fans are guaranteed eternal salvation, but Red Sox fans will be hitting the highway to hell when their times come. But hey - let the Pope do what he will.......

Let's give a hand, ladies and gentlemen, and perhaps even raise our Saturday morning coffee cups in a toast. To the new Celtics and basketball's new Big Three! Before we dive into Friday night's Celts season opener, we should take a quick trip back to May 22, when Boston gasped in horror over the hand fate had dealt. Fifth pick for what was then a terrible, wretched team. We were screwed. Ready to jump. Inconsolable.......

--Well, that didn't take long. The BPD announced that it arrested 18 people during today's Red Sox Rolling Rally. All the arrests were for disorderly. For the record, Bostonist saw absolutely no disorderly along Boylston, unless people refused to climb down from trees and the tops of the public toilets. --The Red Sox fans who were arrested after celebrating Game 4 against Cleveland were arraigned yesterday. Some admitted to bad behavior, while others, according......

Did you know? Red Sox fans get happy when the Red Sox win. And they get sad when the Red Sox lose. They also like to nibble on munchies during the game. The Globe apparently didn't think that their readers were aware of that fact, so they hired the MIT Media Lab for a study that showed up on Sunday's City & Region front page. In the study, MIT's Media Lab observed Elena Tate,......

The Red Sox returned from a little trip of consequence out West on Monday and found several thousand fans waiting to welcome them back and get a taste of the victory parade planned for Tuesday. A caravan of buses rolled up to the park shortly after 5 p.m. Monday afternoon and those in attendance didn't have to wait long to see the hardware they'd been lusting after all post-season long: Tom Werner, John Henry, and......

Here's a wrap-up from the local papers about the strangest and funniest episodes of the night: Boston Herald: "A Teletubby dressed in Red Sox gear and a man naked but for a giant red, plastic beer cup costume were part of a procession that included a large number of kids in BU and Northeastern gear." Harvard Crimson: Streakers galore on DeWolfe Street. Universal Hub Commenter Molly Clare: Speaking of Harvard, "'OH. MY. GAWD. The Red......

The Red Sox has permeated nearly every facet of Bostonist's lives. When they're not live-blogging the games, waxing poetic about the games, thanking Curt Schilling for his splendid work, or telling Dane Cook to watch his hair, they're watching certain presidential candidates hop on the Red Sox bandwagon (sorry, Gothamist). The Sox are so branded on the local brain that people are using the Series to spice up their sex lives. Speaking of spice, Bostonist......

The Red Sox have been linked time and time again to reality television this season. There was "Sox Appeal," of course, but there were also calls for the jigging Jonathan Papelbon to Riverdance his way onto "Dancing With the Stars" and the segue FOX used last week to link the Boston bullpen band (the Black Pearl) to what looks like a God-awful new series, "The Next Great American Band." Sox bloggers, however, just might be......

Gothamist learned about the craziest urban nightmare come true: A huge python found in the bathroom pipes. It was also a nightmare for some Yankees fans, as manger Joe Torre declined to come back and manage the Bronx Bombers. At least the city's attempt to give some direction to subway riders was interesting, pranksters went shirtless at the Fifth Avenue Abercrombie & Fitch and the I Heart Brooklyn Girls calendars came out. And just......

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......

So Sheriff Beckett stared down the Cleveland gang last night. Once again, when the Red Sox needed Josh to be at his absolute best, he pretty much was. Sure, he gave up one more hit than he did in his Game One dazzler, but he only gave up one run - on a double play ball. Other than that, he struck out 11 Indians and gave 44,588 Clevelanders something to do with their towels beside......

Wonder whatever became of the Pats? Well, they missed their target of 38 points, but still comfortably routed the Bengals last night, 34-13. On paper, it looked like the Bengals hung around - it was 10-7 until late in the second quarter - but it never felt like they were any closer than a long arm's length. With Laurence Maroney sidelined due to a groin injury, the spotlight shone on Sammy Morris, who made the......

Dare we say things are starting to click at the right time? The Red Sox finished off Oakland with an 11-6 win. Now only a monumental collapse (look upward; no lightning) will keep the Red Sox from celebrating an AL East clinchin' party in the next day or two. The Sox smacked Oakland largely due to the bat of Mike Lowell, who collected five of his 116 RBIs (a Red Sox 3B record) on a......

The Red Sox were at home, facing down the Oakland A's on Tuesday night, but everyone had one eye on events unfolding in Florida. And wouldn't you know? Things worked out perfectly. The drama-filled Oakland game (only in September would one be able to string those words together) was decisively won by Boston and featured numerous reasons for the Fenway crowd to stand up and cheer. Tampa Bay managed to scratch together a 10-inning, 7-6,......

The Red Sox didn't play yesterday, so of course they were more successful than usual of late, picking up half a game on the Yankees (thanks, Toronto!). Now they face their final homestand, against Oakland and Minnesota. This looked at the beginning of the season like a rough end to the season, but both those clubs have been surprisingly bad this season. Remember, all the Red Sox have to do is win five of the......

Thomas Paine said, "These are the times that try men's souls". Hamlet said, "To take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them." Dr. Peter Venkman said it a bit pithier, as above. All true. The Red Sox are in St. Petersburg tonight to play the Devil Rays, and if they don't treat the Rays like the second coming of the Big Red Machine, they're going to find themselves in serious hot......

Earlier this season, when the Red Sox suffered a 2- or 3-game losing streak, we suggested that the mood in Red Sox Nation (a term we promise never to use again) was like the scene in Airplane! when Elaine got on the PA and asked if there was anyone on board who knew how to fly a plane. What movie scene defines Sox fans now? We've got to go with the one near the end......

Update: Our Ist-a-Verse family called the individual in this story a "Boston Idiot." We would like to clarify; hence, the photo. Yet another hoser ran across the Fenway Park field yesterday during the Red Sox-Yankees game. In the seventh inning, the guy 20-year-old Charles Gendron, of Maine, ran across the field and grabbed the cap off the head of Robinson Cano, the Yankees' second baseman. NESN cut away from the action, but Bostonist saw......