Yankees.7.8 - weekend wrap / live blog

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Due to the Celtics' glorious championship run, I have been remiss in my coverage of the Yankees. The reality is that between the Celtics and the non-sports-fan girlfriend, I haven't been able to watch/listen to enough games to intelligently comment on the season. But with baseball taking center stage in the sports world and the girfriend hiking the Appalachian Trail, I've had more time to check in on the Bombers over the last month or two. And it seems like they're happy to have me back, as they've won eight in a row since the All-Star Break, including an epic 1-0 win at Fenway on Friday night and a strong 10-3 drubbing of the Sox yesterday. The win yesterday was particularly fortunate considering that I was at the game, in my Yankees gear, in the bleachers, without a Yankee ally within four rows or so. It's been raining quite a bit here in Boston over the last couple hours so who knows what will happen, and I know it's just a midseason game, but I figure this is a good time for a live blog.

8:01 - ESPN broadcast just started and the tarp is on the field. Rain delay. But it hasn't been postponed.

8:11 - They're reporting that the game should start "sooner rather than later" and the sky looks pretty good over here in Cambridge so I think we'll get some game in. Meanwhile, I'll recap a great Yankees-Red Sox weekend here in Boston. Per usual, the weekend format for Yankees-Red Sox was Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Sunday night. Friday night's opener brought an epic pitchers duel between Joba "Youkkiller" Chamberlain and Josh Beckett, and it didn't disappoint. Both pitchers took full advantage of the wide strike zone that the umpire established and stuck with from the first inning on. Joba delivered the best starting performance of his young MLB career, going 7 scoreless with 9 k's and only 3 singles and a walk. He had all his pitches going and was dominant. He also managed to get away with continuing his hilarious quasi-feud with Kevin Youkilis by sending another one in, high and tight, even getting a foul ball out of it. (Did he do it on purpose? Dunno. Maybe. Jerry Remy even said there's no way he would have done it on purpose in that situation, but maybe that's why he knew he could get away with it. You never want to see someone get hit in the head, but it is pretty funny to watch how red Youk's head gets when he's angry.) Beckett, for his part, was nasty on the corners of that wide strike zone, giving up only one run on an infield hit from the speedy Jason Giambi, who took advantage of the shift. Unlucky loss for him. The bullpens held their own, with the exception of Kyle "Small Stage" Farnsworth, who was saved by The Marinator, Mariano Rivera. Mariano got a huge 5 out save with his back against the wall.

8:41 - They've taken the tarp off the field and they're predicting a 9:00 start. I'm clearing the area around the broom closet here at the house. In case I need to get in there.

The Friday win was big in the standings, but equally as big for me as a Yankees fan taking the bus crosstown to Fenway and spending the afternoon at the park. As I said, I had my Yankees hat and nomaas.org t-shirt on so I knew that my recent Celtics fueled, hometown, love affair with the city was back on the shelf. Having won 7 in a row including a big one 13 hours before, my team's solid position would spare me the usual self-righteous Yankees Suck stuff. I met The Handsome Plumber, his brother, and their nephew at Game On for some beers and apps before the game. It was a beautiful sunny day with a late start because of the Fox broadcast, so the crowd was guaranteed to be juiced up and the scenery was guaranteed to be top shelf. We went in an hour early to enjoy the view and the roofdeck bar up above the rightfield grandstands. Enjoy them both we did. There were plenty of Yankees fans milling around but the mood was pretty mellow. I even got a fairly good natured reception/ribbing from the drunk New Hampshire meatheads seated next to me, deep in the heart of the bleachers. Pettitte was victim to an error and then gave up a walk for a tough start to the game. Both baserunners made it home to stake Wakefield a 2-0 lead. Fortunately for the boys in grey, Andy was great for the rest of the game and the Yankees were able to smack around Sox pitching to the tune of 10 runs. This, the company, the antics of the Granite State boys, and a handful of beverages, made for a great afternoon. Thanks again for the ticket, THP!

9:02 - Game on! John Lester pitching for the Sox against Johnny Damon. And ... he strikes him out on a nice curve. Up next - The Captain.

9:04 - Deep fly ball. Not deep enough. But Bobbreu follows it up with a double. Let's go A-Rod...

9:08 - Deep fly ball. Not deep enough. Caught by the always entertaining Manny Ramirez. Speaking of Manny, how about this quote he gave us today regarding his yearly desire for a trade: I don't care where I play, I can even play in Iraq if need be. My job is to play baseball. All class, Manny, as always. I don't think they need you in Iraq.

9:16 - The Dutch Dazzler, Sidney Ponson is in trouble in the first. Hits by Youk, Papi, and Manny. 1-0. Orel on Manny: "He's a little bit like a child." No shit.

9:20 - Ponson is getting hammered. The announcers are openly making fun of Manny now. And yet he scores a run that most other players would not have (because they would have listened to the third base coach). Manny being Manny. And Sox fans will put up with that other bullshit all day long. I know I would if he was on the Yankees.

9:27 - Lester, on the other hand, is looking sharp, getting soft ground balls from new hired gun, Xavier Nady, and red hot Robbie Cano. Then, .216 hitting Richie Sexson gets a bloop single. Who can figure baseball. Anyway, Lester's been tough so far this year. Tough to hate a guy who's mild mannered and recovering from cancer. And ... he strikes out Molina. Might be a quiet night in the broom closet. As far as the Nady/Marte trade is concerned, I'm giving it a medium-large sized thumbs up. They didn't give up much. Ohlendorf and Karstens have decent stuff but will probably never be better than mediocre in the majors, so I'm not too worried about it. The real trading piece was Tabata, who the Yankees had as their # 3 prospect in the minors, currently in AA ball. Normally, this would distress my conservative trading sensibilities, but he's had some disciplinary problems and there are some questions about his motivation. And he's batting .248 in AA. No problem saying goodbye to that for a good bat and a good arm in return. -- update -- Nady promptly misplays a ball in left field. It's Fenway. That'll happen. I still like the deal.

9:40 - Weak hits by Molina and Damon and the Yanks have 2 on, none out. C'mon Captain! ... and ... double play. and a Bobbreu K. Tough. Ortiz and Manny up. We need to get Sid the Dud out of there.

9:52 - Is anyone still reading this? Write "Shaka Hislop" in the comment section and pat yourself on the back if you are. This is not riveting stuff.

9:58 - Ponson allows another run and Nady allows Varitek to stretch it to a double. Suffice it to say I have not yet classified them as "Real Yankees".

10:02 - Nady strikes out with A-Rod on 2nd. fuck this guy.

10:09 - Girardi on the dugout interview says that he's going to stick with Ponson, likes what he's doing so far. What the fuck? Generally speaking, I'm a huge Joe G fan and think he does a great job managing his pitching staff. Is there something I'm missing here? Is he mailing this in to see how his team responds?

10:12 - Nady baffled by another ball in left field. This guy better start hitting if he's going to field like this.

10:18 - OK, c'mon. This is ridiculous. Papi just crushed one. Ponson is absolute garbage. And he has been from the first pitch tonight. Get him the fuck out of there, Joe. ... and Manny crushes a 415 foot fly ball out to end the inning. Joe. C'mon. Nomaas. 7-0 Sox.



10:27 - I don't know why I posted that picture. Just felt right.

10:28 - 3 singles to open the 5th for the Yankees, 3 men still on base. Jeter, BobA, and A-Rod up. Let's go Yankees! ... Jeter with a ridiculous squibber hit that gets a run in. Still no outs. If they don't run Ponson out there for the 5th, this might still be a game.

10:35 - Nice BOB by Bob to force in a run. Tough break for a whistler by A-Rod. Crap decision not to run Damon on a Nady pop fly to Ellsbury (that's minus 10 more "Real Yankee" points for Nady). And Cano grounds to the pitcher to end the inning. Bases loaded, no outs, top of the line-up, tiring pitcher => 2 runs. Should've been more. I'm going to make a burrito.

11:09 - Checked back in the 6th just as Nady failed to get Youkilis out from 2nd from shallow left field. This game is over. Back to the burrito construction process.

11:45 - Well, this has been an utterly uninteresting live blog and the good guys are losing 9-2 with 2 outs in the 9th. I thought that the Friday night game would have made a nice live blog, so I decided to try it tonight since I needed to do a Y.X.X post anyway. Baseball games are always hit or miss. Oh well. If you'd given me 2 out of 3 at the start of the weekend, I'd've taken it. And now I have no choice but to take it: Sox win. Still a strong weekend and an impressive week by the Yankees. Ponson's crapper tonight notwithstanding, the pitching appears to be stepping up to the rubber, and Nady's 0-for notwithstanding, the hitting appears to be stepping up to the plate. Or at least getting closer to the batter's box. I don't know if they have enough to beat the Sox or whichever playoff team gets hot at the end of the season all the way to a World Series title. If they're that playoff team that gets hot, they certainly do. Especially if Wang and/or Hughes can come back and be good in September/October. Losing Posada and Matsui sucks, but if Nady can hit like he has been hitting in the NL, and Robbie keeps up his regression back to his mean, and Jeter can start hitting his customary 300+, we'll be looking good.

Congrats to great Yankee closer Goose Gossage on his Hall of Fame induction.

The Twelve Levels of "Making Fun" of Someone

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After two weeks, I'd say it's time to move on from the Obama-FISA-Leftist Authoritarian Rule post. Since we somehow meandered through those topics and ended up back in the Top Ten High School Movies debate in the comment section, it seems like a good time to break out another list. After having my various levels of joking around all classified as "making fun of" my girlfriend (by my girlfriend), I decided that we needed to come up with a structured list of adjectives that described the many different levels of "making fun" so that an incident of mere frivolity was not characterized in the same way as a vitriolic screed. Along with her roommate, dp, bvm and I came up with 12 different levels. They've been written on the dry erase board (pictured above) in her kitchen for several months now and we refer to them frequently. She rarely gets above level 4; I float freely between 1 and 7, reserving 8 for people who really piss me off, 9 and 10 for politicians, and 11 and 12 for Republican politicians. Without further ado, I give you the Twelve Levels of "Making Fun":

1. jocular
2. frisky
3. saucy
4. droll
5. salty
6. acerbic

7. boorish
8. caustic
9. pernicious
10. venomous
11. vitriolic
12. scurrilous

The Erosion of Hope - shame on you, Obama.

There was a time, a time of continual war (Cold), when illegal wiretapping was such an offense to the ideals of American liberty, that the President of the United States lost his job over it (and the hotel that it happened in became synomous with scandal). That was then. And the outraged nation demanded legal protection against such despicable spying behavior. It got that in FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

This is now. This is a time of continual war (on Terror) when illegal wiretapping is considered such a fundamental necessity for American "liberty", that all candidates for the Presidency of the United States feel it's politically necessary to legislate crippling changes to FISA, grant amnesty to telecom companies complicit in illegal spying, further legalize warrantless eavesdropping, and spit on the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

For coverage of this bullshit, see here (nytimes), here (aclu), here (dailykos), here (commondreams (salon story)), and here (salon blog). The bill passed by a vote of 69 (a popular reference to a kind of fucking) to 28 (which happens to be Bush's approval rating. 28. You cowered and caved to a lame duck with a 28% approval rating).

For a list of cowards and non-cowards see here:

Democrats voting in favor of final passage of the FISA bill: Bayh - Carper - Casey - Conrad - Feinstein - Innuoye - Kohl - Landrieu - Lincoln - McCaskill - Mukulski - Nelson (Neb.) - Nelson (Fla.) - OBAMA - Pryor - Rockefeller - Salazar - Webb - Whitehouse.

Democrats voting against final passage of the FISA bill: Akaka - Biden - Bingaman - Boxer - Brown - Byrd - Cantwell - Cardin - Clinton - Dodd - Dorgan - Durbin - Feingold - Harkin - Kerry - Klobachur - Lautenberg - Leahy - Levin - Menendez - Murray - Reed - Reid - Sanders - Schumer - Stabenow - Tester - Wyden.

For a civil libertarian's explanation of what this means see here:



Obama also voted for cloture to prevent any filibustering against it. In October, the Obama campaign said that he would support any filibuster of the bill. I guess that's what you say when you want to get the Democratic nomination and this is what you do when you want centrists and moderate Republicans to elect you to the presidency. Shame shame shame, Barry. No principles. You've got some audacity, alright.


In other, unrelated, political shamefulness, global leaders met at the G8 Summit recently and discussed the global food crisis. They met, they discussed it, and then they chowed down! Amy Goodman reports: Shortly after saying they were “deeply concerned” about soaring global food prices and supply shortages, world leaders attending the G8 summit in Hokkaido sat down to an eighteen-course gastronomic extravaganza, courtesy of the Japanese government. The dinner was themed “Blessings of the Earth and the Sea,” and the global food shortage was certainly not evident. The meal included delicacies such as caviar, milk-fed lamb, sea urchin, winter lily bulbs, truffles and tuna, with champagne and wines flown in from Europe and the United States.

YAY USA! YAY WORLD!

Happy Sixth of July - FAIL.

Does that look like me? That doesn't look like me.

Thanks to everyone who came by for another thrilling Hot Dog Ho Down on the 4th. The Teo's mini-dogs were a hit and the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Competition didn't disappoint either. For those of you who missed it, the chowfest went into OT for the first time in modern history. The gristled veteran Kobayashi and the defending champion upstart Joey Chestnutt both scarfed down 59 hot dogs and buns in the (shortened) 10 minute regulation time, forcing the extra snack. The OT was not "sudden death" as we had hoped; it was a "first to five" dogs format and the American hero, Joey Chestnutt, took home his second consecutive Mustard Belt about a half dog ahead of the waify Japanese phenom. As usual, the Ho Down fed into the afternoon sporting activities: year one brought World Cup matches, year two brought me missing field goals at the park, this year brought a Yankees Red Sox game on the 25 year anniversary of Dave Righetti no-hitting the Sox. Not as lucky this time, but still fun. Beers and laughs were had. N-Lo claimed that Meatloaf's son makes a "Dan Nolan" face in that phone commercial. Clearly not true, but everyone seemed to get a kick out of it. Funnier to me was the website Alex alerted us to: failblog.org. If you find stupidity and physical comedy endlessly funny like I do, you'll love this site. It's a supremely simple concept. I may be very late on finding out about failblog, but if you are too, enjoy:









there are hundreds of them. and some video compilations:





funny stuff. I love it.


p.s. Congrads again to my Spanish reader(s?) on their sporting glory: what a match between Nadal and Federer. And sorry to my Swiss reader(s?).

An Angelic Weekend

(sorry, I know it's Wednesday already. I been busy!)



For those of you who are not remotely interested in the goings on of the Boston Celtics, the Angel of Mercy has answered your prayers: the NBA Finals are over and I won't be blogging about them again until the end of the year. Does the Angel of Mercy even handle prayer complaints? I don't know, but it's a super way to transition from Celticapalooza to the theme of the post, the theme of my weekend: assorted angel related affairs.

Saturday morning, dewy24, CJ, Cjr, P, and I headed out to Western Mass for our college friend SO'M's ordination as a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Springfield, which happens to be my childhood diocese. And since it was a priest ordination mass all the fathers and padres and deacons and pastors and bishops were out in full papal force to welcome their new brothers (or co-fathers?). So I felt compelled (Catholic guilt?) to go say hello to the two priests that I grew up with at Sacred Heart. "Hi Father _____. Danny Nolan from Sacred Heart. Just wanted to say hello. S's a friend of mine." One of them (the one I always thought was a dick) seemed to remember me and was friendly and said how much they all liked Fr. O'M, but didn't seem compelled enough to stop text messaging on his phone or ask me about myself. The other one didn't seem to remember me but said something like "oh, yes. Hello. Thanks for stopping." They must have smelled the sin on me. Oh, Danny. We had such high hopes for you. You could have been in the Cloth like us. When I was an 8 year old at Catholic School, under their soul supervision, I asked one of them, I forget which, how they knew they were supposed to be a priest and they said they just got a calling from God. And my immediate reaction was "Oh no. I'm going to get the calling. I know it." I wasn't just a Catholic kid growing up; I really bought it. During one period, after a noise in the night prompted me to offer a deal to God if he could save me and the fam, I was in the habit of praying for 45 minutes a night. But the Church couldn't faith me out of my rationalism and a couple years later I began my journey away from faith. That was about 25 years ago. And it's been about 20 years since I actually believed in God. The Catholic Church planted one of their crucifixes deep into my skull and it took a long time for me to get my head back. (is it back? why do I still pen titles like Business Casual Stag Devil Death Boy?) I've been to many masses since (weddings, funerals, Jesuit vows), but masses like that are about 45 minutes long. This one was a good solid priestapalooza hour and a half. Ninety reverent minutes in which my friend was finalizing his decision to take a leadership role in an organization that I have major ideological problems with. But I went to support him. But I also felt like I was betraying those who are discriminated against by or otherwise hurt by this organization. And those are very close to me. And close to him. It was troubling to say the least. But he knows that I feel this way. How do you be supportive of a close friend who is making a choice that you find to be deeply misguided? Tough one. I mean, of course there are good people in the Church. The Catholic parish in Detroit where my relatives go is extremely progressive in their ministry. Maybe one day, S will be like their bishop, anti-war and anti-homophobia hero, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton. But then again, guess what happens to progressive bishops like him in Pope Benedict's Catholic Church: mandatory retirement. My aunt (who used to be a nun and worked with Gumbleton) said that the church is going in the wrong direction and the trend is that the old, more liberal priests are retiring and that the young priests being ordained are more conservative. Here's hoping that my friend finds his calling as the next Thomas Gumbleton. I mean, it's a cool name, right? So, why not? C'mon, S. Jesus was a liberal.

Ok, that's not really "angel" related, but close enough. That was Saturday. Sunday brought the final match of the European Championship (soccer). Wait wait wait. Don't stop reading yet. This isn't going to veer into a sports post. I just wanted to say congratulations to Spain and my Spanish readers (there's at least one). Awesome match. After the match on Sunday came the angels relevant portion of the day - the reason this is a multi angels related event weekend review post: The Black Angels show at the Middle East Downstairs around the corner here in Cambridge.

I'd like to start with a "wow".

So, JS and BR swung by around 7 for a little pregame and then we headed down around 8:30 to check out the opening band, The Warlocks, which was actually the band that JS wanted to see and the reason he picked up the tix. I had never heard them and couldn't recall what the Black Angels sounded like, though I knew I'd heard a couple songs by them. But both JS and BR have excellent taste in music so when they tell me it's a must go and I can afford it, I go. The Warlocks were pretty great musically. Kind of like Brian Jonestown Massacre without the crazy. Which, I know, is a huge part of the BJM mojo. But my point is that the music was right there. Good stuff. Didn't blow me away though. What did blow me away, you ask? The Black Angels. I was nowhere near prepared for the sonic awesomeness that the Black Angels were about to spew on the crowd. Just a tremendous show - probably the second best I've seen at the MidEast D, behind the 00/01ish GBV show and tied with the 04ish Beulah show (which was incredibly underrated and underappreciated - and no, I wasn't just on more drugs than everyone else (more beer maybe, but that's not unusual for Mid East shows)). If you like having waves of steel wash over you, go see the Black Angels when they come to a venue near you. There were more than a couple points during the show when BR and I looked at eachother and were like "whoa". And we've seen quite a few shows together. At one point, he said to me, "I don't think I've ever seen a band that so lived up to its name they way they are doing right now". Seriously. And that closing imagery was just straight up rock and roll slamdunkery.



That's it for the angelic writing (really? thanks, you're too kind). One reminder for those within driving distance of Cambridge, MA on July 4th: The Third Annual Hot Dog Ho Down is happening at my place around 11:45 AMish. Viewing of the hot dog eating competition to be followed by a Yankees Red Sox game and possibly a beer. And all kinds o' dogs. Come on by.

Extraordinary

This was an extraordinary year for the Boston Celtics. Despite their dynastic history and 17 championships, ordinary for the Celtics in the last twenty one years has been failure and disappointment, with the only difference being the scope of that failure and disappointment. In 1987, they failed to beat the Lakers in the Finals. In 1988, they were an aging great team and lost in their last reasonable chance at a title, giving way to the rise of Detroit and Chicago. After that, they were a team in decline for several years and we knew it. They would make the playoffs but would certainly lose, meaning that we would not get a high draft pick and would be stuck in the dreaded NBA cycle of mediocrity. In the mid to late nineties, there was a different type of failure. They weren’t good enough to make the playoffs, the quality of their play was sloppy and embarrassing, their draft picks were poor, free agents average, and their decent players were frustrated. And when they bottomed out, they even failed to get lucky enough to get the top draft pick and the guy who would win his team 4 titles. And then they gave up on the guy they did draft third overall and he went on to be an all-star and to win a title with his team. Ah Pitino. In his defense, the little scumball famously reminded us: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish were “not walking through that door” and noted that "the negativity in this town sucks". Sorry, Ricko. That's what you get after a dozen years of failure and disappointment: sucky negativity. Soon after his departure in 2002, the Celtics hit what passed for a peak: two wins in the Crappy Eastern Conference Finals. But they failed to capitalize on an epic comeback win and they lost that series. And then there were 5 more years of the decline brand of failure: the lean years of that Danny Ainge five year plan. As a huge fan of the hometown Celtics in a town that was sports frenzied by unexpected and expected championships from the Patriots (not a "fan" of, but rooted for them when they didn't play the Steelers) and Red Sox (not at all a fan of), it was particulary frustrating. I remember trying to get a bar to turn on the Celtics playoff game in 2004ish and getting overruled by the other patrons who laughed and continued to watch an April Sox game against the Devil Rays. I knew the Celtics weren’t going to win that playoff series (a first round playoff series), but come the fuck on. It’s the Boston Celtics. It’s your hometown professional basketball team. They’re in the playoffs! But I couldn't say it was a completely irrational reaction either. Given their 15 years of ordinary, disappointing failure, they were not a team that captivated and inspired. Why bother watching that game and getting angry at their three-chucking style. Or at least that’s what those schmucks at that bar thought. Then last year, after yet another failure of a season – a particularly galling failure of a season – the Celtics piled on one more failure to punch the guts of those of us who were still following them on a regular basis: with the second worst record, they failed to get one of the two top picks, one of the two future franchise player hall of famers. That’s when I hit my personal low: advocating for the acquisition of Zach Randolph. How deluded was I. How distraught.

Shortly thereafter, things began to move from ordinary to extraordinary. They traded the # 5 pick, Delonte, Wally for Ray Allen. That move convinced KG to come and they traded everyone not named Paul, Rajon, Kendrick or Leon for KG. That convinced Posey and House to get on board. They bonded in Italy. They started the year on fire, playing like a team that had been together for years. They beat everyone. They eviscerated Nuggets and Knicks teams. They beat all three Texas teams on the road. They won and won and won, delighting a city of sports fans that was obsessed with a World Series champion team and a potential best-of-all-time undefeated football team. They completed the biggest turnaround in NBA history winning 66 games and then used home court advantage to win 16 more games and a 17th NBA Championship. 82 wins, the last of which was the most extraordinary of all.



Winning a title in sports these days really is out of the ordinary. While my sports fan life started with a surfeit of favorite team titles, each of those teams slipped into long droughts before they won rings again. The Yankees made me wait 18 years. The Steelers made me wait 26 years. Last night, the Celtics ended my 22 year wait. The UMass Minutemen? That could be a while. (I essentially stopped rooting for the Islanders years ago, so that 28 year wait doesn’t count and I’ve never followed a soccer team closely enough and for long enough to be relevant to this conversation). VTK Red Sox readers waited even longer. Many sports fans wait their whole lives and receive nothing but failure and disappointment in return (Chicago Cub fans, Cleveland Anything fans over 60). So having your team (a team thay you’re truly a fan of) win any championship is truly quite extraordinary – something that young Boston sports fans would be incapable of understanding. It doesn’t happen often so you have to savor it when it does. I’ve been remarkably fortunate as a fan in the last 12 years (with my 3 favorite teams having won 6 titles (oddly the same number as strictly Boston sports fans have enjoyed)). But this is not lost on me. When the Yankees won their 3rd consecutive World Series (4th in 5 years) in 2000, I was scorned for celebrating it; but I knew how long it might be until I got that moment again (and the way this season is going for the Yankees, it looks like it’s going to be a while longer). With all the possible things that can go wrong, with all the ways to choke, with all the great athletes in the world, with all the ways to lose, to win a title is extraordinary. And I’m savoring it. Bet your ass I’ll be out there on that parade route tomorrow - the first of the six post-millenial Boston sports parades that I'll be attending and hopefully not the last.

game six - Boston Celtics - NBA Champs

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I have this image in my mind which I'm not even going to try to find or sketch out. It's one of those old alarm clocks from the seventies, pre-digital alarm clocks, where the number cards rotate around and flop down on top of the previous number. Thirty four just fell down and updated us from thirty three. After 22 years. And no one loves 33 more than me, but I loved when he was interviewed before the Finals this year and he said that he wouldn't be showing up at the "Garden" for the Finals this year because it was time for the focus to be on the new superstars. And Paul stepped up and was a worthy MVP. Finally, Celtics fans get to watch the clock flip from 33 to 34. Congrats, C's.

Incredible game, great series, fantastic year. More exclusive VTK coverage to come.


FLASHBACK: check out this post from a little over a year ago. How desperate was it? Scroll down to the bottom of the comments and see who I was advocating as a trade subject.

game five

I've had enough of the "KG changed the culture of Boston basketball" talk. I need KG to change the score of Boston basketball. With starting center and bruiser Perk out of the game, KG submitted a 5 foul, 33 minute, 4 turnover, 0 assist, 13 point effort. Nice 14 boards, but that's not going to cut it at this stage, Big Ticket. You need to impose yourself on the game. And get some sleep. Please, get some sleep.

Team stats were pretty even across the board. Lakers win at home. Was the Kobe steal (that prevented a possible tie game and turned it into a 4 pt lead) a foul? maybe. But you can't count on that at this stage in the season, all star on all star. And if you're a C's fan, you'd rather have them letting the boys play. Though, I'd rather have them let them play with Big Perk on the court.

Very disappointing loss, but at the beginning of the Finals, my hope was to win 2 at home, steal one on the road, and then head back home with two shots to win. I'm still optimistic. Not overly confident, but optimistic. That was LA's most complete game. And again, we were close to stealing it. If the Celtics play a complete game at home - forget it. We win. We'll see if they can do it.

sidenote: answer to the Tony Allen question: nice sub. Shut a hot hand Kobe down, stole a few buckets. Did his job.

game four, aka fucking awesome

whoa ho ho hoa!

I cannot believe that game. That was awesome. Definitely one of the most gratifying games that I have ever been a part of (as a fan (a vocal, lifelong celtic-loving, laker-hating fan)). I was so pissed, so concerned, so distressed, so irrationally laying blame in all directions. So irritated that Farmar made that last second, end-of-half shot and that they called it a three. Beers were had. Like-minded angered friends were over. Then I scanned the halftime stats and realized that this couldn't be put on Doc, the refs, or Sam Cassell. The shooting % was 50 to 35, Lakers. The rebound edge was 26 to 16, Lakers. (!!) The assist edge was 15 to ... 4, Lakers. (!! ... sigh.) It wasn't the refs' calls, or the turnovers, or the bench points. All those were fairly even. We were just sucking. so, we were going to lose. and be tied up. and have lost all momentum. and be desperate in game 5.

And then the next thing you know ... And then they listened to me screaming through the TV. And they ran the ball through Paul, like I screamed. And they gave it to Ray, like I screamed. And Doc wisely only listened to some of the stuff I screamed (and yes, credit due: well coached, Doc). And my neighbors didn't call the cops. And the cable company hovered outside and waited until after the game to shut off the cable. Which they did. Not because we didn't pay it, but because they had some scheduled maintenance and they didn't want to deal with the Heidi Game on Dan Crack Rage. Good call and thanks.

More later, but now, mostly: The Ray Allen Layup. Good Jesus Christ, that was awesome. So fucking awesome. Jesus Christ Awesome.











I'm sure it doesn't look like much if you didn't see it, but trust me. I've watched a lot of basketball, and it was huge.

so huge that I'm concerned about moderating my reaction, because they still need to win one more game against a Kobe Bryant team.

But fuck that - I'm not-entirely-unfat, drunmk, and happy. I need to remember that this is for fun, which I usually don't, but this is fun. that was a tremendous lay-up. and the clock going from 15 to 3 without any change in score was second best. And the Celtics are one win away from an NBA Championship.

ONE MORE.

game three

Is it totally random, Doc? Are you flipping coins with this rotation? And how about the offensive strategy? Do you call plays? Suggest some? Does it make any sense whatsoever to sit Eddie House for the first two games, wait until Sam Cassell establishes that he's going to chuck up misses without trying to run the offense, wait until Rondo turns his ankle, then put him in a tight NBA Finals game on the road, and have him take 3 out of the last 6 shots in the last two minutes (not counting Pierce's meaningless chuck with 2 seconds left)? Does that make sense? Maybe I'm wrong. I was glad he put Eddie in over Cassell, but he should have been playing him all postseason long.

Crap game by Pierce. Another sub par game from KG. A game's worth of make-up calls from the refs. Doc. Great games by Kobe and the Twit. 35% shootign vs 44% shooting. There's your loss. I'm pissed but I totally expected to lose this game. Now we really need to win one of the next two. Preferably game 4.