Patriots Defense Appears Heartless

By Stephen M. Hague ProfessionalSportsCommentary.blogger.com

No one can question the chutzpa in Bill Belichick. Always ready, willing, and able to do what it takes to make his football team better.
Some times he wins (Randy Moss from Oakland for a 4th round draft pick), and some times he loses (Monty Biesel and Chad Brown starting linebackers in 2006).

But with 9 days to go in a highly anticipated 2009/2010 season, he trades away his best defensive player and a stalwart of the defense for 8 seasons. Richard Seymour is (maybe) on his way to Oakland for a first round pick in 2011.

A risky move that has made this 2009 team weaker in order to make the 2011 and future teams possibly better. One can argue the merits of the trade for or against, but look at the players that are no longer part of this defense in less than a year. Where is the leadership going to come from?

Sure the chemistry piece is overrated, but the Patriots teams that have been successful recently, have had players who could inspire and motivate by their mere presence on the field.

Tedy Bruschi stopped being Tedy Bruschi after 2007, but the leadership he showed on the field and in the locker room was still ever present.
Rodney Harrison may have taken a second or two longer to smash an opposing player with the full force of his body last year, but the intimidation was still there for all to see.
Do you think Mike Vrabel's stellar play on the field alone was what made him a Belichick favorite? His locker room presence and natural leadership ability were also heavily favored.

Even Junior Seau the first ballot hall of famer who was called in off of the San Diego surf last Fall was an inspirational player.
Admittedly, Richard Seymour isn't a great leader off the field or in the locker room, but his play on the field was at times dominating.

So where will the leadership, motivation, and inspiration come from this season? Jerod Mayo? Maybe, but he's still just a 2nd year player, though a mighty talented one.
We're still waiting for Brandon Merriweather to play at a high level consistently and Adalius Thomas and the rest of the front line while talented, seem to do all of their talking by their play on the field.

Maybe what I'm looking for will appear early in the season. Maybe it doesn't exist and never did. I'm just not sure that this defense has the heart of a champion as it has shown so many times over the last 8 years.

The Grinch Is Coming to New England

By Stephen M. Hague ProfessionalSportsCommentary.blogger.com 12.24.2008



The most wonderful time of the year? Not if you’re a fan of the New England Patriots who are in all likelihood, out of the NFL playoffs this year.
Think about it. An 11 – 5 team (with a much anticipated defeat of the hapless Buffalo Bills on Sunday), out of the playoffs. The team that just pummeled the NFC West Division champion Arizona Cardinals by 40 points. The team that lost the most important player on any football team and last year’s league MVP Tom Brady, after 7 offensive snaps this season and still will manage an 11 – 5 record. The team with the unknown, untested, and unsure backup quarterback Matt Cassel whose brilliant play will certainly lead to a multimillion dollar contract with another team as an unrestricted free agent. Out of the playoffs.
Meanwhile, those same Arizona Cardinals and the San Diego Chargers may win their respective divisions at 8 – 8.
The NFL really is “soap opera for men”. The Patriots and their fans are forced to root for the hated NY Jets on Sunday for a chance to win the AFC East. The Jets play at home against the Miami Dolphins who with a victory over the Jets can become AFC East champs after going 1 – 15 the year before.
The Dolphins are the team that ended New England’s 21 game regular season record winning streak this year with a 38 – 13 shellacing at Gillette Stadium. To add to the disdain Patriot’s fans have for the Dolphins, old friend Bill Parcells is running football operations in Miami this year. One of his first and best moves as Big Tuna was to swoop in and take Chad Pennington who had just been released from the Jets to make room for Bret “I’m a hugely over-rated QB” Favre. We can only hope that playing at home in The Meadowlands in front of rabid Jets fans will give them the edge, though they may be screaming for coach Eric Mangini’s head. Mangini of course is the rat, fink former protégé of Bill Belichick who blew the whistle on his mentor leading to the “Spygate” scandal last season.
There is another possibility for the Patriots to get in but it’s a lot less likely than the Jets beating the Dolphins at home.
If the 5 – 10 Jacksonville Jaguars can somehow beat the hard-hitting Baltimore Ravens, the Patriots are in as a wild card assuming a Dolphin win.
So find a dark green sweater to wear, paint your face green, and practice yelling
“J – E – T – S, JETS!”
If the Jets do lose as expected, just look in the mirror after the game has ended and you’ll see that the Grinch has truly come to New England this year.

16 and WON !

Boston's Historic Massacre of the Lakers in Game 6 Closes Out Banner Season

Stephen M. Hague - June 18, 2008

Somewhere, really high above courtside, Red is smiling. After 22 years of mediocrity and dissapointment, by far the longest drought between championships, the Boston Celtics will proudly raise banner # 17 to the rafters of the Garden this fall.
For Celtics fans who remember the last championship in 1986, here's a glimpse of what you've seen since. Remember these names ? Dino Radja, Sherman Douglas, M.L. Carr, Rick Pitino, Chauncey Billups, Vitaly Potapenko, Tony Battie, Walter McCarty. Ouch.
Fortunately they've been replaced by Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, KG, Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers.
Tuesday's game 6 finale was a case study in one team with "the greatest player on the planet", giving up and throwing in the towel early and the other team continuing to fight for the full 48 minutes even though the outcome of the bout was long over.
Showtime was a no-show for this game and most of the series as the Lakers lost large leads even in the games played in the Staples Center. Medical personnel inside of the Garden stood ready to check the pulse of the Lakers when it was clear that they were playing with no heart.
Phil Jackson proved he is a great coach and motivator when his rosters have names like: Jordan/Pippen or Bryant/O'Neal.
This 39 point point beatdown was even bigger than the Memorial Day Massacre in 1985 when the Celtics beat the Lakers 148 - 114. The Lakers would come back to beat the Celtics in that series, but not this one.
The dramatic turnaround from 24 win team to 66 win champions is still hard to believe.
The Celtics dynasty (yes, it's still there), and this year's team with the multiple story lines blended with the proud and rich tradition of the Celtics franchise made this series unforgettable.
Ray Allen with a Finals record (7) 3 pointer's after being poked in the eye by Lamar Odom earlier in the game and playing on fumes after missing much needed sleep while tending to his ill son.
Kevin Garnett, the Big Ticket who was beginning to be labeled as someone who couldn't carry a team to a championship. 26 points, 14 rebounds, and relentless defense put that talk to rest for good. Has there been a better scene than Garnett hugging Bill Russell at mid-court after the game saying, "I got my own now, I got my own. I hope I made you proud".
Playing for this team and this franchise meant so much to those who wore the green jerseys or managed the team or its players this year.
Doc Rivers who struggled through a season with 18 straight losses last year claimed to Tommy Heinsohn, "the Celtic tradition definitely helped pull this team together".
Paul Pierce the embodiment of the Celtics franchise thanked the fans for sticking with him through the lean years. Celtics fans would do well to return the thanks as Pierce was ready to move on last year before Ainge made the bold moves that led to this coronation. Pierce added, "It feels like I can come out of the shadow now (of the Celtics legends of the past). Now I can stand up and look at them eye to eye."
The Green Team can also step up on the pedastal that holds the new millenium's other New England champions, the Patriots and the Red Sox.
The euphoria is just beginning in Boston and in Celtics Nation. Celtics fans, remember to cherish this one as long as you can because chances are, you'll be talking about it for the rest of your life.

Tradition Continues.

Stephen M. Hague - June 17, 2008

Sorry Rudy, Rocky, and Raging Bull. This is a script writers dream. The story of the 2008 world champion Boston Celtics couldn't have been written any better. Think of all of the characters and story lines that are woven into this gem.
THE GODFATHER:
Start at the top with the late patriarch of the Celtics, Red Auerbach. Who after all of those championships as coach, general manager, and president, passed away a year and a half ago. Make no mistake though, that his input and tutelage of Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers was present.
THE VP and GENERAL MANAGER:Ainge himself a two time winner as a player, collected the pieces as GM to deal away at the right time in building this team. His team "lost" the lottery last year and traded the 5th pick to obtain Ray Allen. He also talked old friend and Timberwolves VP Kevin McHale into trading Kevin Garnett for a couple of first round draft picks and a handful of complimentary players.
THE COACH:Doc Rivers who was fired from Orlando after 4 winning seasons as coach and 3 straight trips to the playoffs. His team's 18 game losing streak last year no doubt left his job in jeopardy, but Celtics management and ownership stayed with him. He's only the fourth coach in Celtics franchise history to have earned the NBA Coach of the Year Award and he was instrumental in keeping his team focused all year. He also badly outcoached 9 championship winning coach Phil Jackson.
THE PLAYERS:
Finals MVP Paul Pierce - 10 year survivor of mostly mediocre Celtics teams. Matured into a great player and team captain. Came back from a scary knee injury in game 2 to lead the team to a win.
Kevin Garnett - Big Ticket whose leadership ability was questioned in Minnesota because he could never win it all. Unquestionably the biggest reason banner 17 will be raised to the rafters this fall. His defensive intensity helped bring this team from worst to first.
Ray Allen - One of the greatest pure shooters the NBA has ever seen. Like Pierce and Garnett, sacrificed personal statistics for the chance at a title. Fought through a difficult shooting slump early in the playoff's to have a great final 2 series including a record tying (7) 3's in Game 6. Also played the last 2 games on very little, if any sleep after his infant son was hospitalized and diagnosed with diabetes.
Rajon Rondo - 2nd round pick last year struggled in the games in LA and willed himself to 21 points, 6 steals, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists in Game 6.
Kendrick Perkins - 23 year old anchored the defense in the middle and played the last 2 games with an injured shoulder.

All that's left is to choose the producer and director. Let's see if we can also find a role for Jack Nicholson.

KG is The Man, but not The Main Man

Kevin Garnett. 11 time all-star, defensive player of the year, first ballot hall of famer, and most likely a champion for the first time in 2008.
Sure, he admittedly played poorly in Game 5. "Like garbage", he said. His foul trouble made his play tentative and he spent too much time on the bench, especially with Perk out of the lineup. He's averaging 17 points and 13 rebounds in the Finals. Slightly better than his regular season average of 19 points and 9 rebounds if you agree that 4 more rebounds outweighs the subtraction of 2 points. In LA though, he's averaged only 14 points and 12 rebounds.
We can compare any of his numbers to many of the great Celtics of the past and they'd measure up with the best of them. But maybe not with the VERY Best of them. Certainly the names that come to mind first are Bird, Russell, Havlicek and after these finals Pierce.
The problem is that Celtics fans and basketball fans in general expect Garnett to carry the Celtics to the promised land as Paul Pierce seems to be doing and as the very best professional athletes most often do.
But that's not what Kevin Garnett does. KG has never done that. KG will probably never do that. He is one of the most intense players in the league and there's no doubt that that intensity, drive, and focus has turned this franchise around in ways that Celtics fans only dreamed of.
Let's not make the mistake though of wondering why he doesn't finish a game or series like Bird, Magic, or even (Cedric) Maxwell could do. The kind of player who told you they were going to bury you, then when out and buried you, and then told you how they buried you when the game or series had ended. For whatever reason, it's not in him. That's not to say he doesn't trash talk and intimidate on the court. He's one of the all-time greats at that. But it's why some yahoo Celtics fans didn't want him, because he "never won anything".
Understand though that he's more like McHale than Bird, like Pippen than Jordan, and like Worthy than Kareem or Johnson. He's really the perfect fit on this team. Pierce as the captain, The Truth and the Main Man. The guy who wants to take that last shot. That feeds off of the chance to put the dagger in the heart of the other team and break their will.
KG is a perenial all star and great defender. You usually know what you'll get from him every game. But let's not ask him to be something he's not. Let's appreciate him for what he's done for this team, this franchise and all of the Celtics fans of yesterday and today.

Green Monsters !

Grrrrreatest comeback in NBA Playoffs history !
Will add more before game 5.

Sorry LA Sports Fans ... YOU SUCK !

I hate to be so harsh and direct, but boy is it true. While listening to KLAC radio the past few days, the impression I've gotten is that the average LA sports fan spouts off like you may have as a kid when you said, "my father is tougher than your father!" or "my mom is prettier than your mom!"
Seriously, as soon as someone finds anything they say over the airways that's the least bit incisive, analytical, or objective please let me know. The sports IQ in LA is about equal to that of a 3rd grader. Hey, here's an idea for a new game show on Fox. We'll call it, "Are you smarter than a 3rd grade Boston sports fan?" And that's just the station's hosts ! You should here some of the callers ! Here they are breaking down a game: "Boston sucks."
Thank you for that insightful deliberation. BTW, you know you'll never get that 10 seconds of air you wasted back, right ?
Anyway, if you've got some time on your hands and a few brain cells to kill, it's worth tuning in. Otherwise, stay away.