Wakefield wins 2...

with the Maier's in attendance...

While in Florida after our cruise my wife suggested we go to the Red Sox versus Rays game. We both enjoy watching ball games, especially when one of (if not both) our teams are playing...and decided when we go on vacation we should see if the local team of our locale is playing.

So Tim Wakefield was pitching in Tampa Bay while we were in Florida (and was the only win from the series). It was cool to be a visitor for a sporting event again...the cool thing about Tropicana Field is they have a HITTERS HALL OF FAME named after the BEST hitter in all of baseball TED WILLIAMS.

Then we also had tickets 5 days later for a game at Fenway, that Wakefield pitched again. 2 starts in a row, both attended by Letha and me, 2 wins for Wake...maybe were his good luck charm or something... :-)

#17...

Many of my friends are quite surprised that I hadn't written a blog about the Celtics win yet.

I didn't know how to go about it...

Letha and I went to the last regular season game against the Nets and I turned to her and said, "I've got a good feeling about this team. I think we're going to win it all." It had been a long time since anyone saw the kind of team. They didn't just win, they crushed teams (much like the Patriots did last year). It is suppose to be bad form when a team doesn't let off the gas...why? Why should Doc put in his reserves and LET a team come back within striking distance? You don't let up...you never know what could happen.

That's what's wrong with society now. "Hey, sorry you didn't win a single game all season in your little league...here's a trophy, because you tried so hard." Bull crap!!!

You don't win, you don't reap the benefits. Winning makes people happy, but losing builds character. It's only when you lose things, that you really find out who you are. Look at Reggie Miller, sure he wanted to win while playing...he even had a chance to come and play for the Celtics and get a ring, but he didn't (even though I wish he had, because I liked Reggie a lot an thought it was not his fault he didn't have one). But his character was built around the fact that he was an INDIANA PACER. That mattered more to him than winning a championship...and I respect him for that.

I respect what P.J. Brown did for our team (even if he signed at the last possible second), but Sam Cassell hardly played and got a ring for it.

So here The Celtics are winning #17...the most of any NBA franchise. I also want to pat myself on the back as I also won the brackets that my friends and I filled out on NBA.com...Celtics over Lakers in 6 games. The Celtics looked completely different this year than last...and even though our starting 5 won't change next year, I know our bench will. I am very interested to see what happens.

Your 2007 World Champion...

RED SOX!!!!!

I stayed up until 1 in the morning (Why is baseball so stupid? The game could have been started at 4 P.M. You lose any chance that kids could enjoy the game. Stupid commissioner, real stupid.) watching baseball related television. I do have to apologize to the skipper. While I didn't agree with the way the second half of the season went, it played out exactly the way they hoped. I'm done critizing Francona. 2 championships in 4 years after an eighty-six year drought is fantastic managing.

Then to top it all off, we have a ton of YOUNG players that are only going to get better.

Lester pitched a beautiful game, one year after finding out he had cancer.

And Jacoby Ellsbury is just NASTY. My brother David has been raving about this kid for a couple of years now. I STILL think the Sox should keep Crisp somehow, but hey...this front office has done some amazing things so far.

I enjoyed watching my Red Sox win the whole thing again, and I hope they can do so when I have kids old enough to care. Maybe by then it will be at an appropriate time slot.

The other thing that popped into my brain today was this:

The Patriots were the first of my friends teams to win the Super Bowl recently. Then the Steelers added their 5th and the Colts their first. I wonder if this means the Pirates and the Cubs are due for World Series wins...interesting.

In other baseball news, A Rod has opted out of his Yankee contract. I hope he goes somewhere that pays him a lot of money where he can break the home run record and never sniff the World Series again. I don't like this guy, and while he's an amazing player, never would want him to be a Red Sox player...EVER!

Blogs...

I know I have plenty of friends that blog, but thanks to the Celtics page of Boston.com, I found a website that has a lot of athlete blogs. Yardbarker.com. You can look at Greg Oden's (he's from Indiana and my high school rival - Lawrence North), Isaac Bruce (he talks about Troy Brown in his latest blog), Rajon Rondo (plays for the Celtics), and many others.

I like Oden's blog because it seems to show his down to Earth side.

If you have the time and care what some athletes think, head on over and have a read or two.

Sometimes...

I wish I still lived in Indy.

First of all, my brother Dave and I were talking about this, it's weird being in the state of your team. Everyone rooting for the same thing. I guess I got use to the "Underdawg" mentality. I use to get (verbally) beat up by Colts fans all the time living in Indy. That doesn't happen here, tomorrow I'm going to work and will talk about my team. I'll be talking to someone else who cares for my team (besides my brother) for the first time ever.

Tomorrow is going to be a day that I will REALLY miss in the city of Indianapolis. Let me explain what I would do if I were still living there. First, I would get up and go to IUPUI (cause I most likely would still be in school). Then after my classes I would probably have to go to work. All of which I would do wearing (PROUDLY might I add) my Tom Brady jersey, if I could figure out some way to stay up in the booth for my whole shift. I would allow anyone that wanted to, to take their shots at me.

That's what real fans do...support their team when they're up...and carry their team when they're down.

But alas, if I wear my Patriots gear tomorrow here, I won't hear anyone giving me a hard time. It's really going to be quite different, I am finally around people that support my team, and I'm longing for the heckling that I would receive in another city....ummmm...

You want some cheese with that...

The Chargers...it was their year. They looked right past the Patriots, they looked right pass the Colts, and they looked right past the Saints or the Bears. According to them, they had already won Super Bowl XLI.

Why even play the rest of the games.

All that they did was talk $h!t. Now, they want to be upset that MY New England Patriots danced all over their helmet, doing the stupid "I'm having a seizure while standing up" dance known as LIGHTS OUT!!!! Well, sorry Chargers, but not only did we just beat you, the team you didn't give a chance, but we beat the team NO ONE gave us a chance to beat.

This is why you do the playoffs. And why the top seeded team from each conference doesn't play the Super Bowl right after the season...oh wait, that wouldn't have been you anyways, it would have been Baltimore.

Not the classiest thing I've seen from the Patriots, but this team has been given NO credit, until now. We weren't SUPPOSE to beat the Jets and we COULDN'T beat the Chargers. As Sean Salsbury on ESPN said, "With #12 in your corner, watch out." The Patriots bit their tongue all week long, and got snubbed when it came to Pro Bowl selections. SORRY for playing with a chip on our shoulder. Down by 8 going into the 4 quarter, and then you come back to beat the #1 team in the AFC. They waited until the clock ran out and then celebrated like they should be able to do. I would have done it with a little more class, perhaps the LIGHTS OUT dance on the sidelines or even on the bench, not so sure about at mid field on their helmet, but it still would have been done. How could you not, for a team that believes personal achievements are more important than a game.

I'll poor you your wine Tomlinson, red or white!