Beantown Breakdown 4/11 Recording

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

You probably thought Christmas was the most wonderful time of the year, right? I mean, even the songs say it's true. And I guess the B's and Habs play each other around that time of year, as well. So it's a strong argument. But make no mistake about it. If you're a Boston sports fan, there is no better time of year than right now.

The Red Sox play the rubber game of a set with the Yankees tonight. The Celtics battle the Miami Heat for playoff position, all the while preparing for a matchup with what will be either the Sixers or the Knicks in round one. And the Bruins travel to New Jersey for their regular season finale, a meaningless game that serves as their final tune-up before the ever-hyped matchup this week in the opening round against the hated Montreal Canadiens. Now we just need the Patriots to scrimmage the Jets and it would literally a Masshole's fantasy month.

The C's still have a few games left (and the Sox have more than a few left), so I'm focusing on the B's and the Habs right now. Some will say it's the greatest rivalry in sports. Being a hockey fan and a huge Bruins fan, I have a natural bias toward the affirmative on that issue. But what you cannot argue with is the fact that it is absolute insanity when these teams meet -- this season more than any in recent history. In the past three games these teams have played, let me remind you how things went.

On February 9th at the TD Garden, the Bruins topped the Habs in an 8-6 bull fight that featured 182 penalty minutes and all-out brawls. Typical bad blood between the black and gold and bleu blanc rouge. In a carry-over effect on March 8th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, the Habs beat the B's 4-1. More significantly, though, that marked the game during which Zdeno Chara blasted Max Pacioretty into the stanchion and sparking a Montreal police investigation. Police investigation? It was ridiculous. But in the finale of their season series, the B's blasted the Habs back at the Garden by a 7-0 tally on March 24th. It's been the ultimate roller coaster, and it will be the ultimate matchup dropping the puck in just a few days.

It is the most wonderful time of the year. Will we finally see the expectations surpassed?
 

?

Would someone mind explaining to me what the hell is going on? 0-6? I can't write anything about this team until they win a baseball game. The Red Sox posts are on hold until further notice.

  

Daisuke Hopes to Stop the Bleeding

Fasten your seatbelts, folks. This season is going to be a roller coaster. We'll be fortunate to not pull all of our hair out by October.

It's disappointing that a team that has so much hype, while making $160 million combined in salary, is currently 0-4. All of the Red Sox "strengths" look weaker than ever. The starters, to say the least, are shaky. And offensively, for a team that added two of the best players in the game at their respective positions, only Dustin Pedroia has an average over .300. With really no reasoning as to why they have started so poorly, the advice I have to offer is this: Relax.

Yes, every sports station (like, say, ESPN) will pull out these random statistics about how no team since the millennium made the playoffs with a 0-4 record. And then they'll attack the rotation, say that Carl Crawford is too old, suggest that Papelbon be traded, Francona fired, and Pedroia be moved to catcher. Does this sound outlandish? Yes. So just relax.

Since there are 158 games to go, I'm going to suggest that Red Sox Nation hold off on the panic button until further notice.

Daisuke toes the rubber tonight to try and stop this nonsense. I can't believe we are relying on him to stop a 4-game skid, but we are. He looked good in the spring, so we'll see what happens.a

Sox Seek Answers in Series Finale

This season hasn't started the way you expected, huh? Two brutal losses on back-to-back days have pitted the Boston Red Sox in a two-game hole behind the New York Yankees in the AL East just two games into the 2011 campaign. For all the talk about how this Sox team was good enough to surpass the 100-win plateau, all of us are left wondering -- what has gone on the past two days?

For starters, our pitching has been pitiful. That's what it boils down to. The offense has been somewhat productive, but the production is only coming from a select few. It's great to see Ortiz hitting for power. Adrian Gonzalez looks to be an incredibly pure hitter and something to be excited about. Jacoby Ellsbury is showing that he is capable of leading off this lineup. But those have been the biggest bright spots. Carl Crawford is still hitless in a Sox uniform, and he hasn't looked pretty doing it. Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been equally inept connecting the bat with the ball. But the offense has at least been manageable. After all, they can't be the most optimistic unit up there when their pitching staff spots the opposition leads that a grand slam would hardly chop into.

Lester was good for stretches, but he was off his game for the most part. Lackey, meanwhile, got boom roasted. Completely torched for 9 runs in less than 4 innings of work, including a big fly for a grand slam by old teammate Adrian Beltre. The bullpen has been equally bad with a few exceptions. Bard got wrecked in the opener. Last night, it felt like no one was capable of retiring a Ranger. It's clearly no reason to panic, but if the Sox will win 100 games -- hell, if they will even win the AL East (the Yankees are still good, you know) -- they will need to clean up their act on the mound. I know last season was injury-decimated, but it was also plagued by drastic underachieving from the pitching staff. Boston can't afford another similar season of production from those guys.

They play 162 games in a season. The Sox can still go 160-2. Or they could also go 2-160. The talk is irrelevant. No one ever won a world series from media praise. They win the rings by playing the game. There are 29 other teams out there trying to achieve the same goal. You have to earn everything you get. Hopefully it's a fun and successful summer and not a repeat of last year's dog days.
 

UB Writers MLB Predictions

Opening Day is finally upon us. Even though the Sox have to wait an extra day, several teams have kicked off their regular season schedules. If you're a baseball fan, you're smiling -- it's the greatest time of the year. Even for the casual sports fan here in Boston, this marks the best time of the year, too. Bruins and Celtics heading for their playoff schedules (playoff tickets anyone?) and the Sox kicking off their long tourney aimed at a World Series title. Nonetheless, three UB writers, including myself, have made their full set of player predictions for the upcoming season. We'll include a team prediction sometime soon as well, with standings and postseason predictions. But for now, take a look at the future of this season according to DRob, Average Joe, and Burga.

30 Teams, 30 Predictions

This is the first of hopefully many preseason blogs that I'll write before the games get underway. The premise is simple, I'll list each of the 30 MLB teams and make a prediction for a player on that team for the upcoming season. It might be predicting a breakout, or a bust, or somewhere in between. Some might seem pretty mild, whereas others might just seem crazy. But hey, that's why we call them predictions. Comments are welcome if you wish to address one of my predictions or make a couple of your own.

My Predictions:

Baltimore Orioles: Matt Wieters finally has the breakout season we've been waiting for, posting a 81/28/90 stat line to go along with a .298 average and finishes second among fantasy catchers, behing Joe Mauer.

Boston Red Sox: Adrian Gonzalez has his best season yet at Fenway, hitting .304 with 40 homers and 118 RBIs, good enough for the AL MVP.

New York Yankees: Mariano Rivera finally lets age catch up to him, blowing 4 saves in his first 15 appearances with and ERA over 5.00. He loses the starting job to Rafael Soriano by June and announces his retirement at the end of the season.

Tampa Bay Rays: David Price, who was among the top of the league for Runs Scored per start, sees some of that luck go away this year. Hitters start to figure him out, and although he has flashes of brilliance, he finished with a 11-10 record with a 4.11 ERA.

Toronto Blue Jays: Jose Bautista starts off hot again, making people think maybe last year wasn't a fluke after all. He'll cool down but finish with 32 homers and a respectable .270 average.

Chicago White Sox: Adam Dunn will flourish in the windy city, seeing a very favorable park and the best lineup hes played in in years. He hits 42 homers with 112 RBIs. Juan Pierre will also set his career high with 70 steals.

Cleveland Indians: Chris Perez will finish the season with 38 saves and a 2.08 ERA, making him one of the better closers to own in fantasy.

Detroit Tigers: Max Scherzer continues the success that he had in the second half of last year, finishing the season sporting a 15-7 record with 212 strikeouts and a 3.07 ERA.

Kansas City Royals: Billy Butler will take a small step forward, but not quite have the breakout season everyones been looking for. He'll put up another great average while hitting 25 homers, solid production at the deep first base position.

Minnesota Twins: Joe Nathan will regain his dominance, recording 43 saves and earning a healthy 2.33 ERA. Those who question his injury status will regret it.

Los Angeles Angels: Jered Weaver will regeress after his huge year, failing to break 200 K's again and winning only 12 games as the Angels' offense will struggle.

Texas Rangers: Mike Napoli, who will rotate at catcher, first base, and DH, will post career highs across the board with 30 homers, 64 runs, 72 RBIS, and .273 average. There's no way he won't flourish at a hitter-friendly field amidst a studded lineup.

Oakland Athletics: Brett Anderson, who was dominant before falling to injury, will regain form and be a Cy Young candidate with 12 wins, 2.74 ERA and 193 K's.

Seattle Mariners: Remember Erik Bedard? He's looking healthy and has been excelling in spring training. He's finally going to justify the package the Mariners gave up to get him by winning 13 games and posting a 2.69 ERA with 201 K's.

Atlanta Braves: Jason Heyward suffers from a sophomore slump, batting just .245 in the first half of the season with 11 homers. Watch out for his second half though, when he becomes one of the hottest players in baseball and doesn't look back.

Florida Marlins: Mike Stanton, who might struggle early on after coming back from a minor quad injury, will show everyone that the hype on him is for real, finishing with a monster 36 home runs and a solid .275 average.

New York Mets: In his contract year, Jose Reyes will play like a beast and earn a monster payday. He'll hit .300, score 115 runs, and steal 42 bases. This is partly depended on a healthy Mets lineup but I have confidence in them and Reyes will benefit from it.

Philadelphia Phillies: With injuries to half their starting lineup, the Phillies offense might struggle a bit. Cole Hamels will be traded halfway through the season for some offensive pop to make up for their injuries. Lidge comes back healthy and saves 41 games.

Washington Nationals: Jayson Werth, coming off a HUGE pay day and going from a World Series team to the lowly Nationals; will have a down year. Look for 22 homers and a .271 average in the disappointing season for Jayson.

Chicago Cubs: Aramis Ramirez, heading into a contract year as well, will finally stay healthy and put up monster numbers that mirrors his 2006 season, hitting 34 homers, knocking in 108 RBIs and boasting a .304 average.

Cincinnati Reds: Remember Carlos Gonzalez last year? This year it'll be Jay Bruce. He ended last year batting .306 in the second half and hit 15 homers in the last 34 games. Sound familiar? Look for Bruce to hit at least 30 homers this year and pushing 100 RBIs.

Houston Astros: This will be a productive year for the Astros' outfield. Hunter Pence will take the next step, hitting 30 homers with 100 RBIs, Carlos Lee will have a comeback year with 28 homers and 95 RBIs with a good average, and Michael Bourn will steal at least 60.

Milwaukee Brewers: And the good get better. Ryan Braun will post his best stats in his career, hitting .326, score 115 runs and knock in 120. And, for the first time ever, he will reach the 40 homer plateau, earning the NL MVP award.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Jose Tabata will take over the starting role and steal 45 bases, good for fourth in the league. This kid is fast.

St. Louis Cardinals: Pujols, Pujols, Pujols. Contract year. The machine will do it all. 50 homers? Sure. 120 RBIs? Easy. Batting average of .340? Check. He reveals that he actually is, in fact, a robot? Possibly...

Arizona Diamondback: Justin Upton takes another big step, popping 35 homers and stealing 25 bases. He'll struggle a little bit with average, hitting .265, but will finish among the top 20 players in fantasy baseball.

Colorado Rockies: Look for CarGo to regress a little, hitting .300 with 26 homers. He'll be very slow out of the gate, coming back down to earth from last season. When Tulowitski's undoubted power surge comes, Gonzalez will go along for the ride.

LA Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw will be the best pitcher in baseball. With a 17-4 record, 226 K's, 2.39 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP, he'll finish in the top five players in fantasy baseball and win the NL Cy Young.

San Diego Padres: Ryan Ludwick will give us another taste of his '08 season, hitting 32 Homers and knocking in 95. However, his average won't top .280. He'll be a solid 3rd outfielder in typical fantasy formats.

San Francisco Giants: Both Jonathon Sanchez and Matt Cain will finish above Tim Lincecum. With Lincecum's struggles last year and the pressure he puts on his arm, he's bound to hit a wall eventually and I say it happens this year.
 

Duckboats or Devastation?

Brad Marchand's late third-period goal lifted the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers last night, clinching a playoff spot for the black and gold for the fourth consecutive season. Tim Thomas was spectacular and the game was a little bit reminiscent of the way Boston played last season down the stretch. Sound fundamentally, protecting their own goal as a first priority. It's no secret that Bruins fans are excited. Hell, they have even gained quite a few "fans" recently. It happens every year come playoff time -- the bandwagoners jump in, acting like they haven't missed a beat all season. But whatever. The main point of discussion is about this team, not its fan base. Can the Bruins finally make the run this city has been waiting for since 1972? Will this season end with duckboats, or will just get our usual annual dose of devastation from the boys?

If you think I'm going to answer that question, you've gone crazy. Anyone who tries to answer that question has gone crazy -- well, at least if you try to answer with the "duckboats" choice. That's as silly as predicting the Red Sox were going to win the world series in any year from 1919 through 2003. But then again, it would have been foolish to predict that same world series championship in 2004. All droughts must end eventually, right? The rain will fall on this city at some point. But doesn't the 86-year curse make you cringe? Thinking about the idea that the Bruins could have a drought that long? For the math-challenged readers out there, that would mean the B's would go cup-less until the 2058 season. My far-from-existant grandchildren might be in high school by then.

By the same token, it could end in a mere two months. This squad was pretty close last season, despite the brutal ending they suffered. With a more improved team and a better seeding (although we still had home ice against Philly last May), could this B's unit quiet its critics and join the rest of the championship-littered Boston sports shrines of the 21st century? It starts from the top. Claude Julien will need to get these guys motivated every single night, period. It's not about X's and O's with Julien at this point. The B's have a system, and the players know the system. Right now, it's about chemistry, player management, roster management, and motivation. Being a moderator. If the Bruins will be able to find the grit to move past their previous failures, it will need to be instilled by their head coach, first and foremost.

But the coach can only do so much. This team needs to show the heart that it has shown for stretches this season. It needs to prove its critics wrong, the ones who say they have no balls come playoff time. Who's to say those critics are wrong? What as Boston shown us come playoff time? In my lifetime, nothing. In my parents' lifetime -- most of it, anyway -- likewise. Although Glen Wesley did come pretty close once. Those empty nets can be awfully hard to hit with the Stanley Cup on the line for a championship-deprived city.

There's loads of history and tradition on the line. How much longer can we wait for the Bruins to come around? The more years that go by, the more elusive that promised land seems to become. It takes a truly special group of men to win a Stanley Cup. I cannot say whether or not this is that special group. But they play the games for a reason, and all bets are off in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I'll be counting the days until Game 1.
 

SOC: Hockey Talk, NFL Rule Changes

It's Tuesday, and just like last week, I'm going with the Stream of Consciousness. I couldn't just pick one thing to write about, and I also can't just write about the Bruins all the time. They always seem to be at the top of my list of things I want to discuss, but I couldn't just drop the other teams here. So this SOC works pretty well. We'll start with those B's mainly because they were the topic of discussion when I flicked on Felger & Mazz today.

What the Hell is Going On?
Blatant and simple question, and a valid one at that. What's going on with the Bruins? Seven games ago, the average Boston sports fan would have told you, "this is the year!!! Sayonara 1972!!!" After going 1-3-3 since their previous 7-game win streak, though, Bruins nation has been plagued with an uneasy feeling. A 5-2 shellacking from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night didn't help, either.  This team's power play has had immense struggles since acquiring the supposed answer in Tomas Kaberle. Their goaltending has failed to produce at the same level it has all year, but I'm not about to place any blame on those guys. If you ask me, the goaltending has bailed out this Bruins team on more than their share of occasions. Defensive breakdowns are starting to get magnified now that Thomas isn't standing on his head every minute of every game. It's a big reason to be concerned if you're the Bruins. They'll try to right the ship against a much-improved New Jersey Devils team tonight at the Garden. One bright spot lately has been Tyler Seguin, who is playing with more intensity and doing more of the dirty work. He was Boston's best forward in that ugly loss to Toronto, creating several scoring chances on his own and getting robbed on two occasions by a red-hot goaltender. Look for Seguin to be a continued spark of energy as this team tries to gel back into form.

Eagles Atop the Hockey East World... Again
While the Bruins were getting toasted in Toronto on Saturday night, the Boston College Eagles took home their 10th Hockey East Championship by defeating the Merrimack Warriors, 5-3. Merrimack was a great story this season and had beaten the Eagles twice in three previous meetings, but their mojo couldn't last long enough. The teams were tied in the third period, but Cam Atkinson blasted home a one-timer to take the lead for good with less than half a period to go. It was Atkinson's second goal of the third period and his league-leading 30th of the season, helping him earn MVP honors and earn Boston College yet another trophy. Led by one of the very best lines in the nation (Atkinson, J. Whitney, Gibbons), you can look for the Eagles to make a major splash in the NCAA tournament. They square off against Colorado College on Friday night, March 25th, at 9 PM. The game is at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

NFL Kickers? Shorter Distance to Boot.
The NFL made some rule changes today. I find it funny how successfully we can just ignore the fact that there's a significant work stoppage going on. Regardless, kickers will now kick-off from the 35 yard line instead of the 30, and touchbacks will continue to be placed at the 20. I'm not really sure that I care about this rule change at all -- kickers are just going to get more touchbacks than they already do. There are already some kickers who consistently boot it out of the back of the end zone. They're just going to kick it through the uprights now. Whatever. Just start every possession at the 20 by default if that's what you're trying to get at. Secondly, though, they made a good rule change. All scoring plays will be reviewed by the booth if necessary. Just like in the last two minutes. Didn't you ever think it was a little bit stupid that a team could just be blatantly robbed of a score simply because they had no challenges left? Fortunately for the teams that were hurt by cases like that, the NFL has made a simple yet effective rule change in that department. As for the other one, though, I'm not so sure.

I'm not going to devote a section to them just yet, because I gotta run. But the Celtics got a huge win last night and helped to show people they have it in them when it comes down to crunch time. So I'm not panicking like others are. The C's are fine -- all they need is for Doc to tell them they're soft. That will get KG & company fired up.
 

The Scum of the NHL Strikes Again

So can someone tell me why they even let Matt Cooke play in the NHL? Better yet, since Penguins owner Mario Lemieux has actively spoken out about getting rid of these cheap shots in modern-day hockey -- why does he still have Cooke on his team? Mario is a pretty big legend in the NHL, right? One of the best to ever lace up the skates. Well here's the truth. Matt Cooke is higher up on the scumbag depth chart than Lemieux is on the legends depth chart. Fact. When you talk about disgraces of this league, the barbaric players who give the league its poor image -- you're looking at the biggest catalyst right here. Sure, the Boston fans have an additional vendetta. But it's rightfully so, I'd say. The bastard basically ended the career of our once-best point scorer. Oh, and then he tried to justify it and say that it wasn't even dirty. If this was a guy with a clean record, maybe I would give it half a second of thought. But Cooke has been and always will be the scum of the league, and it's a little bit alarming that the league is so afraid to take serious action against him. What ever happened to a pros-versus-cons analysis? This man brings nothing positive to your league and brings everything negative about your league to the table. Wake up and smell the roses, boys.