ItsTheBlog™

Sure, sure, the Red Sox won the World Series, and the Patriots are 1 win away from a clean 16-0 sweep of the NFL's regular season.

But, how about them Celtics?

Just a year removed from absolute futility (2nd worst record in the NBA at 24-58), the Celtics are 23-3, and looking like they won't slow down.

The Big Three (Garnett, Allen, Pierce, in case you've been asleep for the last several months) tends to get off to a hot start, the bench generally sustains it in the 2nd quarter, and the "Boston Three Party" (as a recent ESPN commercial calls them) rips everyone apart in the 3rd quarter.

Then, they rest. 20 of the 23 wins have been by 10 or more, 10 of those have been by 20 or more. The Celtics aren't just winning' they're destroying opponents.

The balance is also quite impressive. Pierce leads the way with 20.7 ppg. Allen's not far behind with 19.4, and Garnett's hot on his tail at 18.9. Not bad, eh?

And the best part? The stars aren't bickering. None of this 'I'm not getting enough shots,' or 'X (read: Kobe) is stealing my points.' These guys genuinely want to win and it shows. They share the ball, and they get open looks. It works.

Boston's excited, and they should be. I've gone to 2 games this year, and they were both blowouts. The stars got to rest and clown around on the bench while the crowd was able to smile and enjoy themselves. The atmosphere in the TD Banknorth Garden is so much more focused on the game, yet relaxed, as compared to the past 3 years. Before, the crowd was intense, but they knew they had an awful team to root for.

Now, they get to enjoy the victories. I'm sure it will become much more intense in the spring and come playoff time, but for now, it's new excitement.

They've got a long way to go and plenty to prove. There will be blips in the road (as evidenced by the 87-85 loss to the Pistons last week), but, so far, I'm certainly impressed.

And all of Boston gets to smile as it slowly takes over the sports world.

Labels: basketball, Boston, Boston Celtics, Garnett, Kevdog, NBA, Pierce, Ray Allen, Red Sox

Who said that it was going to take time for the "Big Three" in Boston to gel?

I know it's only 4 games, but so far, so good, for the newest trio in Beantown. Boston moved to 4-0 last night with a victory over the Atlanta Hawks (2-3). That follows victories over the Washington Wizards (0-5), Toronto Raptors (3-3), and Denver Nuggets (3-3). So, I know what you're thinking. They are sooooooo good that they can beat all the teams that are .500 and below. Big deal.

Wrong. It hasn't been so much about just winning, but it's been how they've won those games.

77-38. Anyone know what that means? That was the score of the Celtics-Nuggets game at halftime on Wednesday. Halftime. Ridiculous.

23.8, 22.5, 21.5. How about these 3 numbers? Those are the points per game totals thru the first 4 of Garnett, Pierce, and Allen, respectively. How's that for consistency?

Pierce, Allen, Pierce, Garnett. These are the leading scorers in each game, respectively. What's that mean? They're sharing the wealth and the glory. More importantly, they're sharing period. These guys are old enough, experienced enough, and smart enough to know that it takes teamwork to win, and they are showing it.

20, 13, 13, 19. These are Garnett's rebound totals. What a beast. People are shooting, and they'll inevitably be missing, and who but the "Big Ticket" is there to snatch the board? To whoever disagreed with my MVP assessment, you're seeing KG make a good early push. The team is 4-0, and he's leading the way with 23.8 ppg and 16.3(!) rpg. Not enough touches to go around? I don't think so.

Is it too early to make any generalizations? Absolutely. Have they challenged some of the tougher teams in the league? Definitely not. Will there be blips in the road? Without a doubt. But, it's impressive, so far.

Labels: basketball, Boston, Boston Celtics, Kevdog, Kevin Garnett, NBA, Pierce, Ray Allen

Boston faithful breathed a sigh of relief yesterday (maybe?) upon news that Curt Schilling chose to re-sign with the Sox.

Sure, Curt struggled during the regular season and missed a lot of time with injury, but in the post-season, Schilling was money, going 3-0 and looking like the "Bloody Sock Man" from the 2004 playoffs.

My favorite part about this whole thing was the contract itself. First off, Schilling took a pay cut from the $13 million he made this past year to signing for just $8 million.

However, deals aren't always what they seem. Curt can make an additional $3 million for performance bonuses. That is, if he pitches 130 innings, he makes an extra $375,000, and then every 10 innings beyond that up to 200, he makes an additional $375,000. Ridiculous.

But, that's not even the half of it. Schilling will have once-a-month random "weigh-ins" to make sure he's maintaining a specified weight. Translation: Curt, you're fat, and we're not paying you unless you stay not so fat.

So, if Schilling makes the cut (literally), Curt nets himself $333,333 every time his weight checks in. 6 times. That's an extra $2 million if Curt lays off the chicken fingers and pizza.

How's that for an incentive?

Labels: Baseball, Boston, contracts, Kevdog, Red Sox, Schilling

Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka will try to earn his paycheck today. His $103 million paycheck. That's right, the Red Sox paid $51 just to to have the privillege of talking to Dice-K last summer, and then subsequently paid $52 million more just to sign the guy. That makes tonight's do-or-die start in Game 7 of the ALCS worth that much more to both the organization and the pitcher.


In the early goings of the season, Matsuzaka looked like the investment was paying off. 7-2 towards the end of May, opposing batters just couldn't figure out the mysterious "gyro-ball" (if it really exists). Then, things sort of equalized. Dice-K finished the year with a 15-12 record, including a fairly abysmal September, in which he had a 7.62 ERA, giving up 24 earned runs in 5 starts and 28.1 innings.

The playoffs haven't been much better.

Matsuzaka's post-season ERA stands at 6.75, with an 0-1 record, which would be 0-2 if not for Manny Ramirez's 9th inning grand slam heroics which cost the Angels a victory in Game 2 of the ALDS. Dice-K followed this with a 4-2 loss to the Indians in Game 3 of this series, giving up all 4 of those runs in less 4.2 innings of work.

In short, Matsuzaka has been anything but dependable of late for the Sox. Who knows what we'll see tonight? He has the advantage of pitching on 5 days rest, but even at that, nothing is certain in Game 7 of the ALCS.

It'll be nice to pitch at Fenway, with the faithful cheering (or jeering?) at his every move.

No pressure, Dice. You just have to earn your $103 million in one night with all of Boston, and most of the rest of the country, watching.

Labels: ALCS, Angels, Baseball, Boston, Dice-K, Kevdog, Matsuzaka, playoffs, Red Sox