Kobe and Pierce Turn Back the Hands of Time

On Tuesday night, two aging stars and future Hall of Famers, who have both been questioned regarding their elite status in the NBA due to their age mileage, showed those doubters what they could still do.  Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce both had dominant games to lead their respective teams to big playoff wins.  The Lakers were already up 1-0 in the series against the Denver Nuggets, but now have a strangle-hold on the series.  The Celtics were playing without Rajon Rondo due to a 1-game suspension that was discussed on this blog, as well as Ray Allen due to injury, and they had loss their first game to Atlanta and were in big need of win.  Pierce carried them on their back, being aggressive right from the opening tip, scoring his team's first 9 points.  Although the middle portion of the game Pierce wasn't as assertive offensively, as the game remained close he exploded in the 4th quarter, outscoring the entire Atlanta Hawks team in that period.  Both Bryant and Pierce had the entire spectrum of their offensive game working and on display, which in both cases is quite a thing to witness.  They actually have similar strength's in some ways, as they are two of the most prolific mid-range shooters this league has seen, both being uncanny in their ability to fake out the defender in various ways to get them off balance or off their feet.  Pierce finished 12-26 from the field with 36 points and 14 rebounds.  Kobe was a staggering 15-29 from the field, finishing with 38 points.

All this to say, that some of the crafty veterans in the NBA are showing they are not quite ready to hand over the torch to the young stars who may have an advantage regarding youth-based athleticism.  Tony Parker and Tim Duncan of the Spurs are another prime example of this phenomenon in action.  In addition to Pierce's performance, his 35 year old teammate Kevin Garnett had a strong game, with 15 points, 12 rebound, and 5 assists.  Beyond that, his intangible defensive presence cannot be quantified but was obvious to anyone who watched the game.  Everybody is talking about The Heat and the Thunder advancing to the finals, what's wrong with Celtics vs. Lakers?  Not a thing in my book.

R.I.P. Junior Seau (1/19/1969 - 5/2/2012)

The great NFL linebacker and father known as 'Junior' Seau passed away yesterday, in an apparent incident of suicide that took place at his home in Oceanside, California.  Born Tiaina Baul Seau, Jr.  on January 19th 1969, in San Diego, CA, Junior Seau was an incredible athletic talent who broke into the NFL when he was taken in the 1990 draft by the the San Diego Chargers.  He was a hometown kid, drafted out of USC, and what followed was an illustrious professional career, that was 20 seasons long, 12 of which Seau played well enough to be selected to the Pro Bowl.  Any time you have been selected as an all-star in a professional sport double-digit times, you know that is someone who is prolific at their craft.  Later in his career, after a 4-day retirement that was testament to how much he loved the game, Seau signed with the Patriots and was eventually named a captain.  More importantly than Seau's career accomplishments and accolades, he was a great man by all accounts, who was loved by so many, within the NFL and beyond.  Seau instituted the "Junior Seau Foundation" in 1992, which had the mission of assisting troubled youths with all the pitfalls of adolescence that many under-privileged individuals are effected by especially.  It is worth noting that Seau created this altruistic foundation during his 2nd year in the league; an endeavor that many would associate with veteran/retired players that are financially secure.  This speaks to his character, he will be sorely missed by so many.  Seau leaves behind three children and an ex-wife, whom he contacted to let them know how much he loved them soon before he tragically took his own life.  Furthermore, he was found by his long-time girlfriend, who happens to be the sister of a dear friend of mine.  The ripple effect of such a tragedy is far-reaching, and my condolences to the Seau family as well as the Nolan family.  If there is a lesson that can be articulated so soon after such an incident, it would be that anyone who is in distress and experiencing psychological turmoil should never keep it a secret, there are always plenty of family, friends, and co-workers who love you and would do anything to help you.  Please speak up, communicate to a loved-one.  Rest in peace.

Spring Ball: Revised

Spring Ball

I chose to revise this post because as my last lacrosse post I wanted to inform everyone the current rankings as we move into the final week before the championship games. I would also like to give my two cents on a few of the teams and how they might do come May 12th, first round of playoffs.

Original post can be found here

Notre Dame Irish

Regarding the Loyola Maryland vs Johns Hopkins game, if any of you couldn’t watch the game, Loyola had one of the worst starts they have had all year. However, they managed to tie up the game in the last 5 seconds of the game. During overtime Johns Hopkins scored the winning goal giving them the first win over Loyola this year. And as I predicted in my previous Spring Ball post, Johns Hopkins is starting to click with some impressive wins lately. However, with Loyola taking its first lost a few things happened in the current rankings. Notre Dame took the number one seed above Massachusetts at number 2. Loyola was bumped down to number 3 and Duke down to number 4 as well. 

Notre Dame is a very strong team that has always been seeded in the top five for past handful of years. I predict that they well have a good shot during the final four. Massachusetts is as well, dominating this season as they remain the last team undefeated. I would put money on Massachusetts losing at least one game before the playoffs due to the remaining tough games they have. That leaves Duke, Loyola and Johns Hopkins (number 5 seed) all with, in my eye, an equal shot for the playoffs and the final four showdown.

Massachusetts

Duke

The Red Sox Are Killing Me! (Revised)

I chose to revise this particular one based on the increased performance of several players since writing this while others have come to the forefront of my dissatisfied demeanor. My opinion has remained the same whilst my eye is fixed on a new set of players.

Old Post

*I would like to formally apologize in advance for the post you are about to read but sometimes my love of sports makes me go a little crazy and the only way to alleviate the insanity is to release one whirlwind of a rant.

I am a huge Boston Red Sox fan, I can’t stress that enough. They are my favorite team in all of sports, I watch every single game on NESN and I have been to more games at Fenway than I can count. Unfortunately, I am also a realist and although I really hate to say this, they are doomed to a year of mediocrity. They just don’t have the “It factor” that they have had in the past. It is early, the season just got underway a mere 20 games ago, but the writing is clear on the walls. At 10-10 they clearly aren’t out of it, but it still doesn’t look too good.

Normally a time to sign big-time free agents, Red Sox management took the term off-season a bit too literal. No real rosters moves were done to improve a team that collapsed at the end of the year missing the playoffs in dramatic fashion. There were big free agents out there, ripe for the picking, that would have had a tremendous effect on the outcome of the season. Instead, Red Sox fans are stuck with a team that really doesn’t seem have what it takes to contend in their league. The Red Sox were not completely dormant in the winter months. One free agent acquisition has looked like a real winner so far this season. An unlikely source, outfielder Cody Ross has showed some great stuff early on and has provided when bigger name players have left us wanting more. Ross, as of today is second on the Sox in homeruns and RBI. Even with the Ross being such a pleasant surprise, this season has all the makings for a ridiculously disappointing 162 games (If you didn’t know that’s how many games are played in a baseball season).

Beckett and Lester need to perform

Along with the players they didn’t go out and get, the ones actually on the roster need to step it up an make some things happen. The most glaring disappointments have come from the pitching staff. Normally sources of wins and game stability Josh Beckett and Jon Lester have looked anything but reliable in the early going. So far the two are subpar, mirror images of each other. Neither Beckett nor Lester’s stat line resemble anything close to the ace status we expect from them. What is weird about their performances thus far is how equally bad each of them are doing.

Stat Lines 

This here is a link to the Red Sox pitching stats so far this season provided by  Yahoo Sports. This chart goes by ERA and about halfway down the page you can see both of them clumped together. After a quick analysis you’ll begin to understand what I am talking about when I say mirror image.. Their win/loss, ERA, earned runs, k’s, hits and innings pitched are all about the same. What I am getting to with all of this is that the Red Sox need these two guys in particular to turn it around or else there is no way the Sox are going to be able to compete. These guys have proven in the past that they can get it done and they need to do so once more. If Beckett and Lester keep this up, look for Red Sox players in October, coming to a golf course near you. 

Interim closer Alfredo Aceves

 As bad as these two have been this year, things have actually gone worse for the Red Sox when these guys come out of the game. This relief pitching staff may be the worst in baseball. I use the word “may” loosely, due to the fact that most baseball experts would concur with this suggestion. Although shaky at times the Red Sox had a stable enough closer for the last seven seasons in Jonathon Paplebon. This winter however the two parted ways and now he plays for the Philadelphia Phillies. The man they got to replace him, Andrew Bailey, injured his thumb this spring and is out for the better part of the summer. Now they are left with basically no proven guys in the bullpen and it shows. Alfredo Aceves has been given the interim closer position and has looked abominable. In seven save opportunities he has converted five, blown two and posts an ERA of 10.29.

I feel like I keep using terms like ERA all willy nilly, expecting everyone to know what I am talking about. ERA stands for earned run average and is the average number of earned runs a pitcher allows per nine innings. Basically it tells you what someone would average if they pitched the entire game. In the case of Aceves you can see how his 10.29 ERA would be problematic.Although I am picking on Aceves, he isn’t the only Red Sox pitcher stinking it up in the bullpen, Franklin Morales, Vicente Padilla and Mark Melancon have all been sources of frustration late in games. Every time a starter hands off the ball to a reliever I start to feel a bit squeamish.

Papi showered opposing pitchers with hits in April

At the start of the season I would have complained that the Red Sox offense wasn’t showing up to games, but of late that they have been on an absolute tear. “Big Papi”, David Ortiz had his best April in his career, batting .405 with 6 homeruns and 20 RBI. It’s great to see Papi have such a ferocious month to start the season. The last couple years he has struggled in the early going to shake off the rust that accumulated in the off-season. This year he just came out guns blazing and it’s a real testament to his conditioning being that he turns 37 later this year. Another bright spot is second year shortstop Mike Aviles, who has also been a force at the plate. I remember last year all of the grumbles I heard from Red Sox fans when we traded to get him from Kansas City. Now his 5 homeruns and 17 RBI have former naysayers chanting his name.

With the bats coming alive the status of the season seems less dire, but I’m never going to feel comfortable with the pitching staff  they have now. We'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out.

Phew, that was one heck of a rant, but I kind of feel a little better now.