Basketball

Every expert on television, news columnist, sports reporter to your chat room and forum users all say the Houston Rockets can go deep into the playoffs if A: They can keep Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming healthy and B: If Ron Artest can keep his composure on and off the court. Earlier tonight, if a single game was any indication; Rockets fans will have something to cheer about in late April and May and fellow NBA teams can expect Houston to be a legit threat all season.

Continue reading "Unity leads Rockets past Mavs"

Somewhere in the middle of their lackluster performance in a Monday night game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Pittsburgh Steelers unlocked the key to their season.

The Steelers unveilved their no-huddle offense in a desperate attempt to jumpstart their plodding offense against the big, bad Ravens defense. It not only gave the Steelers some life against Baltimore but it probably saved their season. Coach Mike Tomlin and his staff implemented the no-huddle approach early against the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday night and the result was a 400-yard output and a 26-21 victory for the Steelers.

Continue reading "STEELERS HUDDLED AROUND FOR TWO KEY WINS"

eturn home with gold.  There are twelve other American athletes, the men who comprise Team USA Basketball, who this time travel to China with a chip on their shoulders, for they are no longer considered the best in their sport.  On August 10th, Team USA

Continue reading "LeBronze No More: The American Quest ..."

Jeff Christensen believes the quarterback position is broken. 

And he’s just the guy to fix it. 

“Kids today,” says the founder of Throw It Deep Passing Academy, “and when I say kids I mean 19, 20, 21 years old. They think because they throw a pretty spiral they’ve done something. It’s mind-boggling.” 

Continue reading "THINK FIRST, THEN THROW IT DEEP"

Sweet 17. The Boston Celtics lead by its “Big Three” revitalized a franchise that until this year, was struggling. I guess if you really look at it, struggling might be too good a word. One year ago, the Boston Celtics were the worst team in the NBA, but now they can call themselves champions. What did it take? It was 3 simple steps that lead the new Celtics to the franchise’s 17th championship.

Continue reading "Boston Celtics Reborn"

Good news: the Houston Astros hit three home runs last night against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Bad news: the Brew Crew hit five.

All three 'Stros longballs were solo shots (Miguel Tejada, Ty Winnington and Carlos Lee), whereas Milwaukee's four runs accounted for eight total runs (two solo shots and two 2-run homers). Astros pitcher Brandon Backe, who shows flashes of brilliance, gave up seven hits and five earned runs in four innings. He's 4-8 on the season with this loss with an ERA of an even 5.00. Both starters got hit hard, and both bullpens had their shaky moments--Houston's more so than Milwaukee's.

Continue reading "Brewers 10, Astros 6"

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The only problem with having 60 wins, is having 60 wins.  The better the record, the more a team becomes a favorite, the more they're expected to win.  And ultimately, constant pressure starts pushing down on them like a fat guy in a kids top bunk bed.  It can be difficult for a team (or a frightened kid below), especially a great one.   I didn't even mention the Patriots. 

Continue reading "Celts Reach Sixty With Help of Bill Bixby"

Before I get to the 16 things we all need to know before the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 this weekend I would like to congratulate myself on some of my correct predictions.  I said the games would be much closer than last year and I must say, these games last week were unbelievable.  The scheduling by CBS sucked though because it seemed every good game happened at the same time as another good game and then there would be slots where all four games were blowouts.  This is something CBS needs to look at next year, I don’t want a time slot with two #1’s playing 16’s, a 2 playing a 15 and a 3 playing a 14.  I also said that last weekend would be the best sports weekend of the year and outside of my Giants winning the Super Bowl it definitely was (the Super Bowl has to be put on another level though and doesn’t count).  I also said many people would be throwing their brackets away on Monday morning and assuming many of you had Duke going further then round 2 and didn’t have Davidson or Western Kentucky in your Sweet 16 I feel confident that I was correct.  My final four is also still alive.  I feel very good about my predictions and even better about this tournament being an absolute classic.  All we need is a few great Sweet 16 games and a couple good ones over the weekend, followed by a powerhouse Final Four and we have a tournament to remember, as I predicted.

Continue reading "Sweet 16 Preview"

Six days and not counting.  This might be the first time in 20 years or so that I haven't been checking days off my calendar on route to opening day.  In fact, until right now, 2pm on Wednesday (we'll call it a long lunch break) I haven't even watched more than an inning  of a Boston Red Sox spring training game.  What's wrong with me? Am I sick? Has two World Series Titles in four years spoiled me?  Is it because the Big Schill got hurt and I'll miss seeing his lack of spring training stomach?  Or could it be because Coco Crisp just scooped up a ground ball to his right and when trying to throw it in to second, the ball went about 10 feet straight into the ground? (You know opposing Scouts just dropped their offer of a 50th round pick to 100th round pick for Coco straight up).  The answer is no, no, no and no. The truth of the matter is, for the time being anyway, my usual Fenway fever has been sidetracked by the Gang Green.

Continue reading "What To Do When The Celts and Sox ..."

You know those old tales of good and evil where the devil tries to tempt a man on earth with great treasures and power in return for his soul? 

Remnants of that tale immediately came to mind once I heard that Sam Zell, the new owner of the Chicago Cubs and CEO of the Chicago Tribune, publicly stated that he will sell the naming rights of Wrigley Field.  I immediately thought of the outrage that this would stir among Cub fans and baseball purists.  Now, I am a die hard Cub fan and as tough as it has been not to show any real bias towards this controversy, hearing about this news really ticked me off. Selling the naming rights of Wrigley Field is just disrespectful to the loyal fans, the game itself, and the Chicago Cubs organization.  Sam Zell is a man that is already filthy rich and I understand that business is business and he wants to turn the Chicago Tribune back around, but this is not the way to do it. 

Continue reading "Selling your Soul: Zell plans to ..."

Even though us Celtic fans have suffered through years of the Danny days, you have to give Mr. Ainge a lot of credit for this year's magic act.  With Houdini retired, it didn't look like the 2006-07 Celtics team would just disappear. There was no way.  But Danny Did It.  Not "Flutie Did It"  Danny Did It.  The young and up and going nowheres were gone and replaced by a couple of Hall of Famers, Garnett and Allen, and a couple of cagey vets, House and Posey.  Add the Hungry Man, Paul Pierce to the mix, and Danny's got a pretty tasty TV dinner on the table.

Continue reading "Celtics' Guard Rondo Getting The Point"

It happens every year.  Someone will make the terrible mistake of filling out their brackets according to ESPN or a network like CBS Sports.  Then they find out that these so called "experts" never seem to get their picks right.  They are "experts" right?  C'mon people they are only human, but if there's one thing March Madness has taught me the past few years, it's that you're probably better off filling in your bracket blindfold than listening to the sports networks. Well, kind of. Just don't be upset if your sisters picks end up being better than yours.

Continue reading "Bracket Buster Weekend: It's that ..."

It's been a closely watched season of careful observation but I'm sure now of what I've seen. I haven't seen it since about 1987 but there is no doubt about it now. After 20 years there are finally some genuine Celtics wearing the Celtic uniforms.

Continue reading "I Know a Celtic When I See One"

I call myself the Sports Sage so that should give you a clue as to just how dumb I really am when it comes to actual sports knowledge. I watch sports because they are exciting, inspirational and free on TV. They happen in real time and have predictable commercials. Often we get to ooh and Ahhh at things that we will almost never be able to do while watching grown up people like us at play. Its a lot more fun than watching regular people like us work.

Continue reading "Welcome to My Sportsworld!"

Apparently the Miami Heat and the Phoenix Suns have agreed on a trade that would send Shaquille O'Neal to Phoenix in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. I believe this is simply a knee-jerk reaction to the Los Angeles Lakers' acquisition of Pau Gasol (a brilliant move by L.A., by the way) and do not see how this trade can make sense from the Suns' vantage point.

Continue reading "Shaq Headed to Phoenix?"

All right, all right. I admit. I've disliked the former number one overall draft pick for quite some time. He's been a negative for most of the time he's been in the league, and even when he seems like he's ready to turn the corner and be a major contributor (last year and this year), he gets riddled with little injuries that seem to take months to recover from.

Continue reading "KEEP KWAME! It's Yang time."

Growing up in Los Angeles, the only team that anyone ever talked about when it came to the NBA was the Los Angeles Lakers. I remember the whole city being completely obsessed when it came to Lakers basketball. Billboards, commercials, and fast-food promotions further shoved the team into the forefront of everyone’s mind. Popular bands wrote songs about them and select celebrities lined the courtside seats.

Continue reading "Lakers? Clippers?"