CELTICS GET THEIR DATE WITH THE HEATLES

What better way to start the second round of the NBA playoffs. The Celtics will travel to Miami Sunday to face the Heat. The Cs won the season series 3-1, but all that is erased because each team has a 0-0 record in the series. It is a very anticipated matchup. Critics say the Celtics are much more physical. It also helps that the Cs have been in this position before with a majority of their core players. An interesting stat is that Dwayne Wade is shooting around 13% from three-point land and is only averaging around 13 points versus the Celtics in the four games.
The bench needs to step up versus the Heat because the Heat bench is not great. The Celtics bench has enough talent for some players to be starters elsewhere. The main key to victory is Rajon Rondo. As Rondo goes, the Celtics go. Celtics fans saw the Rondo of old versus the Knicks just torching any defender who tried to cover him. Key word is try. He was shooting the ball well, attacking the basket, and rebounding the basketball. He also has great passing ability. It will be hard for Mike Bibby or Mario Chalmers to cover him so look for Rondo to have another monster series.
My prediction is the Celtics to prevail in six games. This team is great especially executing down the stretch. The Heat have no inside game. If the Celtics defense forces the Heat to shoot jumpshots, this series could actually be over sooner rather than later. The Perk-less Celtics defense is still solid. Every man is rotating great and every man is there for their teammate.
The Heat's LeBron James guarenteed not four, not give, not six championships in their premature parade in the preseason. The Heat won't even stiff an Eastern Conference championship appearance nevermind hoisting a trophy. Give me a break. Ubuntu.

MICHAEL RYDER DOES HIS BEST J.D. DREW IMPRESSION

If you read the newspaper, listened to sports talk, or watched any sports television show, you heard the name Michael Ryder. It was not a good thing either. Ryder had been a 20 goal scorer for the Bruins and can be one of the best finishers on the team. He entered Game five Thursday night with zero goals, zero assists, zero points, zero hits, and many thought zero confidence. But, with the Bruins down 1-0, Ryder received a cross ice beautiful pass from Tomas Kaberle to beat Carey Price high glove side to get the Bs back in the game. Ryder also showed heart in chasing down a puck down in the Canadiens zone to flip it in front to Chris Kelly who buried the goal to tie the game at four late in the game. Ryder's play in Bruins eyes has changed in one game because he played to his potential. The rest in this game was gravy, but Ryder did the unthinkable. With less than two minutes gone in the overtime, the Bruins also completed a remarkable comeback after being down three different times in the hockey game. Ryder was planted in front of the net when he received a pass after a blown three on one and he made no mistake about it and buried it past Price. The Bruins win and tie the series at two, they head back home to Boston with all the momentum in the world, and may have got their goal scorer back on the third line, Michael Ryder. "I am a real American, fight for the rights of every man." Go Bs.

LOWRIE OR SCUTARO?

It is a good dilemma to have. Marco Scutaro or Jed Lowrie? Lowrie has never stayed healthy but was regarded as one of the Sox top prospects. He is the hottest hitter in baseball right now hitting over .450 in 12 games with two homers and nine RBIs. There is no way Tito can keep Lowrie out of the lineup. Scutaro had a great year last year playing through numerous injuries to help this team compete in the AL East until the final days of September. We cannot overlook that. He is off to a slow start this year and Jed Lowrie is tearing the cover off the ball. There is no other place Lowrie can play when you have two all-star caliber players at the corners and a big powerful DH in Big Papi.
Until Lowrie cools off, he must be on the lineup card everyday. He can DH for Ortiz when there are tough lefties on the bump or play first or third when Youk or A-Gone need a day off. Pedey does not like to come out of games so it would be tough to get Lowrie or Scutaro to play second base. But, Scutaro showed a lot of character last year staying in ball games with a nagging neck injury. It is tough not to reward him on a regular basis this year, but when you have Lowrie swinging the bat like Ted Williams, it is tough to sit him.

PANIC MODE IN RED SOX NATION?

One of the most anticipated baseball seasons for the Boston Red Sox took place last weekend in Texas. Words such as 100 wins were being thrown around the media and fans. Well, the Red Sox got taken care of quite easily by the hands of the World Series runner-up Texas Rangers. Jon Lester who many picked to win this years Cy Young award did not record a strikeout and let up three home runs. John Lackey who many predicted to have a bounce back year let up nine earned runs in less than four innings and Clay Buchholz let up four home runs in the series finale. The Rangers mashed 11 home runs, yes 11. The Red Sox scored 11 runs total.
Many questions are already starting after three games and I am already sick of it. Should we have paid 142 million for Crawford? The guy has not even had 20 at bats yet, relax. The pitching staff cannot hack it. It has been three games. Talk to me when it is the all-star break. Once this team finds its identity, they are one of those teams that can go on a 10-15 game win streak they are that good.
Three games have passed and Red Sox Nation feels like it is crumbling. This team was not going to go 162-0 as much as everyone wanted them to. They have not even made a full round through the pitching rotation and some fans summers are already ruined.
The lineup will be fine. They will score a substantial amount of runs. The pitching will settle in and adjust. Once the hitters get their timing down and they are seeing the ball better, it will be a long day or night for opposing pitchers. I am not worried about this team at all. The Fighting Showwalters are 4-0 and atop the AL East, how long will that last? Come on, man.