Beantown Sports Guys

Support your Nation…Red Sox Nation

This year's MLB All-Star game is in Yankee Stadium. It's a fitting tribute and sendoff to a great stadium, as the Yankees say goodbye to it after this season and hello to their new stadium next year.

Now, what better way to say goodbye than to fill it with Red Sox players. Vote for the Sox! Don't be stupid. Just do it. Once you fill out the form, it remembers your entries so you can vote over and over again, you just need to do the verification box thing and you're golden.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2008/ballot_reg.html

Vote 25 times a day. You'll know when you did because you'll see this:

 

 

I did my part, now go do yours!

Breaking News: Don Imus is still a racist

Don Imus is still a racist. I don't care that he has a black producer. Or that he has two black co-hosts. He's a racist, and always will be. The latest Imus controversy occurred Monday morning when sportscaster Warner Wolf told Imus that Adam "Pacman" Jones wanted people to start calling him by his birth given name Adam Jones or simply Mr. Jones, dropping his old Pacman nickname in hopes that people will see that he is trying to be a good guy. That is a subject for another day.

Read the following and let me know if you are buying the bull that Imus is shoveling:

"He's been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005," Wolf said.

"What color is he?" Imus asked.

"He's African-American," Wolf responded.

"Well, there you go," Imus said. "Now we know."

Well, now we know what? What his race is? Or "Well there you go" as in "Wow, that is shocking" in a sarcastic tone? I'll take the latter thank you very much. I think we do know, I think we do know that it's quite apparent that Imus learned nothing about him running his mouth about the Rutgers University women's basketball team when he said there were some "nappy headed hos" on that team.

Even more preposterous is Imus trying to turn it all around today. Today he said Jones was arrested six times because police were "picking on him."

"He's a football player. He is a lovely kid. He was out there having fun," Imus said

Imus said he was defending blacks with his Monday remarks.

"What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason, and I mean there's no reason to arrest this kid six times," he said. "They shoot blacks for no reason."

Are you kidding me? Honestly? Any casual fan of football knows that Pacman Jones has a history of problems. Brought onto himself. By himself. Not because of the color of his skin. He's been troubled for a while, and we'll see if he really does snap out of it. For now, he's on the right path. That said, for Imus to say he is "a lovely kid" and "he was out there having fun" is Imus in damage control. And whoever is his PR guy needs to be fired, because no one believes what he is shoveling. Imus realized that he screwed up royally again, and this is how he is trying to get out of it.

Look, no one believes Jones is a good kid. Absolutely no one. For Imus to ask what color he is one day, and then the next profess how good of a guy he is and that he was just having fun, it just goes to show you that Imus is an even bigger moron and racist than we thought. He played it off as if he didn't know what the color of his skin is and today he is defending him, as if he were right there next to him at the club? Doesn't anyone find this a little ironic? Oh wait, I'm sure he was doing it to bring light to the fact that he is targeted because he is black, right?

Hey Don, why don't you tell the people that were in the nightclub during the shooting that Jones was just having fun? That when he threw his cash (reported as over $81,000) in the air and flipped out on the 40 stripper that were trying to collect it that he was just having fun? Why don't you tell the victims of that shooting that it was all in good fun? How about you walk up to Tommy Urbanski and his family and tell them it was all in good fun?

As long as people like Don Imus have a public voice, there will always be racism. Imus is a racist prejudiced old man that needs to be pulled off the air immediately. For good.

Celtics win the NBA Championship

I'm spoiled. Rotten. To the core.

In the last 7 years, I've witnessed 3 Super Bowl wins by the Patriots, a perfect regular season and a trip to the Super Bowl only to lose it in the final minute, the first Red Sox World Series title since 1918, followed by another championship 3 years later, and the Celtics winning in style against the Lakers to add another banner to the rafters.

The country must hate us. The world must hate us. They'll say we don't know what it's like to suffer. But no one knows what it's like to suffer like Boston fans. No one.

Think about it: Bucky Dent. Bill Buckner. Len Bias. Reggie Lewis. '91 Patriots. '96 Patriots and Desmond Howard. Aaron Boone. Grady Little. The Nets in 2002. And even this year, a shot at perfection gone.

That's why all of this means so much more for all of us, the diehards that have sat in the original Boston Garden with the giant columns in the way but you didn't care because you where there. Going to Fenway on the weekends with ease when I was a kid and being able to pick where I wanted to sit in the bleachers. Going to games at Foxboro Stadium and sitting on the metal bleachers where you have to fight for cheek space since the only thing that keeps someone from spilling over into your "seat" is a sticker with the number of the seat.

Whether you were at the game, at home, or at the bar with your friends, this was one of those "I remember where I was…" moments for Boston fans.

The few stats that you must know about the game are eye-popping:

• Rebounds – Celtics: 48, Lakers: 29
• Steals – Celtics: 18, Lakers: 4
• Assists – Celtics: 33, Lakers: 16
• Turnovers – Celtics: 7, Lakers: 19

The real stats aren't ones that will land in the box score after the game. In Tommy Heinsohn's world, they are the Tommy Points he doles out for the outright hustle plays, when guys give more than they can possibly give on any one play. The game was littered with them. Garnett's extreme fallaway over Odom. Rondo's countless quick hits to the open guy. Posey's huge 3s. Pierce flying everywhere. Garnett outmuscling Gasol with one hand to Gasol's two to force a jump ball. Tony Allen's big dunk at the end.

The Celtics wanted it more. They really did. The Lakers gave up on themselves. Kobe came out hot, scoring 11 of the Lakers' first 13 points but it didn't faze me because I saw that no one was as amped up for the game as Kobe was. From the get go you could tell the crowd would will the Celtics to the win, no matter if they found themselves down by 40 at the half or up by 23. It didn't matter.

Simmons said it best, during the after game interview with Doc the crowd started chanting "DEEEEEEEE-FENSE!!! DEEEEEE-FENSE!!!!" when he explained that our defense is the big reason we won it all: not only is it the biggest reason why we won, but our crowd is second to none. We're the most knowledgeable sports fans in the country bar none. We are as passionate about our sports as anything. Do you think Garnett and Pierce and Ray were worried about coming back to Boston? Hell no. They wanted to win it here. Not only for themselves, to soak it all in but for the fans.

It's a good time to be a Celtics fan. I heard someone say in the post game interviews they wished Red was still around to see it. I thought about it for a second and just smiled. Red was there. He's always been there. Don't think otherwise.

Breaking News: Tiger Woods out for the year

Tiger Woods is out for the remainder of the 2008 golf year, as he suffered a double stress fracture in his left leg two weeks ago, the same leg he has been playing on with a torn ACL, a shredded ligament he has been dealing with quietly for over 10 months . His injuries will require season ending surgery.

Woods came from behind to beat Rocco Mediate in an 18 hole playoff round, followed by a 1-hole sudden death playoff to win the 2008 US Open.

Tonight is a must win

The Celtics have to win tonight. Absolutely. 100%.

They can't go to a Game 7. The Celtics can't have their backs against the wall in a Game 7 situation, because then all the pressure is squarely on them to win. It would be their series to lose.

Injuries are stacking up, as is the pressure.

Like I said before your team's role players play balls out when they are at home, they feed off the home crowd more than anyone, even the big superstars.

It comes down to this, because as much as I love the Celtics, and as much as I love them playing at home, Celtics fans need them to win tonight.

If for no other reason other than to keep half the area from having heart attacks, it would be nice to be able to get to sleep at a normal hour on Thursday.

Let's go Celtics.

NEVER let up. Never LET up. Never let UP.

NEVER LET UUUUUUUUUP.

Refs could make this tough on the Celtics

It's half way through the 3^rd quarter and it's no short of a miracle that the Celtics are down by 3 at this point.

With the Lakers kicking it into high gear early on with 39 first quarter points, putting them up 17 on the Celtics, it seemed like the Lakers were playing like it was their last game of the season. Garnett picked up two quick fouls, played all of 12 seconds in the 2^nd quarter and at this point has 4 fouls.

The NBA is a league that even before this game fixing by Donaghy was one where fans constantly questioned whether or not refs were on the take. In no sport do the refs have more control over what is happening and can determine who sits (with quick fouls), who shoots (by calling fouls), or who is out of the game (calling technicals, flagrants). It's insane. There are no checks and balances. They are wildly inconsistent from game to game, and are not even allowed to speak out to the media unless the NBA gives them permission, which happens absolutely never.

The Celtics are keeping it close even though the refs have made questionable calls not only all night, but throughout the playoffs, and not just when it comes to the Celtics. I'm a huge Boston fan, but so many times I've seen subpar reffing crews throughout all of basketball. The NBA decides who works what games, when it should be teams voting on the best 10 crews, and a system where they are randomly selected to ref games. If it's a 7 game series, there should be a different set of refs for each game. 7 games? 7 different crews. It's as simple as that.

Celtics come back from largest deficit ever to steal Game 4

The Celtics were down by 21 after the first quarter. They were down by 24 at one point, only to come back and erase half that deficit and see it slip back to 18.

But the Celtics were led by Paul Pierce, who was previously a part of the biggest comeback in NBA history when the Celtics came back against the New Jersey Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002. Who knows if the C's could have come back tonight without having a leader like Pierce that has been through just what they were going through.

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terril)

Ray Allen was the star of the game, playing the entire game, every single minute, and waving off a KG screen late to drive to the hoop and ensure the victory.

KG played very well despite being in foul trouble most of the night, and what better lineup than seeing Pierce, Allen, Garnett, House, and Posey in the game late, when we needed to push it and score. All those guys could hit 3 pointers and have great jump shots, and equally enough, they can all play great defense as well.

Kobe scored only 17 points and couldn't rely on his supporting cast as much as he thought he could. Lamar Odom scored on his first 6 shots, but everyone else did very little to help out.

Kendrick Perkins left with a shoulder injury and the Celtics rallied and stole one.

I told my buddy Kraig during the game that if we somehow came back (when we were down by 20) and won it, I'd expect the Lakers to be in shock over it and not play their game in Game 5. We'll see.

Celtics go up 2-0, series FAR from over

Boston is going crazy right now. Think about what has happened within the last 8 months:

The Patriots went 18-0 en route to yet another championship but came up short. But the New England area still had a horse in the race.

The Red Sox won their second World Series championship in 3 years, sweeping the Colorado Rockies with ease.

The Celtics are in the NBA Finals once again, going against their arch rivals the LA Lakers.

The Lakers are against the wall now, as the Celtics went up 2-0 in the series, beating the Lakers 108-102.

But it's far from over. With this garbage 2-3-2 series that Bob Ryan talks about here much more eloquently and succinctly as I could ever hope to imagine, it is not even close to being a sealed deal.

The Lakers know it. The Celtics know it. The Boston fans know it. You have to when they are up 24 points in the fourth quarter and start playing safe and let the Lakers go on a 31-9 run to pull within a FG.

If the Celtics want to win their 17^th banner, and win it for Red, they need to go for the jugular when they are pouring it on. They need to close them out. Dan Shaughnessy wrote an awesome article about his little meeting with Red, and this banner will be even more special if the Celtics win it all, because it would prevent Phil Jackson from passing Red for total championships, and it would push the Celtics up another banner on the Lakers for total championships.

I take exception to the fact that Phil Jackson is crying about how the Celtics took 38 free throws while the Lakers only took 10. I loved Phil when he was with the Bulls. I thought he did great with Shaq and Kobe, and understood people as well as the game. But he needs to look at who the more aggressive team was. The Celtics are a drive to the hole type of team, physical, in your face. The Lakers are a true perimeter team, letting the game flow from outside to the inside. They are more finesse, and when you are shooting jump shots all night, you won't get the fouls. It's as simple as that. It really is.

Everyone says role players play better at home, so we'll see what the Lakers have as far as role players and whether or not they want to fight for a championship.

The Celtics would love to put number 17 up in the rafters for Red. 2 more.

5 Rays players, 3 Sox players suspended

Major League Baseball doled out stiff punishments today for Thursday night's brawl between the Red Sox and Rays at Fenway Park, suspending eight players in all, five Rays, three Sox.

Outfielder Coco Crisp got the longest, a 7-game suspension (appealing), Jon Lester got 5 games (not appealing, as it will only move his next start back a day), and Sean Casey 3 games (not decided whether he will appeal yet).

For Tampa Bay, James Shields got 6 games, Jonny Gomes 5 games, Edwin Jackson 5 games, Carl Crawford 4 games, and Akinori Iwamura 3 games.

I am quite shocked that Jon Lester was suspended, as it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Whatever he may have done didn't warrant the umpires to eject him from the game, so why suspend him? And for five games? That seems out of whack to me.

Jonny Gomes is a punk. Not only did he precipitate the drama in spring training against the Yankees, but he was throwing bombs when he rushed the field. Navarro not only tackled Coco (which some think was in order to protect Shields) but he choke slammed him to the ground, held him there while Gomes, Crawford and Shields went off on him.

Crawford is a coward too, pulling on Coco's hair and scratching him like a little girl. They had Coco under control and all they needed to do was hold him down. But no. Crawford needed to get in some cheap shots and slide knee first into the back of Coco's head. Coco was none too happy about that.

"I charged the mound. [Shields] tried to hit me with a punch," Crisp said. "I'm not upset at all. We fought. That's all it is. There were some cheap shots there. [Carl] Crawford came sliding in. I don't know why he was pulling hair, scratching. After that it was three, four guys on one."

After the game Shields said that teams have been kicking the crap out of them for the last decade and it won't happen on his watch.

"I protected my own players and that's what we need to do around here," Shields said. "We've been getting stomped around the last 10 years and it isn't going to happen anymore. I had to let them know early and let them know right away."

You're right, Shields: the Yanks, Jays, Sox, and Orioles have all kicked the crap out of you the last 10 years because you've been an awful organization, have had terrible ownership that wouldn't spend any money, and have done nothing to make your team into a contender. It's taken 10 years to have some semblance of team unity, and if you have to throw whiff hardcore on a haymaker to Coco to show that unity to the rest of the league then so be it.

But beware what you wish for.

Manny takes care of Rays, Sox take care of their own

When I got to Fenway last night and saw how easily we had two guys get on base, I knew Manny had a shot to end the game very early. When he connected on his 503rd career HR to give the Sox a 3-0 lead I knew the game was in the bag already, which was great considering all of Fenway wanted to watch a great game and get home in time to catch some of the Celtics game.

And then James Shields decided to get "revenge" on Coco Crisp for what the Devil Rays called in spring training "playing hard" because he slid hard into 2nd the other night.

Shields acted like a little bitch, swung for the fences and missed, and Coco was on him, until their gutless catcher Navarro jumped on top of him while Johnny Gomes and Carl Crawford pounded away on Coco.

Sheilds should be suspended for 10 games, as should Gomes and Crawford, and I would expect Coco to get at least 5, but knowing Bob Watson he might be suspended for 50 games.

In a game that was more remembered for the brawl than Manny's 5 RBI night, or even Ellsbury spraining his wrist and leaving the game, I have to say I was quite pleased with the outcome (7-1 win, 13th straight at Fenway).

Order is also restored, as the Sox took a 1 1/2 game lead in the AL East and the Rays are about to start their downward spiral.