Red Sox Trade for Jake Peavy

The Red Sox have acquired Jake Peavy in a three team trade. The Sox sent Jose Iglesias to Detroit, and a trio of spellcheck challenging minor leaguers (infielder Cleulius Rondon and pitchers Francelis Montas and Jeffery Wendelken) to the White Sox. The Red Sox also acquired reliever Brayan Villareal.

Peavy is one of those guys who look like great players around the trade deadline. In actuality he's just good. He's 8-4 with a 4.28 ERA. He's never really succeeded in the American League. Apart from last year's 3.37 ERA. I'd completely forgotten that he won the NL Cy Young in 2007. He was once a great pitcher.

He, however, is still a good pitcher, and the Red Sox needed a good pitcher. Clay Buchholz's status remains a mystery. Brandon Workman has pitched well but it's risky to rely on a 24-year old to keep your rotation stable. Peavy fits snugly in the middle of that rotation, behind Lester and Lackey, ahead of Dempster and Doubront.

Losing Jose Iglesias hurts. He was hitting .330, and was getting on base (.376 OBP). He provided depth and options on the left side of the infield. Then again, he was hitting .205 in July, with only 1 extra-base hit all month. Even when he had been hitting well, he hadn't been hitting for power.

You have to make this move. Pitching is so much more valuable than an infielder.

One reason the Red Sox could fail during this playoff push is lack of pitching. They're not going to fail because they lack a light-hitting left-infielder. Peavy solidified their rotation. Getting 11 starts from a pitcher like Jake Peavy is worth Jose Iglesias. Peavy is also under contract for next season.

Peavy doesn't push them over the top, but he fills holes that might have sunk the ship.

What Belichick Should Say Today

I have no idea what Bill Belichick will say to the media this afternoon. But here is an outline of what I think he should say (note: he shouldn't answer questions about Hernandez):

-Acknowledge the Aaron Hernandez situation
Use the word "we" a lot and talk about how shocking this was. Because it was shocking. It was just as shocking to the Patriots as it was to the rest of the world. NOBODY saw this coming. Kraft used the word "duped" but I think shocked/stunned is more accurate.

-Ongoing investigation
Point out that it's difficult to talk about Hernandez in detail due to his involvement in an ongoing murder investigation. That's one of the reasons you won't be answering questions about Hernandez.

-Talk about self-evaluation of evaluation of talent
Briefly mention that with every decision that the team makes, the team constantly evaluates itself and the criteria used to judge players. The learning process is never complete. Both positive and negative lessons are learned every season. And certainly in this case, "We are going to try to learn from this as much as possible."

-Moving on
Hernandez is no longer with the team. It's time for the team to move on from this and focus on football. There's nothing the team can do to undo what has been done. There's nothing the team can now do to make things right. The team will try to learn from this, but it's time for the team to get back to football, the only thing it can logically do at this point. Use the word "team" a lot.

Nothing will undo what happened. Some might want an apology from Belichick or the Pats, but any apology, even from the murderer, is empty. There are a few dozen men that will be getting together to play/coach football. None of them had anything to do with the murder. All they can do is play football. And all the coaches can do is try to learn from this.

Dustin Pedroia and Red Sox Agree to Extension

Seven years, $100 million. An average of $14.3 million per year. That's not a bad rate for an All-Star second baseman that wins Gold Gloves and is a team leader. The deal is somewhat long. And it doesn't start until the 2015 season. Pedroia will make $10 million next year. So he'll be under contract until 2021. He turns 30 this August, so he'll turn 38 in the last year of this contract.

I'm happy Pedroia will remain with the Red Sox. He's a likable player. He has a career OBP of .371. He plays his position well. He has some power. He's a good example to younger players. He's a smart baserunner.

I've heard some compare Pedroia to Patrice Bergeron, and I don't disagree with the comparison. However, defensive play is much more important in hockey than it is in baseball.

I don't mind the salary. It's not ridiculous. The years kind of bug me. If he starts to deteriorate around 36-years old, he could be a defensive AND offensive liability, accounting for $14 million in salary. Perhaps risking this was necessary in order to sign him before he becomes a free agent. Although, what was the rush?

Pedroia was signed for 2014, and had an $11 million team option for 2015. Why the urgency to get this deal done now?

I can't help but suspect the PR aspects of locking down Pedroia played a part in this. I know we all have lovey-dovey feelings about the Red Sox right now, but it's still the same Front Office that gave us Carl Crawford and sold us bricks. I'm still suspicious. This preemptive strike signing might be a means to soften the blow when Ellsbury sets off for greener pastures. "Ellsbury's gone, but Pedoria's here 'til 2021," Red Sox fans will repeat to comfort themselves.

And with the end of David Ortiz's career on the horizon, Pedroia will assume the role of Face of the Franchise. Maybe the Sox will also sew a "C" on Pedroia's jersey, then sell another set of Pedroia t-shirts at the Souvenir Store.

There are so many non-baseball reasons to sign this baseball player.

Perhaps I'm allowing my cynical imagination to run wild. But those diabolical bastards on Yawkey Way spent years trying to win the hearts and minds of fans by making moves like this. From now on, whatever they do, I'll be wary of them. ESPECIALLY if they do something we all like. And we all like the idea of Dustin Pedroia at second base for the remainder of his career.

So because I generally like the move, that's why I'm suspicious of it.

This is the madness that can develop when living under the regime of Il Lucchino.

Team USA Hockey Invites 48 Players to Camp

Tim Thomas was not one of the 6 goalies invited to Team USA's camp. Jonathan Quick, Jimmy Howard, Ryan Miller, Cory Schneider, Craig Anderson, and 20-year old Josh Gibson were the netminders invited. Gibson was the MVP of the 2013 World Juniors, leading the US to a gold medal.

No Bruins were invited. Which isn't much of a surprise since Torey Krug was the only American on their roster last year. Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and Milan Lucic were invited to Canada's camp. Claude Julien will be an assistant coach for Team Canada.

Two players from Massachusetts will participate in the US's camp: the aforementioned Cory Schneider from Marblehead, and Keith Yandle from Boston.

Other New England natives involved will be Jonathan Quick from Milford, CT (he also went to UMass), defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk from Greenwich, CT (also went to BU, also has the best last name ever), and forward Max Pacioretty from New Canaan, CT. That's right, the Montreal Canadiens are more American than the Boston Bruins. The Habs have two invitees to the camp.

As you'd expect, there are some great players on the team. The question is will they be great enough to match the likes of Canada and Russia. With Quick and/or Miller in net, anything is possible. Then there's some talented forwards like Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane, Dustin Brown, and Bobby Ryan that will be relied on for the scoring.

Unfortunately, the US's talent isn't as deep as Canada's (Bergeron, Crosby, Toews, Sharp, Green, Subban, Weber, Letang, Nash, St. Louis, Stamkos, Staal, Staal, and Staal) nor is it as strong at the top as Russia's (Malkin, Datsyuk, and Ovechkin).

So goaltending will have to be the difference for the US to win. Relatively speaking, Canada's goaltending isn't that good. They invited Corey Crawford, Roberto Luongo, Braden Holtby, Carey Price, and Mike Smith. Russia, on the other hand, has Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky.

Then there's Sweden, who will have Henrik Lundqvist. And Finland will probably start Tuukka Rask or Antti Niemi.

So Canada has the most talented skaters, but some questionable goaltenders. Russia has a goalie, and some studs, then a lot of guys you've never heard of. USA has goaltending, and some solid players, but not the firepower that Canada has. And Finland gets to choose between a Vezina finalist (Niemi) and a Conn Smythe contender (Rask).

Plus there's Sweden, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

This should be a good tournament.

Full Team USA invitees

Can Jon Lester Respond to Matt Moore?

What Matt Moore did last night was demonstrate to Red Sox fans what an Ace can do for a team. It's something we haven't seen the likes of here since Josh Beckett's 2007 season.

The Rays didn't get an extra-base hit, yet they won. They didn't need to use their bullpen at all. Because of one pitcher having a great night and continuing his great season.

No Red Sox batter saw more than 15 total pitches from Moore. Only Mike Napoli saw that many. Seven Red Sox batters saw 12 or fewer pitches in their at-bats. Moore only needed 10 pitches to retire Jacoby Ellsbury 4 times.

Hopefully this was just the Red Sox running into a hot pitcher. Moore had won 5 straight starts coming into last night's game, and had an ERA of 1.91 in that stretch. So beating him was going to be tough.

Yesterday, I wrote a post about the Red Sox winning because of their character. Even character can't beat great pitching. The character part comes into play tonight as the Sox need to rebound from their night of silent bats. They're facing Roberto Hernandez who is 5-10 with a 4.90 ERA on the season. He's lost 4 of his last 6 starts.

Jon Lester, who has yet to prove he has the same levels of character as his teammates, is on the mound for the Sox.

This is the day after the Sox were shut down. They're facing a mediocre pitcher. They're tied with Tampa Bay in the loss column. They need something from Lester. Lester can help even up this important 4-game series, or he can give the Rays 1st place.

The team needs a good outing, Lester. Do you have the character to deliver?

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Charles Krupa

Red Sox Walk Off With 60th Win

It wasn't pretty (3 errors committed by the Sox), and it wasn't quick (4 hours and 46 minutes), but it was entertaining. And that's a good description of the Red Sox season so far. A season in which they're the first team in baseball to 60 wins. A season in which they're an even .600. A season after they only managed 69 wins in total and had a .426 winning percentage.

The team has character. That's important in games like Sunday night's. Ryan Dempster labored through 5.1 innings. Craig Breslow was awful. Thankfully the rest of the bullpen picked up the slack. That's what teams with character do. Matt Thornton and Koji Uehara each struck out 2 in their single innings of work. Uehara only needed 13 pitches in his inning, 10 of which were strikes. Good God I love relievers who throw strikes.

The non-pitching aspects of the game were equally non-immaculate. Three errors. The bats cooled off for 5 innings against the Yankee bullpen. But the Sox stole 4 bases. Shane Victorino had 2 of those steals, he also had 2 RBI. Mike Napoli was the big hero with his 2 homeruns and 4 RBI.

Napoli's timing was perfect. Both his homeruns put the Red Sox ahead of the Yankees.

Getting contributions from different guys every night is how this team has won 60 games. Not getting such contributions is why they lost 93 games last year. There's a completely different aura around this team. They care. They want to win. So far so good.

Here's a list of goals for the Red Sox this season, each increasing in difficulty:

#1: Do better than last year
At the absolute bare minimum, this team had to win 70 games and be better than last year. They're 10 wins away with 62 to play.

#2: Be a .500 team
21 wins away with 62 games left, so they could play .339 baseball and still reach this goal.

#3: Be in the playoff picture down the stretch
This looks promising. The Sox have the best record in the AL. Although they're only 3.5 games ahead of Baltimore, the 2nd Wild Card team.

#4: Make the playoffs
Something they haven't done since 2009.

#5: Advance in the playoffs
Something they haven't done since 2008.

#6: Get to the World Series
You'd have been committed to an insane asylum if you predicted this before the season.

#7: Win it all
Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, but this is a possibility.

As the Sox approach and achieve these goals, I do have one concern. Although "concern" is probably too strong of a word. There's one thing to keep an eye on: pressure.

To this point, this team hasn't had any pressure on them. They're loose. They make mistakes but don't compound them by pushing too hard to make up for them. They're relaxed. They blew a big lead last night, but it didn't faze them. Their best two starting pitchers have massive question marks around them. Their closer is done. They haven't collapsed, in part because there has been no pressure on them.

That pressure will build. Pressure from the outside as fans and media build up their hopes for this team. And internal pressure as the team has opportunities to reach goals few predicted in Spring Training. It's easy to relax against Sabathia and the Yankees in July. In September in a multi-team playoff race, scoreboard watching the Rays and the O's, that's pressure.

This team's biggest strength is its character. We'll see the true mettle of their character as the pressure increases.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

So Many Reasons to Not Watch the MLB All-Star Game

I'll admit that I watched the All-Star Game. And by "watch" I mean I did other things while it was on TV. I cleaned up a little bit, ate my dinner, I'm even writing this as the 9th inning plays out. My back is to the screen as I sit hunched over the computer sitting on my desk in the corner of the room. I need to get another beer, and won't pause my TV as I go fetch it.

...

I'm back. Last Wachusett Blueberry. Not much has changed in the game. And if it had, I wouldn't care. And that's Reason #1 not to watch...

#1 No rooting interest
This time it counts? Who cares? It's exhibition baseball, the only thing in the Sporting Universe that means less than regular season baseball is exhibition baseball. Nobody cares about World Series homefield advantage in July. Nobody cares about who wins the All-Star Game.

#2 Baseball is slow
And the All-Star Game isn't an exception. Last night's was 3 hours and 6 minutes, considered a short game by modern standards. There's so much time between pitches, in a game that doesn't matter. No tension, just waiting.

#3 The game starts too late
A 3 hour and 6 minute game. That ends at 11:27pm. What's wrong with this picture? I know you don't want to start the game while California fans are still stuck in freeway traffic. Then again, California fans suck. They show up late to their own games, why not make them show up late to the All-Star Game too. Start the game at a modest time for the East and the Midwest. Especially so kids, who still have bedtimes in the summer, can watch.

#4 Fox's production sucks
Fox tries too hard to make their sports coverage epic. Nobody watches sports for the shiny extras, they watch for the game, or because they're degenerate gamblers. The All-Star Game is one of Fox's crown jewels, and they try really hard to make it more than it is. I'm always going to remember that artificial moment when Cal Ripken Jr. left his last All-Star Game, and they brought out a podium to home plate. What a BS, contrived attempt at a tear-jerker moment. The best All-Star moments are impromptu, like when Ted Williams was swarmed by everyone on the mound in 1999, or last night when Mariano Rivera tipped his cap to the fans. As opposed to generated moments such as Neil Diamond singing "Sweet Caroline."

Everything on Fox is overly staged.

#5 Tim McCarver and Joe Buck

How can you listen to these guys call a game that you don't have a rooting interest in? How can you do so without drinking heavily? It's like brain surgery without anesthetic.

#6 Too many players
There are about 80 All-Stars. Doesn't that seem a bit much to play in just one game?

#7 Too many players play
Too many people get into and out of the game. I understand the thought behind each team having a representative on the roster, but why will some Royals fan watch 3 hours of baseball to see his guy play, especially when he doesn't know which inning his player will play, especially when his player will be lucky to get more than 2 at-bats, or more than 1 inning on the mound?

29 players took the field for the AL last night. 26 for the NL. 55 total. 55 players in one game of baseball. Way too many to keep track, especially in a game that you don't have a rooting interest in.

#7 Pitchers don't last
Pitchers are so soft these days. They can't go if they pitched Sunday. Only two pitched more than an inning last night. And if they throw more than 15 pitches, their arms will fall off. In this modern age of sports medicine (both legitimate and illicit), the frailty of pitchers is inexcusable.

#8 Interleague play
The All-Star Game used to be a chance to see the best NL hitters face the best AL pitchers. And vice versa. Now this happens regularly with interleague play. Remember how exciting it was to see Pedro Martinez face McGwire and Sosa? And I can remember watching All-Star Games to see Greg Maddux face the best AL hitters. Now this happens in regular season games.

#9 Over commercialization

This ties in with Fox. There are far too many commercials, too many promotions. Everything is sponsored by something. A millionaire athlete gets a car for being an MVP of a game that he only played in for one or two innings. Every 5 seconds is a commercial or product-placement. It feels more like watching an infomercial than a baseball game. Your viewer is already barely interested in watching, so you saturate the broadcast with ads?

All of the All-Star games in all sports suck. Baseball is the least worst of them all. But none of them are any good. None of them entertain. You shouldn't watch any of them.

Fuck Rolling Stone Magazine

In a desperate effort to publicize their irrelevant, once-edgy-but-now-utterly-mainstream magazine, Rolling Stone have put alleged Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar (in the magazine they use the teeny-bopper Twitter corruption of his name: Jahar) Tsarnaev on the cover of their upcoming magazine. But it wasn't just any picture. It's a glamorizing, softly lit, almost angelic image of the terrorist. It makes him look like a Disney Channel heartthrob, not a heartless sociopath. They tried to make him look as sexy as possible. As much like a rock-star as possible.

Someone should send a copy of Rolling Stone with sexy Dzhokhar on the cover, to every inmate of that supermax prison in Colorado. Include a note that says "Coming soon to a shower near you."

How edgy of you, Rolling Stone, how very bold. And how brave of you to be so bold. They've released a statement defending of the freedom of the press and touting the merits of journalistic integrity. That's why you made Dzhokhar look as pretty as possible on the cover. Because of all your integrity.

If you truly want to discuss his descent from popular teenager to terrorist, why not have two contrasting images: one like this one, and one of him walking along Boylston Street with a bomb slung over his backpack. Or maybe a picture of him juxtaposed with a picture of the carnage he created.

The Telegraph in Britain figured that out.

That would be journalism. That would be provocative and it would elicit thought. Not merely sensationalist and shocking, in order to generate profit.

And if you were truly brave and truly wanted to push the boundaries of freedom of the press, then you'd have a monthly comic strip featuring the prophet Mohammed (illustrations of Mohammed piss many Muslims off), printed alongside the personal mailing addresses of the magazine's staff. That's brave. This is cowardly. This is just a crude attempt to generate controversy and get people to talk about a magazine they probably assumed wasn't on the shelf anymore.

But if you want to go down this road, you can't do this just once. If Taylor Swift or Jay-Z is on the cover of next month's edition, I'll be very disappointed. You want to be edgy, you want to push the envelope, you must do it ALL THE TIME. You bought the ticket, you take the ride.

Suggestions for future Rolling Stone covers:
Adam Lanza
Aaron Hernandez
Osama bin Laden
Major Nidal Malik Hasan
Joseph Stalin
Muammar Gaddafi
Joseph Kony (remember how much people hated him, then forgot about him)
Timothy McVeigh
James Holmes
Lee Harvey Oswald

And I want the pictures to be as sexy as possible. That's the main thing. The type of thing teenage girls tape to the inside of their lockers. When Rolling Stone put Charles Manson on their cover, he wasn't portrayed as sexy. More crazy than anything else.

Anyway, fuck you, Rolling Stone. You're not journalists, you're just trying to pump some relevancy into your outdated, uninteresting rag. You're not trying to tell a story, controversy be damned. You're trying to make money off pain and suffering, by glamorizing someone who killed innocent people as thoughtlessly and as callously as you turn the page of your shit magazine.

Bergeron to Be Bruin for 8 More Years

The Bruins and Patrice Bergeron agreed to an 8 year contract extension that will keep him with the Bruins until 2021-22. The deal is worth $52 million, resulting in a $6.5 million annual cap hit.

Bergeron has always been a respected player here in Boston. He's only 27 but it seems like he's been in the League for over a decade. Because he essentially has been. He has 9 seasons under his belt. He's not a typical star. He doesn't score 40 goals, or tally 60 assists. He doesn't do any one thing spectacularly, he does every singly thing well. And in the postseason he finds another gear.

Zdeno Chara is signed with the Bruins until 2017-18. It's safe to say that when Big Z leaves the Bruins, he'll pass the Captain's "C" to Bergeron.

I like this deal better than the Rask signing. Bergeron is a forward, not a goalie. Long-term goalie contracts always carry more risk than contracts for skaters. Bergeron also has more of a track record than Rask. 9 seasons, 579 games, 83 playoff games. And finally, when a guy like Bergeron loses a step, he can still be productive based on his hockey IQ and his knowledge of the game. When a goalie loses a step, they're done.

I also think Bergeron would have more value on an open market than Rask would.

I'm still not a big fan of these long-term contracts. However, for a guy like Bergeron I don't really mind.

Andrew Ference Gives Bruins' Army Rangers Jacket to Matt Brown

Andrew Ference is the classiest of acts. In his last action as member of the Boston Bruins, he bestowed the Army Ranger jacket on Matt Brown. Brown was a Norwood High School hockey player, paralyzed his sophomore year due to injuries suffered in a game in 2010. The jacket was given to the Bruins by a friend of Ference's, Army Ranger Sergeant Lucas Carr. After each game the jacket was given to a Bruins player, by his teammates, who was deemed to be the player of the game.

In a sense, the jacket has come home. Matt Brown participates in road races, and he's pushed in a wheelchair by Lucas Carr, the same Army Ranger who gave his jacket to Ference. As I mentioned in a post the day after the Marathon Bombings, Carr and Brown push each other, literally and figuratively.

Matt Brown had planned to participate in the Boston Marathon, but wasn't feeling well that day. Carr ran the Marathon. And he crossed the finish line moments before the bombs went off. And in true Army Ranger form, he went back to help the wounded. In this picture he's in the sleeveless yellow Bruins shirt in the top right.

You can see him and his tattooed arms in the right side of this picture:

The jacket has been on a pretty cool trip, being worn by Rask, by Bergeron, by the best of the Boston Bruins. And it's pretty cool that it took such a whirlwind tour of hockey greatness, starting when Carr gave it to Ference, and ending when Ference gave it Carr's co-runner, Matt Brown.

It's a garment of distinction, and I can't think of a better person to wear it. Ference put it best when he tweeted:

This jacket represents a lot of great things. I couldn’t think of a more worthy final recipient than you bud. @mjb_3 pic.twitter.com/B9jCCImZE0
— Andrew Ference (@Ferknuckle) July 11, 2013

Tuukka Rask Gets Paid, But I Don't Like the Contract

Two Us, two Ks, $56 million, eight years, too much, too long. It's going to be Tuukka Time in Boston until 2020-21. This deal makes him the highest paid goalie in the National Hockey League.

I like the player, I don't like the deal. If Rask had gone out on the open market who was going to sign him to such a massive contract? Who was going to sign him for so long? I could see either/or, either pay him big money now but keep the deal 5 years or under. Or pay him less over a long term.

I think eight years is too long for a goalie who doesn't have an extensive track record. Rask has talent, and I want him to be the goaltender here, but he's only made 126 starts. This contract will keep him here for 656 games.

I think $7 million is too much for a player with mixed success in the playoffs. His regular season numbers are very good, and overall his playoff numbers are good. He's had some great playoff series. And he's had a very bad playoff series against Philly in 2010. And he had a mediocre series against the Blackhawks.

The Bruins have decided that Tuukka Rask will be the central reason for their success. Or failure. This team will now be forced to build around Rask. And I don't think he's earned that place. The amount of cap space they will use to pay him, for 8 years, is too much. He's a very good goalie, and on a team with more offensive talent he could win a Cup. But it's harder to acquire/keep that talent with such a huge cap hit. And in 2 years the Bruins are going to need to spend to either retain or rebuild their blue-line (Seidenberg has 1 year left, McQuaid has 2, Krug and Bartkowski are restricted free agents in a year, Hamilton in 2).

Rask is good enough to win, with help. He's not a carrier like Thomas was in '11, like Quick was in '12. He's more like Niemi in 2010, or a better version of Crawford this year. The Bruins are paying him like a carrier. And he hasn't yet played like a carrier in the playoffs.

Corey Crawford will make $2.7 million next year. The Blackhawks won a Cup because he was okay and his teammates were great. Jonathan Quick carried the Kings to a Cup and he makes $5.8 million, and will do so until 2023. Rask hasn't won a Cup as a starter, played only okay in the Cup Finals, and he's getting paid like a Conn Smythe winner. Why?

What has Rask done to merit the highest annual salary for a goalie (tied with Pekka Rinne) in the League, along with a contract nearly a decade long?

I'm happy he's the goalie in 2013-14. I'm not thrilled he'll be under contract in 2019. I'm not thrilled he'll be taking up so much cap space.

Tyler Seguin Needs to Learn How to Party AND Perform

At his introduction to the (begin sarcasm) ravenous (end sarcasm) Dallas hockey media, Tyler Seguin was asked what it would be like to be part of a young team that was attempting to build itself up. It was a hockey question, not a question about his social life. But that's how Seguin answered it.

"There's a lot of young guys. On my last team, I was the only single guy."

Seguin then went on to talk about hockey again.

This is just a few days after the Stanley Cup finalists traded him away, and after his former GM talked about how he needed to get his act together, on and off the ice.

The reaction to Seguin's promiscuous social life is a bit harsh for my taste. It reminds me of Gronkowski. It seems like pundits and fans want these guys to live monastical, celibate lifestyles. Like Puritans, wearing drab dark clothes, only drinking a few ales with your teammates on off-days, waiting until marriage to engage in wanton acts of carnality. That's not going to happen. Nor should it.

Partying is fine. Almost every young athlete parties. And so would any of us. Look back to when you were 21. Now imagine you were paid millions of dollars and were famous.

You can perform on the field/ice/court while partying, too. Gronk performs on the field, when he's on it. And he got injured on an extra point, not on an extra pint. He got reinjured, again on the field, not in the bedroom having a sevensome with the Bryant University women's volleyball team. On the field he performs. He's already caught 38 touchdowns, and sets records at his position.

Then there's Patrick Kane, who is only 3 years older than Seguin, already has 2 rings, won the Conn Smythe, has an Olympic silver medal, and has established himself as a star in the NHL. He was a #1 overall pick in 2007, and he parties his ass off.

He scored 9 goals in the playoffs, 3 in the Finals. He performs.

Stevan Stamkos parties. Crosby parties. How many Russian players took a turn with Anna Kournikova? Remember when Tom Brady was banging Tara Reid? Then he and Bridget Moynihan got together. Then he finally settled down with Gisele. Shit, some people have pointed out that Brady and the Patriots won more when he was single.

All these guys go out and have fun. Except Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning. But even they probably go to county fairs and indulge with some cotton candy. And, of course, church.

What separates Seguin from Brady/Kane/Gronk is that those guys are able to perform AND party. Seguin is only able to party. The other guys have fun, then get down to business. They split their time. Seguin seems to want to party all the time.

He needs to realize that pussy is a renewable resource. It's not going to run out. There are going to be plenty of girls that will want him, even when he's a 40 year old with half his teeth making the NHL minimum. In 20 years he'll have the opportunity to sleep with girls that are only now being born.

In his current division he'll be able to go to Chicago and hang out with his buddy Kane. He can go to Denver and get some stoner girls. He can go to Minnesota and warm up with some University of Minnesota Golden Gopher girls. He can go to Nashville and hook up with some country singers. And in Dallas he can hang out with his new single teammates, as well as the Cowboys, and maybe even Manny Ramirez if he gets promoted to the Rangers. The opportunities to have fun are endless.

Why does Seguin party as if all the beertaps and vaginas in the world will dry up in the next 2 weeks? Why does he refuse to take a day off? Why did he spend more time guzzling Jagermeister, than skating around the Garden post-game with Jagr?

I think he has a confidence issue. He hasn't done what he's expected to do in the NHL. It's the first time in his life he hasn't met expectations, his own and everyone else's. So instead of facing that fact and working to improve, and also facing the possibility that he might fail, he's tried to master a different arena. He's king of all his parties. But on the ice he's a 3rd line winger that doesn't score. He can't fail at his social life. He's going to get drunk and get laid and be the envy of all his guy friends, who follow him around like bromosexual groupies. But on the ice, he is facing the possibility of failure for the first time in his life, and he's not confident enough to try to push through that.

Patrick Kane and Tyler Seguin are about the same size. Who plays more physically? Who plays less afraid? Who seems more confident?

Maybe having single teammates in Dallas will actually help Seguin. Maybe they'll point out that there's a time to have fun and a time to work. It'd probably be easier for Seguin to listen to that from other single hockey players, who love to go out as much as he does, as opposed to the older, married guys he was teammates with in Boston.

Or maybe he'll continue to party and not perform.

Like any job, nobody cares about your personal life so long as you show up and work well. Seguin hasn't done that. He hasn't performed. He hasn't demonstrated that he's putting in the effort to reach his potential. He can still party, but he has to figure out how to perform as well.

Anyway, it's not our problem in Boston anymore.

I'm Sick of Jon Lester

The Red Sox are once again a likable team. They have plucky, determined players who are playing at 100% of their ability, in some cases more than 100%. And with few exceptions, the players themselves are easy to root for.

One person that still draws my dislike is Jon Lester. I am so tired of his act. It isn't just his poor performances on the mound, it's how he carries himself and how he dismissively excuses his failures.

When he struggles he becomes a diva on the mound, glaring at the umpire like a little kid in the grocery store checkout line who was just told by his mother that he can't get one of the candy bars from the side shelf. He pouts, he snaps his glove angrily, and then he'll throw the same pitch in the same location and whine about it again.

Do you think umpires appreciate that act? Do you think umpires get their assignments and see they're behind the plate for Lester and think good things about him? Maybe that's why you don't get those borderline pitches, Jon. Maybe the umps are sick of your mini-tantrums.

Lester fails to admit that he isn't that good anymore, and hasn't been for a long time. He seems to attribute every bad outing to a series of bad calls or a few lucky swings. But his quality is clearly not what it once was.

Hitters make much more contact against him than they did in 2010 and 2011. He strikes out fewer batters (225 in 2010, 182 in 2011, 166 in 2012, and he's on pace for about 176 in 2013). He allows more hits (166 in 2011, 216 in 2012, and a pace for 215 in 2013), and opponents hit much harder against him (14 HRs allowed in 2010, 20 in 2011, 25 in 2012, pace for 25 in 2013). From 2009 to 2011, he allowed 31 doubles every year. In 2012 he allowed 49, and in 2013 he's on pace to allow 51.

And instead of admitting that he has, over a significantly long stretch of time, struggled, he'll build himself up. He pumps his own tires. After last night's 5 inning, 5 run, 9 hit, 2 walk outing against the 3rd worst offense in baseball he said:

"I felt like I threw a lot of good pitches tonight. Maybe a handful of balls found the middle of the plate, they did a better job of fouling balls off to get to those pitches. It goes back to I felt like I threw the ball better than what the line score says."

No, Jon, you didn't. You fell apart last night. You needed 112 pitches to get 15 outs. You threw first-pitch strikes to only half of the 26 batters you faced. And while the Mariners did foul off 28 pitches, they hit 18 into play, 2 for doubles, 1 for a homerun, and 6 more for basehits. The M's hit .240 as a team, and last night they hit .375 off Lester, with an OPS of .961.

And that homerun came after your team had tied the game for you, against the great Felix Hernandez. And boom, to lead off the bottom of the 5th, you serve up a homerun. That's not what good pitchers do. And good pitchers don't pat themselves on the back after such outings and ignore their shortcomings. They acknowledge them, they take responsibility, and they work on them.

Lester is a throwback to the 2011 Collapse. It's never his fault. Other members of that incredibly unlikable team have either left town or reformed (see: John Lackey). Not Lester. His diva antics are the same on the mound. His performances are worse. His refusal to take responsibility is a vintage 2011/2012 attitude. Either he needs to change it, or the Red Sox need to change their roster.

Photo Credit:
Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

Bruins Sign Iginla, Salary Cap Threatens NHL Success

The Bruins finally got Jarome Iginla. They had been pursuing Daniel Alfredsson, but the Red Wings secured the Swede for a 1-year $5.5 million bounty. So just like Jaromir Jagr was the silver medal when Peter Chiarelli failed to get Iginla at the deadline, Iginla is now the silver medal after pursuing Alfredsson.

Iginla will have a base salary of $1.8 million, with up to $4.2 million more incentives. It's a 1-year deal. Similar to Alfredsson, Iginla is a veteran that is looking for a Cup.

The guy has scored 30+ goals for 11 straight seasons. And with the departure of Horton and Seguin, the Bruins desperately need wingers. Wingers who can score.

The Bruins have 6 legitimate top-6 forwards. Krejci and Bergeron are excellent centers, you hang on to Lucic and Marchand, you add Eriksson and Iginla. It isn't a bad top-6 at all.

There's been a lot of movement in the NHL, thanks to the salary cap. Which means that while this off-season has been more interesting, it also means that fans must re-learn their teams rosters once the regular season starts. It also means that successful big market teams like Boston and Chicago can't retain the talent that they've developed. And that's bad for the NHL. The TV ratings were great for the 2013 Finals because two big markets that cared about hockey were involved.

Seguin and Horton were both popular players in Boston. Local stars. People bought their t-shirts, both from the Pro Shop and from street vendors.

Who in Dallas will care about whether Tyler Seguin scores or not? Who in Columbus will care about how physical Nathan Horton is playing?

Location, location, location. Seguin and Horton were stars in Boston. But because of the cap they need to be shipped elsewhere, where teams do poorly and nobody cares about hockey.

The salary cap is intended to prevent big market teams from overspending and pricing out medium/small market teams, making it difficult for the big teams to buy success. But in the NHL there are a handful of micro markets, like Phoenix and Miami, that lower the cap number for everyone, and also absorb talented NHL players that would draw a crowd (and TV ratings) in hockey-interested markets.

The NHL's biggest strength since the '04-'05 lockout has been the success of teams in big markets and in hockey-interested markets. LA, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Toronto, New York. However, the NHL has developed a system that focuses on putting dying franchises on life support, in markets that cannot support them, at the expense of teams that succeed.

It's like having a popular, successful restaurant in downtown Boston, then not allowing them to pay their best cooks and servers, and sending those quality employees to some crappy diner nobody goes to in north Texas or central Ohio.

Vettel, Vettel Uber Alles

All is well in the world. A Limey has won Wimbledon and a Kraut has won at the Nürburgring.

Do you see what happens when tires are only part of the storyline and not the entire story? We get a close race that goes down to the wire, and we get the best car and the best driver winning. Sebastian Vettel finally won his home Grand Prix, edging Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean for an all-Renault powered podium. Vettel added to his lead over Fernando Alonso, who finished 4th in the F138 Ferrari.

I'm getting a sense of deja vu. It's like the season is starting over again. And in a way that's true with the new/old tire construction making a debut Sunday. It's like we're back in Melbourne. Mercedes are once again struggling to convert great qualifying performances into great race performances. And Lotus are incredibly strong, just as they were before Monaco. One constant is what Vettel and Red Bull are doing.

It's really special to watch, and I feel as though some of the critics are missing out. Those who claim Vettel is lucky or argue that the car is responsible for the success of the driver are failing to appreciate how remarkable the combination has worked, over and over and over, from Grand Prix to Grand Prix, from qualifying to raceday.

Look at the other teams. All of them fluctuate up and down, having a few good races, a few bad ones. Lotus looked very sharp yesterday, yet they are 4th in the constructors' standings because of their inconsistency. Mercedes are second in the standings but struggled yesterday, and also struggled before their covert Pirelli test. Ferrari are closing in on Mercedes, but even Alonso admits that they've lost significant pace. And McLaren are in 6th, their 12 point combined performance yesterday was their BEST of the season.

There's parity in the other F1 teams. Mercedes look good for 3 races, then Lotus charges toward the front, then Ferrari dazzles with a few strong performances. The only team that remains steadily strong is Red Bull. And instead of trying to find fault with that, and instead of harboring hope that heroic matador Fernando Alonso slays the bull (as NBC Sport's Will Buxton and Steve Matchett seem eager to see, every week trying to map out a way for Alonso to win despite his car's inadequacies), just sit back and appreciate the heights being reached by this driver and this team.

We're witnessing Formula 1 history being written by this 26-year old driver and this team which is in its 9th season. It's incredible to behold. This was his 30th win, only 1 shy of tying Nigel Mansell for 5th all-time, 2 behind Alonso for 4th. His 27.27% win rate is better than Prost, Senna, and Stewart.

A few side thoughts from yesterday's race:

I'm glad the cameraman struck by Mark Webber's tire is okay. He suffered some broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and a concussion. After the death of a marshal in Canada, I'm glad Formula 1 isn't adding to their list of track worker fatalities. These men and women working the race assume a significant amount of risk, with a relatively slim slice of the glitz, glamour, and glory pie that F1 brings to town. Red Bull were fined 30,000 Euros for the unsafe release, rightfully so.

Felipe Massa might have cashed his check with Ferrari. He attributed his spinout to his own error, then claimed he couldn't get the car back in gear. This is his latest race-ending incident of the season. He's only scored 12 points in the last 4 races. How interesting will the silly season be if there are open seats at Red Bull AND Ferrari? And with McLaren's struggles, don't rule out there being a vacancy in Woking as well.

This wasn't a typical Vettel yawnfest. He had to sweat for this one. I couldn't help but be reminded of another German driver. One of Michael Schumacher's most impressive attributes was his ability to respond to the gauntlets laid down by his opponents. Vettel did this yesterday. He pushed as hard as he needed to push, when he needed to push, and he never gave Grosjean or Raikonnen an opportunity to pass him. His ability to find that extra tenth of a second when it mattered most was very Schumacherian.

The Hungarian Grand Prix is an agonizing 3 weeks away. Vettel has never won that event. With 3 weeks I'm sure the teams challenging Vettel and Red Bull will have analyzed themselves and there will be more reshuffling from 2nd place back. But not at the front. At this point in F1 history, how can you pick anyone but Vettel to win?

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Michael Probst
Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Seguin Does Dallas

No more "Thank you, Kessel" chants at the TD Garden. The brief Tyler Seguin era in Boston is over. He, Rich Peverley, and Ryan Button were sent to Dallas for Loui Eriksson and 3 prospects. And I can't say I'm a big fan of the deal. Although I understand it.

The Bruins make cap space for themselves in this deal, about $4 million. Which they need in order to pay Tuukka Rask and Patrice Bergeron. And they need that cap room because they gave Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley too much money. I don't think the Stars wanted Peverley (6 goals and 12 assists last year). He was a throw-in, with his $3.25 million salary cap hit.

I don't think this has much to do with Seguin partying or his attitude. He's a famous 21-year old NHL star in a hockey city, he's going to screw around. Maybe he pushed the partying a bit much, I don't know. You know who else doesn't know? The media. The media depends on Twitter and third-hand accounts to piece together what these athletes do in their social lives. Instead of just going to a bar where Seguin and his friends go, and doing first-hand journalism.

We have a tradition here in Boston when an athlete departs a team in a confounding way: there are stories told about the behind the scenes reasons for him to go. There are all sorts of stories flying around about Seguin's personal life irritating the Bruins' front office. The most salacious being that Seguin was locked in his hotel room during the playoffs, under guard to make sure he didn't leave that room. Which is probably a twisted fact. The Bruins stayed in a hotel in Boston during the playoffs, and I'm sure there were security guards in their section of the hotel, which is a standard practice when teams stay at hotels, at home and on the road.

I can't say I'm excited about losing Seguin. And I'm not excited at all about gaining Eriksson. Eriksson's ceiling for production seems to be between 25 and 30 goals. Seguin's ceiling is much higher. Eriksson is also 6 years older.

Seguin hasn't produced in the way we've expected him to, especially in the playoffs. Then again he's 21-years old. His tenure with the Bruins has always been focused on learning defense. And he bought into that defensive mindset and changed positions because of that. I would have preferred Seguin have another season here, a full season without a Swiss Lockout vacation, a full season to prove he wanted to take things seriously and take that next step as a scorer.

And here's why. Some might argue that the Bruins were on the verge of a Stanley Cup without Seguin producing. And that's true. So maybe the B's don't need him. Then again, had Seguin produced in the Finals, the Bruins win the Cup. Two timely goals in the Finals from Seguin and there's a parade not a trade.

So the Bruins didn't need Seguin to do well for the team to do well. But if he had done well, they would have won it all. He has the talent and the capability to be an over-the-top kind of player.

Ultimately, though, the salary cap forces teams to make tough decisions. I'd rather have Bergeron than Seguin. I'd rather have Rask than Seguin, although Rask at over $7 million a season for many years seems like a lot, but that's for another post.

I do wish the Bruins had been more careful with their 3rd line contracts. As good as Kelly and Peverley were in 2011, that type of player is easy to replace at a bargain rate. The type of player Seguin could be is not easily replaced. And the Bruins are paying for their generosity to those 3rd liners by giving up a potential 40+ goal scorer.

Tim Thomas to Vancouver: A Hilarious Theory

Tim Thomas is eyeing a return to the NHL next season. Yesterday his agent tweeted: "Tim Thomas has asked me to explore possible options for next season. We'll have no further comment at this time. Thanks."

The speculation has already begun. Where will Thomas end up? He'll turn 40 in April. In goalie-years he isn't collecting Social Security yet, but he is getting 10% off at IHOP and going to dinner at 5:30pm. So who would want a 1-2 year goalie (whose salary would count against the cap even if he retires) who hasn't played a competitive game since April of 2012. What kind of shape will he be in? Will he be fresher having spent so much time off, or rusty?

One funny theory I had was that Vancouver would sign him. They just traded Cory Schneider, their best goalie, to the Devils. While they're stuck with Roberto Luongo they're in a hazy grey area. Do they need a starter or a backup? Luongo only started 18 games last year. But his cap number is $5.33 million and he's signed until 2022. Vancouver has repeatedly tried and failed to trade him.

The smart thing for the Canucks to do would be to sign/develop young goalies that don't take up much cap space. Then hope Luongo is fine during the regular season, then in an annual tradition in British Columbia, pull him when he shits himself in the playoffs.

Signing Tim Thomas would not be that smart for the Canucks, unless they get him for a bargain basement price. Even then it would introduce more uncertainty and unpredictability. You'd open yourself up for an epic goaltender controversy, which is rare in the NHL. Even when two goalies compete for a spot, the goalies themselves typically get along. That would not be the case with Luongo and Thomas. Luongo publically criticized Thomas's style in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, a cardinal sin in the fraternity of net minders. And Thomas fired back. Luongo has also used his unverified Twitter account to poke fun at the former Bruins goalie's political beliefs.

Some people say 4 more years of Obama. I look at it more like 4 more years of disgruntled goalie politically charged Facebook rants! #I❤TT
— Strombone (@strombone1) November 8, 2012

These two come from completely different hockey backgrounds. Thomas had to bust his ass to get to the NHL, bouncing around the ECHL, the IHL, the AHL, along with leagues in Sweden and Finland. He didn't make his NHL debut until he was 28 years old. Luongo was a star in the Quebec Juniors, and drafted 4th overall by the Islanders, making his NHL debut for them when he was 20. A post I wrote during the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals documents the different paths Thomas and Luongo have traveled.

Watching these two guys compete for ice-time would be a great sideshow. The similarities to Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow are inescapable. Then consider Thomas's proclivity for Facebook rants, and the Twitter account Luongo maintains that isn't officially his so he can retain plausible deniability about it. This rivalry would be fought out on social media, in full view of the public. It would be such a glorious show.

There wouldn't be much sense to Vancouver signing Thomas. But the Canucks often don't allow good sense to be an obstacle when they make moves. So it could happen.

In all seriousness, though, I think the Maple Leafs are a good destination for Thomas. They have talented young goalies, but need more steadiness in that position. They could use a veteran backup who can also take over the starting job when things go wrong. That's what Toronto needs. And that's what Thomas might be able to provide. Reimer is making $1.8 million next year and Bernier is a restricted free agent.

Could you imagine Phil Kessel and Tim Thomas coming to Boston as teammates and divisional rivals? Actually, that kind of scares me a bit.

British Grand Prix: Both the Best and the Worst Race of the Season

Who in Europe is happier than Nico Rosberg after the British Grand Prix? The Michelin people in France and the Porsche people in Germany.

Pirelli's faulty tires more than just influenced Sunday's race, they posed a real danger to the drivers, both in the cars that suffered tire failure, and in the cars behind that were showered with shards of rubber and steel. There have been whispers of Michelin returning to F1, and the tire failures at Silverstone will only turn those whispers into shouts.

Why are Porsche happy? Because of how well Mark Webebr performed after a bad start. And keep in mind that Les Mans has a rolling start, so Webber's most glaring weakness as an F1 driver won't matter in his sports car career. Les Mans is also a race that's all about recovering from adversity and keeping a cool head while doing so, waiting for the race to come to you. Mr. Webber has that cool head that Porsche will need at Le Mans in 2014.

Back to Pirelli...

A tire manufacturer shouldn't be the biggest story of the World Championship. In the early season an epidemic of wear-phobia had engineers slowing their cars down and dictating conservative lap times. Then Pirelli and Mercedes had their 1000km test, which weirdly coincided with Mercedes finally figuring out how to improve the previously atrocious wear-rates on their rear tires. And now this weekend's tire failures not only dramatically affected the results of a race, they put the drivers in unacceptable jeopardy.

Thankfully Silverstone has generous run-off areas. Otherwise Sergio Perez's car might have tattooed a wall instead of harmlessly skidding over asphalt and gravel. The same goes for Felipe Massa. Thankfully the debris that sprayed Kimi Raikonnen's face wasn't that substantial. Thankfully when Fernando Alonso was behind Perez, at the very last instant before the failure Alonso moved to his right instead of left, a nanosecond before Perez's tire disintegrated. Had Alonso gone left, his car and possibly his skull would have been struck at high-speed by a large, and heavy, slab of rubber.

The cause of the failures is still being investigated. Had Pirelli not been at the focal point of issues all year long, then perhaps the initial speculation would focus more on the track being a problem, not the tires.

The importance of driver safety will hopefully unite all parties involved (the FIA, the 11 teams, and Pirelli) to strive for solutions to these tire issues. Allan Simonsen's death at Le Mans a week ago reemphasizes how dangerous racing is. And how even though there hasn't been an F1 fatality since Ayrton Senna in 1994, the reason behind that impressive safety record is relentless effort to keep the drivers as safe as possible.

It's a shame there's such a short time between now and Germany. Usually I can't stand waiting longer than a week for the next F1 race, but with so many tire issues, and another old circuit with old curbs in the Nürburgring, I'm not sure everything can be satisfactorily resolved in time.

As far as the non-tire related elements of the race, which have been a secondary story all year long, Vettel was finally bitten by bad luck, as Alonso prophesied a few weeks ago. He was cruising toward another impressive-yet-boring Vettel victory when he lost drive on the pit-straight.

Vettel might be lucky that Raikonnen was unable to fully capitalize on the misfortune. Although Alonso is closest to Vettel in points, Alonso's car doesn't seem capable of winning a Championship, no matter who drives it. Especially as other cars like the Red Bulls and Mercedes improve their pace on a much steeper curve than Ferrari has. In my opinion, Raikonnen in a Lotus is much more of a threat to Vettel than Alonso in a Ferrari.

Raikonnen didn't stop for tires during the last safety car period and it cost him. He tumbled from 2nd to 5th and lost 8 precious Championship points. He started the season maximizing the point opportunities available to him, grinding out the best finish he could given circumstances. Lately, though, that team has left points on the table.

Thankfully for Vettel, Rosberg and teammate Webber are not contenders for the Championship. Then again, Rosberg has scored 60 points in the last three races, all since that secret "safety" test with Pirelli. Rosberg only scored 22 points in the previous 5 races. Mercedes and Rosberg have certainly figured out quite a bit since that test. The Silver Arrows have had speed in them all season long. Now that they've apparently resolved their wear problems, both Rosberg and Hamilton could climb their way up the standings.

Photo Credits:
Lars Baron/Getty Images
Mark Thompson/Getty Images