BRUINS DRAFT RECAP

You probably didn't notice it, but the NHL held their draft over the weekend. Here's who the Bruins selected:

Round 1, Pick #16, Joe Colborne - Center, Camrose Kodiaks (Alberta JHL):
Considering the round, the team, the name, and the height of Joe Colborne; comparisons with Joe Thornton are inevitable. Colborne's 190 pounds don't quite fill that 6' 5" frame out, though, which is one of the reasons he'll be playing at the University of Denver this winter. He has speed, size, and plays both ways. The one knock on him is that he stays on the outside of plays a bit too much. But if he gets bigger, that should be an easily solved problem.



Round 2, Pick #47, Maxime Sauve - Center, Val D'Or Foreurs (Quebec Major JHL)
The fact that Maxime isn't just French Canadian, but was actually born in France is forgivable because of his amazingly awesome name (I'm going to call him Maxime Suave). He's small at 6' 0" 170 lbs, but makes up for that with amazing quickness and quality skating. He's a proficient scorer, as well. He'll probably stay in the QMJHL for the 08-09 season.



Round 3, Pick #77, Michael Hutchinson - Goalie, Barrie Colts (Ontario HL)
Hutchinson has recently shot up the goaltender rankings thanks to some impressive playoff performances in the OHL. Against the Brampton Battalion, he averaged 44 saves a game (in 5 games), propelling Barrie to victory in the series. Hutchinson will probably return to the Colts for the 08-09 season as he just turned 18.



Round 4, Pick #97, Jamie Arniel - Center, Sarnia Sting (OHL)
The Bruins traded up to meet Arniel, who fell all the way to the 4th round. Many had him ranked higher than Bruins' first-rounder Colborne. Arneil was a teammate in Sarnia with 1st overall pick Steve Stamkos. Arniel will try to fill Stamkos' shoes (or skates I guess) in Sarnia in 08-09.



Round 6, Pick #173, Nicholas Tremblay - Center, Smiths Falls Bears (Central Junior A HL)
Scored 51 goals, and 59 assists in 57 games last year. 5' 11" and 190 lbs.

Round 7, Pick #197, Mark Goggin - Center, Choate Rosemary Hall (Connecticut)
Another player who fell far in the draft and a good steal at 197th overall. He'll be playing in the USHL this season, as well as for Choate. He's committed to Dartmouth after he graduates. He turns 18 in about a month so he has plenty of time to grow.



That's the draft. Not too amazing, but you can see a definite interest in acquiring offense. The Bruins' specialty seemed to be players who fell for one reason or another. That can often be a good place to find value, either that or waste a pick. Not everyone falls for no reason. But trading up for Arniel seems like a solid move.

Sources:
NHL.com
Illegal Curve
HockeysFuture.com
Boston.com's Bruins Blog

Photo Credits:
CamroseKodiaks.com
IIHF/HHoF/Mikael Fritzon
TONY SAXON, GUELPH MERCURY
Andre Ringuette/Getty Images

SCHILLING'S SEASON IS OVER, POSSIBLY CAREER AS WELL

Curt Schilling will undergo shoulder surgery on Monday, ending any chance of him pitching in the 2008 season, and probably ending his career. The surgery will correct the tendon problems Schilling experienced in the off-season.

It seems as though Schilling and Dr. Craig Morgan were right. During spring training, there was that huge debate between Schilling and the Red Sox over what the best course of action with his shoulder would be. The Red Sox were worried that surgery would end his season. so they implemented a rehab and strengthening program. Ironically, this program has left no chance for Schilling to return to the team in 2008.

Source:
Associated Press

HOW THE PARADE WENT DOWN ON CAUSEWAY STREET

You know your city is dominating in sports when people have "usual spots" for victory parades. My usual spot is on Tremont Street, right outside Park Street station. Stand up on the elevated flower beds and you have a sick view of the parade without being squeezed or having to show up at sunrise. But for yesterday's Celtics game, we went to Causeway Street, right where the parade pulled out of TD BankNorth Garden.

We got there at about 9:20 AM. Around 9:40, Doc Rivers was dropped off in a taxi. That's right, a plain, ordinary taxi pulled over to the curb and Doc Rivers walked out, which drove the crowd nuts. At 10:00, Tommy Heinsohn pulled into the Garden in a minivan.

Infamous WEEI caller and Foxy Lady aficionado Frank from Gloucester was there, wearing a customized Yankee jacket and a Celtics hat. For some reason he was allowed to stand inside of the bike fences and on the street.

It didn't get really crowded until 10:30. The north side of the street started chanting the most random things. They were big fans of the "Yankees Suck" chant, as well as chanting "M-V-P" toward nobody in particular. "Kobe Sucks" was another popular one.

At 10:50, the players began climbing onto the Duck Boats in the players lot, which sent people climbing the 8 foot fence for a better look. At 11:00, the bike cops lined up on the street. At 11:10, they rolled off and the parade began. I was up front, but hardly saw Paul Pierce. I didn't see Ray Allen at all. But we had a great view of KG and most of the other players.

The best part of the parade was the stink of big fat cigars emanating from the Duck Boats. I love the smell of cigar smoke at a Celtics parade. It smells like...

Victory.

By 11:20, all the Duck Boats had gone past. They were flying. It seems like every parade drives faster and faster. And with no rally, it was quite anticlimactic, leaving everyone wanting just a little bit more. But some pizza and a few beers at Halftime Pizza afterward satiated me.

SO THAT'S THE OBSESSION WITH JD DREW

With the Celtics winning the NBA title, the Red Sox winning a series in Philadelphia flew way under the Boston sports radar. A big reason for this was the performance of JD Drew. He was 5 for 12 with 2 homers and 5 RBI in the series.

JD Drew is one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now. In June, he's hitting .441, with a .547 OBP, and a 1.085 slugging percentage. 9 of his 13 homeruns have come in this month, as have 21 of his 43 RBI.

It seems as though JD Drew may be pulling a Josh Beckett; sucking his first year in Boston, and then breaking out. He already has more homeruns in 2008 than he did last season. Here is what JD Drew is on pace for in '08:

28 HR, 93 RBI, 147 H, .327 Avg, .432 OBP, .601 SLG, 114 R.

Those are the numbers we've been waiting to see from Drew. If he continues to produce for the remainder of the season, he adds so much potency and flexibility to the lineup. With his high OBP, he can hit 1st or 2nd. With his power he can hit 3rd or 4th. With his run production he can hit 5th, or 6th.

He and the Red Sox host one of his former teams this weekend as the St. Louis Cardinals come to town. All three interleague series the Sox have played this month have been rematches of previous World Series. The Sox lost to Cincinnati in 1975, beat Philadelphia in 1915, and have played St. Louis in three World Series (1946, 1967, 2004).

Source:
ESPN.com

MORE CHAMPIONSHIP FIDDLE FADDLE

Brian Scalabrine talks trash to the media after the Celtics' blowout win in game 6:



The full "Where I remember happens" commercial about the Celtics acquiring KG:



This put-back dunk by Garnett in game 1 was one of the many little things that set the tone for this series, particularly the 3 games played in Boston.



The Celtics now have 17 NBA titles, more than any other team, and the third most titles in major North American sports. The Yankees have 26 World Series rings (which their desperate fans will not fail to remind you of), and the Montreal Canadiens have 24 Stanley Cups. HOWEVER, there have only been 62 NBA Championships, as opposed to 102 World Series, and 94 NHL Stanley Cups. The Celtics have won 27.4% of all NBA Championships. The Yankees: only 25.5%. The Canadiens: only 26.0%.

The Celtics are now 17-3 in NBA Championship Series, and 9-2 in Championship Series against the Lakers. Not much of a rivalry there.

MORE CHAMPIONSHIP FUN

Celtics
Earn
Latest
Title
In
Crushing
Style

CHAMPIONS!!!

Somewhere up in sports heaven, Red Auerbach is smoking a cigar. A cigar he lit in the 3rd quarter, because that's when Game 6 was over and done with.



The Celtics played with the intensity of a team facing elimination, while the Lakers played like a team with $1,000,000 riding on the Celtics. An absolutely dominant 2nd quarter led to a 58-35 halftime lead. Instead of coming out of the locker room fired up, the Lakers played half-assed defense, and seemed confused on offense.

Just some fun team stats from game 6. The Lakers had 2 offensive rebounds, the Celtics had 14. Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis, and Rajon Rondo had as many offensive rebounds as the Lakers did, and Kevin Garnett had 1 more. In total, the Celtics outrebounded LA 48 to 29. The Lakers stole the ball 4 times, the Celtics stole it 18 times. The Celtics turned the ball over 7 times, the Lakers turned it over 19 times.

Kobe Bryant, allegedly the best "played on the planet" (how old did that description get during this series?) shot 7 for 22. He shot 40.5% for the series.



Paul Pierce deservedly won the series MVP Award, and finished game 6 with 17 points and 10 assists. KG had 26 points and 14 rebounds. Ray Allen was 7 of 9 on three pointers and had 26 points. Rajon Rondo had another great game in Boston, with 21 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds. The bench had 39 points.



It was absolute domination, which is what the Celtics did to the league all year long. And guess what, the PGA Tour will be back next season.

Rolling rally Thursday at 11 AM.



Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Bill Sikes
AP Photo/Winslow Townson
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Boston.com

JEMELE HILL COMPARES CELTICS FANS TO NAZIS

Jemele Hill, an ESPN.com Page 2 columnist, has come under heavy fire this week for an absurd comparison in one of her columns.

"Rooting for the Celtics is like saying Hitler was a victim. It’s like hoping Gorbachev would get to the blinking red button before Reagan.”

Here is the article. As you can tell, the inflammatory comparisons have been removed. This was after an intense backlash, mostly from Celtics fans, who didn't like being lumped in with Hitler apologists.

In every documentary I've seen on neo-Nazis, I don't think I've ever heard any radical retard claim Hitler was a victim of anything.

To me, the Gorbachev/Reagan remark is even dumber, although not as offensive. Gorbachev was the architect of glasnot and one of the biggest reasons the USSR collapsed, ending the Cold War. He was a peace maker. Furthermore, if Celtics fans were rooting for Gorbachev to push the button, does that mean Jemele's fellow Pistons fans were rooting for Reagan to push the button? I was only a child in the 1980s, but I don't think anyone was rooting for anyone to push any little red buttons.

Some people, like those at the Celtics blog RedsArmy are calling for Jemele's head. The pressure ESPN.com has been under convinced them to remove the ludicrous comparisons and issue an apology. But to demand she be fired for this is insane. She has the right to say what she wants. If you don't like it, then don't read it. Who cares if her writing is still published somewhere? Act like an adult and get on with your life.

Jemele's analogies were crude, offensive, and generally stupid. But this seems to be a trend in sports journalism these days. Her entire column was a wandering rant about how much she hated the Celtics. It was repetitive and pointless. It could have been edited down to this sentence: "I like the Pistons, therefore I still hate the Celtics."

Instead, Jemele decided to go overboard. She used something called hyperbole. Hyperbole is an exaggeration used to create emphasis. For instance, the expression "Hungry enough to eat a horse," is an hyperbole used to express extreme hunger. She was trying to show how much she hated the Celtics. But she used the wrong hyperbole.

When you compare someone or something to Adolf Hitler, or Nazis; you light a figurative fire. They're incendiary words. Sometimes things can be compared to Hitler. Benito Mussolini, for instance, can be called Hitler Jr. But one has to be careful playing with fire. Jemele Hill wasn't careful. She simply thought of the most extreme comparison she could make, and didn't look back.

But that's what these journalists get paid for: to say dumb shit. The dumber and more obscenely grotesque, the better. Because with blogs, the internet, sports radio, and newspapers; being heard is more important than being right. The louder the better.

We see guys like Shaughnessey pull this sensationalist crap. But to be fair to the Shank, not only is Dan 100 times the writer Jemele is, he's also smart enough to know where the line is, and not to cross it. Shaughnessey tip-toes the line, and maybe takes a step across when you're not looking. But he doesn't blatantly leap over it like Jemele did.

Jemele Hill should rethink her philosophies on writing columns, but she won't. If she wrote more subdued and less ridiculous pieces, ESPN.com would fire her because people would stop reading. She's not an especially good writer. But her opinions spark fires. Nobody ignores a fire.