GLEN DAVIS: WHEN KEEPING IT REAL GOES WRONG

On the eve of the Celtics' 2009-2010 "Reclaim What's Ours" Campaign, Glen Davis decided to keep it real. He was out Saturday night and early Sunday morning, with a friend. Then his friend said something about Davis' girlfriend. Davis and his friend kept it real, fought for 15 to 20 minutes, then cooled down and continued to hang out. Except Davis broke his thumb in the altercation. And now he's out for a few months.

Way to keep it real, Big Baby. And way to live up to your nickname.

Source:
AP via ABC News

CELTICS PREVIEW

That blank banner, just begging to be dressed with letters and numbers, adorns the Celtics' practice facility in Waltham. It both sums up the ultimate shortcomings of last season as well as the hope for this upcoming campaign.

The Celtics have something in 2009-10 that they lacked in 07-08: depth. Oh yeah, and a point guard. Rajon Rondo matured into a near-elite level PG last season, averaging 8.2 assists and 11.9 points per game. Compare that to the Championship year when he was 5.1 and 10.6 in those categories.



Marquis Daniels backs up Ray Allen at the other guard spot. I'm not a huge Ray Allen fan, and I think he's lost more than a step. He's also been inconsistent in big games, occasionally busting open with 25 points, and sometimes holding himself to less than 8. Daniels can eat up a lot of minutes, allowing Allen to keep his legs energized.



Rasheed Wallace is another starter-turned-backup that will play in support of a guy who needs extra rest. Last year when the starters went out, this team struggled big time to stay above water. With Daniels and Wallace, they might even be able to extend leads when they sit KG, Pierce, and Ray Ray.



Kevin Garnett is the X factor. It's a long season, and I wouldn't have minded if they kept him off the roster for the first month of it. He's got to be 90% or better for the Celtics to have a chance at Banner #18.



The C's should win the Atlantic Division with ease. Last year they beat the 76ers by 21 games. What really matters will be the playoffs. That's where I think Rondo, Daniels, and Wallace will have their biggest impact.

I think the Celtics go to the NBA Finals, before losing in a tight series against the Lakers. Hopefully I'm right about the finals berth and wrong about the victor.

TAMPA BAY IS FALLING DOWN, FALLING DOWN, FALLING DOWN... TAMPA BAY IS FALLING DOWN, MY FAIR LADY

94-7. That's how much the Patriots have outscored their last two opponents. The 87 point combined margin of victory is just 1 shy of the NFL post-merger record, set by Kansas City. And once again, it could have been a much wider deficit.

Inside the pocket, Tom Brady looked like 2007's Tom Brady. He stepped up at the right time, was patient with the ball, and made excellent decisions with his feet. He threw two interceptions, and both were his fault. His pick in the end zone was particularly painful, and was his first red zone INT since 2005.



The defense was solid once again. Meriweather picked off two passes, and both INTs came as a result of a consistent pass rush. The Pats stopped the run enough in the first few drives, and once the offense was up 21-0, the rushing game was off the table, and it was teeing off time. Chung, Burgess, and Wright each had sacks. Banta-Cain had 2 tackles for a loss. Adalius Thomas didn't play much, but seemed to play decently when he was on the field.



Wes Welker is back. He caught 10 passes for 107 yards and a TD. He also had 53 punt return yards (13.3 average). In the last 3 games, he has 343 receiving yards, 4 TDs, and 28 catches.



The running game was disappointing, especially since Tampa Bay is very vulnerable to a ground game. Maroney looked like his normal frustrating and frustrated self. Green-Ellis had 6 yards on 7 carries.

The Pats need to work on several things for the next 2 weeks. The left side of the O-line was heavily penalized, and frequently beaten by the outside pass rush. The afore mentioned running game could have been a lot more efficient and punishing. When Tampa Bay was able to absorb the pass rush, they exploited monumental inadequacies in the Pats' secondary. Those inadequacies need to be hidden better, and the pass rush needs to be more consistent.

But 35-7 is 35-7. 5-3 is 5-3.

It's bye week time for the Pats. And then starts an unholy stretch of games. From November 8 to December 6, they play 5 games. 3 of those are on the road. It goes Miami, @ Indy, Jets, @ Saints, @ Miami. That's make or break material.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Tom Hevezi
AP Photo/Stephan Savoia
AP Photo/Matt Dunham

OTTAWA MIRACLE

Mixed emotions about this game. On the one hand, the Bruins scored 2 goals in the last 88 seconds to force an overtime, and eventually triumph in the shootout. On the other hand, they NEEDED 2 goals to force an overtime.

If this were just an isolated game, it would be a thrilling victory to be celebrated and enjoyed. But the Bruins have developed an awful habit of inconsistency. They played a solid 1st period, a fantastic 2nd period, and for 18 minutes in the 3rd they let the Senators dominate them. It's got to stop.

Tim Thomas was Jedi-like in this game. His stat line isn't impressive (27 saves on 30 shots), but without him this game would've been 5-1 or worse. And that's not an exaggeration. He made some inhuman saves, staying in plays that no other goalie could stay in.



Derek Morris has another good game. But not many Bruins did. Blake Wheeler scored a goal, but also had some dreadful giveaways. Bergeron, Ference, Stuart, and Wideman all made nervous looking passes.

This team's problem isn't a lack of fire, it's a lack of focus. They don't have that workmanlike attitude that characterized their regular season play last season. They'll be too casual for 15 minutes at a time, trying to make cross-ice passes that are broken up by a defender literally 2 feet from them. They'll lose battles along the boards, and make moronic decisions with the puck. Then after 15 minutes of this, and an opponent's goal or two, they'll have fire and play with a fury for 10 minutes.

They don't need a fire lit under them. They don't need players traded to "send a message." They need veteran guys like Chara, Sturm, Savard (when he returns), and Rechhi to play with a collected passion and an even keel. When Aaron Ward and PJ Axelsson left, this team lost some of its calm and confident character. That needs to be replaced from within. And I think eventually it will be.

The Bruins have 6 power play goals. They've allowed 3 shorthanded goals. They'd better find that character.

Almost a week off until the B's host the Devils on Thursday.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Fred Chartrand

BC RUNS OUT OF LUCK

The Eagles were looking for their 7th straight win over the Fighting Irish, bowl eligibility, and their first road win of the season. But they turned the ball over 5 times in a closely fought contest in South Bend.

The BC defense was excellent, holding Notre Dame to 5 for 15 on 3rd downs, and coming up with some big stops. Combined with punter Ryan Quigley, the Eagles dominated the field possession battle, but didn't do much with that advantage.

BC wasn't supposed to win this game, but the 5 turnovers cost them what would have been a season-making win. Not only would they have secured bowl eligibility, they could have cracked the Top 25, or at least gotten themselves to the precipice of doing so.

BC comes home and plays Central Michigan on Halloween. But CMU is no pushover. The Chippewas are 7-1 (4-0 on the road, including @ Michigan State), so BC will have their work cut out for them.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Michael Conroy

I'VE NEVER BEEN HAPPIER WITH AN OT LOSS

The Bruins went in to Philadelphia with a lineup riddled with injuries and jet lag. Well maybe not jet lag, but they certainly weren't fresh after a hard-fought 3-2 win over Nashville on Wednesday and a flight down to Philly. Despite all this, they put in a solid effort, and nearly won 2 points.

This was the first time all season that the B's put together two respectable games in a row. If not for a touch of bad luck, they would've also had their first 2 game win streak of the season.

Two of Philly's goals were a bit fortunate. Although most hockey goals are lucky bounces that come after a series of good plays (or defensive mistakes). Philly's first score came off Mark Stuart, easily beating Tuuka Rask. Stuart was involved in the 2nd Flyer goal, too. He was hit by Steve Begin's stick in the face, went down in the slot, and Philly took full advantage.

Rask might be the best backup goalie in the NHL. He's got the skill-set, and he plays smart. He might have some regrets about Philly's 3rd goal, but he also made big positional stops on Flyer breakouts.

Derek Morris finally earned my unhate. I still don't like him, but I don't hate him. But he is on probation. He had a nice power play goal (set-up by beautiful work from Zdeno Chara) and an assist on Begin's game-tying goal.

Byron Bitz, Steve Begin, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci were all in top form.

I was a bit confused about the shootout lineup Julien put out there. Sturm, Ryder and Krejci would be my first choices. But I'll also give credit to Ray Emery, who made some game saving stops in regulation and the shootout.

Bruins host the Senators Saturday night.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Michael Perez

Why London?

Later today, the Patriots will be on their way to London. They'll be practicing at a cricket field, and playing in a soccer stadium. This is part of the NFL's latest attempt to globalize their game. And it will also be their latest failure. Outside of the US, there just simply isn't demand or even room for American football.

Remember NFL Europe? Rohan Davey does. Teams in London, Spain, Scotland, Germany, and the Netherlands. By the end of the now defunct League, 5 of the 6 teams were German, the only country that seemed to develop any sort of fan following. Even there, most of the fans in attendance were transplanted Americans who worked or studied abroad and wanted to enjoy their nation's sports in another language.

England is the wrong place to try American football. The NFL thinks the game will translate there because the language already does. But ask Finnish hockey players, Chinese basketball players and Cuban baseball players if language matters in the globalization of a sport.

The NFL will point to the popularity of rugby in the UK as a reason to market American football there. To me, that's more of a seat-taken kind of sign, rather than a seat-open sign. If British sports fans want a hard-hitting game, they'll watch rugby. In fact, most Brits consider football to be slow-paced, because of all the stoppages. Europeans are accustomed to sports that rarely stop. That's why hockey and basketball have flourished there.

If the NFL wants to market in Europe, it should play games in Germany, not Britain. The Germans showed the most interest in NFL Europe. Germans like Sebastian Vollmer are gradually becoming part of the NFL. Germans don't have a physical sport of their own like rugby to play/watch. And unlike other Europeans, Germans love things that are efficiently planned and rigidly timed. NFL games are efficiently planned and rigidly timed.



And you know what, you don't need to play a game in Britain or Germany in order to get people to notice you. With global communications today, anyone everywhere can watch any sport they want. So just pay some popular German TV station to broadcast one NFL game a week. If it catches on, the station might start to pay the NFL.

But in the end, football will never be a popular sport worldwide. It's funny how it is the dominant #1 in the US, while the rest of the Big Four sports do much better abroad (basketball in 6 continents, hockey in Eastern and Northern Europe, and baseball in the Caribbean and Pacific Rim).

The world knows about American football, and few care. And I don't care that they don't care. That is until my team has to go to England to play in a promotional game that will ultimately be a marketing failure.

OH YEAH, NASHVILLE DOES HAVE A TEAM

The lineup that took the ice Wednesday night wasn't exactly what Coach Claude Julien and Bruins fans had envisioned at the start of the season. But the one thing the Bruins had at the start of the season, and is being tested at the moment, is depth at forward.

There were several firsts in this game. Brad Marchand's assist of Michael Ryder's goal was his first NHL point. Steve Begin's game winning goal in the 3rd was his first as a Bruin. And he was assisted by Daniel Paille, getting his first point in a Bruins uniform.

It was a nice win, and a solid win, but Nashville sucks. And the trouble with the Bruins hasn't been winning, it's been winning two games in a row. Tomorrow night in Philly will be a much tougher test.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Winslow Townson