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

NESN Is Foolish to Break Up the Naoko-Edwards-Brickley Line

NESN has decided not to renew the contract of Bruins "sideline" reporter Naoko Funayama, so as of this summer she will no longer be working for the regional sports network.

You fools!

She was great. She did her job well. Her reports were concise and to the point. She wasn't distracting. She didn't steer the broadcast away from the game. She played her part in the well-balanced line of Funayama-Edwards-Brickley. Edwards brought the colorful character, Brickley brought the expert analysis, and Funayama brought the ground-level reporting.

Funayama did what fewer and fewer sideline reporters do: REPORT. She had a good rapport with the players, and she was respected by everyone (as evidence by the stream of Tweets about her losing her job). Who else would inspire both media colleagues and Bruins players to mourn her departure?

Naoko is pro at rink and better person. Type to keep, not let go. Genius move, NESN.
— Fluto Shinzawa (@GlobeFluto) June 28, 2013

@NaokoFunayama naoko .....:(
— Tyler Seguin (@tylerseguin92) June 28, 2013

The word "Naoko" is trending on my Twitter at the moment. For a sideline reporter. On this week of all weeks in Boston sports.

I don't know why NESN did this. It certainly can't be for failing to do her job. They must have a replacement in mind.

Maybe she'll be replaced by some bleached blonde bimbo with hair extensions who spends less time reporting in the dressing room than she does undressing players with her eyes.

Maybe she'll be replaced by some Bill Simmons type, who doesn't try to get a good answer, but rather tries to ask a question that becomes a story in and of itself.

Maybe NESN wants Bruins broadcasts to be like Red Sox broadcasts, and have a sideline reporter that moderates social media discussions, and relentlessly promotes the non-sports aspects of the on-air product.

Or maybe she'll be replaced by Leah Hextall, who is a fine reporter, and Ron Hextall's niece, but I just don't see the need to replace Naoko at all.

Unfortunately, working hard, being respected by peers and interviewees alike, and taking your job seriously are no longer the hallmarks of sports journalism. This is the era of the loud, bombastic, speculative sports journalist. This is the era when eye candy is more important than substance. This is the era when a TV channel would rather employ a reporter who asks questions that piss off the interviewee, as opposed to a reporter who gets their questions answered.

Latest Photo of Patrice Bergeron

Patrice Bergeron was recently released from the hospital. He played Game 6 with a broken rib and torn cartilage. After the game he punctured a lung (had it punctured during the game he would have been physically incapable of playing). Even though the B's didn't win the Cup, it's impossible to not be proud of the effort they put into this playoff run, from Campbell's broken leg to Bergeron's flesh wounds.