Boston Loses Two Heroes

Wednesday afternoon, Lieutenant Ed Walsh and Firefighter Michael Kennedy of the Boston Fire Department died while fighting a 9 alarm blaze on Beacon Street in Boston's Back Bay. Ed Walsh was the father of three children, all under 10 years old. Michael Kennedy served with the US Marine Corps and was a combat veteran. Both worked out of the nearby firehouse on Boylston Street, Walsh with Engine 33 and Kennedy with Ladder 15.

It's likely that yesterday's high winds, sometimes gusting over 45 MPH in Boston, rapidly intensified the fire, and quickened its spread through the 4-story Brownstone near the Charles River. You can see the effects of the wind on the flames in this stunning piece of video.

This is a sports blog, and we obsess and even gush over quarterbacks and goaltenders and pitchers and point guards. However, these are the true heroes of our city, and in cities around the country and the world. The people that run toward the flames and the explosions and the gunshots and the car crashes. The people that put their life on the line for the lives of others. For strangers.

Think about it. If your house or your apartment or your office caught fire, a group of people who may never have met you will RUSH to get there, and risk life and limb to get you out. They'll bust their ass to save your home and to protect the other homes around yours.

That's pretty amazing. That's heroic.

Which makes the loss of two such heroes all the sadder.

To our fallen heroes, rest in peace. And thank you.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson Stoned

Neil Degrasse Tyson hosts Cosmos on Fox. He also admires Sir Isaac Newton a great deal. And someone slowed down a video of him talking about Newton enough to make him sound like he was stoned out of his mind. And it's hilarious.

PK Subban and Canadiens End Bruins Winning Streak and I Start a Being Pissed Off Streak

For the Boston Bruins, playing the Montreal Canadiens is like playing with a double-edged sword. The Bruins are considerably stronger and more physical than the Habs. That's an advantage sometimes, a disadvantage at others. "It's one of those teams you want to hit," Brad Marchand remarked after the game. And this thirst for hitting can sometimes cause some Bruins to lose their cool and commit stupid penalties.

Such stupidity is exacerbated by inconsistent officials, like the ones who called the game Monday night. How does Thomas Vanek play with a broken stick and not get penalized?

I won't blame the refs for this loss, though. They eventually called plenty of penalties on Montreal. The Bruins only capitalized on one power play. And they failed to convert many other 5-on-5 opportunities. Give credit to Peter Budaj for a great game. The Bruins also didn't seem to receive passes very well. The closer the B's got to Montreal's net, the more jittery they seemed.

The Bruins also played into Montreal's game. When Milan Lucic gets hip-checked at the start of the game, Zdeno Chara can't go over and take a penalty just to send a message. ESPECIALLY Chara, your most important penalty killer.

The Bruins are a better 5-on-5 team than Montreal. Therefore the B's should do what they can to keep it 5-on-5.

I hate PK Subban. He is more of a late 1990s WWF heel than a 2014 NHL defenseman. His manager is Mr. Fuji, or Jim Cornette. The Undertaker challenged him to a casket match and he chickened out.

Subban would be a great hockey player if he'd just play hockey. The problem is, he can't help being himself. It's natural for him to act the way he acts with the Canadiens. His comfort zone is how he's played in Montreal for years. I hate when Boston media pundits say "You'd love to have him on your team." I would, ONLY under the condition that he just played hockey. It's one thing to be pesky, it's another thing to be a flopper who only picks on guys smaller than he is. If he continued to be the turd that he's been in Montreal, I wouldn't want him polluting the game with his WWE antics while wearing my team's colors.

In case you can't tell, I get emotional about games against the Canadiens.

That's what rivalry is all about. I love it.

This game has generated some interesting goaltending questions for both teams. If the Bruins and Habs meet in the playoffs, does Carey Price start in net for Montreal?

And for the Bruins, Tuukka Rask's record against the Canadiens remains something to worry about. He seemed to play more aggressively in this game than he normally does, venturing out of the crease more often, and moving further out than usual.

Lost in all this is that the B's still earned a point, and are now 4 away from clinching the Atlantic. They host the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday night, and if the B's win and the Tampa Bay Lightning lose to the Islanders, then the Bruins will claim the division title.

Photo Credit:
Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Red Sox Give Crybaby David Ortiz $16 Million to Shut Up

I love David Ortiz as a player. However at times, many many times, he acts like a spoiled whiny cry baby. And once again that baby got his bottle. The Red Sox agreed to a one-year extension of his contract, which will pay the designated hitter $16 million in 2015 when he's 39 years old. The contract will extend to 2016 if he reaches a certain number of plate appearances (425 for an $11 million deal, 600 for $16 million).

There was no on-the-field, baseball reason for the Red Sox to sign him to this extension. This was to silence a crying baby. Which makes me happy. I just want Ortiz to shut up. Stop worrying about your contract, about the official scorer giving you RBIs, about every sportswriter who criticizes you. Just shut up and play baseball. This contract shuts him up. The baby is silent.

We don't yet know if Ortiz's bat will be worth $16 million in 2015. But his silence in 2014 is.

Photo Credit:
Jeff Miron/USA Today

Bruins Win 12 in a Row Thanks to Number 12, Jarome Iginla

In the middle of the biggest basketball weekend of the year, your Boston Bruins were the 5th story on SportsCenter Sunday morning. That's because they won their 12th straight Saturday night, coming from behind in the 3rd period to beat the Phoenix Coyotes 4-2.

The streak is the longest in franchise history since the 1970-71 season when the B's won 13 in a row. The franchise record is 14 straight from the 1929-30 season. Also over the weekend, the Bruins clinched a playoff berth. That's 7 consecutive years of playoff hockey in Boston.

I came up with a theory to explain this winning streak. Maybe when the Bruins didn't do much at the NHL trade deadline, the team felt that management had confidence in them. Maybe this motivated the players. Maybe it lit a spark, sparked a fire, fired them up. Name your cliche.

That'd be a nice story, but I think this streak is a result of mathematics, not psychology.

K + I + L = 17

That's Krejci (3 goals) plus Iginla (11 goals) plus Lucic (3 goals) equals 17 goals. That's how many the top line have scored in the past 12 games. Iginla scored twice in the win over Phoenix.

I'm going to start calling this line The Killers, because their initials are KIL. Think it will catch on?

The story of the streak has been offense: the first line has scored 17 goals, Patrice Bergeron has scored 5, Carl Soderberg 4, Gregory Campbell 3, Zdeno Chara and Dougie Hamilton each have 6 assists in the streak. The offense is coming from all 4 lines and from all the defensemen, including the newly acquired Andrej Meszaros, who has a goal and 3 assists in his 7 games with the Bruins.

And while the team's been scoring, they haven't allowed their opponents to come from behind. Mainly due to this next equation:

31/34 = 91.2%

The Bruins have killed 31 of 34 penalties during this stretch. Earlier this month the Bruins killed 5 penalties against Phoenix and won 2-1. The B's killed 4 against Florida on March 9th and won 5-2. They haven't allowed their opponents to get back into games with power play goals.

Hopefully the B's have finally figured out how to kill penalties without Dennis Seidenberg.

The Bruins hope to extend their streak with a win over Montreal tonight at the Garden.

The Bruins currently stand with 103 points, tied with the St. Louis Blues for the best record in the NHL. They're also 6 points ahead of Pittsburgh in the East and 17 ahead of Tampa Bay in the Atlantic. That's a 17 point lead with 11 games left. The Bruins are 6 points away from clinching the division and could claim that title as early as Thursday.

Photo Credit:
Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

BC Basketball Needed a Change in Direction

A week ago, Boston College's basketball season ended when they lost 73-70 in overtime TO Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament. This week, head coach Steve Donahue's tenure at BC also ended. It was a much needed change, for both the team and for Donahue.

BC lost 24 games this season. 9 of those were by 4 points or fewer. The Eagles were 3-9 in those close games (one of those victories was over Florida Atlantic). They had the ability to keep up with good teams, even beat Syracuse on the road, but when games were determined in the last 2-4 minutes their performance level typically dropped. They didn't rise to the occasion, they did the opposite.

As a team they were too tightly strung. They played too much with their brains and not their bodies. They lacked aggression, thinking too much instead of acting. Basketball is a game of decisiveness, and they played with indecision.

In the recruiting department they resembled an Ivy League team more than ACC team. They had quality players like Olivier Hanlan, and a handful of decent role players, but no strong athletes who could carry a team either defensively or offensively. And guys like Hanlan played soft and weak, especially when games were on the line.

And before BC people use the old "Academic Standards" refrain, those standards might make it tough to win 24 games, they don't make it so you lose 24.

Steve Donahue is a good coach. He's just not the right coach. In hindsight, BC took a guy from a small pond (Cornell and the Ivy League) and transplanted him to a shark infested ocean. Donahue got his Cornell Big Red to the Sweet 16, which is impressive, but winning two NCAA games pales in comparison to playing 18 ACC games a season.

Donahue's Eagles could win big games every once and awhile, but struggled with consistency. They could be great for 40 minutes, but failed to be good for 400 minutes. This year they were 240th in the country in points per game, 269th in points allowed, 326th in rebounds, 154th in shooting percentage.

Hopefully Donahue finds a job that fits better. Let's also not forget that he inherited a BC team that was struggling. So he was tasked with turning a team around in one of the toughest leagues in the country.

Harvard's Tommy Amaker is reportedly the leading candidate for the opening at BC. I like Amaker, but I'm not sure it's smart to once again hire an Ivy League success story. Amaker has turned Harvard into a relative powerhouse in one of the worst leagues in the country. Big fish, small pond.

Then again, he's coached in power conferences before, in both the Big East (Seton Hall) and Big Ten (Michigan). He also played in the ACC at Duke.

Then again, he never brought Michigan to the NCAA tournament and was criticized for teams that underperformed in pressure situations. That kind of sounds like what BC's been experiencing under Donahue.

THEN AGAIN, Amaker helped rebuild a Michigan program that was recovering from a scandal. Under Amaker, Michigan had significant success in the NIT. As a program, BC is in recovery mode. They shouldn't be looking for someone who can bring them to the promised land, they need someone who will turn the program around and get things going in the right direction.

But if you're Amaker, do you want to coach at BC? If you do well and bring the program back to NCAA contention, but can't get any further than the opening rounds, they'll replace you. If you don't turn things around, they'll replace you.

It is a challenge. And Amaker seems to thrive on challenges. I'm writing this 10 minutes before his Harvard Crimson tip-off in the NCAA Tournament. If they do well, he might have better job offers than BC.

Jarome Finneginla Leads Bruins to St. Patrick's Day Win

The Bruins won their 9th straight Monday night against the Minnesota Wild in convincing fashion. Jarome Iginla scored twice. Loui Eriksson scored as well, and Reilly Smith scored his 19th of the season. Zdeno Chara had two assists.

Iginla has scored 25 goals this season, and as I think about his potential contributions in the upcoming playoffs, I can't help but imagine how much he might have helped the Bruins last year. When the B's faced the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Finals, they had run out of healthy and performing forwards. Iginla might have been the difference, or at least helped the Bruins force the series to 7 games. At least he's part of the team now.

Tuukka Rask made a couple of big saves in this game, much to Mikko Koivu's chagrin. Rask stopped 33 of 34. As part of this 9 game winning streak he's won 6 times, only allowing 9 goals (1.5 per game) with a save percentage of .947 (161 saves on 170 shots).

But the big story of the streak has been the offense. The B's have scored 36 goals in the last 9 games. If you've forgotten your multiplication tables, that's 4 goals per game.

One reason for the offensive success is the IKEA line of Loui Eriksson and Carl Soderberg. The two Swedish Fish combined for a goal Monday night and have combined for 5 goals in this streak. Not bad for the third line.

The top line has been leading the way. The aforementioned Iginla has scored 8 goals in this streak, including 5 in the last 3 games. David Krejci and Milan Lucic have each scored 3.

So 14 goals from the top line + 5 goals from the Swedish connection + contributions from everyone else + Rask playing well in net = 9 straight wins.

The Bruins now stand with 97 points, first in the Eastern Conference (5 points ahead of Pittsburgh), tied for the second best record in the NHL. With 14 games remaining, the Bruins have a 16 point lead over Tampa Bay and Montreal in the divisional race. The B's are 13 points away from clinching the division and home ice in the first two rounds. They're 7 points away from clinching a playoff spot.

They now embark on a weird road trip, playing in New Jersey Tuesday night, then Colorado on Friday and Phoenix on Saturday. The Bruins end the season with 15 games in 23 days, so clinching stuff will give them a chance to rest key players (Iginla, Chara, Rask) for the playoffs.

Photo Credit:
Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Brandon LaFell Is the Opposite of Danny Amendola

The Patriots signed Brandon LaFell, formerly of the Carolina Panthers, to a three year deal.

What I like about this signing is that LaFell's strengths are the same as Danny Amendola's weaknesses.

LaFell is big. He's 6' 2" and 208 pounds, which is 3 inches taller and 25 pounds larger than Amendola.

Lafell stays healthy. He's played in 14+ games every year he's been in the League. He's played 60 games in 4 years and started all 16 last year.

Danny Amendola is a player who comes with lots of "ifs." IF he can stay on the field, IF he can avoid injury. The only if with LaFell is "If he continues to be what he's been."

He's caught 36+ passes in all 4 of his seasons. He's caught for 600+ yards in each of his last 3 seasons. In the last 2 years he's averaged about 3 catchers per game for 43.5 yards.

His numbers are far from eye-popping. He's clearly not a game-changer at wide receiver. If this were baseball, I'd say he's like a #3 or #4 starter in the rotation. An innings eater. Or maybe a middle reliever. You don't win because of him but he does help you win.

And that's where he currently fits in on the Patriots roster. Let's just assume you can't rely on Amendola to stay healthy. The WR depth chart goes: Julian Edelman, LaFell, then Kenbrell Thompkins and Aaron Dobson. With LaFell in there, there's a less severe drop off from Edelman to Thompkins and Dobson. That means less pressure on those sophomore receivers, and someone besides Edelman that Brady can target.

He's an innings eater. He's a receptions eater.

I still think the Patriots could use more help at wide receiver, but the market is drying up. It's getting close to last call and the Patriots seem to be considering going home with psychopath Kenny Britt. I typically don't mind low-risk/high-reward signings like Britt would be, however I think adding uncertainty to an already very uncertain position might not be very sound. Not without finding another pass catcher with more reliability on and off the field. If you had a group of running backs with fumbling issues, would you address that issue by signing another one with butterfingers?

Then again, Britt is 6' 3." And he might be Building 19 cheap.*

*For those who don't know what Building 19 is, it used to be a really cheap store. Cheaper than Wal-Mart cheap