I’m scanning the experts’ picks. And I don’t see them.
I don’t claim to be an NBA guru. Frankly, I can’t watch the game unless the schedule says “May.” The season is achingly long, player efforts patchy at best, daily officiating so bad it’s hilarious. Games in December mean less than nothing: Frankly, it’s probably best not to play your stars every night, keep them ready and rested, and get everyone fresh for the playoffs.
Yes, I don’t know anything, but I know one thing. The Boston Celtics will have the worst record in the NBA.
And still scanning the experts at Sports Illustrated, Yahoo! pundits, ESPN pundits — no one has Boston in the background. Portland is the consensus choice. Toronto gets some votes. Atlanta and Charlotte are mentioned. But where are my Celtics?
People are probably blindsided by Paul Pierce. And of course, he has incredible talent. But where has that taken the team in recent seasons? As the Antoine Walker era recedes further and further into the past, Boston gets worse and worse. And now the saviors are… Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and Wally Szczerbiak? Uh no. This is a team with no point guard (Telfair and rookie Rajon Rondo don’t count), no legitimate center (Kedrick Perkins definitely doesn’t count, and Ratliff is 107 and injured), no weight control (hello, Al Jefferson!), and no defense (coach Doc Rivers has given up coaching the team every season he’s been in Beantown). I think the Celts can score 100 a night? Insurance. Do I think they will prevent their opponents from scoring 120? That would be no.
Pierce just signed a long-term contract to remain the centerpiece of the franchise, and I guess that makes for a good story. He’s always seemed like a pretty good guy to me, though he did apparently upset more than one Team USA official at the World Championships a few years back. But despite all the draft picks Boston has boasted over the past two seasons, Gerald Green, Rondo, Jefferson, Tony Allen, Delonte West…none of them can really play, so this team is just Pierce and the Piercettes. And when the going gets tough in Boston, it can be a brutal place to play.
Red Auerbach lived a great and full life before passing away last week. In some ways, it might be a good thing that he didn’t live to see this.
We still have two undefeated teams in the NFL: Indianapolis and Chicago. They each have a tough matchup coming up. The Colts go to New England this week and the Bears go to the Giants in two weeks. Any chance either of these teams will go 16-0?
BoDog Bookmakers, BoDog.ws: Obviously these two teams are firing on all cylinders, but hoping for one team to go undefeated would probably be too much. The rigors of a full season take their toll on the body and mind. But as we’ve already seen in Chicago (vs. Arizona and Minnesota) and Indianapolis (vs. Tennessee and NY Giants), sometimes it doesn’t matter who you face each week, because no team is willing to just lie down. Every NFL team now has additional motivation to beat these two clubs. However, should it happen, Chicago has by far the easiest schedule for the remainder of the season. His combination of stingy defense and explosive offense could do just that.
What did you think of Tony Romo’s performance in Carolina last week? Will the Cowboys make the playoffs now?
BDB, BoDog.ws: We have to remember that Tony Romo has only started one game in his NFL career. While he does take a fresh look at defenses across the league, he will face tougher competition than the lackluster Carolina Panthers (who were horrible on Sunday). Don’t forget that Romo threw three interceptions against the Giants, and it’s hard for a first-year starter not to force passes to receivers that require a touch from Dan Marino or John Elway. It all comes with experience, and Romo will have to learn on the job from now on. The date Cowboys fans should have marked on their calendar is December 25 vs. Philadelphia at home. That game is likely to have huge playoff ramifications for both clubs.
USC’s loss to Oregon State has made college football nervous. Do you expect the winner of the West Virginia/Louisville game to play the winner of the Ohio State/Michigan game in the BCS title game? Is there any way, apart from the big surprises, that we can avoid this scenario?
BDB, BoDog.ws: That would be the likely scenario as it stands now. How the programmers decided to put Ohio State vs. Michigan in the final game of the season is something that should get a lot of press and opinion when the time comes. Keep an eye out for Rutgers, who could play spoiler next week if Louisville beats West Virginia on Thursday. Now wouldn’t that be something?
Should we stop the NHL season right now and give the Stanley Cup to the Buffalo Sabres?
BDB, BoDog.ws: I’ve been impressed with the Sabers since the start of last season, and while they’ve certainly jumped out of the gate quickly, let’s try not to jump to conclusions. They have a solid, fast and young core that plays very well as a unit, but as we know, the NHL season is long and grueling, where injuries to key players can ruin any team’s hopes. We should have a better idea when All-Star Break rolls around in late January, but I’d say they’re clearly a force to be reckoned with.
