George's Blog

So is it now the Big FIVE ... Garnett, Pierce, Allen, Rondo AND Bass?
Certainly the Celtics don't beat the Sixers last night without the "other guy" in the starting lineup. Brandon Bass scored 18 of his game high 27 in the third quarter as the Celts rallied to a 101-85 win at the Garden. Toss in KG's 20 and Greg Stiemsma's 12 points and three blocks and Boston did what they had to do to earn a 3-2 lead in the series. It wasn't a blowout by any means ... Philly will comeback ready to play in Game Six ... but if Boston keeps getting contributions from the Bass's and Stiemsma's of the world you've got to feel pretty good about their chances.

Meanwhile a dominating performance by the Devils last night in game four of their Stanley Cup Eastern final with the Rangers. While the shot numbers were even at 29 a piece, the game clearly belonged to NJ all the way. With things tied up 2-2 we may well be staring a Game Seven right in the face.

Stopped by Centennial Field yesterday and work continues at a rapid rate on the old ballpark ... five of the new light towers are in place ... the plan is to have all eight of them up by the end of the week with testing of the new lights coming as soon as this weekend. The new Jumbotron scoreboard should start to go up on the back of the soccer pressbox in left field next week ... meanwhile work is well underway on a new visitors locker room. The long abandoned rest room/concession stand directly below the old soccer pressbox is being renovated into the new facility for Lake Monsters opponents. It will be ready when the Monsters open the NY Penn League season on June 18th.

The hottest team in the playoffs belongs to the San Antonio Spurs ... with their win last night over the Clippers the Spurs are now 8-0 this playoff season ... sweeps of Utah and LAC ... next up OKC or the Lakers ... that will be OKC ... in what should be a heck of a series.

The LA Kings failed to nail down their spot in the Stanley Cup finals yesterday ... getting shut out 2-0 at home by Phoenix ... still up three games to one the Kings look good to make it to the finals for first time since 1993. Tonight the Rangers and Devils play game four in their series at The Rock in Newark ... John Tortorella has been talking trash since the Rangers win in game three ... complaining about the Devils embellishing penalty calls. It should add a little more oomph to that series.

The Red Sox are now 3-2 on their current eight game road trip after taking two out of three in Philadelphia over the weekend. Seems that after Josh Beckett's infamous golf outing and subsequent shellacking in his next start that David Ortiz called a team meeting and let's just say that a lot of air was cleared. Since then Sox have gone 8-2. Beckett was great for the second straight start yesterday and the Sox head into Baltimore for the first game of a three game series tonight looking pretty good ... despite an ongoing spate of injuries.
Of note too, they did just fine the last two games in Philly with Ortiz at first base and Adrian Gonzalez in right field.

Okay ... full disclosure here. I went to bed last night with the Lakers holding a seemingly comfortable lead early in the fourth quarter in their game against the Thunder. I was all set to write the obligatory blog this AM ... you know ... "I predicted OKC in a sweep and now the series is all even so I'm never going to make another prediction ... or if I do don't believe me." So here I wake up this morning to find the Lakers blew it ... does that make Friday night any easier to take Celtics fans? ... and the Thunder came back to win and now can wrap the series with a win in game five. So while it will not be a sweep it is still looking like I was a whole lot closer to right than I thought. It will make my Sunday a whole lot more enjoyable.

Meanwhile with the Clippers on the brink of elimination and the Lakers sliding away that leaves the Kings as potentially the only team still standing at the Staples Center. As a hockey guy ... I AM LOVING IT! Now watch them lose to Phoenix today ... no, that is not going to happen.

Good win for the Sox last night in Philly ... the bullpen continues to shine ... but Jon Lester is driving me nuts ... 5-1 lead and he immediately gives three runs right back. Jon ... you are our #1 ... TRUST YOUR STUFF and just go after guys! Thank you.

Choke ... Choke!! ... CHOKE!!!
No excuses ... no weak explanations ... the Celtics choked away a playoff game last night in Philadelphia! They may well still come back and win the series ... in six or seven games I think they still will. But whatever happened to Celtics Pride? Last night was an embarrassment!

The Rangers/Devils play game three of their series today in Jersey, but while I'm as big a hockey guy as there is I doubt that I'll watch very much of it. On a beautiful late spring Saturday I've got things to do outside. There is no way a Stanley Cup playoff game should be played a 1:00 on a Saturday afternoon, but NBC has the game ... and then later they have the Preakness and so they get to make the call. It will be the same thing tomorrow when the Kings and Coyotes will faceoff at 3:00 our time ... NOON in LA ... in game four of their series ... Ridiculous!

If you are looking for a sleeper in the upcoming VPA Division One baseball tournament you might want to take a look at BFA-St. Albans. BFA beat up on Essex yesterday 12-1 to go to 11-2 on the season. CVU is establishing themselves as the clear favorite up here in the North ... you know Brattleboro and Mt. Anthony will be strong down South ... but keep an eye on those Bobwhites.

Things seem to be upside down in LaLa Land ... while the Lakers and the Clippers are both struggling in their second round NBA playoff series the Kings are rolling through the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Kings beat Phoenix last night and now hold a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference Final ... they are one win away from a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. The team that came into the playoffs as the eight seed in the west has shocked the world ... or more accurately has proven to us what we sometimes forget ... the fact that sometimes the second season can be entirely different from the first.
"Just get in baby ... then anything can happen." The Kings are 11-1 in the second season. Enough said ...

The Red Sox Cody Ross made amends last night. After he turned a routine fly ball into an ugly adventure on Wednesday night under the dome at Tampa Bay he bounced back with his bat last night, driving in four of Boston's five runs in a 5-3 win over the Rays. The Sox get a split with the Rays ... now it is into Philadelphia ... three with the Phillies ... and the hope is they don't have to worry about facing Jonathan Papelbon. Hey, if the Phils don't have the lead heading to the ninth there will not be a need to bring in their closer.

Oh, has anyone noticed the Yankees lately? They fell 4-1 in Toronto to the Jays last night ... two loses at Rogers Centre in which they were outscored by a combined score of 12-1. Sorry ... I just couldn't resist ...