As I watched the 2007 NFL draft unfold, I couldn’t help but hold skepticism over some uncharacteristic moves that were….well, uncharacteristic of the New England Patriots. First, of course, was their decision to draft embattled defensive back Brandon Meriweather out of the U. While very talented and highly touted heading into the draft, he will forever be remembered for the grape stomping imitation he did here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=djig29mgp9k
But nonetheless, the Patriots addressed a serious need, particularly with the dubious future of the franchised Asante Samuel.
Yet the real headliner for the Pats was when they traded a 4th round draft pick for the enigmatic, five-time pro bowl wide receiver, Randy Moss. This is a guy who has had several on field and off field run-ins with the law of some kind. On September 24, 2002, he was cited for failing to stop for a police officer and was arrested for bumping the officer causing her to fall down; he was also found with marijuana on his person. Then there was Moss walking off the field during the final game of that season against the Redskins, deserting his team in the waning moments as they closed the book on another disappointing season, failing to make the playoffs for the second year in a row. Moss has also been fined by the NFL numerous times for incidents such as mooning the crowd during a game and squirting a referee with a water bottle. And he has also been accused of taking plays off at his discretion.
All this from a guy who had just been picked up by a team that, since winning the Super Bowl in 2001, has predicated its mantra on filling the locker room with character guys who fill roles and put the team first.
But then I realized something. The Patriots already have proven leaders, character guys, some of whom now wear three Super Bowl rings on their finger. And according to Len Pasquarelli of ESPN.com, Bill Belichick and Patriot officials were “candid in apprising Moss that there will be a zero-tolerance approach, and that the kind of behavior he has manifested at times in the past will not be acceptable.” Kraft even alluded to the veteran leadership of his team, affirming his confidence in Scott Pioli and Belichick to stack the roster with said character guys that can help a player who might otherwise become somewhat of a pariah acclimate to the culture of the organization that has made it such a stable presence at the forefront of the NFL over the last six years.
Meanwhile, Moss is already saying the right things. He is asserting that he is in awe at now being a part of this organization and was overwhelmed with some of the things Belichick said about him during the recruiting and interviewing process. This wasn’t a spur of the moment thing. The Patriots went to great lengths to ensure that this would be a good fit for the team, both performance and personality wise. And if he continues some of the erratic behavior that has made headlines since being drafted 21st overall by the Vikings in 1998?
According to owner Bob Kraft, "If people don't adjust to our standards, they won't be here."
Enough said.
As far as Moss the player, the Patriots are getting a tall, athletically gifted deep threat they have longed and desperately needed. The Pats have lost their deep threats over the past few seasons, watching as the Davids, Givens and Patten went to greener pastures via free agency. Then there was the high criticized and publicized departure of Deion Branch to the Seahawks. This forced the Patriots passing game to adjust to an offense that predicated itself on utilization of the tight ends, a two-back system with Laurence Maroney and Corey Dillon and short passing routes to the outside. In fact, the Patriots only had two wide receivers with 25 or more receptions; Ben Watson and Kevin Faulk were the others, along with the released Doug Gabriel. The result? The passing game fell to 12th in the league and Tom Brady passed for the fewest yards in a season since taking over the reigns full-time in 2002.
You can argue that Moss has seen his numbers slip since leaving that potent, high-powered offense in Minnesota. After becoming the first players in NFL history to record 1,000-yard seasons in each of his first six years in the league, he has since only done that once in 2005. Also, after logging back to back seasons with over 100 receptions in 2002 and 2003, Moss failed to catch more than 60 passes in each of his next three years. But why be concerned? We may not need the Moss of old to bring home another Super Bowl, statistically speaking, at least. Moss is just the icing on the cake in an off-season that saw the Pats also add receivers Donte' Stallworth, Wes Welker and Kelley Washington. Stallworth was brought into Philadelphia last year to become a bona fide number one after sitting shotgun to Joe Horn in New Orleans for four seasons. Although an injury plagued 2006, combined with the season ending injury to Donovan Mcnabb left Stallworth with less than stellar numbers (38 receptions, 725 yards and 5 touchdowns), he showed in the first two weeks just how explosive he could be. Against Houston and the New York Giants, Stallworth logged a combined 11 receptions for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns. I remember how jacked up I was since I had selected him late in the 5th round of my fantasy football draft. What a steal!
With Welker, you pick up a slot receiver who will be invaluable across the middle as a possession guy. Welker really came into his own last year with the Dolphins, catching 67 balls for 687 yards and a touchdown. Not a big scorer, but a guy you can trust will catch the ball when thrown, too. Washington, meanwhile, has failed to hit stride over the past two seasons with the Bengals playing in only 12 games and logging 19 balls for 216 yards and a pair of scores; disappointing for the four year veteran out of Tennessee who displayed blossoming potential when drafted in 2003. And how can you not get excited to see “The Squirrel?”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xMuvjLcuvTI
All this depth in the receiving corps will give Tom Brady all the options he needs when packaged with Ben Watson, Kyle Brady and David Thomas at the tight end positions. Brady thrives on spreading the ball, and I am seriously excited to see him do it with players who have more talent than the cast of characters that did a laudable job of filling in last season as if we were watching The Replacements. But you do have to feel sorry for Reche Caldwell, who went from being the Patriots leading receiver last season with 61 receptions to being the 4th or 5th receiver on the depth chart at best. As my buddy Keefe said, this must be a real “eye-opener” for him.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
How the Celtics Can Make the Most of Yet Another Lottery Flop
-Besse
I watched Tuesday night’s NBA Draft Lottery on the edge of my seat. I watched with this sense of nervous energy as if I was climbing into the Octagon against Chuck Liddell; as if I was stepping into the batter’s box against Joel Zumaya in his pre-Guitar Hero days; as if I was plugging the C gap only to see Jerome Bettis turn the corner. Simply put, I was defecating in my pants. I had spoken with Keefe about an hour earlier as we ran down all the possibilities of what could happen. “Hey, the worst they can do is the 5th pick,” he assured me. “I guarantee they get the 5th pick,” I immediately replied. We would’ve been remiss to not discuss the possibility of getting screwed again, 10 years fresh off the Tim Duncan debacle back in ’97. After losing a franchise record 19 straight games, watching D-League players log significant time and our star sit out most of the season en route to the 2nd worst record in the league, an entire season rested on a stupid lottery system. The thing is so ridiculous I think I even had 0.00000389% chance to win the Greg Oden sweepstakes. And when the Celtics drew the 5th pick, I couldn’t help but feel the same emotions of panic, distress and frustration that have been the proverbial wet blanket over the TD Banknorth Garden in recent years.
I was bullsh*t. I was irate. I was speechless, thoughtless, emotionless, depressed, suicidal…alright it didn’t get that serious, but you can understand that I felt like someone was squeezing my testicles like a stress test outside of K-Mart and Shaw’s. Pop in a quarter and see how over the top you are. I mean honestly, how does that happen? The TrailBlazers might as well have been all-in on a draw with 3, 4 suited against some poor saps’ pocket rockets only to pull a one-outer on the river. Ridiculous, and after steaming all night and into the morning, I finally took some time to reflect on what happened and where the Celtics should go from here. My thoughts have led to following: Danny Ainge & Co. must decide if the future shall be now or if they want to sign it to another 3-year extension.
Should the Celtics opt for the latter, then Ainge should place a call over to Yawkey Way and ask Theo Epstein how he worked up the intestinal (and testicular) fortitude in 2004 to trade away the face of the franchise in Nomar Garciaparra. As crazy as it sounds, and it did in ’04, it may be in their interest to put captain and five-time NBA All-Star Paul Pierce on the trading block. Look at it this way, Pierce will play all of next season as a 30 year old in his ninth season in the NBA. Should the Celtics use that fifth pick on a young player like Al Horford from Florida, Brandon Wright from UNC or Yao Ming’s fellow brethren there from China, it will still most likely take the Celtics another two or three years to become contenders in the diluted Eastern Conference, and even that is wishful thinking, especially when you have to acknowledge that first-rounders aren’t always a lock. Besides, the top-seeded Pistons would have only finished 4th in the Western Conference last year. Think there’s any sort of disparity or variance there? A couple years to even think about mixing it up with the best of the East which isn’t even on the same level of it’s adversary out West. By that time, Pierce will be 32 or 33 and either finishing up the back nine of his heralded and arguably Hall of Fame career or just simply impossible to re-sign. And if that was the case, that would leave us with a group of still maturing NBA players who just recently earned the right to drink legally; yet their fearless, exemplary leader will be out the door and Doc Rivers not too far behind when he realizes his already sunken ship has been discovered. So let’s do this: dangle Pierce in the collective face of the Portland or Seattle franchises, along with that 5th pick and see if they’ll take the bait. If they do, the Celtics take home either Oden or collegiate Player of the Year Kevin Durant to add to a nice stable of developing NBA players. They’d probably miss the playoffs again next year, but could end up with another lottery pick or close to it and continue Ainge’s 30-year re-building effort. A guard rotation of Delonte West, Rajon Rondo and Gerald Green with a front-court of Perkins/Gomes, Big Al and another impact type player, ideally Durant or Oden, later on looks to a promising future. Or if you send Pierce straight up for another pick to a team looking to add a veteran player, you can keep that 5th pick and select another first-rounder. We’d have the second coming of the Fab Five, or Six, just older and in the NBA. The franchise would continue to experience growing pains, but like last year the team would be fun to watch and times and exciting for talk-radio and writers/readers/fans like ourselves to talk about in anticipation of what’s to come. All it would take is the continued patience of Celtic Pride to understand that Ainge and the Celtics are like Matt Amorello and Big Dig. We said the project was going to be completed seven years ago, but we suck at what we’re doing yet we’re still excited about the future of this organization and where it’s heading.
Meanwhile, Pierce could do what other great athletes have done in this area. Like Ray Bourque, he could amicably part ways with the franchise and go elsewhere to try and win a championship. If he ends up on Portland, Zack Randolph, Jarrett Jack, Brandon Roy and Co. wouldn’t object to Pierce’s arrival. They could probably make a run out West immediately. Or if he went to Seattle, how about the tandem of Ray Allen and Pierce with Rashard Lewis, pending the SuperSonics re-sign him which they say they will, and Nick Collison. That’s not too shabby, either. Or like Nomar, he could ungraciously go where the Celtics send him, although I think Pierce would take the high road and make the most of a fresh start.
But of course that all depends on whether or not teams would be willing to take Pierce for any of those options. Which brings us to the former. The future is now and Pierce stays in Boston. Ainge could look at the 5th pick as a lost cause and dish it away. After getting of the phone with Keefe today, he left me feeling optimistic about this alternative when he suggested the likes of Jermaine O’Neal or Ron Artest. O’Neal might make the most sense for the Pacers. They forked over their 11th pick to the Hawks as part of the Al Harrington deal, so Larry Bird would’ve been better off as a no-show at that brutal live Draft Lottery. More importantly, he could’ve been spared the awkward dialogue between he and Fred Hickman which was embarrassing just to watch. It was even bad enough to have Tom Heinsohn and Jerry West leaning over to exchange pleasantries and derisions at Hickman’s expense.
But back to the Pacers and O’Neal. In O’Neil you’re getting an athletic big man that can score 20 ppg and be a double-double threat every night washing the boards. And with 2.6 blocks per game last season, he’d add a defensive presence to alleviate some of the pressure down low on Big Al, who would be a bit of an undersized center. Meanwhile, the Pacers could draft in the top five for the first time since 1988 when they selected Rik Smits second overall. Smits, of course, went on to average almost 15 ppg over 12 NBA season.
Another option for the C’s would be Ron Artest, who really knows how to wear out a welcome wherever he goes. But as Keefe mentioned on the phone, him and Pierce are boys and that might make him a welcome fit in the locker room. Besides, Artest would probably get Pierce on his next album and be a staple at Mirage on Tremont St. That alone is worth the price of admission. On the court, he’d be like that nut job in White Men Can’t Jump, taking his gun around the corner to rob a convenience because he lost a bet in the middle of the game. He’s a raw dude like Corey Dillon and would bang bodies down low and seriously aid a defense that allowed opponents to score just a shade over 99 ppg last season.
And of course there’s the ever-desirable Kevin Garnett, whom many are comparing Durant to this year. Although he may not be on the trading block for Kevin Mchale et al, I would be remiss not to drool over the thought of him, Pierce and Big Al. After Tuesday night’s “worst-case scenario,” that would easily be the “best-case scenario.”
All in all, these are obviously hypothetical situations that may or may not be feasible for Ainge to execute using either his star player or the “coveted” 5th pick in this year’s draft. Essentially, the point I’m trying to make is although we got the raw end of the deal, landing the “worst-case scenario” on Tuesday night, it’s actually not all that bad. If Ainge can finally play his cards right, the Celtics should absolutely make tremendous headway by the time the 2007 draft has completed on June 28. But the most important thing they must do is commit to one or the other. If the Celtic brass decides that the future is now, trade that pick for a big-time veteran that can turn the Celtics into a venerable playoff contender. But if the Celtics choose to take the alternate route, you can’t keep Pierce leading a group of young, underdeveloped talent that is still a few years away from being much of anything. It’s unfair to him and an impediment to the overall status of this esteemed yet recessed franchise. You can’t get caught in the middle for yet another season because the current value of their assets is as high as they will be. You don’t need to be an avid reader of the Wall Street Journal to know that you buy low and sell high. But I suppose with his history, Ainge could probably use a subscription.
And us fans? Let’s just relax knowing that although Tuesday night was certainly not a Utopian wet dream , we are still in a substantial position. Let’s just hope Ainge doesn’t pull a Pitino.
If you have any thoughts, comments or suggestions, please send them to Keefe, Besse and Sharkey at sportsbrief@gmail.com.
-Besse
I watched Tuesday night’s NBA Draft Lottery on the edge of my seat. I watched with this sense of nervous energy as if I was climbing into the Octagon against Chuck Liddell; as if I was stepping into the batter’s box against Joel Zumaya in his pre-Guitar Hero days; as if I was plugging the C gap only to see Jerome Bettis turn the corner. Simply put, I was defecating in my pants. I had spoken with Keefe about an hour earlier as we ran down all the possibilities of what could happen. “Hey, the worst they can do is the 5th pick,” he assured me. “I guarantee they get the 5th pick,” I immediately replied. We would’ve been remiss to not discuss the possibility of getting screwed again, 10 years fresh off the Tim Duncan debacle back in ’97. After losing a franchise record 19 straight games, watching D-League players log significant time and our star sit out most of the season en route to the 2nd worst record in the league, an entire season rested on a stupid lottery system. The thing is so ridiculous I think I even had 0.00000389% chance to win the Greg Oden sweepstakes. And when the Celtics drew the 5th pick, I couldn’t help but feel the same emotions of panic, distress and frustration that have been the proverbial wet blanket over the TD Banknorth Garden in recent years.
I was bullsh*t. I was irate. I was speechless, thoughtless, emotionless, depressed, suicidal…alright it didn’t get that serious, but you can understand that I felt like someone was squeezing my testicles like a stress test outside of K-Mart and Shaw’s. Pop in a quarter and see how over the top you are. I mean honestly, how does that happen? The TrailBlazers might as well have been all-in on a draw with 3, 4 suited against some poor saps’ pocket rockets only to pull a one-outer on the river. Ridiculous, and after steaming all night and into the morning, I finally took some time to reflect on what happened and where the Celtics should go from here. My thoughts have led to following: Danny Ainge & Co. must decide if the future shall be now or if they want to sign it to another 3-year extension.
Should the Celtics opt for the latter, then Ainge should place a call over to Yawkey Way and ask Theo Epstein how he worked up the intestinal (and testicular) fortitude in 2004 to trade away the face of the franchise in Nomar Garciaparra. As crazy as it sounds, and it did in ’04, it may be in their interest to put captain and five-time NBA All-Star Paul Pierce on the trading block. Look at it this way, Pierce will play all of next season as a 30 year old in his ninth season in the NBA. Should the Celtics use that fifth pick on a young player like Al Horford from Florida, Brandon Wright from UNC or Yao Ming’s fellow brethren there from China, it will still most likely take the Celtics another two or three years to become contenders in the diluted Eastern Conference, and even that is wishful thinking, especially when you have to acknowledge that first-rounders aren’t always a lock. Besides, the top-seeded Pistons would have only finished 4th in the Western Conference last year. Think there’s any sort of disparity or variance there? A couple years to even think about mixing it up with the best of the East which isn’t even on the same level of it’s adversary out West. By that time, Pierce will be 32 or 33 and either finishing up the back nine of his heralded and arguably Hall of Fame career or just simply impossible to re-sign. And if that was the case, that would leave us with a group of still maturing NBA players who just recently earned the right to drink legally; yet their fearless, exemplary leader will be out the door and Doc Rivers not too far behind when he realizes his already sunken ship has been discovered. So let’s do this: dangle Pierce in the collective face of the Portland or Seattle franchises, along with that 5th pick and see if they’ll take the bait. If they do, the Celtics take home either Oden or collegiate Player of the Year Kevin Durant to add to a nice stable of developing NBA players. They’d probably miss the playoffs again next year, but could end up with another lottery pick or close to it and continue Ainge’s 30-year re-building effort. A guard rotation of Delonte West, Rajon Rondo and Gerald Green with a front-court of Perkins/Gomes, Big Al and another impact type player, ideally Durant or Oden, later on looks to a promising future. Or if you send Pierce straight up for another pick to a team looking to add a veteran player, you can keep that 5th pick and select another first-rounder. We’d have the second coming of the Fab Five, or Six, just older and in the NBA. The franchise would continue to experience growing pains, but like last year the team would be fun to watch and times and exciting for talk-radio and writers/readers/fans like ourselves to talk about in anticipation of what’s to come. All it would take is the continued patience of Celtic Pride to understand that Ainge and the Celtics are like Matt Amorello and Big Dig. We said the project was going to be completed seven years ago, but we suck at what we’re doing yet we’re still excited about the future of this organization and where it’s heading.
Meanwhile, Pierce could do what other great athletes have done in this area. Like Ray Bourque, he could amicably part ways with the franchise and go elsewhere to try and win a championship. If he ends up on Portland, Zack Randolph, Jarrett Jack, Brandon Roy and Co. wouldn’t object to Pierce’s arrival. They could probably make a run out West immediately. Or if he went to Seattle, how about the tandem of Ray Allen and Pierce with Rashard Lewis, pending the SuperSonics re-sign him which they say they will, and Nick Collison. That’s not too shabby, either. Or like Nomar, he could ungraciously go where the Celtics send him, although I think Pierce would take the high road and make the most of a fresh start.
But of course that all depends on whether or not teams would be willing to take Pierce for any of those options. Which brings us to the former. The future is now and Pierce stays in Boston. Ainge could look at the 5th pick as a lost cause and dish it away. After getting of the phone with Keefe today, he left me feeling optimistic about this alternative when he suggested the likes of Jermaine O’Neal or Ron Artest. O’Neal might make the most sense for the Pacers. They forked over their 11th pick to the Hawks as part of the Al Harrington deal, so Larry Bird would’ve been better off as a no-show at that brutal live Draft Lottery. More importantly, he could’ve been spared the awkward dialogue between he and Fred Hickman which was embarrassing just to watch. It was even bad enough to have Tom Heinsohn and Jerry West leaning over to exchange pleasantries and derisions at Hickman’s expense.
But back to the Pacers and O’Neal. In O’Neil you’re getting an athletic big man that can score 20 ppg and be a double-double threat every night washing the boards. And with 2.6 blocks per game last season, he’d add a defensive presence to alleviate some of the pressure down low on Big Al, who would be a bit of an undersized center. Meanwhile, the Pacers could draft in the top five for the first time since 1988 when they selected Rik Smits second overall. Smits, of course, went on to average almost 15 ppg over 12 NBA season.
Another option for the C’s would be Ron Artest, who really knows how to wear out a welcome wherever he goes. But as Keefe mentioned on the phone, him and Pierce are boys and that might make him a welcome fit in the locker room. Besides, Artest would probably get Pierce on his next album and be a staple at Mirage on Tremont St. That alone is worth the price of admission. On the court, he’d be like that nut job in White Men Can’t Jump, taking his gun around the corner to rob a convenience because he lost a bet in the middle of the game. He’s a raw dude like Corey Dillon and would bang bodies down low and seriously aid a defense that allowed opponents to score just a shade over 99 ppg last season.
And of course there’s the ever-desirable Kevin Garnett, whom many are comparing Durant to this year. Although he may not be on the trading block for Kevin Mchale et al, I would be remiss not to drool over the thought of him, Pierce and Big Al. After Tuesday night’s “worst-case scenario,” that would easily be the “best-case scenario.”
All in all, these are obviously hypothetical situations that may or may not be feasible for Ainge to execute using either his star player or the “coveted” 5th pick in this year’s draft. Essentially, the point I’m trying to make is although we got the raw end of the deal, landing the “worst-case scenario” on Tuesday night, it’s actually not all that bad. If Ainge can finally play his cards right, the Celtics should absolutely make tremendous headway by the time the 2007 draft has completed on June 28. But the most important thing they must do is commit to one or the other. If the Celtic brass decides that the future is now, trade that pick for a big-time veteran that can turn the Celtics into a venerable playoff contender. But if the Celtics choose to take the alternate route, you can’t keep Pierce leading a group of young, underdeveloped talent that is still a few years away from being much of anything. It’s unfair to him and an impediment to the overall status of this esteemed yet recessed franchise. You can’t get caught in the middle for yet another season because the current value of their assets is as high as they will be. You don’t need to be an avid reader of the Wall Street Journal to know that you buy low and sell high. But I suppose with his history, Ainge could probably use a subscription.
And us fans? Let’s just relax knowing that although Tuesday night was certainly not a Utopian wet dream , we are still in a substantial position. Let’s just hope Ainge doesn’t pull a Pitino.
If you have any thoughts, comments or suggestions, please send them to Keefe, Besse and Sharkey at sportsbrief@gmail.com.
-Besse
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Can you still win the draft after losing the lottery?
-Keefe
Seriously? As a Celtics fan what can I possibly say after last night’s lottery nightmare coming true. My buddy Shark said this ranks right below Aaron Boone’s homerun in the “worst Boston sports moments of our life time” list. And he might be right. I’m not going to even get into that list, as I am already far too depressed, rather I will focus on the newest “kick to the groin” in Celtics history. After all we endured the longest losing streak of the franchise, 18 games, injuries to our best players, and having to watch serious minutes being given to the likes of Allan Ray, Brian Scalabrine, and Kevinn Pinkney. The Sebastian Telfair trade and the contract extension to Doc Rivers also comes to mind, but if the C’s landed the first or second pick, all of that would have been forgotten, or at least pushed to the side for now. Pierce-Jefferson-Oden/Durant… you’d be lying to yourself if that’s not a serious threat in the East. And we have been looking forward to that for months. Now Pierce-Jefferson-B.Wright/J.Wright/Yi… I don’t feel good. Look I like Leon Powe, Ryan Gomes, and Kendrick Perkins as much as the next guy, but they all shouldn’t be saying things like, “nice, I should still get a ton of minutes next year.” Wow, the 5th pick? Really? Even big Tommy couldn’t get them into the top 2, I guess it wasn’t meant to be. I’m sure Besse and Shark will comment about the miserable state of the Celts, and I can’t blame them, I just don’t want to go there quite yet. Instead I’m going to look at the top 10 picks from the past 10 drafts, and prove to myself that you can still cash in without winning the lottery.
Let’s work our way from bottom to top.
#10
The Good: Paul Pierce ’98, Jason Terry ’99, Joe Johnson ’01, Caron Butler ’02.
The Bad: Keyon Dooling ’10, Luke Jackson ’04.
Comments: The Celtics had success picking 10th both in ’98 and ’01, unfortunately they didn’t hold on to Johnson long enough to see him make the All-Star team. But they still have Pierce, right? For now.
#9
The Good: Tracy McGrady ’97, Dirk Nowitzki ’98, Shawn Marion ’99, Amare Stoudemire ’02, Andre Iguodala ’04.
The Bad: Joel Pryzbilla ’00, Rodney White ’01.
Comments: Sign me up for the number 9 pick. Bulls fan should be looking at this and thinking they can add another piece to the already exciting young nucleus they have. Hey if guys like T-Mac, Amare, the Matrix, and the league’s MVP fall to 9, the Celts should get someone great at 5… right? I thought this was supposed to help.
#8
The Good: Andre Miller ’99, TJ Ford ’03, Rudy Gay ’06.
The Bad: Adonel Foyle ’97, DeSagana Diop ’01, Rafael Araujo ’04.
Comments: First off its hard to say for the rookie class if they will fall into the good or bad category. I put Gay there, he was a first team all-rookie selection, and I think he will continue to get better. Larry Hughes was also an 8th pick, but he’s so up and down, sometimes he’s good, sometimes he’s bad. The difference between one pick can be huge. Look at Foyle ahead of T-Mac, Hughes ahead of Dirk, Chris Wilcox ahead of Amare, with just four teams in front of Boston hopefully those teams will screw up too.
#7
The Good: Richard Hamilton ’99, Kirk Hinrich ’03, Luol Deng ’04, Charlie Villanueva ’05.
The Bad: Chris Mihm ’00, Eddie Griffin ’01.
Comments: I put Villanueva on the good list, because not only do I think he will be solid, but also people bashed the pick at the time. Other interesting numbers 7s include Nene, Tim Thomas, Jason Williams, and Randy Foye who was immediately traded for this years rookie of the year Brandon Roy. Who cares, let’s hurry up to the 5th pick.
#6
The Good: Shane Battier ’01, Brandon Roy ’06.
The Bad: Ron Mercer ’97, Robert “Tractor” Traylor ’98, DeMarr Johnson ’00, Dajuan Wagner ’02, Josh Childress ’04, Martel Webster ’05.
Comments: Gross. You do not want to the 6th pick apparently. Wally Szczerbiak and Chris Kamen were others who went 6th. A combined 1 all star appearance for the last ten players picked in this spot. I believe Roy will start to turn things around, but look at some of these picks. Awful. Could be worse for the Celtics… Oh wait, nope, 5th was the lowest spot they could get. And without further ado.
#5
The Good: Vince Carter ’98, Mike Miller ’00, Jason Richardson ’01, Dwayne Wade ’03, Ray Felton ’05.
The Bad: Tony Battie ’97, Jonathan Bender ’99, Nikoloz Tskitishvili ’02.
Comments: Devin Harris and Sheldon Williams round out the group that is very hit or miss. With Danny Ainge pulling the strings the Celts have a better chance of snagging this years Tskitishvili than they do Vince or Wade. The lottery was seriously last night? You sure? Friggin Seattle won’t even be there in a year what are they going to do with Durant? This is awful.
#4
The Good: Antawn Jamison ’98, Lamar Odom ’99, Chris Bosh ’03, Chris Paul ’05.
The Bad: Antonio Daniels ’97, Marcus Fizer ’00, Shaun Livingston ’04.
Comments: This high in the draft the bad become real bad. Your team is investing a top 5 pick in an attempt to save the future of the franchise. You pick a Marcus Fizer its good news, bad news. Bad news you won’t make the playoffs, good news you’ll likely get another crack at the top 5 next year. I better not be watching next year’s lottery with this much anticipation.
#3
The Good: Chauncey Billups ’97, Baron Davis ’99, Pau Gasol ’01, Carmelo Anthony ’03, Ben Gordon ’04, Deron Williams ’05.
The Bad: Raef Lafrentz ’98, Darius Miles ’00, Mike Dunleavy ’02, Adam Morrison ’06.
Comments: Billups is good now. Him and Mercer make me sick, and it has nothing to do with either of them. This list isn’t making me feel any better. I don’t even want to finish it, but I will.
#2
The Good: … has there been a good number 2 pick in the last 10 years? Steve Francis was really good, but now? Mike Bibby is solid, but has never made an All-Star team. I’ll give the nod to Emeka Okafor ’04. (Got to have someone.)
The Bad: Keith Van Horn ’97, Stromile Swift ’00, Jay Williams ’02 (I know injuries, but still), Darko Milicic ’03, Marvin Williams ’05.
Comments: Its tough to be a number 2 pick, even if you have above average careers, being selected that high makes you an underachiever. Also in the case of a Mike Bibby, getting picked ahead of Jamison, Carter, Dirk, and Pierce doesn’t look good. Kevin Durant may already be the best #2 pick in the last 10+ years. Got to go back to Marcus Camby or certainly Jason Kidd to find a better one.
#1
The Good: Tim Duncan ’97, Elton Brand ’99, Yao Ming ’02, LeBron James ’03, Dwight Howard ’04.
The Bad: Michael Olowokandi ’98, Kwame Brown ’01.
Comments: Yeah Tim Duncan was a good number 1 pick. Why did I do this? Wow how many bad top 10 picks have played in Boston? All of them? Olowokandi, Raef, Mihm, Mercer, Battie, Luke Jackson. Worst part is they didn’t miss draft on most of them, they decided to pick them up later. Well I did this with the intent of proving to myself that despite not winning the lottery, you can still win the draft. But with Oden and Durant sitting there, who am I kidding? There's just over a month until the draft, and a lot will have to happen to get Celtics fans thinking positively again. Well if Pierce is healthy, Jefferson is already a double-double guy, and it is a really deep draft right? Ugh.
-Rich Keefe
Seriously? As a Celtics fan what can I possibly say after last night’s lottery nightmare coming true. My buddy Shark said this ranks right below Aaron Boone’s homerun in the “worst Boston sports moments of our life time” list. And he might be right. I’m not going to even get into that list, as I am already far too depressed, rather I will focus on the newest “kick to the groin” in Celtics history. After all we endured the longest losing streak of the franchise, 18 games, injuries to our best players, and having to watch serious minutes being given to the likes of Allan Ray, Brian Scalabrine, and Kevinn Pinkney. The Sebastian Telfair trade and the contract extension to Doc Rivers also comes to mind, but if the C’s landed the first or second pick, all of that would have been forgotten, or at least pushed to the side for now. Pierce-Jefferson-Oden/Durant… you’d be lying to yourself if that’s not a serious threat in the East. And we have been looking forward to that for months. Now Pierce-Jefferson-B.Wright/J.Wright/Yi… I don’t feel good. Look I like Leon Powe, Ryan Gomes, and Kendrick Perkins as much as the next guy, but they all shouldn’t be saying things like, “nice, I should still get a ton of minutes next year.” Wow, the 5th pick? Really? Even big Tommy couldn’t get them into the top 2, I guess it wasn’t meant to be. I’m sure Besse and Shark will comment about the miserable state of the Celts, and I can’t blame them, I just don’t want to go there quite yet. Instead I’m going to look at the top 10 picks from the past 10 drafts, and prove to myself that you can still cash in without winning the lottery.
Let’s work our way from bottom to top.
#10
The Good: Paul Pierce ’98, Jason Terry ’99, Joe Johnson ’01, Caron Butler ’02.
The Bad: Keyon Dooling ’10, Luke Jackson ’04.
Comments: The Celtics had success picking 10th both in ’98 and ’01, unfortunately they didn’t hold on to Johnson long enough to see him make the All-Star team. But they still have Pierce, right? For now.
#9
The Good: Tracy McGrady ’97, Dirk Nowitzki ’98, Shawn Marion ’99, Amare Stoudemire ’02, Andre Iguodala ’04.
The Bad: Joel Pryzbilla ’00, Rodney White ’01.
Comments: Sign me up for the number 9 pick. Bulls fan should be looking at this and thinking they can add another piece to the already exciting young nucleus they have. Hey if guys like T-Mac, Amare, the Matrix, and the league’s MVP fall to 9, the Celts should get someone great at 5… right? I thought this was supposed to help.
#8
The Good: Andre Miller ’99, TJ Ford ’03, Rudy Gay ’06.
The Bad: Adonel Foyle ’97, DeSagana Diop ’01, Rafael Araujo ’04.
Comments: First off its hard to say for the rookie class if they will fall into the good or bad category. I put Gay there, he was a first team all-rookie selection, and I think he will continue to get better. Larry Hughes was also an 8th pick, but he’s so up and down, sometimes he’s good, sometimes he’s bad. The difference between one pick can be huge. Look at Foyle ahead of T-Mac, Hughes ahead of Dirk, Chris Wilcox ahead of Amare, with just four teams in front of Boston hopefully those teams will screw up too.
#7
The Good: Richard Hamilton ’99, Kirk Hinrich ’03, Luol Deng ’04, Charlie Villanueva ’05.
The Bad: Chris Mihm ’00, Eddie Griffin ’01.
Comments: I put Villanueva on the good list, because not only do I think he will be solid, but also people bashed the pick at the time. Other interesting numbers 7s include Nene, Tim Thomas, Jason Williams, and Randy Foye who was immediately traded for this years rookie of the year Brandon Roy. Who cares, let’s hurry up to the 5th pick.
#6
The Good: Shane Battier ’01, Brandon Roy ’06.
The Bad: Ron Mercer ’97, Robert “Tractor” Traylor ’98, DeMarr Johnson ’00, Dajuan Wagner ’02, Josh Childress ’04, Martel Webster ’05.
Comments: Gross. You do not want to the 6th pick apparently. Wally Szczerbiak and Chris Kamen were others who went 6th. A combined 1 all star appearance for the last ten players picked in this spot. I believe Roy will start to turn things around, but look at some of these picks. Awful. Could be worse for the Celtics… Oh wait, nope, 5th was the lowest spot they could get. And without further ado.
#5
The Good: Vince Carter ’98, Mike Miller ’00, Jason Richardson ’01, Dwayne Wade ’03, Ray Felton ’05.
The Bad: Tony Battie ’97, Jonathan Bender ’99, Nikoloz Tskitishvili ’02.
Comments: Devin Harris and Sheldon Williams round out the group that is very hit or miss. With Danny Ainge pulling the strings the Celts have a better chance of snagging this years Tskitishvili than they do Vince or Wade. The lottery was seriously last night? You sure? Friggin Seattle won’t even be there in a year what are they going to do with Durant? This is awful.
#4
The Good: Antawn Jamison ’98, Lamar Odom ’99, Chris Bosh ’03, Chris Paul ’05.
The Bad: Antonio Daniels ’97, Marcus Fizer ’00, Shaun Livingston ’04.
Comments: This high in the draft the bad become real bad. Your team is investing a top 5 pick in an attempt to save the future of the franchise. You pick a Marcus Fizer its good news, bad news. Bad news you won’t make the playoffs, good news you’ll likely get another crack at the top 5 next year. I better not be watching next year’s lottery with this much anticipation.
#3
The Good: Chauncey Billups ’97, Baron Davis ’99, Pau Gasol ’01, Carmelo Anthony ’03, Ben Gordon ’04, Deron Williams ’05.
The Bad: Raef Lafrentz ’98, Darius Miles ’00, Mike Dunleavy ’02, Adam Morrison ’06.
Comments: Billups is good now. Him and Mercer make me sick, and it has nothing to do with either of them. This list isn’t making me feel any better. I don’t even want to finish it, but I will.
#2
The Good: … has there been a good number 2 pick in the last 10 years? Steve Francis was really good, but now? Mike Bibby is solid, but has never made an All-Star team. I’ll give the nod to Emeka Okafor ’04. (Got to have someone.)
The Bad: Keith Van Horn ’97, Stromile Swift ’00, Jay Williams ’02 (I know injuries, but still), Darko Milicic ’03, Marvin Williams ’05.
Comments: Its tough to be a number 2 pick, even if you have above average careers, being selected that high makes you an underachiever. Also in the case of a Mike Bibby, getting picked ahead of Jamison, Carter, Dirk, and Pierce doesn’t look good. Kevin Durant may already be the best #2 pick in the last 10+ years. Got to go back to Marcus Camby or certainly Jason Kidd to find a better one.
#1
The Good: Tim Duncan ’97, Elton Brand ’99, Yao Ming ’02, LeBron James ’03, Dwight Howard ’04.
The Bad: Michael Olowokandi ’98, Kwame Brown ’01.
Comments: Yeah Tim Duncan was a good number 1 pick. Why did I do this? Wow how many bad top 10 picks have played in Boston? All of them? Olowokandi, Raef, Mihm, Mercer, Battie, Luke Jackson. Worst part is they didn’t miss draft on most of them, they decided to pick them up later. Well I did this with the intent of proving to myself that despite not winning the lottery, you can still win the draft. But with Oden and Durant sitting there, who am I kidding? There's just over a month until the draft, and a lot will have to happen to get Celtics fans thinking positively again. Well if Pierce is healthy, Jefferson is already a double-double guy, and it is a really deep draft right? Ugh.
-Rich Keefe
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The Best Pitch I've Ever Thrown
-Bess
Imagine standing in the middle of Fenway Park, just shy of the perfectly molded pitcher’s mound with your feet atop the plush, picturesque green grass. Imagine standing there, over 30,000 sets of eyes watching as you rub your hands down your sides, trying to dry the sweat off your hands as you go to pick up the baseball. Imagine standing there, your teammates eagerly watching you as the catcher settles in behind home plate just a mere 50 feet away. Wait, what? Fifty feet?
That’s right, just 50 feet from where I stood to home plate as I prepared to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park this past Monday night, May 14, 2007. You see, the Northeastern Baseball team, which I am proudly a senior tri-captain of, was being honored for winning the Baseball Beanpot, which coincidentally was played on the same field just a few weeks prior. Now the Baseball Beanpot is certainly not the extravagant event that the hallowed, traditional hockey Beanpot has been. This is evidenced by the small crowd of 214 people that was fleeing for exits due to rain during our 2-0 championship win over Boston College this season. But it’s important to us, and it was certainly satisfying that the Boston Red Sox found it significant enough to honor us before Monday’s game against the A.L. Central leading Detroit Tigers. And lucky enough for me, I was chosen by my teammates to physically carry out what we were actually there to do: throw out the first pitch.
I found out on Sunday night that I was going to be the guy. Fellow senior captain and starting catcher Dan Milano sent me a text message telling me I would be throwing out the first pitch. It had come down to the two of us, and he said that since I had graduated back on May 5th, he would afford me the honor of actually making the pitch for our team. I would find out later on that he was actually too chicken-shit to make the pitch. He had disclosed to teammates that he feared hurling it off the backstop and thus relinquished the task to me.
Now any of you reading may be wondering how a Division I baseball player could possibly be concerned about tossing a baseball, something I do everyday, a mere 50 feet. Why don’t you ask Mark Mallory, the infamous Mayor of Cincinnati whose pitch arguably landed closer to first base than it did home plate?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC1dLxYwWJc&mode=related&search=
Or how about “Mr. Ceremonial First Pitch Thrower Outer” from the “Real Men of Genius”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eDzJ_K9i_0
It was unsettling to think what nerves or pressure would do to me out on the field, and my biggest fear was embarrassing not only myself, but my team as well if I didn’t at least put the ball within an arm’s length of the catcher. But then again, I couldn’t do much worse than our aforementioned pioneers from the school of What Not to Do When Throwing Out the First Pitch.
So with that issue settled the next item to check off the list was what kind of throw I would make. I’m not talking pitch selection here, as we’ll get to that in a moment, but rather arm angle. You see, for the last season and a half or so I have been throwing sidearm when I pitch. In order to get better acclimated and comfortable with the motion, I have narrowed my focus of throwing strictly to that angle. So whenever I try and go back to throwing at a three-quarter or over the top arm angle, it often feels uncanny and tends to result in an errant and at times embarrassing throw. This left me with two options: embarrass yourself by dropping down to throw side arm and risk jai-alai’ing it into the Tigers dugout or go with a normal throwing motion that you haven’t done much of and risk spiking a divot on the green of the Par-3 17th. What a conundrum. Until I came up with Option Three. Keep it simple and easy by going with the Batting Practice Pitcher’s motion. The process is effortless and unproblematic. Just step into the throw, keep a short arm action down and back and release from the left ear. I had thrown my fair share of b.p. to some teammates this season, so I thought this might work the best.
The last issue to check off was the actual pitch. I could go with a fastball, but wouldn’t it be fun if I threw a hammer, or dropped in a knuckleball or honored Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka with a gyro-ball? No. Not only would it be idiotic and foolhardy, but I can’t effectively throw any of these pitches. So after ruling out anything off-speed, I was left with one option: a fastball. Now with this fastball, do I pump it in there? I mean what if I inexplicably pumped one in there at 97 mph and a Disney producer immediately came over offering to do a Rookie of the Year 2. Adrian Grenier would play a college graduate who wanted to give baseball one last shot, but little did he know that shot would last a lifetime. Hey, why not?
At about 6:15 p.m. our team was led down onto the field behind home plate. Initially we felt privileged and distinctively unique, until we realized that there were about a million other people down on the field, too. Apparently from what I’ve been told, bigwigs can dole out scores of cash from their bottomless coffers to be down on the field for batting practice. People are ushered behind man-made barriers along the backstop to give the players sufficient room on the field; there are also people that enjoy the pre-game routine from the triangle out in center field. At about 6:30 p.m. a large number of those people were cleared off the field, leaving us and a few other groups along with the grounds crew which was working fervently to get the field ready for the 7:05 p.m. first pitch from Matsuzaka.
But being down on the field afforded me the chance to see just how well organized, thorough and efficient the Red Sox front office really is. There were probably a million different pre-game activities scheduled, five to be exact, but it was impressive to see them bang one out then move the next group in immediately to keep the proverbial car in drive. From the “Fan of the game” to the “Blood Donor of the Game”, followed by the National Anthem, all that was left was the ceremonial first pitch aside from the token little kid that comes on the field to whisper “Play Ball” into the microphone. I swear you never actually hear the kid say it but the crowd still goes nuts. He could be whispering “Go Yankees” for all we know. In fact I can’t believe no parent has ever tried to pull that off, vicariously living through their five year old to spite the enemy Red Sox fans on their own turf. I digress.
Back to the first pitch. There were two on this night, and first up was the head coach of the Trinity squash team, which apparently has won 165 straight matches and nine straight national championships. I don’t care if we’re talking checkers, chess or Parcheesi. You win that much and not only are you doing something right, you’re doing something special. So out came Paul D. Assaiante, and his throw went as expected: an overhand lob that would have made Henry Rowengartner’s mom proud. It got there…in unimpressive fashion but kudos to him for not sailing or spiking himself into the pantheon of ceremonial 1st pitch choke artists. As soon as his pitch hit the mitt, we were immediately being ushered out onto the field. I led the way, joined by fellow captains Dan Milano and Josh Porter. Our head coach, Neil McPhee, was directly behind with the other coaches and my teammates all followed suit. I looked up onto the jumbotron, and like any other idiot fan, saw myself up on the screen but couldn’t figure out where the camera was or why it was showing the back of my head. I gave up and kept walking, refocusing on the pitch I was about to throw. Arguably the most important pitch of my life.
I settled in front of the mound, about ten feet in front of the rubber. The rest of the team assembled behind me, and I looked up to the see the ball boy crouched down next to the home plate. There were a couple things that bothered me about this: first is that it wasn’t Mirabelli. This guy is getting $750,000 to catch once every five days and sport a .235 career average; he hit a combined .191 last season between San Diego and Boston. The least he could do is catch the ceremonial 1st pitch every night to earn some of that paycheck. Plus, I had actually contemplated tossing in a knuckleball, regardless of how good it was, just to mock him. The second thing that bothered me is that the ball boy was the older brother of a player on our team. The kid just graduated with me on May 5th, and it was somewhat disheartening for all of us to see Chuck’s older brother decimated to wearing a pseudo-uniform that was fit for a 12 year old. I felt bad, but certainly appreciated him being a good sport even though his hand-eye coordination was equivalent to that of a “mentally challenged” cyclopse. But again, I digress.
I was now seconds away from making the pitch, the crowd was buzzing, cameras flashing and surprisingly, I wasn’t panicking or showing full moon sweat stains under my arms. I felt like I had been put on this earth to make this pitch, and I stood there just soaking in the surreal moment. Then I heard Carl Beane’s booming voice come on the loudspeaker.
“The Boston Red Sox would like to congratulate this year’s Beanpot champions, the Northeastern Huskies’ Baseball Team. Throwing out the first pitch will be Senior Captain….Tristan……Resse.”
Woah, wait a minute numnuts. Tristan Resse? But before I had enough time to complain, Red Sox personnel gave me the okay and I looked back at my team one last time.
I patted my right hand with the ball.
I turned my left foot towards first.
Then as I stepped towards home, well, just outside the left-handed batter’s box, my hands separated.
Everything was perfect, so far.
I wound up and felt my hand coming back towards my left ear.
Then boom. The pitch was in flight. I let it go and tried to put enough on it so that I didn’t look like I had a skirt on but didn’t risk hurting Chuck’s brother. As I watched it go, I could see that I had followed through a little more upright and towards third than I had hoped for. The ball was going to cut in. Oh sh*t. I panicked, but with only 50 feet between myself and home plate, I lucked out. The ball was about 40 feet away when it lifted its left wing and began a 45-degree descent towards the right-handed batter’s box. Thankfully, I had put enough steam on it that the pitch dropped in for a called strike, just off the catcher’s left knee. I gave a pump of the fist and turned towards my team, everyone elated and relieved that I had not only thrown the pitch, but safely gotten it in there for a strike. But before I could converse or communicate with anyone, we were quickly being ushered off the field. That was it. We were quickly being brought back from cloud nine to our insignificant, inconsequential lives. Julio Lugo said, “What’s up, guys?” as we made our way to the stands. I even got a pat on the shoulder and a thumbs up from some random old guy, approving of my throw. Thanks, buddy.
And so looking back, the whole thing probably lasted all of 60 seconds, maybe not even that long. But despite my nerves, my worries of rivaling Mark Mallory for YouTube hits or whether or not I’d get that professional contract and movie rights, I managed to do what I should have been worried about the whole time: “No news is good news.”
Oh and by the way, all the Red Sox could give us was standing room only tickets.
But thankfully for me, I went right back to work in the Red Sox radio booth with Joe and Glen, only to be promptly made fun on the air because Joe “clocked” me at 68 mph. So I guess I made some news, but I’m sure Jimmy Kimmel won’t deem it necessary to have me on his show for a second chance.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QjwFnfEVdgQ
-Bess
Imagine standing in the middle of Fenway Park, just shy of the perfectly molded pitcher’s mound with your feet atop the plush, picturesque green grass. Imagine standing there, over 30,000 sets of eyes watching as you rub your hands down your sides, trying to dry the sweat off your hands as you go to pick up the baseball. Imagine standing there, your teammates eagerly watching you as the catcher settles in behind home plate just a mere 50 feet away. Wait, what? Fifty feet?
That’s right, just 50 feet from where I stood to home plate as I prepared to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park this past Monday night, May 14, 2007. You see, the Northeastern Baseball team, which I am proudly a senior tri-captain of, was being honored for winning the Baseball Beanpot, which coincidentally was played on the same field just a few weeks prior. Now the Baseball Beanpot is certainly not the extravagant event that the hallowed, traditional hockey Beanpot has been. This is evidenced by the small crowd of 214 people that was fleeing for exits due to rain during our 2-0 championship win over Boston College this season. But it’s important to us, and it was certainly satisfying that the Boston Red Sox found it significant enough to honor us before Monday’s game against the A.L. Central leading Detroit Tigers. And lucky enough for me, I was chosen by my teammates to physically carry out what we were actually there to do: throw out the first pitch.
I found out on Sunday night that I was going to be the guy. Fellow senior captain and starting catcher Dan Milano sent me a text message telling me I would be throwing out the first pitch. It had come down to the two of us, and he said that since I had graduated back on May 5th, he would afford me the honor of actually making the pitch for our team. I would find out later on that he was actually too chicken-shit to make the pitch. He had disclosed to teammates that he feared hurling it off the backstop and thus relinquished the task to me.
Now any of you reading may be wondering how a Division I baseball player could possibly be concerned about tossing a baseball, something I do everyday, a mere 50 feet. Why don’t you ask Mark Mallory, the infamous Mayor of Cincinnati whose pitch arguably landed closer to first base than it did home plate?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC1dLxYwWJc&mode=related&search=
Or how about “Mr. Ceremonial First Pitch Thrower Outer” from the “Real Men of Genius”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eDzJ_K9i_0
It was unsettling to think what nerves or pressure would do to me out on the field, and my biggest fear was embarrassing not only myself, but my team as well if I didn’t at least put the ball within an arm’s length of the catcher. But then again, I couldn’t do much worse than our aforementioned pioneers from the school of What Not to Do When Throwing Out the First Pitch.
So with that issue settled the next item to check off the list was what kind of throw I would make. I’m not talking pitch selection here, as we’ll get to that in a moment, but rather arm angle. You see, for the last season and a half or so I have been throwing sidearm when I pitch. In order to get better acclimated and comfortable with the motion, I have narrowed my focus of throwing strictly to that angle. So whenever I try and go back to throwing at a three-quarter or over the top arm angle, it often feels uncanny and tends to result in an errant and at times embarrassing throw. This left me with two options: embarrass yourself by dropping down to throw side arm and risk jai-alai’ing it into the Tigers dugout or go with a normal throwing motion that you haven’t done much of and risk spiking a divot on the green of the Par-3 17th. What a conundrum. Until I came up with Option Three. Keep it simple and easy by going with the Batting Practice Pitcher’s motion. The process is effortless and unproblematic. Just step into the throw, keep a short arm action down and back and release from the left ear. I had thrown my fair share of b.p. to some teammates this season, so I thought this might work the best.
The last issue to check off was the actual pitch. I could go with a fastball, but wouldn’t it be fun if I threw a hammer, or dropped in a knuckleball or honored Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka with a gyro-ball? No. Not only would it be idiotic and foolhardy, but I can’t effectively throw any of these pitches. So after ruling out anything off-speed, I was left with one option: a fastball. Now with this fastball, do I pump it in there? I mean what if I inexplicably pumped one in there at 97 mph and a Disney producer immediately came over offering to do a Rookie of the Year 2. Adrian Grenier would play a college graduate who wanted to give baseball one last shot, but little did he know that shot would last a lifetime. Hey, why not?
At about 6:15 p.m. our team was led down onto the field behind home plate. Initially we felt privileged and distinctively unique, until we realized that there were about a million other people down on the field, too. Apparently from what I’ve been told, bigwigs can dole out scores of cash from their bottomless coffers to be down on the field for batting practice. People are ushered behind man-made barriers along the backstop to give the players sufficient room on the field; there are also people that enjoy the pre-game routine from the triangle out in center field. At about 6:30 p.m. a large number of those people were cleared off the field, leaving us and a few other groups along with the grounds crew which was working fervently to get the field ready for the 7:05 p.m. first pitch from Matsuzaka.
But being down on the field afforded me the chance to see just how well organized, thorough and efficient the Red Sox front office really is. There were probably a million different pre-game activities scheduled, five to be exact, but it was impressive to see them bang one out then move the next group in immediately to keep the proverbial car in drive. From the “Fan of the game” to the “Blood Donor of the Game”, followed by the National Anthem, all that was left was the ceremonial first pitch aside from the token little kid that comes on the field to whisper “Play Ball” into the microphone. I swear you never actually hear the kid say it but the crowd still goes nuts. He could be whispering “Go Yankees” for all we know. In fact I can’t believe no parent has ever tried to pull that off, vicariously living through their five year old to spite the enemy Red Sox fans on their own turf. I digress.
Back to the first pitch. There were two on this night, and first up was the head coach of the Trinity squash team, which apparently has won 165 straight matches and nine straight national championships. I don’t care if we’re talking checkers, chess or Parcheesi. You win that much and not only are you doing something right, you’re doing something special. So out came Paul D. Assaiante, and his throw went as expected: an overhand lob that would have made Henry Rowengartner’s mom proud. It got there…in unimpressive fashion but kudos to him for not sailing or spiking himself into the pantheon of ceremonial 1st pitch choke artists. As soon as his pitch hit the mitt, we were immediately being ushered out onto the field. I led the way, joined by fellow captains Dan Milano and Josh Porter. Our head coach, Neil McPhee, was directly behind with the other coaches and my teammates all followed suit. I looked up onto the jumbotron, and like any other idiot fan, saw myself up on the screen but couldn’t figure out where the camera was or why it was showing the back of my head. I gave up and kept walking, refocusing on the pitch I was about to throw. Arguably the most important pitch of my life.
I settled in front of the mound, about ten feet in front of the rubber. The rest of the team assembled behind me, and I looked up to the see the ball boy crouched down next to the home plate. There were a couple things that bothered me about this: first is that it wasn’t Mirabelli. This guy is getting $750,000 to catch once every five days and sport a .235 career average; he hit a combined .191 last season between San Diego and Boston. The least he could do is catch the ceremonial 1st pitch every night to earn some of that paycheck. Plus, I had actually contemplated tossing in a knuckleball, regardless of how good it was, just to mock him. The second thing that bothered me is that the ball boy was the older brother of a player on our team. The kid just graduated with me on May 5th, and it was somewhat disheartening for all of us to see Chuck’s older brother decimated to wearing a pseudo-uniform that was fit for a 12 year old. I felt bad, but certainly appreciated him being a good sport even though his hand-eye coordination was equivalent to that of a “mentally challenged” cyclopse. But again, I digress.
I was now seconds away from making the pitch, the crowd was buzzing, cameras flashing and surprisingly, I wasn’t panicking or showing full moon sweat stains under my arms. I felt like I had been put on this earth to make this pitch, and I stood there just soaking in the surreal moment. Then I heard Carl Beane’s booming voice come on the loudspeaker.
“The Boston Red Sox would like to congratulate this year’s Beanpot champions, the Northeastern Huskies’ Baseball Team. Throwing out the first pitch will be Senior Captain….Tristan……Resse.”
Woah, wait a minute numnuts. Tristan Resse? But before I had enough time to complain, Red Sox personnel gave me the okay and I looked back at my team one last time.
I patted my right hand with the ball.
I turned my left foot towards first.
Then as I stepped towards home, well, just outside the left-handed batter’s box, my hands separated.
Everything was perfect, so far.
I wound up and felt my hand coming back towards my left ear.
Then boom. The pitch was in flight. I let it go and tried to put enough on it so that I didn’t look like I had a skirt on but didn’t risk hurting Chuck’s brother. As I watched it go, I could see that I had followed through a little more upright and towards third than I had hoped for. The ball was going to cut in. Oh sh*t. I panicked, but with only 50 feet between myself and home plate, I lucked out. The ball was about 40 feet away when it lifted its left wing and began a 45-degree descent towards the right-handed batter’s box. Thankfully, I had put enough steam on it that the pitch dropped in for a called strike, just off the catcher’s left knee. I gave a pump of the fist and turned towards my team, everyone elated and relieved that I had not only thrown the pitch, but safely gotten it in there for a strike. But before I could converse or communicate with anyone, we were quickly being ushered off the field. That was it. We were quickly being brought back from cloud nine to our insignificant, inconsequential lives. Julio Lugo said, “What’s up, guys?” as we made our way to the stands. I even got a pat on the shoulder and a thumbs up from some random old guy, approving of my throw. Thanks, buddy.
And so looking back, the whole thing probably lasted all of 60 seconds, maybe not even that long. But despite my nerves, my worries of rivaling Mark Mallory for YouTube hits or whether or not I’d get that professional contract and movie rights, I managed to do what I should have been worried about the whole time: “No news is good news.”
Oh and by the way, all the Red Sox could give us was standing room only tickets.
But thankfully for me, I went right back to work in the Red Sox radio booth with Joe and Glen, only to be promptly made fun on the air because Joe “clocked” me at 68 mph. So I guess I made some news, but I’m sure Jimmy Kimmel won’t deem it necessary to have me on his show for a second chance.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QjwFnfEVdgQ
-Bess
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
The Good Sun
-Keefe
First off I have to say that I’ve been completely swept up in the Nellie ball, “We Believe” Bay Area hysteria that has surrounded the playoff run by the Warriors. They might be the most exciting team to watch to right now. For the record, I am a Celtics fan, but also an NBA fan. So when I realized the Celts wouldn’t be making a playoff push, (this happened early in the season as you could imagine) I had to find another team(s) to follow to get me through the season. I still watched nearly every Celtics game all season long… long season long, but it was other players and teams that kept me loving NBA basketball. I guess this has happened more often than not in the past years cheering for Pierce and the C’s. Between Gilbert Arenas and the Phoenix Suns, I was able to find a reason to follow the year in the NBA. The Warriors are dominating much of the talk after their first round upset over the Mavs, but let’s not forget about the Suns.
Ever since Steve Nash rejoined the Suns in ’04-’05 I have made a point to watch their games. It’s hard not to love the way they play, pushing the pace, “7 seconds or less.” I don’t consider myself a bandwagon jumper, because first off they play in the West, and I think it’s ok to cheer for a team in both conferences, second: they’ve never won the title, not like I’m cheering for the Kobe/ Shaq’s Lakers or Jordan’s Bulls. Also if the Celtics ever played the Suns in the playoffs, (doesn’t even feel like a remote possibility for the near future) there wouldn’t be a question in my mind I’d be cheering hard for the Celtics.
It’s favorite players and style of play that attracts you to teams other than those in your hometown. I love watching Chad Johnson, Gilbert Arenas, and Ken Griffey Jr., but none of them have played for New England or Boston. But when you combine the style of play with great and likeable stars you have something special. The Suns have that with Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, and Amare Stoudemire. Even players like Barbosa and Raja Bell offer certain skills that make watching them a must.
So after the Suns and Warriors both emerged from the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, the thought of them playing each other, in a 7 game series, made me as excited as Lattimer when he found out he’d be on the starting defense in The Program. The only things standing in the way of this dream match up are the Jazz and the Spurs. (Just think of all the showings of Barkley’s 56 point game against Mullin, Spree, and C-Webb from the ’94 playoffs leading up to this series). And let’s be honest here, after Game 1 of both series, it was a long shot for the two most exciting teams in the league to face each other in the Western Finals. But I have faith in both of them. The Warriors could have and probably should have beaten the Jazz in Game 1. It was a great and close game, that the Jazz eeked out. That wouldn’t have happened in Oakland, that’s for sure. Baron Davis (one of many, extremely likeable/ must watch players on Golden State, you got to put Stephen Jackson, Jason Richardson, and even Matt Barnes on this list) will bounce back, and if they take Game 2, which is on in less than an hour, I can’t see Utah winning a game in California.
It looks as though the Suns will have a much tougher time keeping up their end of the deal. They clearly don’t match up well against San Antonio. Duncan has looked unguardable so far (33-16 in Game 1, 29-11 in Game 2.) I mean… come on. But I certainly wouldn’t give the series to the Spurs just yet. Game 1 may have ended differently if Nash didn’t get cut open like a dead body on CSI, and Game 2 was an impressive 20 point home victory. A lot of writers have harped on the importance of Kurt Thomas for this series (12 pts, 4 rebs in Game 2), because he is the best candidate to guard Duncan. I understand that of course, but the obvious difference between the first two games wasn’t Duncan’s performance, (both were dominant), but from the Spurs’ second best player, Tony Parker. And maybe I’ve become a bit of a Shawn Marion apologist, I agree he doesn’t receive enough attention, and I think he’s a top 15 player in the league, but you can not argue with his impact guarding Parker in Game 2. In Game 1 Parker shot 14-22 from the field for 32 pts and dropped 8 assists. In Game 2, not always guarded by Marion, but shot just 5-14, was 3-6 at the line and had only 13 pts and 3 assists. Ginobili also has not been effective, thanks to Bell.
Bottom line is the league’s best offense will win this series because of their defense. Talk all you want about Kurt Thomas’s impact, but Duncan can get his stats and the Suns can still win. If Parker and Ginobili play like All-Stars, Phoenix is in a lot of trouble. Nash and Amare have been the only consistent threats on offense so far, Marion won’t have 5 points (like he did in Game 2) again this series, and I expect more from the 6th man of the year as well.
Ok the Warriors will be on shortly, trying to tie up the series with Utah. With each win by Golden State and Phoenix we are closer and closer to what could be the best NBA playoff match up in a long long time. A series that could make be forget that the most important future dates for my team are the Lottery (May 22) and the NBA Draft (June 28).
-Rich Keefe
First off I have to say that I’ve been completely swept up in the Nellie ball, “We Believe” Bay Area hysteria that has surrounded the playoff run by the Warriors. They might be the most exciting team to watch to right now. For the record, I am a Celtics fan, but also an NBA fan. So when I realized the Celts wouldn’t be making a playoff push, (this happened early in the season as you could imagine) I had to find another team(s) to follow to get me through the season. I still watched nearly every Celtics game all season long… long season long, but it was other players and teams that kept me loving NBA basketball. I guess this has happened more often than not in the past years cheering for Pierce and the C’s. Between Gilbert Arenas and the Phoenix Suns, I was able to find a reason to follow the year in the NBA. The Warriors are dominating much of the talk after their first round upset over the Mavs, but let’s not forget about the Suns.
Ever since Steve Nash rejoined the Suns in ’04-’05 I have made a point to watch their games. It’s hard not to love the way they play, pushing the pace, “7 seconds or less.” I don’t consider myself a bandwagon jumper, because first off they play in the West, and I think it’s ok to cheer for a team in both conferences, second: they’ve never won the title, not like I’m cheering for the Kobe/ Shaq’s Lakers or Jordan’s Bulls. Also if the Celtics ever played the Suns in the playoffs, (doesn’t even feel like a remote possibility for the near future) there wouldn’t be a question in my mind I’d be cheering hard for the Celtics.
It’s favorite players and style of play that attracts you to teams other than those in your hometown. I love watching Chad Johnson, Gilbert Arenas, and Ken Griffey Jr., but none of them have played for New England or Boston. But when you combine the style of play with great and likeable stars you have something special. The Suns have that with Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, and Amare Stoudemire. Even players like Barbosa and Raja Bell offer certain skills that make watching them a must.
So after the Suns and Warriors both emerged from the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, the thought of them playing each other, in a 7 game series, made me as excited as Lattimer when he found out he’d be on the starting defense in The Program. The only things standing in the way of this dream match up are the Jazz and the Spurs. (Just think of all the showings of Barkley’s 56 point game against Mullin, Spree, and C-Webb from the ’94 playoffs leading up to this series). And let’s be honest here, after Game 1 of both series, it was a long shot for the two most exciting teams in the league to face each other in the Western Finals. But I have faith in both of them. The Warriors could have and probably should have beaten the Jazz in Game 1. It was a great and close game, that the Jazz eeked out. That wouldn’t have happened in Oakland, that’s for sure. Baron Davis (one of many, extremely likeable/ must watch players on Golden State, you got to put Stephen Jackson, Jason Richardson, and even Matt Barnes on this list) will bounce back, and if they take Game 2, which is on in less than an hour, I can’t see Utah winning a game in California.
It looks as though the Suns will have a much tougher time keeping up their end of the deal. They clearly don’t match up well against San Antonio. Duncan has looked unguardable so far (33-16 in Game 1, 29-11 in Game 2.) I mean… come on. But I certainly wouldn’t give the series to the Spurs just yet. Game 1 may have ended differently if Nash didn’t get cut open like a dead body on CSI, and Game 2 was an impressive 20 point home victory. A lot of writers have harped on the importance of Kurt Thomas for this series (12 pts, 4 rebs in Game 2), because he is the best candidate to guard Duncan. I understand that of course, but the obvious difference between the first two games wasn’t Duncan’s performance, (both were dominant), but from the Spurs’ second best player, Tony Parker. And maybe I’ve become a bit of a Shawn Marion apologist, I agree he doesn’t receive enough attention, and I think he’s a top 15 player in the league, but you can not argue with his impact guarding Parker in Game 2. In Game 1 Parker shot 14-22 from the field for 32 pts and dropped 8 assists. In Game 2, not always guarded by Marion, but shot just 5-14, was 3-6 at the line and had only 13 pts and 3 assists. Ginobili also has not been effective, thanks to Bell.
Bottom line is the league’s best offense will win this series because of their defense. Talk all you want about Kurt Thomas’s impact, but Duncan can get his stats and the Suns can still win. If Parker and Ginobili play like All-Stars, Phoenix is in a lot of trouble. Nash and Amare have been the only consistent threats on offense so far, Marion won’t have 5 points (like he did in Game 2) again this series, and I expect more from the 6th man of the year as well.
Ok the Warriors will be on shortly, trying to tie up the series with Utah. With each win by Golden State and Phoenix we are closer and closer to what could be the best NBA playoff match up in a long long time. A series that could make be forget that the most important future dates for my team are the Lottery (May 22) and the NBA Draft (June 28).
-Rich Keefe
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)