You would think that because the Red Sox season is over, I would be done attempting to defenestrate myself for the next six months. After this weekend, this is not the case. We'll discuss the horrors team by team here, since, you know, it's no fun only rooting for one team or one sport.

BU Hockey
Oh the hangovers from national championships! BU hockey has been, well, fallible this year. Most games they've been playing just short of wins. They're really into doing this thing where they shoot the puck a billion times into the goalie's chest, which obviously does not really lead to too many goals. BU also is a big fan of not playing defense, and not playing in the second period. Because of this, the team is now 3-6. They are in 9th place (out of 10) in Hockey East and completely tumbled out of all national rankings.

Despite this, I made the decision to travel up to Merrimack on Friday to watch the Terriers take on the Warriors. 2007-2008 was Merrimack's only double-digit win season since 2003-2004. Needless to say, they're a powerhouse.

BU struggled mightily with the Warriors. Or, well, BU actually didn't struggle, as they did not show up for the game after the first period. In the words of BU coach Jack Parker, "We stopped competing." Great, right? The score is deceiving. Merrimack won 6-3, but the final score may have well been 9-0. Additionally, my least favorite player on the team, Colby Cohen, fought two guys. Fighting is illegal in college hockey. He was ejected. This was great, because Colby is a defenseman and at one point, BU had 4 defensemen in the penalty box at once.

BU had six minutes of a 5-on-3 advantage. They didn't score. Nobody fails to score with six minutes of a two man advantage. Defending national champions do not play the way BU did on Friday night. There was no effort, no spark, no leadership. It was disgusting. I was actually nauseated. After the "game," the three other people I traveled up there with and myself went to Friendly's for some comfort food. It was that bad.

Saturday night, BU took a 4-0 advantage in the first period. After that, BU felt that the game was over and it was time for them to partake in Saturday evening festivities. They ended up winning 6-4, but it was more of a "they didn't lose" than a "they won the game" situation. The good news from Saturday is that two of our injured players returned, including the star and assistant captain, Nick Bonino. Also, BU scored six goals, so perhaps they finally figured out that you need to score goals in order to win games. We'll see how they rebound this weekend against UNH.

The Bruins
Last week, I went to the Bruins game against the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins at the Garden in Boston. The Bs played terrific, shutting out Sidney Crosby and friends 3-0. On Saturday night, the Bruins traveled to Pittsburgh for a rematch. This one didn't go so well.

The game was hard fought, and the Bruins never gave up. They came back from multiple deficits, most remarkably in the third period when they were trailing Pittsburgh 4-3. With 5:47 left in regulation and the Bruins holding a two man advantage (listen to this one, BU), David Krejci swept in on a Zdeno Chara shot and roofed the rebound towards the goal, where Marco Sturm tipped the puck in to tie the game, 4-4. Three minutes later, with 2:29 left in regulation, Zdeno Chara showed off his hardest shot skills, firing a slapshot from just above the left circle past Pittsburgh back-up netminder Brent Johnson. The Bruins were on their way to another victory.

Not so fast. With 4/10 of a second remaining, ex-Bruin Bill Guerin slipped a wristshot from the top of the right faceoff circle past Tim Thomas to send the game to overtime. The Bruins were exhausted, and a little over a minute into overtime, Pascal Dupuis netted the game-winner for the Pens.

After a good, hard effort like Saturday's, you would think the Bruins would come out confident and strong against the Islanders last night.

Nope.

Six minutes into the game, Matt Moulson capitalized on a turnover in the Bruins offensive zone and some poor defense at the hands of Dennis Widemann and Patrice Bergeron to give the Islanders an early 1-0 lead. The Bruins had a chance towards the end of the first to tie the game with a 5-on-3, but like BU, the Bs did not feel the need to take advantage of their opportunity and squandered the chance. Moulson ended up just shy of a hat trick, scoring two goals and briefly getting credit for a John Tavares goal to start the third. The Bruins lost 4-1, and Patrice Bergeron, who has been one of the best players on the ice this season for the Bs, finished the game with a -4 rating.

Claude Julien admitted after the game that the Islanders "wanted it more than we did." Is there anything more frustrating in sports than when your team does not put forth their best effort? Come on.

The Patriots
Speaking of best efforts . . . I'm not sure if I should title this section The Patriots or Bill Belichick. By now, most people know the story. The Pats were leading the undefeated Colts by a solid 13 point margin coming into the fourth quarter. With a little more than two minutes left, the lead was whittled down to 6. A touchdown could win the game.

On 4th and 2 with 2:08 left in the game, Bill Belichick inexplicably decided to send his offense back out and go for it. Belichick had no challenges left in case he would need them (which he did). Brady threw a short pass to Kevin Faulk who was standing right on the 30-yard line, which is where the Pats needed to get to for the first down. The Patriots got a poor spot, as the referees decided the Patriots were about a yard short of a first down. This gave Peyton Manning two minutes to go 29 yards for the game-winning touchdown. That's a series he will execute every time.

People are saying that the move says Belichick did not have the confidence in his defense to keep the Colts from covering 70-yards in 2 minutes. However, I believe Belichick has to have enough confidence in his defense to be able to hold the Colts from 29-yards out if the Pats do not convert on fourth down. Belichick is a defensive-minded coach. He most likely has faith every game in his defense, because ultimately, it is the defense Belichick himself creates. Any failure on the defense's part is a reflection of Belichick himself.

Additionally, why were the Patriots throwing the ball so short? Why are they throwing for exactly two yards? Why not give themselves the insurance of a few more yards and throw a five-yard pass? Converting there is crucial, and they never should have given the referees the opportunity to decide whether or not the play was long enough for a first down. It's the offense's job to earn the first down, not the referees job to give it to them.

And why did Belichick waste a timeout at the beginning of a drive? He ended up needing that timeout if he had wanted to challenge the spot of the ball, because when the Patriots did not convert on third down, confusion about whether to punt or not forced the Patriots to use their final timeout to prevent a delay of game penalty.  

The bottom line here, though, is that Bill Belichick made the completely wrong decision. With Peyton Manning leading an offense, you must punt the ball on 4th and 2 with 2:08 when holding onto a six point lead. Had it even been a seven point lead, this may have been slightly more understandable because the Colts would have to decide between a two point conversion to win or kicking the extra point to head into overtime. Going for it in this situation, however, gift-wrapped the game for the Colts, a game the Patriots players worked hard to win. A game that was negated because of poor coaching from one of the best coaches in NFL history.

Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi, both former players, criticized their coach. For them to say things like "this was the worst coaching decision I have ever seen Belichick make" (Harrison) and "the decision to go for it would be enough to make my blood boil" (Bruschi) means that they had to 150% believe both in what they were saying and in Belichick's complete and total error.

In my mind, Bill Belichick is still one of the best coaches in football history, but this gaffe definitely mars his reputation. Before Sunday night's game, Belichick was infallible. He was inhuman. He may have lost important games, big games, playoff games, but never because of such a momentous decision on his part. You cannot let one decision decide a career, yet at the same time, you cannot overlook this one decision in judgement of Belichick, because this one decision takes him down that notch from infallibility to simply extraordinary.

It will be hard to get over this game because it most likely cost the Pats home field advantage in the playoffs, but at the same time, the season goes on. This is not Grady Little. This is not going to cost Belichick his job. This is the regular season. Yet at the same time, it is November, the Colts did, by virtue of their win, tie the Patriots for second in consecutive wins (18), the Colts are a rival. This is a game that I will never forget.

Quotes and Patriots picture from boston.com. The other two pictures are mine.

First off, how do you spell off-season? Off season? Off-season? For that matter, what about power play? Is it power play, power-play or powerplay?

Anyways, ADD moment of the day behind us, the World Series ended six days ago and the Red Sox have started making player/personnel moves. About a month ago, after the Red Sox gracefully left the playoffs (play-offs? play offs? playoffs?), I highlighted some key free agents/player moves for the Red Sox. Here's what I said, and here's what has happened so far:

Alex Gonzalez: The Red Sox can pick up Gonzalez's $6 million option for next year, try to re-sign him for less money or pursue a different option at shortstop either internally (Lowrie, Green) or externally.

I think it was a mistake to let Gonzalez leave Boston in the first place. Gonzalez is not anything great at the plate, but his defense more than makes up for his offensive deficiencies. Gonzalez is a sure-handed shortstop and performed well. Theo Epstein does not have a great history with shortstops, so with any new shortstop, there will be a lot of question marks entering the season. The Red Sox should attempt to sign Gonzalez for less money if at all possible, but should not get hung up on that avenue. Pick up his option if he refuses to take less money for more years.

The Red Sox did not pick up Gonzo's option, but they are trying to sign him for less money. Theo tried and failed to pick up J.J. Hardy from the Brewers, and I'm not sure Hardy would have been great in Boston anyways. He batted .229 last year, but the real interest in him comes from his performance the year before when he .283. He has potential as a 20+ home run hitter, but in a market like Boston where there is always pressure to win now, I'm not sure he would have thrived. I think the Red Sox should attempt to bring Gonzalez back on a $3-4 million per year, 2 or 3 year deal. It's cheap, provides some years, and brings back a player who has shown that he can perform well enough in Boston.

Tim Wakefield: Wakefield is scheduled to have back surgery this postseason. The Red Sox have infinite one-year options for him. Wakefield could also retire or join a different team.

I think the Red Sox need to wait it out on Wake. Unless his back problems completely disappear for at least a few months, they should not re-sign Wakefield. There are a few starting pitchers in the minor leagues (work on Bowden) and some quality pitchers the Red Sox could pursue trades for that are more dependable and less injury prone than Wakefield.

I think the Red Sox just made a mistake on Wakefield. They just signed him on for two more years. He will make $3.5 million this coming season, and $1.5 million next season, and he has incentives based on number of starts and innings pitched. Granted, with the knuckleball, it seems like Wakefield can pitch forever. However, he is turning 44 next season and there is no solid proof that his back will be able to handle another two seasons of baseball post-surgery. Perhaps if they had signed this deal in February or March after he had really worked out and gotten himself into season shape, I would not be so doubtful, but I just do not believe that Wakefield can endure the stress of the season at his age.

Jason Varitek: The Red Sox can pick up his $5 million team option, welcome him back under his $3 million player option, watch him go elsewhere or invite him back as a coach.

I love Jason Varitek and he has been my favorite player for years now. That said, he is in the midst of a steady decline. Catchers have shorter careers, and at 38 years old by the start of next season, there is no reason to believe that Varitek will improve or even maintain his status quo. He has been abysmal at throwing runners out at second and cannot hit consistently well anymore. Varitek is, however, fantastic with pitching staffs and fellow catchers. Victor Martinez has done nothing but talk about how helpful Varitek has been for him. The Red Sox should encourage him to retire and return to the Red Sox as either a pitching or catching coach for next season.

The Red Sox made a huge move yesterday regarding Varitek. They declined Varitek's player option and announced Victor Martinez will be the starting catcher in 2010. Varitek can still come back to the team on a $3 million player option, which, if he wants to play for the maximum amount of money, he should probably do. Varitek will not find that type of money anywhere else. The bottom line is that Varitek is an aging catcher who is not starting to decline, but rather is deep in the throes of the end-of-career drop-off. If Varitek wants a starting catching job, he will go elsewhere, but I don't know what team would pick him up as a starting catcher. It would be best for Varitek to just call it a career and come back as a coach. This is painful to watch, and though I love Varitek, he cannot throw out runners, hit, or catch the way he used to. It's time for him to say thanks for the memories and gracefully bow out.

Today should be an interesting day in Red Sox Nation. If Varitek does not make a decision today, he will make one in the next few days, so expect an announcement on him soon. The GM meetings are in full force, and Cashman is already making statements about how the Yankees are the "team of the decade" purely because they won in 2009. I guess the failures of 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and the missed playoffs in 2002 and 2008 mean nothing when you win the last World Series of the decade. Cashman also mentioned that history means nothing, it's all about the here and now, so I guess we won't be hearing anything about 27 World Series championships from the Yankees. Good to know.

Have a great week, all!

It should be well known here that once the off season comes around, all the energy I devote to my beloved Red Sox transfers to the Boston University Men's Ice Hockey team. We won the NCAA Division I Championship last year, along with 6 other championships we played for over the course of a 35-6-4 run. Along the way, we picked up quite a few bandwagon fans. Some of these people actually learned about the game of hockey and now enjoy the sport. Some, well, they'll just remain bandwagon-ers.

The Terriers have been mediocre this season. They are now 2-4, which is actually a decent record considering some of the teams they have played against (Notre Dame, Michigan, UMass Lowell). Already, many students are jumping ship, giving up on the season, making plans to travel abroad in the spring because they feel they will not be missing anything.

Meanwhile, there is a solid core of fans who are sticking by this team through their struggles and growing pains. Last night, Boston University traveled to Northeastern for their sixth game of the season. BU was without stars like Nick Bonino and David Warsofsky. The lines were strange and the power-play had lost two if its key leaders. Despite this, about 100-150 students gathered in the lower bowl of Matthew's Arena, clad in jerseys and standing for 60 minutes to support the players who were able to take the ice.

Northeastern fans were vicious. Before the game even started, they were throwing water bottles at BU fans' heads. A policeman had to stand guard by the BU section, and he had to take down names of BU victims for police reports against Northeastern fans. During the national anthem, the Northeastern fans started screaming and talking about halfway through. They made sure to frequently chant "F* BU." They encouraged people in the bathroom to use BU fans as urinals.

Through it all, though, the BU fans ignored the Northeastern behavior. They focused instead on the players on the ice, screaming Let's Go Terriers, Go BU, Rough 'em up, rough em up, go BU!

Towards the end of the game, when BU was down 1-0 with 40 shots on goal, a Northeastern viciously slammed a BU player, Alex Chiasson, head-first into the boards. That type of hit can easily break a player's neck. It's not only illegal, it's unsportsmanlike. The player was ejected from the game, and Northeastern fans were livid. They felt it was a bulls*t call. The resulting 5-minute penalty put BU on a 6 on 4 for the remainder of the game.

The BU section was well-located right where BU shot twice, so for the third period, BU fans were right next to the BU players. All 100-150 fans there were shouting as loudly as they could: "You can do this, boys. You got this. Play your game. You are doing so well. You got this!" Except for the last three minutes of the national championship game when BU was down 3-1, I had never seen such encouragement from BU fans, such positivity. Until the game was over, nobody mentioned the shot inefficiencies. These fans were truly there to root the Terriers on. They could care less about what Northeastern fans were saying, what the score was, how BU was playing. They just wanted the best out of the players. It was phenomenal.

I would love to say that's how BU fans are for every game. Certainly, the Dog Pound brings an unmatched, continuous intensity to every college hockey game they watch. Throughout this, though, there are a lot of "Why does this player suck?" or "What does he think he's doing out there?" or "Why did this player ever think it would be a good idea for him to play hockey?" When BU loses or plays poorly at Agganis, fans scream at the players as if they are failures or do not know anything about what they are doing.

It's terrible. I personally have never, ever booed a player on the team I cheer for. I hated David Wells, but when he played for the Red Sox, I always made sure to encourage him, coax him into a strikeout, say anything supportive. Similarly, I hate one of BU's players, Colby Cohen. I say a lot of bad things about him when BU is not playing. During game-time, however, I would never say anything against him. It doesn't help, especially in college hockey venues where players can actually hear what the crowd is saying and know when their fans are criticizing them. It is never a fan's place to boo their own player. There is a reason fans are in the stands and players are on the ice or fields. Though fans are not always 100% supportive at Agganis, the negativity did not travel to Matthew's last night, and that was great to see.

Rivalries are great for sports. They bring a higher competitive edge to games, and a lot of Northeastern fans last night were fun to combat in cheers in comments. One fan asked the BU fans which hat they were wearing last night, the National Championship hat or the Beanpot hat. It was a play on how highly BU fans esteem the Beanpot tournament, and if BU had lost the Beanpot last year, it would be interesting what people would say when they won the NCAA championship (most likely, it would have been "Well, a national championship is nice, but it's no Beanpot). Northeastern was a big fan of the "Sucks to BU" chant, which, while not very original, is still nothing unsportsmanlike. It's not like we don't say "BC sucks" at every hockey game, regardless of whether we are actually playing BC or not.

However, there were a large group of students there who did not even seem to realize Northeastern was playing. They were so occupied with telling BU fans how they were ******* and ******* and ***** that I'm not sure they saw much of the game. Quite a few were kicked out before the game started, and more were kicked out during the game. I cannot consider them actual fans of Northeastern. Sure, real fans will make fun of us, but they will also watch the game and remember to cheer for their team. There were a good amount of those fans there last night, but they were unfortunately overshadowed by the poor sportsmanship of some of their comrades.

Last night's game was very well played by BU. They turned out their best powerplay performance of the season despite the significant injuries that kept a good group of guys from playing. They owned puck possession, improved their face-offs, played their best defense of the season, shut down Northeastern for the most part offensively, and did not get overly physical when Northeastern started playing dirty. Northeastern also played decently. Their offense was not anything special, but their goaltending was fantastic and their defensive dedication paid off. In terms of opportunities, Northeastern certainly stole the win, but at the same time they were not undeserving of a W.

While it's unfortunate that a select group of Northeastern students clouded the experience for BU fans, I am so impressed by the BU fans' reactions and diligence. The BU fans were there for the team. They did not engage the Northeastern students the way the could have and represented the university very well last night. I really hope this behavior will carry over and continue at Agganis and the remaining road games, and I am very proud of BU for displaying what a true fan should be.

Go Terriers!
     

Apparently, the Yankees won their 27th World Series title last night. Me? I could really care less.

So what if the Yankees won? It isn't as if it did not took huge sums of money for them to get where they needed to be in order to add to their ring totals. It's not as if they beat the Red Sox in the postseason. It's not as if they had the Red Sox's number this year. Yes, I hate the Yankees, and because of that, I really don't care that they won.

I believe this World Series was not a reflection on the organization as a whole (as it was for the 2003 Marlins, the 2005 Cardinals) and that the Yankees really didn't have a huge effect on the Red Sox this season. This doesn't say anything about the Yankees other than they have the ability to buy the players necessary (Matsui, Texieira, Sabathia, A-Rod) to win championships. That, to me, illustrates everything that is wrong about baseball right now.

Now, the Red Sox are not wholly innocent of baseball as a business. They pay big money for Ortiz, for Beckett, for J.D., for Daisuke. At the very core of the team, however, the Red Sox have home-grown talent. There would have been no 2007 title without Pedroia, Youkilis, Papelbon and Lester.

The Yankees have Jeter.
 
He is by far the best player of this generation of players, and he may well be one of the greatest of all times. Other than him, however, the Yankees do not have a core of home-grown talent that leads their team. Cabrera, Cano, Chamberlain, Gardner . . . they are all decent players, but they do not lead the team. They are not the difference between a championship-caliber team and a playoff-caliber team.

To be honest, I did not watch a whole lot of this World Series. It had no appeal to me. I knew the Yankees would win, and even if they didn't, I did not care for the Phillies to repeat. How great would it have been for the sport if the Twins were playing the Rockies, or even the Dodgers to improve a low-key Series' TV ratings?

I mean, Minnesota's entire pay-roll would be consumed solely by A-Rod, Jeter and Matsui. What if 25 guys could play for that same amount of money on baseball's biggest stage? How great would that be for the sport?

In the end, I guess it's congratulations to the Yankees. On to another off season where both the Yankees AND the Red Sox will spend ridiculous sums of money on people who play a child's game. On to the debate over Jason Bay, Varitek, Tim Wakefield and friends.

And guess what? In 365 days, it will be the Red Sox holding that trophy.

Have a good off-season everybody!

I've been trying to find the Red Sox games on TV recently and they do not appear in the schedule. I realize that postseason baseball is still going on, so I will investigate this matter further, but I figured in the meantime, I'd update everybody who does not read boston.com every 5 minutes on the latest happenings.

Patriots wallop Titans before jetting off to London
It snowed all day on Sunday in Boston. Today it is 70 degrees. I feel the Titans, who had the unfortunate task of playing football at Gillette on Sunday, would have much preferred to play the Patriots today.

The Patriots absolutely obliterated the Titans. By half time, Tom Brady had five touchdown passes and the Pats were leading 45-0. Two of those five touchdowns came in the 13th minute of the quarter. If the Titans did not come out after the half, the Patriots would not have noticed the difference. The Pats ended up winning 59-0.

This week, the Patriots play Tampa Bay in foreign territory. Really foreign territory. American football arrives in London tonight, as the Patriots will leave for England this afternoon. I really do not think this trip will create too much more of a British following, as they are pretty happy with their form of football, but it does make for a fun trip for both the Pats and the Bucs.

I would not expect another 59-0 game. It was fun to watch, but the Titans were a struggling team who happened to run into the Pats when they were clicking for the first time this season. Granted, Tampa Bay is also winless on the season, but maybe jet lag will prevent the Patriots from being so explosive.

Savvy, Looch on IR and Kobasew traded
The Bruins have been really struggling this season with consistency. They have yet to have a losing streak on the season, but they have also yet to have a winning streak. They win big one night and lose big the next night.

This week, the Bruins seriously shook up their roster. Two of their top players, first-line center Marc Savard and enforcer Milan Lucic, are out for at least a month with a broken foot and finger, respectively. On Sunday, the Bs traded Chuck Kobasew for the rights to a college player, a perennial AHLer, and a second round 2011 draft pick. On Tuesday, the Bs turned around and acquired Daniel Paille who will presumably take Kobasew's place.

Last night, the Bs improved to a .500 record when they beat the Nashville Predators 3-2. I was at the game to cheer on BU's Colin Wilson who left for the NHL after two years of collegehockey. Colin scored his first (albeit messy/weak) career goal last night. It was great to see him in person succeeding at the NHL level, and it was also great for him to be able to score in front of many of his teammates from the past two years the day after his 20th birthday. My friend and I stood to applaud Colin's goal even though he was supposed to be the enemy last night. All was absolved, however, when the Bruins managed to pull off the W.

BU Hockey forgets that they actually need to play a full game of hockey to win a game
BU hockey occupies most of my time during baseball's offseason. The team won the national championship last year. They were loaded with talent, such as the aforementioned Colin Wilson, New York Rangers' defenseman Matt Gilroy, Jason Lawrence, Columbus's Chris Higgins, San Jose's John McCarthy and Pittsburgh's Brian Strait (just to mention a few). BU could turn on the jets last year and dominate games. They scored 3 goals in 44 seconds against BC to advance to the Hockey East final. They came back from a 3-1 deficit with 59.5 seconds remaining in the national title game to win the game 4-3.

This year, the only team BU has beaten was a group of 17-year-olds. For players, I'm sure it's annoying when fans scream "why aren't you doing this?" or "why does your powerplay suck?" Fans are not on the ice or the field. Fans are not able to pull off any of the plays that these elite athletes can. I try to consider this when criticizing teams and players for their play.

BU, however, has just been lazy this season. I've been very critical of them because they are ABLE to play better. They may not have the same talent as they did last year, but they do have enough to win a game if they play the full 60 minutes. This has yet to happen this season. BU is 0-2. In their two preseason games and their two regular season games, BU has outshot their opponents 170-76. They've been outscored 10-7. On Tuesday, BU took 31 shots and not one of them found its way into the goal. The freshman are playing extremely well. The only two goals BU has on the season were scored by a freshman. It is the veterans, the captains even, who are making lazy mistakes that lead to turn-overs and then goals for the other team. One of BU's assistant captains even scored a goal on himself. He's a senior.

I realize that this is not the same team as last year's team. I know that they have no chance to be as good as last year's team - last year was a truly special group of players, the likes of which have never been seen at Boston University before. This year's team, however, is definitely better than they are playing. On Tuesday night, the OPPOSING team's coach called BU out for their lack of effort. That's bad. There is no excuse for that.

BU's next game is on Saturday night against Michigan, and they better come out ready to play a full 60 minutes of hockey. 

Bruins and Patriots pictures from boston.com. BU picture my own.

Now that I have pulled myself away from the edge of the Zakim Bridge, it is time to begin off-season fodder.

I knew the Red Sox would not win the series against the Angels. I was optimistic in thinking that they would at least make it to a Game Five, but the truth is this team was as good as done once they went 8-13 in their first 21 games post-All Star Game. The issues against the Angels (a spotty bullpen, no hitting, shaky starting rotation) were all problems that every Red Sox fan saw throughout the season. The Angels were a better team and had more drive last week. The Red Sox looked dead.

Boston.com, in an attempt to get Bostonians past Papelbon's blown save, posted a survey about hot issues for Red Sox management in the off season. I voted on them there and I'll explain them here.

picture from mysportsrumors.com

Jason Bay: The Red Sox can either re-sign Bay or pursue a different free agent.

The Red Sox's top priority this season should be finding a way to re-sign Bay. Though not often reflected in statistics, Bay was a catalyst for the Sox this year. When he was hitting well, the Red Sox were hitting well. He has a great arm and is adapting to the Monster very well. The Red Sox would also be hard-pressed to find a teammate of his caliber elsewhere. Bay is relatively quiet, never causing controversy and never having problems with teammates. He strikes out pretty frequently, but I would much rather take a player who strikes out all the time than a player who grounds into double plays. If the Red Sox do not re-sign Bay, they will miss out on a great chance to get a quality, well-rounded player who will definitely help the team make the postseason next year.

picture from sonsofsamhorn.net

Alex Gonzalez: The Red Sox can pick up Gonzalez's $6 million option for next year, try to re-sign him for less money or pursue a different option at shortstop either internally (Lowrie, Green) or externally.

I think it was a mistake to let Gonzalez leave Boston in the first place. Gonzalez is not anything great at the plate, but his defense more than makes up for his offensive deficiencies. Gonzalez is a sure-handed shortstop and performed well. Theo Epstein does not have a great history with shortstops, so with any new shortstop, there will be a lot of question marks entering the season. The Red Sox should attempt to sign Gonzalez for less money if at all possible, but should not get hung up on that avenue. Pick up his option if he refuses to take less money for more years.

picture from stonephoto.com

Tim Wakefield: Wakefield is schedules to have back surgery this postseason. The Red Sox have infinite one-year options for him. Wakefield could also retire or join a different team.

I think the Red Sox need to wait it out on Wake. Unless his back problems completely disappear for at least a few months, they should not re-sign Wakefield. There are a few starting pitchers in the minor leagues (work on Bowden) and some quality pitchers the Red Sox could pursue trades for that are more dependable and less injury prone than Wakefield.

Jason Varitek: The Red Sox can pick up his $5 million team option, welcome him back under his $3 million player option, watch him go elsewhere or invite him back as a coach.

I love Jason Varitek and he has been my favorite player for years now. That said, he is in the midst of a steady decline. Catchers have shorter careers, and at 38 years old by the start of next season, there is no reason to believe that Varitek will improve or even maintain his status quo. He has been abysmal at throwing runners out at second and cannot hit consistently well anymore. Varitek is, however, fantastic with pitching staffs and fellow catchers. Victor Martinez has done nothing but talk about how helpful Varitek has been for him. The Red Sox should encourage him to retire and return to the Red Sox as either a pitching or catching coach for next season.

picture from boston.com

Rocco Baldelli: The Red Sox can either sign him to a one-year deal, multi-year deal or let him walk as a free agent.

Baldelli is a great story, but not a great baseball player. His mitochondrial disease forces him to take a lot of time of to recover from strenuous activity. The Red Sox need a more durable fourth outfielder who can maybe spend some time platooning with J.D. Drew and adds more speed on the bases.

 picture from trueslant.com

David Ortiz: Ortiz has $12.5 million left on his contract. The Sox can either keep him as the DH, platoon him with a first or third baseman, or release/trade him.

The Red Sox should keep Ortiz as is. The fact that he was able to reach 28 home runs and 99 RBIs is incredible after his horrific first three months of the season. Ortiz is not the same hitter as he was in 2004/2005, but he is still a difference maker for this team. There is no reason to change anything when the team has more pressing issues to deal with.

picture from armchairgm.com

Mike Lowell: Lowell's contract is not up after the season, but his declining health and numbers make him a palatable release or trade bait.

The Red Sox should maintain the status quo with Lowell as well. His range is not as good as it has been, but he is still capable of making Sports Center worthy plays and is a double machine. Lowell can get on base and drive in runs for the Red Sox, a glaring failure for the team in the ALDS. The Red Sox need to focus on pitching, not players like Lowell who are still very effective.

picture from projo.com

Billy Wagner: The Red Sox could theoretically pick up an $8 million option for next year for Wagner, but they promised the reliever they would not do so before trading for him. They could re-sign him in a different contract or send him on his way.

This is not even a question. Wagner is gone. He was not overly impressive, he is getting old, and he even admitted that he would probably retire. I hope he enjoys retirement and I wish him well.

Issue not addressed by Boston.com

picture from boston.com

Jonathan Papelbon: After Papelbon blew a save to end the Red Sox's postseason, many people in Red Sox Nation suggested that perhaps it was time for him to become a Yankee and for Daniel Bard to step into the closer's role. The Red Sox own Papelbon's rights through the 2011 season. They could sign him to either a one-year or multi-year deal or go to arbitration.

Unfortunately, one of Papelbon's worst outings the season ended the season. Papelbon had a very good year, par for the course for him. He made 38 saves in 41 opportunities, improving over last season's 41 saves in 46 opportunities. He ended the season with a 1.85 ERA. The Red Sox would be making a huge mistake by letting him get away. Papelbon is one of the elite closers of his generation and is still in his prime. Daniel Bard is still inexperienced and could use another year of study under Papelbon in order to become even close to a Papelbon-caliber pitcher. There is nobody in the Red Sox bullpen I would rather give the ball to, and I would have given Papelbon the ball every time in a Game 3 elimination save. Pitchers lose. Unfortunately, Papelbon lost at the wrong time. That, however, is no justification for trading him. It is important to look at the whole picture, not just one outing.     



If I were Theo Epstein, I would keep Bay, Gonzalez, Ortiz, Lowell and Papelbon. I would say goodbye to Varitek, Wakefield, Wagner, Baldelli and half of the bullpen. I would be willing to trade Michael Bowden, but definitely would not trade Daniel Bard. I would also see that Daisuke shows up ready to pitch or else I would release him in Spring Training. The Red Sox really need to focus on pitching this off season, and it would be great if they could add one more solid bat to the lineup.

The Red Sox lost last night through no fault of the umpires. They failed to score runs, they failed to kill momentum, they failed to execute on big pitches. It is not my place to blame the umpires for last night's loss, because truthfully, the Red Sox had many chances to break out in last night's game. That said, I am extremely frustrated with Major League Baseball's choice of umpiring crew last night.

CB Bucknor missed three calls at first base; one that went against the Angels and two that went against the Red Sox. He was in perfect position all three times; no players blocked his view of the plays. Nevertheless, Bucknor failed to notice Youk blatantly tagging Howie Kendrick out on the hip before Kendrick reached first. Later in the game, Bucknor missed his second call at first when Youk, fielding a high throw from Mike Lowell, landed on first base with the ball in his glove way before Kendrick reached first.

picture from boston.com

Bucknor struck again, this time against the Angels, when Dustin Pedroia and Chone Figgins tagged first at what appeared to be the same time. Bucknor ruled Figgins out. Angels fans promptly booed Bucknor, who may as well have been wearing an Angels hat last night. I always learned that tie either goes to the runner or the umpires choice. Perhaps Bucknor was trying to atone for his earlier calls, but nonetheless he lost fans at Angel Stadium last night.

None of these calls led to runs, so there is no reason to downplay the Angels' victory. However, for MLB to actually allow Bucknor to umpire a postseason game is a travesty. In 2003 and 2006 Sports Illustrated polls, Bucknor was voted by players as the worst umpire in Major League Baseball. That's twice in four seasons. 

How does the WORST umpire in Major League Baseball get a postseason game? Really, MLB? There are no other umpires that could have taken his place? Worse still, Bucknor takes his spot behind the plate tonight. Josh Beckett, who already has a short temper, will surely draw issue with Bucknor's calls. Do not be surprised if he gets himself ejected.

This is the postseason. Every call matters, yet for some reason, the Sox and the Angels will suffer the consequences of having the worst umpire in Major League Baseball making those calls. Once a single one of the calls costs either team anything, I would not hesitate to send a slew of letters Bud Selig's way.

Both the Bruins and Red Sox will be battling against teams from Anaheim tonight. The Bruins are playing my boy Nick Bonino's (Go BU hockey!) team, the Anaheim Ducks. Looch plays for the first time since signing a big, three year deal. The Bruins are also looking to continue their win streak post-Carolina killing.

The Red Sox begin the ALDS tonight at 9:37 p.m. ET. Jon Lester grabs the ace role for the club, taking the hill against Jon Lackey, who the Red Sox faced a couple of weeks ago.

I am feeling most confident about tonight's game. Lester and Lackey are pretty similar pitchers on paper. Lester has a 15-8 record, Lackey is 11-8. Lester has a 3.41 ERA, Lackey has a 3.83 ERA. Lackey is 0-1 versus Boston this season.

Lester has only pitched once in an ALDS in his career and it was last year against the Angels. He gave up one unearned run, six hits and struck out seven in seven innings. Lester has also not faced the Angels this season. This is bad news for the Angels, as they still have to figure out Lester's stuff. Lester, meanwhile, will be pitching the same game he always does.

The Red Sox have also ended the Angels season three out of the last five years. Players will downplay this. History does not matter, they'll say. It's all about this year. We are only focused on this game.

Nonsense.

Baseball can be a very mental game. If players get an idea stuck in their head, they are bound to play into that idea. Thus, the Angels are bound to have more doubts than the Red Sox. The Red Sox own Anaheim in the playoffs. Of course the Angels will want to put an end to this, but the second something goes wrong, a double play ends a promising inning, a fielder makes an error, a batter strikes out with the bases loaded - those doubts will start to overwhelm Angels' players' heads.

The Angels have to wage a battle in their heads and on the field. The Red Sox have only one battle to worry about.

That said, I still do not believe the Red Sox have what it takes to win this series. The first two starting pitching slots are a little shaky but not horrible, yet Daisuke and Buchholz bring up a lot of question marks. Is Daisuke sharp enough to pitch well in the postseason? Can Buchholz handle the pressure of possibly pitching in an elimination game? Will we even get to Buchholz?

All of these questions will begin to be answered tonight. I'm saying Angels in 5.

One of the most exciting aspect of the NFL playoffs is the one-game, life or death set up. In baseball, this is largely missing except for Game 5s or Game 7s, and as a result the hotter team generally wins. This has worked in the Red Sox's favor twice (re 2004, 2007) and can mean that despite the Yankees 103 wins, they could still blow it in October, but still, nothing beats sudden death.

Tonight, the Tigers and Twins will engage in battle at 5 PM. Everything is on the line. 162 games comes down to this. A tie, two equal teams, facing off against one another to determine who has the chance to capture glory and who will be watching October on the TV at home.

I'm rooting for Detroit for no particular reason other than the city of Detroit has nothing going for them. I mean, just watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM

The only good thing about Cleveland is they are not Detroit. Not good news for Detroit.

Minnesota has been a good team for a long time. They are right on the cusp of the Wild Card pretty frequently. They won the AL Central in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006.They have had some issues come playoff time, but at least they've been there.

Detroit, on the other hand, used to be  a team on your schedule that was penciled in as an automatic win. They won the Wild Card in 2006 and lost in the World Series. Other than that, they had not been to the playoffs since 1987 and last won the World Series in 1984. Detroit lost 119 games in 2003, and 106 games the year before. That's two of their five worst seasons back to back. Just last year, Detroit finished last in their division.

I love rooting for underdogs. After all, I have been a Red Sox fan for almost 20 years now, and I'm also a huge Bruins fan. The Bruins are in a bit of Stanley Cup rut right now, if no one has noticed. Detroit is an underdog based on history here, but I think they have a pretty good team. I love Verlander, Washburn, Bonderman, Inge, Guillen, Granderson. These guys are some of the best (but for the most part quietly best) players of the decade.

Don't get me wrong. The Twins have a great team, and if they made the playoffs I wouldn't root against them unless they play the Sox in the ALCS, but they've had so many chances this decade. Let's embrace parity. Let's give someone else a chance.

Go Tigers.

picture from Detroit Free Press

People always say that Fenway Park is a magical place. Last night, Nick Green was able to experience some magic of his own en route to aiding the Red Sox in their come-from-behind win.

With two outs in the ninth and the bases loaded, Green stepped up to the plate for his first appearance in about 10 years. Since acquiring Alex Gonzalez, Green has seen limited at best playing time. As he took a few warm-up swings, I turned to my friends and said, "Perhaps if the Red Sox had played Green at all in the last month, this may be a good idea, but the game is over. He's not fresh enough."

It turns out I was right. Green struck out twice in the ninth. In the same at-bat. He then proceeded to take ball 4, stroll down to first, and recieve credit for the tying run. Just imagine Mike Scioscia's face. It was great.

After the game, the media approached Scioscia, most likely tentatively as the Angel's manager was borderline insane with anger. They asked him about the game and he retorted, "what was the count -- 3-4 to Green?"



Some may call this outburst spiteful. Some may call it bitter. I still believe Mike Scoscia is a tool who fails as a manager every October, but I see where he's coming from. The man has been almost ejected about 16 times over the course of the past 2 games. I'm impressed that he restrained himself from bursting out of the clubhouse and attacking the umpiring crew.

My friends from California are livid. They feel betrayed by the umpiring crew and now hate Nick Green.

If the Angels were going to win last night's game, however, they should have won it long before. The Angels had every chance to win. They took leads in the 6th inning, 8th inning and 9th inning and proceeded to blow all of those leads. Alex Gonzalez's game-winning single was a catchable ball. They made a few half-hearted plays throughout the game that ended up costing them, and now they have another loss in September. Sure, the Red Sox were lucky Nick Green ended up walking, but the Angels still had every chance to win that game.

After the game, Tori Hunter called out his teammates, saying they needed to play with more guts. They needed to have more heart.

In these past two games, the Red Sox have shown a lot of heart, a lot of guts, and the tenacity needed to win against tough teams in both September and October. Back in August, I was sure the Sox had quit for the season. They were primed for an early exit if they were going to make the playoffs at all. The pitching was falling apart, Beckett was giving up an average of 42 home runs per inning, they were not hitting, they were slaughtered by the Yankees and the Wild Card ticket was not looking good.

These past two days, the Red Sox have put two pitchers on the mound who are plagued by large question marks. Daisuke earned his second win of the season on Tuesday after returning from a three-month DL stint. Paul Byrd was coaching little leaguers on Opening Day. He did not pitch fantastically last night, but the Red Sox kept rallying behind him. They seized every opportunity they had.

In the end, that's what makes a good playoff team. Dan Shaughnessey wrote that perhaps this team could make a run at a World Series title. I still doubt the Red Sox will go too deep into October, but at least it seems that now they are giving themselves a chance.