Posts Tagged ‘celtics’

Yesterday with DaWife working and both the Celtics and Redsox playing in Philly I decided to go to Longhorn’s Restaurant to watch the game and have some of their spicy chicken bites (if you haven’t had them try them, they are the best value in terms of taste and quantity of any appetizer offered in any restaurant out there.

There were five things that jumped out at me while I sat at the bar:

First of all while the neither the restaurant nor the bar was very crowded (likely due to the games and the pending Mother’s day next week) the takeout business was very brisk. I observed the young lady running the takeout, she was doing well in a busy job. The phone was cranking and the orders were flowing. Before COVID the amount of takeout a place like this would do was minimal but even with COVID finished many people have really taken to getting their restaurant food at home without the restaurant. It’s one of the subtle ways the COVID stuff has changed us.


Second of all I was watching the Celtics Philly game and noticed that, at least for the first half Philly was contesting the initial inbounds passes after scoring even before the Celtics started pulling away. You don’t see a lot of teams doing that and it proved to be, at least in my opinion effective in giving the Celtics some grief. I think more teams should do this in the NBA, while it doesn’t allow a set defense it does and can disrupt a set offense.


Third of all I was watching the Redsox , Phillies game with great interest both because of Chris Sale for for five of the six innings he pitched looked like the Sale of 2018 constantly throwing over 95 and getting ahead of hitters but living on the edge of the pitch clock. Under the new rules the pitcher has to be in his leg kick by the time the clock hits zero or a ball is automatically called and the number of pitches he got off within a second of what would be a violation was considerable. This had some effect in his bad inning when he would get angry at himself and vent and then have to rush a pitch to keep a penalty. I’m curious how many other pitchers in baseball are living on the edge of the clock?


Of course being at the bar I naturally kept an eye on BudLight Sales. Longhorn offers two beers at a slight discount for a smaller glass, Bud Light and Miller Lite. In the two hours I was there I did not see a single Bud Light poured but in fairness I didn’t see any Miller Lite being ordered either. In fact what little there was of beer orders were of the local IPA’s but be that as it may Bud wasn’t moving. Perhaps they can start offering it at Tuppence a glass?


Finally I was REALLY caught by surprise by a political ad by a superpac during the Red Sox game. It was a powerful ad about freedom but the climax of the ad was a mother and child putting a DeSantis for president sign in their yard and a person with a Trump 2016 bumper sticker on his pickup putting a DeSantis 2024 bumper sticker over it.

I’ve not been able to find the Ad to embed it but let me tell you if Donald Trump already had his hair on fire over DeSantis as a candidate this will send him over the edge.

Frankly I’m torn between the two of them. Either would make a fine President and each has different plusses and minus.

Of course if Jay Valentine is right, it may all be moot anyways

To become president, Trump must win a bunch of swing states.  To win each state he needs more ballots in his pile than the other guy.  It’s baked into the data — which we look at every day — that Trump is not going to win those swing states.  None of them.

It’s not his fault.  He will probably get more votes, just not more ballots.

and he closes thus:

Unfortunately, the RNC is about raising dough and having elaborate meetings with mediocre minds.  The Trump campaign thinks rallies, flags, and red hats can overcome the Left’s complete control of election apparatus.

It’s like France in 1939. 

Trump is France. 

If that is correct there will be trouble and if DeSantis believes the left won’t use these tactics against him in a general then he’s a fool.

If you are a person 35 our younger all of your memories of the New England Patriots are likely memories of victory and Dominance thanks to the greatest sixth round draft pick ever made and the most important hit in the history of the NFL which combined gave you 20 years of Tom Brady. So given the potential of Aaron Rogers going to the Jets the shock of the Patriots being the worst team in their division is hitting many fans hard.

However if you are 60ish or older you remember a time when the Patriots were the worst team in New England (including the Whalers) so all of this brings us back to the days of our youth.

Given the state of the country these days perhaps it will be cathartic for us to have something to complain about.


The RedSox who used to rule the roots in New England but the last few years have seen their star fade as their stars leave.

One of the those starts Xander Bogarts is currently playing in the World Baseball Classic for the Dutch and has led their team to upset victories against both Panama and Cuba, CUBA

If only Boston could get players like that.


The Boston Celtics broke a 3 game losing streak yesterday they currently sit in 2nd place in the East right behind Milwaukee. The Celtics are still the favorite to go to the finals but while they are clearly the most talented team in the East there are at least four teams in the East capable of winning a seven game series against them.

Most importantly not a one of those teams are afraid of them.

I’ve never seen so powerful a team produce so little shock and awe among their rivals.


While the Celtics are not scaring anybody the Boston Bruins are riding roughshod over the entire NHL with an insane .831 winning percentage losing only 8 game out of 62 played.

While there still a long ways away from the record of 132 points set by the 76-77 Canadians who only lost 8 games the entire season they have exceeded every expectation that anybody had for this team at the start of the season.

If they roll though the playoffs at anywhere near the rate they will become the top dog in town really fast, particularly if the Celtics stumble.


Finally our face to face Dynasty Baseball league is winding down and my magic number for the final playoff spot is 1 with six games to go.

Just a few months ago I ruled the roost but a 10 game losing streak dropped me to the bottom of the standings.

In our 1957 League my Brooklyn dodgers are chasing the Braves and the Cardinals and we’re gearing up for the expansion draft with two teams (Cubs and Twins) joining for our 1971 league we’re just waiting for Dynasty to finalize the release online.

My team seems to be pitching heavy this season so to take advantage of that situation I am finally making the move to Milwaukee that I held off on for 1970 while my Pilots tried to repeat.

Given the teams in the league I likely don’t have a chance but it will still be a fun season.

It’s the second quarter and the bench has been put in again (this time with Pierce instead of Ray Allen) and AGAIN the lead has grown to eight.

This is absolutely amazing. If this keeps up then the Lakers are in deep DEEP trouble.

Update: The starters are back in the game and the lead is down to two.

I have never seen a bench play so well. This team has turned around the game in the 4th with 1 starter and 4 bench players.

Tony Allen, Nate Robinson, Wallace and Big Baby are just playing incredible.

We may win this game/series we may not, but it won’t be the fault of this bench and if we do win these guys deserve the credit.

LA seems to have no solution to this defense.

Update: I wrote the above midway through the 4th. Magic Johnson said pretty much the same thing in the post game on Sportscenter.