Christmas

Christmas is great, family, gift-giving, basketball, food, and drink.  Cold weather outside, warm clothing inside.  Everyone in good spirits.  College kids on break.  People returning to their hometowns.  Silent Night.

My wonderful wife gave me a bottle of De Proef x Hair of the Dog Flanders Fred and an Ibex Shak.  Looking forward to enjoying both of these great gifts!

Celtics won convincingly.

Bloody Maries were consumed, with sriracha.

200th post...

1st Quarter Mark of Boston Celtics Season

All the readers of this blog know and hopefully tolerate my constant ramblings of my favorite team in sports: the Boston Celtics.  The 2012-2013 version of the team is not the powerhouse of years past, but I started the season very confident.  In the offseason, the Celtics lost Ray Allen.  Obviously this upset me, and I named my fantasy team Judas Shuttlesworth for the year.  However, we had a great draft including getting Jarred Sullinger late in the first round, which is pretty impressive since he had been projected as a lottery pick just a year ago, but slipped because of injury risks.  Also, they added Jason Terry and Courtney Lee in the backfield, resigned Brandon Bass, and got Uncle Jeff back from his scary heart condition. 

They did not start all that hot and are at approximately .500 winning percentage at the quarter mark of the season.  Unimpressive defense, lack of big men, and falling apart when Kevin Garnett go to the bench are the main gripes I have been hearing.  Rondo was suspended for getting in a pushing match with Kris Humphries and we are still awaiting the return of Avery Bradley.  Pierce has been disappointing this year, but he is likely to improve as the season continues. 

As the new guys get more comfortable, the defense has improved, and the offense has consistently been good, which is a welcome addition.  In the past few years, we had struggled to create baskets, being forced to run Ray off a ton of screens.  I am still cautiously optimistic about the year, but increased competition from the two teams in New York within our Atlantic division may challenge the Celtics winning their fifth straight division championship and being relegated to the wild card.

2012-2013 Celtics: Game 1 vs Miami Heat

The 2012 - 2013 Celtics are a whole new team.  Their extended bench consists of Jeff Green, who is not a completely new face, but was unable to play last year based on health reasons, and new faces Courtney Lee, Jason "Jet" Terry, rookie Jarred Sullinger, Leandro "Leandrinho" Barbosa and a few other minor players.  This brings significant increased depth to the guard position for Boston.  The only notable absence is the future Hall of Famer Ray Allen, who left to join the Miami Heat to help Lebron defend his title.  Most Valuable Celtic is going to have to be Rajon Rondo, the capable Celtics PG.

Game 1 was in South Beach vs the Heat and the Celtics did not emerge victorious.  Lebron and Wade had massive games and Ray Allen's first game wearing red and black was a memorable one.  It really hurt to watch that smooth jump stroke count against the Green.  I think the line was fair at Heat -6.5, and probably would have taken the Celtics with the points.  However, the new pieces of the Celtics are not yet clicking as I think they will be as the season winds to a close.  This Celtics team is constructed a lot differently, the offense is going to be much improved, and the defense, which has been the hallmark of this team since we acquired KG seems to have fallen off a bit based on the first game.  They will need to improve this as the season moves forward to be competitive.

I am very confident that the Celtics will emerge as the #2 or #3 seed in the Eastern Conference and the success of our new players will be critical to any post season success

Celtics coach, Doc Rivers, looing stylish with the window pane SC, nice tie and french cuffs.  Doc Rivers tends to favor Ermenegildo Zegna.

Rajon Rondo

Rondo is one of the most unique players in the league.  His shooting is generally terrible, which allows defenses to back up off him.  This gives him a much better chance at getting good looks and contributes to his extremely high assist count.  However, he is notorious for being inconsistent, some days he just doesn't have it and that is a completely fair and true criticism.  Last night, he had it.  The Celtics needed a win, and they played their hearts out against the mighty Miami Heat to try and capture one.  Unfortunately, this was not successful.  Rondo put up 44 points, 15 assists, 8 rebounds, a bunch of steals and only 3 turnovers.  He played every single minute of this 53 minute overtime game, and he scored all 12 of the Celtics OT points.  Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce fouled out of the game, and Ray Allen, although he hit a big 3, was much more of a role player than he has been in his career.  Rondo was even clearly fouled going for a layup towards the end, which ended up resulting in him not getting back on defense and then an easy dunk by Haslem.  If this call had gone the other way, and in my opinion this is a foul 75% of the time, the result may have been different.  In my opinion, the Celtics lost this game in the 3rd quarter when they allowed Miami to get a lead after being up by 15 in the first half.  C'est la Vie.

Celtics Defeat Atlanta, Move on to Round 2

The Celtics managed to hold off the Atlanta Hawks, rejuvenated by the return of Al Horford, who really put his team on his back.  The Celtics, however, collectively climbed on the back of The Big Ticket, Kevin Garnett who was the absolute star of the game.  His stat line was absurd: 28 points on 53% shooting FG, 14 rebounds, 3 steals, 5 blocks, and a single foul.  He was dominant in the game, and played 39 minutes.  Rondo, Pierce, Bradley and Allen all contributed, but I was extremely impressed by Ryan Hollins 18 minute contributions. This guy was not on the team 6 weeks ago!

Although I am not confident that the Celtics would have won in 6 had Horford been 100% for all 3 games, they move on to face the Philadelphia 76ers.  They were greater than +1000 to knock off the number 1 seed Chicago Bulls, but they accomplished it, with some help from a Derrick Rose injury.  This is a favorable matchup for the Celtics, who really dominated the Sixers in the second half of the season.  I think it will be important for Rondo and the rest of the team to be involved, as Kevin Garnett can not will the team to the Finals.  Celtics need to continue attacking the basket, instead of settling for jump shots. Need to stop Lou Williams and Andre Iguodala from scoring, and keep up the strong defense.

Game 1: Saturday @ 8PM  in Boston
Classic Kevin Garnett post game interview below:

Celtics Manage a Win in Game 2 without Rajon Rondo

The Celtics were without Rajon Rondo for Tuesday night's Game 2 of the first round of the NBA playoffs.  Boston fans were tense, with the early exit from Lord Stanley's Playoffs by the defending champ Bruins, and a tense situation in Boston with Bobby Valentine.  Everyone had written off the Celtics from having a chance at victory without their mercurial point guard, and this would have been the case had PAUL PIERCE not gone absolutely bananas.  The Celtics' 4th quarter was insane, with them going on a strong run offensively, and playing lock down defense.  Avery Bradley made all kinds of athletic plays, and KG was doing KG things.  Great for the Celtics to get a win down in Atlanta and even the series up 1-1 heading back to Boston.

Celtics Embarrass the Heat, Continue to Win

I am a huge NBA fan, basketball is awesome, and while I have enjoyed the NCAA College Basketball Tournament, the Celtics are my true passion.  I have been stressfully following this lockout shortened season, and may have even overreacted about the Celtics in February.  However, they have turned it around in a big way, capped off by beating the Miami Heat in Boston Sunday afternoon.  They have been without Ray Allen for the past few weeks, but my boy Avery Bradley has stepped in and really delivered.

The Celtics win was the largest point differential loss that the Heat have faced this year.  Rajon Rondo went absolutely nuts, achieving his 18th triple double, and making the Heat PGs, Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers look like mannequins.  Pierce and Garnett both had great games, with Garnett absolutely shutting down Chris Bosh, and playing physical and angry as usual.  However, I was most impressed with Avery Bradley.  He was able to completely shut down former NBA Finals MVP, Dwyane Wade, blocking him in the dunk below.  This is a pretty impressive achievement for the youngster, who has really come into his own with Ray on the sidelines.

The Celtics have been 10-1 without Ray, which is pretty scary, if he is able to come back soon and keep up his hot shooting from the beginning of the season.  I think Ray should start, but he is a bit of a liability on defense, but his offense makes up for it.  Playing Kevin Garnett at center is a risk that Doc Rivers has taken to try and get more active and allow the offense to not be bogged down by a slow big like the useless Jermaine O'Neal or Shaq.  Greg Stiemsma is still raw, but he is playing with heart!  Pierce is still playing solid, and if he is on, then he is going to draw the best defensive player, leaving the other Celtics open to score baskets.

I am not saying they are going to win the NBA championship this year, but the Celtics are looking great.  My only fear is that they are peaking too soon, theres still 3 weeks until the playoffs start.

Celtics beat Knicks in OT!

 

I know that the other day I wrote a blog post panicing about my beloved Boston Celtics.  They are now on a four game win streak in which they have competed ferociously in all games.  KG looks rejuvenated and strong.  Pierce is making it happen.  Rondo is giving his big middle finger to all the trade rumors.  Tonight, he notched his second triple double since the all star break, with the ridiculous stat line: 18 points, 17 rebounds and 20 assists, last time a player did that was Magic Johnson in 1983 with 17 rebounds and 21 assists, pretty good company!

How can you trade that guy for anything other than a star??  Why do you even trade him at all?  He's young and hes hungry.  It's going to be pretty lean without KG and Ray, but if the Celtics can pull in a scorer and a rebounder to replace those two guys, then they will compete again before Pierce retires.

I realize I am doing a complete 180* and although the Celtics are looking good in the past few games, they are not out in the clear.  The Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls are looking gargantuan in the East.  The Celtics have a 76ers, Trail Blazers, Lakers, Clippers Warriors stretch coming up, 4 out of 5 of those on the road.  This should bring them back to earth unfortunately...

Finally, nice purse Lebron LOL

Celtics Update @ NBA All Star Break

Halfway through this shortened NBA season and the All-Star break has come and gone.  Two Celtics, Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce represented the East in Orlando, where a valiant late game comeback was not enough to overcome the West; Kobe Bryant.  The Celtics are below .500, but thanks to the Bobcats and Wizards-laden Eastern Conference are on track for a 7th or 8th seed, with surprisingly good rookie Kyrie Irving threatening a game and a half behind.  This most likely means elimination at the hands of the Heat or Bulls.  The Big Three has run its course in my book, and the NBA Finals ring and several playoff runs is a pretty good return on the investment that the Celtics and Danny Ainge made.

KG is too old and immobile to be the impact MVP player that he was in the past.  Ray's shooting is still stellar, but his struggles handling the ball and aging knees show that his age is also starting to catch up.  Pierce started the season of out shape, coming off an injury, but he is also in the end of his prime.  Rondo is still exciting, but his poor shooting (and fear that comes with it) and his bad attitude (see video of him throwing a ball at a ref) are hurting the team.  Weak bench play, save the injured Brandon Bass, and the lack of a solid, healthy center spell mediocrity for Celtics nation.  Seriously, we picked up Chris Wilcox and Keyon Dooling in the offseason and thought we had a chance?

Bill Simmons, the sports guy, advocates blowing up the team in his latest column, trading Rondo + JO for Pau Gasol, although I think the Lakers would balk at trading him.  He also suggest maximizing value on KG and moving him to Dallas for Shawn Marion and Lamar Odom.  Finally, trading Ray to the Clippers for Mo Williams and Eric Bledsoe, although I don't see a ton of value in this move.  This plan is feasible, but it involves a lot of moving pieces and ifs, which means its not gonna happen.

I have little confidence in the Celtics for the next 3 years as Miami/NYK/OKC and whoever gets Derron Williams/D.Howard will dominate for the time being.  If the Celtics bottom out and acquire some draft picks, they have the ability to come back strong, but the short to medium outlook is not great.

Larry Bird on Bill Simmons B.S. Report

 

Larry Legend was on Bill Simmons' BS Report podcast today. I am a huge fan of Bill Simmons and I have read both his book and mentioned his work on here in the past. He is from the Boston area and went to school at Holy Cross. His hilarious writing style and gambling references can be seen at Grantland, and definitely worth checking out.

It must have been special for Bill to be able to chat with his idol Larry, and you can clearly sense how genuinely excited he is to pick the Legend's brain about Indianapolis and the Celtics' history. Larry mentions how he thinks that the Colts and Peyton Manning should try to make it work, so that Manning is a Colt for life. Larry relishes his experience and believes that elite players should stay in their market, unless a trade is made. Bird is a bit of a parallel to Peyton, both are loved in their respective cities by sports fans and are transcendent athletes.

I also found that it was interesting that Bird said that he would have retired after they drafted Len Bias, had Len not passed away. I never watched the Bird, I was a baby when he was a champion, but my parents and grandparents speak of him reverently. I love that he was a reknowned trash talker, which I think is hilarious. I also admire that he is still passionate about basketball, and is still a GM for the Pacers. It seems that they are having a ton of success, relatively speaking, and Bird's strategic acquisition of talent is the genesis of that success.

Here is a link to the podcast.

Basketball is upon us

ATerrificLife readers all know that the NBA is by far my favorite professional sports league, and that I love basketball!

I had my first Fantasy Basketball draft with my Fantasy Football league and a few other buddies on Monday.  I had second pick, and took Lebron James, and then proceeded to grab a number of bigs, my team is fairly risky, since there are a number of injury risks, but I have plenty of backups, so it should be fine.  I do not have any 3 pointers, but I hope to counter that by dominating FG%, Points, Rebounds and Assists and hoping that Tony Allen and some of my other guys can come up with steals and FT% get myself into the championship.  Looking for Ty Lawson to have a breakout year as well!

As far as real basketball, my Celtics are in pretty tough shape this year.  They failed to acquire Chris Paul and recently lost Jeff Green for the season (hope you are alright man!) which means our 5th best player is Brandon Bass, who will be coming off the bench.  I think the C's are going to struggle regular season, and sneak into the playoffs, where they will probably do some damage for the last time.  The lack of depth and athelticism of our star players, and New York, Miami and Chicago all young and bound to improve on already impressive seasons last year, and the surging Indiana Pacers and Philly 76ers are going to present a number of challenges.  In the West, it is going to be exciting to see the Clippers and Thunder who are being touted as favorites to win the Conference.  Scrappy Memphis, quiet Portland, aging San Antonio and the angry Lakers are all going to be in the mix as well.

I can't wait for Christmas day!

Fantasy Basketball Preview

I am extremely excited for the NBA season. I am a huge NBA fan, and my Celtics are my favorite team in the league. The Rondo trade rumors are a bit hyped this week, and I hope that he stays. I think Rondo is great for the other guys and he truly can be a difference maker in many games. He is also fun to watch, I simply wish that he could shoot better. His FG and FT percentages are extremely poor, which brings me to fantasy basketball. I am doing fairly well in my Fantasy Football league, and have a crucial matchup this weekend to determine playoffs (more on that later.) I play with a similar pool of friends for NBA and I am pretty hyped for this year, beginning on Christmas.

I am going to go avoid injury prone guys this year, since we are going to have a shortened season, and people will be playing more often. With a higher frequency of games, the edge will definitely be on the well conditioned guys who will play more minutes. I am going to avoid Derek Rose, Arame, CP3 and others. I am targeting Carmelo Anthony fairly early, and hope to get him, since I think under D'Antoni he might score 10,000 points this season! Drafts for this and hopefully one or two other leagues will be held fairly soon, so I will be prepping even more.

My draft strategy is to read a ton of fantasy analysts predictions and projections, since I respect these guys who do this for a living. I like to indentify players who have a lot of upside, think Jimmy Graham and L. Blounte in the NFL. I also like to identify non-sexy players like Matt Forte in the NFL who can really make a difference, although fairly quietly. I make power rankings for the first 4 rounds, then decide on a few guys that I am interested in during later rounds. I do consider team needs, but not until later rounds, since trades are always a way to pick up some positional pieces later on with a trade offer.

Another interesting aspect for this year is that we are going to be instituting a "keeper" option. We are each going to hold onto 3 players for next year, which means the players we are picking early on are going to be extremely important. For this reason, I am going to try hard to get Kevin Love, since he is a young, tough player who puts up a ton of stats. This rule means 30 players will be held out of the draft next season, which will make things extremely interesting. It will also have a big effect on trades, since they must be considered in the long term as well as the short term. I think there should be a penalty for holding onto certain players, but I do not have a great system.

I will add more thoughts over the next few weeks leading up to the season, but I can't give out too much, because other league members could definitely be ghosting my site!

NBA Season/Chris Herren Unguarded

This NBA lockout is one of the most infuriating things I have experienced as a sports fan.  The NFL lockout was childs play, those guys were just trying to divvy up the boatloads of money they are making.  The NBA is not as profitable, I understand that, so they need to make a change.  Players need to understand that agents are telling them one thing, but for the overall health and viability of the league, as well as their fans that they are going to have to take a miniscule paycut.  Small market owners can't afford the huge contracts you people are demanding!  I am not going to rant about this anymore until the season has commenced, but you all know I am a huge NBA/Celtics fan and coming off an amazing post-season the NBA has dropped the ball big time. 

ESPN ran a documentary recently called Unguarded.  It is based on Fall River, MA native Chris Herren, who was a sensation in high school, played at BC in college, and eventually made it to the pros.  However, he was heavily addicted to painkillers, heroin, and other drugs, he was a complete addict.  I remember this guy when he was on the court for that terrible Celtics team, but then he was cut and I never heard from him again.  Bill Simmons spoke with Chris on the BS Report, and it really is a good listen.  Just because someone is rich, doesn't mean they can't fall prey to opiate addiction, I know a lot of people in my life who have been affected by this, and I can totally relate to Chris.  Worth checking out.

Link Dump

It's not Tuesday, but hey, its my blog and I can do what I want! 

I don't think that I will be watching the WNBA with my favorite league missing at least the first two weeks of the regular season, but this article presents the argument at least.  In all seriousness, I will probably be watching a lot more college basketball and maybe some NHL hockey as well. I might need to pick up NBA 2k12 for the Xbox 360 as well!

Huffington Post put up an article on Craft Beer that is a great primer.  Although it is a little basic for me, I think its definitely a great resource for those people who want to know a little more about their beer than the lowest common denominator (Budweiser/Coors/Miller)

I have been watching the Meltdown series on the financial crisis of 2008.  This is especially relevant these days with the #OccupyWallStreet movement and the pending European sovereign default. Part 1, 2, 3, & 4.

This is not my style, but Giuseppe at AnAffordableWardrobe, got a classic piece of headgear repaired at shop in the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain, which I have a personal affinity for.  Enjoy.

Last, but certainly not least, is a guide to eating healthy on the cheap from NerdFitness.  You have all scene some of my recent paleo meals and recipes, and this is a great compendium of tips.

Tuesday Link Dump

I think I am going to start posting interesting links from the previous weeks on Tuesdays.  These are some of the articles that I come across in my daily internet surfing (its not all blogging on ATerrificLife and ThinkActProsper) and I would like you to check out too!

Giuseppe is hosting his 4th bi-annual Top Shelf Flea Market at Somerville's Davis Square VFW.  There are a number of small vendors all specializing in those of us who like to dress well, but affordably.  I am a huge fan of this blog, please check it out.

For those of us who are feeling overworked and/or underpaid, do not lose faith.  Here are some tips on how to ask for a raise. I believe its important to make yourself indispensable, so specialize in something you are good at, and learn it better than anyone else.  This will add value to your team.

Zero Hedge is one of my favorite blogs, talking all things financial, as this is my industry, it is quite relevant.  They are obviously a little harsh and overly pessimistic, but they dig up tons of good tidbits. This clip from a European trader on BBC claims "Goldman owns us all".

Bill Simmon's Grantland has been pretty solid so far, tons of good writing and media.  With the NBA lockout looming, which incidentally might not be so bad to my Celtics, here is an article related to the business of basketball owners.  Commissioner Stern claims that Ratner lost several hundred million on his sale of the New Jersey Nets to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, but fails to mention the potential $1,000,000,000 in profits for his company on sales of apartments as well as the new Brooklyn stadium. The moral of the story is that no one should feel bad for the owners.

JD Drew is one of my favorite personal finance writers.  He writes on either saving money or making more of it to increase your wealth.  His writing on personal debts and banking is some of my favorites.  Not to mention his garden project.  Here he comments on a familiar problem, grocery shopping when you are hungry.

Some Updates

Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks, specifically Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry & Mark Cuban! Dirk will definitely be remembered better, not considered soft, now that he has an NBA ring. He briefly left the court right after the game, probably had to let a few tears go, and did not want to do it on the court, in front of cameras. Jason Terry's irrational confidence inspired him to get a tattoo of the Finals trophy on his bicep before the season. Jason Kidd was finally able to capture an NBA title, claims he has 2-3 more seasons. Although I am not a huge Cuban fan, he redeemed himself a little bit in the past 48 hours, in my eyes, check out the picture above!

There are a number of reasons that Miami lost, but the two most obvious in my opinion are Lebron and Spoelstra. Lebron is arguably the best player in the NBA, and possibly one of the most gifted athletes of all time. However, he disappeared in the second half of that series, just like he did in the series against my Celtics last year. I still can't comprehend how he did just decide to get to the basket, like he always does, which results in a better overall offense and free throw attempts for Bron. I am very mystified by that performance. Secondly, Spoelstra was less than competent in the series, and really in the whole playoffs. I know people love him, for some reason, but I am not buying it. The Heat had NO offensive strategy in the 4th quarters of almost all Playoff, and especially Finals games. They were leading for 95% of the first 4 games, and ended up only being able to split them. They gave up a 15 point lead with 7:30 to go, and that's not acceptable as a coach.

I was very happy with last night's NHL hockey game, where the Bruins were able to even up the series, drawing a game 7 in Vancouver tomorrow. The Bruins outscored the Canucks 17-3 in Boston's TD Garden, now they just need to replicate it in Vancouver, where they have struggled immensely. The game was basically over halfway through the first quarter, where the Bruins scored 3 goals in quick succession, and Luongo was pulled for the MA Native Corey Schneider, who was Boston College's captain and hails from Marblehead on the North Shore, who let in another goal making it 4-0 and time to book tickets to Vancouver. The rest of the game was pretty chippy, lots of penalties, and a final score of 5-2. Marchand punched Daniel Sedin in the face roughly six times, saying "he felt like it" in the post-game interview. I think we will see Luongo in the next game. My sportsbook has Vancouver -155, meaning they are roughly 58%ish percent favored to win, and I feel that is a pretty good line, I like the under 5, although I wagered on that same outcome on game 6, which I knew I had no chance to collect after the first period.

In other unrelated news, I have been thoroughly enjoying HBO's Game of Thrones. The characters are very compelling and I have always been a bit of a fantasy junkie, so this is right up my alley. The acting is good, as well as production, and the story is fantastic. In the most recent episode, the main character of the season Eddard Stark, who happened to be the most recognizable figure was killed off. This series really keeps you guessing, unfortunately I am going to pick up all of the books in the Song of Fire and Ice series that it is based upon. Also my younger brother celebrated his 21st birthday with a pig roast on Saturday, lots of beer and several shots were had by all, my wife Marina went a little overboard unfortunately ending our night a little earlier than I had planned, still fun though! The pulled pork from the leftover pig was excellent too!

NBA/NHL Finals Update

We are in the midst of both the NBA and NHL Finals. Unfortunately the Celtics are not anywhere near the NBA Finals, but as a huge basketball fan, I am still definitely into the series. Although Dallas was the underdog, they have a ton of support from the public, especially in my neck of the woods. The series is currently Miami -330 and I believe they are still at least 1 to 4 to win the series, although I don't usually like laying that much chalk. The first game went as much as I expected for the entire series, Miami basically in the drivers seat. Game 2 was going much of the same direction, and at one point Miami was up 15 and Lebron/Wade were chest bumping each other with big shit-eating grins. Then Dallas proceeded to go on a 20-2 run, winning the game by 2 to take the series back to Dallas even. Last night was Game 3 and although I did not watch the majority of it, I monitored the score, and Miami was cruising the majority of the game. Although they brought it within 2, Dirk had 2 chances at the end of the game, throwing away the ball in the first possession, and missing the shot over Haslem with 4.4 seconds to go, ending the affair. Wade and Lebron are too strong, and are starting to get Bosh going, so to restate, I do not think there is any value in taking Dallas for the series even at +300.

The finals of the French Open/Roland Garros (how about that for Anglicization) was surprisingly not Nadal v. Djokovic. The semi-finals of the open was the most exciting, Nadal destroyed Andy Murray in the morning, but the afternoon match of Federer/Djokovic were what people were anticipating. Federer who is a lot older, and not having quite the drive and motivation the Serb has. not to mention the momentum. However, Djokovic is not quite as strong on clay, and Federer who was +275 took the match in 4 sets, with a very convincing performance. I enjoyed the match immensely, and was looking forward to Sunday's final. Rain was threatening the match, but the day ended up going smoothly, and Nadal won in 4 sets. He won the first two, although they were fairly close, and was up 4 games to 2, when Federer hit the gas pedal, and won the set 7-5. Federer started the 4th set strongly up 40-0 and about to break the first game, but Nadal adjusted and was able to win that game and ultimately cruised to another Grand Slam victory.

Most important and closest to me is the NHL Stanley Cup Finals and my boys the Boston Bruins. Tonight is the first game in Boston, and the B's are in a 0-2 hole to the heavily favored Vancouver Canucks. The weird Swedish Sedin twins, the biter Alexandre Burrows, and Ryan Kessler have dominated the series, although both games were decided by one goal. The first was a defensive/goalkeeping showcase with the Canucks scoring with 20 seconds to go in the game, and everyone here in Boston was crushed. The most memorable part of this game Burrows clearly biting Patrice Bergeron, although the NHL claims they lacked evidence to suspend him. Saturday night, they played game 2, which was a much better showing, the Bruins dominated the 2nd period, scoring on a power play (very tough for us to do this playoff) and taking a 2-1 lead. I knew that the Canucks were going to come out strong in the 3rd period, and managed to tie the game up. After that it looked like it was simply their game to lose, even though it was a tie. The Bruins played solid defense and had several chances, but it seemed like the Canucks were going to win. However, they lasted through the 3rd and went to overtime. Amazingly, Burrows beat Chara and scored after 11 seconds of OT and everyone was crushed once again. Burrows, who probably should not have been in the game was involved in 2 of 3 of the Canucks goals, much to the dismay of Bruins supporters. Bruins have a must-win game tonight at the Garden 8PM EST.

Bill Russell

11 Championship rings

Reading Simmon's book now, now I hate Wilt and love Bill Russell even more

Beer/NBA Playoffs

Summer is on the horizon here in Boston, although the forecast for this coming week is fairly bleak. I have been fairly depressed since the Celtics could even bring their Eastern Conference Semifinals series to 6 games against the Heat. Rondo, the tough sonnovabitch, played with what can only have been "immense pain." Apparently, if it were during the regular season, he would have been out 5-6 weeks. LBJ & Heat Co. hit a high percentage of low percentage shots, and we could not answer. At least we got Doc for 5 more years ($7mil/yr) which means even after the Big 3 fade into retirement, good players will want to come to Boston. I will post some more of my thoughts about what the C's need to do after the season is over. As far as sports go, I will be watching the Bruins, but probably not posting much, as I have nothing to add to any discussion. Heat/Bulls should be a good series, although if gambling were legal (to quote BS) I would put a bit on the Heat to win the series today, even after last night's unconvincing performance in Chicago. Like I said at the beginning of the playoffs, if Carlos Boozer is your second best player, you aren't winning a championship. Taj Gibson is one of my favorite bench players though.

Picked up a bunch of great beer over the past couple days. Thursday I found a 12 pack of the Sam Adams Latitude 48 Deconstructed mixed twelve, down the street, and a lone Narragansett Summer pounder. Friday, M and I were in Providence, so I stopped at Nikki's and picked up a mixed six with some Pretty Things Jack D'or, Pretty Things East India Porter, Newport Storm Summer, SN Torpedo, BBC Lost Sailor, and a Dale's Pale can, hoppy, summery, everyday drinkers. Saturday, M and I were in Boston, and I popped into Bauer Spirits on Newbury St. to see if they had anything interesting, and came upon a bottle of BBC's Saint of Circumstance, which they apparently brewed after receiving the wrong type of hops from their wholesaler. The hops were of English origin, and the IPA was nothing like an American IPA, hops were subdued, lots of malt, I really liked it, but would not buy again, and it will probably never be brewed again, so I wouldn't be able to even if I wanted to!

Narragansett Summer is going to be a mainstay for me this summer. 4.2% ABV, so it's pretty damn drinkable. Hopped with Citra hops, and although it is pale, definitely drinks like a hoppy wheat beer, a little brother of Lagunitas Lil' Sumpin Sumpin but available in 16 oz cans #winning.

Had several of the SA Lat 48's and gave a couple away to people who were visiting. I enjoyed the Simcoe and Zeus varieties the most, as they were the hoppiest, but I even enjoyed the Hallertau and EKG varieties, which I was surprised about. Was somewhat pissed that I could have picked these up as singles at Nikki's though, instead of buying the entire 12pk for 16$

Sierra Nevada Torpedo is one of my favorite IPAs, and is super reasonably priced, according to SierraNevadaBill on BA they will be releasing this in 16oz cans along with 12oz cans of the Pale Ale, looking forward to this!

Also St. Bernardus ABT 12 quad for good measure!

In closing, Half Acre Brewing out of Chicago got some great advertising time on the Chi/Mia game last night, some dude was wearing one of their tee's behind the scorer's table! Craft Beer FTW