I'm caving

It's that time of year again.  That time of year being baseball season. I have dedicated a ridiculous amount of my life to being a sports fan, most importantly, a Red Sox fan. I lived through many of our disappointing seasons (granted, I didn't live through 86 years of them), but I still loved my boys and cheered them on. Part of the reason I started this blog was because of the anger that surged through me at the end of the Sox season last year.  I've tried to avoid discussing it because I have been so riled up about it - but, I think it's time.

Last September was the first time I can say I was ever disappointed in the team. For those of you that need a sad reminder of last September, here's the breakdown from Sports Illustrated (the caption for the above picture):

The Red Sox led not just the wild card, not just the division but the entire American League going into September. Boston went 7-20 the rest of the way, seeing the hated Yankees pass them for the East lead and, on the final day of the season, the Rays complete their comeback from nine games down to snatch the wild card. On the final night, the Red Sox lost on an Orioles walk-off in the ninth inning, and the Rays, down 7-0 in the eighth, walked off on an Evan Longoria home run in the 12th to beat the Yankees. The two games finished within minutes of each other. The Red Sox's September collapse, squandering a nine-game lead, is the greatest in MLB history. Only one team, the Twins (6-20), was worse over the final month.

Now obviously, no one but those within the organization really know what happened between Francona and the rest of management, or what was going on in the clubhouse. But clearly, as conveyed by the way September played out, the players did not play the game they're paid a ridiculous amount of money to play. 

I am disgusted at the performance of our players last season, with the exception of Ellsbury, Pedroia, and maybe even Lester. I don't have their stats to prove that they kept playing the game...but the rest of the guys? Not so much.

I don't care if you're not scheduled to pitch on a particular night. You're a pitcher. You should be ready to pitch in case you're needed. You should NOT be showing up to games with alcohol on your breath because you have a night off. That's ridiculous. If I had a meeting for work, but I wasn't technically suppose to be at work, and I showed up intoxicated - I'd be looking for a new job.

The entire off season, I was past the point of anger that I was in this whole new level of thinking I could just pretend baseball doesn't exist this season. I will only ever be a Red Sox fan, but they let me down so much last season, that I want an apology (not a personal one, obviously). Those players that were drinking and eating their fried chicken and letting their game go to crap? Their loyal fans deserve an apology for standing by them when they didn't give a damn about us. Bringing it back to a real world level - if you're in a marriage where your spouse doesn't care about how dedicated you are to the marriage, he/she is just going to sit around all day and drink beer and fried chicken...are you going to want to stick around unless they apologize and change? No, I doubt it. At least, I hope you have more respect for yourself than to stick around.

I was pissed when Francona was fired. Granted, he had a job of keeping control of his players and he lost control. But, his players are also grown men.  He wasn't paid to be a babysitter. He was paid to be a coach. And a damn fine one, at that. I wonder if John Henry remembered the 86 years of heartbreak before the 2004 and 2007 World Series when he decided to hand Francona his pink slip.

But as much as I want to avoid the game of baseball until Sox fans get the apology they deserve, I have to admit, I think I'm liking this Bobby Valentine. He's laying down the law and he's addressing last seasons issues and he's giving me hope that things will be better. Do I think he should be the one promising things will be better? No. He had nothing to do with the worst collapse in Red Sox history.  But, he's giving me something to look forward to.

With the announcement a few weeks back that Wakefield is retiring and now Varitek, I'm longing for the old school team with Nomar, Pedro, Tek, Wake, hell, even Manny and Johnny.  They were a team you could cheer for. No matter how ridiculous Manny was/is - he was part of a team I was proud of.  I know I'm not going to be able to stay away from the Sox this season like my big mouth declared last fall, but goddamn, I want to be proud of these boys....and right now, I'm still disgusted.

Random Ramblings

I'm in a mood today.  A really, really foul mood. My dear friend, Christina, just had to listen (erm, read via gchat) to my no nonsense rant with my foul mood. So, since a lot of it is sports related...I am copy/pasting it for all of you to need to deal with too. Because well, Christina can't be the only one dealing with my ridiculous ramblings. So, Enjoy...and please, feel free to comment because I'm in the mood to get riled up.

Me:  While I was doing this project which is the part of my job I hate the most all I could think of was "Is Indy or is Indy NOT going to keep Peyton Manning?"

And I said I would stay an Indy fan even if they don't keep him....because I don't want to follow a player, I want to follow a team. But the more I sat there thinking about it. The more angry I was getting.

And I was like "I dont want to support a team that doesn't support their future hall of fame QB."

And I got so angry. To add to my already there anger

Christina:  HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 Me:  And then I realized - it would be stupid to stay an Indy fan if they replaced Peyton since the reason I stopped liking the Pats was because they replaced Drew Bledsoe with Tom Brady.

Christina:  LOLOLOLOLOL

Me:  And you better believe, if the Celtics get rid of Paul Pierce like the rumors are saying??? OMG.

You dont even understand the anger I'll have in me

Christina:  LOL - i can't handle you and being hungry right now

 Me:  However - I can't see myself no longer rooting for the Celtics. BUT - I will be a super angry Celtics fan

And I'm starving

Christina:  me too!

Me:  But I have left over pizza.

Christina:  haha food time

 Me:  and I'm not in the mood for pizza

So there you have it - a nice edition of #jsabeworldproblems.  And - since My world problem's have become Christina's world problems - please help me apologize to her by checking out her blog: PLUG.

An Open Letter to Danny Ainge

Yesterday, there were rumors circulating that there were teams looking to make a deal with the Celtics to acquire Paul Pierce. I'm not Pierce's biggest fan, in fact, he pisses me off. But, (and maybe it's the chick in me) I feel like trading Paul Pierce away is trading away the face of the franchise.  He's been with us for his entire career (since 1998). Granted, during that time he demanded a trade because he wanted to be on a winning team, but despite the temper tantrum, he stuck with us.

Danny Ainge sat down with the Boston Globe yesterday to comment on these rumors and he stated that if he was presented the right deal he'd totally blow up the Big 3.  You can read that article here.

This annoys the ever living crap out of me. And, I'd like to give a shout out to my good friend, Christina, the creator of the Curiosity and Two Cats blog for dealing with my rant this morning. So now, I'm going to go into my fantasy world where I pretend I know everything, and that I can run the Celtics organization better than Danny Ainge. In fact, I'm going to tell him how to run his team:

Mr. Ainge,

I am absolutely APPALLED that you would make such a statement at blowing up the Big 3 if the deal was right. First, you criticized Red Auerbach for not trading away Larry Bird or McHale.  How dare you! Red Auerbach is the best thing that ever happened to the Celtics, not even the Celtics, but the game of basketball, and for you to make such a comment is preposterous! Red Auerbach treated the Celtics organization like his family, not as a money maker. And the fact that you don't hold the team in the same regard makes me absolutely sick. Family trumps money. Hands down.

So, let me teach you a little something about family trumping money. You can't get rid of Paul Pierce. Why? Because he is our family. He is the only one that has stuck by and stayed with us through everything the last 14 years. Granted, there were times when he wanted to jump ship, but who hasn't? But he stayed. I'm sure there were plenty of opportunities for him to leave. But he didn't. For you to make a deal to get rid of him now, toward the end of his career would hurt the city of Boston more than your spectacular deal last season when you traded Perk. Yeah, that's right. We're STILL pissed about it.   Granted, I'm not Paul's biggest fan. I don't particularly like him...BUT he's a franchise player. He's almost done. Just let him ride out his career with us.  Don't be a jerk.

Next, why would you consider getting rid of Ray Allen? Yes, he's old. But guess what? He's better than half the young kids out there!! His conditioning is out of control. I read somewhere that's he's been diagnosed as OCD and it shows on the court.  He STAYS at the practice facility no matter how long it takes until he hits a certain amount of shots. He is the most dedicated player we have.  If you get rid of him - You're ridiculous.

I'll give you something though, if you want to blow up the Big 3, please feel free to get rid of Garnett.  Kevin Garnett is terrible. Like my husband says, he's the Josh Beckett of the Celtics. He's had one good season with us. That's it.  Also, he's the most hated player in the entire league.  Get him out of Boston. Fine.

Lastly, you're just NOW worrying about the future of our team? When you first acquired Ray Allen I thought "Why is he giving up a 5th round pick for Ray Allen for? Ray's getting old!" However, I quickly learned that was a good move. Especially considering we got Jeff Green back last year (but may I remind you, we lost Perk for him, and now he's doing nothing for us with his health issues this year). But, okay...good move.

But whenever you got rid of our future for Kevin Garnett, I was really baffled at that one. If you need a reminder of the bogus move you made there, here, I dug up an article for you.  You gave up 4 guys age 24 or younger.  THEY were our future.  I'm still baffled at why you did that one.

Okay, yes, we had a ring mixed in there after you made those moves. Boston finally won the Championship after years of waiting. But that's it. We got that one solid year.  If I could, I'd give up that one championship and a few more seasons of heartbreak to have the young talent we once had to mold into a dynasty and have multiple years of championships.  We can't go back and change the past to see what the future could have been for the Celtics, but I had faith in that team. And that faith is something I don't have, and never had in you. Please don't let Boston down.

Regards,
J-Sabe

Tebow (and Brady) Revisited

Happy New Year! It's been a while. The holidays killed me. But I'm finally back. I figured why not come back and talk about the same ridiculousness that I touched upon in my last entry?

I know I mentioned in my last entry that I'm not religious. I'm not, I swear. But seriously. Can we cut the ish about Tebow v. Brady = Jesus v. God?!?! I don't get offended easily, but I find it offensive.

I'm not sure what the rest of the world is like as far as sports go...but in Boston, we're hard core. Ever since the Broncos knocked out the Pittsburger Steelers the only thing we've heard about is the upcoming game in Foxboro.

Today is Wednesday. The game is on Saturday night at 8pm. So, can someone PLEASE explain to me why their was a newscaster live at Foxboro this morning at 5:30, standing outside in the freezing cold to talk about the same thing we all know. The Patriots are playing the Broncos this weekend. I mean, I am all about Bostonians being psychotic sports fans. I actually take great pride in it. But a news story outside Foxboro at 5:30am 4 days before the game? That's beyond crazy.

But back to the God v. Jesus rant. The subtitles (I was at the gym, PS, I don't typically have subtitles on my screen) kept refering to this game as the Holy War.  Who will win this war? God or Jesus?  I just don't understand it....It grinds my freaking gears. If it's God versus Jesus than I'd really love to see Brady walk across water and Tebow sacrifice himself for our sins.  That's when I'll believe it's God v. Jesus.

On another rant about the same topic. Most people know, the biggest part of my lack of love for my hometown football team stems from me despising Brady. However, when he's asked how he felt about playing against Tebow this weekend, his response was "Tim is a great Quarterback. I have a lot of respect for him. However, I personally don't play against him, I play against the Broncos defense." Don't ask me where I heard that quote. I don't remember. But, I respect Brady for it. Because, it's the truth - it's something I scratched my head about during my entire fantasy football season when an opponent would say "Hmmm...I don't know if I should play Matt Ryan or Michael Vick. Ryan is playing against Cam Newton and Vick is playing against *insert other QB here*" But whatevs...if you're playing against me and you're not going to compare the 2 QB's opposing defenses, then who am I to give you advice? Well, actually, here's my advice "Oh, Ryan is playing against Newton? Totally put inVick. Newton's freaking Superman!!" (No offense Carolina D, much love!).

So, there you have it. The blog is back in action. This is also one of those instances where I just write whatever and it probably doesn't make much sense. It's tough to focus on a blog entry when the Celtics are playing the Mavs, but, I had to get my rant out. 

Last Stop on the Tebow Train

As most people know - I am a New Englander that doesn't typically root for the Patriots. I know, blasphemy - I get it. In all honesty, I'm just not a Brady fan. I give the guy major props for being a great quarterback - but there's just something about him that irks me. Maybe it's because I hold grudges like it's my job and I was a huge Bledsoe fan. Who knows? Regardless....when Brady took the starting QB position about a decade ago (give or take a few years), I lost all interest in the Patriots.

With the threat of there being no NBA this season, I needed something to entertain me this winter - so, I decided to give Fantasy Football a go. It's been freaking amazing. I've learned so much about the sport and a lot more about most of the players in the league that I never really acknowledge before. Including, Patriots players. And I must say, little by little, I've been feeling my Patriots Pride returning. Most people will probably say it's because my beloved Colts are having a craptastic season (totally pumped they pulled off a win today!!). But, I still love my Colts through and through. And Cam Newton has me rooting on the Panthers. But I can't help but root for Welker, Hernandez, Gronkowski, Arrington and Wilfork (just to name a few). I really am trying to hate the team. But I can't.

So, as I watched the Pats play in Denver today I was having a war with myself. I wanted so badly to see Brady fail, because I take ridiculous joy in seeing it. But, I just couldn't cheer against the rest of the team. It was a weird experience.

What irritated me even more than cheering for the Patriots, was signing onto facebook after the game and my facebook being blown up by anti-Tebow statuses.

Now, I'm the first to admit - I don't understand the Tebow hype. I get the amazing comebacks he's had and the fact that going into the game against the Patriots he was 6-1 since he became the starting QB. But I just don't get the pop culture phenomenon he's created. I'm not the most religious person but it's like all of America has been mocking the poor dude for God being his BFF. Not cool, America.

Week after week, I've been reading facebook statuses from my (New England) facebook friends praising Tebow and celebrating Tebow Time and uploading their very own photos of them Tebowing.  And now, that the New England Patriots beat the Broncos those same people have jumped off the Tebow Train and are gloating about the win.

Pick a side people. If you want to be a fan of "God's nephew" and the Patriots - all the power to you. There is no reason not to be. If you want to be a fan of Jesus' Homeboy and the Broncos - that's also your prerogative. Tebow is an exciting player to watch.  But for the love of God, do not act like the Patriots own the world and make it seem like hell has frozen over and Tebow now sucks because the Patriots won. Newsflash - I'm no psychic but I would have put money on a Patriots win today. Brady did not part the Red Sea with this win. Although, he did kind of part a blue and orange sea with that rushing TD, but that's beside the point.

I should add, to the one Patriots fan that noted he's never been this sad after a Patriots win. Thank you for keeping it real. At least someone didn't jump off the Tebow Train Bandwagon with the loss.

PS - If anyone can explain the Tebow phenomenon to me or the reason the Pats beating the Broncos is such a huge deal (besides the obvious clinching of the AFC East) I'd love to hear it.

Does temper tantrum equal leadership?

Yesterday, I had two topics I wanted to write about. But when my husband picked me up from work and asked if I had heard about the Rondo drama rumors going on, I decided I should probably acknowledge this first so no one claims I overlook the ridiculousness that can be a Boston sports athlete.

In summary, the Boston Herald reported that last year, between games 2-3 of the Miami Heat Playoff Series (which ended up eliminating Boston from the playoffs), there was discussion about all of Rondo's errors. Mr. Rondo, apparently, does not take constructive criticism well and he began to rip apart his teammates flaws. 

Doc Rivers then tells Rondo to simmer down (I'm sure I'm making the entire altercation sound much more fairy tale than it really was), Rondo threw something at the TV, shattering it before leaving the facility and not being allowed back in later.

I was PISSED when I heard all of this information from Mr. Sabe. Rondo, you're 25 freaking years old - grow up. No one plays a perfect game, there is always room for improvement. I get it, we're all human, we don't like being told that we suck - but man up dude and take responsibilties for your actions.

When I got home, I decided to do some more research on this topic. I was shocked to see that most articles were giving Rondo a pat on the back and saying he was showing signs of great leadership abilities? Uh....what? Did I miss something?  I mean, maybe it's the lack of testosterone running through my veins but I don't see the leadership abilities in a temper tantrum. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I love Rondo. I do, but I don't see him as a leader. He has a few redeeming qualities that allows me to see that there is potential for him to become a leader, but I think he has a few years before I trust him to take over as the Celtics number one guy. 

His leadership potential qualities include (without doing tons of research to get stats and using my own personal opinions):

• The ridiculous amount of assists he has,
• The steals he has,
• Playing with a dislocated elbow (I should note, that this happened during game 3 of the Heat Series), and
• just being Rondo.

The reasons I don't think he has the ability to take over the team:

• his decrease in numbers after the Kendrick Perkins trade (I get it, it sucks, but you're getting paid big bucks to play a game, play the damn game!),
• pulling a temper tantrum when your coach tells you you need to work on something,
• not only pulling that temper tantrum but picking apart your teammates flaws when the topic of discussion was your flaws,
• lack of points (granted, he's a point guard, his main goal is to find the play and to get the ball to the appropriate player for the points, but once our shooters are gone, we need him to take the reins), and
• just being Rondo.

Putting "just being Rondo" in both categories reminds me of Manny Ramierez and "Manny being Manny". Seriously, people? These players need to act like adults. If I my boss was to hand me a document that I  worked hard on with red marks all over it and I started pointing out the awful work my co-workers did -- my boss would tell me it was time to look for a new job.

However, people seem to think Rondo's temper tantrum shows his "heart" and "how much he cares." The Bleacher Report said, "you have to love the fire from Rondo. You have to love that he cared that much." 

I don't agree. A true leader looks over the footage and says "yeah, I have some work to do. I'll correct it for the next game, Coach." A true leader does not throw his teammates under the bus. A true leader understand that unfortunately, this isn't a church basketball league and sometimes your best friend will be traded and you'll have to play against him, not with him.

I love you, Rondo, but c'mon, guy. Prove to me that you can take over this team.

What do you think? Do you think Rondo shows leadership potential? What do you consider a leader on the court/field/ice?

Haters Gon' Hate

I've been an Auburn fan since as far back as I can remember. My Gramps bought me an Auburn t-shirt once, when I was about 5, it was orange and had a tiger on it - and I was obsessed with Tigers and the color orange.  I knew absolutely nothing about sports at that time - but the Auburn Tigers became my favorite team. Years later, my cousins all attended Auburn which added to my love for the University.

Last year, was Auburn's year with Cam Newton. Despite all the controversy, Cam was able to bring his team to the BCS Championship game and win it all.  Throughout the season, I relentlessly bragged to anyone who would listen that Cam was freaking Superman, and he would win the Heisman and later be drafted number one overall.  My brother-in-law fought me on it, through and through. I'm pretty sure he made comments about me being a "chick that doesn't know anything." Well, BOOYAH, D-Sabe. Cam showed you!

D-Sabe, and multiple others, told me to stop bragging because Cam wouldn't amount to anything in the NFL. Again, my fierce loyalties had me fired up and I promised Cam would be unstoppable in the NFL.  Maybe I was a little bold with that statement considering Carolina's record is just 4-9, but the truth is, Cam has been pretty damn near amazing.  For those of you on the hater wagon, let's just recap Cam Newton's season thus far:

• Most passing yards by a quarterback in debut game (422),
• Most passing yards by a quarterback in first two games (854),
• Most passing yards by a rookie in a game (432),
• First quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 400 yards in first career start,
• First quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 400 yards in first two career starts,
• Fastest player to throw for 1,000 yards,
• First player in NFL history with at least five rushing touchdowns and five passing touchdowns in his first five games,
• First rookie in NFL history to throw for 10 touchdowns and run for 10 touchdowns in a season,
• Most rushing touchdowns in single season by a quarterback (13).

Granted, I'll give the haters the fact that Cam has 14 interceptions. But right now, that averages out to 1.07 a game.  Not bad for a Rookie!!! PS, if anyone is wondering who holds the title for most interceptions thrown in a rookie season, it's the future Hall of Famer, Peyton Manning, with 28.

Amanda, this one is for you - Haters are going to hate and someone is always going to have something negative to say - but seriously, In Cam we trust. He may hesitate and he may throw interceptions, but give Carolina a year or two to build a decent defense and offensive line - and I can see a Championship ring on Cam Newton's finger.

Sources: Wikipedia (don't judge, it's the easiest way to get the stats), and Bob Edgar's facebook for the picture!