Holiday Cheer

I've got a new addition to my heckle list: Eddie House

Truth be told, the Celtics game was totally brutal, nearly ruining my weekend. But I think we can be certain that this Celtic team in what we thought they were, and maybe even more. You have to respect KG and his passion for the game, to hear Sam talk about him (from when they played together on the TWolves) makes you believe that there's no one in the league (or sports) that deserves this bonafide shot-at-da-title he's been handed.

But I will say this:

1) If one things for certain, especially nowadays, the tide seems to turn on all teams throughout a professional season. Their 17-2 start has been a bit of a cake walk, and be it injuries, or fatigue, or whatever, one can be fairly certain that they won't keep up this pace.

2) Lost in all the "Big Three" talk was the fact that last season, a particularly brutal one for the Celtics was typified by the "tankergate" (I don't know if that is the correct term) scandal as teams were openly trying to loose so they could have the best shot at Greg Oden. And the Celtics were leading the pack, making them a laughing stock and their fanbase a mess. Then Karma slapped them in the face as the ping pong balls handed them a fifth overall pick. I can remember my belly laugh when this happened. Then after all that Ainge and his buddy McHale pull off the trade of the decade landing them a best-case-scenario (way better than Oden) that re-vitalizes the franchise and becomes the story of the year. I just think that outside of loving KG off, that karma's got something else in store for these guys... can't say what it will be, or whether it will benefit the Raps, but there's gotta be something...

3) The whole Boston area sports thing is getting real old. Next thing you know the Bruins will announce they've successfully cloned a 25 year old Mario Lemiex and Bobby Orr who decide to "take less money" to play on an original six with a chance-at-da-title. The rest of North America declares war on New England and Tom Brady emerges on the battlefield like Sauron in that opening scene of Lord of the Rings, vanquishing all who oppose him. (leave it to me to drop a LOR reference in a basketball blog... that link was really hard to find btw, there's like a million video game screen shots for Sauron).

I feel like I should have a lot to say about the Rockets game as with Bosher back they finally showed a little prowess in taking it to (and beating) a legit playoff team. I'm not going to get into it now, but I think the tide may be turning... Bosh on the radio this morning: "We play better when we're the aggressor, I think we're all starting to realize that now..."

All hail Captain Canada!

With all due respect, I hate when Steve Nash comes to TO for his one game a year and everyone plays it up as a "homecoming" and bigs him up before, throughout and after the game. I got several "...going to the Raps game tonight, should be fun, but Nash's gonna kick our butts!" emails. I mean, if your going to go to the game don't a) cheer for the other team or b) expect to loose. Sure, with Bosh and Bargnani out, facing a Western powerhouse/title contender the chips were stacked against them, but as a fan shouldn't you be finding ways for your team to win, rather than loose?

I'm glad to see Joey back, another big, athletic shot blocker/ rebounder can only do us good. Jose looked like a bit of a deer in the headlights. I'm sure he understood the implications of playing against Nash. But again, as is the theme of this season so far, the Raps were unable to grasp an opportunity to make a statement. One of these days... One of these days... The Celtics, in Boston on Friday...? Cripes.

I had tickets to the game on Monday, which was a decent contest. We snuck downstairs to the lower bowl for the second half and got up close and personal to see d bag extraordinaire Jeff McInnis talking smack to anyone who would listen. Jeff McInnis, who are you? 10 year vet eh? Get a life buddy. At the beginning of the second half superfan Nav Bhatia (who was sitting with Pinball Clemons) had the gameball for some reason, and went to hand it to McInnis. The guy rips it out of Nav's hands and stares him down like he's going to eat him or something. And then at the end of the game somehow Jose got T'd up for telling the dude to back off. I'm putting McInnis on my list of heckle targets:

1) Vince Carter
2) Jason Terry
3) Jeff McInnis

more to come...

Also, on Monday I was foiled once again in my attempt to get a TJ Ford Bobble head. That's three attempts - one Garbo bobble head. Boourns.