BEAT LA

Tuesday December 23rd 2008 the Celtics win their 19th game in a row 110-91 over the Philadelphia 76er's. Friday January 9th 2009 the Cleveland Cavaliers defeat the defending champions  98-83; Boston's fourth loss in a row and seventh out of nine games. Over the span of three weeks and one day a team deemed unstoppable became the question mark of the NBA. On January's final day the Celtics find themselves atop another impressive winning streak after notching their tenth victory in a row over Detroit. After a few tough losses everyone was ready to throw dirt on the Celtics and call it a day, but when it happens again they should know better.

All NBA teams will have strong and weak streches of time either gleamed in winning or mired in losing. The Celtics experienced what is nothing more than the ups and downs of a long 82 game season. Going forward they will enjoy more long winning streaks, stumble losing a few and regain their balance. After the 19 game winning streak this team was tired from their extended road trip and were surely feeling the brunt of their enemies best game every night. Good teams, and especially bad teams can measure themselves against the Celtics; which is how and why you lose to the Bobcats, Warriors, Knicks. Further proving this is the fact that each of those bad teams that were able to defeat Boston all lost their following games. Great, good or terrible the opposition will always galvanize around this idea of taking down the world champions. The only problem is that if the Celtics are rested, healthy, confident, or playing wel or any one of those four and you are going to lose. They are a human NBA team, but there winning streaks are longer than yours and their losing streaks are equally shorter. This Celtic team will have several more losing patches and challenge 19 successive wins again so lets not be surprised.

 In last season's title run the longest losing streak was three games; thus making it an understandable surprise when the 08-09 squad lost 7 of 9. Now they have won 19 straight, lost 7 of 9 and then won another consecutive 12 with none other than the Los Angeles Lakers laying in wait. Ironically enough when the Celtics won their 18th game in a row they were next to face Philadelphia and Los Angeles. A buzzer beating three from Ray Allen lifted the Celtics past the 76er's to extend the winning streak to 12 games, but now they again face the Lakers with a new streak on the line. 

Thursday February 5th 2009 The Boston Celtics will beat the Los Angeles Lakers in a close game. I know this because it is a crucial victory to them in order to establish themselves as  the elite team in the NBA, more than a team who prays upon a weak eastern conference. This is the most telling point of the season for Boston who plays the Lakers and then prepares to face a truly brutal schedule including the Spurs, Hornets, Mavericks, Jazz, Suns, Nuggets, Cavaliers, and Orlando Magic in the next month. This will be a gauntlet run that will determine coveted homecourt advantage and playoff positioning.

The Super Bowl?

Last year was the most exciting and potentially historic Super Bowl of all time and one year removed from this tragic game we find ourselves about to view one of the worst Super Bowl's ever. I don't care if the game is somehow close or even remotely exciting I will never believe that Cardinals Steelers is a matchup worthy of Super Bowl glory. More generously; this is the worst Super Bowl since Steelers VS. Seahawks 2005/2006 and the NBA All Star game is more enticing. Arizona in the Super Bowl is an insult to the NFC, the NFL, and professional sports in America. Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin comprise the finest receiving tandem in the league and Kurt Warner is a great rags to riches story, but how this team made it to the Super Bowl is a travesty. How can the worst division in professional football (NFC West) house the team representing the league in the Super Bowl. A 9-7 team  with a 28th ranked defense and a dead last running attack. A team that gave up 56 points to the Jets, 48 to the Eagles, lost to the Matt Cassel Patriots by 40, and lost four of its last six game of the season should never have even been in the playoffs. The cardinals beat up on the Rams, Seahawks, and the 49ers all season, but outside of their lowly division, a 3-7 record. The 2008/2009 Arizona Cardinals are a high octane offensive team and nothing more. A team that cannot play under adverse weather conditions and who couldn't run the ball or play any sort of defense for 16 regular season games, yet come playoff time these facts become irrelevant. They are the worst team to reach the Super Bowl since the 2000 New York Giants. The last time Tampa Bay hosted the Super Bowl was this very year which is ironically the site of this year's match up. Nonetheless, if the Steelers do not win on Sunday it is an insult to the National Football League and speaks volumes about the mediocrity that plagued 2008.

 WEEI'S Mike Felger said it best in his post game analysis of the NFC Championship game: "...that is pathetic, it is pathetic that the NFC that could not come up with a team to keep Arizona out of the Super Bowl. ..."Soft Arena ball Quarterback, make him play real football and he doesn't stand a chance. Close that roof and give him no wind and let him flick the ball all over the place, he's fine, but make him play real football..please?..Thats a joke of a team, and that's a joke that the NFC doesn't have a team that can keep them out of the Tampa Bay and outside of the Super Bowl." I agree with Mr. Felger entirely in his fantastic rant and if your interested around 12 to 13 minutes:  http://audio.weei.com/m/audio/21770802/felger_haggs_opening_segment.htm 

Kurt Warner has an inspirational story and is a great person, but he is not a Hall of Fame Quarterback and I don't even want to label him as anything more than a good QB. When successful Warner has had the premiere offensive talent at his disposal along with as always a safe haven Dome stadium. When MVP for the Rams Warner had the following Hall of Famers on the team:Marshall Faulk, Issac Bruce, and Tory Holt. After the demise of the "greatest show on turf" Warner disappeared from a starting role on any team for nearly five years to emerge and rise to glory under an Arizona dome. Now armed with Anquan Bolid and the best wide receiver in the game today, Mr. Larry Fitzgerald, Kurt Warner enters his third and final Super Bowl. Warner was terrible in New York (also due to injury) because he puts up despicable numbers when under pressure and certainly under any kind of weather conditions most notably including the cold. On February 1st 2009 the Pittsburgh Steelers will win their NFL Record 6th Super Bowl title and save the NFL's good name by ending the Cardinals storybook campaign in grand fashion. Steelers 35-17.