Sunday, March 25, 2007

The benefits of plagiarism

Not to wallow in Ron Borges's problems, but one of the fringe benefits of his suspension is this week's Boston Globe Football Notes column where Mike Reiss talks to Bill Belichick about some of the proposed rule changes in the NFL this year. The answers aren't what I would have expected. Somehow I can't picture Borges doing the same piece.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

It's not easy being green.



Whoever decided that the Bulls should wear green uniforms last night should be taken out and shot. Or buried under several tons of potatoes, and then drowned in Guiness.

Monday, March 12, 2007

If there is any justice, those had better be some ugly, old-skool shoes.

According to today's Globe:
Adidas and the Celtics announced they will team to launch a commemorative, limited-edition line of jerseys and shoes to honor the late Red Auerbach. The merchandise will be available at the Garden Pro Shop, on Celtics.com, NBAStore.com, shopadidas.com, and at select stores.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Make of this what you will

During the Texas - OSU rematch grudge match this afternoon there were multiple camera shots of Danny Ainge sitting in the stands with Kevin Durant's mother and grandmother. They appeared to be having a jolly old time, watching Durant do everything but walk on water.

Anyone who hasn't taken the chance to watch this kid shred the NCAAs this year is missing something really special. Durant is making Carmelo Anthony's freshman season look ho-hum.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Borges

Didn't realize T.S. was quite so out of the loop. Nevertheless, there isn't much to say about Borges that hasn't already been said. The best blogging has been done by the guys over at Boston Sports Media, especially David Scott of Scott's Shots. (There are too many posts on Boston Sports Media to link to them individually; just scroll down and work your way up.) I think those sites combine the best links and original reporting/commentary on the matter.

Frankly, as most of the posters here know, I find Borges unoriginal to begin with. His contrarian shtick on all things Belichick rings pretty hollow with 3 Super Bowl titles and two additional playoff appearances in the last 6 years. I'm not saying he needs to wave the pom-poms, but you've got to give me something more than just pot shots. Say what you will about sports/entertainment guys like Bill Simmons, but at least he tries to be original and interesting, and when he's wrong, he says so.

Getting back to Borges, the sad thing is that whether you like him or not, the plagiarism taints his entire career. Everything he has ever written and will ever write comes under the microscope. It also has the potential to make him truly toxic in the journalism world. There's not much fun in piling on that.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Al Jefferson: player of the week

In a sign that national attention is starting to catch up with his game, Al Jefferson was just announced as the NBA player of the week. During the last four games (all wins) Al has averaged 24 points and 15 rebounds on 55% shooting

Despite a very slow start to the season-- including missing almost three weeks of November while having his appendix removed-- Al's averages are now up to 15 points and 11 rebounds on 50% shooting, all while looking increasingly comfortable on defense. It's been great to see and a long time coming. Even more impressive than Al's (rare and) soft shooting touch is his rebounding. The guys rebounds in wins, in loses, when he's in foul trouble and not, he could probably outrebound half the league in his sleep. On the year he is now the 6th best rebounder in the whole league. Since he's slightly small for the PF position and not really a leaper, Al's rebounding looks like its testiment to his very strong innate sense of timing and how quick he is off his feet. I'd suggest that the weight he dropped last summer might have helped, except that Al's put up monster rebounding-per-48-minutes numbers ever since he came into the league

Although I don't have it handy to post, I can report that the relatively few NBA post players who put up the kinds of numbers that Al has at age 21 almost all went on to become multiple-time All Stars

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Telfair.

On the subject of breaking up the Celtics, a double-overtime game this afternoon and Sebastian Telfair was a DNP--Coach's Decision. So, um, that's not so good.

The Mark Blount we know and love.

36 minutes, 3 rebounds, 6 personal fouls.

Break up the Celtics!