The hockey season has arrived and Boston fans are ready for the Bruins first game against the Washington
Capitals tomorrow. A good first game to start the year. Go Bruins!

-Greg

1. Joey Gathright, CF
2. Josh Reddick, LF
3. Casey Kotchman, 1B
4. David Ortiz, DH
5. Rocco Baldelli, RF
6. George Kottaras, C
7. Alex Gonzalez, SS
8. Jed Lowrie, 3B
9. Chris Woodward, 2B
– Tim Wakefield, SP

That is the lineup that fans got to see tonight. Alex Gonzalez and David Ortiz were the only regular starters in the lineup. Going up against Roy Halladay, it’s surprising that everyone didn’t just leave after the first inning because there really was no chance for victory in this one. I would be super pissed if I bought these tickets way back when, paid a shit load of money, then came and had to watch this laughable excuse of a baseball team. Luckily, I was able to change the channel. Everyone knows that games at this point are meaningless, but it would be nice if they could make an effort to put a decent product on the field. Would it have made a difference if they rested players gradually over the next week? Maybe they had there reasons, but it sucks for those who paid a lot of money to go and watch them.

- Chris

Now that there is now way for the Red Sox not to make the playoffs, I think it is safe to start talking about what their post season roster will be like. The starting lineup and the top three pitchers are pretty much set in stone, but the bullpen and bench could see some shakeups.

Lineup

1 – Jacoby Ellsbury – CF

2 – Dustin Pedroia – 2B

3 – Victor Martinez – C

4 – Kevin Youklis – 1B

5 – Jason Bay – LF

6 – David Ortiz – DH

7 – Mike Lowell – 3B

8 – J.D. Drew – RF

9 – Alex Gonzalez – SS

No surprises here. This is the typical lineup that we have seen since the trade for Alex Gonzalez. Mike Lowell is due to miss a couple games to recover from the injection in his hip, but he will be back in plenty of time. Overall, the lineup is deep. Whenever you have someone like J.D. Drew in the eight spot, it is fair so say your lineup is above average. There is no weak spot, even when you get to Alex Gonzalez. Opposing pitchers get no breaks as every at bat these guys put together is going to be a tough out.

Bench

IF Jed Lowrie, 1B Casey Kotchman, OF Rocco Baldelli, OF Josh Reddick, C Jason Varitek

Predicting who the Sox choose to bring on there bench is definitely the most difficult of the process. The only guarantee is that Varitek will be there, beyond him, I really wouldn’t be surprised if any of these guys were left off. Other options would be Joey Gathright for his wheels on the base paths. There is also Nick Green and Chris Woodward who could be in there if they would rather have two infielders than two outfielders. With these five, you have a good mix of right handed and left handed bats coming off the bench. Odds are, the only reason any of them would get into the game is to pinch run, so it really shouldn’t matter too much.

Starting Pitchers

1 – Jon Lester

2 – Josh Beckett

3 – Clay Buchholz

4 – Daisuke Matzuzaka

There is a possibility that the Red Sox would only need three pitchers depending on what series the Yankees choose. Looking at the Yankees rotation, I think it is safe to say that they will choose the schedule that allows them to use a three man rotation. With that, Dice K gets an opportunity to really contribute to the success of this team. Since he has been back, he has been surprisingly effective. This past weekend against the Yankees, he looked like his old self, maddening, but effective. When right, these four cannot be topped by any rotation in baseball. But based on recent events, it is getting harder and harder to believe that they will all be on their game at the same time.

Bullpen

Jonathan Papelbon, Daniel Bard, Billy Wagner, Hideki Okajima, Ramon Ramirez, Takashi Saito, Paul Byrd

Manny Delcarmen has pitched his way off of the roster in the past month making the decision really easy on who to keep. Byrd could be replaced by Wakefield, but I don’t think they feel good enough about his health. Byrd would only pitch if for some reason the starters got destroyed early. The back end of the bullpen, as everyone knows, has some real fire power. As mentioned before, power pitching wins in the playoffs. I don’t think there is a trio at the end of a bullpen as effective as Paps, Bard, and Wagner. For the most part, they have been lights out. Then you still have Hideki Okajima, a proven playoff stud, along with Ramirez and Saito, both who have pitched well of late.

- Chris

I predict that Eric Mangini, the head coach of the struggling Cleveland Browns, will be the first head coach fired this season. He was never a real success in New York and you can see how well they do after he leaves and Rex Ryan comes in. Sure the Jets added some players and a franchise quarterback in Sanchez this season, but Mangini did have the future Hall of Fame player known as Brett Favre along with a lot of expectations. So far Ryan has done what Mangini couldn’t, beat the Patriots. With the Browns sitting at 0-3 on the season, they do not look to be going anywhere fast. Mangini couldn’t come up with a quarterback in the preseason, and it appears that he still can’t decide because this week he’s starting Derek Anderson, and not Brady Quinn. Quinn started the first three games of the year, before being benched in the second half of last week’s loss to the Ravens. Quinn hasn’t been terrible, not good by any means, but not as bad as Anderson who has thrown three picks in only one game of action. Compared to Quinn who has one touchdown and three picks in three games. Neither quarterback has performed well and I guess if I was Mangini I would switch them around until the team actually won a game. If I was him though, I would have established who the team’s quarterback was in the preseason, then worked with that person exclusively so that he knows that the team is in his hands. I’m sure if given the chance, Quinn would be a viable quarterback in the league, probably not an MVP but decent. I can’t imagine the Browns having very high expectations for Mangini because of his recent qualifications, or lack there of. He inherited the same team Romeo Crennel couldn’t win with and I think that the Brown’s management will not keep Mangini in as long as they did with Crennel. The city of Cleveland likes to win and they like their Browns team, if Mangini keeps losing than he really won’t be around long.

By Greg Petersen

Vince Wilfork – Wilfork left last weeks game with what is being reported as a sprained left ankle. Wilfork is one of, if not the most important member to this defense. If he is going to miss a significant amount of time, it would be a huge hit. Luckily, he was said to be in high spirits after the game and he has told teammates that he is fine. He will likely be listed as questionable, but I expect him to play. If he doesn’t, Myron Pryor, who played every snap after Wilfork left last weekend, will likely get the start. The sixth round pick in this years draft has impressed many. He slipped because of his size, but he plays strong and with good form. Meanwhile, 2nd round pick, Ron Brace, has seen very little playing time.

Jerod Mayo - The Patriots have been very quiet about Mayo’s injury and any potential return. Multiple media outlets have speculated that he will be back six to eight weeks after the injury. The Herald reported that Mayo was seen in the locker room early this week walking around with no sign of a limp. Coming from the Herald, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was actually on crutches, but regardless, it has to be a good sign.

Jonathan Wilhite – This one is pretty scary. Wilhite was a late scratch last week and no one really knew what was going on. Word surfaced this week that Wilhite injured his groin while running from men who were in the parking lot of his North Attleboro home. His home was not broken into, but the men approached Wilhite and he apparently took off. Talk about your worst nightmare. You lose all street cred by fleeing the scene, then you go and pull your groin in the process. Tough break.

Wes Welker – Welker was spotted at the beginning of practice again today. While I would usually say this is good news for Sunday, he has been spotted at practice for most of the last two weeks. Welker’s injury has been extremely strange. He missed most of the pre season, had a productive game one, and hasn’t played since. No one knows how or when he got hurt, all we know is he hasn’t played.

- Chris

It certainly wasn’t pretty, and it sure did take a lot longer than it should have, but your Boston Red Sox will now officially be playing in October. People have been talking like the playoffs have been clinched for weeks now, but it wasn’t until the Angels beat the Rangers late last night that it became official. Most of the players waited around in the locker room and had a private celebration, media not allowed.

Coming off five straight losses, things aren’t as bright and cheery as they were just a week ago. Our once unstoppable rotation has suffered a line drive to the knee, a series of back spasms, and a forgettable performance against a terrible Blue Jays team in the last five days. Luckily, there is a week before we need to head out to LA to face the Angels.

I am not as much worried about the losses as much as I am about the health of Lester and Beckett and the psyche of Buchholz. Buch is still unproven and has shown to be a headcase on the mound. He will pitch in the last game of the season, and it will do himself, and the rest of Red Sox Nation a load of good if he can put together a decent performance. Without these three on the top of their game, we probably don’t have a chance.

Pitching wins championships; especially power pitchers.  We have three great power pitchers, and if they can go out there and do what they do, I like out chances. Unfortunately, it has been a bumpy road getting to that point.

- Chris

Last week the Pats were ranked tenth overall on ESPN’s Power Rankings, this week they move up three spots to No. 7. John Clayton says that the reason is because of Brady and the offense finally coming together. The offense isn’t totally there yet but it soon will be. Will it be there against the Ravens at home? That is a very tough question. One of the game’s best defenses against one of the game’s best offenses (should be the best) should be a very good game. Baltimore is atop the Power Rankings for their strong defense, as well as their equally as strong offense. Joe Flacco has expanded his game tremendously and the Pats defense will be a good test for him. Congrats for the Pats for moving up, we could jump into the top five with a win over Baltimore.

By Greg Petersen

Think that headline doesn’t fit? Well you may be wrong. People have been writing off Varitek since Martinez arrived a couple months ago, but Varitek’s year has not been a complete waste and sure enough has not been his worst season of his career. There have been a couple of years that his numbers have not been too great and there are very few years that his numbers have been anything close to Martinez’s. This year he is batting .209 in 359 at-bats while hitting 14 home runs and knocking in 51 RBIs and scoring 39 runs. Those are very mediocre numbers for a catcher, especially one that has hit 25 home runs in a year and batted .296 another year.

To me, he only had three good hitting seasons, from 2003-2005. In those three seasons he batted an average of .283, which is not bad at all for a catcher. He also hit 65 home runs during those years and batted in 228 runs. I think that the most similar season compared to this year for Varitek in regards to batting would be 2006. In that year he hit .238 in 365 at-bats while hitting 12 home runs, driving in 55 runs and scoring 46 times. Those numbers are very close to this year, but the only difference is that opposing teams are running all over him and he has a better catcher now ahead of him. Back in 2006 people didn’t write him off either. There was thought that he might be on a decline because of his age but no one suggested benching him like they are now.

Another year that was not so good for the captain was in 2002. He batted .266 in 467 at-bats while hitting ten home runs, batting in 61 runs and scoring 58 runs. Of course that season was the one after he broke his elbow catching a foul ball, so I guess that gives him a year to rebound but it shouldn’t have been that bad. This year he has already surpassed most of the offensive categories that he lacked in last year, but people still regard this year as his worst? Doesn’t make much sense to me, but people don’t really realize that he isn’t going to put up Martinez-like numbers and he is 37 years-old. He’s not getting any younger and that is evident in his arm. The Yankees exposed his arm strength all weekend long and after awhile it was just sad to see him throw to second base. Most of Red Sox Nation hoped that he would have a Carlton Fisk like end to his career, but it’s too bad that people are looking down on their own captain. He still controls the way the pitchers pitch and is very knowledgeable about most, if not all, the hitters in the American League. 

I just want to say that he has never had a good looking swing, and it looks like it is getting worse, but it was really surprising that he had as much success as he did at the plate. I love having him call games, but come next year, I think he will be on the bench more often than not. It would not surprise me if he came back as a coach instead of a player next season. He is the perfect coach and would have a lot of success in the majors. Just for all those people who say he is having a bad year, just look at the numbers and how the pitchers have performed when he is behind the plate, it may surprise you. This season has been an improvement from last year, but his career as a player is slowly coming to an end.

By Greg Petersen

Analysts have constantly questioned the Patriots defense since the start of the year, and I’m starting to wonder why. We have always had a good defense so why would this year be any different? Sure we lost Harrison, Bruschi, Vrable, Seymour and then Mayo in the first game, but so what? We have always drafted strong defensive players and that shows this season thus far. As of right now, we have given up the fifth less points to opposing teams this season, and that includes Dallas and Carolina because they are further down the list even before they play tonight. Sure we only have 6.0 sacks and three fumble recoveries and no interceptions, but we are getting the job done when we need to. We gave up 24 points to the Bills in the season opener and then 16 to the Jets last week before giving up only 10 to the Falcons this week. To only give up 10 points to the very offensive-minded Falcons is very impressive. I don’t care if we lost all our veterans and we’re a little banged up, we still have a very good coach who will make our defense as strong as it can possibly get. The Falcons have both a rushing and passing attack and are very balanced in both the categories. We limited Atlanta to only 13 first downs compared to our 28. They were also only able to collect 257 yards on the entire game, the Patriots, on the other hand, had 445 yards on the game. One of the largest differences for the two teams was the time of possession. The Falcons only had the ball for 20:11 while New England had it for 39:49, that is a huge difference. We had the ball for almost twice as long as they did, and we all know that you can’t win when you don’t have the ball. Our defense did a great job forcing the opposing team to punt the ball and it’s amazing how well our defense is this year. Sure having the Pats defense on your fantasy team will not win you the league, but it sure as hell allows for the Pats to win.

I was very impressed with the way the Pats played yesterday, especially Fred Taylor. He is a veteran and should know how to play the game but the first two weeks were very questionable. Against the Bills and Jets he never got going and the team relied more on Brady rather than going back on the running game. With the opportunity he got yesterday he performed very well. Rushing for 105 yards on 21 rushes with one touchdown, a very productive day. Sure Brady still made 42 passes on the day, but this time no one is saying a word. When he threw fifty passes the other games everyone was all over him and Belichick for putting too much stress on his shoulder, but when they win and Taylor puts up big numbers then no one says anything. The Pats are starting to look good again, the only other time they looked comfortable at all was during Brady’s comeback against the Bills in the fourth quarter, but that was the only other time. Next week’s game is a tough match-up against a very strong Baltimore team. All I can say is that I would not put money on that one.

By Greg Petersen