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Ben Cherington is doing a pretty good job!  I know the Boston Mediaheads don’t want to admit it.  The trade today for Andrew Bailey coming to the Sox for Josh Reddick was genius.  I am sure that Reddick will play very well for the A’s, but let’s be honest.  We have Josh Reddick +1 with Ryan Kalish.  He can step right in and do what Reddick did and I believe much more.  We get our closer……which makes Melancon our set-up guy…..which allows both Bard and Aceves to focus on starting…..all for Josh Reddick and a couple of minor leaguers.  Bravo Ben.  Keep it up!!

How many times am I gonna say this…..Great job by Tuukka Rask.  He kept the B’s in this one until the under-rated Dennis Seidenberg to put home the game winner in OT and lead the Bruins to their 7th straight win.  Looking forward to watching every game going forward.

UConn men have found their stride,  beating South Florida tonight without Jim Calhoun, who is serving a suspension.  Jeremy Lamb led the way tonight with 23 and Freshman sensation Andre Drummond is getting better every game and will be scary good by the tournament.

Without Paul Pierce the Celtics are a very good team that lacks the end of game threat.  That is what Pierce is.  He not only wants to take the last shot or make the last defensive stop…….he usually does it, and does it well.  The unfortunate start for the Celtics does not worry me as much as some.  I thought they played very well in the New York and Miami games.  Tonight was a different story…playing back to back road games with two open roster spots would be tough for any team, never mind the aging Celts.  However, the schedule gets soft and comes home over the next two to three weeks.  I would look for the Green to be looking at 10-5 after 15 games.  I guess we will find out how smart I am after that.  If I’m right, I will remind you.  If I’m wrong, I am counting on  you’all to keep me honest through your comments.

Watching Ron Paul on Jay Leno.  He is a very interesting guy!

I kinda like what I see.  The young guys and the new guys are showing great confidence.  Dooling can really play defense and Bass is a monster.  E’twaun Moore is very impressive and does not look intimidated at all.  I think Avery Bradley has a great chance to play significant minutes this year.  I think this team will play defense and rebound.  Jermaine looks very healthy (for now) and is a dominant defensive player.  The jury is still out.  We have only seen two exhibition games against the Raptors, but there is enough here to be optimistic about the Green.

About the Red Sox…. I like the move of Tim Bogar to bench coach.  Pretty tough to get a guy thrown out from there.  Baseball America list of Sox top prospects surprisingly omits Jose Iglesias.  Not surprising is Will Middlebrooks as top prospect.  Look for him to make his move to the Majors at some point this year.  Anthony Renaudo is another one to watch.  Right-handed pitcher could find himself helping out at some point this year.  He has continued to impress everyone in the organization.

Pats-Dolphins and Jets-Giants both on at 1:00.  I just changed the batteries in my clicker.  Cowboys-Eagles at 4:00.  I love Christmas Eve!!

As I sit and watch the 49′ers put the finishing touches on the Steelers, I can’t help but think about the Patriots good fortune this weekend.  Of course the Pats went out and did their job, defeating the hyped up Broncos by 18 points.  What I didn’t plan on was losses by Houston, NY Jets, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Cincinatti.  In other words, all AFC probable playoff teams with the exception of the Patriots, lost!!  So New England clinches division and now has a stronghold on the #1 seed for the entire playoffs.

As for yesterdays game, I think Tim Tebow played pretty well on the big stage.  However, I thought the Pats first quarter swiss cheese defense made some great mid-game changes and created turnovers and played much better the remainder of the game.  Feeling very sad about Andre going down for the season, but Mark Anderson didn’t miss a beat, gathering two sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.  I think we may see the Pats morph into a 3-4 defense now that Carter is out.  We will see.

Bruins, Bruins, Bruins!!  What else can ya say about these guys.  Tonight’s tough hard-fought win over the rival Canadiens showed everyone that they can consistently play 60 minutes of hockey.  No one is tired, no one defers.  And of course Tim Thomas was again outstanding.

I don’t know how to say this politically correctly.  I watched the UConn-Baylor girls basketball game.  The Huskies were up 11 with eight minutes left and could not stop Brittany Grimer.  I can see how some people might think she is a man.  She sure played like one……dominating!!!

Quiet week in Sox World this week….bet that won’t last.  Will be heading to the Cape this weekend to spend time with Mom, Stace, Erin, Ben and Kyle.  Merry Christmas y’all.

Talk tomorrow.  Scott

Just a few quick observations from the Bruins 5-2 win over Ottawa last night.  Tim Thomas is playing the same way he did last year when the Bruins seemed…..well…..unbeatable.  They sure look that way now.  Rich Peverley was clearly the best player on the ice last night.  Pretty nice when he’s on your third line.  Depth.  Great test coming Saturday afternoon against the Flyers.  B’s should be well rested and ready to play.  It will be interesting to see.

Also this weekend, #1 Baylor faces #2 UConn in women’s hoops.  Good game.

Interesting to see how Newt Gingrich handles the attacks that he will see and hear from a desperate Mitt Romney tonight in the last debate before Iowa.  Should be a witty exchange for sure.

One other quickie…..With Josh Willingham signing with the Twins yesterday, does that make Michael Cuddyer more available for the Sox???  Just askin’……

For the second straight week, the Pats won, but in unimpressive fashion.  The encouraging thing this week is that the defense scored and came up with a game ending turnover while the skins were going in for a tying score.  Gronkowski is amazing.

Nice job by Claude Julien last night putting Tuukka in the game to play the third period.  He was quite sharp and the B’s found their scoring touch after a few periods off.  Joe Corvo was great and Dennis Seidenberg was the best player on the ice last night.  He will have to be with Chara going down with an injury.  It will be interesting to see who steps up on the blue line with the Captain out of the lineup.

Very quiet Winter Meeting for the Sox.  Looks like they are leaning towards Bard and Aceves as the four and five starters.  We best go find some bullpen help then….

Watching Giants-Cowboys….20-15 Boys in the third.  Somehow I think if the Giants are within 7 late in the fourth, they will find a way to win.  We will see……

Although I kinda liked the way Big Baby Davis played on the offensive end, I think the trade for Brandon Bass was a great deal for the Green.  Baby never really improved enough on the defensive end and was never able to adopt that “team first” attitude of the Celtics.  Bass is a tough guy…plays defense, can hit the mid range jumper, and is good on the offensive boards.  If the aging Celtics are going to compete for a championship this year, they will need some solid contributions from the bench.  Bass is a great addition.  Speaking of tough guys, the Green also picked up former Maryland big man Chris Wilcox as well.  Wilcox is another solid defender who can score inside averaging 7.4 points for the Pistons last year.  He should provide some well needed depth in the middle.

Chili’s in Sixteen Acres is a great place to watch a game, grab a drink or some food, and to get involved in an animated discussion about NFL quarterbacks.  Mike, the bartender is a HUGE Giants fan and a Eli Manning advocate.  Jim is a Pats fan, and thinks Tom Brady is the coming.  Both guys agree that Brady is the best QB in the League and possibly in their lifetime.  The disagreement came with where Eli Manning stands in today’s NFL.  Jim claims that Eli throws too many interceptions to be considered an “elite” quarterback.  Mike believes that Eli is tinkering on the brink of “eliteness.  Of course I had to chime in…..

I have not been an Eli fan for the past few years.  I thought his accuracy was lacking and that he threw a lot of balls behind the receivers.  However, I think Eli has been great this year.  The Giants have not been great.  My claim is that Eli is top 5 QB this season.  Jim thought I was crazy so I asked him to name 5 better.  He came up with 3.

Tom Brady

Aaron Rodgers

Drew Brees

I could even see four if you want to include Big Ben.  That still makes Eli top 5.

Jim tried to fill the fifth spot with Tony Romo and/or Phillip Rivers.  I’m not so sure about that.  I think it will be awfully tough to put Romo or Matt Ryan ahead of Eli.  In my mind Eli is right there , a few steps below the rest of the guys

Well, it looks more and more like the Sox are going to stay relatively pat this off season.  Pujols and Wilson are off to the Angels, not that the Sox should have gone after either.  I think we should definately get used to the idea of Reddick or Kalish in right,  Sa;ty and Lavarnway behind the plate, and a rotation of Beckett, Lester, Buchholz, Aceves, and Daniel Bard.  The bullpen will need help in that case.  Bobby Jenks, Franklin Morales and a comittee at this point.  Yikes!!