According to Patriots injury reports, Tom Brady’s left shoulder has been injured for about four years now.  The fact that he is now listed as probable is not a shocker.  The only reason it made news this week is because there are some people in the media that think the Pats should rest Brady this week.  In my humble opinion…….Are you crazy??  This is clearly a rythym offense, when hitting on all cylinders, scary.  I worry more about a bye week than I do about Brady resting.  As a matter of fact, try getting Brady to sit out a play requires an act of congress (probably a bad analogy given the effectiveness of congress lately).  He simply refuses to miss playing time.  Ask Brian Hoyer.  Having said that, the Bye week is crucial to the Pats this year.  They need the time to get some injured players back.  Matt Light, Logan Mankins, Patrick Chung, as well as many “banged up” guys can really benefit from the rest.  I would look for a bit of a slow start (surprise) by the Pats in their first playoff game after the bye.  Good thing is that it will be at home.

Bad news for the Sox yesterday.  Ryan Kalish had surgery that will probably keep him out until June and maybe to the All-Star break.  Having traded Josh Reddick to the A’s for Andrew Bailey, right field becomes a more pressing issue.  For the first time since the season ended I heard the names Darnell McDonald and Mike Aviles.  In case you forgot, both of these guys are under contract and on the roster.  With the addition of Ryan Sweeney, an excellent defensive outfielder, the Sox have a number of options.  I really don’t see anyone out there on the free agent market that would be a significant upgrade over these guys, especially financially speaking.  I think the rest of the lineup should be able to carry the offense through that early season period.  Anyway, it really will be all about the pitching, right?

Happy New Year everyone.  I look forward to entertaining you all in 2012.  As always, feel free to share your comments about any and all subjects.  Looks like another great year to be a New England sports fan!!

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!

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 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

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’……

Red Sox with a couple of solid moves today.  First, trading Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland to the Astros for closer Mark Melancon.  They then acquired Nick Punto to fill the utility role vacated by shipping out Lowrie.  Melancon is a great pickup.  He had 20 saves with the Astros and an era under 3.00.  He also has a bit of an nasty streak that closers must have.  When facing Dustin Pedroia for the first time, it seems that Melancon, a University of Arizona alum, plunked the Sox second baseman simply because he was an Arizona State guy.  I’m probably stretching the truth a little but let’s go with that.  Call it editorial license??  Although I really like Lowrie as a hitter and always wondered why the Sox never put him in right field, he has proven to be injury prone so I can deal with the loss.  In my mind Weiland is at least two years away from being a big league pitcher so I consider it no loss.  I have always liked Punto.  He is a scrapper and that is the type of player that Red Sox Nation is attracted to.  Today’s moves will help turn the page on 2011 and begin focusing on 2012.  Good job, Ben!

Tuukka Rask!  Last night he played like an All-Star, never mind just a starter.  There is no doubt that the Bruins have the best goaltender tandem in the NHL.  So here is the question….Can the Bruins hold on to this guy until Tim Thomas’ contract expires at the end of the 2013 season.  Rask is 24 and has a long career ahead of him.  He is going to play 30 games this year and probably 30-40 next year.  Make no mistake about it, Tim Thomas is the goalie here as long as he continues his outstanding play.  The Bruins are playing like they can win another Cup this year, and who knows, maybe next year as well.  I hope Tuukka will stay on for these runs and then take over for Thomas in a couple of years.  The Bruins will have to spend some money to keep him here through that period, maybe close to starting goaltender money???  What would you do if you were Rask?  What would you do if you were the Bruins?

Tebow, Shmeebow.  Pats win 42-10.  By the way, Rob Gronkowski reminds me a bit of Ben Coates with one exception.  Gronkowski doesn’t need to push off to get open.  As a matter of fact, he doesn’t even have to get open to be open!!

Quietly, Danny Ainge is putting together a respectable basketball team to support the “Big 4″.  Brandon Bass, Keyon Dooling and Chris Wilcox are going to make the Celts a very tough team to play against.  They are all very physical players.  They play defense, they rebound and they are “Doc Rivers” type of team guys.  I told myself that I didn’t care about the NBA but Danny has given me a reason to at least check the C’s out when they get back to playing.  About the Garnett/Allen complaining about David Stern rushing the season……the players agreed to the deal.  Everyone has to deal with the same time frame.  Let’s keep this whole thing positive and be above the fray, shall we??

Bruins-Senators tonight?  Can’t wait!!

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……

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

David Ortiz accepted arbitration from the Sox tonight.  I am guessing the number will be around 14 million.  The Sox may offer Papi 2 years and 20 million.  I kinda like the one year plan myself.  Remember that Papi sits out when interleague games are on the road.  I think the DH position can be better utilised by a number of players on days of rest ie:  Youkilis, Gonzalez, Lavarnway, etc….

Tyler Seguin.  Put the x-box away and go to sleep at night.  You are much to good to be missing team functions.  Maybe Shawn Thornton should pay him a little visit?

I can appreciate Oklahoma State wanting to think they deserve a National Championship shot, but Dude, ya lost to Iowa State.  Can’t happen.

Hottest Holiday gift by far………………………….Kindle Fire!!