The Boston Celtics unfortunately took Game 1 of the NBA Finals last night against the LA Lakers in Boston.

They were led by veteran Paul Pierce who was injured in the third quarter.  With shades of Willis Reed limping onto the Garden floor in 1970, Pierce returned to the roar of the crowd.  Laker Coach Phil Jackson wisely took a timeout to try to stop the momentum.  But, Pierce hit three point shots including a four point play after being fouled by Vladimir Radmanovic.

Pierce finished with 22 points and the Celtics won 98-88.

I don't hate Pierce nor KG or Ray Allen for that matter.  I must root for the Lakers because I became a fan in the 1980s.  (I met former Lakers Magic Johnson and Vlade Divac in July 1991 and February 2002, respectively.).  Though I predicted a Celtics NBA Championship before the beginning of the season, I want the Lakers to win and the Celtics to lose as to prevent the Boston Sports Apocalypse. 

If you think Patriots and Red Sox fans are obnoxious, the Celtics fans will be much worse because they haven't won in a long time.  Celtics fans may not know what to do with themselves and may even totally destroy the beautiful city of Boston if the Celtics win.  The fate of Boston, the sports world, and the rest of the world relies on your prayers and the Lakers to prevent the Boston Sports Apocalypse.

Posted by a concerned Tank in NY.

 

It is reported the construction of Citi  Field have been nearly completed. The dimensions are also there, shown with paint on the outfield walls. It is:

Right Field: 330

Dead Center: 408

Left-Center (14+ foot high wall to get Santana's home runs down?): 379

Left Field: 335

Posted by Steve in Orlando.

Pedro Martinez looked good last night, going 6 innings and scattering 7 hits and 3 runs, walking 3 and striking out 3 to earn a win in his first start coming off the DL. This is a short in the arm for the Mets, who are more and more worried about 1/3 of an inning Oliver Perez. Pedro threw 109 pitches and struggled some times but was solid.

Pedro said: “I’m thankful to be back. I hope I can stay a little longer. It was a while back (the last outing), especially with all the distractions I had off the field, which made it even tougher. … I still feel like every time I’m given the ball I have the same responsibility, to set an example.”

Joba Chamberlain, lasted only 2.1 innings and allowed 4 walks, 1 hit and 2 runs (only 1 earned) while throwing 62 pitches. While the first pitch was 101 mph, the entire performance that bad but under whelming. In a sign that he was rushed into this role, Joba threw his mitt at the doughout wall when he was pulled from the game.

Joba said: “It didn’t go very good.I wanted to get my team a lot deeper into the game. Gotta be better, that’s for sure.”

Posted by Steve in Orlando

One of the greatest songs of all time, "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey, was playing over the loudspeakers as the Detroit Red Wings were winning 3-2 in the last minute of the third period against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Red Wings were in line to win their third Stanley Cup in 11 years.

But, the Penguins' Talbot tied to it with 31.3 seconds remaining.

Wow!  Talbot took all the air out of the Joe Louis Arena.  The alternating cheers of "We want the Cup" and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" lyrics "...Born and Raised South Detroit..." stopped immediately.

Hockey may NOT get as much attention as it deserves but it has the best playoff format, sudden death overtime.  One shot, one mistake is the difference between raising the Cup for Detroit or extending the series to a sixth game to Pittsburgh.

After a brief intermission, Detroit was better rested as Pittsburgh had to expend lots of energy to tie the game.

Detroit had the most shots in the first overtime period but Fleury was equal to the task.  The Red Wings outshot the Penguins by almost two to one for the game.

The Penguins had a man advantage early in the second overtime but the Red Wings killed the penalty.

One of the TV announcers granted permission to his 11 and 13 year old children to stay up late as the game was over 100 minutes long.

Detroit's made a critical mistake as Hudler hit Skadery in the mouth for a four minute penalty with about ten minutes left in the third overtime.

Sykora pulled a Babe Ruth and told one of the TV announcers that he would score the winning goal.  True to his word, Sykora put the puck past Osgood to win the game and send the series back to Pittsburgh.

Posted by a Tired Tank in NY.

Tomorrow is a big day in New York pitching starting rotations. Joba Chamberlain, who has not started a single game in the minors in preparation for tuesday, is starting. Is he going to cut it? Will the Yankee's bullpen lose its oomf?

Pedro Martinez makes his return from the DL for the Mets tomorrow. Can he last the remainder of the year without stubbing his toe, hurting himself in his sleep, or falling down the stairs?

New York is waiting. Steve and the Tank's predictions? Both will be under whelming. But both will provide a boost to ailing teams.

 

Posted by Steve in Orlando. (And the talk of the town are "Are the Rays for real?")

The Mets failed us last year. That was their fault. Today on June 1, they stand at .500, playing at a subpar level, but hanging in there just a few behind the Phillies in the loss column, despite a significant amount of injuries.

The Mets have disappointed us so we went for blood. First we said fire Willie. I say fire the fans and media. The fans and the media are the a large reason for the recent "distractions."

So the Mets had a bad week after beating the Yankees two weeks ago. Ok, they had a bad 2 weeks. Did the Wilpons call for Willie's head? No. Did Omar call for Willie's head? No. Did the fans and media? Yes. The Talk Shows? Yes. The Mets players, management, or ownership? No?

Twice this week you can see the effect the media had. David Wright said after the 12th inning come from behind game: "The off the field distractions are now behind us." Carlos Beltran said that he was happy to hear that "Willie is our manager." And that the "distractions are now behind us."

So while the players are to blame for the poor play, the fans, and their evil enabler, the media, are to blame for the "distractions."

Posted by Steve in New York

I planned to write tonight about how I am genetically coded and morally obliged to root against the Dodgers and Red Sox based upon past rivalries.  But it also pains me to root against Joe Torre and Don Mattingly.  I make a decision to root for the Mets and against the Dodgers.
                       
The Dodgers jumped out to a 3-0 first inning lead. 

The Mets countered with Luis Castillo's two run home run.  Dodgers 3 - Mets 2 at the end of the first inning.

John Maine wasn't great but hung in there.  The crowd encouraged him along.  Mr. Met's tour throughout the Mezzanine raised everyone's spirits except Linda's.  She booed Mr. Met and you know the story from previous posts.  Tonight's comments were even more stinging than in the past which I can not repeat in our family oriented blog.

The Mets finally took a 5-4 lead during the seventh inning.
  
You can blame the tying run on the first base umpire who missed Juan Pierre out at first.  Of course, I recommended a good laser vision surgeon.  Aaron Heilman came to save the day and "setup" Billy Wagner.  However, the last four runs were charged to Heilman.  The Dodgers took a 9-5 lead after seven and a half innings.  The Mets squandered the last six outs to lose the game 9-5.  The slipping away of the game caused the Mets to slip below .500 at 26-27.

There were lots of boos and a few chants to "Fire Willie".  But, the Mets last three straight wins hopefully bought Willie some time.  In the meantime, Linda and I separately texted Steve and I hereby now announce the founding of the Aaron Heilman Sucks Fan Club.  I'm so depressed that I am not even going to charge a membership fee.  Just boo him whenever you see him at Shea, on TV, or around town.

Posted by a depressed Tank reporting live from Shea Stadium. 

The Mets beat the Dodgers 8-4 last night to win their third game in a row, for the first time in over a month. Everything seemed to be working, hitting, a quality start, solid bullpen (the bullpen has only given up 1 run over its last 19 innings, walking none and striking out several), small ball, taking advantage of opponents mistakes, 2-out RBIs, and quality fielding. Basically all the things that were not going well in the past few weeks. This is very impressive considering the string of injuries the Mets have suffered over the past week. They have improved their record to .500 and have not undone the damage of the 1-7 record last week.

David Wright said "the off-field distractions are behind us" when asked about the recent awesome play of the Mets.

The challenge is to keep winning, and play with passion even in the losses so the media doesn't start its "Willie Watch" again. Memories are short term in this town. If the Mets can manage their way to 10 games over .500 and continue to play with the same spunk they have shown over the past few days.

Maybe the team is playing for Willie. Or maybe they are playing for Billy Wagner.

Posted by Steve, ready for the Mets to break out.

It was great to watch the Mets yesterday never say die. Down twice in the bottom of the 9th and 12th innings they tied it in the bottom of the 9th and scored 2 to go ahead and win in the bottom of the 12 (after the Marlins had a 1 run lead in the top of the 12th.) Solid bullpen work and come from behind heroics is something we did not see late last year and most of this year.

If the Mets do turn this season around, last night will be the turning point, not the Yankees win. The real test is this weekend against the Dodgers, can they keep the momentum going?

Posted by Steve in New York

PermaGuest Outlaw Jack wrote late last week that some free primo  tickets were available to Monday's Memorial Day game.  I really wanted to go but politely declined as I was out of town for the game.  It was almost a good thing that I didn't go; I saw the looks on fans' faces in the Port Authority after the Mets lost.  This was even more depressing after the Wilpons met with Willie before Monday's game.

After my recent interview with Johan Santana, I was really excited to finally watch him pitch in person last night at Shea.

Santana came through like he was supposed to.  He pitched seven solid innings, including pitching out of a couple of jams.  He helped his own cause with a double in the fourth but he wasn't advanced home. 

I guess I am the Mets good luck charm as the Mets are 5-1 this season when I go.  Maybe the Wilpons will pay me to go to games.  Gotta go, I hear my phone ringing. 

Posted by a cautiously optimistic Tank reporting live from Shea Stadium in Queens.