I heard that Ray Allen is going to the Heat and some Celtic fans are upset. Please reconsider. Rajon Rondo is a talented head-case, and management kept floating rumors about trading Allen the last two off-seasons. That's not good treatment, but Allen was a good soldier and didn't criticise and complain. He gave more than he got here. I resent the Heat, but Ray will now have wide-open shots that he does not have to work for (and they thought Mike Miller could shoot) rather than the intense, on-the-edge, everyone out here is old and relying on trickery, guts, and focus deal he has had in Boston. I'm happy for him.
He has absolutely been a class act, and I hope they put that on his plaque at the Hall of Fame. (Ben, we should go again. It's only an hour from Swanzey.) I am a big career-stats follower, and Ray looks to go top 20 in points, maybe top 15, and outside chance top 10 all time.
Thank you, sir.
In other news, the sports news is so slow tonight that the WNBA scores are at the top of the ESPN board.
Also, a frustrated friend at work who enjoyed talking Red Sox with me asked what it would take to get me interested again. Cole Hamels? Greinke? No. Getting rid of all of them, even Ortiz, who we could get something for and I hope does well in a post-season for some other team. Many are gone already. I get it that you can't move Crawford. Bye-bye pitchers, unless you are young and unpoisoned by these knuckleheads. If they brought up their AA and AAA prospects and said "we're going to see who can play" then I would know that management gets the message. I do not like these guys. I don't care if they do well. I sort of hope they do poorly.
The pitching is bad. Maybe part of their holding together the last two years was Varitek. Too late. He stopped hitting, and his captaincy had no meaning in the meltdown. He's not the solution. Move on. Management, pitching coach, culture? Move on. Dice-K was never part of the culture anyway, so coin-flip for him for another chance. Bring me unproven but eager and shiny young men who may not work out.
Contrast this to the Ray Allen comments. Now that Timmy is gone, who on the old Red Sox can you say is a class act? That lets you know how rare the Ray Allens of the world really are.
3 comments:
I have heard of none of these folks, and feel no concern over that fact.
It's your blog, and I like it, so THAT I care about.
I could be talked into another Basketball Hall of Fame trip. It's been quite a while.
It will be easy for us to forgive Ray in time. And if he'd gone to any team other than the Heat, we'd already have settled down. "We tried to trade him again and again. We moved him to the bench. He played through pain in game after game, and we only criticized his shooting. He earned the right to play where ever he wants." But it's the Heat, and no Celtics, Bulls, or Thunder fan is going to stomach one of their players going there. They are the enemy.
As for the Red Sox: Pedroia is one of those guys, clearly. I have affection for Ellsbury, who is shy and retiring and dislikes the limelight, which is rare in an MVP-caliber player. I like some of the new kids: Middlebrooks, and Ross. I've always liked AGon, who is polite and professional, and Papi, for obvious reasons. I want to see Crawford pull it together, because I feel bad for him. That's enough.
I have no rooting interest in our pitching staff: Beckett's drifted from "likable asshole" to "dislikable asshole," and Lester and Buchholz make me feel nothing other than vague disappointment. I like some of the strivers on the staff: Acevez, Doubront, Bailey. But there's no Timmy Wake out there who inspires real fandom. With those guys, it's just laundry.
this is just too cool for words! :)
great job!
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