Once Again It’s On! AKA Boston Sports Report Part Six

Well, it’s finally football season and the Patriots kicked it off in style by dusting off Eric Mangina and the Jets (Just End The Season), knocking off their starting quarterbacks and beating them like they tried to R. Kelly their daughters (Ouch!). It was a complete drubbing and Randy Moss who didn’t even play in the preseason and barely practiced with a hamstring injury caught 9 balls and went for 183 yards and a TD.

All of the questions about whether or not Moss had lost a step or if he and Tom Brady would be on the same page to start the season went out of the window. If Tom put the ball anywhere near Moss, he came down with it and made the play. Next week comes the real test as the Patriots go head to head with the still salty from the playoffs San Diego Chargers.

Oh yeah, the Pats got caught doing a lil’ industrial espionage as well. Coach made a brief statement at his weekly press conference but when no one wanted to ask questions about the game and wanted him to elaborate on his statement about being found guilty of by the NFL brass he simply cut the press conference short. SIgn stealing allegations aside, the Patriots are the best coached and most prepared team in the league...I also think they got a reasonable punishment by having to forfeit multiple high draft picks.

The Red Sox won their last two games in dramatic comeback fashion. One in which they were down 8-1 and the next when Big Papi hit his first walkoff HR of the season and gave the Sox a 5-4 win that was much needed. The Yankees are on an 8 game winning streak and would’ve close the lead to 4 games again with one to play while the Sox were idle leading into the rubber match weekend series in Fenway Park.

If the Sox take two here, they’ll all butsew up the division and cement their place as the best team in MLB. They are currently 89-58 with just 15 games left in the season and the Yankees are 83-62 with 17 games left (including one tonight) and 5 games behind. They Yankees have been blazing hot but the Red Sox have managed to win nine of the last 15 games without Manny Ramirez. With the day off today, we all hope he can work his way back into the lineup for the Yankees series.

Either way, two of the games are going to be aired nationally and both teams can send a message to the rest of the league that they are serious contenders for the World Series title. With the recent pitching struggles of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield, we hope that all of the side sessions and film viewing helped correct Daisuke’s errors with location and vary up his pitches so he doesn’t go the ultra predictable cutter/fastball route against the Yankees hot bats tomorrow night.

The Celtics failed to get Reggie Miller out of retirement but they did sign former Miami Heat F James Posey. I hear that the Celtics are still pursuing the possibility of bring in Dikembe Mutombo. God knows that Scot Pollard isn’t going to get the job done in the middle backing up Perk. I also am thanking God that the Celtics didn’t draft Greg Oden...since he’s been drafted he’s had the swollen tonsils that kept him winded and looking lethargic at the Las Vegas Summer League at the US National Team Tryouts. Now he’s having knee surgery before the season. In Portland they can afford to be patient..it ain’t like that here in Boston. Folks would be heated. I was told that I might be able to get some preseason tickets from one of my connects. I’ll most def write about it when/if I go.

The Hunt For Red October Continues On...

Alert to all members of Red Sox Nation, the magic number is (as of 8:00 AM EST 9.14.07):

11

Any combination of Red Sox wins and/or Yankee losses result in one being subtracted from the magic number's total. When the number reaches 1, after the next Red Sox win or Yankee loss the AL East division championship will be clinched and the Red Sox will be assured of a place in the postseason and their first division championship since 1995.

One.