Hardball Heaven

Given that it's Easter Sunday, a day for reflection, allow me to reflect on the current state of our professional sports teams here in Bawstin.

BRUINS: Dead team skating. Have been for the last couple of months or so. Very disappoining results for the new regime of GM Peter Chiarelli and head coach Dave Lewis. Whether it's coaching, the players, or management (probably a combo of all three), the Bruins have succeeded in making themselves completely invisible and irrelevant -- except, as always, to the hard-core fans still wearing their No. 8 Neely shirts.

CELTICS: Every night is now a "must-loss." With each competitive defeat, the Celtics put themselves in better position for the lottery prizes of a) Greg Oden or b) college player of the year Kevin Durant. With just 6 games left, the Celts are currently locked in for the second-worst record in the league this year, with the Bucks three games 'behind.' Logic says a team can't be a serious playoff contender without a legit big man, so Oden is the man. Heart says it would be awfully damn fun to watch Kevin Durant play every night. If the Len Bias Curse continues, and they don't get one of the top two picks, hide all the sharp instruments.

PATRIOTS: The Pats wrapped up a very successful offseason for talent acquisition, but still haven't figured out a resolution to the Asante Samuel situation. Samuel - who had a career year in '06 - was hit with the franchise tag for '07 but wants to work out a long-term deal similar to what Nate Clements just signed with the 49ers. Some media types around here have been postulating that the Pats may look to trade Samuel and get a higher pick, perhaps giving them a shot at standout LSU CB Laron Landry. Whatever the outcome, the Pats will be better than they were when we last saw them in that traumatizing loss to the Colts. Adalius Thomas, Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth, Kelley Washington, Sammy Morris, and Kyle Brady make the Pats deeper on both sides of the ball. I'll be bummed if they don't sign Sauerbrun to come back and punt. I thought he had an incredible postseason. In completely unrelated news, Bill Belichick was seen at the Florida-Ohio St. college hoops title game last week with a new, spiffy-looking blonde lady. Like quarterback, like coach. Wonder if Bill and Tom will double date?

RED SOX: Kind of a lackluster start to the much-anticipated, much-hyped 2007 Boston Red Sox season. Two good starts from Beckett and Dice-K, but the offense has been mostly quiet. Big Papi is struggling, and the pre-season concerns about the lack of punch in the lower lineup spots has already been evident. I like what I see of J.D. Drew and hope he can stay healthy. I'm also hoping this is the year Kevin Youkilis proves me wrong and shows that he deserves to be an everyday player on one of the league's best teams. Way too early to tell if Dustin Pedroia is safe at second, and the pressure's on Coco to produce or he could be moved out. Will be interesting to see if Curt Schilling can rebound from his rough start on Opening Day. 8:05 gametime tonight against the Rangers on ESPN.

Oh, and I'd be remiss without mentioning that the Boston College Eagles once again made it to the National Championship game in college hockey, and once again they came up juuuuussssst a bit short. Michigan State beat BC last night in St. Louis, 3-1, to win the title.

Happy Easter to all. Go easy on the ham and chocolate, put the wood stove on and watch the Masters, and then see if the Sox can put up a good showing on national TV tonight against the Rangers. All in all, a pretty good day in sports paradise.