Hardball Heaven

Before I get to the Spygate crap happening today, I must expend a few words on the Celtics - whose frustrating loss last night in Cleveland tied the second-round series up at 2 games apiece.

I do not profess in any way to be a basketball junkie, nor would I describe myself as having one iota of intelligence regarding hoops strategy, but I did watch the C's all year long and I stayed in a Holiday Inn last night. And one thing that stands out like a sore thumb is that the Celtics aren't sticking with the blueprint that helped them make NBA history during the regular season.

Personally, I think the additions of P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell - particularly Cassell - have had a negative effect on the team. Doc Rivers had to force-feed them into their roles on the fly, and it feels like he's giving them way too much leeway in the postseason. We're not seeing Leon Powe, Eddie House, Big Baby or Tony Allen much, and unless Powe is injured, the fact that we didn't see him down the stretch last night is a horrible coaching call on Doc Rivers' part.

Looking strictly at the Big Three, Pierce and Ray Allen have been disappointing, and KG - while he's carried the team in the playoffs - seems out of his element as well, taking way too many long-range jumpers and hanging out around the perimeter. I'll give Pierce somewhat of a break because he's the one chasing LeBron around all night - and that has to be exhausting - but he needs to do more on the offensive end. And Allen? He showed his scoring touch a bit last night, but he's been getting torched on the opposite end by - UGH - Wally Sczerbiak. Watching ex-Celtics Joe Johnson, Delonte West, and Wally light it up the last few weeks has been about as fun as getting a paper cut.

In a way, winning the 66 games and making history is working against this team. They weren't pressured at all during the year, didn't have to play in hostile arenas, and their unmitigated success has made their fans set the bar extremely high for this postseason. We'll see what happens going forward, but this much is clear, even to the ignorant observer that I am. If this keeps up, and they're lucky enough to advance to play Detroit, they're going to be Motor City roadkill.

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Just a brief note on the Sox - they lost again last night in Minnesota as Clay Buccholz got roughed up. Manny hit No. 498, and Youkilis - arguably the hottest hitter in the American League right now - took a night off. The boys are in Baltimore tonight for a quick two-gamer, with Josh Beckett going against Jeremy Guthrie.

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And finally, Spygate. You know my opinion on this whole charade, which several media outlets - and individual writers - have been hellbent on prolonging. Matt Walsh had his much ballyhooed (good word) meeting with NFL commish Roger Goodell this morning, and as expected, there were no big "gotcha's." The league actually set up a couple of flat-screen TV's to show the videos Walsh handed over, and it was pretty much what Fox' Jay Glazer showed on the air back when - offensive and defensive coaches windmilling their arms in nonsensical fashion. Must have been riveting TV. There was also some up-close footage of some of the San Diego Chargers' cheerleaders, which greatly pleases me - though I'm not sure if the league opted to show that on the TV's. Walsh also told Goodell that a Pats player on injured reserve back in 2001 was practicing with the team (a no-no), and that he assisted some players and coaches in scalping Super Bowl tickets. That's about it. Walsh is now meeting with Senator Sphincter, who will also hold his own little press conference immediately thereafter. Can't wait to hear what this blowhard has to say. Again, I advocate for the impeachment process to start now.

One last note - if you find yourself having a bad day over the next week or so, just remember this - your name could be John Tomase. He's the Herald beat writer who broke the Rams' walkthrough tape story by citing a single, unnamed source. Tomase may be looking for work elsewhere pretty soon.