The Boston Pro Sports Blog

I woke up this morning to find that the trade-happy Danny Ainge had struck again. This time acting in cahoots with former Celtics teammate Kevin McHale. Do you think we will ever get to see a season go by without Danny Ainge making a trade? It would be the equivalent to watching a Real World season were nobody gets excessively inebriated and almost gets arrested resulting in all the other housemates to wonder if that person is an alcoholic. I am not so sure that day is coming. So we are forced to digest another midseason move by the Celts GM.

The first thing I found out was that Mark Blount had been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Michael Olowokandi. No surprise there. Blount and the Candy-man had probably already swapped real-estate agents. Finding himself in a new uniform midseason might mean Mark Blownt…er…Blunt…er…uh…Blount’s(?) identity crisis continues. Maybe he will just get to Minnesota and just pull a Yao and put ‘Mark’ on the back of his jersey. Or change his last name to ‘Doobie’ which is much less ambiguous to pronounce. But something tells me this was more about the Celtics getting rid of the underachieving Blount and much less about aquiring the former No. 1 draft pick in Olowokandi. After all, Olowokandi only has one year left on his contract and his agent Bill Duffy has already suggested that Ainge move or release him. The focus on developing Kendrick Perkins this season has also pointed to the fact that the Celts are probably set with their bigman for the time being. Which leads me to search for a more plausible reason for this trade(besides the fact that apparently Danny Ainge feels the need to always make a trade).

A second part of this deal regards Marcus Banks being sent to the Wolves for Dwayne Jones. Yup that Dwayne Jones. The same Dwayne Jones that…ah…uh…wait a second…who the hell is Dwayne Jones? Apparently he is a 6’11” rebounder who is currently playing for the Florida Flames in the NBA’s developmental league. Oh. With Banks getting limited time behind the emerging Delonte West and Ryan Gomes, who are much younger and consequently have more potential, Banks was sent packing. So it seems like that aspect was pretty much formality. The 2008 first round draft pick that the Celtics received in exchange for two second round picks seems like a wash to me as well. Hmm. So what was this trade all about then?

Well my friends, it seems this trade comes down to Ricky Davis for Wally Szczberiak, straight up. Celtics fans: welcome to Wally’s World. May I buy a vowel?

I will be honest with everyone here. I love Wally Szczerbiak. I do. I always have. Ever since I was watching his college days at Miami of Ohio(honestly couldn’t they change the name so no one gets confused? Or do they like it that way because they think it sounds regal or something? Oh well). But I also liked Ricky Davis too. And call me naïve but I thought he fit in pretty well with the Celtics. After his past three other teams apparently couldn’t get rid of him fast enough, Ricky found a pretty comfortable place with the Green. Kind of like a mini Corey Dillon story. Except without all the Championships and stuff. But Ricky did bring an energy to the court. He had an electric presence, could make crowd noise insighting plays, and was one of the only players to (semi)consistently play solid defense.

So this is where this trade doesn’t sit well with me. We have a young, inexperienced team who struggles to play good defense and creates more turnovers than Au Bon Pain. Anchoring this team is a veteran scorer known for his ability to hit on anywhere on the court. In this trade though, we give up our number two scorer who has the ability to play defense for another veteran sharpshooter not known for his defensive aptitude. I don’t get it.

Was Wally really what we were looking for? Weren’t we really looking for a veteran defensive player that could spark this years team and mentor our young players for a few years? Like a younger Gary Payton/Charles Oakley, a sane Ron Artest, or a Rodney Harrison of basketball type player? Don’t we already have a sharpshooting scorer? Am I the only one that is confused here? This is a low grade equivalent of the Lakers trading for Allen Iverson.

Like I said though, I love Wally Szczerbiak. On top of his long range capabilities, Szczerbiak brings a composed veteran presence to a club that desperately needs it. In this capacity he is a significant improvement from Ricky Davis, who is just one noche above Manny Ramirez on the maturity-meter. In all fairness, Ricky probably was asked to do too much here in Boston. His role is probably a lot more appropriate as a number three man instead of a number two. I think Szczerbiak will probably fit a little better in this role although only time will tell. Wally also brings a sort of old school game style that probably impresses Danny Ainge. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ainge says something ridiculous and cliché along the lines of “he reminds me of myself when I was his age.” Only Wally doesn’t take stupid pull-up three pointers on 3 on 1 fast breaks.

Wally’s tenacity and hustle could also be valuable on a team that needs a little spark. Even if he isn’t the most athletic or defensively gifted guy on the court, his hustle and desire could inspire others. He truly is a guy who loves basketball. I am also looking forward to hearing Tommy scream “I LOVE WALLY’S WORLD!!!” in his thick Boston accent.

Obviously no one really knows what will happen to this team after this trade. Ainge and the rest of the Front Office are hoping it will ignite this team to a playoff berth. I think most of the fans are hoping that as well. I guess we will all have to just sit back and take the Paul Pierce “Wait and See Approach” . Go Green.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

To make the playoffs. Simply said that should be the biggest goal of the Boston Celtics this year. Yes it sounds obvious and very un-prophetic, but it is important. I think we can all agree that this is not our year. I think it is also safe to say that this could be what is considered in sports a ‘rebuilding year’. So as fans we need to look at the small successes. Really put everything in perspective. I am sure if we drop a few more games out of that eighth playoff spot then it might be easier to start rooting for a draft pick. At least it might be a little better on our sanity. Nothing is worse than having a lame-duck season that ends without a playoff berth or a top ten first round draft pick. However there is one reason to root for the 2005-06 Celtics team to succeed and that reason exists in two words: Playoff Experience.

We could have a million excuses and justifications for why we didn’t make the post-season. But when it comes down to it, it would be much more beneficial for this team to participate in the playoffs. For one thing it would be a small victory in and of itself. If this team continued to battle and then ended up beating out other teams for the final play-off spot, believe it or not it would show a lot of character. Simply making the playoffs would be an accomplishment for this team. However everyone on the planet would probably admit we would not make it past the first round. Which in all honestly would not be the worst thing in the world. Then we could start issuing our excuses. They are incredibly young, they are just learning to play with each other, blah, blah, blah.

The best thing about making the playoffs, however, would be that it would give the younger guys on the team a taste of the postseason and the feel of a truly competitive atmosphere separate from the day to day grind of the regular season. It would give them motivation to get back as well. And, perhaps most importantly, it would give them another notch on their totem pole of experience and would truly be their ‘coming of age’ experience in the NBA. So in two or three years when (hopefully) this rebuilding experiment does pan out and Ainge’s young’ens grow up a little and put together a competitive team that could be dangerous in the playoffs, no one on TBS or NBC will pull out some grotesque statistic that states that “only two players on this 2007-08 Celtics team has playoff experience.”

I know as much as anyone that watching this team can be maddening. They’re more inconsistent than a bipolar weatherman and sometimes seem about as old as Freddy Adu’s younger siblings. But there have been flashes of brilliance. And with a team that is anchored by a perennial all-star having a career year, there is hope in the horizon of Celtics basketball. No one is expecting them to end this year with champagne and cigars. But a playoff berth might be just as valuable. And for a team that is only a couple games out of that last playoff spot, its enough for this fan not to quit on them just yet.

theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com

Just a few quick suggestions for New Years Resolutions for some of the people in the Boston sports scene…

Terry Francona: a resolution to stop rocking back and forth in the dugout like some autistic child subsequently making everyone who is watching more nervous about his managing ability and self-confidence.

Paul Pierce: a resolution to not make a pouty-bitch face for all of 2006(the latter half of 2005 was a big improvement)

Larry Lucchino: a resolution to stop trying to control the Red Sox’ General Managers(whomever they may be either now or in the future).

The New England Patriots: a resolution to win SuperBowl XL(do resolutions work that way?)

John Henry: a resolution to stop lying to the public about Theo’s role in the Red Sox organization. Just because Theo shows up to the office everyday in a gorilla costume doesn’t mean anyone is being fooled.

Manny Ramirez: a resolution to keep the snake in its cage.

Bob Craft: a resolution to never ever change the pink tie/blue shirt with white collar combo on game days. Why mess with a good thing?

Patriots Fans: a resolution to prove Richard Seymour wrong and transform Gillette stadium into one of the most hostile, rowdy, energetic, and loud football venues for the playoffs and the following seasons. Even if you get your season tickets taken away because the asshole in front of you complained that you were yelling too loud and he practically got drunk off your breathe. At least you can be a fan of principle.

Red Sox Fans: a resolution to continue to remind yourselves that its alright that we currently don’t have a short-stop, 1st baseman, lead-off hitter, or centerfielder because opening day is still a long way away.

Celtics Fans: a resolution to keep cheering for your team. Even if you sometimes think that you are watching a high school team.

Bruins Fans: a resolution to keep chee–…er…well, uh…keep watching the games anyways.

Dear Santa,

I am an average Boston sports fan and I would like to send you my list of gifts for Christmas this year. I think I have been a good boy this year. I was mean to visiting teams and did curse out some of the people who run the Boston franshises at times, but I think thats just par for the course. I guess purchasing t-shirts that insinuate bad things about Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriquez wasn’t too nice either, but I am hoping you can forgive me for that. I also know that this past year I have been spoiled as well, what with all the parading around the World Champion TrophieS and all. However, there are a few things that I would like this Christmas. I don’t think its too much to ask. Perhaps you could find room in your sleigh. Thank you very much.

1. A power-hitting lefty first baseman.

2. A New Bruins Front Office(whoops…who said that?)

3. The preserved health of the entire Patriots team. Since you are good at the whole video game thing, maybe you could give them one of those stars like you gave to the Mario Bros. for the last two games so they don’t get hurt. Just an idea.

4. A whole lot of experience for the Celtics rookies and sophomores(its too bad this weren’t like NBA 2K6 where we could play like 2 seasons with playoffs in a 7 day span. I bet we’d be nasty.)

5. A lead-off hitting centerfielder(sigh) that bats above .300 with and OBP of .350 or higher. Even if he is named after a children’s breakfast cereal. I don’t really care.

6. Less expensive Bruins tickets. (I think Scott Boras and Jack Welch are the only two that can take a family of 4 to the Fleetcen–excuse me, Gahden for a game)

7. 5 degrees Fahrenheit playoff weather.

8. A golden glove shortstop. Even if he is named after Gumby’s dog. Like I said, I don’t really care.

9. A few relief pitchers(y’know, like stocking stuffers).

10. Continued patience for Paul Pierce.

11. A nice family to adopt Manny’s out of wedlock kid. So he doesn’t leave.

12. Some prozac or zanex for Dan Shaughnessy(or maybe just a prostitute or something)

13. Confidence and competency for Ben Cherington and Jed Hoyer. Or maybe for them to combine together to form a Super-GM. Like Voltron or something.

14. Continued faith for the Red Sox Nation.

15. Oh yeah, and maybe world peace or something too.

I thought I would let my loyal(and perhaps scarce) readers know that bostonprosports.com has been nominated for the Red Reporter’s 2005 Sports Blog Awards. Considering my tardiness on the sports blog bandwagon, it was appropriately placed in the ‘Newcomer’ category, which will rate the best new sports blogs for 2005. I seriously think if there were a blog yearbook, this one would get ‘most likely to be late for it’s own funeral’. Which I suppose is better than ‘most likely to get herpes’ but still not as cool as ‘best rack’.

In any event, I think its a viewers choice type award so if you would like to vote you can go to The Red Reporter to vote.

Unless of course you don’t think this is the best new sports blog. In which case if wouldn’t make sense for you to be reading this. Unless you are one of those people who goes to comedy clubs and school talent shows just to sit there and say “this guy really sucks” while you shake your head. In which case I don’t want you reading this blog anyways. Asshole. It would be cool if that computer guy that single-handedly got Nomar the all-star ballot by voting like 5 million times read my blog. I doubt it though. Oh well,its not that important. Just thought I would let you all know. Over and out.

WELCOME TO BOSTONPROSPORTS.COM!

I am delighted and honored to be the featured writer here for bostonprosports.com and hope that you all enjoy the thoughts, opinions, and ideas regarding our four Olde Town teams here in the Hub(note: the New England Revolution has been omitted and will only be discussed if a)they win a national/world/intergalactic title or b)they start having team sex parties like the Minnesota Vikings)

As a brief introduction, this column will be written from the perspective of the average Boston fan. I claim to have no resources, expertise, or credentials that would separate me from your run of the mill Sully, Murph, or Larry found in [insert name here]’s Sports Bar in [insert Boston neighborhood here]. Unlike Ben Affleck, I will not grandiloquently declare I represent the entire Red Sox Nation or Boston fan base, but simply offer my insights on whatever may be going on in the world of Boston’s professional sports teams. I’m really just your average fan. I drink Pabst Blue Ribbon and take public transportation. I think Larry Bird and Doug Flutie are two of the best athletes in the history of sports. I would vote for Bill Belichick to be the president of MENSA. In 15 years I will question why Dave Roberts is not in the Hall of Fame. And I try hard to live a good, clean life because I am desperately afraid that if I continue to laugh at midgets and old people falling I will find myself in Hell sharing a room with George Steinbrenner, Carl Everett, Dan Duquette, and Jimmy Fallon. Yup, just your average Boston sports fan.

So please sit back, relax, and enjoy the ideas, reactions, philosophies, opinions, rants, raves, and tirades that go through the head of The Average Fan(yes I know I just referred to myself in the 3rd person – Ricky Henderson can I get an AMEN!).

Sincerely,

The Average Fan

P.S.
You can send questions, comments, fan-mail, hate-mail, marriage proposals, death threats, or requests for love advice to: theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com