Road Win....#1

Greech

You heard about it on the radio on the way to work, at the bubbler while you were at work, on PTI, Around the Horn and every other contrived sports show on TV while you were at home, everywhere you turned someone was quick to mention the Celtics failure to get a W on the road. After the game Paul Pierce said the win was like getting a gorilla off the teams back, which seems odd for a team that won an NBA best 31 games on the road last year, which he also mentioned.

The Celtics won 61 games in the regular seasons largely (very largely) do to the “Big Three Version 2.0”, but it seems lately the “Big Three” can more aptly be described as “Two and a Half Men”, mostly due to Ray Allen’s disappearing at in the past two series. He was aggressive last night, dishing for six assist, but still shot only 31 percent from the field. He turned it around in a game two Celts loss, but he has to start hitting some open threes before we can say he’s an important part of the Big Three again. I mean, the guys at Vitamin water have done everything right up to this point, but the “Vitamin Water…It works for Ray Allen!” lead in promo I’ve seen a few times must be killing them, I feel like every time that add gets played some intern at Vitamin water must get fired.

The "Two and a Half Men"

Unlike the game two loss where the Celtics bench combined for eight points and played less inspiring than Hilary Clinton’s promise not to give up hope, in game three the Celtics bench was the reason they were able to come up with a huge road win and take back homecourt advantage. With Allen’s on going struggles and Pierce’s unproductive offensive game three (he played great lockdown D on Detroit’s second leading scorer in the Playoffs, Tayshaun Prince) Doc is going to have to rely on his bench to give him two more good games in this series if he wants to move on. Hopefully last nights impressive win will help him widdle down his rotation and get it a little more stable. As much as it hurts to see Leon Powe and Eddie House sitting on the end of the bench looking more depressed than Danny Mac when “The Black Donnelys” was canceled, you gotta go with what is working for you.

I don’t see any reason the Celtics shouldn’t win again on the road in game four. With “Two and a Half Men” leading the way and the bench contributing big minutes off the bench, the Celtics should be back to their road winnings ways. Before the playoffs started I had the Celts in six over Detroit, here’s hoping they can just win it in five. (although I do have tickets to game 7 of this series, so winning in 7, thought not ideal, wouldn’t totally upset me)

Some random notes from the game:

• I can only hope something terrible happens to the Pistons PA guy (maybe sars? Does that stuff even still exist?). The guy makes every pregame introduction the most agonizing 3 minutes of the game. More agonizing than the “Wired” segments where Doc Rivers and makes no salient points other than “gotta rebound! Make baskets!!”, and more agonizing than watching Sam Cassell jack up ill advised, forced jumpers and turn the ball over every time up the court.

So who thinks SARs is an overreaction? watch game four introductions and you will soon agree with the Greech.

• That show “Wipeout” that ABC showed about 48 commercials for looks mildly entertaining, sort of like MXC without all those subtitles (no offense felisa), but the reason ill be watching it is because I’m 79% sure that it is hosted by that smoking hot chick in the Mercury commercials, you know…the one with the pointy shoes.


• Over probably a two minute span, after Detriot PG Rodney Stucky thought he was fouled, without me interjecting to say anything, my dad had this to say “Stick it up your ass Stucky…..the kid is bitching……...rookies cant bitch…...kids a rookie and he’s bitching…..stop bitching and play basketball…..bitching” All good points.

• So you guys hear that lost is having a two hour season finale? And it looks like they have a helicopter to finally get off the island! But not enough gas to get off the island, here’ my theory: (SPOILER ALERT) gas prices were too high so they could only afford 8 gallons, and that helicopter got worse MPG than the thought due to that fat guy with all that hair. Worst. Show. Ever.

Thanks for reading, guys (and gal). Feel free to post some comments, and don't forget you can aways send us an email here at The Sports Hub at TheSportsHub@gmail.com
Until next time, keep it loose, Greech.

Wake up with....Daisuke Matsuzaka??

Sox open up tomorrow in at 6 am tomorrow in Japan so I figured I should probably get a few thoughts down on our fancy web log before the season actually begins. If you have been keeping up with the breakneck pace of posting here at The Hub, then you are aware of the fawning DannoMac has been doing recently over the Sox in his past few posts. Although I’m high on this years team, I’m not quite that high. And since my alarm is set for 530 am, in my futile attempt to wake up and catch at least the first few innings before I have to get to work 30 minutes late; this post is going to be quick, and this post is going to be dirty, this post is going to be quick and dirty.

Despite a few departures, the sox are bringing back nearly all of the team that won it all last year. One of the most notable departures is Doug Mirabelli, whichs begs the question….what is Danny going to do with his “Dougies Going Deep Tonight” t-shirt?? I’m guessing it will stay in the rotation till it dissolves like his four Bedford Farms t-shirts and his ‘No Fear’ t-shirt. As for the (few) additions, I’m on board 100% with bringing in Sean Casey, who comes to Boston in a back up roll, when I am sure he knows he could be starting for a dozen other teams. There really have not been that many changes with this team, and I can’t remember a World Series team with such little turnover. With the way Sox are able to fold young players like Pedroia, Ellsbury, Lester, and Buchholz into the mix without disturbing the core of the team, there is no reason the Sox shouldn’t be the favorite this year, next year, and the year after next.

Here area few of my quick (and dirty) Sox related predictions…I like the sox to win 96 games (O/U is 94.5) and take the AL pennant. Manny is going to have a monster year, (Schill said on WEEI today Manny is going to have "120 homeruns and 200 RBIs" and he didn't even half laugh when he said it) we’ve been reading non stop about his insane off season works outs which include, but are not limited to, wind sprints from left field to a near by porter potty, crawling around on his hands and knees frantically looking for a diamond earring, freak dancing to reggaeton music with a 45 ounce bat resting on his shoulder, slowly jogging to first base then suddenly starting to sprint, and rounding third base while simultaneously and inexplicably throwing off his helmet. If it wasn’t for the monster year Miguel Cabrera is going to have in Detriot, I would probably pencil in Manny as my pick for AL MVP. Think about it- take Cabrera away from South Beach, the endless Latin food buffets, and bottomless pina coladas, and stick him in Detroit and he is bound to drop 30-40 pounds just from lack of options. Back to the Sox, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I honestly believe JD Drew is going to have a very productive season (somehwere in the .290 25 and 90 range). He is going to be a little more comfortable than he was last season, when he was adjusting to a new city, a new league, a sick son, death threats from Larry Lucchino and Theo Epstein, etc, etc. Also, not sure if you know this, but he jacked two homeruns off Japanese pitchers, so even if it doesn’t work out for him here in the states, he’s locked up a job over seas a-la Mr. Baseball, so he sort of has a little safety net. As for the pitching staff I fully expect Beckett to recover fully from his slight back pull and have another Cy Young worthy season, but Diasuke is going to be the real story of the first half. The birth of his son, the trip back to pitch in Japan, the same mullet haircut, its all going to equal a phenomenal first half AND his first All Star appearance. Finals numbers for the Dice: 18-9 3.54 era, 230 K. Alright, that’s all I got for now, I have to get to bed. Enjoy opening day, go Sox. (really though, some of the exhibition games we played against Japaneses teams might be more challenging than this As team we're about to play)

As always thanks for reading. Send us any and all of your thoughts, comments, date requests, hate mail, criticism and phone numbers to TheSportsHub@Gmail.com

Thanks, Greech

Part II; The Outfield, Papi, and the Bench

As promised, the 2008 Red Sox preview continues. If you missed Part I on the Infield you can either scroll down or click here.

In Part II as the headline gave away I'm dealing with the Outfield and Big Papi. Truth be told, I really do not want to talk about the entire bench. I mostly just wanted to talk about "The Mayor" so that's the new game plan. Regarding the potential minor league call-ups, I really only see two that have a shot at making an impact.

So, here we go:

Backup 1B/DH: Sean "The Mayor" Casey: Here's a pickup that I am absolutely thrilled about. He's definitely past his prime, and the expectations aren't exactly sky high. Casey was signed to keep the clubhouse loose and having fun. But more importantly, I'm 99% convinced he was signed to be the new bartender at Cask & Flagon on off nights. Casey is the 2008 version of Kevin Millar. He's there to throw down a few beers with Timlin, Wakefield, and Youk. He's there to help out Tek as a new veteran leader on and off the field that the players look to for advice. But mostly, he's there to help Papelbon become more efficient with his "Bud Light Box Hat." I don't have any stat predictions for The Mayor, but I'll say this: we signed a guy that will have a ridiculous cult-following throughout Boston before interleague play starts.

Backup OF, Bobby Kielty: Actually I don't have much for Big Red either. He was clutch last year and did a great job filling in when needed. Let's just hope for the same in 2008.

Backup CF, Coco Crisp: I think we all know it by now...Coco's tenure as our CF is over. So let's use this as a "Goodbye Coco and thanks for the memories."

Thanks for the numerous, ridiculous game-saving catches you made last year. Bottom line is you easily saved us 5 or more wins with your glove. And Boston won the division by 2 games. Without those 5+ wins you hooked us up with in the field, not only do we lose the division, but we don't even make the playoffs.

And on a personal note, thanks for the night at Game On! when you totally screwed me over and didn't sneak me into the VIP section (story in here somewhere). I'm still not completely over it but whatever; I ended my feud with Domino's so we can bury the hatchet. Good luck wherever you end up and please make sure they have a solid lefty reliever to send back our way.


Now onto the starters:

RF, JD Drew: No need to get into JD's 2007 season. Yes, he sucked. Yes, he was overpayed. Yes, WEEI was way too proud of themselves for the "Nancy Drew" nickname. And yes, he looked like he played with absolutely zero urgency (kinda like Manny on Valium).

But the grand slam in Game 6 of the ALCS has to be one of the highlights of the 2007 season for the entire team. That one swing alone turned him into a Boston hero. Suddenly, all was forgiven. And don't forget that JD's numbers from September through the end were excellent. And, I'm reading that JD now appears to be comfortable in the clubhouse. He's friendly, he's talking to everyone, AND he's tearing Pedroia apart with the ball-busting.

On pure talent alone, JD could be one of the best in the game. With no distractions and with a crowd that finally isn't calling for his head, look for big things from JD. (.295/30 HR/40 2B/95 RBI/.410 OBP)

CF, Jacoby Ellsbury: I can't remember in my baseball lifetime a kid that came up and made such a huge impact so fast. Ellsbury came up and lit a fire under everyone's asses. I'm still not completely over the night he scored from 2nd base on a wild pitch. I have never seen that at any level, even when Greech was our backstop. Just insane speed from this kid.

And if he doesn't step in for Coco in October I don't think we're having another Rolling Rally through the city. At this point, Ellsbury is expected to be the next legend of Boston sports. I almost feel bad for him with how high the bar has been set. So far, he's lived up to the hype and the pressure with no problems. Let's hope that continues. (.310/45 2B/12 3B/12 HR/.435 OBP/ 100 runs). Yes, I fully expect the legend to grow.

DH, David Ortiz: Here's a line for you: .332 avg./.445 OBP/.621 SLG/35 HR/52 2Bs/117 RBI. That was Ortiz's 2007 campaign and he played the entire season with a bad knee and a bad shoulder. Put a glove on him in the field (just to shut up the media) and he's easily the MVP runner-up (sorry, I can't give him the MVP, A-Rod was insane last year).

Now Papi is coming into spring training healthy after surgery, and has grown out the hair to have a shorter version of Pedro's hair-do from the last few years. Yea, you know, that weird Geri-curl thing? It's back and Papi is rockin' it.

We're looking at a line like this from Papi: .310/.430/.645/45-48/30-35/120+. Sadly, that is only going to be good enough for 2nd in the MVP Race because...

LF, Manny Ramirez: Look up some offseason stories on Manny. Gammons has said he's been an absolute maniac in the weight room. Suddenly Manny is ridiculously motivated. Plus, he's talking to the media again (shows he's finally happy), and in October after a walk off BOMB he said the words "When you go out hurt, and you do something like that...that's when you know you a bad man."

So he's happy, he's confident, he's been working out like a madman, he's a bad man, and just in case everyone forgot...MANNY'S IN A CONTRACT YEAR!! (sort of, there's options for 2009 and 2010, but basically Manny is playing for cash this year).

If you add all those things together you're looking at an MVP season from Manny. That's right, MANNY RAMIREZ WILL BE THE 2008 AL MVP. I'm not even predicting numbers for him because I'm too excited to think rationally. A triple crown from Manny wouldn't shock me in 2008. He's happy and he wants money...How the EFF do you pitch to Manny in 2008?


So there you go. We're through parts I and II. We're looking at great things for the Sox so far. The young legend continues to grow, JD becomes a fan favorite for a full year, the Dirt Dogs add another partner for car bombs, and the Sox have the MVP and runner-up hitting in the 3-4 slots in the order.

Up Next...the Pitching Staff. Feel free to hit up the comments section or email us at thesportshub@gmail.com.

Please Welcome Back Greech to TSH

OKAY, I would like to take a quick second to apologize to our Faithful fans…To Sean: sorry we left, but cheer up buddy, we’re back! To Felisa: hey, what time is it there? Time to read TSH again! To Hemi: hey pal, how about those C’s?! Get ready for a Celts like turnaround from TSH. To Timmy: Ked, ya, ked, our web logs back dude!!. To Dannys Mom and Dad: sorry Danny snores so loud. To Sharon: Thanks for never giving up in us. To Sammy: thank you for all your kind words. To everyone else I forgot, or didn’t make up, welcome back to the poorly constructed thoughts of Greech and Danno Mac.

It’s been a while now, nearly a month, but you can’t seem to turn on the TV or radio without hearing something about it. First the talk was all about the shock of one of the greatest upsets in Superbowl history (congrats to all the bandwagon NY Giants and Eli Fans) , next it was all the pundits saying how Belichick is a poor sports becuase he ran off the field before the game was over (which he did, but there was 1 second left and the guys got man boobs. I think the least we can do is give him a 1 second head start to the locker room after arguably the biggest loss in professional sports ), then it was more talk about the time the Patriots didnt follow NFL protocall when videotaping the other teams coaching staff (I was never a big fan of "videogate" "spygate" or even "watergate"), followed by some guy named Matt Walsh claiming he had a video of the Rams before Superbowl XXVI (Danny: that is roman numeral for 36), then Willie Andrew getting caught with ½ pound of Lawrence’s finest bud, then there was talk about retiring players, players leaving, ex players bad mouthing the team, recently Kevin Faulk was busted trying to sneak in a video camera…ummm, I mean 2 blunts into a Lil Wayne show, and just yesterday we released one of our most productive, when healthy, defensive players, Rosie Colvin. To put things simply: The month the Pats are having is very closely rivaling the roll Britney Spears is currently on (over/under 5.5 months before she pulls a Ledger. Any takers?)

This isn’t to say that Dan Shaughnessy will be writing “The Last Night of the Patriots Dynasty” anytime soon, but this is definitely a string of rather large chinks in the Pat’s armor. Some of these things can be easily fixed; I have a feeling that Rosie will be coming back to the Pats, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Pats make a run at former corner back, Ty Law, who was recently release from the Chiefs (and whom I also recently saw at the Celts-Cavs game, and from the looks of it I think he’s been enjoying those chicken fingers baskets they have at the Garden a little too much). We also look poised to re-sign Randy Moss, and from people I know who are “well connected”, apparently the only thing holding up the deal is a clause he wants in his contract that would make it mandatory that Willie Andrews and Kevin Faulk invite him to any and all concerts/parties/functions they attend while on the Patriots. We also hold San Fran’s pick in the draft (#7), and with a decent chance no difference makers will be left at line backer, I’m thinking that we trade the pick for a package of lower picks, and then let Belichick and Pioli work their magic. I’m also hoping that our offensive line takes up the Debbie and Roger Clemens work out regime so they don’t get tossed around like 4^th grade girls next year.

So what if our season ended worse than the season finale of The Sopranos, there is no question that when the odds come out the Pats will still be the favorites to win it all. While that may not be consolation for what happened a month ago, its still hope, and we and as we all know, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

As always, thanks for skimming, and if you actually read this entire rambling, well the least I can do is buy you a beer. Send us any thought/questions/comments you might have to TheSportsHub@gmail.com

Red Sox Preview: Part 1, The Infield

They're all down in Fort Myers and I'm officially 100% geared up for baseball season. I'm looking to do this in 3 parts. One part will be the Pitching Staff, one part will be the Outfield/DH/Bench/Minor Leaguers we'll potentially see, and this post will deal with the infield. As a head's up, I have really high expectations for the Sox this year, so the predictions might be a litttttllllleeeee too positive. Deal with it.

Let's get to it. We'll start off at first base and work our way around:

1B, Kevin Youkilis: Youk has shown without a doubt that he's one of the most valuable players on the Sox. He's officially a Gold Glove defender and plays a flawless first base. You can fully expect that to continue this year. He's an on-base machine. He's not what one would call "fast" or "speedy" but he runs the bases well and definitely is far from being a liability on the basepaths. And don't forget about that inside the park homer...he can move when he needs to.

He also has shown from time to time he can provide some pop. I expect the offensive numbers to rise a little in 2008. Basically as long as he doesn't shave the goatee I'm expecting a repeat of the Gold Glove along with 15-20 HR, 70-80 RBI, .300+ avg., .400+ OBP. If the goatee goes, I say we trade him.

2B, Dustin Pedroia: Pedroia started off slow last year to the point that everyone in New England was calling for Alex Cora to become the starter. Tito stuck with him and lo and behold, the Rookie of the Year Award came to Boston. Pedroia gained more and more confidence each and every time he set foot on the field. I see absolutely no reason why that will change this year.

In addition to his offense, Pedroia played a phenomenal second base in the field. He handles the position as well as anyone else in the league. I'm not sure his number will stay quite as high as last year, so I'll say we're looking at .305/.375 (more confidence=more free swinging and less walks)/10 -12 HR/40-45 2Bs/50-60 RBI/90+ runs. On top of that I give him 10 BU girl hook-ups, 3 from Northeastern, and a total of $2700 worth of alcohol given away to fans during the AL East Division Championship celebration at Game On!

SS, Julio Lugo: Lugo dealt with a lot more scrutiny than he deserved last year. His contract alone had Boston expecting too much out of him. Bottom line is Lugo is not a top of the line shortstop. He's a good defensive player with a decent bat and a tendency to strike out or hit into double plays to kill rallies. I'm still waiting for the official numbers but I'm 99% sure that Lugo, along with Tek and Crisp at the bottom of the order, accounted for more rally killing double plays than any tandem in the history of the sport at any level of competition. It became a forgone conclusion that with a runner on, and 1 out, the triple threat was guaranteed to end the inning immediately on a routine DP. Luckily, one member of the triple threat won't be playing in Boston this year (Crisp, we'll get to him in Part 2 or 3 depending on how I structure this).

My advice to all of Boston is to keep the expectations low for Lugo. If you pound it into your head that he's gonna give you a solid defensive effort along with .240/.300/10 HR/30 2B/ 35-40 SB, then everyone will be a lot happier. Besides, it's pretty rare that Boston has a legitimate threat to steal bases. In my lifetime I can only remember 1 year of Rickey Henderson, 1/2 year of Johnny Damon, 1 month of David Roberts (October 2004, DUH), and the 2007 season of Lugo as times when the Sox actually had a threat on the bases. As long as Lugo keeps the SBs and Runs up, I'm happy.

3B, Mike Lowell: Can this guy possibly do any more in Boston?? Let's think back...he was the throw-in piece for the Beckett deal and went on to put up great numbers. We all chalked it up us his last hurrah and he went on to win the World Series MVP and was undoubtedly the Sox MVP for 2007, and led to a "Re-Sign Lowell" chant after the last out of the World Series...IN COLORADO!! Is there any way in hell he can possibly do it again?

Well I'm not taking any chances. 2 years in a row and I expected him to fall off the Earth and put up awful numbers, and both years he's made me and everyone else look like an ass. So I'm taking one for the team here and sabotaging my own personal predictions for the good of Red Sox Nation.... .200 avg/.270 OBP/4 HR/ 30 RBI and in addition to that he makes more errors than Griecci made for the 1995 Bedford Blue Jays (Hint: GREECH MADE A LOT OF ERRORS THAT YEAR).

C, Jason Varitek/Doug Mirabelli: We all have to be honest and admit to ourselves that Tek's offensive outbursts are long gone. I'm not even gonna bother with numbers because Tek is not there to put up the numbers. He's there to lead the team on and off the field, bottom line. His job is to keep the pitchers on point, help the young arms develop, and keep everyone on the level in the clubhouse. As long as he does that, I have no problem with the low offensive numbers. I really do hope he can cut down on those rally-killing double plays though.

OK I'll humor myself and everyone else. Tek puts up .235/.310/12 HR/15 2B/ 60 RBI. It won't be anything too flashy, but with our lineup it'll get the job done.

And now on to the most important issue...Doug Mirabelli.

I had a conversation with a TSH Favorite, Felisa, of "Asian Chick Who Talks Sports" and it led to a perfect plan to save the Red Sox about $700,000. Drop Dougie and sign Danny Mac as Wakefield's Personal Catcher. Let's think about this. From what Mirabelli accomplishes, all you really need to do is:

- Hit .200 (I'll probably miss this mark, but hey, Mirabelli barely hits .200 so what's the difference).
- 3-5 HR (I'm going out on a limb and saying with the short porch in Fenway I can match this with a little luck and a few windy days. Also, I'm not signed yet so I could jump on the juice for a month and bulk up.)
- Catch the knuckle ball (when I used to pitch I threw a knuck...I think through experience I could pick this up quickly)
- Be fat and slow (DONE AND DONE)
- Get a police escort to the stadium (Dougie's was from Logan to Boston after a last minute trade. I'd prefer mine to happen for a Thursday afternoon game after I spent a night at McMurphy's with the Guitar Dudes.)

Bottom line...the Sox save $700,000 which they can use as some kinda extra cash for when we need to re-sign Manny in the offseason. Just give the extra $700,000 to Manny for Ritalin or something.

So that's the infield according to Danny Mac for ya.

Coming later this week/early next week (depending on when I'm motivated again) is Parts 2 and 3 which will cover the pitching staff and the outfield/DH/Bench/Pawtucket guys. Also, we'll be starting a petition through this site to get Theo's attention and get me signed on as Wakefield's Personal Catcher. Please show your support with the comment section and send along your good words to thesportshub@gmail.com

Welcome to 2008

I guess we forgot to tell all 5 of our readers that The Sports Hub actually takes the winter off just like MLB. We had our Winter Meetings, and Greech actually went down to the Dominican for TSH's version of Winter Ball...the blogging convention of Santo Domingo.

Since pitchers and catchers have reported, I guess it's time for us to restart the Hub. Since we last left you the Pats gave away a perfect season, the Mitchell Report came out, Clemens went to Congress, Sean attempted to give up texting, Johan Santana became a Met, and the Gauntlet came back to MTV. I guess I'll just throw together a random thoughts type of deal to catch up to the present:

-I'm over the Pats. I actually got over it about 2 days after the game when I realized pitchers and catchers were heading to Fort Myers. Bottom line is they choked away the perfect season. Plenty of chances to beat the Giants but they couldn't do it. I'm still not ready to live in a world where Eli Manning has a Super Bowl MVP, but I'm adapting day by day.

-The Mitchell Report came out and Jose Canseco wasn't happy with it. If you told me 10 years ago that Jose Canseco would be the man that exposed baseball's steroid problem, then complained about the investigation because it wasn't thorough enough, I just would have you-tubed the video of the homerun that bounced off his head and used that as Exhibit A as to why he's a moron. Now, I really don't know what to think of him. Someone replace John Kruk on Baseball Tonight with Canseco just to mix things up. OK I'm not sure where I was going with that; I guess I just hate Kruk and hope they fire him.

-Can someone find a way to get Harold Reynolds back in my everyday life during baseball season?

-Looks like Curt Schilling won't be available for a while and to tell you the truth I'm not even the least bit worried. Let's say we get him healthy by July. He's 10 times more valuable down the stretch than he is in April. Plus, we have plenty of arms to fill his role. Between Clay Buccholz and Julian Tavarez, I'm pretty sure we have 2 guys that are more than capable 5-starters.

-Everything I've read this winter says Manny Ramirez has been an absolute animal this winter with his workouts. A motivated Manny could be scary for the rest of baseball. If this guy comes into camp with an actual desire to play and keeps his concentration all year I think any stat line is possible. He could easily hit .400, 80 HR, 200 RBI. Of course, this is all assuming he doesn't get distracted by a beachball out in the bleachers because then all bets are off.

-Now onto more important things; The Gauntlet returned to MTV. Not sure who's watched it yet, but if Congress can investigate MLB they seriously need to start looking into a potential friendship between Brad, Danny, and Brian McNamee because those two had a more dramatic increase in size than anything that Barry Bonds ever did.

You're going to have to forgive me here. I'm already out of ideas. Let's just call this my first day of Spring Training. I'm working my way back into writer's shape. Give me a couple of weeks and I'll be back in shape and ready to go.

I'll have to work on some preseason predictions that we can look back at in October and say "wow, wtf was Danny thinking??"

So welcome back to the Hub. 2008 is the year we take off, guaranteed. As soon as Greech gets casted on Real World and stars in the next Inferno, we have a plan to expose the Challenges as Performance Enhancing Drug havens. Plus, I really think he could hook up with the smoking hot Asian girl Jamie...

Until next time, feel free to hit us up at thesportshub@gmail.com

If the Sox Win, Free Furniture For All!!

Things are good right now, very good. The Sox are once again back in the (ONE and ONLY) Fall Classic, and as far as I’ve heard there was not one single arrest, injury, assault, or near paralization (not a real word) due to jumping off a building at UMass after game seven of the LCS.

Before Sunday night was officially done and over everyone was shying away from coming out and saying it, but going into game seven you just had that feeling there was no way the Sox were losing this game. I wrote about it a few weeks ago, about the swagger the Sox had, the not-so-quite confidence they exuded as a team. They had it after they won the East, had it after they handily swept the Angles in three, had it after game one against the Indians, (sorta lost it there for three games against the Indians) and they definitely had it going into game seven of the LCS. You knew a few things going into that seventh game; 1) You knew Diasuke was getting pulled at the first sign of a trouble 2) You knew that our bullpen would be called upon to hold down the fort (related to #1, but still this was big) 3. You knew that guys other than Ortiz and Manny were going to have to come up big if we were going to win and 4) and you knew that Danny Mac was going to write a Running Simmons…errr I mean a Running Diary of the game. For the most part, things happened as planned, and the Sox did what they were supposed to do, they beat the Indians and got back to the World Series.

Speaking of the World Series….I’ve been babbling for 300 something words and have yet to even mention our opponents. That would be the Rockies of Colorado, and I haven’t mentioned them mostly because before last Sunday I could only name four, maybe five of them. This is sad considering I went to a game against Colorado this past June at Fenway, and as far as I remember I was relatively sober. That June series by the way, when the Rockies took two out of three, means NOTHING in this series. Do you think that Beckett will be thinking about his June loss to the Rockies tonight? The guy lives for reasons to get pumped up, after his smoking hot ex girlfriend sang the national anthem at the LCS he went out and destroyed the Indians. Just like our buddy B-rock seems to rise to the occasion and do something to blow us away every time we visit Amherst, Beckett rises to whatever the occasion calls. As good as Beckett has been this post season, the Rockies still have a solid line up (or so I’ve been hearing lately). During a recent conversation with my boy Leps we talked about the hitters on the Rockies, from what I remember he was pretty worried about the power hitters of Colorada, namely Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla and Larry Walker. I actually think he might have said something about Helton and Holliday, two slugger at different phases of their careers, but both equally capable of doing some serious damage in this series. Really though, without naming a bunch of names you won’t recognize and I can’t spell, let me just say the Sox have the edge in every possible heads up match up I can think of. From hitting to pitching, to team announcers, team mascots (Kevin Millar for Boston), to Ballparks and Cities, the Boston Red Sox have the edge. You can’t win on just edges, though, you need some luck, a few breaks, and big plays from the guys you least expect (witness grand slam: JD Drew).

I still like the Sox to win it in 6. I’m also taking the easy road and saying that Beckett wins two games and wins the MVP. I also have a feeling that behind Lowell, Ortiz, and Youk, JD DREW is going to come up big at one point or another in this series. So those are my picks, and real quick, here are Danny’s: Sox in Three, Trot Nixon as MVP (honorable mention goes to Kevin Millar)