Boston Sports Memes From BTownSports

We know Wednesdays can be iffy, so to get you over the hump, here are some Boston sports memes from your buddies at BTownSports:

BTownSports Post-combine Mock Draft

By Rick Valente

The annual NFL Scouting Combine has come and gone, so it’s time for an updated mock draft. The biggest winner was the St. Louis Rams because there is no way there won’t be multiple teams offering an arm and a leg for a chance to get Robert Griffin at the #2 spot. A quarterback at that slot is slated to get around $22 million over four years with the new rookie pay scale, which only increases the value of the pick. Grabbing two first-round picks and then some will really add some talent to the Rams, who really stand to have the most to gain on draft weekend. There have also naturally been some post-combine risers and fallers, some of whom crept into this mock, some of whom have fallen out.

Out: Kendall Wright, Mohamed Sanu, Jerel Worthy, Lamar Miller, Alshon Jeffrey, Dwayne Allen

In: Ryan Tannehill, Stephen Gilmore, Dontari Poe, Dont’a Hightower, Stephen Hill, Zach Brown

Here’s how I see it shaking out:

The End of an Era: Time to Blow Up the Big Three

 

by Dave Walsh

The Celtics’ record currently stands at 15-17, which leaves them as the 8^th seed in a top-heavy Eastern conference. And as the March 15^th NBA trade deadline looms, Celtics GM Danny Ainge is left with a difficult decision: Let the Big Three make another run at a title or “blow up” the team and begin building for the future.

The C’s have badly stumbled to the All-Star break, losing 7 of their last 8 games, which include very disappointing performances against lowly teams like the Raptors and the Pistons. With the résumé that the Celtics have built in the first half of the season, it’s clear that this team cannot win a championship with the pieces that they have and it doesn’t look like they’re a “one or two pieces away” type of team.

Moose's Trade Deadline Thoughts

by Eric Ahearn

If I had to give the Bruins an overall grade I would give them a solid B. Granted, if they traded for Rick Nash while giving up top prospect Dougie Hamilton and Tuukka Rask, I would have given them an F. I stick by my original thoughts in that I only wanted the Bruins to make minor moves to secure depth. I wanted players such as Selanne and Whitney, but they stayed put because of their team’s recent success.

Five-Spot: Tweets From the Boston Sports Twittersphere

by Rick Valente

Every Saturday, we are going to be running a "Five-Spot", a list of five things pertaining to the world of Boston sports. I am doing it this week, but it is something that will be passed around from week to week like its a "guidette" from the Jersey Shore. This week's, as you can see, is five tweets related to the Boston sports world in some way or another. There were some pretty notable giveaways from a couple of current Boston athletes as well as a former superstar who may have eaten a few too many special brownies on his trip through Mexico. See them all after the jump!

Monday

@Dane_Fletcher: If I had a little fun with everybody and had a contest to win some free Nike shoes, who would be in? #mustbeover18

To start off the week, Patriots' breakout linebacker Dane Fletcher decided to start a 12-day challenge to his followers for some free Nike's. Apparently unemployment is still alive in kicking if these people have enough time to do this stuff during the week for a pair of shoes. We've got to give it to Dane though, some of the challenges are pretty funny. Here are the challenges for days 1-4.

- Handcuff a real police officer on the hood of his cop car, dressed as burglar.

- "Spiderman Smooch": kiss someone while hanging upside down on a pole.

- Lick another man's milk mustache.

- Take a pic dressed in full camo, army crawling through an indoor mall.

NHL Trade Deadline: Thoughts Thus Far

by Eric Ahearn

???: What the hell is going on in Los Angeles? They move a good young defenseman, in Jack Johnson, and a conditional 1^st round pick for Jeff Carter. I could not be more puzzled. Apparently the brass in LA is not too high on Jack Johnson which I am a little surprised at. Many say that the 25-year-old defenseman is not real solid in his own zone while others see him as a quality individual. The person that comes to mind when looking for a comparison is a Mark Stuart. Stuart was a Bruin at the start of last year and was a high character guy. Johnson is not as good defensively but is much, much better offensively. My guess is the main reason he was included was to relieve some cap space for the overpaid Jeff Carter. The LA Kings had to make a change offensively but they grossly overpaid. Let’s not forget that Johnson played for Team USA in the last Olympics! If I were in the Kings’ situation, I would have offered Jack Johnson straight up…or maybe the pick straight up. Not sure what’s going on out west.

Red Sox: A Long Way From Great Expectations

by Rick Valente

In a city like Boston, the start of spring training doesn't just resemble the beginning of the baseball season; it resembles the light at the end of the tunnel. Once the famous (or infamous) truck leaves for Fort Myers, Bostonians know it won't be too long before they can put their ice scrapers away, give their backs a rest from all of the shoveling, and maybe even go outside without a winter jacket fit for climbing large mountains. The walk from the car to the grocery store gets a little less treacherous, and you can actually see the sun for an hour or so after you get out of your nine-to-five. Remember last year? With the additions of Adrian Gonazlez and Carl Crawford surely making the 2011 Red Sox the "Greatest Red Sox Team Ever", and snow falling more fiercely than the stock market on Black Monday, saying Boston was giddy for spring training would have been like saying Tim Thomas' political stance "leans a little to the right."

"Where's the Revolution!?" An Off-Season Review

By John Prance

Putting it mildly, the New England Revolution’s last season was simply not good enough. The Revs managed victory in five games, worst in Major League Soccer. After such a dismal season, it was not a surprise to see major changes. Head coach Steve Nicol, who had been in charge of the team for ten years, was fired in October. In came new head coach, Jay Heaps, and talk of very different strategies on and off the field. 

On the surface, making changes to a team that was atrocious seems like a good thing. Unfortunately, there is one major problem: they made all the wrong changes. The Revolution is just like an unfaithful significant other. They act like they are sorry, apologize, and swear they will change their ways.  Then, as soon as you want to believe them, they go ahead and do the same dumb things, coming home reeking of booze and cheap perfume, forgetting your birthday, failing to acquire a decent striker. Sure, they brought in a new head coach. However, Jay Heaps is the epitome of inexperience, not being able to put a single iota of professional coaching experience (Assitant or Head Coaching) on his résumé. Last season he was the color commentator for The Revolution. It is the equivalent of Tommy Heinsohn becoming the next Celtics coach, or Gil Santos succeeding Bill Belichick.

BTownSports Pre-combine Mock Draft

   

By Rick Valente

The NFL Draft is only two months away, and what better way to forget about the heartbreaking past than to look at the promising future? Cleveland, Cincinnati, and New England all have two selections in the first round and New Orleans, Atlanta and Oakland have none. I'm not going to speculate on trades this time around because it is way too early to do such a thing. Sure, Washington might trade up to the #2 spot to get RG3, but they also might sign Matt Moore in March (which they should do, but they won't, because they're the Redskins). I also decided to not dive into trades because if I did, the Patriots wouldn't be included in this piece since they are most likely going to package their two first rounders for a first round pick in 2015 and four third rounders. For one final note before we get started, success in the NFL is very closely tied to your success in drafting. This is very bad news for Oakland Raider fans who have to wait until the 13th pick in the FIFTH round to see their team make their first selection. They will then proceed to use their drafting savvy and scouting prowess to draft the fastest player on the board. Okay, enough with the small talk, let's get down to brass tax with the first 32 picks of this April's NFL Draft.

1. Indianapolis Colts
Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
Andrew Luck would have been the 1st pick of the draft last year, and he did nothing this year to change his status as the best player coming out of college. It will be interesting to see how the Peyton Manning situation shakes out in Indy, but if the Colts cut ties with the best player in their franchise's history, there will be significant salary cap room and a deep free agent class to build around their quarterback of the present and future.
On a side note, Luck's decision to return to Stanford last year had far more of an impact on this year's NFL than you might initially think. If Luck was available in last years draft, Cam Newton would have fallen to the Broncos at the #2 spot. That means Tebowmania, the biggest story in the NFL this year, either would never have happened, or would have happened somewhere other than Denver.

Tim Wakefield: The Road Less Traveled

"There are two theories to hitting a knuckleball. Unfortunately, neither of them works"

                                                  - Charley Lau

By Rick Valente
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry he could not travel both, Tim Wakefield barreled through thick brush and piercing thorns to create his own path. At the time he was a 23 year-old minor league first baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had just finished the season batting .189 with 3 HR and 20 RBI in 159 plate appearances. Tim's hopes of making it to the major leagues seemed as likely as getting a sun burn in a bomb shelter. Tim knew it and the scouts who watched him knew it too. At that point most people would see two possible options for their career: either quit baseball, and try something new, or stick out the long bus rides and longer weeks on the road in the minors. That is, as long as the Pirates organization would keep a first baseman who batted under .200. Thankfully for the Red Sox, Tim Wakefield is not most people.

Panic Level: Midnight

By Eric “Moose” Ahearn

The Boston Bruins find themselves in a very unusual position. Currently in second place in the Eastern Conference with 72 points (9 behind NYR), the B’s seem comfortable in the standings. With no real competition in the Northeast, the Bruins will be able to coast to a top three standing when all is said and done this season. Further, the Southeast looks to be as terrible as the AFC West in football, so barring some crazy push from Ottawa or Toronto, and a dip in the Bruins performance, the B’s will be fine in securing a top two spot in the conference. Despite that bit of good news, the Bruins are without top players in Rich Peverley and Nathan Horton.

Injuries:

Rich Peverley is the type of player many fans around the league may not know much about, but any B’s fan knows what he brings to the table. The time table that the team has placed on him is 4-6 weeks with an apparent knee injury, and I would like to believe that report, but I feel this is not the only injury that he is dealing with and he could be out longer. In late December the center/winger was forced to miss practice time. Before missing out on the past two games, Pevs had missed 6 previous games during the year due to undisclosed injuries. Timing could also not be worse as the next 4-6 weeks comes during a time where the Bruins play a swamped schedule. After 4-6 weeks, one cannot expect Peverley to be back to full speed either. His value to the Bruins will be limited this regular season, with the hopes he will be 100% for the playoff run.