Meaningless observations from the Celtics "practice" last night

Last night I used my LucidSportsFan media credentials to get an inside glimpse at a Celtics practice.  Ok, not really, it's something they give to season ticket holders every year.  Except this year it wasn't a practice at all.  It was basically a preseason game that was only two quarters long, and they played against themselves.  Someone sang the national anthem, there were real referees, dancers during timeouts, t-shirts thrown into the crowd, and a stupid contest for kids on the floor at halftime.

Basketball-wise, I don't think you can really take anything from this, although the two rookies out of Purdue (JaJuan Johnson and E'Twuan Moore) both looked good.  And so did Brandon Bass, the guy they just traded "Big Baby" Davis for.  Bass looks like he has similar skills as Davis, but is clearly more athletic (to put it nicely).

One other sad/disappointing note, Boston announced today that Jeff Green will miss the season due to an aortic aneurysm, for which he will have surgery January 9th.

Do you know who this is?

This picture is from the cover of the most recent Maxim magazine.  Now here's a quick tangent to help build the suspense: Maxim still exists?  I think the last time I read it was when I was in college 12 years ago.  When it first came out it was awesome, but I rememeber thinking after around the 5th issue that they had already run out of interesting topics.  Although to be fair, I'm of the opinion that ALL magazines are obsolete.

Anyway, moving on, that's Jwoww from Jersey Shore in the picture above.  Really?  Is that what she looks like?  There's got to be a LOT of photoshopping going on there, right?  I would never in a million years have guessed who that was.  But maybe that's just me.  Vote in the poll on the right as to whether I'm making sense or have no idea what I'm talking about.

Julian Edelman won't be going to jail, charges dropped

Patriots' wide receiver/kick returner/new defensive back Julian Edelman was arrested (mug shot on the right) back on November 1st and charged with "indecent assault and battery" for allegedly groping a women during a Halloween party at Storyville night club (the place that used to be called Saint but is now something else even though it is exactly the same) on Exeter St. in the Back Bay.  Today the charges were dropped, and the Suffolk County DA's office issued this statement:

 "the Commonwealth has concluded that it would not be able to meet its burden at trial of proving each of the elements of indecent assault and battery beyond a reasonable doubt."


So maybe he did it and there just weren't any witnesses.  Maybe he didn't and the women was just trying to capitalize on his fame (although that seems unlikely, I mean it's Julian Edelman, not Tom Brady).  My guess is there was probably a lot of alcohol consumed by both parties, he did something inappropriate, and when she realized who he was it became a big deal.  I guess we'll never know for sure, but the guy who in recent weeks may have become the best DB New England has will keep playing football.  Hopefully my mom won't be offended by this.

Red Sox trade for some guy I've never heard of to replace Pabelbon

I'll start with a disclaimer: he hasn't actually been named the closer, but with the Sox recent announcement that they'll try to make Daniel Bard a starter next year, for the moment this new guy is the leading candidate.  His name is Mark Melancon, and apparently last year he was the closer for Houston.  To get him Boston had to give up Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland (a prospect who made a few spot starts last season).

I don't like this trade for a number of reasons, but they all center around Melancon just not being very good.  I know Lowrie was never able to stay healthy, but I like him and he was really starting to hit last August when he managed to play everyday.  Melancon blew 20% of his save opportunities last year (20 for 25), and he's been a major league closer for only one moderately successful season.  ANYONE can have one decent year as a closer.  As a general principle I think it's a really bad idea to give up anything for relief pitchers.  For all we know Weiland could have been just as good as the closer or set up man as Melancon; and then Lowrie would still be around too.

Also, Melancon is a terrible name.

Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Blame it on the Rain" by Milli Vanilli

I've decided that it's a good idea to start having some blogs/features that I do consistently and repetitively.  So far I've got the Tebometer (and occasionally Recycle Sundays) that seems to be working pretty well, so now I'm going to try one that's non-sports related.  For now it's going to be called "Awesome Old Song of the Week."  And kicking it off is Milli Vanilli's Blame it on the Rain:

These guys will always be remembered for not actually being the guys who sang their songs.  And because of that they're a joke.  But before that scandal hit, back in 1989, they were freaking huge.  They won a Grammy in 1990, and their album "Girl You Know it's True" had 5 major Billboard Top 40 hits.  I always liked them in part because of their "MV" logo and initials which were the same as mine.

The continued unexplainable success of Tebow and the Broncos could be detrimental to society

First the simple stuff: Tim Tebow went 21-40 yesterday, lifting his career completion rate to 48.9%.  My thoughts on Denver's latest ridiculous comeback win are exactly (everything I wrote last week) x 10.  I can't wait to see what happens when they play New England next Sunday.

Ok, now here's the controversial part: I think the fact that Tim Tebow and the Broncos continue to win games they shouldn't is potentially harmful to humanity.  Tebow is an Evangelical Christian who is not hesitant to share his beliefs, to the point that he ran a pro-life TV commercial during the Superbowl last year.  My take on religion is that everyone has the right to believe whatever they want, but it's dangerous and closed-minded to try to impose what you think on others.  To some people with similar beliefs as his own, Tebow's irrational success at winning football games enforces the notion that they are right and everyone else is wrong.  Isn't the world a better place when people are open minded and accepting of the differences of others?  But the appearance to some that the Denver Broncos victories may be aided by Tebow's religion encourages the faith of many who think otherwise.



If you adamantly disagree with what I am saying, before you freak out take a step back, reread the line in italics, and try to see the situation from a different point of view.  And also keep in mind that this is just one of many whimsical, antagonistic, lighthearted, and hopefully amusing ideas that cross my mind and make it onto this blog.

There's more to this blog than just the blog

I know this is the same thing as a post I wrote back in August, but I've decided it's a message worth repeating: there is good LucidSportsFan stuff that doesn't make it here to the actual blog.  And to read it you have to follow me on twitter, or "Like" the fan page on facebook.  It's REALLY easy to do.  There's buttons all over the place.  If you'd already done either of those you'd know what I think of the new Rob Schneider sitcom that CBS has been promoting all day.  Or that I got really annoyed by everyone who though Tom Brady was getting special treatment on a bad roughing the passer call, when just a few minutes earlier there was an equally terrible call protecting the other team's quarterback.

Not being a twitter follower is somewhat acceptable because I've come to the conclusion that most people just aren't on it.  But not being a facebook liker is inexcusable.  I know there are lots of "non-likers" who read this regularly; because you have told me to my face that you do.  To me that's the same thing as walking into a bank and taking a free lollipop even if you don't have an account there.  Except that I'm not a bank, I'm just a meager bartender trying to do something more inspiring.