What do you think of the Celtics "motto"/marketing campaign this year?

Here's the free t-shirt they gave out last night at the home opener:

And here's the ticket sales commercial they are running right now:

I like the concept.  I like the message they are going for. but I think they really missed by emphasizing "Causeway Street."  Is that actually something that embodies what it means to be a Celtic?  Does anyone know what streets the Lakers or Heat play on?  I can't even think of the name of the arena Miami plays in off the top of my head (I had to look it up: American Airlines Arena).  The marketing/PR people definitely over thought this one.  They should have gone simple: "I am Boston, I am a Celtic."  At least then I'd be a lot more likely to wear that t-shirt.

Moving on, my thoughts on last night's game: Boston never seemed to play particularly well, but they still put the game away in the 3rd quarter (outscoring Detroit 36-21), and ALL 5 starters played less than 30 minutes; that is very encouraging.

A couple statistical oddities of note: the Pistons scored 22 points in the 1st quarter, then 21 exactly in each of the next 3.  Detroit also shot a very impressive 14-15 from the foul line, but Boston was a perfect 19-19.  It's not everyday that you see NBA players make 33-34 free throws.

Sweet cast in Puffy's new Ciroc Vodka ad

First of all, the bartender in me has to mention that Ciroc is made from grapes.  It's not grape flavored (like Jim Beam's Pucker Vodka for kids), but because it's made from grapes the gluten-free people can drink it without worry.  Now on to the cast of the commercial:

The less interesting ones I notice are obviously Puffy himself, and the white haired guy from Goodfellas.  But after that it gets a lot cooler.  There's Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad.  Lucas Scott from One Tree Hill (I have no problem admitting that when I lived in Austin, Texas in the winter of 2003-'04 and I had no job and no cable TV, One Tree Hill was my favorite show on television.  That and 5th Wheel/Elimidate, but that's another blog for another day).  Omar from The Wire (or Chalky White from Boardwalk Empire for HBO newbies).  And best of all, Turtle's girlfriend from Entourage, who on the show did ads for Avion Tequila (whoa, that's like inception type stuff); which is real, by the way.  Here's a bottle of it in front of a sunset on the Vineyard last summer:

We also carry it in the restaurant that I work at; a little more bartender stuff to bring this blog full circle.

The Bruins are crazy good right now

The Boston Bruins are an insanely good hockey team at the moment.  In their last 24 games they are 21-2-1. They've only given up 64 goals for the season, the fewest in the NHL and 12 ahead of the next best 78 allowed by the Rangers.  Amazingly the Bruins have also scored the most goals per game of any team in the league (their 121 goals are just behind Chicago's 122 and Vancouver's 123, but both those teams have played 3 more games than Boston).  That puts their goal differential at +57 through 34 games, 20 more than Detriot's 2nd highest +37.  And since their 3-7 start, Boston is a totally absurd +62 over the last 24 games.  Twice recently they played other division leaders in the Eastern Conference; a 6-0 pounding of Philly on 12/17 and an 8-0 drubbing of Florida last Friday (not to mention how badly they have embarrassed the Northeast's 2nd place Maple Leafs so far this season).

How about a few individual stats?  Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand are tied for the league lead in +/- at 25, and half of the overall top ten are Bruins (Chris Kelly 6th at +21, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara tied for 7th at +20).  And the goalies?  Starter Tim Thomas is 2nd in the league in save percentage at .943.  Backup Tuukka Rask is 1st at .945.

It all adds up to a level of utter dominance rarely seen in professional sports.

I feel bad for the Cincinnati Bengals, but I'm also kinda jealous

The other day at work I saw this headline across the bottom line on ESPN: "Bengals encouraging fans to come to Sunday's game vs Ravens by offering deals on tickets."  Um, how about telling "fans" if you win you make the playoffs?!  Last week Cincinnati's stadium was about 2/3 full (check out the pic on the right) for the Bengal's victory over Arizona.  So for the season finale the Bengals are offering a "buy one get one free promotion" in an attempt to fill their empty seats.  Poor poor Bengals.  It's the last game of the year vs a powerhouse division rival with the playoffs on the line.  That's as good as it gets.  And they can't sell tickets.  Wow.

Man are we spoiled here in Boston.  I can't possibly envision a scenario where any of the 4 major teams would ever have a problem selling out a game in that situation.  I've often thought it would be a lot of fun to be a huge sports fan in a crappy sports town.  Yeah your teams may suck most of the time, but you can always go to any game you want at a moment's notice without having to pay much.  In 2003 I bought an opening day ticket in Tampa (against the Sox) a few rows behind 3rd base for $12.  Imagine doing that here?

Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Unbelievable" by EMF

This song was huge in the summer of 1991.  Some things I learned from Wikipedia just now: these guys were British, and Unbelievable was big in England the year before. Also, it samples Andrew Dice Clay saying "Ohhh!" and "you're unbelievable."  Weird.

Back when I was 14, the first couple times I saw this video I though the lead singer was wearing a Celtics hat, and I was really excited.  But then I realized later on it says "Oakland Athletics."

Tebometer Monday: I told you so!

On the Eve of the birth of Jesus, the Broncos "quarterback" completed 13 of 30 passes, lowering his career rate to 48.5%.  I spent all last week telling anybody who would listen that the Bills were going to beat Denver (they crushed them 40-14), and that the Broncos string of ridiculously good luck had run out.  After their loss to New England the week before, I suggested that Tebow's best days as an NFL quarterback might already be behind him.  Nothing that happened on the day before Christmas should make anybody think otherwise.  The ONE thing that Tebow had done consistently well this season was not turn the ball over.  But on Christmas Eve he threw 4 interceptions, including 2 for touchdowns; on back to back plays.  The Broncos will still be the AFC West champions if they beat Kansas City next Sunday (or if the Raiders lose to the Chargers), but even if they do make the playoffs I think they are a team to be taken lightly.

And for anybody who hasn't figured this out already, I'm trying to point out the humor in the fact that Tebow loves Jesus, but had a terrible game for Christmas.

What do I get for Christmas every year?

Legos.  For the past 30 years (and maybe longer) my mom has given me Legos for Christmas.  I do get other things too, but there's always Legos.

Real blogging returns tomorrow.