Budweiser flag containers: Take 2

Last year before Memorial Day Budweiser released a special American Flag can.  I loved it.  This year Bud is giving us the flag bottle.  I like it, but it's not quite as good; although I guess sequels rarely are.  For one, they are producing all of their bottles in this design for the summer, whereas last year the cans were a bit of a novelty.  Also there's something about the brown bottle that makes it not as cool looking as the all red, white, and blue can.  And in general bottles just aren't as fun at the beach as cans are, so I'm glad they're making those in this style again too.  The bottles do have a variety of different caps though, that's definitely a plus.

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The Avery Bradley injury is devastating

At the beginning of the Heat/Pacers series I said that the Chris Bosh injury shouldn't make a difference for Miami.  I'd never before wanted so badly to be wrong about something I had written.  In my life as a sports fan, this Lebron Heat team is the one I've rooted against more than any other; see exhibits A, B, and C (wow, looking back there are many others I could have chosen as well, I should probably add an "anti-Lebron" category to my post listings).  In fact, I kind of wrote that Bosh blog hoping for a reverse jinx of sorts.  But after a minor hiccup, Miami easily knocked off Indiana.

And now we have learned that Avery Bradley is done for the season.  A few months ago I never would've believed I write this, but the Bradley injury for the Celtics is much more significant than the Bosh injury for the Heat.  Bradley adds an aspect of speed and quickness that Boston doesn't have anywhere else.  With him and Rondo on the court together the C's have the ability to run up and down the floor in the same manner that the Heat do with Lebron and Wade.  Without Bradley Boston's offense becomes slow and one dimensional.  And I haven't even yet mentioned Avery's biggest asset, his tenacious on the ball defense that slows down opponents offenses while frustrating and wearing down their ball handlers.  With him in the lineup I thought this year's Celtics had a chance to beat anybody; without him I think we'll have to be happy to get past Philly.  Case in point: Boston was 26-12 this season when Bradley started, 20-20 when he did not.

Looking back at the Big 3 era I'll always wonder what could have been.  In 2009 the KG injury ended Boston's likely run to repeat championships.  The following year Perk's ACL tear may have been what turned the tide in Game 7 of the Finals in L.A.  Last season the C's looked like they had a chance against the Heat, until Rondo's elbow bent the wrong way and he had to play the rest of the series with one arm.  And now this year Bradley's bad shoulder may have cost these Celtics a chance at making one final run together.
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Where you do NOT want to be driving at midnight on a Tuesday

I think I have discovered the most dangerous place in the world, and it's right in front of where I work.  Last winter I wrote a blog about two car accidents I'd seen directly outside my bar, at the corner of Berkeley and St. James in Boston.  In the last few weeks I have seen two more; a total of four in the past six months.

But here's what's really weird: All four of them happened on a Tuesday night, and each time they occurred right around midnight.  Now I know there is some logic to it.  There's a traffic light in the intersection that switches to a blinker late at night, and people tend to blow right through it.  And Tuesday night has been the one day of the week that I close the bar most frequently, so it's not completely random.  But still, it's a little creepy.

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Red Sox resurrect Scott Podsednik?!

I saw his name in the box score last night, and I had to double check to make sure it wasn't a mistake.  Apparently Boston signed him to a minor league deal a couple weeks ago.  Has hasn't played Major League ball in a year and a half.  And then somehow this afternoon, the guy who was a fantasy superstar for me in 2005 without even hitting a single home run the entire season, goes yard in his first start for the Sox.  Crazy.  You can read more about that, and Matt Albers' 11 inning no hitter vs. Baltimore in my Red Sox/Orioles series recap at clnsradio.com.

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The magnificent return of Greg Stiemsma

By now everybody has heard about Brandon Bass' playoff career high 27 points in the Celtics Game 5 win over the Sixers on Monday night.  Boston took control with suffocating defense over a 14 minute stretch in the 3rd and 4th quarters, in which they held Philly to just 4 made baskets (including a 5 minute span without a single point), and outscored them 32-11.  Bass was instrumental during the run, outscoring the Sixers all by himself in the 3rd quarter, 18-16.

But Bass wasn't the only Celtic to put up some surprising numbers.  In the previous game Greg Stiemsma had registered his first DNP in almost two months.  For the series he'd played just 24 minutes and scored only 2 points, losing most of his time to Ryan Hollins.

I decided to wear my Stiemsma shirt to the Garden on Monday night; I'm not sure why, I guess I just had a feeling he was due to make something happen.  After entering the game for Garnett halfway through the first quarter, he promptly made two layups, a dunk, and a jumpshot in less than four minutes.  And with 1:42 to go in the period, Stiemsma was suddenly the game's leading scorer with 8 points.  He would finish 5-5 from the field, with 10 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 14 minutes, easily the biggest contributor off the bench on a night when the C's were playing shorthanded without Avery Bradley.

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First Vineyard weekend of the season

Here's a couple pics:

Vineyard Haven harbor

South Beach, Edgartown

If you'd like to read something today, you have to go to clnsradio.com for my Red Sox/Orioles preview.  I've got a stat that suggests the last place Sox are actually better than the 1st place O's, and hopefully Adrian Gonzalez won't have to play any more outfield...

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Awesome Old Song of the Week: "The Promise of a New Day" by Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul's second album, Spellbound, was most well known for the song Rush Rush.  That video featured Keanu Reeves still sporting his "Bill and Ted" haircut, and cars driving off a cliff in an awesome 1950's game of chicken.  But if you ask me, The Promise of a New Day was a way cooler song.  The video stirred up some controversy in 1991 because it was squished together a little bit during editing, making Paula look taller and thinner than she really was; kind of like the episode of Seinfeld where the store tricks Elaine into buying a dress with "skinny mirrors."  Fortunately I was able to look past that and still enjoy it.  The waterfall seen in particular was pretty entertaining for 14 year old me.

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