Please Take Me Anywhere But Here..

The New York Yankees clinched their postseason berth today at Yankee Stadium after competing a weekend sweep of the Boston Red Sox.

So while both teams have essentially wrapped up their places in the playoffs (the Red Sox's magic number is 3), the Yankees officially won the AL East for the first time since 2006.

For some reason, that fact surprises me. For all the money George Steinbrenner has spent into building his team, I can't believe the Yanks didn't finish on top of the division more often the last few years. That's not even a cheap shot at the man, he loves his team and wants them to win.. I can respect that.

Unfortunately, a mix of school and Iowa football among other things have left me ample time to actually pay attention to this weekend's series. But as a Red Sox fan, I still hate the Yankees. I hate seeing them celebrate and I hate even more that it came at the hands of my beloved BoSox getting swept. The Red Sox were beaten and battered this weekend and what do they have to show for it?

While the Yankees celebrated, the Red Sox shrugged. Players in every corner of the visiting clubhouse uniformly shared a three-point mantra: The Yankees won. Good for them. Wait for the playoffs.

"I think they have the best team in the American League East," closer Jonathan Papelbon said. "Sure. Facts are facts. I think there's a little sense of pride in trying to win the division every year. But realistically, the point is getting in and getting hot."

"As of right now, obviously they're the better team," leftfielder Jason Bay said. "Once the postseason starts, everything else is kind of thrown out the window."

Didn’t it sting just a little watching the Yankees celebrate?

"I don't care," Kevin Youkilis said. "I want to get into the playoffs. Once we get there, it's a whole other game." -- The Boston Globe

Uhhh, okay. What the hell is that? Does this team even WANT to make the playoffs? Perhaps winning two World Series championships in a six year span may be tiring but I just can't comprehend how a team could seem to care less that their biggest rivals just clinched the division title (at their expense no less).

I don't know about anyone else but I'm having some serious concerns with how the Red Sox are going to fare this postseason. I'm almost positive the road to the World Series will go through Yankees and I'm not sure Boston can handle that. Optimistic? Not quite. Honest? You betchya. I guess lately I've been getting the vibe the Sox don't even believe in themselves. After starting the season 8-0 against the Yankees, things evened up fast as both teams split the 18-game series, 9-9 by winning nine of the last 11.

Who knows, maybe if/when they finally clinch the AL wild card, they'll show some passion they've been seriously missing the last couple of months.

Photo from www.bostondirtdogs.com

Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want...

It took a little while for the news to sink in: Phil Kessel, the newest member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Bruins unloaded their former first round pick to their division rivals for two first-round picks and a second rounder. Toronto ended up signing the 21-year-old winger to a 5-year, $27 million contract -- definitely not the price range the B's were looking at.


Scoping out The Boston Globe, ESPN, and TSN.ca I've seen a lot of different perspectives and opinions on the deal. Some are saying the B's got the shorter end of the stick because they didn't get an actual player in return for their leading goal-scorer while others believe given the situation, Boston did all it could and didn't come out so badly.

Before I get to my opinion on this whole thing, let me say that sometimes I wonder if I'm the right person to discuss trade talks with.

I tend to get more attached to players than most other normally sane sports fans. I don't handle change very well and I hate seeing players leave Boston -- even if it isn't on a good note. With that said, I have mixed feelings. Any time your favorite team trades a player who's only 21, who shows so much potential, who could be the answer to your championship prayers -- it's hard to accept. Especially when you only get draft picks in return. It's a very "Really? THAT'S ALL? Well, what the hell?" type of moment.

On the other hand, Kessel didn't want to be a Bruin. Well, at least not enough to take a pay cut. When an athlete believes their worth is higher than what a team is willing to pay, something's bound to give. And it did. I guess the only thing left to hope for is that Kessel doesn't turn out to be some franchise player who goes on to light up Boston for future years to come. To be honest, there's no way of knowing. He may have scored 36 goals last season (66 in his career) but is he still the same player without Marc Savard (who had 63 assists last season) on his line?

The worst thing about this trade is hearing it compared to departure of former No. 1 overall pick, Joe Thornton.

He was supposed to be answer for the Bruins, the one player who was supposed to spend his entire career in black and gold, the one who would help bring back Lord Stanley's Cup. Five years ago, when he was traded -- it was stunning but I can't say that it was all that surprising. No matter how good a player is, sometimes he just isn't the right guy. Thornton wasn't and I have a feeling Kessel isn't either.

So while Thornton has gone on to have a pretty success career with the San Jose Sharks (who still have also not won a Cup, might I add), the B's steadily began to rebuild their team. But the future arrived a lot quicker than most people thought it would. In five years, the B's went from a team that missed the playoffs for two season to sneaking into the playoffs as a No. 8 seed to finishing on top of the Eastern Conference last season.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that the world didn't end with Thornton leaving and it won't end with Kessel either. If neither player was happy in Boston, if they didn't fit into the bigger plan, then so be it. The Bruins have already proven they can survive giving up a "franchise player" in hopes of rebuilding for the future. But the best part often seems to be, the future almost always arrives much sooner than expected.

*Photo from The Boston Globe and The Calgary Herald

Breaking News: Kessel to Toronto

Well, TSN's Darren Dreger is reporting that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins have reached an agreement that will send the 21-year-old Phil Kessel up north to become a Maple Leaf.

Read the full story here.

Once more details come out about the trade, I'll be sure to post my analysis of what went down and how things are looking for the B's.

G-l-a-m-o-u-r-o-u-s

As if I didn't need anymore reason to get excited for the start of the hockey season, the Boston Bruins debuted their Winter Classic jerseys this week.


As (my future husband) B's center Patrice Bergeron models, much like in other Winter Classics of the past, the look of the jersey is more vintage. I actually happen to like this look. I think the gold is a good look however I probably would have preferred the dominant color of the jersey to be black. One of the more popular looks for the B's is their new third jersey. It would have been cool to see something like that mixed in with a vintage flare. However, by going back with the yellowish gold it refers to the Bruins early history as the jersey is reminiscient of that time period... SUCCESS.

Either way, I'm sure the Bruins will look great at Fenway Park during the Winter Classic whether they are back in black or gutting it out in gold.

*Photo from www.myfoxboston.com

I'm Shipping Up To Boston..

Well, it has finally happened. Boston has gotten it's own official ESPN page.

Of course, going to school in the Midwest I've already had one friend say, "Oh I thought ESPN.com was ESPN Boston, HA." Thanks buddy. But alas, no. As much as people would like to argue that ESPN shows consider favoritism to East Coast sports (something I don't really believe), it's probably about time ESPN created a site for Boston sports fanatics. It's not like there would be a shortages of readers or anything of that sort.

What intrigues me is just the whole creation of the website. As my sports instructor, Dave Schwartz explained, the creation of ESPNChicago a few months ago came from the declining newspaper market in Chi-town, something I didn't realize (then again, I generally tend to pay very little attention to anything involving Chicago). Apparently both the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune had filed for bankruptcy and ESPN saw a market to go after. It actually made perfect sense.

However as fast as Boston sports go, I've generally been a Boston Globe (which I think is the more superior of Beantown papers) type of gal. I still have a copy of the front page of The Globe when Boston won the World Series in 2004. It's yellowing and covered in dust, but I can't help but smile and feel good inside whenever I see it. When looking for the latest news on something specifically involving one of my favorite teams back home, I generally go to their website. However, with the new development of ESPNBoston... I'm not even sure I can resist the temptation to not refresh its homepage every 30 seconds.

As an aspiring print journalist, I can't help but feel a little guilty. With people wondering what the future of newspapers hold, I'm starting to believe wherever it goes -- convergence (especially the online aspect) needs to be a part of it. I know the Globe had been having some financial difficulties and was even rumored to close down, but I really couldn't imagine not having it around as a paper anymore.

For me, The Globe kind of reminds me of an ex-boyfriend I've managed to stay friends with (which is a rarity). They've both been there through the good times and bad and even when things are slow, continue to provide some type of informative entertainment.

I understand the reasoning behind starting ESPNBoston and in all honesty, I like it. I do. There's something awfully nice about being to go to a website and read all about your favorite sports teams in a nice little ESPN-esque format. But I just can't get over wondering how The Boston Globe and even The Boston Herald are going to fair after this. I hope for the best -- in fact, one day I'd love to be a sports writer for The Boston Globe -- but with this new competition, will they still be able to survive?

*Photo from www.Boston.com

Dear Major League Baseball...

Evelyn factoid of the day: I'm currently enrolled in a class called "Creative Writing Workshop Studio" this semester.

For those who don't know, the University of Iowa has probably the most well-known, if not prestigious graduate writing program (aka The Iowa Writers' Workshop) in the country. With that said -- why wouldn't I want to take advantage and try to improve my overall writing skills?

A couple of weeks in and I've already learned that my TA, Hannah generally likes and appreciates comedy and wit in our writing (hence having us read an 800-page George Carlin anthology book). Last class, I even wrote a piece entitled "Guys It Never Worked Out With..." and tried to throw in some witty tiny penis jokes. It's really an anything-goes-that-is-on-your-mind type of class with the one rule we cannot offend our fellow classmates. Basically, one of the better classes I've ever signed up for.

Anyway, for one of our most recent assignments we had to write a personal narrative on a public issue. The hardest decision I had to make for the paper was deciding what topic to pick. Politics? Boring. Religion? Not my thing. Abortion? How could I NOT offend someone? So, I picked something I was familiar with and actually cared about. I chose to write about the issue of performance enhancing drugs and it's effect on baseball. I tried to find my inner Carlin but I just didn't think I could pull it off. Instead, I went with a different approach. This assignment only had to be 2-3 pages long and contain some writing elements and include moments of introspection or reflection.

After getting my peer reviewed papers back, I was really relieved to know that most of the people in class (ironically there are about 16 guys and 3 other girls) seemed to really enjoy it. I figured since I've already written it, if my non-sports classmates can find some enjoyment in it, maybe people who read my blog can as well. So here it goes:

A thank you to Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, and Manny Ramirez, for these fine gentlemen – whom get paid millions upon millions of dollars to play a sport they love – have undoubtedly helped change the way the game of baseball has been portrayed. Years ago, baseball used to be known as “America’s pastime;” it used to be looked upon fondly but not anymore. The problem of steroids, drug usage and any other methods of trying to get ahead unfairly has tainted the sport. With Congress getting involved and a new star player being exposed seemingly every few months, how much more can a sports fan be asked to take?

Perhaps before I get too far ahead of myself, I should start at the beginning. The most important thing to understand is this: growing up in Massachusetts, the Red Sox aren’t just a professional sports team; they are practically a religion. As a fellow classmate (Seth) perhaps said it best, “Christians have Jesus; Muslims have Allah; I have the Boston Red Sox.” Even before winning the 2004 World Series (and ending an 86-year championship drought), I knew it was pretty much love. Going back to that fateful day I caught a Red Sox baseball game on television, I’ve been a fan ever since.

When I started to follow professional baseball around the age of 12 or 13, the issue of steroids and illegal drugs hardly ever seemed to be brought up. Then again, I was still a kid. How I viewed the world in comparison to what was really happening around me was bound to be different. As I got older, things changed. Now at 21, I can’t believe how far the sport has fallen. Names like the aforementioned Sosa, Rodriguez, and Ramirez (all big name, star players for their respective teams) have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs (PED) and the list only seems to grow as time goes on.

A few months ago, it was revealed that the Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz had supposedly tested positively for PEDs in 2003. It was one of my more disheartening moments as a sports fan. Suddenly this player who had become so popular with Boston fans as well as with the organization was exposed as a cheater. Sure it was funny to laugh at Rodriguez because he was the enemy, the bad guy playing for the New York Yankees. He deserved all the crap he got. But with Ortiz, it was supposed to be different. He had a larger-than-life personality and a power swing that matched it. One of Boston’s most beloved players had a positive test for steroids… six years ago

My range of emotions went from being shocked, to sadness, to a little bit of confusion. Maybe to everyone else it was obvious that Ortiz could have been a player who was “on something,” but to me it didn’t seem possible. Seeing his name in bold on ESPN’s website with “Breaking News” and “Tests Positive” wasn’t an easy sight. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt bad for Ortiz. He genuinely seemed like such a great guy, the player all players wanted to be friends with, an actual caring soul despite the millions of dollars he made. Suddenly with these new allegations – it was all flushed away in a split second. Who was David Ortiz if he wasn’t who everyone thought he was? I knew Boston would still continue to support him but why? We were all hypocrites in the end, I guess.

With players becoming bigger, faster, and stronger, the hardest thing for a fan is to know is who to trust. Baseball isn’t a complicated game, but with so much temptation to cheat, fans clearly have a right to be angry and distance themselves. It’s quite obvious that steroids and other types of drugs are ruining the sport. I don’t blame people for turning away from baseball onto other sports. There’s a reason why football is now referred to as “American’s pastime” (although I’m not sure I really buy that).

So here’s my final plea: baseball, please listen to whatever fans you still have left, don’t let this ruin you. Clean up your game and fans will come back. Don’t let this get any worse than it already has.

*Photo from www.mysportsrumors.com

Update on Kessel...

The Boston Globe is reporting that negotiations between Phil Kessel and the Boston Bruins are officially through.

According to Kessel's agent, Wade Arnott, the 21-year-old's top priority is to start looking at offers from the other 29 teams in the league. Click here for the full story.

"The Bruins, who open their full training camp at the Garden Sunday, have tried to sign Kessel to a deal on par with the three-year, $11.35 million pact signed earlier this summer by 23-year-old pivot David Krejci. However, it has become obvious since July 1, the start of free agency, that Kessel believes he is worth more. He noted to a Globe reporter during last month’s US Olympic orientation camp in suburban Chicago that Krejci’s contract was not relevant to his deal. Kessel also said he would accept a discount to re-sign with the Bruins, for whom he has played all of his three seasons in the league, but it would not be a significant rollback from his asking price (which he has never made public)." -- The Boston Globe

If that's true, I'm really truly disappointed in Kessel's decision. While this doesn't mean he won't be a Bruin this upcoming season (Boston can match whatever offer sheet is given), chances are looking slim. Supposedly, he thinks he should get around $4-5 million a season. As much as I enjoyed what he did for the B's offensively.. he isn't worth that kind of money. Not right now at least.

With the economy in such a decline, it just blows my mind how selfish some athletes can be. But if that's his attitude, if he really believes he is worth $5 million a season, he should go sign with a team who is willing to overpay for him. If I were the GM of another organization, I'd take some notice in how he's handling the situation now. Unless a team is going to lock him up long-term, they can look forward to similar contract disputes in the future as well.

No. 88 -- it was nice knowing you. You were great in your time with Boston so I'll thank you for that. However, I don't wish you any future luck, how can if this is the way things are going to end?

*Photo from The Boston Herald

For Love of the Game

Phil Kessel had a coming out party last season with the Boston Bruins. Only 21 years old, the Wisconsin native showed great maturity on the ice and even had the honor of scoring the first goal of the season for the Black and Gold in a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

Over the course of the 2008-09 season, Kessel led the team with 36 goals accumulating 60 points (with 24 assists for a +23 rating) while helping Boston finish as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Despite the potential for offensive stardom, the 5th overall pick of the 2006 NHL draft still finds himself without a contract after becoming a restricted free agent this offseason.

The Bruins and General Manager Peter Chiarelli have been put in a tough situation. As The Boston Globe explains:

"As of Oct. 1, payrolls for NHL clubs must not exceed the league-mandated $56.8 million cap. However, prior to Oct. 1, clubs are allowed to exceed the cap by 10 percent, to a limit of $62.48 million.

The Bruins, with some $55 million committed for next season, have tried to convince Kessel to sign a deal that would increase the payroll to around $59 million, forcing Chiarelli to ditch a roster player in the minors or offload salary via trade. But thus far none of Boston's offers has been to Kessel's liking."

With little money left to be offered and rumors swirling that division rival Toronto might be interested in looking to give Kessel an offer sheet, Bruins fans might be considering hitting the panic button.

Perhaps one of the biggest issues in re-signing Kessel is those who worry about his defensive style of play. Some have criticized the Right Winger as "being soft" believing he isn't tough enough to play a more physical style the B's have found recent success in. Other have also labeled Kessel as "selfish" for wanting to sign a bigger contract. Then again, for being the team's leading goal scorer, Kessel only made $850,000 last year. It was obvious he was due for some sort of a raise. However, what he wants (and perhaps deserves) and what the Bruins can offer at this moment just aren't the same.

Ultimately, it seems the former Minnesota Gopher needs to decide for himself which is more important: returning to a Stanley Cup contending team for less money or inking a deal that could provide a big pay day?

Other questions to ponder:
- Will Kessel have a contract signed before his 22nd birthday (Oct. 2)?
- Could he essentially be the key to helping Boston finally bring back Lord Stanley's Cup?
- But more importantly, with all the strides made last season, can the Bruins actually now win WITHOUT him?

*Photo from Sports Illustrated

Jubilant for Julien

[Photo courtesy of the Boston Globe]
The Boston Bruins announced today that head coach Claude Julien has signed a multi-year extension to stay with the organization. Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed but with whatever raise Julien most likely received, many Bruins fans will tell you it was probably well deserved. Leading the Bruins to one of the better seasons in recent memory, he compiled a 53-19-10 record (116 pts) while finishing first in the Eastern Conference and leading his club to winning its first playoff series in a decade with a sweep of hated rival Montreal.

This was undoubtedly an excellent move by the organization. Julien was this season's recipient of the Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year) for turning around the Bruins, who had previous barely sneaked into the playoffs as the 8th seed. In his two seasons with Boston, he's accumulated a 94-48-22 in 164 games (.640 winning percentage). With Julien now locked up for the next few years, there's a lot of buzz for the hockey club. For the first time in a long time, Bruins fans no longer need to ponder about the future but can focus on the now.

With the Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots each having won a championship at some point during this decade, the B's have been under some pressure. Constantly being looked at as the team that didn't belong with the others because of underachieving success, it would seem as though "the times are a-changing." With Julien at the helm and a majority of core players still under contract, the Bruins may be closer to a Stanley Cup than ever before.

Penny Pinching

Sometime between not wanting to start reading for class and organizating my clothes by color, I checked my twitter and saw this:

AroundTheHorn: I don't believe in reincarnation but if did I'd come back as either a liger or an AL pitcher who's relocated to the NL. #ispennyforreal?

Personally, I don't have any interest in becoming a liger. Not now, not ever. But Tony Reali brings up a great point, coming back reincarnated as a American League pitcher relocated in the National League would be a sweet gig. The latest to demonstrate this fad is former Red Sox pitcher, Brad Penny, who had an impressive debut with San Francisco tonight. He went 8 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO. I'm not really even the least bit surprised. How can I be considering how John Smoltz had 9 Ks (7 in a row at one point) in his NL debut a week ago? I'm sure if Dice-K ever got traded to an NL team, he'd be throwing no-hitters every other start.

With that said, I've come to the bold conclusion: the NL is overall weaker than the AL. While the Philadelphia Phillies may have won the World Series last year, I don't think it means very much in terms of comparing the two leagues. The fact is, considering how many pitchers have struggled in the AL but can suddenly find new life in the NL, I believe makes a pretty strong statement in itself. There's a reason why guys like Randy Johnson and Jamie Moyer are still pitching and doing so in the NL. Last week, USA Today ran an article briefly discussing the topic at hand.

So what's your opinion? Could the AL really be the more superior league? Does the NL get too bad of a rap?