Until August, all we have is the Red Sox to follow on a daily basis. Might as well make the most of it…

Amalie Benjamin examines the struggles of the Red Sox rotation thus far this season, noting that the last two outings, from Josh Beckett and Justin Masterson provide some hope. Mike Fine also looks at the surprising struggles of the Red Sox rotation. Sean McAdam assesses the Sox as they approach the quarter mark of the season. Paul Jarvey notes that help is on the way for the Red Sox.

John Tomase has the Sox gearing up to play the suprising first place Blue Jays starting tonight. Rob Bradford says that the Jays are for real. Daniel Barbarisi has a look at the steady Jeff Bailey, who just keeps plugging along, no matter where he is. Joe McDonald has former teammate Wily Mo Pena rooting for Big Papi to return to form.

Benjamin’s notebook has Daniel Bard gearing up for his Fenway debut. Tomase’s notebook has Kevin Youkilis begining his rehab assignment in Pawtucket last night. Barbarisi’s Sox journal has the Red Sox hitters looking forward to the return of Youkilis and David Ortiz.

Celtics

Gerry ‘always looking for the bright side’ Callahan says that at least now no one will be gunning for the Celtics. Bill Reynolds tells us that the Celtics season really ended three months ago because…wait for it…the Celtics had no chance without Kevin Garnett. Robert Lee and Lenny Megliola point out that the Celtics got the maximum out of what they had. Tim Weisberg says that the Celtics were just running on empty for too long.

Mark Murphy says that the Celtics must realize that they need help for the aging big three, especially in the frontcourt. Frank Dell’Apa has the Celtics now dealing with defeat rather than repeat. Steve Bulpett has Danny Ainge admitting the need for frontcourt help, and has a look at contract status of the roster. Ron Borges says that the Celtics must be careful of how they more forward with the big three. Jeff Howe goes over what’s next for the Celtics.

Dan Duggan has Big Baby getting set for free agency. Bill Doyle tells us that Baby shopping could get expensive for the Celtics. Jim Fenton tells us more of the big raise Davis is set to get this summer.

Marc J. Spears has Tom Thibodeau getting permission to talk to Philadelphia. The Herald notebookhas more on Thibodeau.

Bruins

Jim Donaldson says that the Garden proved to be no advantage for the Bruins or Celtics. Bill Burt runs down 10 question marks facing the Bruins and Celtics.

Fluto Shinzawareports on the myriad of injuries that the Bruins were playing with. David Krejci, Phil Kessel and Andrew Ference all need surgery and Mark Recchi had surgery to remove a kidney stone the night before game seven. Mike Loftus has more on the injuries. Bud Barth notes that the Bruins are licking more than just metaphorical wounds. Mick Colageo  has the Bruins talking about the injuries. Steve Conroy has more on the repairs needed for the Bruins young stars.

With a tight salary cap situation, Kevin Paul Dupont says that GM Peter Chiarelli could face some tough choices. Loftus also looks at the situation with contracts and the salary cap which could lead to headaches for Chiarelli. Stephen Harrisasserts that the Bruins have learned from their mistakes. Colageo has Tim Thomas looking back on the season, but not game seven. Joe Haggertyblames the Bruins playoff exit on poor deadline trades by Chiarelli.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell  has more on Recchi’s kidney stone surgery. Conroy’s notebook says that P.J. Axelsson  might’ve played his last game with the Bruins.

Patriots

Head over to the Award Winning Patriots Daily for a pair of features today. First up, Scott Benson gives us  A Look Ahead at the issues we’ll be wondering about as training camp approaches. (Only 10 weeks away!)

Also, he takes a look back at the Patriots’ AFL days with a number of links and videos of times past.

Mike Reiss reports from the Spring Meetings with a look at discussions involving roster size and IR rules.

Christopher L. Gasper  has a look at Pierre Woods, who is preparing to do what it takes to step into the outside linebacker spot vacated by Mike Vrabel. Karen Guregian  has Laurence Maroney revealing that he tried to play with a broken bone in his shoulder last season. Chris Price reports on the Patriots interest in Oakland DE Derrick Burgess.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

2 thoughts on “Just The Sox Now”

  1. didn’t actually read Donalson’s column but there’s no doubt the OLD Garden was much more of an advantage to the Bruins and Celtics. Maybe more so the Bruins because of the smaller ice surface. They use to build their teams with that in mind………..The new Garden is just another cookie-cutter stadium. Other than the crowd there is no advantage whatsoever…

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    1. True, but in the long run I think the B’s were actually hurt by the old Garden’s dimensions more than they were helped, because quite often they would go on the road against teams with better skaters/passers/playmakers and simply couldn’t keep up with them on the larger ice surfaces. At the Garden, those other teams didn’t have as much room to roam, and the B’s used that to their advantage. On the road, however, the B’s were at a distinct disadvantage because their team was built with the Garden’s ice surface/dimensions in mind. It’s not a coincidence that their only two Stanley Cups since World War II came during an era when they had a powerful offensive team capable of scoring six goals in a game, no matter where the game was being played.

      As for the C’s, Red always used to insist that those “dead spots” on the floor hurt Boston as much as they hurt the opponents, and that if the Lakers had no hot water in the showers, neither did the C’s. But then again, Red was never one to disclose any advantages publicly 🙂

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