After a good start, the Celtics looked very much like a team playing out the string last night, losing to the New Jersey Nets, 88-79. Get all the stories over at CelticsLinks.com.
Uneven Celtics leveled – Gary Washburn has the Celtics falling short in Newark.
Celtics have back-to-back blues – Paul Flannery looks at the Celtics struggling again on the second night of a back-to-back. Chris Forsberg has Rajon Rondo still slumping, and a few other thoughts. Evans Clinchy also examines the March Madness slump of Rondo.
Shaq’s done his part – Gerry Callahan says that Shaq could play now, but he’s playing the part of an injured center to keep fresh for the postseason.
Krstic fitting in with the Celts surprisingly well – A. Sherrod Blakely has the agent for the big man noting how well his client has fit with the Celtics.
Rajon Rondo’s been off lately – Mark Murphy’s notebook in the Herald looks at the recent struggles of the Celtics point guard. The Globe Celtics notebook from Washburn has free-agent-to-be Glen Davis not worried about a new contract.
Lowrie learning art of diplomacy – Gordon Edes with a good feature on the Red Sox infielder and his fiancee, who works for the U.S. State Department.
Chili on rivalry menu – John Tomase has the new Pawtucket hitting coach talking about facing Pedro Martinez in 1999 as a member of the Yankees.
Cameron not a forgotten man – Peter Abraham has the reserve outfielder being counted on as a big contributor this season.
Saltalamacchia expected to step up for Sox but questions remain – Lenny Megliola the 26-year-old catcher with a big job in front of him. Tim Britton has more on the young catcher.
Red Sox lineup comes together – The Herald notebook has Terry Francona’s lineup appearing to be taking shape. The Globe notebook from Peter Abraham has Alfredo Aceves looking good last night against the Yankees. Britton’s Red Sox Journal has more on the former Yankee reliever.
Bruins try to snap power-play slump – Mike Loftus has the Bruins looking to get that area of their game going.
Task at hand? Players get it – Fluto Shinzawa has the club looking to improve their time of possession.
Even with lockout, Pats fans must pay – Ian Rapoport has the Patriots, like other NFL teams, still collecting season ticket money.
Madness worth watching – Bob Ryan notes that much of the madness in college basketball involves the players themselves.
ESPN’s MLS Coverage has local flavor – Frank Dell’Apa has a look at local ties to ESPN’s coverage of Major League Soccer, which kicks off tonight.
On a side note, if you’re an NBA fan, and especially one who grew up with the Celtics, I definitely recommend downloading The B.S. Report from last week where Bill Simmons talks NBA and Boston sports with Jackie MacMullan. Some great stuff on Larry Bird, Reggie Lewis, Shaq, Paul Pierce and many other topics.
Boston Sports Media Watch 
On an unrelated note, has anybody else noticed how much Dale Arnold has been on Bob Kraft and the owners side this week on the D and C show? Gil and Gino (both in their 70's) better watch out, somebody needs a full-time job.
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Ugh! No way Day-al's going to get that job. You (ideally) need someone with gravitas (for lack of a better word) to broadcast a football game on the radio. Day-al does not have gravitas…or genuine talent for that matter.
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Great call on the podcast. Jackie runs circles around Simmons' preconceived notions about the 80's (his supposed expertise). Kind of a letdown considering Simmons wrote 700+ words on Basketball and Jackie showed in an hour how much more of an expert she is.
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It is the difference between being a reporter and being around players and being somebody who knows about the players only be reading the reporters and straining to make analogies to Teen Wolf based on what he projects theses players to be.
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You forgot the Karate Kid and the Godfather movies–those are two of his other favorite sub-references. His act got old pretty quick for me. I hate to say it because he's now a national guy who could bring some good local flavor into his work, but in the last few years he's become a parody of himself with his desperate attempts to work in pop culture references in every paragraph. And Jackie really should stick to basketball and resist the urge to write about the Patriots. Hoops is what she does best and she's quite good at it, as that podcast shows.
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