It was a good night for the locals, as the Bruins beat the Rangers in overtime to take the first game of their conference semifinal series, and the Red Sox rallied from a two-run deficit in the ninth inning to beat the Tampa Rays.

Brad Marchand goal lifts Bruins past Rangers in OT – Steve Conroy has the Bruins doing a good job turning the page from their electrifying game seven win over Toronto.

Marchand finally looks himself with Game 1 goal – Joe Haggerty has the Bruins winger getting himself back to form last night.

Young blueliners don’t look green – With the Bruins down three veteran defensemen, Joe McDonald looks at the fine performance by the trio of Torey Krug, Matt Bartkowski and Dougie Hamilton last night. Kevin Paul Dupont has more on the young trio.

Nobody bigger than Zdeno Chara – Mark Daniels has the Bruins stalwart playing an immense 38 minutes last night.

Bruins fans made CSN studio scary – Chad Finn’s media column looks back at the scene in the Comcast SportsNet studio outside TD Garden after the historic game 7 win over the Maple Leafs.

So, let me get this straight, Mike Felger was scared, not of bodily harm, but about the quality of the broadcast? That’s why they called 911? Also, since when has Felger been worried about the quality of any broadcast?

Finn also mentions the Entercom employee satisfaction survey.

Jack Edwards’ winning Bruins call gains notice – Bill Doyle’s media column has Jack Edwards talking about his call of the winning goal in game seven.

The Red Sox were down 3-1 in the ninth inning, and the Rays had their closer on the mound to start the inning. The same closer who had struck out the side on Tuesday night. The Sox loaded the bases, and with two outs and two strikes, Will Middlebrooks emptied the bases, giving Boston a 4-3 lead which they held for the win.

Red Sox rally on Will Middlebrooks’ bat – Scott Lauber looks at the important win for the Sox.

Shane Victorino toughing it out for Red Sox – Nick Cafardo look at how important the outfielder has become to the Red Sox.

Bard’s control issues big concern in Double A – Sean McAdam looks at the struggles for the formerly dominant reliever.

Red Sox steal drama trick from Bruins – John Tomase looks at this one as a win that the Red Sox can build on.

Just how ridiculous (and transparent) is Mike Florio?

Patriots’ decision to cut Love looks like disability discrimination

Jaguars help Patriots, in a roundabout way

From the latter:

The Patriots’ apologists suddenly have gotten very quiet.

OK, so no one is defending the team any more. Then:

The team has not responded to a PFT request for comment, and no amount of off-the-record spin being espoused by writers covering the team regarding concerns such as Love’s performance slipping in 2012 and the addition of other players who may be better than Love changes the fact that the Pats cut Love not because of his performance or his competition but because of a medical condition.  We know this because the team released Love in the immediate aftermath of his diagnosis with the “non-football illness” designation.

So are the apologists quiet, or are the apologist writers covering the team actually making excuses for them?

While the Patriots may suffer no consequence or reprimand for a fairly blatant violation of Love’s human rights (because, you know, they’re the Patriots), the Jaguars deserve to be praised for ignoring a condition that can be treated and controlled. Many people operate successfully with diabetes, and every diabetic should be a fan of the Jaguars moving forward.

Excuse me, Mr Florio, but your slip is showing. What does this even mean? Is he saying they won’t be punished because the league looks the other way on the Patriots, or is he saying the Patriots make a routine habit of violating of the human rights of their employees?

On the matter of spin coming from the local media, I’m not seeing it. Tom E Curran wrote about it – More to Pats’ release of Love than meets the eye but Florio’s line seems to be more about retaliating for being called out than actually debunking anything Curran says. I’m not seeing other Patriots media rush to the defense of the team as Florio indicates is happening.

Then Florio runs this last night:

Krafts catch flak for favoring Patriots over Revolution

Included is this paragraph:

Still, a Sports Illustrated poll of anonymous players pegged the Krafts as the worst owners in the MLS, and players like Thierry Henry and David Beckham have balked at playing on the FieldTurf at Gillette Stadium.

Seriously?

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

9 thoughts on “Bruins Take Game One, Sox Rally In Ninth”

  2. Florio is such a troll. Anything to keep those page views coming in. But because he has somehow gotten the blessings of NBC Sports and subsequently Peter King, he somehow now has credibility? Please, he’s an agenda driven a-hole.
    How’s that for defending the Patriots, little man.

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    1. I also didn’t see why it has anything to do with being on PFT. It’s one thing for PFT/Florio to track what’s going on with owners when it comes to their affairs outside football that have a potential impact on their NFL team: see Haslam and Pilot Flying J. This is more of a local issue, which is linked to and referenced there, but it seemed like he just used the article to take a shot at Kraft.

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  3. I didn’t read the Florio article, but I must say the Krafts have been terrible MLS owners. The Revs need a soccer specific stadium very badly and it seems they have only flirted with the idea, never trying to aggressively pursue it. I also wish they’d take advantage of the large Brasilian population around here and maybe target some advertising their way,because there is absolutely no one coming to their home games. I mean the Brasil national team routinely sells out Gillette Stadium anytime they come up here for a friendly so its not as if there is a lack of interest. The roster management has also been piss poor but I’m not going to hold that against the Krafts. Love them as Patriots owners, but I cant understand why they are so unsuccessful as MLS owners. OK my futbol rant is over,thanks for letting me vent.

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  4. Normally, I appreciate NBC for what they do with hockey. However, lately, it seems like Pierre McGuire is worse than Jon Gruden when it comes to never saying something bad about a play or player. Seems like I’m not alone on this but it makes you miss Jack and Brick.

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    1. I wish Emrick would call the Bruins series. I could use some professional play by play on a Bruins game once in a blue moon.

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  7. When it comes to the Krafts’ operation of the Patriots, they’ve made a concerted – and successful – effort to establish the franchise as a benchmark outfit in the National Football League. They purchased a team that had been an outright laughing-stock under the likes of the Sullivan family and Victor Kiam and turned it into an organization that is a measuring-stick for every other NFL outfit.

    By comparison, the Krafts – despite having gotten in on the ground-floor of Major League Soccer – have run the Revolution as an afterthought. This has resulted in the team being outstripped in every conceivable way by the vast majority of MLS clubs… including franchises that were launched 13, 14, even 15 years after the Revolution took the field. The only manner in which the Revolution serve as a “measuring-stick” for other MLS teams is in the areas of apathy and ineptitude.

    The bottom line is that one of the Krafts’ sports properties is run as a high-priority, championship-calibre business, while the other languishes as nothing more than a crass way to fill dates on Gillette Stadium’s calendar – and draw whatever foot-traffic can be generated to Patriot Place – during the NFL off-season.

    Frankly, there are legitimate questions to be asked as to why the Krafts seem driven to run the Patriots as a first-rate pro sports entity, while simultaneously driving the Revolution “into a ditch”.

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