Boston Sports Blog

Boston Sports Blog

Is there any rivalry you can think of in professional sports when the two teams meet so infrequently better than what has transpired with the Bruins and Canucks since 2011? Since Patrice Bergeron and company hoisted Lord Stanley's Cup amidst a riotous outdoors three seasons ago, it's quite amazing that Saturday night was the first time these teams had met since Jan. 7, 2012 (Thanks, Bettman!)

Almost two years later, we still hate Vancouver with a puck passion normally reserved for our neighbors to the north, les habitants of Montreal. But Saturday's game was circled on the calendar of every Bruins fan once released. It was a chance to guffaw at the hackneyed Green Men. A chance to ridicule the Sedins. A chance to see what John Tortorella, Boston native that he is, could bring to the equation.

The Bruins are still a healthy 22 9 2. leading the Eastern Conference by three points over the Canadiens, and Saturday night was really but a blip on the recent Western trip.

Still. The Canucks. And it was blechhh.

Not to stress you out over holiday shopping (actually, I think I just did that to myself), but we are 30 something days until the kids head to Sochi for the Winter Olympics. Yet, here we sit and the Bruins are in prime position, Saturday night notwithstanding, in total control.

In the East, at least. If Vancouver were 5,000 miles more our way, they'd be only one point behind the Black and Gold.

It is difficult to not notice that two of the Bruins' worst losses of the season came at the hands of Montreal and Detroit, who should both figure into the playoffs Cheap NFL Jerseys come spring. The Canucks, under Tortorella, figured to be a tougher bunch, the adjective being a step beyond Alain Vigneault's laissez faire approach. It showed in Game 1, or, Game 9 as some opined on Twitter in the wee hours of the morning.

Yup, the Bruins have lost two straight to the Canucks. Quincy Market is still standing.

See wholesale nfl jerseys you on Feb. 4, Vancouver. You have given Boston its best rivalry since the Red Sox and Yankees a decade past. We wish we saw you a lot more.

The New England Patriots didn't so much beat the Cleveland Browns Sunday at Gillette Stadium Nike NFL Jerseys sales as they were gift wrapped an early Christmas gift from an NFL officiating crew that needs some serious scrutiny in the offseason. If that was pass interference on Leon McFadden in the fourth quarter, then the Browns might as well have been flagged for thinking about whether or not there would be crab cakes at the postgame spread in the locker room. It's just as easy to prove why that call would be made.

It was ticky tack, simply an Wholesale Jerseys embarrassing end to a game that should have had earned itself an even more dramatic ending.

Maybe you don't think so though. Maybe you saw the call as justice being served after what transpired in Carolina.

Except, if that's the kind of league you want from the NFL, one where hometown teams get the calls, even in the most crucial of situations, and one where makeup calls are an ends to making the means even out, then the NBA is right over there.

Credit Tom Brady for making the appropriate reads and throws when needed, but this game goes into his long list of comeback victories the same way a Dodge Duster goes into the Vehicle Hall of Fame, low on the list, and without much merit.

Resilient? Sure. Would have been nice to see the Patriots classified as such with some actual credentials on Sunday. Instead, Pats fans seem to feel righted by the fact that the refs had an even Steven mentality to the end of the game.

Part of being a fan is carrying yourself with even a little sense of self depreciation, something that's a widespread characteristic among Pats fans as are New York Jets Underoos. If all this town's sports fans carried themselves with the arrogant hierarchy of a certain segment of Patriots fans, you'd be tarred and feathered for questioning Stephen Drew's postseason performance, verbally abused for criticizing Claude's power play, and would be kicked out of the CYO for asking whether or not Danny Ainge really knew what he was doing with the Celtics.

It's no longer "In Bill Wholesale Jerseys China we trust," but those who are burned at the stake for not following the cult.

It's OK, Pats fans. It's OK to laugh at yourself, get frustrated when things don't go the right way, particularly against the likes of the Cleveland Browns. It's OK to have a sense of humor about things, and even more apropos, a sense of humility.

It's OK to show emotion other than when reciting the Kraft Pledge of Allegiance. It's OK to question the status of a quarterback and head coach who both haven't won a Super Bowl in almost a decade. It's OK to wonder just why in the hell you're running the ball with a minute left, down by 12.

And yes, it's OK Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap to say that Sunday's win was a present from the NFL. Go ahead. Now, breathe.

But no, it's not OK to wonder if Michael Hoomanawanui can effectively replace Rob Gronkowski. That's just foolish.

You knew Jacoby Ellsbury's time in Boston was over. You knew the Yankees were a likelihood based on the amount and length of contract he and agent Scott Boras were after.

You knew the Yankees were probably just stupid enough to give it to him.

That's not to demean what Ellsbury meant to the Red Sox during his seven years here. When he was on the field, he was a dynamic player, one who helped the franchise to a pair of World Series titles, something only the likes of David Ortiz, Curt Schilling, and Jason Varitek can also claim to have done the past 95 years. But after being burned with the Carl Crawford debacle, there was a zero percent chance the Red Sox were going to get in a bidding war for a player who is a nice complement to have, but hardly the face of a franchise, no matter just how darn cute his mug might be.

Seven years, $153 million. Your New York Yankees are back in business.

Reiser was a career .295 hitter who played mostly for Nike NFL Jerseys the Brooklyn Dodgers in a career that spanned from 1940 52, so let's use Mack as a more contemporary comparison for Ellsbury. Mack was a good player during his time with the Twins, and his 1997 season with the Red Sox wasn't all that bad when you look back on it, but in the wake of losing Roger Clemens to the Blue Jays, nothing was going to please fans that terrible campaign. Mack was three years older than the 30 year old Ellsbury will be when he first dons pinstripes, and by the age of 34, he was out of the game.

Mack had more consistent power than Ellsbury has displayed, hitting double digits in home runs from Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale 1991 94 with the Minnesota Twins. Ellsbury has done that once, during his magical, and somewhat, ahem, irrational season in 2011 when he hit 32. Remove that one season from Ellsbury's docket, and you've got Coco Crisp.