Weekend Roundup

So I haven't been able to post in a few days because I still have no power and I have to do my posting from school. Don't even get me started on the National Grid. Anyways, here's what I wanted to post over the weekend but was unable to all in one post.

First, the Bruins:

• The Bruins look friggin' horrible right now. It's way past ridiculous at this point. Peter Chiarelli needs to get his hands out from under his ass and swing a deal to give these guys a kick in the ass.
• PK Subban looks like he trained with the Canadian National Dive Team over the summer. Lucic gave him a little lovetap in the second game of the series (which I do believe was extremely stupid by the way) and PK falls to his knees like someone took a fucking sledgehammer to his calf and draws a slashing call.
• Ference and Horton need to have more discipline. Ference is a vet who wears the "A" part time, he shouldn't be getting sucked in by that bitch Subban. Giving a guy a sucker punch after the whistle, no mater how much he deserves it, is going to get you called every time. And did Horton really think he was going to move the turnstile the Scabs call Hal Gill? Seriously, the guy's like 6'6 or something and as big as Horton is, he looks like a midget compared to him. Stupid move on his part.
• Tuukka Rask did his best Gerry Cheevers impression. I loved it. He comes out of the crease, slides on his ass and trips up Montreal's favorite little bitch Pacioretty and sends him flying, all while pushing the puck up ice. Fucking awesome.
• The refs really don't like the Bruins this year. They always get called for total bullshit, as proven by the Seidenberg holding call in which Seidenberg placed his free hand on the shoulder of the Scab on a breakaway and poked the puck off of his stick. He didn't even grab him. And I'm definitely not the only one who thinks this. Just ask Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com. Even Haggs says the refs are out to get the Bruins after they won the Cup by beating the shit out of the Sedin Sisters and Co.
• I think it's about time Chiarelli fires Geoff Ward. The guy runs a brutal powerplay and he's the one who comes up with the late game schemes that never work out. I mean hell, firing the Assistant Coach seems to have worked for the Scabs, so why not show this team that nobody's job is safe, including the coaches.

The Red Sox:

• Ben Cherington's first official transaction as GM of the Red Sox was to pick up the club option on shortstop Marco Scutaro. Smart move, keeps the revolving door at shortstop at rest for at least another year while Jose Iglesias continues to develop his hitting skills.
• The Sox and Cubs were unable to reach an agreement on compensation for former Sox GM and now Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein. And that means that the case has landed on Commissioner Bud Selig's desk today. Wonderful, now we can expect almost nothing in return because Selig highly undervalues a good executive.
• Yesterday the Sox declined the club options on relievers Dan Wheeler and Scott Atchison. Chances are they'll re-sign Atchison to a minor league deal to save the 40-man roster spot. Don't know about Wheeler though, he could be gone. He had a pretty bad April and a horrible second half, so they may just look internally (Bowden, Tazawa, Doubront, Weiland) to find his replacement or find someone capable of pitching the 6th and 7th or whatever is needed on the open market.
• The team also interviewed Philadelphia bench coach Pete Mackanin for the vacant managerial position. Today they're interviewing Brewers' hitting coach Dale Sveum (Please God, not Dale Sveum). GM Ben Cherington said that the team has not requested permission to interview anyone else yet, but there are several more candidates working for other teams that the team will probably interview, with Tampa Bay bench coach Dave Martinez being the only name on that list that I can remember. Philadelphia's AAA Affiliate Manager Ryne Sandberg is also likely to be interviewed.

The Patriots:

• It's got to be emabrassing when the other team is passing on your defense in obvious running situations. The defense really needs to get into shape fast if they want to a legitimate playoff contender. They can't keep relying on Brady and the offense to win games for them.
• The Patriots cut Cornerback Leigh Bodden over the weekend. I didn't even know he was still on the team. That's how bad he's been.
• Maybe it's time that Bellichick hires a new Defensive Coordinator, because the current defense is either tuning him out or just isn't getting the message.

Also last week, I attended a Boston Globe Insider Event at the Cask'n Flag'n where I was able to speak with Globe Sports/Red Sox Reporters Dan Shaughnessy, Peter Abraham, and Bob Hohler. Shaughnessy made it clear at the beginning that Terry Francona did not quit and it was not a mutual "parting of ways". He was in fact fired. I also asked the three of them publicly if the Red Sox have a team psychologist on the medical staff to evaluate the mental makeup of current players as well as prospective players such as potential draftees and free agent signings. They said that the team employs Dr. Bob Tewksbury who holds a Ph.D in Sports Psychology who works with all the players on the team, but does not do anything in the way of scouting potential draftees or free agent signings. I personally believe the team should employ another psychologist, one who holds a Ph.D in Cognitive Psychology as a scout to secretly evaluate potential free agent signings and go over files and paperwork of players the team is interested in trading for and give a solid description of their mental makeup, all in an effort to avoid disasters such as Erik Bedard and John Lackey. Privately, I asked Bob Hohler, the reporter who broke the story on the Francona smearing, if he could confirm or deny whether all three/any combination of the Ownership trio (John Henry, Larry Lucchino, Tom Werner) was his source for the story, and he said that he could neither confirm or deny. A lack of words has never told me so much about the sources. I also asked Peter Abraham about the rumors of Kevin Youkilis being a clubhouse cancer. His answer was something along the lines of "He's a generally grumpy guy so he's not going to be the most popular dude on the team, but he works his ass off." Abraham did agree with me when I suggested they could trade Youkilis for some pitching. Both of them were given my card and for all I know, they could be reading this story right now, which would be pretty friggin' sweet. Anyways, other than the unsurprising news that the NBA and the NBAPA failed to come to a labor agreement and more games were cancelled, that's all I have for you. So hopefully I get power back soon and can dish out updates as I get them.