Thursday, May 31, 2012
The Blog Has Moved!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
A Rare Red Sox Post
I can not believe I'm actually doing this. It's been nearly half a year since I decided to start writing about the Bruins full time here on The Buzz, but with each and every Red Sox game I am becoming increasingly frustrated and I feel the need to tell you people what's really going on.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the 2012 Boston Red Sox. They're not the same team as last year because they fired a bunch of medical staff and the strength coach, got a new pitching coach, manager, and GM, and they added a couple of mediocre guys to to lineup! Oh wait...
The Red Sox, for a lack of a better word, downright blow this year. The suck really badly. A team that has a payroll hanging out around $200M with nearly 1/4 of it on the disabled list can't be expected to go out and tear it up, but this team should. They have the talent. Or so I thought.
The team is 17-20 thus far, and the year has been plagued by brutal pitching, inability to come up big in clutch situations (I'm looking at you Adrian Gonzalez. How the hell do you go 0-8 and go down on three pitches to the frigging DH?), inability to score runs, and a manager who seems to be just a step behind the game.
Josh Beckett. My good Lord, where the hell do I begin with this guy? Beckett, otherwise known as the "Texas Tough Guy", a nickname given to him by CSN's Mike Felger seemingly out of disrespect (well deserved disrespect) is giving me more and more reasons to despise him. First off, he needs his own personal catcher. Are you kidding me? Since he came here in the 2006 trade that also brought the great Mike Lowell and Alex Gonzalez to Boston, he's pitched to whoever he wanted to pitch to. For a while, there was no question it was going to be Jason Varitek as he was the starting catcher. Then Tek broke down, and the team made a move and brought in Victor Martinez to take over as the starting catcher, but Beckett refused to pitch to Martinez, so Varitek was put in the lineup every time Beckett was set to take the mound. Now that Varitek has retired, you'd think he'd have to pitch to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but nope. The Sox brought in Kelly Shoppach to back up Salty and also be Beckett's personal catcher. In other words, Beckett needs his binky to pitch. Hey Josh, how about your manager puts out whoever he feels gives the team the best chance to win, suck it the hell up, and frigging pitch. It's not that big of a deal. Second, the guy can never go a month without being "hurt" in some way, shape, or form. Blisters, lats, quads, hammies, stiff neck, sore back, sore toe, you name it, Beckett's used it as an excuse to not start. Seriously, how about you go a month without missing a start? And then we go back to last year and the whole fried chicken and beer debacle. Has anyone heard Beckett take any accountability at all for that? 'Cause it seems to me he doesn't care at all. Oh and don't forget that he was too hurt to start, but a few days before he was out playing golf with Buchholz! Unbelievable. And what does the "Texas Tough Guy" have to say about that? "What I do on my off day is my own business." Of course ownership, the front office, and Bobby V all come out and say they just told him to take the start off. That's a load of shit. "But Mitch, they had to bring up Aaron Cook, he was out of options and they needed to sit someone." Get real, why would you sit your best pitcher for some AAAA scrub who was picked up off the scrap heap?
The culture of this team is awful. the players are far too entitled 'cause they won two World Series titles in 4 years. The last one was in 2007. I haven't seen them go any further than the ALDS since 2008. And the worst part is the owners let this happen and they give them entitlement. Last season, the players were upset for some reason or another. You'd think the owners would tell them to suck it the hell up and play, but instead they take them out on a yacht and give them headphones! That's the biggest problem, there is no accountability there, and the owners let them do whatever they want. And if someone dares say something bad about a player you better watch out, they'll come down and silence you and make you backtrack until you look like an idiot.
Also, it's still very clear that there's a rift in the clubhouse. It's been reported on many occasions that the pitchers and positional players don't speak to each other, and unless this changes there's going to be problems down the line that will ultimately be a part of their downfall. Teammates need to talk to each other, doesn't matter if they like each other or not. They're on the same team and ultimately have the same goal in mind. This type of bullshit can't happen.
And Bobby V looks like he's lost touch with the game. Granted, the front office did neuter him and decided not to allow him to manage the way he wanted to manage, but when you're leaving your pitchers in far past their pitch count, there's something wrong. Part of that falls onto the guys in baseball operations for giving him a horrible bullpen, but at some point you have to at least show a little confidence in them. and when he calls guys out, he doesn't even try to stand up for himself, he rolls over and backtracks and apologizes. Dude, if you're going to call out a player, stand by your words!
What I really want to see and think they should do is get rid of the poison in the clubhouse. Beckett, Youkilis, etc. Throw in younger guys. See what you can get for Salty and Aviles, Byrd, and co. and call up the kids. I want the Sox to give me a reason to watch and be interested. I'd love to go to games to see how the young kids perform. Bring up Iglesias, Lavarnway, Ranaudo, Wilson, Hassan, Mortensen, Tazawa, and other young guys who may be able to help, cause these lazy, complacent, and entitled veterans aren't cutting it. But the team wouldn't do that. The pink hats would lose interest because the names they bring up aren't big time or famous names, they aren't sexy enough. And let's face it, it's all about satisfying the pink hats and fan girls.
This team is headed for a downward spiral late in the season once again. Maybe this time it'll be a wake up call to the owners, but I highly doubt it. Their heads are too far up their asses to realize there's a serious problem with this team.
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I can not believe I'm actually doing this. It's been nearly half a year since I decided to start writing about the Bruins full time here on The Buzz, but with each and every Red Sox game I am becoming increasingly frustrated and I feel the need to tell you people what's really going on.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the 2012 Boston Red Sox. They're not the same team as last year because they fired a bunch of medical staff and the strength coach, got a new pitching coach, manager, and GM, and they added a couple of mediocre guys to to lineup! Oh wait...
The Red Sox, for a lack of a better word, downright blow this year. The suck really badly. A team that has a payroll hanging out around $200M with nearly 1/4 of it on the disabled list can't be expected to go out and tear it up, but this team should. They have the talent. Or so I thought.
The team is 17-20 thus far, and the year has been plagued by brutal pitching, inability to come up big in clutch situations (I'm looking at you Adrian Gonzalez. How the hell do you go 0-8 and go down on three pitches to the frigging DH?), inability to score runs, and a manager who seems to be just a step behind the game.
Josh Beckett. My good Lord, where the hell do I begin with this guy? Beckett, otherwise known as the "Texas Tough Guy", a nickname given to him by CSN's Mike Felger seemingly out of disrespect (well deserved disrespect) is giving me more and more reasons to despise him. First off, he needs his own personal catcher. Are you kidding me? Since he came here in the 2006 trade that also brought the great Mike Lowell and Alex Gonzalez to Boston, he's pitched to whoever he wanted to pitch to. For a while, there was no question it was going to be Jason Varitek as he was the starting catcher. Then Tek broke down, and the team made a move and brought in Victor Martinez to take over as the starting catcher, but Beckett refused to pitch to Martinez, so Varitek was put in the lineup every time Beckett was set to take the mound. Now that Varitek has retired, you'd think he'd have to pitch to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but nope. The Sox brought in Kelly Shoppach to back up Salty and also be Beckett's personal catcher. In other words, Beckett needs his binky to pitch. Hey Josh, how about your manager puts out whoever he feels gives the team the best chance to win, suck it the hell up, and frigging pitch. It's not that big of a deal. Second, the guy can never go a month without being "hurt" in some way, shape, or form. Blisters, lats, quads, hammies, stiff neck, sore back, sore toe, you name it, Beckett's used it as an excuse to not start. Seriously, how about you go a month without missing a start? And then we go back to last year and the whole fried chicken and beer debacle. Has anyone heard Beckett take any accountability at all for that? 'Cause it seems to me he doesn't care at all. Oh and don't forget that he was too hurt to start, but a few days before he was out playing golf with Buchholz! Unbelievable. And what does the "Texas Tough Guy" have to say about that? "What I do on my off day is my own business." Of course ownership, the front office, and Bobby V all come out and say they just told him to take the start off. That's a load of shit. "But Mitch, they had to bring up Aaron Cook, he was out of options and they needed to sit someone." Get real, why would you sit your best pitcher for some AAAA scrub who was picked up off the scrap heap?
The culture of this team is awful. the players are far too entitled 'cause they won two World Series titles in 4 years. The last one was in 2007. I haven't seen them go any further than the ALDS since 2008. And the worst part is the owners let this happen and they give them entitlement. Last season, the players were upset for some reason or another. You'd think the owners would tell them to suck it the hell up and play, but instead they take them out on a yacht and give them headphones! That's the biggest problem, there is no accountability there, and the owners let them do whatever they want. And if someone dares say something bad about a player you better watch out, they'll come down and silence you and make you backtrack until you look like an idiot.
Also, it's still very clear that there's a rift in the clubhouse. It's been reported on many occasions that the pitchers and positional players don't speak to each other, and unless this changes there's going to be problems down the line that will ultimately be a part of their downfall. Teammates need to talk to each other, doesn't matter if they like each other or not. They're on the same team and ultimately have the same goal in mind. This type of bullshit can't happen.
And Bobby V looks like he's lost touch with the game. Granted, the front office did neuter him and decided not to allow him to manage the way he wanted to manage, but when you're leaving your pitchers in far past their pitch count, there's something wrong. Part of that falls onto the guys in baseball operations for giving him a horrible bullpen, but at some point you have to at least show a little confidence in them. and when he calls guys out, he doesn't even try to stand up for himself, he rolls over and backtracks and apologizes. Dude, if you're going to call out a player, stand by your words!
What I really want to see and think they should do is get rid of the poison in the clubhouse. Beckett, Youkilis, etc. Throw in younger guys. See what you can get for Salty and Aviles, Byrd, and co. and call up the kids. I want the Sox to give me a reason to watch and be interested. I'd love to go to games to see how the young kids perform. Bring up Iglesias, Lavarnway, Ranaudo, Wilson, Hassan, Mortensen, Tazawa, and other young guys who may be able to help, cause these lazy, complacent, and entitled veterans aren't cutting it. But the team wouldn't do that. The pink hats would lose interest because the names they bring up aren't big time or famous names, they aren't sexy enough. And let's face it, it's all about satisfying the pink hats and fan girls.
This team is headed for a downward spiral late in the season once again. Maybe this time it'll be a wake up call to the owners, but I highly doubt it. Their heads are too far up their asses to realize there's a serious problem with this team.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Guess Who's Back!
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| Why Canadians so aggressive online? |
Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has become a hockey celebrity. Since the Flyers were playing on HBO's 24/7 this year, Bryzgalov decided to take the time in his interviews to talk about things other than hockey.
But what could be more interesting than hockey? Well, I'm glad you asked!
The universe!
Here's a list of his best quotes from not just 24/7, but the entire year until now:
- "Right now, I'm very into the universe. You know, like how it was created. You know, like what is it? You know, solar system is so humongous big, right? But, if you see our solar system and our galaxy on the side, you know, like, and you see it and it was so small. You couldn't even see it, our galaxy is like huge, but if you see the big picture, our galaxy is like small, tiny, like, dot in the universe, like. You think, we have some problems here on the earth we worry about, compared to, like... nothing. Just be happy. Don't worry, be happy right now."
- "When I signed here, people said, "Oh you're going to hell. They hate that they never have goalie and they go hard on goalies. It's miserable market for goalies."
- ""If you kill the tiger and they find you...that's it. You're dead."
- "In China, you kill tiger. Death penalty."
- "My husky, she's basically a hot girl, man."
- "Who's more crazy, me or defenseman? Who's more weird?"
- "At home I have one face. Public I have another face. On the ice I have a third face. Day off I have a fourth face. With you, fifth face."
- "No I'm not afraid of anything. I'm afraid of bear in the forest."
I seriously hope the Flyers make it all the way to the Finals, just so we can listen to Bryzgalov some more. No joke, I fucking died laughing when I saw all these quotes from today. I don't understand where he gets all this stuff from. Hey Bryz, a tip for you. When you retire, start doing stand up comedy. You'll be even more loaded than you are already!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Game 7 Preview: Boston vs Washington; Winner Take All
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| The Bruins celebrate Tyler Seguin's overtime goal in Game 6. The win forced a Game 7 that is to be played tonight at 7:30 here in Boston |
Anyways, the Bruins forced Game 7 Sunday afternoon, after somewhat breaking out of the matinee slump. That overtime goal by Seguin was downright filthy. And when all the bandwagon fans are talking about how great the goal was, you know it was filthy.
A lot of you are nervous, and rightfully so, I am a little bit too. It's Game 7, do or die. But the Bruins have experience in Game 7 situations. I know, I know, they're 3-3 in the past years, but they've got Kelly and Seguin who have both come up big in overtime, Andrew Ference who's probably one of the smartest defensemen in the league, and an offense that seems ready to just explode. Last year the Bruins were 3-0 in Game 7 situations, defeating Montreal in overtime of Game 7 of the ECQF last year, Tampa Bay in Game 7 of the ECF last year, and who could forget the 4-0 defeat of Vancouver in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Another reason I have complete confidence in the Bruins tonight is that Tim Thomas has yet to have an absolutely stellar game, and last year he had at least one of those per series. The man is due, and I fully expect him to stop giving up softies and to close his legs off the faceoff and be the goalie that won the Conn Smythe Trophy last season.
Also, Braden Holtby has just been average for the most part this series. In Games 2 and 4 he stood on his frigging head, but Game 1 the Bruins didn't exactly play well offensively, Game 3 he looked like an AHL goalie, and last game he looked like an AHL goalie as well. Yes, he played a good game in Game 5, but it definitely wasn't his best. The Bruins seem like they may have solved him, which means they've finally realized that if you go to the net you're going to get a rebound, 'cause Holtby has been giving up some really juicy rebounds all series long, and the Bruins seemed like they finally figured it out after the Andrew Ference goal.
Finally, the power play, while it's been pretty shitty, has started to come around just a little bit. They've actually scored power play goals this series, unlike last season, where it took a 5 on 3 power play for Zdeno Chara to finally break through and score in the second round against Philadelphia. Seeing as they've actually broken through a few times this series, I feel like their overdue and they man advantage units are going to have a break out game.
Remember to take your heart medication, check your blood pressure, take Bayer, do something to prevent heart attacks and make sure you don't have a conniption. This is bound to be a tight, stressful game, so be ready to throw things at your TV out of frustration.
Remember to use my hash tags on Twitter. #IAMABRUIN #Believe #BelieveInBoston
Monday, April 23, 2012
Patrice Bergeron Nominated for Selke
The NHL announced earlier today that Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron has been named one of three finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy. The award is given to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game. The other two finalists for the award are Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk and St. Louis' David Backes.
Bergeron led all Bruins forwards in time on ice this season, averaging 18:34 per game and also led the team in shorthanded time on ice, averaging 1:48 per game. Bergeron also led the Bruins in faceoff win perecentage and was second in the league in that category with 59.3%, trailing only Chicago's Jonathan Toews, who led the league with a 59.4% faceoff win percentage.
Bergeron finished the season with 22 goals and 42 assists, finishing the year second on the team in goals and second in points with 64. He was fifth on the team in goals and played in a career high 81 games.
I can honestly say this was no surprise, and shouldn't be to any hockey fan (unless you're from Vancouver or Montreal). Bergeron has consistently been one of the best two way forwards in the game for years now. Last year's nomination snub was one that many people felt was unfair, as it was certain that he should have at least been nominated.
Even linemate Brad Marchand said in his line's introduction video on NBC (still a stupid idea) that Bergeron should be the 2012 Selke Award Winner. While it's great to see that the Professional Hockey Writers' Association believes Bergeron is a worthy candidate, it's even better to see his teammates support him and believe that he should be this year's winner.
Now if only the Caps would stop whining about Bergeron being cheap (come on, really?) he would get some really good recognition from opponents and respect, knowing that whenever they play the Bruins they are not only going up against one of the best teams in the league, but that they will also have to face one of the best defensive forwards in the game.
Remember to use my hashtags on Twitter. #IAMABRUIN #IBELIEVEINBOSTON #BELIEVE
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Bring On Game 7
"The Garden's gonna be rockin'."
Those were the words of 19 year old Tyler Seguin when asked about what's going through his mind about Game 7 on Wednesday night. The sophomore forward, who was the Bruins' leading scorer in the regular season with 28 goals, had been snake bitten all series. There were many opportunities for Seguin, but not once this series was he able to convert. But damn it, he picked a really great time to put one home. Just 3:17 into overtime, Washington center did what no player should ever do in overtime: he got too cute with the puck. After a long pass from Backstrom was picked off by David Krejci, the puck was immediately put into the hands of Milan Lucic, who found Seguin streaking down the middle. Seguin scored what was perhaps the prettiest goal of the series, faking out Washington netminder Braden Holtby and putting the puck home, winning the game 4-3 for the Bruins in overtime, staving off elimination and forcing a Game 7 back in Boston.
"This series I've had a lot of chances and opportunities and I haven't been finishing them off," Seguin said. "It's just really nice to get that feeling of finding the back of the net."
The game was a see saw most of the time. Just when you thought one team had the momentum, the other would steal it right back. It was a true nail biter all the way until the end.
The Bruins struck first, just 5:57 into the first when Rich Peverley tipped in an Andrew Ference shot from the blue line, giving the Bruins a lead that didn't last very long, as the Capitals came back strong when Mike Green faked a shot, showing great patience as he waited for Bruins forward Greg Campbell to slide past him on the attempted block shot, and ripped one from just above the circle, deflecting the puck off of Greg Zanon's leg and past Tim Thomas. After a David Krejci power play goal put the B's on top 2-1, Jason Chimera capitalized on a interference non call that was likely embellished by Brad Marchand and scored late in the second period off a feed from Nicklas Backstrom. The two teams traded goals, with Andrew Ference and Alex Ovechkin each scoring for their respctive teams, making it a 3-3 contest heading into overtime.
The post game comments from Washington players showed a level of respect for the Bruins. Matt Hendricks said after the game, "[They were] Stanley Cup champs last year - they're not gonna die die easy."
Comments from Washington defenseman Karl Alzner echoed what Hendricks had already said. "It's the Boston Bruins. They're not going to go down easy."
Game 7 is set for Wednesday night at what should be an absolute rockin' house at the TD Garden. Hopefully this time Tyler Seguin won't have to shoot for Braden Holtby's head as he told NBC's Pierre McGuire he was doing after the game. Now that both Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin have scored, we should expect to see a different level of comfort from the two, and hopefully a major surge to help lift the Bruins past the Caps and into the second round.
Mark your calendars everyone, and make sure you take your heart medication as well. We don't want to see anyone dying from heart attacks brought on by the stress of a Bruins playoff game.
Remember to use my hashtags on Twitter. #IAMABRUIN #IBELIEVEINBOSTON #BELIEVE
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| Bruins forward Tyler Seguin celebrates with teammates David Krejci and Brad Marchand after scoring the game winning goal in overtime this afternoon in Washington, forcing a Game 7 for the series. |
Those were the words of 19 year old Tyler Seguin when asked about what's going through his mind about Game 7 on Wednesday night. The sophomore forward, who was the Bruins' leading scorer in the regular season with 28 goals, had been snake bitten all series. There were many opportunities for Seguin, but not once this series was he able to convert. But damn it, he picked a really great time to put one home. Just 3:17 into overtime, Washington center did what no player should ever do in overtime: he got too cute with the puck. After a long pass from Backstrom was picked off by David Krejci, the puck was immediately put into the hands of Milan Lucic, who found Seguin streaking down the middle. Seguin scored what was perhaps the prettiest goal of the series, faking out Washington netminder Braden Holtby and putting the puck home, winning the game 4-3 for the Bruins in overtime, staving off elimination and forcing a Game 7 back in Boston.
"This series I've had a lot of chances and opportunities and I haven't been finishing them off," Seguin said. "It's just really nice to get that feeling of finding the back of the net."
The game was a see saw most of the time. Just when you thought one team had the momentum, the other would steal it right back. It was a true nail biter all the way until the end.
The Bruins struck first, just 5:57 into the first when Rich Peverley tipped in an Andrew Ference shot from the blue line, giving the Bruins a lead that didn't last very long, as the Capitals came back strong when Mike Green faked a shot, showing great patience as he waited for Bruins forward Greg Campbell to slide past him on the attempted block shot, and ripped one from just above the circle, deflecting the puck off of Greg Zanon's leg and past Tim Thomas. After a David Krejci power play goal put the B's on top 2-1, Jason Chimera capitalized on a interference non call that was likely embellished by Brad Marchand and scored late in the second period off a feed from Nicklas Backstrom. The two teams traded goals, with Andrew Ference and Alex Ovechkin each scoring for their respctive teams, making it a 3-3 contest heading into overtime.
The post game comments from Washington players showed a level of respect for the Bruins. Matt Hendricks said after the game, "[They were] Stanley Cup champs last year - they're not gonna die die easy."
Comments from Washington defenseman Karl Alzner echoed what Hendricks had already said. "It's the Boston Bruins. They're not going to go down easy."
Game 7 is set for Wednesday night at what should be an absolute rockin' house at the TD Garden. Hopefully this time Tyler Seguin won't have to shoot for Braden Holtby's head as he told NBC's Pierre McGuire he was doing after the game. Now that both Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin have scored, we should expect to see a different level of comfort from the two, and hopefully a major surge to help lift the Bruins past the Caps and into the second round.
Mark your calendars everyone, and make sure you take your heart medication as well. We don't want to see anyone dying from heart attacks brought on by the stress of a Bruins playoff game.
Remember to use my hashtags on Twitter. #IAMABRUIN #IBELIEVEINBOSTON #BELIEVE
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