I've got nothing better to do, so I figured why not revive my blog. Although is it really a revival if I've only made one post before? I guess it's a new start. The last time I wrote the blog, the Celtics had just made the Ray Allen deal and I was angry. Since then, they've added Kevin Garnett and started out 11-2. Oh yeah, the Red Sox won the World Series and the Patriots are 11-0 and favorites to win another Super Bowl. BC football is 10-2 and headed to their first ever ACC Title game, their soccer team is the #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and their basketball team is 4-0. The UMass football team is among the favorites to win the NCAA Championship Subdivision National Title. The Revolution had a good season, winning the US Open Cup and reaching their third straight MLS Cup, before getting their 3rd straight loss in the title game. And even the Bruins have a winning record, which is an improvement over last year. What I guess I'm trying to say is that it seems like a pretty good time to be writing about these teams. So without further adieu, let's look at the Boston sports news this week.
New England Patriots
- The big news coming from the Patriots following their surprisingly close victory over the Eagles on Sunday night is that linebacker Roosevelt Colvin suffered a foot injury during the game, and the team has placed him on injured reserve, ending his season. Incidentally, this is the second time Colvin has been placed on IR during his tenure with the Patriots, as he suffered a hip injury just 2 games after joining the team as its biggest free agent signing to that point in 2003.
- Colvin has been a major contributor on defense this year, and his loss may cause the Patriots to rethink some defensive strategy. Colvin had been playing outside, with Mike Vrabel usually on the other side, and Adalius Thomas and one of Junior Seau or Tedy Bruschi inside in the 3-4 formation. This system has been effective in keeping both Seau and Bruschi at the top of their games, and not tiring them out. They could try to replace Colvin in this system, either plugging Pierre Woods into his OLB spot and leaving everyone else as they were, or possibly play Eric Alexander, who started in the Patriots playoff loss to the Colts last year, at inside linebacker, moving Adalius Thomas to the outside, where he primarily played in Baltimore before this year. Another option is playing the 4-3 more often, with Thomas and Vrabel on the outside and Bruschi or Seau on the inside in the 3 linebacker alignment. This could work because of their defensive line depth, where Jarvis Green, who usually comes off the bench, would move into a starting defensive end spot, which he actually did for the first six weeks of the season while Richard Seymour was out, and Seymour would move inside to play tackle. These are some of the most likely scenarios, but with the way the Patriots do things, you never know what they will go with. I would not be surprised to see each one of these used at various times, with other options thrown in as well. Losing Colvin is a major blow to this defense, but they have enough depth that they should still be favorites to go 19-0 including the playoffs.
- Possibly adding to that depth will be veteran linebacker Chad Brown, who the team signed to replace Colvin on the roster. Brown was with the team in training camp this year but was cut prior to the start of the season. They then re-signed him and he was inactive for three of the four games he was with the team before they cut him again. He was also with the team for the 2005 season. While Brown is a former Pro Bowler, he does not appear to have the speed to play linebacker at a high level anymore, so I would not expect much out of him. It is clear the Patriots like him, perhaps because he is another smart veteran player, but there is a reason that they have already cut him twice this year.
- Also returning to the Patriots is wide receiver Troy Brown, who the team activated from the PUP list. Much like that of Chad Brown, Troy Brown's role on the team is hard to tell, as he probably won't be expected to do much. He may be my favorite player in Patriots history, but right now, he's the seventh receiver on the team, behind Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth, Jabar Gaffney, Kelley Washington, and Chad Jackson. While I assume Troy Brown will contribute to the team in some way, it remains to be seen whether it will be on offense, defense, special teams, or just in more of a leadership role. Although with Brown and Moss, the Patriots now have the two best receivers in Marshall history playing together for the first time.
- To make room on the roster for Troy Brown, the team waived rookie defensive lineman Kareem Brown. Kareem Brown had not played in a game this season after being drafted in the fourth round out of the University of Miami. Due to trades, he was actually the second player the Patriots selected in this year's draft. Interestingly enough, with him gone, that means only one of the Patriots' nine draft picks from this year is still with the team - the only one who was drafted before him, first round pick Brandon Meriweather.
- One more bit of Patriots news here, Asante Samuel has been named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week. And the price goes up...
Boston Celtics
- Not a whole lot of Celtics news right now. The biggest story at the moment is that they lost to the Cavs in OT, 109-104, dropping their record to 11-2.
- The only other real news is that the team has recalled rookie point guard Gabe Pruitt from the Utah Flash of the D-League after he spent only two games playing there. With injuries to Tony Allen and Ray Allen, this move was made primarily for practice purposes, so that the team will have enough guards without resorting to playing guys out of position. I'm not a big fan of the D-League system as it stands anyway, mainly due to the fact that there are no teams remotely close to the northeastern US, so having him with the Celtics again does not strike me as a bad move. I can't believe the NBA couldn't put some D-League teams in the New England area so that all the teams in the northeast, which really comes down to all the teams in the Atlantic Division, could use this resource better.
Boston Red Sox
- Jon Lester has won the 2007 Tony Conigliaro Award, which is named after the former Sox player and given to a Major League Baseball player who overcomes adversity. Lester was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the summer of 2006, but recovered and started and won the deciding game 4 of the World Series. This honor couldn't be more deserved. It is a great honor for Lester and another chapter in the incredible story of his still young career. He is actually now one of two players on the current roster who have won the awards, joining the recently re-signed Mike Lowell, who won the award in 1999 with the Marlins after he overcame cancer.
- The other big story with the Red Sox isn't really a story at all, not yet at least. It is the story that comes around every year at this time, the trade rumors. The big rumors surround Johan Santana, and what the Sox (and the Yankees as well as a few other teams) might be willing to give up to get him from the Twins. I've heard people throw out the names of Clay Buchholz, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Lester as being headed to Minnesota for Santana. While that is an awful lot of excellent young talent, it might be worth it when you consider that Santana will only be 29 at the start of the 2008 season, meaning he is just entering the stage of his career where most pitchers peak. I guess we'll just have to sit back and see what happens, but if I had to make a guess, I'd say the Sox do not end up with Santana when all is said and done.
- The other trade rumor also involves the Sox and the Twins, as Coco Crisp has be rumored to be headed to Minnesota. This one obviously depends on whether or not the Sox trade Ellsbury, but I doubt very much Ellsbury will get traded, which leaves Coco as the odd man out in the outfield. One possibility is that Crisp replaces Ellsbury in the Santana trade. While Crisp was valuable to the team last year defensively, he has a good contract that other teams look at as much more affordable than some other centerfield options. Once again, since this is just a rumor, we'll have to wait and see on this one, although I hope the Sox get equal value for Coco and don't just trade him because he's getting squeezed out. With the way injuries go, there's a chance they'll trade him away and then wish two months later that they hadn't.
Boston College Football
- One more newsbit here and then I'm done. Quarterback Matt Ryan has been named the ACC Player of the Year. The award does not come as a surprise, as he had been named the preseason Player of the Year, but he backed up that prediction and lived up to expectations. He also won the ACC Offensive Player of the Year and has been named a finalist for the national Walter Camp Player of the Year award. With his awards, Ryan was also named to the All-ACC first team along with teammates tight end Ryan Purvis and safety Jamie Silva. Running back Andre Callender, offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus, linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar, and cornerback DeJuan Tribble were named to the second team while wide receiver Brandon Robinson, defensive tackle Ron Brace, and defensive end Alex Albright were named honorable mentions. The many honors bestowed upon these players shows the type of season this team has had this year, as the have the chance to win the ACC Title on Saturday.
Well, that's all I feel like writing about now. Feel free to leave comments since I'm not sure if anyone even reads this anyway. Let me know what you think of the news, of my writing, or anything.
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