Thank god for the World Wide Leader. Sandoval is overpaid to be a bench player; scorching hot take out of Bristol. This is a pretty hilarious reminder of how poorly the Sox have evaluated Free Agents recently though. Only another presidency until that contract is up guys, no worries.
via Patriots.com
ESPN – “One agent whose free-agent client recently had a workout with the Patriots shared the following: When word of the player’s visit to New England had become public, four teams called that day to express some level of interest. Up to that point, interest in the player around the league had been dormant … this was one example of how their actions can sometimes spark movement from other clubs who are more likely to be reactive than proactive.”
For a second I thought this was a Jerry Thornton article, and Mike Reiss is a pretty straight shooter so this is not a pro-Patriots puff piece. These stories continue to come out about how the Patriots are just smarter than everyone else. Whether that’s actually even true or not doesn’t really matter because perception is reality my friends.
When fans say it, it comes off as “arrogant” and “cocky,” but when legit reporters are writing about how other teams are dialing up prospects they’ve never even heard of simply because Belichick and co. took a look at them, that is gold. Knowing Belichick this could very easily just be smoke and mirrors. He could probably make teams think the next stud NFL QB is going to come from a triple-option offense out of Navy.
Don’t fool yourselves, for as much as execs around the league bitch and moan every time the Pats do something new (looking at you John Harbaugh), they all take notes and do everything they can to replicate the Pats (again; looking at you John Harbaugh). That’s why the Belichick Coaching Tree, no matter how many former BB assistants fail to survive on their own, will never dry up as long as Bill is still coaching. Just keep throwing darts and hope that you stumble onto the next Belichick. Hell I wouldn’t be surprised if Steve Belichick gets an offer sheet for a head coaching gig next offseason.
Rusney Castillo Basically Left Out – Here we go again, another disaster of a contract in Boston. $72 million for a platoon player in Rusney Castillo. The Sox have signed a lot of shitty contracts the last 10 years, whether Edgar Renteria, Julio Lugo, Carl Crawford etc. Except this one might be the worst. Sure all the guys on that list were terrible, but at least they STARTED. The Sox butchered this so bad, signing a guy solely off a workout, without ever having seen him play and now they have a 25th man making more than most of the team. Best case scenario, Rusney turns into a super-sub (which is what his replacement Brock Holt is supposed to be doing instead of taking his job). In that case, fine it’s John Henry’s money to burn, but if not. Then they’ll have a lot of pricey dead roster spots. Belichick must be sick thinking about this on his boat in Nantucket.
Kings’ Rajon Rondo & DeMarcus Cousins get technical fouls for the simultaneous sarcastic clap at referee Marc Davis pic.twitter.com/osfOheS7Qg
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) March 31, 2016
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Legitimately laugh out loud funny. Rajon Rondo has proven more and more since he left the Celtics that he just does. not. care. – pair that with Boogie Cousins and you have a Bash Brothers duo of basket cases. Rondo getting tossed with 6.7 seconds left, while UP by 14 pts (and Cousins earning a 1 game suspension for receiving his league leading 16th Technical Foul of the season) is outrageous. Rondo has that Happy Gilmore simmering rage that will inevitably explode on a mini-golf clown.
The sarcastic clap is like something you do in a Rec league when you’re getting run out of the gym at the Y. I will forever love Rondo because he was such an odd cat, super competitive (laying the wood on kids in Connect 4), and always relished the audience of big games — but notice how over the years he went from “mercurial” in Boston to now a guy who routinely gets in fights with coaches and refs and gets ejected at a pretty good clip. Goes to show how easy it is to lose your focus when the Big Ticket isn’t screaming in your face 82 nights a year.
via Boston Globe
The Bulls and the Mess They’re In – This is pretty much exactly what the Celtics need, a team that for whatever reason is on the brink of blowing it up and willing to move their star centerpiece. Trader Danny, waiting like a snake in the grass for the past 3 years and stockpiling draft picks, is ready to strike. Why the Bulls want to move Jimmy Butler does not concern me, but if Chris Mannix’s report is right and they do indeed want to move on, then fully expect Danny to be first in line. If the C’s can pry Butler out of Chicago then they are in business. Assuming they hold onto Isaiah and team him up with Butler, that is a dynamic 1-2 scoring punch. The Celtics haven’t really had a pure scorer who can take over a game since Pierce was traded. Isaiah has been the best thing since, but still at times can be smothered by bigger defenders. Bring in Butler to take over that role and they would both flourish.
Not to mention, all it takes is one. Get one piece in here and it makes it so much easier to bring in another all-star. Don’t forget as much as Garnett loved Boston and raves about it to this day, he wanted no part of the Celtics until they moved Jeff Green (the No. 5 pick that year) for Ray Allen. Only then did he agree to waive his no-trade and go to the C’s. So my point is, do whatever you can to land a budding superstar and the rest can very easily fall into place, rather than banking on winning the goddamn Draft Lottery again and waiting on an 18 year old to turn into that superstar.
The 300s 