So Robert Williams is finally starting to get some burn off the bench with Al Horford out and he has ran with that opportunity. The Time Lord has been rewarding Mattes and I for all the hype pieces we wrote before he even clocked into an NBA game. So we decided now was the perfect time for Bob to get his own shirt. Robert Williams’ time is now. The Time Lord shirts are here and we’ll be taking pre-orders on them starting today!
Here’s the backstory on the Time Lord nickname via MassLive if you aren’t constantly on Celtics Twitter:
“The Celtics, of course, selected Williams at No. 27. When Williams was late for a conference call and absent for the team’s first Summer League practice, the media reaction was intense.
“I’m irony poisoned, but to me it was hilarious,” Hebert said. “Manny Ramirez is the first athlete I loved and it was very Manny. And like, local writers and talk-radio people overreacted, and the whole point of Weird Celtics Twitter is to make fun of them and media in general being too uptight. …
So (we) started joking that he wasn’t late, he was operating on a different timeline concurrent to the one we are in, as evidenced by the fact that I knew he was a Celtic two years before he was a Celtic. And we would do it with people taking themselves really seriously and they’d get very mad at us for thinking they were too uptight. So from there he became a T I M E L O R D, like the characters in Doctor Who whose time travel can tie together terrible holes in the plot of a shoddy script.”
So is Kyrie Irving a Jedi? It would explain the insane handle and ball control in traffic; dude’s been using the force this whole time. It would also explain his overly elaborate and theatrical style of speaking. Kyrie is simply stuffed to the gills with midichlorians.
Today, The Baltimore Ravens officially benched Joe Flacco in favor of Lamar Jackson. This event was so profoundly biting to our generation, the news of it overshadowed a mass shooting in France, the #3 guy in the Vatican going down on sex abuse charges, and whatever shitstorm is the latest to roll through the American political spectrum. Just captivating.
Although there seems to be a Jimmy G, or Carson Wentz, or Josh Allen year after year nowadays, people forget Flacco was the first of the lower-tier school QBs. A 6’6″ rocket-armed, curiously mobile signal caller out of Delaware of all places. He also had a unibrow and was called a loser/shut in by his own Dad within two years of entering the league so idk why I’m so surprised in hindsight. New York Giants fans, YOU’RE NEXT QB!
(Final Note: If you haven’t and need a recommendation, give “Frontier” a watch. Engrossing).
Big Z
Week 14 was a bye week for the Z-Men, so it was a bit irritating to see George Kittle rip off 37 points and Christian McCaffrey rip off 21. Save some for the (fantasy) playoffs, boys!
With McCaffrey and my kicker Wil Lutz going on Monday night in Week 15, there is a definite possibility I will be waking up my neighbors screaming at the tv Monday night.
Papa G
Fantasy season is officially over for me. Red thrashed me pretty good in my only league where I made the playoffs. Welp, time to start my Game of Thrones rewatch.
Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttteeeeeeeeees
After suffering through the worst regular season of my fantasy career, it’s nice to know that I will not be finishing in last! “Amari’s Resurrection” beat Red’s squad in the first round of the loser’s bracket and will not be the dreaded Sacko! (It’s sad how excited I am about that, but I’d never recover if I ever finished last in this league. Seriously, I just could not handle that.) And how apropos my team name is, as Amari Cooper went BANANAS again, finishing the afternoon with 46 points on Sunday. (I know. I know. But hey! I already apologized to him publicly two weeks ago for the vitriol and hatred I spewed his way earlier this year.) Now I got a tough matchup this week against Papa Giorgio to get the chance to play for the “Least Sucky Loser” title. Hey, at least it’s something.
I lost in the first round of the loser’s bracket in the other league. My opponent also had Amari Cooper…and Zeke…and Gronk. And I had Cousins, Rivers, and Sony Michel going this week…sooo, yeah. I should be able to fend off a last-place finish against last week’s low-scorer. Dear God, I hope so….
Red
Where to begin….well I lost in one league by 6 points because my opponent, the one and only Mattes, got FOURTY SIX points from the Undertaker, err I mean Amari Cooper.
In my other league I rolled Papa Giorgio in the first round behind huge days from Christian McCaffrey, Ezekiel Elliott, and Spencer Ware. My prize? A date with the buzzsaw that is the No. 1 seed and a projected 30 point blowout loss. Keep me in your prayers.
Joey B
Lost and will finish the year in both last and last in points for. Not a great year!
ESPN – Whichever team signs free-agent reliever Adam Ottavino will have a confident pitcher. Assessing the state of today’s game on MLB’s Statcast podcast, the 33-year-old right-hander said that Babe Ruth couldn’t keep up.
“I had an argument with a coach in Triple-A about Babe Ruth’s effectiveness in today’s game,” Ottavino said. “I said, ‘Babe Ruth, with that swing, swinging that bat, I got him hitting .140 with eight homers.’
“He was like, ‘Are you nuts? Babe Ruth would hit .370 with 60 homers,’ and I’m like, ‘I would strike Babe Ruth out every time.’
“I’m not trying to disrespect him, you know, rest in peace, you know, shoutout to Babe Ruth. But it was a different game. I mean, the guy ate hot dogs and drank beer and did whatever he did. It was just a different game.”
As everyone knows, Babe Ruth is regarded as the greatest player in the history of baseball. He had a career batting average of .342 with 714 home runs and is the all-time leader in slugging % at .690 and OPS at 1.164. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
But that was playing against guys that worked in factories and delivered milk in the morning. Not to mention he played against white guys and white guys only. Ruth retired 12 years before Jackie Robinson made his major league debut. So there are a lot of arguments to be made if you want to poke some holes in the legend that is Babe Ruth.
Babe Ruth played the cards he was dealt though and absolutely dominated the competition that was put in front of him for 22 years. Can’t knock the hustle. But if he played today?
6’2″ and north of 250 pounds? Yea that guy might struggle against hyper-specialized relievers throwing 100 mph on the black.
It’s impossible to really know how he would fare in today’s game. You know what is a much more fun argument? How would players from today fare in Babe Ruth’s era? In any sport really. Imagine LeBron James playing in the 1950s against a bunch of 5’11” dudes in short shorts? He would score 80 points a night without even breaking a sweat.
Leave it to a guy from New York who went to school in Boston to make national headlines for spitting the truth.
We’re quickly nearing the end of December, which means 2018 is already coming to a close somehow. Naturally, that means it’s time for year end lists! With everyone on the internet posting Spotify analytics of what they listened to all year long I figured it was only appropriate to break down the best music of the year…according to me. Full disclosure, this list definitely skews heavier into hip hop than your traditional year end best of list, but hey we started #RushHourRap so what else did you expect? Without further ado, I give you my Top 5 Albums of 2018.
J Cole – KOD
One of the year’s truly most unexpected and experimental heaters of an album. J. Cole dropped “KOD” from the cloud’s, which more and more artists are doing these days, and I cannot believe how Cole continues to hit it out of the park. Kids on Drugs, King Overdose, and Kill Our Demons are the three different meanings of that album title, according to Cole himself.
In succession he has released “Cole World: The Sideline Story,” “Born Sinner,” “2014 Forest Hills Drive,” “4 Your Eyez Only,” and now “KOD.” Mind you, these FIVE albums came directly on the heels of “Friday Night Lights” and “The Warmup,” which in my opinion is the greatest mixtape ever released not named “Da Drought 3.”
Granted a couple of the songs came dangerously close to overkill, which only the likes of Fall Out Boy and Dane Cook have seen as the NBA Playoffs ABUSED the usage of “KOD” in commercials.
Seriously, remember how badly MLB drove that 2007 Dane Cook commercial into the ground?
Fittingly released on 4/20, this is Cole’s first foray into a legitimate concept album as the entire collection is about drug abuse, addiction, greed, and our own demons. It’s a bit of a paradox as “KOD” sounds like an album promoting the typical rap pillars (money, women, drugs), while actually doing the opposite as Cole slips in some mature tidbits of advice for those struggling with these vices.
Without the drugs I want you be comfortable in your skin I know you so I know you still keep a lot of shit in You running from yourself and you buying product again I know you say it helps and no I’m not trying to offend But I know depression and drug addiction don’t blend
I understand this message is not the coolest to say But if you down to try it I know of a better way Meditate
Best Track: FRIENDS
The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
This really is an incredible album coming out at the perfect time. With anyone and everyone suffering from anxiety, depression, and general insecurity, a lot of people blame social media. Everyone is fronting, showing you the highlights of their lives so you end up scrolling through news feeds of hundreds of people you “know” seemingly doing better than you, looking better than you, making more money than you. It’s easy to see how that can screw with your head. “Modernity has failed us” is one of the most quotable, appropriate lyrics I’ve heard in a long time. These technological advancements that were meant to bring us all closer together have ironically ended up making us feel more isolated than ever before. The 1975 have always been out there, experimental, and straight up weird at times, but more often than not it just works. This album is no exception as it truly is a genre-bending collection of music featuring tracks from pop to rock to jazz to electronica and everything in between.
“Brief Inquiry is a vivid and panoramic record about what it means to be alive right now, in all its terror and glory. Its explorations of technology-induced numbness put into relief the human joy of reconnecting to another person, or maybe just oneself.”
Best Track: Love It If We Made It
Kanye West & Kid Cudi – Kids See Ghosts
Kanye has had a whirlwind year of borderline schizophrenic behavior primarily around his thoughts on politics and his support of a polarizing president. After misguided outbursts on TMZ, the bizarre sit down/press conference with Trump, and his trademark rants on Twitter it seems like Yeezy finally realized it may be best to just sit the next few plays out.
This didn’t slow down his music production though as Kanye dropped 2 albums this year, with a third one due in November that was recently delayed. The first album he released this year, “ye,” was one that despite mixed reviews I really enjoyed. “Ye” is admittedly a weird Kanye album made for Kanye stans. If you’re not a huge Kanye guy I can see how you’d trash it. I think the biggest shortcoming of that album is that it seems more like a mixtape without any rhyme or reason as to why these songs were selected and put together in the first place. But his second album of the year was a collaboration with old friend Kid Cudi called “KIDS SEE GHOSTS.” Kanye and Cudi go way back having worked together on a number of hits over the years, including All of the Lights, Erase Me, and Welcome to Heartbreak. It’s a fascinating duet as both Kanye and Cudi have publicly struggled with depression and overall mental health with Cudi actually checking himself into rehab. So seeing these two rap about the issues that have plagued them over the years is definitely worth a listen. While this isn’t “Watch the Throne”it’s definitely an awesome collab album with Cudi’s trademark melancholy rhymes helping to level out Kanye’s outlandishness.
“For fans who’ve watched Cudi and Kanye’s relationship evolve from 2008 — from mentor and protégé to adversaries to equals — the announcement of the pair’s joint effort was supposed to be a dream-team rap fantasy come true. In the aftermath of ye, an album currently atop the Billboard 200 but also a mid-year front runner for most polarizing project of 2018, Kids See Ghosts acts as a bewildered fan’s contextual roadmap, providing some clarity for ye and giving an update on Cudi’s mental state.”
Best Track: Reborn
Mac Miller – Swimming
Different than anything Mac Miller had ever put out before, Swimming is a collection of dark, depressing songs wrapped in slow, soft ballads. It’s an album that deals with Mac’s struggle with drugs, loneliness, and love. If it sounds like a movie you’ve already seen thats because it is. Vice points out:
“It’s lucid and lush, brushed with rich sounds assembled using the help of Jon Brion, the composer of Eternal Sunshine and The Spotless Mind, one of Miller’s favorite films.”
It’s an incredibly haunting album in hindsight considering Mac overdosed just a month after its release. RIP Mac. Vice continues;
“it’s a dark record wrapped in light and airy packaging, where its contents are someone looking for freedom in becoming resigned to their sadness, hoping they will soon overcome it—to be better.”
Best Track: Self Care
Kyle – Light of Mine
I know this one is coming out of left field as most of you have probably never heard a Kyle song aside from his collab with Lil Yachty on “I Spy” that popped over the summer. But this is an artist who has quietly and methodically been putting out incredible work for the past 5 years across 3 records. After various mixtapes and indy work, “Light of Mine” is his debut studio album. The self dubbed “beautiful loser,” Kyle raps about everything from video games, and his struggles with women, to growing up as an outcast in the age of hyper-emphasized popularity with social media. “Light of Mine” takes it to another level that is reminiscent of “Thank Me Later” Drake as Kyle croons over incredibly catchy beats with a few A-list features (2 Chainz, Khalid) thrown in for good measure.
2016 hit me like a bag o’ bricks (yup) 2017 switched up, like ooh it’s lit (it’s lit) I nearly had a mental breakdown And eight months later had a hit I guess life is like box a chocolates, huh You never know what you finna get
Best Track: Ups & Downs
That’s it. That’s the Top 5 albums of the year as determined by me. Love it? Hate it? Want me to curate an entire playlist for the soundtrack to your life? Tweet @the300sboston and let me know what you think.
So it looks like there’ll be a lot less facial hair and excessive body-leaning in the ninth inning for the Sox next season. (Seriously, though, Kimbrel’s pre-pitch shtick drives me NUTS. I don’t exactly know why, but I’ve always hated it.)
WHY, though??!!
On Monday, Sox GM Dave Dombroski issued this little nugget about the 30-year-old free agent and the likelihood of him being back in Boston next season:
Dave Dombrowski on closer position/Craig Kimbrel: “Our payroll is pretty high at this point. So without getting specific on him, we’re not looking to make a big expenditure in that area. So read that as you may.”
Even though this technically doesn’t mean anything for certain, Dombrowski’s always been pretty direct, and he’s typically not one to beat around the bush. His comments yesterday combined with the fact that Kimbrel is allegedly looking for a six-year deal (LOL!!!) pretty much signals the end for the bearded one’s time in The Bean.
Easily the game’s top closer for the first five years of his career in Atlanta (186 saves and a 1.43 ERA in 289 innings), Kimbrel has been a bit up-and-down since, hovering between above-average and dominant for the past four seasons, the last three of which being with the Sox.
With the Sox, Kimbrel has seen his seasonal ERA go from 3.40 to 1.43 to 2.74, further demonstrating the inconsistency he’s shown ever since leaving the Peach State. Such is the risk you take with most flamethrowers as they get older, and overall his time in Boston was likely more “good” than “bad.”
BUT there’s no denying the fact that he was atrocious this past postseason, sporting a 5.91 ERA and allowing 19 baserunners in just 10.2 innings pitched. (And this was after a season in which he sported the second-highest walk rate and the highest home-run rate of his career.) Somehow, he never technically blew a save in October, but he certainly wasn’t one of the reasons the Sox won the Series this year. In fact, he was probably one of the main reasons why they could’ve just as easily lost.
But again, I’m not trying to tear the guy down on his way out. After all, he was pretty damn good at times here, and when he’s on his game he can be downright untouchable. However, he’s not “six years” or “$16 million per year” good anymore, and I agree that it’s time to part ways.
I’m with ya on this one, Dave. Now who are we gonna get to replace him?
First things first, I say “brewing” because so far there has been some pretty heated arguments, but I wouldn’t say this train has quite left the station yet, particularly as twitter goes. No one has been doxxed or swatted, to my knowledge, and no ones families have been threatened, again to my knowledge. So this is not a full-blown twitter war yet. In a number of words, Franz Ferdinand is yet to be assassinated, setting this whole thing off.
It should also be stated that due to my “no research” policy I am not sure how this started. The first item I saw of it was that somebody claimed R.Kelly was the King of R&B, a possibly accurate claim despite him being a despicable human being, and another user countering with an absolutely preposterous contender who I now forget. It wasn’t quite Omarion, but it was pretty close. That was really what got the pot simmering, that our second entrant to the conversation was so far off that this demanded a squabble.
Possibly the most important part of this entire debate is the long list of “Kings of R&B”. I don’t know a TON about how monarchies work beyond a high school, and small bit of college, history education, as well as a fanhood of “Game of Thrones” and to a much, much “there is nothing else the fuck on” extent, “The Tudors”. With that said I, being an intellectual, know that “mono”, in either Latin, Greek, or possibly some sort of Sumerian, means “one”. There can only be one king. So the fact that people are tweeting out lists of “Kings of R&B” is sort of contradictory.
The list themselves are only a bit intriguing. I was surprised how many people had Trey Songz. He makes bangers and definitely some of the top baby making music of our era, but didn’t know people considered him a legit R&B guy. Bruno Mars is nonsense, as he falls into the “Uptown Funk” genre. Also the Weekend is just weirdass (but good) music, dk if thats R&B. I know people like to show they are as accepting as entirely possibly but sorry, Frank Ocean is trash, or at least not the king of R&B. I have no problem with the guy, but I think people are throwing in Robin Thicke’s name just because they want to see the world burn.
So ya, twitter is soon to be ablaze with arguments regarding the modern R&B Congress (really you can’t call them all Kings, fuck off). So place your bets for when this becomes a full scale riot and then gets taken offline altogether. Blood in the streets because of some sick beats (o snap).
As already noted earlier today by Red, what a night it was for Bob at the Garden on Monday! His performance helped the Celtics win their seventh game in their last eight tries, and it really seems like The Green are starting to turn it on.
The Celtics rookie played a season-high 26 minutes against New Orleans and proved exactly why he was being projected by many as a lottery pick before this past June’s draft. His seven points and 11 boards were solid enough, but he also compiled three blocks – TWO of which were on none other than Anthony Davis.
Even more impressive is the fact that he held Davis to 7-of-17 shooting overall on the night; so, yes, while Davis did score 41, over half of those points were actually allowed by Daniel Theis and others besides Williams who covered The Brow last night. Bob also showed incredible discipline, playing so aggressively yet only committing one foul and zero turnovers.
The rookie big man was all over Davis last night.
Red and I have been telling you since July that this kid was going to be something special, and we got our vindication last night. This is just a sign of things to come.
Another 300s favorite, Marcus Morris, was also huge in last night’s win. He posted 31 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Ever since being inserted into the starting lineup at the end of November along with Marcus Smart, Morris has averaged over 15 points per game.
This man has kept on rolling all year long.
Brad Stevens’ choice to switch things up a few weeks ago has proven to be a very underrated (and potentially season-saving) move. Replacing Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown in the starting lineup for Morris and Smart may have sounded foolish just three months ago, but there is no doubt that the decision has injected some much-needed life into this team; the Celtics are undefeated through four games in December, and they have lost just once since Thanksgiving. I know that “season-saving” may sound a bit melodramatic, but this was a team that had lost five of their previous nine beforehand, and something needed to be done – and quickly – to get the team back on track.
Kudos on that one, Brad.
And what’s even better is that neither Hayward nor Brown have suffered as a result of the move, as both are still a huge part of the rotation and are each playing well over 20 minutes per night. Though Brown missed three games after injuring his back against Dallas on November 24, he’s averaged over 20 points per game in three games since returning. Hayward has been a bit more inconsistent and is still trying to find his groove, but his 30-point explosion against Minnesota on December 1 should give fans hope that he’s not too far off.
Hopefully, this was Hayward’s coming-out party.
The team now currently sits fifth in the East, which is certainly not where most expected them to be this far into the season. Alas, don’t worry, Celtics Nation; it is still early and we’ve seen plenty of encouraging things over the past couple weeks which leads me to believe they’ll be just fine in the end.
Next up is a matchup with the Wizards on Wednesday night. The Celts then get Atlanta, Detroit, and Phoenix before a Friday night showdown against the No. 2-seed Bucks just before Christmas.
So while November was a bit of a rough patch, I’ve been liking what I’ve been seeing lately, boys! Keep it up!
With pretty much everyone of note sitting last night (Kyrie, Hayward, and Horford) there were plenty of minutes to go around. Enter Robert Williams AKA Time Lord, who got his first taste of legit NBA time with 26 minutes last night and boy did he put on a show. The Time Lord finished with 7 points and 11 rebounds, but for a young, raw player he was a force on the glass. Before last night Williams hadn’t played more than 8 minutes in any game this year so it was great to get an extended look at the 1st round pick. He was even a couple of inches away from being No. 1 on SportsCenter as he muffed an alley oop attempt. The highlight of the night for my young neighbor in Brighton though was this absolutely devastating block of arguably the best player in the game Anthony Davis.
What a block by Robert Williams on Anthony Davis 👀#Celtics ☘️
Davis still finished with 41 points so nobody was shutting AD down, but that block was Williams making a statement. He actually had 3 blocks on the night as he made his presence known.
The best thing about the Robert Williams block of Anthony Davis may be that the rookie didn’t go for the initial hesitation fake. That’s a basketball instinct thing, and it speaks very well of the kid.
Yahoo – ESPN will begin broadcasting baseball games on Sunday nights an hour earlier beginning in 2019, with first pitch scheduled shortly after 7 PM EDT, Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reports. Games had typically started shortly after 8 PM EDT. ESPN has not made an official announcement but is expected to do so at the Winter Meetings.
It’s about time. Baseball games take 3-4 hours these days and god forbid its a Red Sox Yankees game. I know I sound like an old man, but I’m simply just not going to stay up until 11 or 12 at night to watch a baseball game.
Who the hell is actually up watching these games besides college kids and the unemployed?
This Yahoo story cites “player rest” as the main reason for the change, which may be true but I can’t imagine one hour making that much of a difference for players. This is a move that all fans should love, unless of course you live on the West Coast, but nobody cares what you think. Support a big market franchise when it’s not the best team in the league and maybe we’ll give you a spot at the table. Until then let the East Coast worry about these things.
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The 300s 