Brady Beats Me To The Punch!

Brady Beats Me To The Punch!

MUST WIN?

It’s hard to be very critical of the Boston Bruins heading into tonight’s game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals at the TD Garden. Yes, they return home in a tough position trailing the Canucks 2-0 in the series. But their effort in both games was superb and wasn’t this somewhat to be expected?

After all, Vancouver was the league’s best team this season and does possess more talent than Boston. They were favored to win both games at home which they did, so should we be upset?

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Yes, Tim Thomas’ aggressiveness got the best of him in overtime Saturday night, but it’s that aggressiveness that has made him such a great goaltender for the Bruins these past few years. You know the old saying: live by the sword, die by the sword.

While history tells us that coming back from being down 2-0 in the series will be very difficult, it’s not an impossible task.

Keep in mind that the Bruins lost the first two games of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against Montreal in Boston and still rallied to win the series.

Having said all of that, winning tonight is an absolute must! I do not believe that this team would be capable of rallying from a 3-0 deficit against a team as talented as Vancouver.

BRADY BEAT ME TO IT!

I was pleasantly surprised to see what happened this past week up in Boston with Tom Brady and many of his Patriots teammates. About 45 Pats players gathered at Boston College to hold their own workouts in lieu of the lockout which has prevented them from holding organized team activities in Foxboro.

Brady apparently organized and led the workouts which is a good thing.

For a few weeks I have been contemplating writing a column criticizing Brady for not putting together such workouts. Many other quarterbacks, like Philadelphia’s Michael Vick, have already done the same type of thing with their teammates and I have been waiting for Brady to take the lead with his team.

My concern was that he was too busy gallivanting with his super model wife in LA, New York or some tropical paradise as opposed to focusing on football.

While I still believe that Brady is not the same consistent fiery leader he was early in his career, this was a welcome sight for this Patriots’ fan. He may not lead his teammates 24/7 like he did when he was married to football only earlier in his career, but some leadership is better than none from #12.

SOX ON DECK:

With the Stanley Cup playoffs about to come to an end and the 2011 NFL season very much in doubt, it won’t be long before our beloved Boston Red Sox take center stage.

I’ll be the first to admit that I essentially wrote this team off after their 2-10 start and am happy to say that they have proven me wrong.

After a torrid month of May, the Sox have pulled themselves up off the mat and find themselves just 1 game behind the Yankees in the American League East.

Adrain Gonzalez has been unbelievable! David Ortiz has discovered the fountain of youth. And Carl Crawford is playing like we thought he would when Boston signed him to that 142 million dollar contract this past offseason.

The starting pitching has been solid but the bullpen remains a problem spot. Still, this has the makings of a very interesting season with the Sox.

What’s even better is that, after an off night this evening, they open up a 3-game series with the Yankees in New York tomorrow night.