We interupt the baseball talk to say AAARRRRGHHH!

Couldn't Paul Pierce just heave it up with time running out in regulation?
Wasn't there someone open?

I wanted that sweep... and now we all know an 0-3 hole is NOT insurmountable.

Ask the 2004 Yankees.
Ask this year's Bruins.

I want the Celtics to win.
Why?

I am greedy.

Seriously, NOBODY was open?

My wife questions my loyalty to the Red Sox!

Last night was a complex night of television watching... and it led to all things my wife questioning my devotion to the Red Sox.

I'll explain.

I got home yesterday evening and my kids were with the sitter. I went to the gym where the Red Sox were playing the Yankees. After Monday night's debacle, I was kind of numb. Yeah it was Red Sox - Yankees... but as I said before, it was clear that this year the rivalry was kind of limp because the Yankees were so much better.

But while on the treadmill in my practically empty gym, I put one TV on the Red Sox/Yankees game and one on the Celtics/Magic game.

The Sox were wet from the rain and looked limp on the field. Beckett was getting smacked around AGAIN, Sabathia was pitching his way out of any jam he got in and frankly the Sox were entering a level of apathy that even Hanley Ramirez would say "Hey! Let's pick it up!"

Meanwhile, the Celtics were playing inspired basketball.

The Celtics, who could have treated Game 2 as a Mulligan, came out blazing. They had the Magic on their heels and while they weren't blowing them out of the building, it was clear that they wanted to head back to Boston up 2-0.

I had one team playing with the heart of a champion... and the other played with all the intensity of Frank Sinatra in The Cannonball Run 2.

So yeah, I focused on the Celtics.

And when the Celtics won and wifey came home...
it was American Idol time.

Now granted, without Siobhan nor Big Mike, it has lost some of its luster.

But my girl Crystal Bowersox is still in the running plus it is getting down to the wire.

I checked the Sox score. It was now tied 5-5.

Nope! Not doing it! You aren't going to make me a sucker on back to back nights!

Wifey and I watched the hot guy be boring, Crystal not change the genders of "Maybe I'm Amazed" and that boring Lee guy continue to be boring but for some reason everyone loved him.

I checked my phone.
The Sox had won, 7-5.

I look over at wifey.

SULLY: The Red Sox won. They came back from a 5-1 hole against the Yankees.

WIFEY: You weren't watching it?

SULLY: No, not after last night.

WIFEY: You aren't a real fan!

SULLY: What are you talking about? Who follows the team like me?

WIFEY: You quit on them. If you were a real fan, you'd be watching them.

SULLY: After last night? They sh*t the bed!

WIFEY: It's a new night! NEW SHEETS!

I sat back, realizing that as usual I wasn't going to win an argument with my wife.

WIFEY: (Muttering.) Sully Baseball... PAH!

PAH!

I can't argue with Pah!

Let's update the Tally.

DODGED A BULLET GAMES - 15

April 4 - 9-7 win against Yankees (On Opening Night, the Red Sox overcome a 5-1 Yankee lead with a game tying HR by Pedroia and a go ahead passed ball.)
April 10 - 8-3 win against Kansas City (Beckett out pitches Zack Greinke and nearly gets decapitated by a line drive.)
April 14 - 6-3 win in Minnesota. (Okajima gets Morneau to pop up with the bases loaded in the 7th and Papelbon wiggled out of a 9th inning jam.)
April 20 - 7-6 win against Texas. (Darnell McDonald introduces himself to Boston with an 8th inning game tying homer and a walk off hit in the 9th.)
April 21 - 8-7 win against Texas. (The Red Sox were down 4-0 early only to win it on Youk's 2 out 11th inning double.)
April 23 - 4-3 win against Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 3-0 lead but win it on Adrian Beltre's bases loaded walk.)

April 24 - 7-6 win against Baltimore. (The Red Sox score 6 in the 7th and hold off a late Baltimore comeback attempt.)
April 26 - 13-12 win at Toronto. (The Sox blow an early 5-0 lead but hang on for dear life in a slugfest.)
April 27 - 2-1 win at Toronto. (Buchholz holds the Jays down for 8 but it takes a bases loaded walk in the 8th to go ahead.)
April 28 - 2-0 win at Toronto. (Daniel Bard wiggles out of trouble in the 8th to help Lester shut down the Blue Jays and finish the sweep.)
May 4 - 5-1 win against the Angels. (Juan Rivera misplays Jeremy Hermedia's 2 out flyball into a 3 run game winning double)
May 5 - 3-1 win against the Angels. (Papi and Beltre homer and the Sox hang on despite squandering many potential rallies.)
May 6 - 11-6 win against the Angels. (Dice-K puts the Red Sox in a 4-0 hole before they even bat. The Sox bats respond.)
May 10 - 7-6 win against the Blue Jays. (Sox blow an early 2-0 lead, take advantage of some errors and hang on.)
May 18 - 7-5 win in New York. (Sox climb back from a 5-1 hole. A day after hitting a walk off homer, Marcus Thames drops a fly ball to start the winning rally for the Sox.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 12

April 6 - 6-4 loss against the Yankees. (Scutaro's error leads to the winning run.)
April 7 - 3-1 loss against the Yankees. (Sox leave the winning run on in the 9th only to lose on Granderson's 10th inning homer)
April 9 - 4-3 loss in Kansas City. (Bard coughs up the lead, denying Wakefield a win.)
April 17 - 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Sox can't score with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 11th... lost it in the 12th.)
April 17 - 6-5 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Red Sox comeback falls a run short, leaving two on in the 8th)
April 25 - 7-6 loss to Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 4-1 lead, leave the winning run on second in the 9th, let up 3 in the 10th and could only score 2 in the bottom of the 10th)
April 30 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (Tejada ties the game with a 2 out 8th inning homer and wins it with a bloop in the 10th)
May 1 - 12-9 loss in Baltimore. (Dice-K and Wakes get pounded, wasting 2 homers from Ortiz and an early 4-1 lead.)
May 2 - 3-2 loss in Baltimore. (Varitek is thrown at home trying to score with 2 outs in the 8th. Sox get swept in the 10th.
May 12 - 3-2 loss against the Blue Jays. (The Sox rally in the 9th comes up a run short and Kevin Gregg gets an ugly save.)
May 15 - 7-6 loss in Detroit. (The Sox blow a 6-1 lead and lose it on a 2 out bases loaded walk in the 12th.)
May 17 - 11-9 loss in New York. (The Sox come all the way back from a 5-0 first inning hole to take a 9-7 lead in the 9th... but Papelbon lets up a 2 run game tying shot to A-Rod and a 2 run walk off shot to Marcus Thames.)

+3

Doesn't it seem like they've had more heartbreakers this year?
Evidently they haven't

OK, bring on the Twins... I'll be watching.

Ugh...

The Lakers won and I have a bad taste in my mouth.

Really Orlando?

You blow two games that you could have won in regulation and then don't even show up on your home court for the final game?

I have to see Kobe be a champion again? Really?

Ugh.

I watched about 3 minutes of the game last night.

You'll forgive me if I skip the parade.

It's baseball season now.

There's no NBA, no NHL, no football.

Just baseball... 

Did LeBron James just answer Michael Jordan's shot over Craig Ehlo?

I was watching the last few minutes of the Cavs/Magic game with my father in law tonight. I explained to him why when in doubt, I always root for a Cleveland team.

I'd get into it again, but it is best explained in my Cleveland Rocked City post from last year.

When Hedo Turkoglu (I think I spelled that correctly) his the shot with one second left, I strangely felt deflated. 

I had been there before. That moment where you think "I thought this year was going to be different."

I had that when the Red Sox lost in the post season in 1988, 1990, 1995, 1998 and 1999. None of those teams got to the brink of 1986 nor 2003... their disappointment came not from how close they got but with how they whimpered out.

It was the "Oh no" feeling that my Cubs fan boss Frank had when Loney hit the grand slam last October.

And the TNT cameras cruely went around the arena, getting shots of the thousand yard stares from Cleveland fans of all ages. 

There were some middle aged fans who were clearly thinking "I can't believe THIS team is going to putter out."

There was a kid who had an expression on his face as if to say "Wait a minute? Am I really going to grow up as miserable about my sports teams as my dad?"

There was an older guy who you could see his brain working. "Cavs are toast, the Indians are the worst team in the AL, the Browns stink... oh man this isn't getting any easier."

And I said to my father in law "There is no way the Cavs can win it now."

And my father in law in his infinite wisdom said "Oh it's possible."

I shook my head and said "This city needs a hug."

Then LeBron hugged them.

It's amazing to watch a sporting event live that when it happens, you know it will be shown on highlights reels from this day forward.

And of course the comparison will come to Jordan's shot over Ehlo... only this time Cleveland is happy.

In some ways the Jordan shot will always be bigger. It ended a series and it signaled the beginning of Jordan's playoff supremacy. 

But if the Cavaliers win the NBA title this year, James' shot my wind up being bigger.

It was a Conference Finals game, not a first round match up like Jordan's.

And Jordan's Bulls didn't win the title THAT year. (They did 6 of the next 8 seasons... but still.)

If this is the turning point... the Gibson homer... the Messier Game 6 against the Devils... the Dave Roberts steal... the LT recovering Roger Craig's fumble... that leads to a dramatic championship... then it will be bigger.

What I am saying is Cleveland fans should be clearing their schedules for any Cavs game.

Evidently all they need is one second to do something amazing.

(Why didn't Van Gundy quadruple team LeBron?)

A big gulping sound from Cleveland

When I saw the Cavs had a big halftime lead yesterday, I wrote down a note to do a blog post for Cleveland fans...

I was going to urge Cleveland fans to clear their schedule between June 4th and June 18th.

I was going to say this will be a coronation of King LeBron and a liberation of Cleveland sports fans from an oppression felt since 1964.

I was prepared to say even J. R. R. Tolkien would say "That's quite a long way to go for one ring!" 

Then a funny thing happened. In a commercial break for American Idol... I clicked on my computer and saw the Magic came back and won.

My my my. 

Not to get all Kill Bill on Cleveland fans, but you didn't think it was going to be that easy did you?

Yeah, me too. For a second there I kind of did.

Well, now they have a series and have to take home court away from the Magic. 

Other wise you'd have to ad another clip to that growing post 1964 Cleveland sports montage.

And we don't want that, do we?