Show #38- 14 Jan 2006

It's the BostonCast for Saturday, January 14th, 2005.

Welcome to the BostonCast.

This is your place to find in-depth analysis on all Boston area sports teams.

Teams covering this show include Red Sox,

Bruins, Patriots, Celtics, and even BU News once in a while.

Alright guys, I'm coming to you today with a great show.

This is the weekend podcast for January 14th, 2005.

Please email your feedback to thebostoncast at yahoo.com.

Alright guys, I've got a great show for you today.

Haven't heard me on the air in two weeks. I'm sorry about that delay.

There's been so much news going on.

I mean, the crucial part for my internet server to break down.

So, um...

Tch.

Just bad luck.

So, I was off the air for two weeks and now I'm back up and running.

So, um...

I am ready to go.

So, we have tons of news today.

This is going to be a pretty long show.

So, let's get it started.

Alright.

First of all, since we last talked, Patriots have gone through a lot.

A lot, lot, lot.

So, um...

And they have had a great, great win on the 7th of January, last weekend.

They won over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round of the playoffs, wild card Saturday.

They just massacred them, 28-3.

Not a massacre, but it was really, really a great game, great win to get under their belt.

Um, the 14th, which is today, they have another very, very, very crucial game.

They will be in Denver to face the Broncos, who are currently just really, really on a streak.

I mean, Jake Plummer has just been...

An outstanding quarterback lately.

So, uh, the 2005 AFC East champion New England Patriots will travel to Denver on Saturday night

to face the Broncos with a berth in the AFC Championship game on the line.

Denver, the AFC West champions, and the bearer of the second seed in the AFC playoffs,

is coming off a first-round playoff bye and won eight of its last nine regular season games.

New England has won seven of its last nine games, including a 28-3 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars

in the last...

Last week's wildcard round, which I already talked about.

And, um, it would be just great.

This is a very crucial game if the Patriots win here.

If not, they're gone.

I mean, it's no more Super Bowl.

This could end any day.

So, you know what?

It's really, really...

Everything is on the line.

Uh, if the Patriots did get a win, they would be going to the AFC Championship game.

And you know what?

They've won 11 straight consecutive playoffs.

So, I hope we can get a win.

But, because, I mean, with all the dynasty, the three Super Bowls, um, I hope we can get a win here.

But, anyway, this is a very crucial game, again, tonight at 8 p.m.

Since 2001, the Patriots are 18-3 when playing a team for the second time in the season

and are 6-0 when facing the opponent against whom they suffered a loss earlier in the same season.

New England dropped a 28-20 decision.

in Denver on October 16th and will have a rematch with the Broncos today.

The Patriots have outscored their opponents 516-315 in their 21 rematches since 2001.

And everything points to a Patriot win, but, um, I mean, they're solid down the stretch.

Over the last four seasons, the Patriots have stepped things up a notch as the calendars flip to November since 2001.

New England has done a remarkable job of finishing the season strong,

compiling a 46-8 record.

After November 1st, including playoff games.

In fact, since the 2003 season, the Patriots are 29-4 in games played in November or later.

The Patriots have won 30 of its last 34 games post-November 1st.

Their record in such games is the best in the NFL since 2001.

Additionally, since 2001, the Patriots are 32-5 in games played after Thanksgiving.

So, as I said, this is a great game.

Watch it on TV.

I think it's nationally-brought.

Yes, it's nationally-brought.

Watch it on TV. I think it's nationally-brought. Yes, it's nationally-brought.

Watch it on TV. I think it's nationally-brought.

I think it's nationally-brought.

The series breakdown overall time is 15-24, on the bottom end of that.

So again, the game's tonight, the last time, 8 PM, against the Broncos in Denver.

Alright guys, let's move into some Red Sox news right now.

Josh Beckett, the newly-acclaimed pitcher, the Red Sox-acclaimed, I don't know,

it was like a couple weeks ago, maybe a month ago.

Josh Beckett made his first public appearance in his

baseball home on Thursday, attending the Boston Baseball's Writer's Award dinner.

The hard-throwing righty is slowly taking his new surroundings and is eager to get his

Red Sox career started.

So, that's good news.

The Red Sox have signed a couple more people.

I mean, there will be no shortage of set-up men in Boston's 2006 bullpen like there was

last year.

After retaining Mike Timlin, acquiring Giamomoto in a trade, and signing Rudy Sienes, the Red

Sox signed free agent right-handed Julian Chavarez to a two-year, $6.7 million contract.

Chavarez gets a $500,000 signing bonus and salaries of $3.1 million in each of the next

two seasons.

The agreement also includes a club option for 2008 of $3.85 million.

That would become guaranteed if Chavarez appears in a total of 125 games in the next two seasons

or 65 games in 2007.

Red Sox.

The Red Sox took care of another procedural matter on Wednesday, signing infielder Tony

Graffagnino to a one-year deal.

Graffagnino did pretty well last season.

After accepting the club's arbitration on December 19th, his role is uncertain at this

point, but he might function as an all-purpose backup, rotating around the infield.

That scenario would be particularly ideal if the Alex Cora winds up being the starting

shortstop.

When he puts on the Red Sox uniform in 2006, the 32-year-old Chavarez will have a chance

to erase a bitter memory of Fenway Park when he surrendered a game-winning home run to

Mark Bellhorn in Game 1 of the 2004 World Series.

The Red Sox went on to sweep the Cardinals in that fall class.

Again, Chavarez is coming from the Cardinals.

Pitching for the Cardinals the last two seasons, Chavarez was one of the most durable set-up

men in baseball, making a total of 151 appearances.

Last year, he went 2-3 with a 3.43 ERA.

Two years ago, he posted a 2.38 ERA.

So, I think that is a great, great, great, great trade for the Red Sox moving into 2006.

You know what?

The Red Sox also put faith in their bullpen in 2006, or they look to, in other words.

They're really building it around Keith Folk.

Looks like Terry Francona does have some great set-up men to call on in 2006, but just how

sturdy is the bullpen?

Answers.

The answer to that question is unfolding in Arizona, where Keith Folk is conducting his

winter rehab and workouts in hope of avenging for perhaps the most nightmarish season of

his life.

Heading into last spring, the lasting image of Folk was the ecstasy on his face after

he recorded the final out in the 2004 World Series.

Now, he tries to erase the glum look on his face brought on by the 2005 season, which

just was not a great season for him.

The market, if the market has shaped up differently.

Perhaps the Red Sox would have acquired another insurance policy to anchor the bullpen in the

event of Folk didn't rebound, but at the price Billy Wagner and B.J.

Ryan were going for, the Red Sox opted to put their faith back in Folk.

Until he shows them a reason to think otherwise, Folk figures to be the anchor of the 2006

bullpen, and Folk had both knees surgically repaired last year, so it hopes that physical

issues are far behind him.

So, you know what?

I think that looks pretty good, too.

The Red Sox center fielder search really picks up, too.

This is going to be the last Red Sox news that I cover today, because there's just been

so much going on the last two weeks.

I don't think we have enough time in this show to do it, but anyway.

In Boston, while the Red Sox say they are comfortable opening the season with Alex

Cora at shortstop, if a better alternative doesn't emerge from the outside of the organization,

the front office continues to work the phones long and hard in search of a center fielder.

We've got some options, said Red Sox co-general.

We're making a lot of phone calls.

We're working towards it.

We have a list of guys we're going after.

We're going after them hard.

We're very confident we'll have a very good center fielder in 2006.

Just who that is remains anyone's guess.

The two names mentioned most frequently on the rumor mill have been Cleveland's Coco

Crisp and Seattle's Jeremy Reed.

Crisp would probably be ideal, because he would also fill that leadoff spot left vacant

by Johnny Damon because of his speed.

He's really a threat up there at the front of the lineup.

Meanwhile, while it was assumed that the club would acquire a replacement at short for Edgar

Renteria, there seems to be growing sentiment with the organization that Cora can handle

the job.

We've had a lot of confidence in Cora, said Hoyer, and the manager, Terry Francona, just

loves him, and he's such a smart player.

And then Jed Hoyer goes on to say he does every little thing just right.

That's pretty much it for Red Sox news.

Again, their outfield woes continue, and I will keep you posted on that.

So, we're going to have to move into some Bruins news.

The Boston Bruins have been very busy while we were on hold there for a little while.

They've had a ton, a ton of games since we last met.

So, I'm just going to say the scores of the ones, the past like seven games that have

happened, and the previous game, the last game, I am going to actually in-depth talk

about.

And recap for you guys.

All right.

They've been, while we were gone, they've been three losses and two wins.

Not great.

But their first loss since we last met was Monday, the 2nd of January.

They lost 1-0 to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Oh, so close to a great victory there.

But then on Thursday of that week, the 5th of January, they came back, beat Ottawa 4-2.

That was a great game.

And they just continued 7th.

Saturday, 7th of January, that was the Saturday, sorry, they won 6-3 against Tampa Bay.

San Jose, the following Tuesday, the 10th of January, they lost 6-2.

And their most recent game was the 12th of January.

And that was a loss, 6-0 in L.A.

Alexander Frolov scored a natural hat trick to help power the Los Angeles Kings past the

Boston Bruins, 6-0 at the TD Bank North Garden on Thursday night.

Okay.

The Kings goalie, Matthew Logarin, made 30 saves to preserve the shutout, while Andrew

Rakoff made 36 saves to the Bruins in the loss.

All three of Frolov's goals came in the third.

He first came on a wrist shot 44 seconds into the period, followed by a penalty shot at

the 5-17 mark.

And Frolov's third came with 10.55 remaining when he beat Rakoff with a shot in the slot.

I'm trying to make plans that don't exist.

We're looking for the next best play, and it never materialized.

As said Coach Mike Sullivan, we've overhandled the puck in our end, and because of that,

we turn it over and spend more time in our end.

It is difficult for me to understand what has happened in the last three days, because

this team has come such a long way in the last three weeks.

So you know what?

It was not a great game.

6-0 loss.

Kind of disappointing, but what are you going to do?

Not not great at all.

So they hope to rebound in their next game, which is, in fact,

today at 2 p.m.

They'll be facing Dallas back home in Boston.

And most of you guys can see this game, NBC, 2 p.m.

So again, their next game is today, January 14th, versus Dallas in home, 2 p.m.

And you can see it on NBC television.

We're moving right along in this edition of the Boston Cast Recap Edition.

And we will be moving forward.

So let's go right into the...

Celtics news.

You know what?

They have not been that great since we last met.

They are currently in third place in the Atlantic Division.

New York is right hot in their tails by one game.

And New Jersey is leading the Atlantic, followed by Philadelphia, who the Celtics played a

great game against in their last game.

So why don't we talk about that right now?

It was...

So disappointing.

I mean, January 13th, yesterday, Chris Weber now has a permanent place in the Philadelphia

76ers-Boston Celtics folklore.

In a triple overtime thriller, Weber had 31 points, 13 rebounds, and similarly every big

play as the Sixers outlasted the Celtics 125-124.

Allen Iverson had 33 points and 10 assists.

Samuel Dallenberg added 20.

11 rebounds and 7 blocks.

And Kyle Korver had a huge three-pointer and the double overtime buzzer for the Sixers,

who overcame a 16-point third-quarter deficit and trailed in all three extra sessions.

It was the 395th all-time meeting between the storied franchise and one that will be

remembered for a long time.

Players on both teams were on the verge of exhaustion but kept making big plays, none

more so than Weber.

Weber, who appeared to have more bounce...

Not to step, as the game wore on, I think Weber really, really sunk the Celtics.

I mean, just a great game for him.

He really pushed the Sixers to the top.

So again, not a great game.

Well no, it was a great game, just unfortunate that we lost that game.

So, you know what?

We have to move on though.

Their next game is Monday, January 16th, 3.30 p.m.

They're in Detroit to face the Pistons.

You can see this on NBA TV.

NBATV or FSNE.

And the radio, you can hear it on WRKO 680 AM.

All right, guys.

That's pretty much it for Celtics news.

So that's pretty much it for all news in the Boston cast.

I'm going to do a monthly wrap-up in a couple weeks.

And we are back on schedule again.

Sorry about the delay the past two weeks.

And there will be our next podcast will be Wednesday.

I'm back on track.

And thank you for listening.

Again, please email your comments to thebostoncast at yahoo.com.

And really check out our website.

It's great, our fan site, www.thebostoncastfansite.blogspot.com.

So that's pretty much it for this edition of the Boston cast.

I've got a great new poll on the fan site, so check that out as well.

I've already gotten like 200 votes.

So, again, thank you guys for listening to this edition of the Boston cast.

And I will see you on Wednesday.

And Wednesday with another podcast.