Some sports chatter

Celtics vs. Miami Heat: When the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals get under way later this week, expect another tough series. While it's true that the Celtics had been on the verge of a quick series against the Raptors in the conference semi-finals until the miracle shot with 0.5 of a second left by Toronto's OG Anunoby gave the Raptors new life, that the Celtics hung tough at the end proves promising for the Celts' next series. And, anytime you win a Game 7, you have to feel good about yourselves. The Celtics have been fun to watch and have provided some positive moments for New England sports fans after the Bruins' early exit from the NHL playoffs, and with the Red Sox' losing season, which they clinched this weekend despite splitting their series against Tampa Bay. So enjoy the Celtics this week; even if they don't make it all the way to the NBA Finals, they've already proved a most entertaining team and have given the region's sports fans something to smile about. ... Tampa Rays make history: In case you missed it, and given the small amount of fans who might be turning into the Red Sox during this dismal season, you might have missed this tidbit: The Rays' lineup during Friday night's game was the first time since 1901 -- that's right, since 1901 -- that a Major League club started all pure left-handed batters; in other words, no switch hitters in the lineup. The Sox would go on to get routed 11-1, in case you weren't watching .... Nice start by the Patriots and Cam Newton: The Patriots were clearly the more prepared team, given that the players on Sunday were seeing their first action of the year without any preseason games, and it showed as they beat the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium 21-11. The Pats will face a much tougher test next Sunday night (Sept. 20), when they meet the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle in the Sunday Night nationally-televised game. ... Fake crowd noise? Not really: Not a big fan of the fake crowd noise in either the Red Sox games or now, in this first Patriots game. ... But the worst thing I've seen in these no-fan days was when Fox, in its early baseball broadcasts, put fake digital fans in empty seats. Kind of cheesy. ... Book ends: Here are a couple of vintage Red Sox-related book recommendations for both Red Sox and baseball fans: * "Homegrown” by Alex Speier tells the story of how the players who made up the 2018 World Series champion Red Sox were drafted by the team. Those players include Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rafael Devers as well as many highly-coveted youngsters that were used as trade chips by former head of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.
* "Teammates,” is a wonderful read, published several years ago, by Pulitzer-Prize-winning author David Halberstam about Red Sox legends Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr and the incomparable Ted Williams. This book tells the story of a car ride from Massachusetts to Florida that Pesky, DiMaggio and Dick Flavin took to see Ted Williams in the fall of 2001, when his health was failing. It's an enjoyable read, and one that Red Sox fans will enjoy for the way that the book tells the origin stories of the famous "Teammates." Williams died in July of 2002.