Clippers slip: Sign of things to come for Celtics?

If there's one thing I've learned about Boston sports, it's that just when you think you have them where you want them, they defy all odds (and I mean ALL odds) to make some sort of miracle comeback. The Celtics may not be an exception, but it's hard not to revel in last night's 93-91 loss to the lowly Clippers in L.A. No Kevin Garnett, but no excuses. The Celtics have won with players out, so you can't have it both ways, Boston.
The Eastern Conference is still soft, which is what mainly benefited Boston last year in their ridiculous turnaround. But Cleveland needs to capitalize on what looks like it could be a mini midseason swoon by Boston.
I'm sure that something like this won't happen again, so let's enjoy it while it's here. Boston was 66-16 last year, a record they likely will not match this year. Cleveland has one loss at home all year. The sagas of the two cities are well-chronicled, with Cleveland being a notorious choke town and Boston being a charmed town. But if just this once there is no miracle left for a Boston team, perhaps such an inexcusable loss is in fact a good sign.

Message to 31 teams: Don't mortgage the farm for Cassel

It almost might work out in what looked like the worst of circumstances for the resident cheaters of the NFL. Sacrificing one year of making the playoffs may let them earn some depth and security for years to come. Why? Because their so-called "system", the one whose legitimacy has still yet to be verified, allowed a mediocre quarterback to look like an elite one. Matt Cassel is just that, mediocre. But he will be making the most money in a one-year tender for a franchise player in league history next year, because the Patriots used their franchise tag on him. That means that if some team is foolish enough to try and snag him, they will owe the Patriots two first-round draft picks. Meanwhile, it's not like the Patriots won't be in good hands at quarterback without him.
So if a team like, say, the Minnesota Vikings finally wakes up and realizes Tarvaris Jackson can't cut it at this level and decides to sell out for Cassel, they will be handing the Patriots two first-round draft picks for a player who shouldn't even command one seventh-rounder. It will also save the Patriots plenty of salary cap money, rather than keep them financially constrained. The money freed up by Cassel's possible departure could allow them to land a malcontent like Julius Peppers and turn him into the second coming of Corey Dillon.
So to those other 31 teams, even those with dicey quarterback situations, please, please don't fork over more than $14 million for the product of a strong offensive system whose receivers push off and whose line cut-blocks as if it was going out of style. Save the money and the draft picks and keep Cassel where he belongs, on the New England bench chewing up valuable cap space.

NFL gaffes with moving Pro Bowl to Miami

It's not that the people of Hawaii are any more deserving to have the Pro Bowl than a city like Miami, but the tradition has been around for 30 years and the players love it. It needs to stay. Roger Goodell is always looking for the extra buck, but he really doesn't need to tinker with the Pro Bowl. Playing it before the Super Bowl doesn't make it any less anticlimactic, especially considering players from the Super Bowl teams won't be participating, and quite possibly players who played in the previous week's championship games.
Playing it in Miami also cheapens to game. The players love going to Hawaii to be away from the distractions. Miami is hardly a getaway considering many players are from there or spend their offseasons there. Having it Miami merely makes it an side note, and perhaps just a way to ease the sting of the dreaded Super Bowl "dark week" that also needs to go. But nonetheless, having it after the season and in Hawaii is what the players want, and quite frankly what the fans want.
Having it before the Super Bowl doesn't mean anyone will care any more than they do or don't now. Attendance will likely be low; the fans in Hawaii get one game a year, as opposed to those in Miami, who get 8. Celebrities and other VIPs in town for the Big Game don't figure to spend a Sunday afternoon watching a meaningless game that very well will be missing some of the game's biggest stars.

I stand corrected: Parity may be fading

Super Bowl XLII should have been seen as an aberration, not a sign of the times. The Patriots were 18-0 going into that game, and even though the Giants became the fourth team in four years to win the Super Bowl, it should have been clear that the balance of power had not really shifted.
Fast forward to last night, Super Bowl XLIII. I can hear Dennis Green this morning saying the Cardinals "let them off the hook". The Steelers, with yet another ludicrous comeback against a super-prevent defense, and the Patriots have now combined to win five of the past eight Super Bowls, and the joy of last season's game seems miles away.
Who besides those two teams, and perhaps the Colts and Chargers, feel that they have a chance to win the AFC next year? The NFC is wide open, but they are a cut below the AFC and don't figure to win as many Super Bowls as the AFC in the next decade or so.
The ending was brutal, because it was the underdogs that got kicked in the gut when it looked like they were destined for glory. It seems we now must allot at least one season out of every two or three for either the Steelers or Patriots to have their celebratory parades and what not. It was nice to see Jerome Bettis get his ring I suppose, but last night was not fun too watch. Dynasties are back in pro football until further notice.