FanNation - The Republic of Sport

   A few thoughts after recuperating from (step)Father's Day:

   * Did the Celtics really have plane trouble in LA which prevented them from returning home until after 10 tonight, or was there a little celebration planned after last night's game? It would be nice to see a world championship clinching take place on the old sod sometime.

   * Yes, Laker fans should be concerned with their team's continued propensity for blowing leads (19 in the first half, 11 early in the fourth quarter), and if not for Kevin Garnett's two late missed free throws and Kobe Bryant's poke check on Paul Pierce (I give the officials the benefit of the doubt), this series would be over. But when you're facing elimination and have to hit the road for two more, a win's a win.

   * KG's bigger sin was questioning Kobe's commitment to team play in the second half. Well, only 10 of his 25 points came after the first quarter, and he found enough open men who hit open shots to send the series back to Boston.

   * Jonathan Papelbon's fat one to Edwin Encarnacion with two out in the ninth Saturday (although he vultured the win in Cincinnati thanks to back-to-back bombs from Kevin Youkilis and Coco Crisp in the tenth) was some kind of karmic payback for his F-yous to the Rays last week. Hey, Tampa Bay is legit - the Rays didn't go away after the sweep at Fenway. They don't mind stirring the pot with the Sox and Yankees - they're not intimidated. And finally, Pap, we don't need you getting tossed at the Trop in two weeks if you deal the high hard one in the ninth in defense of a one-run lead.

   * What a weekend for drama, between the NBA Finals and Tiger Woods trying to outdo himself at the U.S. Open. The big limping charge late Saturday. The desperate birdie putt Sunday to force the playoff (complete with club tossing after a bad second shot on 18). A repeat birdie today to force a 19th hole, and victory after Rocco Mediate finally flubbed fatally. But has any golfer ever had more fun in a pressure situation than Rocco did the past two days? What pressure? After his crash and burn on Sunday at the Masters two years ago, he needed to cop a different 'tude. And any guy in the overwhelmingly conservative world of golf who wears a peace sign belt buckle has more than earned his place in my athletic pantheon.

   * Very, very disappointed to learn Omaha is building a new stadium to host the College World Series, and Rosenblatt Stadium will soon be consigned to history. Talk about a place where stadium and event just seem to fit perfectly. It's scary to think I've been watching the CWS there for 26 years - Roger Clemens lured me into the show back in '83 when, a week after the Red Sox drafted him, he mowed down Alabama (led by current Sox coach Dave Magadan) in the title game.

   * I went to college in Boston (although 25 years before he did), and completely agree with Luke Russert that you can't find good Buffalo wings in town. He's had a radio show on XM for awhile, but today was the first time I've heard him in action, and I wouldn't bet against college boy (even if he attended that OTHER postsecondary instituition on Commonwealth Avenue) bringing to the sports world what his dad did to the political world. That clan's got personality, and personality goes a long way.

   * Even with Chien-Ming Wang down til September with a bum foot, I'm not counting the Yankees out.

   * Good month for the alma mater: Bishop Hendricken takes back the R.I. baseball title, and fellow alum Rocco Baldelli is ready for a Rays minor league assignment again after a strange malady preventing him from recuperating after workouts threatened his career. 

   * Finally, with one teammate in Florida and another late arriving, my men's fours volleyball squad had to grab a female (well, wife of a player on another team) to fill out our roster last week. She set pure guava for us. We swept the match. The beer tasted great, and I went home happy (and with a piece of loose skin dangling from my left knee after a big dig in the third game). I try not to think about how the other team felt.