Is This Sports Fan Heaven?

Living in the suburbs of Boston where I support all of my local sports teams, and having recently graduated the University of Connecticut - my life as a sports fan is about as perfect as it could be. Is this real? Maybe a better question would be, will it last?

If you are a sports fan at all, you should know about the recent success I am about to describe...

The New England Patriots are 12-2, tied for the best record in the league. They are playoff bound behind an offense that seems unstoppable and a young defense that is finally starting to show it's potential.

The Celtics are riding a 14-game win streak, that has allowed them to top the Eastern Conference. Even with injuries to key players such as Rondo, Shaq, Jermaine O'Neal, and Delonte West - they have managed to use their experience and depth to win in various fashions.

Making the biggest splash this off-season would be the Red Sox. Having come off a disappointing season in which they missed the playoffs, serious moves had to be made. With the loss (or expected loss) of some big name players, the Sox needed to replenish their offense and fill in gaps around the diamond. With pickups including Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, the Sox are considered favorites in the AL.

Even the Bruins who have been far from perfect recently would make the playoffs if the season were to end today. The team's biggest asset this year has been the stellar performance of Tim Thomas. With Thomas in net for a majority of games, the Bruins have had the best goals against average in the league.

In case that isn't enough for a sports fan to love, let's take a look at my alma mater, UConn.

Whether you appreciate it or not, the UConn Women's Basketball team just set the D-1 basketball record for consecutive wins at 89, surpassing the UCLA record of 88 under the legendary coach John Wooden. On the back of Maya Moore, the Huskies have gone two full seasons undefeated with two national championships. Ranked #1 in the country, they have easily handled the competition, and look to extend their streak next week.

One highly ranked team at a school would be great, but UConn has two - unexpectedly of course. The UConn Men's Basketball team that didn't make the tournament last March started this season unranked. In fact, they were ranked rather low in the Big East, until they beat two top 10 teams to win the Maui Invitational this year. They immediately jumped into the top 10 themselves and have worked their way to 4th in the nation. Still a fairly young team, they are carried by Kemba Walker who is leading the nation in scoring with over 26 points per game. There are still many games to be played, but the Huskies should only get better in time.

Last but certainly not least, is UConn Football. A team that has had a ton of potential the last few years, finally has the opportunity to prove itself on the big stage. Winning the Big East, Randy Edsall and his unranked team will be heading to the Fiesta Bowl to play Oklahoma. Edsall has taken this program to new heights, and with a chance to win a BCS bowl game this would certainly be another huge step in Connecticut's path the next level.

Now, if that doesn't scream sports fan heaven, I don't know what does. 5 of these seven teams are nearly the best, if not the best, in their respective leagues. In the last decade I have considered myself to be spoiled with the success of many of the above teams. Many fans around the country have never seen their teams win a single championship, let alone a double digit count. With such a successful year, and hopefully more to come, one can only ask how long this will last. Will anything less than a few championships be a failure?

The next few months should be extremely fun to watch, and in that time I will bask in what I'm calling my "Sports Fan Heaven".

Happy Holidays!

Sports City, USA

To all my loyal followers, my apologies for not posting sooner since my last. Creating a blog is easy, but maintaining it is quite another story. Maybe I haven't had many random thoughts the last few weeks, maybe I've had way too many. Either way I have no good excuse other than I didn't try hard enough. That being said, I join you this evening prior to consuming my evening meal.

I began typing this banter with the idea of discussing the latest acquisitions of my beloved Boston Red Sox. Instead I'm going to take a few minutes and clap my hands for all Boston/New England teams playing at the moment. When they say Boston is the greatest sports city in the country/world - we are currently experiencing why.

The Red Sox just made a trade for one of the best hitters currently in the game, as well as being a Gold Glove caliber 1st baseman. Adrian Gonzalez will be a power in our line up and will force the ownership to redo the face of the Monster with all the times he'll be hitting it. This is a guy the Sox have had their eyes on for quite some time and it is great to see the effort they made to get him. But my friends, this was not all. You should all now know that the Sox signed free agent Carl Crawford last night to one of the biggest deals in Red Sox history. Crawford may have been the best available position player and Theo and crew were not willing to let him slip away. Another great pick up, he adds his defensive skill to an already high-quality outfield. He has the ability to hit for average and some power, while being a menace on the bases with his outstanding speed. Just imagine the headaches pitchers will get trying to keep track of Ellsbury and Crawford on the bases.

All in all, great offseason so far for the Red Sox. If we can pick up a few arms for the bullpen, and have current players come back healthy and strong - the Red Sox will be a scary scary team, and jump to the top of the contender list once again.

Next we'll touch on the Patriots. Oh, P-A-T-S, PATS PATS PATS. Ask the Jet's fans what they think of the New England Patriots. The Patriots destroyed the Rex, Sanchez and the rest of the Jets on all sides of the ball. Now at 10-2 they have sole possession of first place in not just the AFC East, but all of the AFC. The offense is just as good as we thought it was - if not better as the weeks go by since they let go of one Randy Moss. Brady is pounding defenses and distributing the ball to all receivers that it is nearly impossible to just cover one. With his perfect rating against the far from frightful Detroit Lions, and an amazing performance against the Jets, Brady took home the honor of AFC Offensive Player of the Week - for the second straight week. If this doesn't catapult him to the top of the list for league MVP, I don't know what will.

The biggest weakness of the Patriots this year has been their defense. Statistically one of the worst in Patriot's history, this young group of guys are finally beginning to show progress as they some how manage to defeat decent teams at the right time. Whether it be Pittsburgh, Indy or the Jets - the defense has begun to show up and grow up a lot quicker then anyone could have expected.

Going from a group of rookies to a group, that out of respect we'll just call veterans, brings us to the Celtics. One may say the Patriots have their foot on gas and not letting up - the Celtics are on a steady cruise control that they look to take all the way to the post-season. With a starting line-up of Paul Pierce, KG, Ray Allen, Shaq and Rondo - this team needs to conserve as much energy as they can to prepare for a deep run in the spring. May sound tough, but when they open up a 20+ point lead Doc Rivers does what makes him a good coach and manages the clock and his bench. Fortunately, he has guys such as Nate Robinson, Glen "Big Baby" Davis who can step up and put in some good minutes. This team is exactly that, a team. They are about collaboratively winning, and couldn't care less about who scores more points. I think this is especially evident in the fact that Rondo, their starting point guard, is averaging 14 assists per game. They pass and distribute, and to take a jab at the Miami Heat, the Celtics are the perfect model that the Heat should be following. As the commercials say: "It's all about 18".

Finally to the Bruins. The B's are certainly a contender this year, and have been keeping that status due to their defense. One of the best Goals Against average in the league, it is the performance on their goalkeeper, particularly the veteran Tim Thomas that has been quite the shot blocker between the pipes. With a few games in hand, the Bruins are still in good position amongst their competition, and if the entire team can stay healthy, or get healthy I should say, they will continue to be an easy team to beat going forward.

Celtics Being Celtics

Celtics finished up a 4-game road trip with a record of 3-1. That one loss coming in Dallas in the second night of back-to-back games in a very close game. The most notable game was of course the win over Miami in South Beach. The Celtics grabbed an early lead and controlled most of the game. Sure you can make the excuse that the new "Big Three" still need to gel together, and that will take time. I can't deny that it takes time for new players to get on the same page - especially with D-Wade sidelined for all but 3 minutes of the preseason games. But this excuse only works for so long. 3 big-names players that have played before for USA shouldn't have too much trouble learning about each other.

What we learned from this road-trip is the Celtics are still the top team in the East, and that experience will usually beat youth. The Celtics aren't always playing the best, but are getting it done. In the past 4 games, they showed they can score over 110 points and give up 100, and can also score 90 points and while keeping the opponent in the 80s. To me this is a sign of a very good team. Whatever the needs of a game are, they can successfully execute and get the job done. I think a lot of this comes down to the play of Rajon Rondo. Averaging about 15 assists per game, he is managing the game, leading his team down the field and looking for his options.

I think if prior to the season you asked people if they'd be surprised if the Celtics started with an 8-2 record, that answer would be no. Something I'd like to point out from their record is that they are 5-1 against over-.500 teams, and 3-1 sub-.500 teams.

In comparison here are some interesting statistics that may show some true colors:
Orlando: Overall 6-3, vs. Over-.500 teams: 1-2, Sub-.500 teams: 5-1
Atlanta: Overall 7-4, vs. Over-.500 teams: 0-4, Sub-.500 teams: 7-0
Miami: Overall 6-4, vs. Over-.500 teams: 1-4, Sub-.500 teams: 5-0

I won't comment on these statistics because the reason I included them makes it self-explanatory.

Please add your comments below!