Butch_Stearns's Blog

If your not happy with the Celtics win in game one against Cleveland on Tuesday night because of the way they played, then I have to say, you just don't get it. Winning is ALL that matters in the playoffs.

Yes there are many concerns from game one for the Celtics. Start with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. They were 2-18 combined, which by the way was the same line for Lebron James. He shot 2-18. It is a concern that Allen was held scoreless for the first time since his rookie year. In fact, I would come out and look to get him some shots and good looks early in game two to get him untracked. It is also a concern that Paul Pierce shot 2-14. A big part of the equation for Pierce and James is that they both are expending much energy on the defensive end guarding each other.

Monday night it was Kevin Garnett hitting the big shots for the Celtics and making the big plays. There are two main reasons I think all we should be concerned about is winning. One is because the Celtics did a good job defending Lebron. They made him work for everything he got in game one. The other reason is that the Celtics made more of the big plays than the other guys down the stretch in a playoff game. They didn't do this once in the series against Atlanta.

So again, lament all the bad things from game one all you want, but all we should really care about is the win. Winning ugly is just as good as winning pretty. And winning a close game is even better.

Your thoughts?

Butch

The Patriots have announced the three nominees for this year's Hall of Fame. The three players are Tight end Ben Coates, Running back Jim Nance, and Center Jon Morris. Only one player will be voted in. Who do you think should be inducted later this year?

You get the chance to vote and choose the winner. Their will only be one inductee this year. You can vote on the Patriots web site (www.patriots.com) until July 4th. When you go there, it will explain the process to you and also talk about the new Hall at Patriots place that will open later this year.

This year's winner will become the 13th Patriots Hall of Famer joining Bruce Armstrong, Nick Buoniconti, Gino Cappelletti, Bob Dee, Steve Grogan, John Hannah, Mike Haynes, Jim Lee Hunt, Stanley Morgan, Steve Nelson, Vito "Babe" Parilli and Andre Tippett.

I am honored to be one of the 27 members of the nomination committee that voted on these three finalists and while most of the conversations that take place among our committee should remain private, there are a few thoughts I can share with you. Right now and for the foreseeable future the Patriots plan on inducting only one Hall of Famer per year. There has been much discussion about keeping the honor of being a Patriots Hall of Famer special and not letting everyone in, so to speak. However, we have also had many discussions about recognizing and not forgetting the older Patriots. Patriots players become eligible for nomination once they have been retired for four years. Think about a handful of years from now when these current Patriots become eligible (i.e. Troy Brown, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Tom Brady etc..). The concern is that the older Patriots may be forgotten about. So we have had some discussions about possibly inducting more than one Patriot in years to come or possibly separating the voting by years or generations.

Anyway, as I said, I am truly honored to be a member of this committee and I know I speak for the other members of the committee and for the Patriots when I say that what makes this special is that you get to vote for the winner(s). So have at it. And for more about the Hall at Patriots Place and about these nominees. And check out Bob Kraft's interview:

Your thoughts?

Butch

Should we be shocked that this series with the Celtics and Hawks is tied at two games apiece? We shouldn't be. Playoff basketball is just different and despite how many great things this 2007-2008 Celtics team has accomplished they still have yet to go through even one full playoff series together as a team.

Think about how many Celtics playoff series we all lived through in the 70's and 80's. I was too young in the 60's to appreciate and or remember the Russell years from personal experience. But the 70's and the 80's playoff series taught us that playoff basketball is war. The ebbs and flows of momentum changes from game to game and often times from quarter to quarter or even from possession to possession. This is when NBA basketball is at its best. When every basket is being contested and every possession means something. Right now that's what's happening to the Celtics with the Hawks and like it or not, this is the first time this group (Garnett, Pierce and Allen) have been through this TOGETHER.

So my suggestion? Strap ourselves in and get ready to enjoy the ride because we could be in for another month or more of this. We'll talk about Doc Rivers coaching in a later blog.

Your thoughts?

Butch

FOX25 has learned that the Patriots are close to a deal with Ty Law that would bring the 34 year-old cornerback back to Foxboro.

According to a source close to the situation, Law is ready to sign in order to play football this upcoming season with either the Patriots or the New York Jets and both teams are talking with him right now.   Also according to the source, Law would prefer to sign with the Patriots and they are working hard towards making that happen as soon as possible.

Law is a five time Pro Bowl cornerback who played the first ten years of his career with the Patriots after being drafted by them out of the University of Michigan with the 23rd overall pick in the 1995 NFL draft.   After earning three Super Bowl rings with the Patriots, Law was released by New England in February 2005 and later signed on with the New York Jets.   Ty played just one season in New York before he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.  After two seasons with in Kansas City he was released by the Chiefs earlier this year.

Law is currently tied with Raymond Clayborn on the Patriots all-time list for interceptions with 36.

When reached for comment on this story on Tuesday night the Patriots said they have no comment.

Your thoughts?

Butch

During this Bruins Canadiens playoff series the boards at the TD Banknorth Garden have had several advertisements painted on them displaying Canadien business's during the Bruins home playoff games. So Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs decided to take Canadien money from sponsors of the team his team was playing against. This is clearly within his right to do, but is it wrong overall?

There are several ways to look at this. If the ads weren't sold all season and Canadien company's want to buy them for the playoffs why can't Jacobs sell to them. Bruins sponsors had the same opportunity to buy them, why didn't they support the local team? It's the same for tickets. The reason why there were so many Canadiens fans at the Garden these past two games is because the tickets were available in the first place. Why didn't Bruins fans sell out the Garden?

The truth is that hockey's popularity is at an all-time low and the Bruins , even in this hockey tradition rich town, have suffered along with that. There's also the Boston championship factor. The Patriots and Red Sox have set the bar so high that it's hard for the average Boston sports fans to get excited about the Bruins until they win at least one playoff series.

But back to the ads. While it's clearly within Jeremy Jacobs rights to sell these ads to Canadien companies, I do think this is wrong. The Bruins players probably haven't stopped to think about it enough to care, but if they did, or if it was pointed out to them how do you think they would feel? How would you feel? Then there's the history factor. Would this have ever happened during the 70's or 80's when Bruins Canadiens were at a fever pitch? Probably not, because all the ads would be sold, but even if they were available it would have been sacrilegous back then to do so. It would be like the Red Sox displaying an "UTZ potato chips" ad or other New York Yankees sponsor ad in Fenway when the Sox were playing the Yankees. Would that fly right now? How about a Jets ad in Foxboro? or even worse, Colts?

So this brings us to our poll question:

Canadien ads on Bruins boards at the Garden? Click here to weigh in!

On Sunday night in New York during game three of their playoff series, New York Rangers left wing Sean Avery acted like an idiot and the NHL is doing something about it.

During a 5-on-3 power play in New Jersey's 4-3 overtime playoff victory Sunday night, Avery planted himself in the crease and faceguarded Brodeur. Holding his stick upward, Avery waved it side to side to block Brodeur's vision in a newfangled method of screening. Brodeur gave him a whack, but that was hardly a deterrent. "I've played for 15 years in this league. I've been watching games for 33 years. I had never seen that in my life," Brodeur said. "I don't think that kind of behavior should be done in front of the net, but there is no rule for it."

Well now there is. On Monday, the NHL acted swiftly and issued this amendment to an existing rule. "An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender's face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play," Colin Campbell, the NHL director of hockey operations, said in a statement.

Sean Avery looked like and acted like an idiot. But we have come to expect idiotic things from this guy. According to Wikipedia, here are a few of Avery's incidents from over the years.

Denis Gauthier of the Phoenix coyotes body-checked Kings forward Jeremy Roenick in a 2005 pre-season game, giving Roenick a concussion. Avery's response was "I think it was typical of most French guys in our league with a visor on, running around and playing tough and not back anything up," generating much controversy with the French-Canadian public. Avery also made news during the regular season when Georges Laraque of the Edmonton Oilers , a Black Canadian, claimed that Avery called him a "monkey" during an October 11, 2005 contest between the two teams. The incident was never proven and Avery adamantly denies it ever occurred. Avery was fined $1,000 by the NHL on November 15 2005 for intentionally diving during a game, then was fined $1,000 more a day later after publicly criticizing the NHL's director of hockey operations, Colin Campbell.

So this guy clearly doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt and now in a playoff hockey game he resorts to something the Hansen Brothers would have done in the movie Slapshot. Defend that.

Butch

Many of you have called and e-mailed us here at FOX25 concerning what happened this past Saturday at the end of the Red Sox Yankees game.

If you were watching the Red Sox and the Yankees on FOX25 on Saturday night, you know what happened. If you weren't, here's what happened. 4:00 game. Approximately 6:30pm game is delayed by rain. It gets delayed for nearly two hours. When the game is restarted Fox Network (all over the country) interrupts its network coverage of Nascar from Phoenix. End of the game here is what happened. Two outs , bottom of the 9th, sox leading 4-3, Jonathan Papelbon on the mound facing Robinson Cano. With two strikes on Cano, the game on our air was switched to the Subway Fresh Fit 500 NASCAR race from Phoenix that had just started and you weren't able to see the final out of the Sox game. Papelbon got Cano to ground out to end the game. 15 minutes or so before this incident, the FOX broadcast announced that this would happen and that you might have to switch over to FX ( a sister FOX station) for the end of the game. This, of course, doesn't make this any easier to swallow, especially considering that the game was on the line.

Here is a statement from Dan Bell from the Fox Network in Los Angeles.

"First and foremost we would like to apologize to any viewer who is upset that we switched from the Yankees/Red Sox game to the start of our NASCAR race on Saturday night. After enduring a two-hour rain delay, we tried to finish airing the remainder of the game on the FOX network but due to contractual obligations to NASCAR (specifically that we have to air the entire race on the network from start to finish) we simply ran out of time.

That being said, we did alert viewers several times when we returned that the game was being simulcast on the FX cable channel and the FOX network. This was done for the sole purpose of giving viewers the chance to switch over if the game ran past 8:53 PM ET which was the schedule start of the NASCAR race (after we asked NASCAR to push the race back from 8:45 PM ET).

This was not the situation we would have preferred to be in but we can assure you that we did everything we could to make sure two great sporting events aired in their entirety on the FOX network."

Dan Bell
Vice President, Communications, FOX Sports

Here are a few other things I can tell you about the situation after speaking at length with Dan Bell on Monday morning. Fox actually asked Nascar to push back the start of the race when the Sox game re-started. Nascar did push the race back for 8 minutes. But then they wouldn't push it any further. Also, Dan mentioned in hindsight there should have been further indication to us (the viewers) when they were about to switch. An announcement and possibly a graphic on the screen.

What I can tell you from working for Fox 25 now for almost 10 years is this. With the success of both the Patriots and the Red Sox and their exposure nationally Fox Network has been in the position of covering many championship events that both teams have been involved in. (4 Patriots Super Bowls, 2 Red Sox World Series). During that time I have worked closely and developed relationships with many of the Fox Sports people from the network. They fully understand how much we care about our sports teams in Boston and when Dan Bell issues an apology for everyone from the Network it is genuine. And yes, Joe Buck knows many of you think he hates the Boston teams, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Your thoughts.

Butch

If you were watching the Red Sox and the Yankees on FOX 25 on saturday night, you know what happened.  If you weren't, here's what happened.  Two outs , bottom of the 9th, sox leading 4-3, Jonathan Papelbon on the mound facing Robinson Cano.  With two strikes on Cano, the game on our air was switched to the Subway Fresh Fit 500 NASCAR race from Phoenix that had just started and you weren't able to see the final out of the Sox game.   Papelbon got Cano to ground out to end the game.

15 minutes or so before this incident, the FOX broadcast announced that this would happen and that you might have to switch over to FX ( a sister FOX station) for the end of the game.   This, of course, doesn't make this any easier to swallow, especially considering that the game was on the line.

All I can tell you at this writing is that this was a FOX Network decision.  We, locally at Fox 25 have no control over a decision like this.  That doesn't mean I don't want to know what happened.  I was watching the game and I was just as upset as you.   I plan trying to find out what happened and why and I promise you I will have a follow up to this blog.  In the meantime, feel free to respond here and have your say.   I know you will be opinionated and passionate but please keep it clean.

  Butch   

Opening day at Fenway…  Here we are again. Wait a minute, weren't we just here a little while ago?  Sure seems like it.  Baseball is back at Fenway.   Is Opening Day special to you or is it just a phony day and the rest of the season matters more?

I can understand how you feel from either side.   I must admit, I love Opening Day but I also can't wait until it's over.  Because when it's over, it's finally time for the baseball season to really start.  You get to go through the rotation a couple times.  Fenway is one of the few places in baseball where the third game of a three game series with Tampa can be just as special as the opening game of a Yankees series. 

So let's get it started and let's get Opening Day over with, as special as it will be.

Your thoughts?

Butch

So what will Arlen Specter come up with now to keep Spygate and his agenda living longer? The senior senator from Pennsylvania has been wasting taxpayers money for nearly four months now all in the name of fairness and justice according to him. But of course we never hear Senator Specter talk about his involvement with the Comcast Corporation and the ongoing battle between Comcast and the NFL over broadcasting some games. And we never hear the Senator talk about his new book and how keeping his name in the news is good publicity for that.

At the NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach over the last few days, it has been interesting to listen to the Patriots go on the offensive in their defense of their organization against Spygate. Patriots owner Bob Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick have both spoken publicly and privately about Spygate for two days. They are admitting guilt in taping opposing coaches signals and reminding everyone they have suffered severe, unprecedented penalties for their actions. They are also challenging Matt Walsh , their former video assistant, to come forward with any evidence against them, that he claims to have. Why are the Patriots being so aggressive? Because, in my opinion, they have no fear of Matt Walsh and his evidence. I believe that they have been assured by the commissioner that he is satisfied with his investigation and that there is practically nothing Matt Walsh can produce that will make the commissioner want to punish the Patriots further.

Why do you think the Patriots are being so aggressive? And what will we be hearing from Senator Specter the next time he speaks. Oh, make no mistake, Senator Specter will be heard from again soon. He's insatiable with this story and he thinks he's some kind of hero seeking out truth and justice with this. I can't wait to see more of our hard earned taxed dollars at work. How about you?

Butch

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ......oh sorry, dozing off there for a minute. How long will this trip to Japan affect the Red Sox as they finally get back to normal? I'm not sure, but from the way I feel right now I can tell you it IS going to have an effect on them.

I have been home for almost four days now and I have yet to get any normal sleep. Even when I'm dog tired, I put my head down on the pillow and I'll fall right asleep only to wake up about an hour later and then wake up several more times during that sleep. I've travelled a lot in my life but I've never experienced anything like this. The weirdest thing was coming home from Japan. We left Tokyo on Thursday morning. We then flew practially all day and night to get to Dallas before coming home to Boston. The weird part? We land in Dallas , after leaving Tokyo on Thursday morning and flying all day and night and it's still Thursday morning in Dallas! Where did the day go? It simply dissappeared.

I don't know how long the Sox will take to recover from this. After all, these guys travel and work for a living. But it has to have some effect on them. I know how I feel and it's still not normal. But hey, nothing has changed with either baseball or the Red Sox. Whoever gets the best pitching will win. Hurry up Josh Beckett. We need you.

Butch

Final blog entry from the land of the sun before we hop on a plane.   Give me your thoughts, questions and comments about the sox in Japan and when I hit  ground again I will check back in.

Gotta go now... leaving hotel to catch bus to airport.

Ja-Mata.

see you later

Butchie-son

Wow what a way to open the season.  It is 1:15 am our time and we are sitting here right now in the bowels of the Tokyo Dome and "feeding in" our features for our newscasts back home.  

The Sox finished their game with Oakland a couple of hours ago now and what a game it was.   Brandon Moss’ first career home run ties the game in the 9th and Manny Ramirez wins it in the 10th.  Papelbon had a shaky 9th but he got the save. 

There were some interesting things that happened in the locker room and on the field after the game:  Manny Ramirez was chosen as the star of the game and presented a Ricoh copier and a check for 1,000,000 Yen (about 10 thousand dollars).    What the heck is Manny going to do with the copier?  We asked him about the money and he said it will come in handy for gas money.   With the price of gas these days, I don't think he's kidding.

And how about the Brandon Moss story?  Because of a stiff back for J.D. Drew, Moss was told just minutes before the game that he was playing.  It's his first season opener in the MLB and he ends up hitting the game tying home run in the 9th and an earlier RBI double that put the Sox up.   After the game Moss told us he didn't have time to be nervous and the home run was a thrill of a lifetime.  He asked me and the other members of the media if he could get dressed before we interviewed him.  I told him, a couple more games like this and he'll be telling us what he can do.

It was interesting to see Dice-K struggle with all the hype that surrounded this game.  Dice-K admitted afterwards that he was a bit nervous.  He settled down nicely though and was really cruising in the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings.   Got to go back to the hotel now and then be back here in the morning for our 10:00 pm newscast live shot which will happen at 11:00 on Wednesday morning.    Funny thing, I'm finally getting used to the time difference and soon it will be time to go home.   Looking forward to that. 

  Signing off from Tokyo for now.

Butchie-son

Hey gang, checking in from Tokyo once again.  I'm about to go on a blog ramble and give you some more of my random thoughts from here in Japan.  But I would like some more of your feedback on these blogs please.  Let me know what you want to see and hear more of or respond with questions you have that I may not be thinking of and I'll keep updated on this blog and this website.

Right now it is 11:00 am Sunday morning here in Tokyo.  I am in my teeny weenie hotel room here in Akasaka section of Tokyo.   This morning is our first real downtime since we've been here.  We’re always running from place to place.  This is a very interesting yet challenging place for an American.  I have been fortunate enough in my lifetime to travel to places like Greece, Italy, Mexico and other places but this is the first time that the language barrier is a real issue.  Try going out to eat at a place where none of the restaurants speak English or even have an English menu?  I've grown to appreciate menus with pictures.   There are some other quirks from over here.  There are thousands and thousands of people walking the streets. The city is absolutely huge.  Their cars are very small and their steering wheels are on our passenger sides. They also drive on the left side of the road which keeps you on your toes when you are crossing streets.   The people are very friendly and respectful but I have witnessed some anger to each other.  Typical road rage and people in a hurry stuff.   The people here pretty much work 12 hour days.  8-8pm.  Then they go out after work, mostly all together.  Most of them don't speak or understand English.  The ones that do are glad to talk with you and enjoy listening to us speak English.

So far on this trip, we have taken a tour of the city (check out photos and videos here on this page).  We have also been to the Tokyo Dome twice; for a Red Sox workout and for their first exhibition game on Saturday afternoon.   The baseball atmosphere is amazing and this was just an exhibition game.   In the stands they have pretty young girls in the aisles wearing blue uniforms and when a foul ball goes in the stands they blow a whistle to make sure the fans are alert.  Wherever the ball lands they go scurrying over to make sure the fans are OK.  Try to imagine this happening at Fenway!    The crowd is one big huge party.  The Sox played the Hanshin Tigers and their fan base is the most rabid in the country I'm told.  They dress up, bring drums and trumpets and chant in unison all game long. (Check out the video of these fans on this website).   It must be crazy when two Japanese teams are playing each other because this would last all game long.  The Red Sox players, managers, coaches and front office seemed to really enjoy this.  

When you watch the Japanese teams and players take the field the first thing that struck me is that the typical Japanese player is much different from the typical major league player.  If Ortiz and Manny are your typical major league sluggers the normal Japanese player is a fundamentally sound all around player.   Quick bat, some power, always runs the bases well and respects the game at every turn; running on and off the field for example.

In the Sox game I was watching Ortiz and Drew hit first inning homers to give the sox a quick 5-0 lead, but just an inning later Hanshin scored 4 runs on Clay Buchholz and as quick and powerful as the Sox onslaught was the Japanese runs were scored in a whole different manner.   40 pitches by Buchholz, single here, walk there, stolen base there.  Next thing you know a single produces two runs and sends the crowd into a frenzy.  Buchholz gives up four runs but in my opinion actually does a good job to limit the bleeding and finally stop it with a strikeout to end the inning.  

At first glance the Red Sox lineup looks great.    Pedroia leading off, then Youk, Papi, Manny, Lowell, Drew, Varitek, Ellsbury and Lugo.   It’s going to be interesting to see if this lineup continues to produce runs this year like they have the past couple of years.  My first impression is that Francona has many options and interchangeable parts around Papi and Manny if they struggle.  Ellsbury or Lugo moved to top of order if Pedroia struggles.    Lowell, Drew and Varitek alternating in the 5 hole if Lowell doesn't produce like he did last year.   It's hard not to think that JD Drew isn't going to have a big year.   But then again, it's easy to think that when you watch him play.  Drew is the ultimate tease.  He is an ultra smooth athlete with the perfect swing which also has some power.  He reminds me of the left handed Nomar when Nomar was in his prime back in 99-2003.

Anyway, just rambling for a little bit while I've got some time now. Gotta get going soon, heading back to Dome tonight for Sox game vs. Yomiuri Giants.   Tomorrow morning we are heading to Dice K's high school with an interpreter to talk to his former high school coach and see where it all started for him.  We will have a much lengthier piece on Dice K here on this website soon.  We have already spoken to the "Joe Castiglione" of Japan. He is Akira Ueno and he has called play by play for many of Dice K's Japanese games.

I will have a further blog about Dice K coming soon.  Let me say this for now.  Tuesday night here when Matsuzaka pitches at the Tokyo Dome is going to be a phenomenal event.   Dice K coming back to pitch in Japan is a matter of great pride to these people.    From a Boston perspective it reminds me of Larry Bird night.  People are highly anticipating this night, but there is actually a game that is going to be played.   It's been comical listening to Terry Francona peppered with questions about how many pitches Dice K is going to be allowed to throw.   The Japanese people believe that he should throw more than 130 pitches!  They believe that Dice K becomes stronger as that happens and that's what his legend has been built on.  What's comical about this is that they are going to be really upset if he doesn't pitch deep, deep into the game and I know from talking to Francona that he's not going to throw more than 100 pitches.   If Dice k struggles and is taken out in the 5th or 6th inning, it will be interesting to see the reaction from the Japanese people about why Francona didn't let him stay in to work it out.  They don't care that this is still the 3rd full week of spring training. That's how important this is to them and how important Dice K is to these people.

Ok enough for now.  I will check back from the Dome later tonight. 

Ja-Mata

Butchie-son

Hey gang, tuning in from Tokyo once again. Right now it is 1:00 pm on Saturday (which is midnight Friday at home). Sitting directly behind homeplate right now in the pressbox at the Tokyo Dome for the Sox exhibition game with the Hanshin Tigers. Bottom of 2nd inning, Sox leading 5-0. Two homers in the first inning. Ortiz jacked a solo shot and JD Drew with a 3-run opposite field laser homer. Buchholz right now is in a little jam. Two on , two out.

The dome is only 3/4 full. This truly is an exhibition game but we've got our first taste of Japanese baseball fans......oops...update for you. Opposite field single off Buchholz by Ikoru Katsuraigi, bases loaded now for Buchholz...

Anyways, Japanese baseball fans are wild. Down the third baseline they are banging drums, chanting and singing on every pitch. It's like a soccer crowd....

Oops again. Nohiro Akaboshi with a grounder hugging the first baseline. Youk went to his knees but booted it, two runs scored. Ruled a hit. Questionable. Youk should have at least stopped it. Would have prevented at least one run. 5-2 Red Sox now. Buchholz again with two on and two out. Men on 2nd and 3rd. Let's see if he can stop the bleeding...

Nope, lined single up the middle by Keiichi Hirano. Two more runs scored. 5-4 now, Here comes John Farrell. Get used to this. In my opinion, Buchholz is going to be a great pitcher but he's still young and we're going to have to live with the ups and downs of him this year. Will be interesting to see if Jon Lester still goes through some of that or if it's time for him to really hit his stride.

Oops again, inning still not over. Hirano stole 2nd. Good throw from Varitek but Hirano got good jump of Buchholz. Hey! Buchholz struck out Takahiro Arai to finally end the inning. 40 pitches after 2 innings for Buchholz. and he did it with a 5 run lead. Again, young pitchers gotta live with them. I'm sure we'll see a few more of those struggles from him this year, hopefully it's not every other game, more like one out of 4?

Anyway, gotta go now. Will be checking back again later. Good to be talking baseball again.

Butchie-son