Red Sox sure look overrated

It's baseball season, which means time for intern Cheyenne to pump his beloved Yankees:

Although the season just started and there are a lot of games left, the Boston Red Sox look very overrated. Boston has started the season 0-4. Its pitching has given up 29 runs, and the offense had scored just 12 runs.

The rival Yankees, on the other hand, have scored 31 runs and yielded 27. So, tell me again which team has better hitting and pitching? The Yankees do. The Red Sox, the favorites to win the AL East? It may already be time to reconsider.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a better record and have scored more runs than the Red Sox. In case you didn’t know, the Pirates had the worst record in all of baseball last season.

That’s like the Cleveland Cavaliers beating the Miami Heat. Oh wait, that actually happened. I meant to say that’s like Rajon Rondo of the Celtics winning the NBA MVP award over Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose.

"We Are All Witnesses" … of LeBron getting burned

Last night, Miami Heat forward LeBron James went back to Cleveland — the team that drafted him first overall in 2003 — for the second time this season. The first time, he went back he scored 38 points and his team won by 28 points.

The second time he went back, he scored 27 points and his team lost by 12 points. Wait… What!?! The WORST team in the NBA just beat the team with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference? Yes, they did. The Cleveland Cavaliers (15-58) beat the Miami Heat (51-23) by 12 points.

The Cavs leading scorer was J.J. Hickson who had 21 points and was also the leading rebounder for the Cavs with 12. Hickson outscored and outrebounded the Heat's power forward (Chris Bosh) and center (Erick Dampier) combined. Together, Bosh and Dampier combined for 10 points and five rebounds.

LeBron may have had better stats, but Hickson definitely stepped up last night; his season average is 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds. Dwayne Wade had 24 points and four rebounds, but Anthony Parker had 20 points and seven rebounds. Hey, LeBron I guess you don’t have much of a supporting cast in Miami either … great "Decision."

Thanks to guard, Bulls coming up Roses

The Chicago Bulls (51-19) as you may or may not know are a half-game ahead of the Boston Celtics for first in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls have the best record in the East even though they’ve had to play much of the season without Carlos Boozer (two stints with injuries) and spent significant time sans center Joakim Noah.

So, how do the Bulls currently have the top spot in the East? Because of DERRICK ROSE! Before the season, Rose asked, “Why can’t I be the MVP of the league?" At this stage, it sure looks like he is the MVP. D-Rose is the only player in the NBA to be in the top 10 in scoring and assists. He averages 24.9 points per game, 7.8 assists per game and 4.2 rebounds per game.

Derrick means everything to the Bulls. Without him the Bulls would lose. He wins without his team being fully healthy. If that’s not an MVP, what is?

Coventry beats Portsmouth for Division II hockey state title

Coventry's hockey team beat Portsmouth 4-2 on Saturday afternoon to sweep the Patriots in the Division II best-of-three state championship series at Providence College's Schneider Arena.
Nick Paiva of the Knotty Oakers, the tournament MVP, scored a goal each in the second and third period after the Oakers led 2-0 after the first period.
With the Patriots down 4-0 with less than 12 minutes remaining, Matt Abraham and Henry Lang scored for Portsmouth, but the Patriots couldn't add to their rally to successfully defend their 2010 D-II title.

Coventry leads Portsmouth 3-0 after two periods

After two periods in the second game in the Division II championship hockey best-of-three series between No. 1 seed Coventry and No. 2 seed Portsmouth, Coventry leads 3-0 at Providence College's Schneider Arena.
The Knotty Oakers, who beat Portsmouth 4-2 in the series opener, scored twice in the first period and once in the second period againt the Patriots, the defending champions.

Open season a success

Trying something new can be risky, especially when the old standby was reliable. But the Rhode Island Interscholastic League deserves some credit for implementing an open state tournament for boys basketball this year.

Like any tournament, this one had a few blowouts. But of the 15 games played, 11 were decided by 12 points or fewer. And the fan support at every game showed that people cared. Even at the cavernous Providence Career & Technical Academy, fans came out in big numbers and made for an electric atmosphere.

As I mentioned in today’s Daily News, there needs to be some fine-tuning. The regular season was far too compacted, and this winter’s weather only made it worse as teams were forced to play three and four games a week. Getting rid of the Division I, II and III tournaments could be the solution.

But overall, the RIIL has a solid foundation on which to build. One can only hope future tournaments generate the same level of competition and excitement that this year’s did.

What did you think?

Oh, Canada

So it appears the entire country of Canada is up in arms about the hit Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara put on Montreal forward Max Pacioretty. Yes, it looks pretty vicious (in slow motion, after dozens of viewings) but in no way was a hit like that malicious.

Immediately following the game, Chara said the hit was incidental and he felt bad for Pacioretty, who suffered a sever concussion and a cracked vertebra. The NHL agreed, saying it would not punish Chara any more than the interference call he received on the ice.

That sent Canada into a fit. Pacioretty was “disgusted” the NHL took no further action, Air Canada, a major sponsor of the league, threatened to pull out and the Montreal Police Department opened an investigation into Chara and the hit.

Ridiculous? Yes.

Firstly, I find hockey to be one of the most hypocritical sports out there. Let me get this straight: you can punch a guy in the face, fracturing his cheek bone that forces him to sit out 4-6 weeks, and that’s fine. But you hit a guy in an awkward spot on the ice so he caroms into the partition of the glass, and you’re a potential criminal?

My stepdad, a big Canadiens fan, said, “His injuries are too serious to do nothing.” If that’s the case, the Massachusetts State Police should have opened a case against the guy who checked Travis Roy into the boards during a college hockey game nearly two decades ago.

Look, hockey is a rough and tumble sport meant for guys who can take a beating. It’s almost a border war: if you live below it, the hit was incidental. If you live above it, it was done with purpose. I don’t really have a dog in this fight, so I personally believe the Canadians are doing more feeling with their heads than they are thinking with their heads.