"The Onion" rubs salt in the wounds ...

Celtics: 'That Was A Reasonable Amount Of Time To Be In The Playoffs' (theonion.com)

BOSTON—Boston head coach Doc Rivers expressed disappointment Monday in being eliminated in the second round of the NBA playoffs, but deemed the Celtics' four weeks of postseason play to be "plenty."

"You never want to go home early, but we aren't exactly doing that," said Rivers, who noted that the Steelers and Phillies spent four weeks winning their respective championships. "Last year it took us 59 days to win the NBA title, which actually seemed too long. A couple of times against the Pistons I forgot what we were even doing. Playing a month's worth of playoffs seems a lot more reasonable."

In other news, the Magic have expressed confidence in their ability to beat the Cavaliers over the course of the next two months.

Now I don't feel so bad ...

Remember how the Celtics blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter of Game Six against Orlando (sports.yahoo.com)? Remember how everyone said that the C's really dropped the ball and squandered a great opportunity to advance to the conference finals, that it was downright shameful to piss away such a chance to close out the game against an inexperienced team like the Magic?

Well, the almighty Cavaliers of Cleveland just blew a 15-point lead in a game that they were in complete control of - against those very same Magic players, remember! - whilst on their way to dropping Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals last night (google.com) ... so now I'm feeling a little better about that Game Six loss ;)

Not with a bang, but with a whisper ...

"Defending NBA champions" had a nice ring to it while it lasted :(

Now, it would be easy to blame injuries for the team's second round exit last night (nba.com); I mean, we've all been prepared as Celtics fans to use that excuse in the event that our team would eventually come up short in their bid to repeat as champs (come on, admit it!). However, that line of reasoning can only take one so far ... Truth be told (and I refuse to sugar-coat things), this team has played like crap on the defensive end pretty much since the beginning of the playoffs (come on, admit that too!).

I mean, I know Garnett is the alpha and omega in terms of our defensive intensity (and losing complementary defensive oriented players like Powe - and even Posey from last season - certainly doesn't help matters either), but we should NOT have seen the precipitous dropoff that we did against the likes of Chicago and Orlando. At times, these teams were getting to the basket at will, and that should just not have been allowed to happen.

The local broadcasters and columnists want to talk about "grinding" out wins and the team's gritty "never-say-die" attitude, and that's all well and good ... but you can't really hide behind those buzzwords to shield yourself from this unpleasant reality: losing just one of the "Big Three" (even if you consider him the biggest of the three) caused this team to free-fall from "world champions" to "mediocre playoff contenders." I'm sorry, but that's just the way things look from this fan's perspective.

Okay, I know I've been persona non grata here in the Celtics blogosphere this year (meaning I haven't really earned my place to bitch and moan), and maybe this is all just residual bitterness on my part after watching a season-ending 19-point blowout (in glorious HD no less!), but I just feel that the window of opportunity for this group of Celtics players to earn the label of "multi-time champions" is dangerously close to being slammed shut ... It's been said before, but Lebron and his Cavaliers are shaping up to be the Celtics of the 2009 playoffs; it just looks like their time to shine, and - if Bron Bron decides to stick around Cleveland for the time being - they just might be the team to beat for years to come.

Speaking of which, nothing to do now but hope and pray that the Cavs emerge victorious against the Lakers ... yes, that's the bitterness talking again ;)

BEAT LA! BEAT LA! BEAT LA!

John Cena, WWE champion ... and bandwagon jumper?

Images from sports.yahoo.com

These pictures were taken at the same game, yet it appears that Mister Cena would like to have it both ways.

Come on, Johnny boy, pick a side and stick with it ... you're from Massachusetts, for pity's sake, the choice should be obvious!

EDIT: I failed to notice that Mark Murphy had already picked up on this story (bostonherald.com):

You can't buy loyalty. Not even for a front-row ticket.

Professional wrestler - and pride of West Newbury - John Cena was given a seat right across from the Magic bench. He sat next to C's owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca, who got the Celtics fan a jersey from the dressing room.

When Magic people noticed, they got him a custom Orlando jersey and, according to the Celtic types, said in effect that if wanted to stay in the seat, he had to put it on.

The locals may have been joking, but Cena didn't take any chances. Instead, at halftime, he got a piece of paper and a felt-tip pen and carefully made a sign, taking time to color in each letter:

"Leave the Magic at Disney!" he wrote.

Cena then proudly held the sign up for TV cameras.

Some more "Onion" levity ...

... Maybe this will help soothe the sting of having to face yet another decisive Game Seven (nba.com).

Startled Glen Davis Retracts Head Into Body (theonion.com)

Ewww, the skin around his neck-hole looks all wrinkly and gross ...

BigBabyMan!

I've basically ignored the entire playoff run here on the blog ... No mention of the incredible seven-game series against Chicago. Not a peep about the amazing Game Five comeback versus the Magic. Nothing.

So, now that I've finally decided to post again, why not make my return ... with another crappy Flash game!

Previous Entries in the "Crappy Flash Game" series:

• Celtris
• Resident Scalabr-evil 4
• Hawk Hunt
• Can You Find Ray's Shooting Touch?
• Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Ray Allen
• Red Versus the Zen Master
  

And now, behold the magnificence of ... PacBigBabyMan (fyrebug.com)!

Ernest Provetti (orlandosentinel.com) will stop at nothing to get an apology out of Glen "Big Baby" Davis! Eat the power-ups to enter "Raging Animal" mode and shut his trap!

INSTRUCTIONS
Use your keyboard arrow keys to move through the maze. When you grab one of the power items in the corner, you will be able to chase down and defeat the enemies!

EDIT: Hey, you can also find this blog post on CelticsBlog (celticsblog.com)!