merchants of soul

i don't know where to begin... to say that the events of the last two days have been enough to make a person's head spin would be an understatement to the utmost... i guess that even though we're in the midst of baseball season and approaching the stretch run, the red sox getting eric gagne, the best relief pitcher in baseball for a stretch earlier this decade, to support their suddenly shaky bullpen is not the biggest headline... nope, it's the celtics - the celtics - making the most noise, and in the middle of the summer no less... i guess when you make the biggest trade in the history of your league, you get dibs...

i know i complained about the celtics trying to trade for kevin garnett earlier this summer when the rumor first came to light... and when the idea was reintroduced a couple of days ago, i scorned it again, not believing that trading five players and two draft picks for one guy ever, no matter who that guy is, could be deemed good business... then i watched the press conference this afternoon - ok, i've been convinced... now before i go any further, i'd like to note that a) the celtics are not winning the championship this year, b) if they don't fill out the roster with a couple other veteran, role-type guys, they will still be hard pressed to do too much damage in the playoffs, c) if any of the trio of pierce, allen and garnett get hurt and misses any significant time, the celts are toast and d) it may all not matter anyway if the head coach doesn't step up in a way he's yet to thus far during his tenure... there, now that the negatory stuff is out of the way, let's get to the positive... it's KG, people! one of the greatest players of the past 20 years is now a celtic! sure, he's about three years older than we'd like and yes, he's never won anything despite his immense talent and i know,thanks to the extension he signed, he'll still be here making $17 million in five years when he can't move anymore... but the prospect of having three star veterans, all great players in their own right, all of whom have never had teammates this good and this hungry and all of whom would sell their left nut for a chance to win after so many dismal, meaningless years of losing, is more than enticing, it's genuinely exciting... and when was the last time the celtics were genuinely exciting? two years ago when they got antoine walker back, won six in a row and made us poor saps believe they could actually do some playoff damage? nope... in 2002-2003 when it was pierce, antoine and a bunch of scrubs shooting 52 3-pointer's per game? nope... go all the way back to the 80s if you want to see a celtics team that stoked such excitement, such anticipation - and these guys haven't even played a game yet... part of the beauty of the deal is the fact that all three of them can kill another team in a different way - garnett down low, pierce taking the ball to the basket and allen shooting 3's... further, all three of them are so desperate to be good that there won't be any reason to worry about anyone stepping on anyone else's toes... those youngsters who are left from the roster purge - all three of them - will only benefit from having such skill and leadership all around them...and while it's sad to see al jefferson and ryan gomes go (so much more al than gomes), pierce is right when he says that you need veterans to win in this league and without making this deal, the celtics would be a low playoff seed in a bad conference which may be better than they were but wouldn't be any more than mediocre and barely relevant... there's still work to be done... but damn is this going to be interesting - and fun, too... and if you don't believe that, just look one more time at that photo up there...

it's funny, but the red sox appeared to be a bit of an afterthought today, at least until they lost to the lowly orioles while the yankees were slicing the lead back down to seven... but what they did was pretty amazing too... they got the best relief pitcher available - and one who had a no-trade clause to boston and was insisting on being a closer wherever he went - for a No. 4 starter, a fourth outfielder and a 16-year old kid... the fact that the yankees weren't even in the mix is stunning in itself, but the fact that sox, now needing bullpen help more than ever, could get such an important guy for so little is astounding... and while gagne will be gone after the year and kason gabbard certainly has the make-up to be a legit winner in the big leagues, if you have a really good team, a team that could potentially win, you have to do what you can to make it better - as long as it's within reason... as badly as the red sox need another bat right now - and tonight's game, papi's resurgence notwithstanding, was irrevocable evidence that they do, and fast - trading wily mo pena and two from the group of manny delcarmen, craig hansen and justin masterson to the white sox is not within reason... offensively, the red sox need to hope that manny stays hot, papi can finish the year, lowell and youkilis don't disappear in the second half as has been their proverbial custom, and that j.d. drew will wake up from his coma and do something, anything... a waiver deal for another bat would sure be nice too... but this isn't time to complain, it's time to exhale... the red sox had arguably the best bullpen in baseball before this deal - now, there's no argument...

oh yeah, the patriots are five days into training camp and the first preseason game is just over a week away - and, i'm spent...