Pink Hat(e)

It's happened. I have been infected by the pandemic. It's been sweeping across the globe, and has hit me here in Syracuse.

No, it's not swine flu, it's something much more serious. I have Pink Hat.

I've been fortunate enough to go to a lot of Red Sox games in my life, and since '04 you can see more and more Pink Hats showing up at the Fenway. And let's get it straight, Pink Hats aren't just 15-30 year old women who show up and say, "Look it's Big Poppy." It's also those friggin' jerks sitting behind home plate waving to the center field camera all game.

I thought it would be done there, but then, pains me to say my own girlfriend has a pink Tom Brady jersey. Take it from me, there is nothing sexy about that. Of course the next step was pink Celtics' apparel. Sure enough, I saw some when at the Championship parade in late June.

So with all this built up hate, how is it that I've become a pink hat? Well, now I root for the Bruins. I saw the symptoms coming. I said that as soon as the playoffs started, I would jump on the black and gold bandwagon. I can't name 5 guys on the team, and to be honest I don't even understand some of the newer rules that came after the NHL Lockout.

But to be truthful, I don't really consider myself a Pink Hat. The thing is I just love Boston. I'm going to root for the Bruins, Cannons, and the Lobsters. Hell, if someone on American Idol was from Boston, I'd start watching and cheer for them. And I think that separates me from Pink Hats.

So since the line maybe be somewhat unclear about what the difference is, I'll go Kenny Powers on you, and drop some knowledge on you beautiful bitches. This way you'll know if you're a Pink Hat or not.

1. You wear any type of pink at your teams home game, and don't know the three best players on the team.

2. Your favorite player is the most attractive guy on the team for that reason alone.

3. You text (not reply) and make (not answer) phone calls at sporting events that have nothing to do with a great play that just happened.

4.You ask more then 3 times what just happened because you have no idea what is going on.

5. For Red Sox fans only: You're favorite part of the game is Sweet Caroline in the 8th.

With the exception of number 4 (and that would be a stretch), I think I fall short of the Pink Hat criteria. So I'll watch the Bruins over the next few weeks, hoping that they can win a Stanley Cup. But you won't see me at the parade if they do, because I didn't watch one full regular season game of B's.

From here on out, I'm going to treat the Bruins playoff run like I treat Lady Gaga's music: I'm not proud of what I'm doing, but it's not going to stop me. I might even fist pump.

No Big Ticky, No Championship Laundry

Couple quick website shout outs:
-My friend Tyler, who you can take some of the blame for getting me into this blogging BS, started blogging himself. Usually good for funny links and videos.
- Connect is a public affairs show that I work on at Newhouse. Some really good stuff up there, and we're trying to get as many hits as possible.

Now to the Celtics...


Of course Celt's fans are weepy over the fact that Kevin Garnett is most likely out for the playoffs. But I still think we will see some good basketball from the team. KG missed 27 games, this season, and the Celtics were 19-8. Of course Pierce and Allen will come to play, but I think Rondo and Big Baby will play a role in a playoff run. Will they make it to The Finals? Probably not, but would we even with pregame chest pounds?

It's one of the most overused cliches in sports, but I just don't believe the Celtics have the same hunger as last season. Last year you had three of the best players in the NBA (in their primes), all with the goal of looking to win their first championship. There is still the drive to defend your championship, but I'm not sure that's enough this season.

Also, the supporting cast isn't the same. James Posey was a monster that could lock down anyone on defense and had championship credentials. Add that with P.J. Brown, a veteran that came out of retirement at the All-Star Break for a chance at his first championship too. Do you get that same feeling about Mikey Moore and Mike Tyson's lookalike Stephon Marbury? Didn't think so.

In the end, I think it's really just Lebron's time. The Cavs have been virtually flawless at home. But even if the Celtics had the home court advantage and a healthy Kevin Garnett, I think Cleveland has the perfect pieces and chemistry to solidify King James as the NBA's biggest superstar right now. I see them in their pregame introductions, and it reminds me of when of when I watch my friends drink. They make asses of themselves and I say, "I remember what my first beer was like, grow up." When really I'm thinking, "God I wish I was in their mind state right now." I hate watching the Cavs have fun, because I know how much fun their fans are having.

Even with KG, this title defense would've been a tall task trying to beat the Cavaliers. Without him, I give them less than a 10% chance to even get to The Finals. But if by some chance they are hanging up Banner 18 next season, Kevin Garnett was right.

Panic Button? Not this Red Sox Fan

Technology today is pretty crazy. I planned on getting on my Blog Box and explaining why there is no reason for Red Sox fans to be freaking out about the poor start thus far. However, just got a text update from WEEI Daisuke Matsuzaka will be placed on the DL because of shoulder fatigue, and Hunter Jones is being called up. Certainly not good news, but let's try and look at the big picture on this one.

Yes, the Red Sox are 2-6. Yes, they are off to their worst start since 1996. Yes, Jason Bay isn't Manny. Yes, the 2 time WBC MVP looks terrible in a Red Sox uniform, and now may be hurt. And yes, I am still very confident that this team will make it to the playoffs as either a division winner or wild card winner.

I can only speak for myself, but I feel that many Sox have a different outlook on Boston sports since the "Tuck Rule Game." Since then, I am no longer turning away during a big spot one of my teams' games. In fact, I feel confident that they will thrive in it.

First of all, this is a tough stretch for the team. They started against the defending AL champs, and then headed out west to play the AL West favorite, and an A's team with solid pitching and nice line-up top to bottom. And for whatever reason, the Red Sox always struggle out west.
It is bad that they are getting off to such a poor start, but that's all it is: the start of the season. 8 down, 154 to go. No team has ever lost the pennant on Tax Day, and I don't think this year's Sox team will be the exception.

However, I will admit their is some cause for concern. Lester and Dice-K have looked pretty bad on this road trip. With the exception of Youkilis and Bay, the rest of lineup is really struggling. Maybe the biggest concern: that I'm looking to Julio Lugo to be the spark to get this team going.

But like I said, I'm staying optimistic. The Yanks will struggle at some point, the Rays will struggle, and the Red Sox will get out. That's baseball. And in the end, one of these three very good teams will be left on the outside looking in at the post season. And in my opinion, that team won't be the Boston Red Sox.

3 SU Stars Declare for the NBA Draft

As I said in my last post, this blog is in it's infant stages, so still trying to see what works. It's probably going to be mostly about Boston sports and my thoughts on them, but today, it's all about Syracuse hoops.

Monday night, Dickie V picked Syracuse to be number 3 team going into next season. But if the reports on the Hill today are true, the Orange will be happy to be ranked in the top 25 to start next season.

Johnny Flynn, Paul Harris, and Eric Devendorf all declared for the draft according to SU Athletics. The article on syracuse.com is vague, saying that Flynn has not hired an agent, leaving me to believe there's a good chance of him coming back. The article says nothing about Harris and Devo's situations, leaving me to believe they are leaning towards leaving.

The Spin

Here's my take on all three guys:

-Flynn is the stud. Watching Flynn dunk at Rutgers early this year showed me he can take the game over at anytime. He could use another year to polish his game, but certainly can't blame him if he leaves.

-Devendorf is the player everyone loves to hate, including me at times. I thought that at the begining of this year he would test the draft waters, if only because of the ACL injury from the year before. I still don't see him cracking the first round this year but with a kid now, maybe he feels it's time to start providing.

-I really feel terrible for Paul Harris. Tell me he doesn't hate David Stern more than the Peter Griffin hates Meg. He would be an NBA vetern by now, if Stern never started the 1 year of college rule. Paul works hard on the floor, but will have at least 3 brain farts a game, which leads to him getting chewed out by Boeheim. Like Devo, he also has young kids too, so maybe that's his motivation.

So to some it up, I would love to have these three guys come back for 1 more year. We'd have a stacked team and be a national championship contender. I think Flynn has the only real shot at being a first round pick. If they go out, Harris and Devendorf will probably end up in Europe.

I've offically become a geek

To anyone that might be reading this, welcome and thanks for checking out my blog. I used to think it was nerds and tools that wrote their own blogs, but now since I'm on I know that this is true.

I'm not ceratin where this blog is going to go. For the time being its going to about the last couple of weeks at school, partying, sports, and anything else funny that happens in between. If you're reading and there's something you think I should talk about, holla at me.

Now comes the time when I will whore myself out for internet exposure. Friend me on facebook (Pat Hanlon) and follow me on Twitter (PHan115). I guess the next step into true geekdom will be when I start doing podcasts.

So take it easy, and I hope you come back soon for the next post.