Ramblin' Man: 3/22/11

-Thought the Heat's 9-8 start to the LeBron era was a disaster? That was child's play compared to the Knicks 7-9 opening statement with Carmelo Anthony on board. Is it as satisfying as seeing the Heat struggle early on (as well as a bit lately)? Of course not. But it's hilarious nonetheless that the Nuggets, Carmelo's old team, are enjoying life at 9-4 since the mega-deal and still have an outside shot at a top-4 seed in the Western Conference.

-Speaking of the Knicks, thanks to their 4th quarter no-show last night, the Celtics have already matched last season's win total (50) with 13 games to play. 60 wins, but more importantly the top seed in the East, are very much in play.

-Total points for Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire in the 4th quarter last night? Zero.

-I'd hesitate to say the C's are firing on all cylinders at the moment, but at the very least they've proven they can play from behind, with two consecutive second half comebacks.

-Matt Cooke, otherwise known as the man who effectively ended Marc Savard's career, finally got what was coming to him and has been suspended for the remainder of the regular season plus the 1st round of the playoffs. It still befuddles me he wasn't suspended for the Savard hit last year. "I realize and understand, more so now than ever, that I need to change," said Cooke of his suspension. Yeah, and Kim Jong-Il needs to change North Korea's foreign policy. Doesn't mean it's going to happen.

-If there is football in the fall, it's going to be a lot less exciting. Pussy NFL owners decided to move the kickoff line up from the 30 to the 35, and this could have a profound effect on return games. Kicking the ball out of the back of the end zone is now a viable option for kickers. Aren't kickoff returns the most exciting part of the most exciting game in America? Just another reason why it's hard not to side with the players in this whole debacle.

-Barry Bonds trial underway out in San Francisco. Bonds has only been retired for a little more than three years now but boy does it seem longer than that. The man fell off the face of the Earth seemingly. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

-I come home for Spring Break in Hingham, which is as exciting as it sounds, and try to find Seinfeld on FOX25 at 7. Nope. TMZ has taken it's place. This has to be a freaking joke right? Isn't there already a whole channel dedicated to celebrity gossip, "E!" ? Furthermore, does anyone actually care about that shit anyways? I'm yet to meet a single person who watches TMZ or Access Hollywood or any of that garbage. The whole Charlie Sheen saga has been pretty entertaining, I'll spot that, but even that is getting old.  Just another reason why Fox is the worst network on television. Their Sunday's consist of "Bob's Burgers" and "Cleveland Show" airing in prime time, "Glee" is considered one of their top shows, and they employ Joe Buck and Tim McCarver for sports broadcasts. And that's before dissecting FOX News. Enough said.

UPN is definitely WINNING by picking up Seinfeld, weeknights at 7 and 11.

-Looney Tunes airing on Cartoon Network again midday. I'm pumped.

-Thought I was going to make it all the way through here without mentioning the Bruins? I thought about it. I really did. They've done nothing blog-worthy of late short of giving me ulcers and panic attacks. I coulda sworn I saw Andrew Raycroft, Hal Gill, and Alex Zhamnov taking the ice for the B's last week. They'd better beat New Jersey tonight or else we've got some major issues on our hands, if we don't already.

-I guess I should mourn my bracket while we're here too. Sure, my eventual champ UConn is still alive, so the odd year/even year dynamic is still alive. So I have that going for me. Which is nice. But of my Sweet 16 teams, only 6 are still dancing. And that includes complete obliteration in the Southeast region, where I have no teams remaining. Damn Mormons and Butler. Always fun to blame Butler for something isn't it?