It's a somewhat strange time in the sports world. The bustle and mirth of the holiday shopping season and the transition between the end of the fall and the start of the winter seasons have created something of a lull for sports junkies.
This year, however, there are plenty of odds and ends to keep us occupied as we bounce back and forth between the malls and downtown.
THE ELLSBURY AND SANTANA SHOW
By now, everyone in Red Sox Nation is aware of the attempt to secure the services of one Johan Santana, a Southpaw flame-thrower who desperately wants out of Minnesota (and who the hell could blame him?). At first it looked as if the two-time Cy Young Award winner was going to throw in with the Evil Empire, but the Yankees have since balked, leaving the Red Sox as the only real suitor for the 28-year-old's talents.
Late last week, it seemed the Sox had negotiated a steal of a deal to send outfielder Coco Crisp, pitcher John Lester and two prospects to the Twins for Santana. The reason it looked like a steal is because the Sox weren't going to have to part with two guys who many feel are the future of the team, outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and pitcher Clay Bucholz.
But over the weekend, when the Yankees looked ready to close, the Sox suddenly threw Ellsbury into the mix, touching off a great debate in the Boston media, especially talk radio, where there are callers ready to burn Fenway to the ground if Theo makes this deal.
I'm nowhere near that rabid, but I will say this: pitching does win championships, but so does defense, and I just think Ellsbury is too hot a prospect to give up. He's going to be the centerfielder of the future and a potential leadoff guy for the next 10 years. By all accounts, he's the best prospect to come down the pike in 20 years. I'm not sure you give a guy like that up that easily—though it won't surprise me if that's already happened by the time this paper hits the stands.
A wag in one of the Boston papers this weekend pointed out an interesting fact. If Santana does come here, he'll be the latest in a line of athletes that have spent time in both the Twin Cities and Beantown. The first to come was David Ortiz, who left the Twins for the Sox via free agency. This year Randy Moss, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings, landed with the New England Patriots, and Kevin Garnett was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Boston Celtics—making them the team to beat for the first time since my high school days.
DUMBER THAN THE B.C.S.
A lot of people say the College Football Bowl Championship Series is the most convoluted playoff system in football today. They should take a look at the nonsensical way we now pick teams to represent Western Massachusetts in high school Super Bowls.
It used to be simple. If you won your league, you went to the Super Bowl against the Central Mass. champion in your division. But for some reason the M.I.A.A. decided to institute a system where a one-game playoff the week after Thanksgiving determines who plays in the Super Bowl.
That means that a team can win its championship and still not make it to the dance, which is exactly what happened this year to the Frontier Red Hawks, who won the Intercounty League championship in the regular season, only to lose the subsequent playoff game and the right to go to the Division III Super Bowl.
I understand the desire to shake things up and make them more interesting. But it doesn't seem to make sense for a team that wins a championship in the regular season not to be able to play in the biggest game of the year. It creates a system that is, at best, convoluted—which, come to think of it, is the same complaint a lot of people have had for years about the BCS.
MOHAWK MANIA
One of the big questions heading into the start of the high school basketball season next week is whether Mohawk Trail Regional will finally bring home a Western Massachusetts championship. The responsibility for that may end up on the broad shoulders of Ed Carter. One of the more competitive and talented big men in Western Mass., the Ashfield native is expected to set the tone this season in his final year in Warrior blue. While it may seem unfair to put that kind of pressure on a kid, Carter has the ability to be a transcendent player on the high school level, the kind of player who can take over a game almost at will.
Fortunately, Carter won't have to do it all alone. Mohawk has a nucleus of fine returning players, which means the Warriors may be poised to finally bring home a title to a school with a basketball tradition as rich as the green fields that surround it.
