Weekend Sporties

-Hey, Matt Damon: I went to hundreds of Celtics games between the mid-90s and the early 2000s and I didn't see you once. Suddenly after a couple of NBA Finals appearances you are sitting courtside for a nationally televised Celtics/Lakers game? I know what you're doing and I don't like it. You and Affleck can go to as many Red Sox games as you want and I won't say a word, but don't think you can bandwagon your way in with Celtics fans just because you've made some of my favorite movies of the last decade. The Bourne series is only going to get you so far, buddy. When I see you at a Celtics-Grizzlies games in the middle of March we'll talk. Until then I've got my eye on you.

-So, I was on board with the NHL doing an All-Star fantasy draft, right up until the moment I found out that the last guy picked gets a car. You know, it was funny to think about a millionaire having to sit there and sweat out being the last player picked like the fat kid in gym class, but giving him a prize takes all the fun out of it - the fat kid never got a car at the end of class. It's not like they even need it - I'm sure Phil Kessel could afford to buy himself a new car if the mood struck. But, God forbid we make people feel unsure about themselves for even a second. This is what is wrong with sports today - even the professionals aren't immune from the "Everyone gets a trophy" mentality.

-The NFL also held their All-Star game this weekend with the Pro Bowl. Now, even though this game has never been known for big hitting, this year seemed to be especially void of any attempts at defense and was universally regarded as an affront to the sport. No one who watched it seemed very happy, yet the game got its highest ratings since 1997. If you want to know why there is not going to be a lockout and why the players will eventually agree to an 18-game season, that is your answer. Things are going too well and the owners are making too much money to kill the Golden Goose. They might miss a couple weeks of offseason training, but I fully expect a deal to be done by the time training camps are scheduled to open.

-I was disappointed to learn that former Celtic coach Jim O'Brien was fired by the Pacers over the weekend. Not because he was a very good coach (the Pacers stink this year), but because Jim seems like a nice guy. I remember meeting him at a Celtic fan event in 2002 and talking for a few minutes before he agreed to take a quick picture. But, before my sister snapped the picture O'Brien looked at my hands, which were full of beers (it was open bar and at the age of 22 I was taking advantage) and said, "You have to hide those. Your mom is going to see this picture." It was that kind of attention to detail that made me believe the Celtics were in good hands.

-Because I am such a golf geek, I was interested to see the ratings for this weekend's golf tournament. I was mildly surprised to learn that they were up 54% from last year. Now, the realist in me understands that the improvement is most likely because of the facts that Tiger Woods was hanging around (he's always good for a bump in ratings), Phil Mickelson was in contention and most of the country was trapped in their homes by cold weather so more people were in front of their TVs than last year. However, the optimist in me hopes that it is because people will start to realise that golf is made up of more than Tiger, Phil and 100 nobodies. The problem for the PGA is that the realist has the much more sound argument.