Red Sox and Celtics - Holy Crap!

For the Boston fan, last night was a real pleaser. We attended the Rays-Red Sox brawl of a game and, besides the fact that it cut into game 1 of the Celtics-Lakers finals, it was pretty awesome. I arrived a little after 6 (They started the game early so that folks wouldn't have to miss the Celtics, but I think all players were in agreement that they weren't going to let the C's determine the length of their game.) and waited in what I thought was the left field pavilion, where our standing room seats were (it was actually one level above where I was). I was scanning the crowd, looking for my peeps, when all of a sudden I heard a huge roar. When I got a good view of the field, it wasn't clear exactly what had happened. My first thought was that an unruly fan dashed out onto the field. The last name I remember being announced was Coco Crisp. Surely, Coco wasn't involved in a brawl. I had to get bits and pieces of information from the people who actually did see this play out and I was pretty shocked. Even after watching the replays. I guess Coco used to box - this was evident when you see the way he avoids James Shields' swing. It was pretty wild and, of course, amusing. I hope Coco doesn't get suspended for too long. I agree that he should have let that mofo have it, but he is pretty key right now, particularly in the absence of Papi. Then, Jacoby came out of the game with a wrist injury after making a diving catch (it's going to be day-to-day) and Manny and Youk were fighting in the dug out. There is some speculation that Youk was pissed at Manny for not being more prompt in clearing the dugout to defend Coco. Nice night - and this was only the first half of the evening. We did move up to seats right near the Red Sox dugout in the 8th, as folks were clearing out to go home and watch the Celtics. Occasionally, the Fenway people put the Celtics score up on one of their MANY screens in the park. I guess they thought that leaving the score up would have been overkill or something. I was so mad. There was one screen that read: GO CELTICS, BEAT L.A.! Could they not have used this screen for something a little more important, like, saaaaaaaay, the score?

I must tell you, too, that on my way to the park, I saw at least 5 ambulances. Several of them were parked next to the river (alongside the Pike, in the Heminway area). The water is particularly filthy there, always foul-smelling. I don't know what was going on, but I could feel it coming in the air last night. Oh, Lord.

(photo at left: Senator John Kerry Governer Deval Patrick were among the important people at the Garden last night. Check out this gallery for more.) We watched the 2nd half of the Celtics game at home. By half time, the Lakers had a 5 point lead. The announcers were calling the Celtics "lucky" to have only been trailing by 5. Little did they know ... the C's were about to take the roof off the sucka. I was really scared when Pierce went down. He looked like he was in a lot of pain and at the point of his injury, he was on fire. What was worse, he fell because his legs somehow got caught up in Perkins' legs. As Jere said - can't even blame the Lakers for it. But remarkably, Pierce, with a nicely wrapped knee, came back in the game after seeking quick medical attention. And he was a machine, to boot. Now, let's talk about the Celtics amazing point guard - Rajon Rondo. This guy has been dazzling me all year. Aside from the fact that he is cute as a darned button (he's only 6' 1"), he is spot on. He was a rookie just last year, but he's been playing like a seasoned pro from game 1 of the regular season.

Garnett was his usual awesome self, shooting 24 points. And Ray Allen finally found his game!

I don't know if we'll see Eddie House or Big Baby in the finals. Eh, you never know. But probably not.

What a crazy, glorious night. Kobe is an unbelievable player and this is by no means in the bag.

*all photos from Boston.com