Through two games — a win over a really good team and a win over a really bad team — the Boston Celtics are set on nothing less than a championship.

And they are not afraid to say it.

“Why not us?” said Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace following Boston’s win over Charlotte. “I think that we can handle it. We set that bar really high. I think it would say less of us as players, coaches and a team if we sat up there and said, ‘We just want to make the playoffs.’ No, that’s not our main goal. Not our agenda. With great teams. You have to set great marks like that.”

Refreshing, right?

There is very little boring false modesty — like that repetitive droning blandness that has become the mantra over the years from the football team in Foxboro.


Click here to read the full article – By David Willis of The Eagle-Tribune

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Tom Brady threw for an NFL record five touchdowns in the second quarter as the Patriots humiliated the Titans 59-0 in snowy Foxborough, Mass.

Brady had six touchdown passes overall, matching his team record, and threw for 380 yards before leaving the game in the third quarter. The Patriots set team records for points and yards (619). We can move past wondering whether Brady will ever look like his pre-injury self.

A week after a shaky showing in a loss at Denver, it was 2007 all over again against the hapless and helpless Titans. … Quite a turnaround for the Jets, who started 3-0 but fell to 3-3 with an overtime loss to the Bills. Rex Ryan will probably be roasted this week on WFAN by the same callers who were calling him a genius and talking Super Bowl three weeks ago.

Click here to read the full article – By MIKE ANTHONY of The Hartford Courant

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Paul Pierce scored 25 points and Kevin Garnett backed up claims that his knee is just fine, adding 12 points and six rebounds in the Boston Celtics’ 100-93 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Sunday

Garnett, who missed much of last season with a strained right knee, looked comfortable as he chased loose balls and drove to the basket early. He matched his preseason average of eight points with 3:18 to spare in the first quarter, and wound up playing 21 minutes.

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 21 points, and Yi Jianlin added 20 points and eight rebounds.

The teams traded the lead 10 times and combined for 26 fouls, but Boston opened a 13-point lead in the second half on strong shooting by Pierce and clutch 3-pointers by Eddie House.


Click here to read the full article – By of nashuatelegraph.com

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Paul Pierce is about to start his 12th NBA season, and the Celtics [team stats] captain expects it to be one of the oddest in memory.

Paul Pierce is about to start his 12th NBA season, and the Celtics [team stats] captain expects it to be one of the oddest in memory.

Given the initial stances between the league and players on the eve of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement (with the current one set to expire after next season), and preparation by teams for the ballyhooed 2010 free agent class, the 2009-10 season can’t help but suffer.

Toss in major free agent signings and trades by upper tier teams like the Celtics, Lakers and Cavaliers — with the rich getting richer — and Pierce sees the dynamic changing.

“I think it’s going to be a very different kind of year, man,” Pierce said. “You obviously have your teams at the top, your teams in the middle. But the difference this year is that the teams at the top got better, and the teams at the bottom didn’t get any better.

“I think that will be a concern — that things get lopsided for teams at the top — especially going into a new collective bargaining agreement. They’re going to have to try to see how they can balance out this league, especially with the small-(market) teams that can’t get the big time players in free agency.”


Click here to read the full article – By Mark Murphy of BotonHerald.com

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How a player comes into the National Football League quickly becomes irrelevant. How he plays once on the field is the only photo-op that lasts.


Fittingly, five of the Patriots’ defensive starters in the team’s 27-21 victory over the Baltimore Ravens this past Sunday have NFL careers rooted in quieting doubters. Defensive tackle Mike Wright, inside linebacker Gary Guyton, outside linebacker Pierre Woods, cornerback Leigh Bodden and free safety Brandon McGowan all were undrafted out of college.

On the field, they have contributed to the Patriots’ defense making the alarmists look foolish.

“Good players come from all over the place,” says Wright, who twice sacked Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco this past Sunday. “Some players just keep climbing, some players stay (level). Fortunately, I’ve had good coaches and players around me the last four years to learn from.”

Click here to read the full article – By David Pevear of lowellsun.com

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Milan Lucic certainly was the man of the hour at Ristuccia Arena yesterday, the day after he signed a three-year, $12.25 million contract extension that will have him unleashing his thunder for the Bruins [team stats] through the 2012-13 season.

“He’s your prototypical Bruin,” center and linemate Marc Savard said of Lucic. “We all love him here, and obviously the fans do, too.”

B’s general manager Peter Chiarelli, who has been candid on his dislike of the massive new “second” contracts now bloating payrolls across the NHL – contracts exactly like Lucic’s new deal – nonetheless expressed delight at having the big winger locked up.

“His skill set, his character set, his physicality, they’re all just tremendous assets for our organization and typify what it is to be a Bruin,” Chiarelli said. “I really like the way Milan plays, and I love the way he carries himself on and off the ice. He’s done everything he needed to do to get here. He deserves this contract.

“He’s a big body who loves to play the game, and plays with a physical side. He creates his own space. We’ve seen a very good progression and we expect, as evidenced by the contract, that progression to continue.”

Click here to read the full article – By Stephen Harris of Boston Herald

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Kendrick Perkins is only 24, but believe it or not, he’s already entering his seventh NBA season with the Celtics.


“I don’t go by the NBA years, I just go by my age,” Perkins said. “So I feel young, just 24. I feel like I’m just getting started.”

Few would have bet that Perkins would have lasted this long after he joined the Celtics out of a Texas high school and played only 35 minutes all season as an overweight and clumsy rookie.

Strange as it may be, Perkins is actually three months younger than rookie guard Lester Hudson, whom the Celtics drafted out of Tennessee-Martin last June.


Click here to read the full article – By Bill Doyle of TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

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It looks like the Patriots are going to bring linebacker Junior Seau back for a third go-round. They are going to insert the old buck into their young linebacking corps.

Why?

Certainly not for his bull-dodging skills.

On many levels, a Seau return, which could happen as soon as today, doesn’t make much sense. Injured linebacker Jerod Mayo, who made an appearance at practice last week, could be back this week. Gary Guyton, meanwhile, has looked better with each game filling in at middle linebacker.

So why the rush for Seau, who preferred coming back closer to the end of the season? Why bring him back now, when he might only have a half-dozen or so games left in him?


Click here to read the full article – By KAREN GUREGIAN of BOSTON HERALD

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On a typical Monday last year, Tuukka Rask would be getting a much-needed day of rest. On each of the three previous days, Rask was usually counted on to fill the Providence net, with at least one bus ride mixed in between the games. If all goes according to plan this season, Rask will experience nothing of the sort.

The rookie goalie has yet to appear in a game this season. Given the schedule’s ease (Anaheim at home Thursday, the Islanders at TD Garden Saturday, Colorado on home ice a week from tonight), Rask might not make his first appearance until the Bruins’ two-game road swing Oct. 16-17 (at Dallas and Phoenix).

In years past, that stretch of downtime might have been a big problem for Rask and his team.

Rask, a first-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 2005, has always been The Man. As a teenage pro in Finland, Rask was the No. 1 goalie for Ilves for two seasons. The butterfly goalie was considered one of the best netminders outside of North America.

But like many young stars, the up-and-coming hotshot cruised in practice. When pucks slipped by him, Rask didn’t give it much thought.

Click here to read the full article – By Fluto Shinzawa of Boston Globe

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If the NHL salary cap was at all forgiving, Aaron Ward might still be a member of the Bruins [team stats].

Ward spent two-plus seasons with the B’s, skating alongside captain Zdeno Chara for much of that time. But Ward became a salary cap liability in the offseason when the Bruins reached out to defenseman Derek Morris, the free agent signee who emerged from training camp as Chara’s new defense partner.

Ward and his $2.5 million cap hit were dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes on July 24 for former Boston College forward Patrick Eaves and a 2010 draft pick. Carolina goalie Cam Ward will be protected by Ward when the Bruins host the Hurricanes tonight at the Garden.

The Hurricanes eliminated the B’s in the second round of the playoffs last spring.

Click here to read the full article – By Rich Thompson of Boston Herald

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