Wow. I wasn't even alive in '86, so I can't say I've ever felt this feeling before. The Sox gave me 2 so far, now I got 1 from the Celtics. I doubt I'll be sleeping tonight. I doubt I'll be tired tomorrow. I called my mom with 2 minutes left, not even knowing what I wanted to say. She's not the biggest on sports, but she came out to visit and watched games 2 through 5 with me. I guess my passion got her passionate, to the point she was calling me up throughout the game to cheer, yell and even be quiet to listen to everything official. I LOVE THE SOX, but I'm a basketball guy first. Been in love with the game of basketball for 17 years. And now my Celtics are World Champions for the first time in my life!!!!!! Wish I was in Boston to celebrate with everyone. Only that and seeing Red light one up would have made this better.

Best player on the planet? Who cares!! Doesn't mean nothing if you ain't the best team!!!!

TITLE 17!!!!!!!!!!

I haven't been keeping up as much with the Sox during the NBA Playoffs, but I do have to congratulate Jacoby Ellsbury on breaking the Red Sox rookie stolen base record. Right now he's at 33. 72 games into the season, so he could theoretically be in the middle of a 70 steal season. He's hitting .289 going into today. He's flashed a little pop in the bat from time to time. After the short time he had in the bigs last year, he had a lot of expectations placed on him (fairly or unfairly). This year, he hasn't disappointed. He has similar tools to one we used to love in CF: Johnny Damon. Disregarding the whole Yankees issue for a minute, I can look back and be happy about not re-signing Damon. It's almost as if we have Johnny Damon 2.0: The New And Improved version. Let's just hope Boras doesn't spoil this. Maybe Varitek can help out down the line.

After Game 2, I was asked by a friend what I thought the Celtics would do in LA. My answer was if not win the title there, at least get 1 game. At least get back to Boston with the lead. If we could do that, I said, I felt very confident in closing out in Boston.

Well, we got the 1 win. We're going back to Boston up 3-2. Even though we only got 1 of 3 in LA, we looked to be the dominant team. Game 4 was considered the biggest come from ahead loss in NBA Finals history. But the Lakers didn't just lose that game, we won it. Game 5 we found ourselves down by almost 20 after one. We came back again only this time down the stretch we weren't able to execute the way we needed to. KG missed some shots he should have made, our defense didn't lock down the way we can and whistles didn't blow our way. Hell, Paul Pierce had 2 guys seemingly trying to foul him after pulling down a huge rebound, only to have Kobe reach from behind (and catch a lot of body) and force a turnover that led to a dunk. But you can't have yourself in a position where you let the refs decide the game. Anyone who's played knows that. The game is over, it's not changing, and now it's time for Game 6 tomorrow night at th Garden. Here are my keys for each team tomorrow.

Boston

- Will Kendrick Perkins play? He has been a quiet key in this series. He's more bruiser then fluff, which can give Pau Gasol fits. He grabs boards and blocks some shots, complementing KG down low on defense and on the boards both ways. The occasional 15 points from him is just a plus.

- Rajon Rondo. He showed some hustle early, but made some very sloppy plays. Is he going to make us cringe with his passes, or will he be the guy who can get 6 or 7 boards, 10 assists and 1 turn over? If not, Eddie House/ Sam Cassell get the call yet again which could go either way.

- Can Kevin Garnett get in the post already? When he has taken it to the block, the results have been very positive. He could easily score 25 on less shots if he would only take it in the post. I don't know one person who hasn't said this, yet for some reason KG falls in love with that streaky 18 foot jumper. And damn it, don't get into early foul trouble!

- The first quarter/half. The Lakers have been killing us here. If we didn't give the initial advantage, those +20 point runs would put us up by 20, not bringing it to a tie game. This is the NBA Finals. How can you come out the locker room and spot the other team 15 to 20?

- Our Bench Point Guards. If House is called on, can he not suck? I don't expect him to, but it happens. If Cassell is called on, will we get a veteran sharp shooter who can play a poor man's Chauncey Billups, or will he look to jack up shots even after he just missed 10 in a row.

Los Angeles

- Lamar Odom. He just had a good 2 games, so I'd bet a hefty sum that he wont be able to do it 3 games in a row. He's not the big time player he should be. But if he can pull the rabbit out of his butt, Kobe can yell at less talented people.

- Can Pau Gasol be tougher then a marshmallow? Not normally, although he showed some signs of it in Game 5. If Kendrick Perkins doesn't play (or even if he does but at an obvious less then 100%) then the door could open for Gasol to show some toughness. That could lead to more early foul trouble for Garnett, which would aggravate me greatly.

- Which Kobe will show up? Facilitator Kobe? I'm dropping 50 if you like it or not Kobe? Triple Double Kobe? Kobe has to be a facilitator who can score for the Lakers to be at their best. Otherwise he gets into playing one on one too much, or everything gets put on the supporting cast, none of which is good enough to carry the team alone. He can't be 0 points in the first half Kobe, and he can't be 20 points with 0 assists Kobe if the Lakers want a chance against a Boston team looking for blood on their home court.

- What will Phil Jackson come up with next? I never though I'd be questioning Phil Jackson (and apparently, neither has every media outlet I've read or heard). I was still hesistant too all until Game 5. I had to draw the line their. Chris Mihm? Anyone think Phil tried to calm down pre-game with D'Angelo's brown sugar? I wouldn't doubt it.

Whatever happens, I'm looking forward to seeing my team capturing title 17, recapturing a look at the glory days (while beginning the next chapter in that series) and the phone call my father and I will have when the journey is complete.

GO CELTICS!!!

What's up? This is my first post on YB. I'm a huge Red Sox/Celtics fan, so you can imagine where my head is at right now. For the record, I picked the Celtics in 6 and got a lot of heat for it from everyone I knew. This was even after I explained that KG and Perkins should shread the softness known as the Lakers front court. That Rondo is good enough defensively that Fisher won't get any points going one on one with him, and he'll break up some passing lanes. That Pierce is better on both ends of the court then most people give him credit for. That Ray found his stroke and was also underrated on the defensive end of the court. That Lamar Odom is one of the biggest teases (if not THE biggest) in all of the NBA. That Pau Gasol is too finesse to be anywhere close to great. That the C's bench > The Lakers bench. The experience/craftiness of PJ Brown. Posey's D and 3's. House spreading the floor. But they all laughed. They thought Kobe and Phil would continue their path of dominance right through us. Some said in 4 games. Some said 5 games just to be on the safe side. Well, it's not over until it's over, but if the Lakers want a chance they have to push it to 7. I'm only in my early 20's, so I don't remember the C's being this good. I don't remember the classic battles of the 80's except for NBA TV replays. For me, this is title number 1. I finally got 2 from the Sox over the last 4 seasons, and now the Celtics look to give me one too. My dad loved the Celtics when we lived in Boston. He use to tell me stories of going to playoff games at the Garden and watching the original Big 3. Even tells me stories of bringing me to Fenway as an infant to watch Clemens. Now I have my own memories to tell my son about when he gets older. Even though he's too young to understand what's going on, I'll be able to tell him about how he saw Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and the rest of the bunch bring glory back to Boston.

Now let's go out and get number 17!!!!!!