Feelin' Fine

It's a great time to be a Boston sports fan. How can you not be excited? Obviously there are no guarantees in life, but to say that the trio of Paul Pierce-Ray Allen-Kevin Garnett will have a positive impact on the Celtics' playoff chances is an understatement. The best thing of all is that beyond the sheer amount of talent that new aquisitions Allen and Garnett bring, there's an incredible amount of class coming with them.

Can you even recall Ray Allen being in the news for something negative? The only thing I can remember from Garnett is some un-choice words during the 2004 playoffs, for which he apologized almost immediately.

The only regret I have is that most of the players who will help the Celtics hang banner #17 will not be our players -- guys who have been with the team all or most of their careers. There's something extra special when a team wins a championship with homegrown talent. Right now, only half of last year's roster remains on the Celtics. I suppose it doesn't really matter since the roster has turned over twice since Danny Ainge took over, with Paul Pierce being the only holdover since 2003. Not including this year's draft, only four players (Kedrick Perkins, Tony Allen, Leon Powe and Rajon Rondo) remain from all of Ainge's previous drafts -- and Ainge still has to add several bodies just to have the minimum 12 players.


On the other side of town, a less impactful addition, but still a welcome one. Eric Gagne might be the best setup man in the league, especially since he's a closer masquerading as a setup man -- he'll spell Hideki Okajima who's approaching a number of innings he's never pitched before in Japan, as well as get a few save opportunities if Jonathan Papelbon ends up pitching too many games in a row. That's two birds with one stone -- make that three if the Red Sox win the World Series.