Great expectations
Took a night off from sports last night. (Well, to be precise, the "night off" began after Tim Wakefield's game-altering pitch to Mike Napoli, but before it cleared the wall in center field for a game-changing three-run homer. Totally saw that one coming.)
Finally watched "Gone Baby Gone" instead. A masterpiece for Ben Affleck (did I just write that?), wholly superior to the "The Departed" . . . and absolutely crushing if you are a parent or Morgan Freeman. Pretty sure I'll never watch it again. And I especially wished I'd stuck with the Sox after realizing I'd missed Daniel Bard's debut.
Oh, well. I'm not missing a sporting thing tonight, what with yet another Bruins/Celtics simultaneous postseason doubleheader. As a matter of fact, I've already drawn up a short list of things I'm hoping to see. Such as . . .
. . . J.J. Redick continuing to shoot like he's still at Duke and a Final Four berth is on the line.
. . . Dwight Howard getting his wish and getting the ball in the clutch. I'm all for a 57 percent free-throw shooter with no offensive game to speak of outside of six feet demanding the rock.
. . . Perk, doing his usual dirty work. Gotta write a full column about him one of those days. He's beast, you know.
. . . Dick Bavetta forgetting which team is playing at home.
. . . Stan Van Gundy's shrill, cliche-ridden, completely uninspired instructions during a timeout.
. . . The "We just have to listen to this guy for two more games, tops" looks on the faces of the Magic players.
. . . More of that dipstick Skip To My Lou. Less of Courtney Lee, who could be the Rodney Stuckey of this series if Van Hedgehog would let him.
. . . Rajon Rondo shaking off his strange recent lethargy and making the Magic pay for daring him to shoot.
. . . The Truth and Shuttlesworth on fire in the same game for once.
. . . Big Baby driving up his price even more with a 20/10 performance. You can bet the Magic fans on the sidelines will be aware of his whereabouts at all times tonight.
. . . Scott Walker's painful comeuppance, preferably at the hands of Milan Lucic.
. . . A goal for Shane Hnidy. Hey, if Montador can get one.
. . . An uneventful night's work for Tim Thomas. And no juicy rebounds when the Hurricanes do test him.
. . . A turning-point play for Patrice Bergeron. I can think of no Bruin who deserves it more, save for maybe the likable hockey vagabond Thomas.
. . . At least three savvy passes/decisions from David Krejci, TATB's official Bruins binky.
. . . A victory on the ice in Boston.
. . . and if it's not too much to ask, one on the hardwood in Orlando too.
* * *
As for today's Completely Random Hockey Card:
With Cam above and Espo here, we like to think we've doubled the good karma.
ABOUT TOUCHING ALL THE BASESIrreverence and insight from Chad Finn, a Globe/Boston.com sports writer and lifelong and incurable sports nut. Yes, he realizes how lucky he is. You can e-mail him at chadfinn4@yahoo.com.
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