Wes Welker, in making public his complaints about Bill Belichick (which is NOT the reason he is no longer a Patriot) has exposed himself as being a media hound always looking to get his name in the news. Bill told him, and the rest of the team, NOT to be too free about talking to the media about sensitive issues. Welker immediately started mouthing off about the Jet's coach and his "foot fetish," which the New York media had made into a big thing. Even though Belichick had expressley
warned him against doing that. Welker just now complained that he was embarrassed by Belichick calling him out in front of his teammates over the incident. . Welker added, that was one of the reasons he decided on signing with Denver. (A lie) the real reason, as I wrote several weeks ago right here, was that when he was offered the Patriot's deal (much the same that he accepted from Denver) he said he'd call back and let them know. Belichick gave the same offer to Ammendola, in the meantime, who accepted. When Welker called back to accept the offer he was told it was too late. NOTE: Welker's shenanigans would not have been tolerated by Red Auerbach and I firmly believe Belichick follows very closely all of Auerbach's policies...THE TEAM ALWAYS COMES FIRST!!
In a final note let me give a ray of hope to all you Patriot's fans: Las Vegas has firmly placed the Pats as the #4 betting favorite (14 to 1) to WIN next years super bowl. (That'll drop to about 8 to 1)
Now on to our Boston Celtics: Is there anyone out there who still thinks that Danny Ainge is tanking the season to get a higher lottery pick?? They will probably get one but not because of "tanking." I think Danny is a genius and is slowly building a team with guys who want to play for a winner and believe in what Danny and young coach Stevens is doing to build one.
Jeff Green, Avery Bradley, Jared Sullinger, Brandon Bass, Kelly Olynik, Chris Johnson, Kris Humphries, of course Rajon Rondo paired with at least one TOP rookie from the draft sounds like a pretty good start for a new Celtic dynasty. Of course Danny, like Red, has a few aces up his sleeve and is sure to make a deal or two that'll make the Celtics serious contenders once again. I'd like to see Kris Humphries stay but his $12 million salary might be too much for Danny's plan. Jeff Green might be a trading chip Danny can turn to gold if the right opportunity came along. Rajon Rondo is a mystery right now. I find it hard to believe he WANTS to test the free agent market in 2015 but I have complete confidence in Danny's ability to make the most out of any scenario concerning Rondo. A trade? only if the right offer comes along and Ainge is a great judge of Rondo's worth. He won't get short changed. With all those draft picks he'll make something very good happen.....Stay tuned.
The first head coach who had to rebuild the Celtics after losing their franchise player(s) was Tommy Heinsohn when Bill Russell AND Sam Jones retired in 1969. His first year as head coach, 1969-70, was difficult. Red Got him Henry Finkle, a 7 footer who had a good outside shot, played a little defense and got a few rebounds but he was not the shot blocker and intimidator Bill Russell was. For that matter who was! The Celts DID have rookie Jo-Jo White and John Havlicek who was just starting to come into his own as a bigtime scorer and team leader. The team played Celtic basketball and Tommy knew Red's fast break very well. Now the learning process began. Tommy Heinsohn was the closest thing to Red Auerbach on the parquet and, with the help of some veteran leadership from Havlicek , Don Nelson and Red in the front office all they needed was a big presence at center. The team struggled through the learning, rebuilding process and wound up with the number five pick in the draft which, with the help of some Auerbach magic, turned out to be Dave Cowens. We all know what happened from there. And then there was the Larry Bird era.....Stay tuned and trust in Danny.
Coming up next time.....The Red Sox AND the Patriots future.
Top Trivia question.....Who was the first player to have his number retired by the Celtics who had been an original draft pick by the Celtics? Follow this site for the answer.....