Mercury Morris Rips Pats. Ellsbury AL MVP?

Monday, November 21, 2011

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

No Patriots game Sunday? No problem! Here’s a look at some of the interesting stuff that happened in sports over the weekend while we await tonight’s game between the Pats and Chiefs at Gillette Stadium:

-Break up the Bruins! Winners of 8 straight, the B’s have not only picked themselves up off the proverbial mat, they have made the entire league take notice that they are the defending Stanley Cup Champions and the road to the Cup goes through them! Boston hasn’t just won 8 in a row, they have dominated the opposition during that streak outscoring their opponents 42-14 during this amazing stretch. They have jumped from 15th to 7th in the Eastern Conference standings and are just 3 points away from the top spot in the East. They also have a game or two in hand on virtually every team ahead of them in the standings. Second-year player Tyler Seguin has been pehnomenal. And while most of us will be glued to ESPN’s Monday Night Football tonight, don’t forget that the B’s will be in Montreal to take on the Canadiens this evening.

-Time to dust off Mercury Morris and all of his toothless teammates who will undoubtedly be convening on a weekly basis with champagne on ice hoping and praying for the Green Bay Packers to lose. This is what the 1972 Miami Dolphins do when anyone like the Packers (10-0) start to threaten their perfect 17-0 season of yesteryear. In case you missed it Pats fans, Morris said that he wouldn’t mind Green Bay sharing perfection with his ’72 Dolphins because they are a classy team unlike the 2007 Patriots. Morris said of the ’07 Pats, “I didn’t like the way they came across. They were too much in your face. They wanted you to bow down to them and kiss the King’s ring.” Really, Mercury? I certainly didn’t see that. If you thought that they may have run up the score on some of their opponents that season or want to lean on “Spygate” and call them cheaters, go ahead. But at least make your criticism of them legitimate. If the Pats can’t win the Super Bowl this year, I hope that Green Bay runs the table and does and shuts this nitwit up so we can stick him in the closet with mothballs and never have to hear from him again.

-New Red Sox GM Ben Cherrington just got a crash course on what it was like to be Theo Epstein this past week. Like Epstein, Cherrington apparently favored Dale Sveum to be Boston’s next manager. So much, in fact, that he organized a second interview with Sveum in Milwaukee last week which included Red Sox upper management. When the meeting was over, Sveum was no longer a candidate. Was it something Sveum said? Probably not. It is much more likely that Larry Lucchino & Company never had him near the top of their list in the first place. Make no mistake about it, Lucchino is calling the shots on Yawkey Way which is why Theo left town not once, but twice. I feel for Cherrington who has to deal with Lucchino. The new Sox GM will truly never have full control of the baseball operation as long as Lucchino is around. Apparently Larry the Leader favors former Mets bench boss Bobby Valentine who will reportedly meet with Boston brass today.

-Speaking of the Boston Red Sox, we will find out today if Jacoby Ellsbury wins the American League’s MVP award. Ellsbury hit .321 with 32 homers and 105 RBI in 2011. He also had 39 stolen bases and played a sensational center field. Some believe that A.L. Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander may also take home the MVP award. Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera, Toronto’s Jose Bautista and the Yankees’ Curtis Granderson are also in the mix for the award. Boston’s monumental September collapse which led to no playoff appearance will likely hurt Ellsbury’s chances to win the award. Still, he should be applauded for a spectacular season.