With the end of 2010 coming and going, Boston fans are looking forward to what should be an exciting 2011. What potentially makes that 2011 so exciting? The slim chance that all four of the major sports teams of this great city could turn Boston into either Championship City or Title Town. The first team that will get the opportunity to test that possibility actually calls Foxborough, MA instead of Boston home, and they just finished off their regular season this week in impressive fashion.

The New England Patriots

They already had the number one seed and home field advantage locked up throughout their upcoming post season run as well as a first round bye, but did that stop the Patriots from trouncing the Miami Dolphins? Not one bit. In what some might have thought would be a closer game, the Patriots destroyed the Dolphins 38-7 in Foxborough on Sunday.

He did not have three of his top receivers in Wes Welker, Deion Branch, and Aaron Hernandez, but that did not stop Tom Brady for throwing another two touchdown passes; one to each Rob Gronkowski and Alge Crumpler, respectively. Brady only played for the first half of the game before handing the ball over to back-up quarterback, Brian Hoyer. Hoyer was also impressive with New England’s third receiving touchdown of the day. After faking a double reverse play, Hoyer was able to launch a 42 yard bomb to find Brandon Tate in the end zone for the score. Add in a one yard run from BenJarvus Green-Ellis, a 94 yard punt return from Julien Edelman (the longest punt return in New England history), and a 28 yard field goal from Shayne Graham and you’ve got a nice 38 point cushion over the lowly Dolphins. Miami was able to score a touchdown late in the game, no thanks to New England cornerback Darius Butler. However, speaking of BenJarvus Green-Ellis, the running back was able to reach the 1000 total rushing yards plateau for the season during Sunday’s third quarter. Green-Ellis is the first Patriots’ running back to accomplish the feat since Corey Dillon had over 1600 rushing yards back in 2004. Not bad for an undrafted free agent who prior to this season had only started in 3 NFL games.

New England Patriots running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis, top center, carries the ball in for a touchdown in the first quarter of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

So now the Patriots (and the Steelers) will get to relax for a week while the rest of the AFC playoff teams duke it out to face them in the second round. The Patriots will play whoever is the lowest seed left in round two. My money is on one of the two wild card teams (the New York Jets or the Baltimore Ravens) to be the Patriots first round match-up. There will most likely be an upset from one or possibly both the games next week as I believe the Jets and Ravens are better than both of the teams they are matched up against. Ideally, I think the Chiefs are the team all Patriots fans should want to see them play, but unless the Jets falter in a big way (not impossible) then I have a feeling New England will see their friends from the Meadowlands for the third time this season.

The Boston Bruins

In no particular order, I’m switching gears over to the Bruins now. The B’s were looking to continue their winning trend after Christmas and they did just that, but only for two games. The Bruins won two and lost two this past week during their four game road trip. Monday night they took out Florida, 3-2, and followed that win up with another on Tuesday at Tampa Bay, 4-3. However, Boston still cannot seem to get over it’s shootout problems. Both Thursday and Saturday night saw the Bruins losing in a shootout. Atlanta took a 3-2 victory over Boston on Thursday and then at Buffalo on Saturday the shootout woes continued with the Sabres winning 7-6. The Bruins will look to rebound next week with just three games. Monday night they finish off their road trip in Toronto followed by a brief one game home stand on Thursday against Minnesota. Saturday has Boston back on the road to Montreal.

The Boston Celtics

Christmas seems to be a catalyst for injuries and mediocre play by the Celtics the last few seasons, especially last year. So far it seems Boston fans are getting a bit of deja vu, but not as severe as last season. After losing on Christmas, the Celtics got back on track Tuesday night at Indiana with a 95-83 win over the Pacers. However, the good times could not keep rolling for the C’s. Wednesday night put a huge scare into Boston as it watched Kevin Garnett once again go down with a right leg injury early in the game against Detroit. While most feared that he had re-injured his surgically repaired right knee, the Celtics gave Boston a sigh of relief when it was revealed that Garnett’s injury was purely a muscle strain on his right calf and that at most he would be out a few weeks and not months.

Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, center, bends over after injuring his right leg during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons in Auburn Hills, Mich., Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Without Garnett, the Celtics struggled against Detroit losing 104-92 and on New Year’s Eve against New Orleans losing 83-81. Glen Davis (Garnett’s fill-in) can be blamed for the New Orleans loss as he chose to take a three point shot very late in the game that was out of his range and ability. Davis obviously missed and was ripped apart by a very furious Doc Rivers. Boston got back to it’s winning ways Sunday night at Toronto with a 93-79 win highlighted by the return of Rajon Rondo.

The Celtics will continue to get on without Garnett next week with a nice three game home stand. They will welcome in Minnesota on Monday, host the Western Conference leading San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, and finish off their season series with Toronto on Friday night.

The Boston Red Sox

There only a few more pieces to fill in for the team that hopes to put the final piece of title town together this upcoming October. One of those pieces came for the Red Sox in Hideki Okajima this week. Okajima was able to celebrate his 35th birthday on Christmas this year by getting a one year contract with Boston. The “other” pitcher from Japan did not have the greatest year for Boston, but was playing hurt for a good deal of it (just like everyone else on the team). The left handed Okajima finished the season with a 4-4 record and 4.50 ERA, he also allowed a .284 batting average to lefties. However, when Okajima was finally healthy for the final part of the season he was great. In September and October Okajima appeared in 14 games and 11.2 innings. During that time he posted a 1.54 ERA and struck out six batters. With the other key additions to the bullpen I think this a good move for Boston. Okajima does not have to be the only option to setup Papelbon in the 9th and can be focused more on getting out lefties in key situations.

After nearly doing what seemed the impossible, Matt Flynn and the rest of the Green Bay Packers put quite the scare into New England fans on Sunday night. After back-to-back near perfect weeks, Boston and the rest of New England were hoping for more of the same. This week the Celtics continued to roll, the Bruins continued to get by, the Red Sox beefed up their bullpen, and the Patriots narrowly escaped an eye opening win over the Packers on Sunday night in Foxborough.

The Boston Bruins

In what seems to be stereotypical fashion now, the Bruins have become the only upsetting professional team here in Boston. While everyone else keeps enjoying success, the Bruins continue to struggle and just barely scrap by in comparison to their Boston companions. The B’s only managed to win one out of their three games this past week, and even that almost did not happen. After a 3-2 loss to Buffalo on Wednesday and a 4-3 loss to division leading Montreal on Thursday the Bruins just narrowly escaped with a win against Washington on Saturday 3-2.

Tim Thomas #30 of the Boston Bruins makes a save against the Washington Capitals at the TD Garden on December 18, 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

Losers of their last three games, the Bruins desperately needed a win Saturday night against the Capitals. Despite a 3-0 lead after the first period alone it almost seemed as if the Bruins were trying to lose the game after allowing 2 more goals and being out shot 26-2 in the third period. Tim Thomas continues to be a brick wall for Boston in the net when they need him most.  With a win under their belt now the Bruins can hopefully begin a nice winning streak as a Christmas present. Just two games await the B’s next week, both at home, as the Ducks and Thrashers come to visit the T.D. Garden on Monday and Thursday.

The Boston Celtics

They might be old and they might be injured, but that has stopped the Celtics from putting up the longest win streak so far this season in the NBA. After another three wins this week the Celtics now have a 13 game streak. The bad news however, is that since the 2000-01 season, whichever NBA team had the longest winning streak of the season has not advanced to the NBA Finals. The Celtics are included in this list during the 2008-09 season when they won 19 games in a row and were eliminated by the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Hopefully, the Celtics will either end this unfortunate curse of winning streak teams in the NBA or hope for some other team to fall victim to that curse.

Boston Celtics' Paul Pierce (34) passes off against the defense of Indiana Pacers' Jeff Foster during the first half of their NBA basketball game in Boston, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010. Pierce had his seventh career triple-double as the Celtics beat the Pacers, 99-88. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)

After a close game with New York on Wednesday that ended with a near buzzer beater by Paul Pierce and a not so much buzzer beater by Knicks’ star Amar’e Stoudemire the Celtics continued to role with easy wins against Atlanta (102-90) and Indiana (99-88). What’s even more impressive about these wins is that the C’s won each of these games without at least one of their regular starting five.

Shaquille O’Neal missed both the New York and Atlanta games forcing rookie center Semih Erden to start against two very good centers in Stoudemire and Al Horford. Rajon Rondo has also been sidelined for about two weeks after twisting his ankle against New York on Wednesday. Nate Robinson has taken his spot in the starting line-up for now and has flourished in that role. So far in his two starts this past week, Robinson has scored 32 points. He might not be the assists leader like Rondo is, but that duty was easily filled by Paul Pierce who had a triple-double on Sunday against Indiana. Pierce scored 18 points, dished out 12 assists, and grabbed 10 rebounds, en route to be named Eastern Conference player of the week.

Next week the Celtics will play just twice with a match-up with Philadelphia on Wednesday and an Eastern Conference Finals re-match with the “new look” Orlando Magic on Christmas.

The Boston Red Sox

Injuries might have been the biggest problem for the Red Sox last season, but besides the injuries the Red Sox also suffered from a weak bullpen. So after getting the two big bats he wanted to get to beef up Boston’s line-up, Theo Epstein turned his attention to fixing the bullpen. The Red Sox brought in four new pitchers this week, well it was actually three new pitchers and one familiar face. Matt Albers, formerly of the Baltimore Orioles was signed to a one year deal along with former Red Sox lefty, Lenny DiNardo. Those names probably do not sound too exciting for a bullpen that needed help, but in probably one of the biggest steals for far of the off season the Red Sox acquired former White Sox closer, Bobby Jenks for two years at $12 million. Jenks statistically had his worse season yet last year, but was injured for a good part of it. He is due for a big bounce back in Boston and will provide security if Jonathan Papelbon’s skills continue to decline. Shortly after the Jenks announcement, Boston also announced they had signed right hander Dan Wheeler, most recently of the Tampa Bay Rays. Wheeler was always a Red Sox killer out of the bullpen and now hopes to add strength to an already formidable team and re-building bullpen.

The New England Patriots

Aaron Rodgers out with a concussion and a three year player making his first NFL start ever against the red hot Patriots? Sounds like another blow-out by the Patriots was in store for us to watch on Sunday night. However, Matt Flynn and the rest the Packers stunned the Patriots as they nearly beat New England, but inexperience stopped their momentum in the final seconds of the game. The Patriots were able to hold onto a 31-27 win despite poor defensive play and only having the ball for a mere 20 minutes of offense.

The defense was really exposed again on Sunday night despite their increasing confidence and talent level. There were some bright spots in the defense including an interception return for a touchdown by Kyle Arrington, but other than that the defense looked tired from having to play what seemed like the entire game. They were also without linebacker, Brandon Spikes, who has been suspended for the rest of the season for violating the NFL’s drug policy rules. Spike was accused of using steroids, but has claimed that he did not know the drug he took was a performance enhancer. However, he will return to the team for the playoffs.

New England Patriots offensive lineman Dan Connolly (63) straight arms Green Bay Packers safety Charlie Peprah, center, on his way to the end zone on his touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday Dec. 19, 2010. The Patriots won 31-27. At right is Patriots safety Sergio Brown.(AP Photo/Tim Cook)

The highlight of Sunday night’s game had to come from offensive lineman, Dan Connelly. Connelly who is also a member of the kick return team was the lucky recipient of a Green Bay squib kick. Normally, one does not get to see an offensive lineman run back a kick return, and last night one had never seen an offensive lineman run back a kick for 71 yards. Connelly returned the kick nearly for a touchdown in what happened to be the longest kick return by an offensive lineman in NFL history. It was a spark for the Patriots to get their second touchdown (a two yard pass from Brady to tight end Aaron Hernandez) as well as a good laugh for the fans to see the 313 pound lineman run nearly into the end zone.

The Patriots got a good wake up call on Sunday that they are not invincible without the expense of a win. After beating up so much on Jets and Bears the last two weeks, the Patriots were probably feeling on top of the world and may have believed nothing could stop them on the way to the Superbowl. Now with two more favorable games (The Buffalo Bills next week and the Miami Dolphins the week after) to close out the season the Patriots will look to lock up first place and home field throughout the playoffs in the AFC.

As if last week for Boston sports was not good enough, the city decided to grace it’s sports’ fans with another near perfect week once more. The only blemish once again was one loss for the Bruins while the rest of the city was able to rack up wins from both the Celtics and Patriots. Also, the Red Sox continued to roll through the off season by acquiring quite possibly the biggest free agent on the market in Carl Crawford. December has been a great month to be a Boston sports fan.

The Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins right wing Mark Recchi(notes), left, tips the puck past Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller(notes), right, to score the game-winning goal during overtime of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010. The Bruins beat the Sabres 3-2.

The Bruins might have had the only loss for the city of Boston, but once again it did not necessarily mean that they had a bad week.  The B’s were able to notch two quality wins against the Sabres and Islanders on both Tuesday and Thursday this past week. The game against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday ended in an interesting fashion. Tied at two the Bruins and Sabres headed into overtime and after several minutes of back and forth battle, Dennis Seidenberg’s deep slap shot on the power play was tapped into the net by Mark Recchi. Unfortunately, the puck took a strange hit against the net and immediately came back allowing the game to continue. Several moments later the goal was reviewed during stoppage and ruled a score. The game was declared over despite a bit of play after the questioned goal.

Thursday night, the Bruins took advantage of the New York Islanders 5-2, that included two goals scored on the open net by the B’s. Tuukka Rask got his second win in net on the season against New York, but unfortunately the B’s momentum could not carry over to Saturday night. They suffered an overtime loss the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1. Next week the Bruins head out to Buffalo on Wednesday, continue north to Montreal on Thursday, and come back home to the Washington Capitals on Saturday.

The Boston Celtics

Kevin Garnett #5 of the Boston Celtics shoots against the Charlotte Bobcats on December 11, 2010 at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. Copyright 2010 NBAE (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Celtics had another strong week by adding three more wins and extending their current streak to 10 games. They took care of a Carmelo-less Denver Nuggets 105-89 on Wednesday night in the T.D. Garden before hitting the road to Philadelphia. Thursday night against the 76ers came down to the last few seconds before a near alley-oop from Rajon Rondo to Kevin Garnett sealed the win for the C’s 102-101. Boston then went further south to Charlotte to take on the Bobcats on Saturday and absolutely destroyed them 93-62. Shaquille O’Neal was absent for both the Philadelphia and Charlotte games forcing the Celtics to go to their fourth string center, Semih Erden, to start both games. Shaq will hopefully be back in action this week when the Celtics head to New York on Wednesday, and come back home for games against Atlanta and Indiana on Thursday and Sunday.

The Boston Red Sox

All signs were pointing to Carl Crawford singing with the Los Angeles Angels, but just as the winter meetings closed, the Red Sox announced they had signed the speedy left fielder to a seven year deal at $142 million. Crawford, who was viewed as the top free agent available, will now join an already great line-up that added Adrian Gonzalez last week. Red Sox manager, Terry Francona, is ready to welcome in the problem of how to set the line-up that is now packed with great talent, especially in the first six batters. Crawford has become the first player ever to make over $20 million in a season, that has never hit 20 home runs in a season.

Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, left, shakes hands with Carl Crawford at a news conference announcing Crawford's signing a $142 million, seven-year contract, at Fenway Park in Boston Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

Even with the additions of Gonzalez and Crawford, Red Sox general manager, Theo Epstein, has said that their work is not done. The Sox have quickly become favorites to win the World Series next season, but still need to build their bullpen back to championship caliber. It seems the Red Sox are interested in several relievers from the Twins in Brian Fuentes, Jesse Crain, and Matt Guerrier. The Sox have also reportedly offered a deal to Dodgers catcher Russell Martin. The 27 year-old Martin would serve as an insurance policy in case the plans for Jarrod Saltalamacchia to be the full time catcher do not unfold properly.

The New England Patriots.

Well they could not hold their opponents to no touchdowns in back to back weeks as the Patriots dominated the Chicago Bears 36-7 on a snowy afternoon at Solider Field in Chicago. The Patriots now 11-2 on the season have already locked up a playoff spot with just three weeks left. They were also able to distant themselves more from the second place Jets who lost 10-6 to the Dolphins.

New England Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch (84) leaps into the end zone with a touchdown-reception against the Chicago Bears in the first half of an NFL football game in the snow in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Tom Brady continued to make a statement on Sunday for the MVP award this season. Brady was just about flawless with 369 passing yards and two touchdowns, and once again no interceptions.  151 of those passing yards were to Deion Branch, who had a new career high for reception yards in a game. Branch also caught his sixth touchdown of the season, the most he’s ever had in one season. I think it’s safe to say that Mr. Branch is extremely happy that he came back to New England.

The Patriots who have now won five in a row get to come back home next Sunday to take on the Green Bay Packers. This game is probably one that most are labeling the last difficult game for New England this season. However, Packers’ quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, suffered a concussion in their loss against the Lions on Sunday, and may not play. The Patriots will also hope to have CB Devin McCourty back against the Packers. McCourty left Sunday’s game against Chicago after suffering a rib injury in the second quarter and did not return to action. The Patriots take on the Packers for next week’s Sunday Night Football.

When I say the week was near perfect, I actually mean it. There were almost no flaws to this week in Boston sports other than a 3-2 shootout loss to Toronto for the Bruins on Saturday night. Every team looked great with all their wins this past week and even the Red Sox, who are not playing, had some unbelievable news with their newest player arriving in town.

The Boston Bruins

I do not normally start with the teams that are currently playing, but seeing as the Bruins probably had the only bit of bad news this week, lets get the bad news out of the way and move on to everything else that is so good. Just because the Bruins did lose on Saturday night, is not to say they did not have a good week. Wednesday night the B’s blanked the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 in a re-match of last season’s Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. It must have been a good feeling for the Bruins to beat Philly after embarrassing themselves in the playoffs last season. In case you forgot those forgettable games, the Bruins had a 3-0 series lead over the Flyers only to lose the next four games and be eliminated.

Mark Savard Returns to Action (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Thursday night was even better for Boston when they came back home to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Not only did the Bruins score a season high eight goals, but old friend Mark Savard returned to action for the first time this season after sitting out the beginning of the year from post-concussion symptoms. Savard was able to return thanks to the trade of defenseman Matt Hunwick to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Colby Cohen who was immediately sent down to Providence. This move was purely to clear up cap space for Savard, but allows Cohen, a Boston University alumni, a chance to make it into the pros with his favorite team.

Like I said before, the only minor scratch on an otherwise perfect week for Boston was the Saturday night shootout loss to the Maple Leafs. The Bruins held a 2-1 lead well into the third period but a late power play goal by Kris Versteeg sent the game into overtime and an eventual shootout, where the Bruins just cannot seem to figure it out. The Maple Leafs took the shootout out 2-1 and got the eventual 3-2 win over the B’s. Boston will look to bounce back from their loss on Saturday with games Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres, the New York Islanders, and Philadelphia again, respectively.

The Boston Celtics

The Celtics had a strong 4-0 week over the Cleveland (one of the four teams they had already lost to), Portland, Chicago, and New Jersey.  Aside, from the Portland game, none of these teams were even close to competing with the C’s even the Bulls who look to become more of powerhouse team in the East with the return of Carlos Boozer. Charles Barkley has even stated that he believes the Bulls are going to be the team in the East to beat, but were still no match for the Celtics on Friday night.

Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, center, shoots over Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, right, and forward Carlos Boozer during the second quarter of their NBA basketball game in Boston, Friday, Dec. 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Aside from rolling over teams this past week the Celtics were happy to announce that Doc Rivers had been named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for November. Doc is completely deserving of this award while guiding his team to a great 11-3 month. Delonte West also underwent successful surgery on his broken right wrist, but has no timetable set for his return just yet.

Finally, in somewhat related Celtics news, former Celtic Antonie Walker is on the road to reviving his NBA career. That road has made a stop in Idaho with the Development League’s Stampede. Walker has just signed a contract with the Idaho Stampede as he tries to make a comeback to the NBA at 34 years-old. Walker also needs to try and payback the millions of dollars in debt he owes after losing most of the money he made in his NBA career to gambling problems. Whether Walker will be effective enough to move up into the NBA is another question, but those who have seen him recently claim he is in the best shape he has been in a while, and is completely serious about revitalizing his career. Good luck Mr. Wiggle.

The Celtics will take on Denver Wednesday, head to Philadelphia on Thursday, and close out the week in Charlotte on Saturday.

The Boston Red Sox

So they might not be playing baseball at the moment, but besides the Monday Night Football match-up, the Red Sox had the most exciting weekend of all the teams in Bean Town. Earlier in the week the Red Sox made a smaller announcement that they had re-signed catcher and captain, Jason Varitek. The deal is for one year at $2 million. Varitek will be the back-up catcher to Jarrod Saltalamacchia and serve more as a mentor to the 25 year-old who is still trying to find his role in the majors.

However, the HUGE news for the Sox came throughout the weekend as the Red Sox and Padres worked out a deal to bring power hitting first baseman, Adrian Gonzalez, to Boston. The Red Sox and Padres worked out a deal initially that sent three prospects (pitcher Casey Kelly, outfielder Raymond Fuentes, and first baseman Anthony Rizzo) to San Diego in exchange for Gonzalez. The deal looked like it was about to fall through as the Red Sox were not able to negotiate an extension to Gonzalez’s existing contract that is over at the end of this season, but ended up going ahead with the trade despite the lack of an extension. There is no way the Red Sox do not have a framework for Gonzalez to stay in Boston for years to come after giving up three of their best prospects. The Red Sox wanted to give Gonzalez a six year deal while Gonzalez wanted eight years and a difference of $40 million was in place between the two contract suggestions. It seems that Boston will end up finding a middle ground with the first baseman with a seven year deal.

BOSTON, MA - DECEMBER 06: Adrian Gonzalez (R) shakes hands with Boston Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein after it was announced that Gonzalez signed with the Boston Red Sox on December 6, 2010 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

This is an amazing acquisition for Boston. They receive a great bat for the middle of the order and an amazing defensive first baseman. Kevin Youkilis will move back to third base and is completely fine with the switch. Gonzalez is only 28 years-old and is in the prime of his career. He is a career .284 hitter and hit 31 home runs and drove in 101 RBI last season. Gonzalez even stated that after playing in the major leagues, that playing for Boston was his second dream come true.

The New England Patriots

Finally, the game that every Pats fan had been waiting for since week two this season. A re-match with the dreaded Jets. After getting tossed around by New York back in September the Patriots absolutely trounced the Jets 45-3 on Monday night as well as Teddy Bruschi Night. The former linebacker was honored by the Patriots at halftime for extremely memorable career in New England. There is no question at all about who was the better team in the AFC East now.

After getting a field goal on the opening drive, the Patriots never looked back. Tom Brady was pretty much perfect throwing four touchdowns for 326 yards and no interceptions. Brady finished the game with a QB rating of 148.9, not too shabby.

FOXBORO, MA - DECEMBER 06: (L-R) Tom Brady #12, Wes Welker #83 and Aaron Hernandez #85 of the New England Patriots celebrate after Welker scored a touchdown in the third quarter against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium on December 6, 2010 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

So what happened to that highly touted Jets defense? Can’t blame the cold of New England, because it is not exactly warm in the Meadowlands these days either. They just were not as good as everyone thought apparently. The Patriots executed both in the air and on the ground.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis had another effective night with 72 yards rushing and his two touchdowns are the 10th and 11th for him on the season. Those two scores by Green-Ellis are the most by a Patriots’ player in a season since Corey Dillion had 13 back in 2006. Also, Danny Woodhead had a nice 50 yard run that was ruled a reception because of the pitch throw that he received from Brady, but still shows just how well he was able to penetrate his former team’s defense. There were also just so many plays that the Patriots were wide open that the Jets failed to make successful in their favor. Notably, a touchdown catch by Aaron Hernandez in the fourth quarter. The Jets only forced three punts in the entire game and one field goal. Who were those guys that were supposedly one of the best defensive teams in the NFL?

Mark Sanchez was also supposed to be this great quarterback on Monday that due to the Patriots poor pass defense could potentially rival Brady. Whoever thought Sanchez could rival Brady was terribly mistaken. Not only did Sanchez and Jets fail to score a touchdown, the great Mark Sanchez was picked off three times by that poor pass defense. Devin McCourty (who looks like a potential Pro Bowler now), James Sanders, and Brandon Spikes all had interceptions, Spikes coming in the red zone just when one thought the Jets might score.

Regardless, this was not the Super Bowl and just the Patriots and Jets week 12 match-up. Both teams still have four games left and the Patriots will have their work cut out for them still against the Chicago Bears next week and the Green Bay Packers the week after. Anything can still happen, but it was great to see the Patriots absolutely destroy the Jets and take back the AFC East they so rightly deserved.

NCAA Football

Boston College: With no game this past week due to the end of B.C.’s season, the Eagles were glad to welcome in the news of their upcoming bowl game. On January 9, 2011 the Eagles will be in San Francisco to take on No. 13 Nevada in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl game.

UMass: The Minuteman announced big news this past week with a preliminary plan to move into the FBS conference in the next few years. The Minuteman will be leaving the CAA of the FCS conference and will be joining the Mid American Conference. This is a great move for both the school and the state. UMass will be able to able to bring in a much bigger football program and most likely get a new stadium. Also, Massachusetts will have a bit of a rivalry in college football between UMass and Boston College. This potential rivalry could revitalize college football in the Bay State, which really has not been big since the days of Doug Flutie at B.C. Look for UMass to have a preliminary FBS type of schedule the next two years and then the move into the MAC in 2013.

While the Patriots and the Celtics both enjoyed wins this past week, the Bruins were only lucky enough to celebrate one victory. With nothing going on in the world of the Red Sox either all focus was put towards these three teams especially on Thanksgiving day with the Patriots playing on the holiday for the first time since 2002.

The New England Patriots

Like I said before, the Patriots enjoyed more success this week in case you did not happen to catch the game on Thanksgiving. The Patriots had an impressive win on Turkey Day over the lowly Lions 45-24. After trailing 17-10 at halftime, the Patriots went on an offensive surge in the third and fourth quarters scoring five touchdowns to the Lions’ one. Tom Brady was able to find both Deion Branch and Wes Welker in the end zone twice in this game. BenJarvus Green-Ellis was able to run into the end zone for two more scores of his own. The Pats have really changed up their playing style from that of a first half team that cannot close out games of the last two seasons to that of a dominant second half team able to score and play clutch defense.

New England Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch (84) celebrates his 22-yard reception touchdown during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010, at Ford Field in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Now, the Pats have the tough task of removing the Jets from their throne and placing themselves solely on top of both the AFC East and the entire AFC. Monday night football next week brings us the long awaited re-match from week two of the season back in September. Next week, there will be a different Patriots team in Foxborough than the one that showed up at the new Meadowland stadium two months ago. Not one that is just Randy Moss-less, but one that has improved on all aspects of their game and one riding a winning momentum of the last three weeks. Also, give Bill Belichick  11 days to prepare for a team he lost to and does not like and the results should be positive. The Patriots are looking for revenge next week against their division rival and should be the favorite to win this highly anticipated game.

The Boston Celtics

After closing out last week on a sour note, the Celtics righted the ship this week against the Hawks, Nets, and Raptors. Monday night the Celtics traveled down to Atlanta and put on an impressive display of offense and defense against the Atlanta Hawks destroying them 99-76. The Celtics were from start to finish the dominant team in this one scoring 39 points alone in the first quarter. The 26 point margin to start the game was the largest lead the Celtics have ever had on a team in franchise history during the first quarter. Despite the Hawks recent difficulties as a team, this is a great win for Boston since they lost all four match-ups to Atlanta just a year ago.

The remainder of the week saw the Celtics winning against the New Jersey Nets 89-83 and a re-match with the Toronto Raptors from last Sunday. The Celtics took care of business against the Raptors this time 110-101 with the return of Rajon Rondo, who missed the past three games with a hamstring injury. Rondo had little to rust to shake off as he dished out another 14 impressive assists and still played 36 minutes of quality basketball. The 36 minutes was necessary too as early in the game against the Nets on Wednesday, back-up point guard, Delonte West, left with a broken wrist. West suffered the injury after a lay-up attempt that resulted him falling to the floor and trying to brace his fall with his hand. Unfortunately, West’s wrist snapped against the floor and he was in considerable pain. He is out indefinitely and will most likely not return till after the All Star break.

Boston Celtics guard Delonte West holds his wrist as trainer Ed Lacerte checks on West, who had fallen to the floor on a drive against the New Jersey Nets during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game in Boston on Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2010. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

A huge loss for the Celtics there as Delonte was putting up quality minutes and contributing greatly off the bench. Nate Robinson will most likely continue to fill the void left by West as Rondo’s back-up like he did to start the season while West served his 10 game suspension. The Celtics continue through next week with a trip to Cleveland Tuesday and visits back home from Portland on Wednesday and Chicago on Friday.

The Boston Bruins

The Bruins have not enjoyed the success that their fellow Boston teams have recently. The Bruins ended last week in a rough way with a shootout loss to the Kings and continued their woes through this week. Four games and three losses for the B’s.  Monday saw them traveling to Tampa Bay to take on the lightning only to suffer a 3-1 loss. Wednesday was the only bright spot in the week down in Florida against the Panthers with a 3-1 win. Friday night the Bruins got to come back to some home cooking only to be shutout to the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0. Finally, Sunday the Bruins traveled to Atlanta to take on the Thrashers and lost 4-1. Both the losses on Monday and Sunday came with Tuukka Rask in net, while Tim Thomas got the only win on Wednesday.

Mark Recchi #28 of the Boston Bruins celebrates his second goal of the game with teammate Zdeno Chara #33 against the Florida Panthers at the BankAtlantic Center on November 24, 2010 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)

The good news for the Bruins this week came when Marc Savard was able to return to practice. Savard has been sidelined all season after suffering from post concussion symptoms from last season. Now, the Bruins must clear up some cap space to make room for the eventual return to action by Savard. Trent Whitfield was already placed on long term injury reserve by the B’s earlier this week to start making room for Savard. Their is still a little over a $1 million in cap space that needs to be cleared before Savard can enter a game. The Bruins head to Philadelphia on Wednesday, come back home Thursday to face Tampa Bay, and head back on the road to see old friend Phil Kessel and the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night.

NCAA Football

Boston College- The Eagles were the only team playing this week in the Boston area as they closed out their season against Syracuse. B.C. rode their win streak right through to the end of the season with a win on Saturday 16-7. They were able finish with a 7-5 overall record and 4-4 in the ACC. Their record is good enough for fourth place in the Atlantic division of the ACC. This was the Eagles fifth win in a row after losing five straight through September and October.  The Eagles will now await to see if they will be selected to play in one of the upcoming Bowl games.

An overall below average week for Boston sports team was highlighted by the huge win for the New England Patriots against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. The Colts came back a bit in the fourth quarter after being down 31-14 only to lose 31-28. Despite a great game in Foxboro, the rest of Boston looked less than spectacular.

The Boston Bruins

The Bruins got back on track this week with three wins in four games. On Monday the New Jersey Devils came into the T.D. Garden only to be shut out by Tim Thomas and the rest of the B’s 3-0. After a day off the Bruins traveled out to New York to face off with the Rangers and got another W for goaltender Tim Thomas with a 3-2 win. Thursday night was the highlight of the week for the B’s with the Florida Panthers in town. The Panthers, who are last in the Southeast division, were shutout 4-0 on Thursday. The win saw Bruins’ left wing, Milan Lucic, get the hat-trick with two out of his three goals coming within 15 seconds of each other in the third period. Bruins’ goaltender, Tuukka Rask, got his first win of the season as well. He started over Thomas due to the back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday.

Saturday was the rough night for the B’s. Facing off against the L.A. Kings the Bruins found themselves in an early 3-0 hole and began their comeback starting in the second period. Patrice Bergeron was able to tie the game up at 3 with a power play goal in the final six minutes of regulation. However, after a five minute overtime the game went into a shootout, an area the Bruins are not too comfortable with. Two of the league’s best goalies faced off in this game, but L.A. Kings goalie, Jonathan Quick, got the better of Tim Thomas in the shootout thanks to the score by Michael Handzus in the sixth round. The Kings moved to 3-0 in shootouts while Boston fell to 0-2. David Kreji also returned to action on Saturday night for Boston and played well after being out for two weeks with a concussion.

The Bruins head out on the road for three games next week against Tampa Bay Monday, Florida on Wednesday, back home to host Carolina on Friday, and then back on the road to Atlanta on Sunday.

The Boston Celtics

The Celtics had an overall rough week that started off well and ended in disappointment. After a blow-out 114-83 win at home against the John Wallless Washington Wizards, the Celtics lost to a Kevin Durantless Oklahoma City Thunder 89-84 and the Toronto Raptors 102-101.

The game against the Wizards on Wednesday night was fun to watch as everything seemed to be clicking for Boston. The Celtics were able to sit down their starting five for the fourth quarter with the first appearance of “Gino Time” at the Garden. Shaquille O’Neal found it very amusing to watch.

Shaq must not have found it fun to watch the Celtics lose their next two games this week  especially when the teams were considered to be inferior to Boston. Injuries also played a role in the disappointment of the Celtics this week, who lost Rajon Rondo against the Thunder on Friday night . Rondo suffered an injury to his hamstrings and sat out against the Raptors on Sunday afternoon, and could possibly miss the game against Atlanta on Monday.

Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder shoots over Rajon Rondo #9 of the Boston Celtics on November 19, 2010 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Celtics need to get back on track and possibly stop underestimating their opponents, which they may very well have done on Friday and Sunday. The Thunder were without Kevin Durant and Jeff Green and the Raptors are at the bottom of the barrel in the NBA so Boston may have just thought they could coast through games. Not likely to happen again this week after both teams stuck in to them. Atlanta will be a challenge to start next week after the Celtics were winless against the younger and more athletic Hawks last season. The rest of the week will feature match-ups with a trip to see the Nets on Wednesday and a visit from the Raptors on Friday.

The New England Patriots

The Patriots were the big story going into the week and coming out of the week. They have been looking more and more like a Super Bowl contender week after week with the exception of the loss in Cleveland. After gaining an early lead against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, the Patriots had to survive a late game scare put up by Indy. However, James Sanders was able to seal the win against the Colts with a clutch interception with a little over 30 seconds left in the game.

Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots shakes hands with Peyton Manning #18 of the Indianapolis Colts after their game at Gillette Stadium on November 21, 2010 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Tom Brady was nearly perfect in this game by hitting 19 out of his 25 targets for 186 yards and two touchdown passes to Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez. He was able to outperform Manning in this continuous rivalry over the years. The “Law Firm” aka BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead both had rushing touchdowns.  Green-Ellis continued to thrive in his role as the starting running back with Fred Taylor still injured.

The Patriots defense had their work cut out for them in this one and were able to hold onto the late push by Manning and the Colts, but still showed that they have plenty of room for improvement. It was great to see Manning throw three interceptions to Brandon Meriweather, Devin McCourty, and the game sealing pick by James Sanders. This defense, which continues to grow together, should have a good chance to show some of their increasing talent against the lowly Lions on Thanksgiving this Thursday.

NCAA Football

Boston College- The Eagles had another good week against Virginia with a 17-13 win. B.C. is now 6-5 overall on the season and 4-4 in the ACC which is good for fourth place in the Atlantic Division. With the win, the Eagles became bowl eligible. They will finish off their season next week against the Orange in Syracuse.

Harvard- The Crimson finished off their season this weekend with another win against their rival Yale with a 28-21 win. The win was the fourth straight for Harvard against their rival and gives them a 7-3 overall record and 5-2 in the Ivy League.

UMass- Over in the CAA, the Minutemen finished off their season with a loss to the Rhode Island Rams 37-34. It was a disappointing finish to the season for UMass after such a strong start that saw them almost beat Michigan in the early goings of the season. With the loss UMass is not playoff eligible and will have to plenty of time to get ready for next season.

A successful week is in the books for Boston sports. The Celtics took to the road for their first major trip of the season and came out looking great, while the Patriots got back to their winning ways after suffering a miserable loss in Cleveland last week. The Bruins on the other hand? What’s gotten into them lately?

The Boston Red Sox

So I did not mention the Sox at all in my introduction to the week, but as possibly the biggest fan favorite team in town, one has to start off by talking about them regardless if they’re playing or not. Like I said last week, it is now the “hot stove” season for the Red Sox as they try to outfit the roster for the 2011 season.

The Red Sox have already begun searching for the missing pieces on this already great team that would get them back into the playoffs. Outfielders Jason Werth of the Phillies and Carl Crawford of the Rays have been contacted by Theo Epstein about possibly moving into Bean Town. Werth would bring a big bat to the line-up that could potentially fill a void that the loss of Adrian Beltre would create next year, while Carl Crawford, an overall great player, adds speed and consistency in the outfield. Crawford was also awarded his first gold glove this week for his spectacular work in the outfield this season. Either player would be an upgrade from the aging and continuously injured, Mike Cameron.

Epstein also stated this week that one of his priorities has been to bring back catcher Victor Martinez and third baseman Adrian Beltre. If Beltre is not re-signed by Boston, a potential permanent switch to third base by first baseman Kevin Youkilis could come into effect. The Sox would then explore the options of acquiring first basemen Adrian Gonzalez (through trade), Aubrey Huff, Carlos Pena, and others among free agency.

The Boston Bruins

What’s happening to the Bruins? After such a hot start to the season the B’s have slowly climbed back down into reality. A reality that is not exactly pretty. The Bruins were coming off their worst week of the season and were looking to turn things around this week. They started off well scoring 5 straight goals for a comeback win against the Penguins in Pittsburgh (7-5 Win), but then racked up two more losses. Thursday night saw the Bruins come back home only to fall to the Capitals 3-1, followed by Tim Thomas’s first loss of the season against the Ottawa Senators in Boston 2-0. It’s time for the Bruins to get back on track with four games this week against the Devils, a short trip to New York to see the Rangers, and then back to Boston to close out the week against the Panthers and Kings.

The Boston Celtics

The Celtics hit the road this past week for their first extended trip of the season, and an easy trip this was not. The Celtics faced the Mavericks on Monday, a re-match with the Heat Thursday, and closed out the trip in Memphis on Saturday. Not an easy trip, but the Celtics went 4-1 overall, losing only to Dallas by a bucket (89-87 Final Score) on Monday (they started the trip in Oklahoma City last Sunday). As for the re-match with the Heat? The Celtics continued to baffle Miami, especially Dwayne Wade (8 points, 3 assists) who were predicted to wipe the floor with Boston after losing on opening night. The Celtics beat LeBron James and Miami 112-107.

The game against Miami was highlighted more by Paul Pierce’s post game tweet on his Twitter account. Pierce stated on Twitter that “It was his pleasure to bring his talents to South Beach, now onto Memphis.” Pierce was mocking LeBron James’s “The Decision” and made it clear that he thought James’s statements on his one hour ESPN special (and the special itself) were absolutely ridiculous. Expect some sort of reaction from James more so when the two teams meet again in February. Pierce did however bring his talents to Memphis and finished out the week with an overtime win, the third this season, 116-110.

Rajon Rondo #9 of the Boston Celtics dunks against Chris Bosh #1 of the Miami Heat during a game on November 11, 2010 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Celtics still showed they have a bit of difficulty with the younger and more athletic teams, but overcame that adversity. This week they will be able to activate reserve guard Delonte West who has finished his 10 game suspension from weapons charges last season. West will bring a great boost to the Celtics’s bench as Boston is back home for match-ups with the Wizards and Thunder, and then finish off the week in Toronto against the Raptors.

Rob Gronkowski and The New England Patriots

Very very rarely does a team coached by Bill Belichick lose two games in a row, and after laying an egg against the Cleveland Browns last week the Patriots got right back in the win column against the Pittsburgh Steelers 39-26 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

A great game all around for the Patriots, everything seemed to working for them. They were able to run against a team that is known for its run defense and they were able to pass with ease. Speaking of passes, rookie tight end, Rob Gronkowski, had an amazing game by hauling in three touchdown catches tonight. “Gronk” was probably looking to make-up for his own lackluster performance against Cleveland last week where he muffed their first kick off return as well as fumbled the ball near the goal line on a huge play to end the first half. Gronkowski became the first rookie in Patriots history to score three touchdowns in a game, and owes part of his success from the great game played by quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady willed his team to win this game it seemed. He was full of energy from start to finish as he was 30-43 in completions with 350 passing yards and three touchdowns. He even ran the ball into the end zone himself on the third New England touchdown of the night and followed it up with a celebration in front of the Steeler fans and all their rally towels. Brady was supposedly a game time decision today with a foot injury all week, but showed no signs at all of the injury throughout the game.

New England has become a legitimate threat after beating up Pittsburgh this week in Pittsburgh. Sunday night was a potential AFC Championship game preview that now can give the Patriots home field advantage if it comes to it. The Patriots defense recorded 5 sacks tonight, nearly as many as they had already totaled this season. They are still young and have work to do, but what a confidence boost this win against Pittsburgh will be for them. The Pats head into another tough game next week against Indianapolis and will look to put their foot down when they say “We’re the team to beat in the AFC.”

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) celebrates with New England Patriots offensive tackle Matt Light (72) after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter of the NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010 in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

NCAA Football

Boston College was able to rack up another win this week against Duke. The Eagles 21-16 over the Blue Devils and have moved up to fourth place in the Atlantic Division of the ACC. Their record now stands at 3-4 in the conference and 5-5 overall. They head back home for a match-up with Virgina next week.

Harvard took a 34-14 loss to Pennsylvania this weekend. They have to third place in the Ivy league with a record of 4-2 in the conference and 6-3 overall. They will close out their season next week against second place Yale.

Finally, the UMass Minutemen finished off their part of the home season with a loss to the Delaware Blue Hens 45-27. The Minutemen now have a questionable status as to whether or not they can make the playoffs as they move down to fifth place in the CAA. Their record stands at 4-3 in the conference and 6-4 overall. They will finish off their season next week in Rhode Island against the Rams.

A week of ups and downs come to a close for Boston sports. New and old faces came to both the Red Sox and Patriots this week, while the Celtics racked up a few more wins. The Bruins suffered their worst week of the season to date while the Revolution lost one of their best players of all time. Finally, the week was capped off by three rounds of success from the three local colleges in the area. Let’s start with the teams that are not currently playing.

The Boston Red Sox

After missing out on the playoffs and seeing the San Francisco Giants celebrate their World Series win this week, the Boston Red Sox began their hot stove season. It’s time to start building next year’s team that will hopefully stay healthy and make a another run  at the fall classic. It all starts with coaching for the Sox and a new pitching coach was in the works after John Farrell left the team to take on the task of managing the Toronto Blue Jays. In steps Curt Young, the former pitching coach for the Oakland Athletics for the past seven years. A slightly underrated pitching coach, most likely due to Oakland’s lack of success, Young looks promising based on the numbers A’s pitching has compiled under his tutelage. In his seven years as the pitching coach, the A’s compiled an American League best 4.03 earned run average and held an American League low batting average of .257. Also, the Athletics lead the league this season in earned run average (3.56) and shutouts (17). Young will look to help improve next year’s bullpen, an aspect of the team that hurt them very much last year.

Besides building back up their coaching staff the Red Sox still need to fill out their roster for next year. Once the world series was over general manger, Theo Epstein, got straight work on bringing back some key players to the team. David Ortiz, the team’s designated hitter since 2003, was first on Epstein’s list as the club exercised the one year team option it had on Ortiz’s contract for $12.5 million. A good move in my opinion as David Ortiz put up great numbers last year with a .270 batting average, 32 home runs, and 102 runs batted in. Not bad for a guy who is about to turn 35. The Sox got Ortiz for a relatively cheap price, but whether Ortiz is happy about the deal is another question entirely. Ortiz expressed throughout last season that he wanted to retire in Boston, but also wanted more than a one year deal after the season was over. He did not want to go through the same situation involving his contract all over again next season, and now it looks like he will. Epstein has said though that Ortiz is fine with the deal.

The Red Sox also picked up the team option they had on reliever, Scott Atchison, for the veteran minimum and declined the option on utility infielder/outfielder Bill Hall. Also, third baseman Adrian Beltre (surprise surprise) declined his $10 million player option and opted for free agency. Beltre will probably get paid more money than he is worth on another team besides Boston, probably similar to when he was a free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers and then signed with the Seattle Mariners.

The New England Revolution

The Revolution are moving through their off season, but lost one of their best all time players this week to retirement. Forward, Taylor Twellman, retired earlier this week due to a history with concussions. His doctor advised him to stop playing soccer if he wanted to live the most possible years of his life. Twellman has only played in two games in the past two season since he suffered a concussion with L.A. Galaxy goaltender, Steve Cronin, back in 2008. Twellman is truly one of the best players in Revolution history as he their all time leading scorer, five time MLS all star, the 2005 most valuable player, had four MLS cup appearances, and was the fastest player in league history to score 100 goals.

Now onto the active teams.

The Boston Bruins

The Bruins had their worst week to date of their season so far. The Bruins went 1-2 on the week after suffering losses to the Washington Capitals on Friday and shootout loss to the Saint Louis Blues on Saturday night. The Bruins did win this past Wednesday against the Buffalo Sabres 5-2, and both losses did not necessarily mean the Bruins played extremely poor. On Friday the Bruins were trying to play catch-up most of the night being down 3-0 against the Capitals going into the third period. Boston was able to tie the score up at three, but after pulling goalie Tim Thomas in favor of second year goaltender, Tuukka Rassk,  the B’s lost the game with two more goals from the Capitals, one coming off the open net.

The Bruins also lost center David Kreji after he suffered a concussion against St. Louis on Saturday night. He is expected to miss at least of week of action. This is another blow to the Bruins as they are already missing both left wing, Marco Sturm, and center, Marc Savard.

The Boston Celtics

The Celtics had another strong week and had four wins against Detroit, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Oklahoma City. It was an exciting week for team captain Paul Pierce as well as he was able to notch his 20,000 point on Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. It was an emotional night for Pierce as he teared up in his post game interview since it was just a few years ago that fans and Pierce himself did not think he would be in a Celtics’ uniform for much longer. Pierce joins John Havelick and Larry Bird as the only players in Celtics history to score 20,000 points all with Boston.

Kevin Garnett involved himself in controversy this week after Tuesday’s night win in Detroit. Apparently Garnett, one of the league’s biggest trash talkers, told Piston’s forward Charlie Villanueva that he looked like a cancer patient. Villanueva put this news up on his twitter account and also said that “he could take Garnett in the boxing ring if it came down to it.” The whole incident is ridiculous on both sides. Garnett may have crossed a boundary since Villanueva actually has a disease making him hairless, but Villanueva also acted like tattle  over the internet on an issue that should have been left on the court.

Rajon Rondo also continued to be phenomenal in the assists category this week as he currently leads the NBA in said category. He tied John Stockon for the most assists in a season through the first three games this year and already has 103 assists total. Shaquille O’Neal has also already hit the injury block and did not play at all this week thanks to a bruised right knee, but was able to make the first road trip of the season with the C’s as they traveled first to Oklahoma City on Sunday. No surprise there that the team is resting Shaq. His role is to be available come playoff time when they will need him to be the force under the basket that he truly is.

The New England Patriots

After an impressive win over the Minnesota Vikings last week the Patriots were all over the news leading up to their terrible loss today to the Cleveland Browns. The Patriots were amidst the rumors of what team would be picking up wide receiver, Randy Moss, after his quick departure from the Vikings. It was a good thing the Patriots did not pick things back up with Moss as they have seen success again in the form of the success they saw during their super bowl seasons in 2001, 2004, and 2005.

The Patriots were also able to bring offensive lineman, Logan Mankins, back into action this week. Mankins was holding out on his contract to start the season, but reported to practice for the first time this past Wednesday. Mankins signed for $1.54 million for the season, and even started against the Browns over Dan Connolly. While getting Mankins back, the Patriots cut ties with corner back, Terrence Wheatly. Wheatly never lived up to his expectations with the Patriots as he only managed to rack up a whopping six tackles in his few seasons in New England.

The worst news of the week happened for the Patriots on Sunday with their terrible loss to the Cleveland Browns. This was labeled the perfect trap game for New England as they are looking more towards their next game in Pittsburgh against the Steelers. Overlooking and underestimating the Browns left the Patriots on the short end of a 34-14 loss. Nothing seemed to be working for the Patriots in the game and fell behind early in the first quarter 10-0 after allowing a field goal and a muffed kick off. From that point on the Browns never looked back.

NCAA Football

A successful week in college football for the three big teams in the area. Boston College racked up against Wake Forest 23-13 as they grabbed a set of back-to-back wins from last week. BC moved overall to 2-4 in the conference and 4-5 overall and are now ranked fifth in the Atlantic division of the ACC.

Harvard had a 23-7 win over Columbia in the Ivy League. This is their third straight win and they are 4-1 in the conference and 6-2 overall. Harvard is in second place overall in the Ivy League.

Finally, over in the CAA, UMass got their second win in as many weeks against the Maine Blackbears 39-24 in Amherst. With the win, the Minutemen are now third in the CAA with a 4-2 conference record and 6-3 overall record.

So after a week of ups and downs throughout Boston sports the teams the new week is now upon us. The Bruins and Patriots will look to rebound after disappointing ends to the week, while the Celtics look to continue their winning streak through their first major road trip of the season.