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Patriots Pick McCourty, Sox Fall At Fenway

April 23, 2010 By

The Patriots surprised everyone by selecting Rutgers cornerback Devin McCourty in last night’s first round of the NFL draft. You can check all the reaction to this pick over at PatriotsLinks.com.

The Red Sox were shutout at Fenway Park last night, 3-0. The big news of the night however is that Tim Wakefield will be moving to the bullpen as Daisuke Matsuzaka is ready to join the rotation. Sean McAdam was the first with this news yesterday.

Patriots run the same old corner route - Tom E Curran says this pick seems a little redundant.

They were caught out of position - Albert Breer says that McCourty better be the next Darrelle Revis or Nnamdi Asomugha. McCourty’s college coach Greg Schiano was on WEEI this morning to defend his former player, and says that “4-5 years from now, people are going to say, ‘Wow, what a pick that was.’ That’s how I feel about the kid. I think he’s something special.”

McCourty at top of Patriots’ board - Mike Reiss has Bill Belichick saying that McCourty was the player they had targeted all along.

Belichick’s testing New England’s trust - Rich Levine says that with this pick, the “band of loyal Belichick supporters seems to further dissipate.”

Pats pad the defense, but leave draftniks wondering - Andy Vogt has the Patriots war room throwing almost every draftnik for a loop.

What is the story surrounding the knee of Texas LB Sergio Kindle? - Wondering why the highly touted Kindle is still on the board? Ian Rapoport gives you a big reason. Yesterday on the Globe Patriots blog, Albert Breer had a very good post on why he though Kindle would be a good fit for the Patriots.

Second-round mock draft - Reiss tries to figure out how the second round is going to fall.

For Terry Francona’s Red Sox, one wrenching decision has followed another - Ron Chimelis notes that the Red Sox manager has already had to make some very tough decisions early on in this season.

How do the Red Sox find their way? Start with the starters. - Rob Bradford looks at how the Red Sox can get back on track.

Red Sox changing of guard continues - Gordon Edes has Tim Wakefield as another member of the old guard being phased out.

Scan reveals broken ribs for Ellsbury - Maureen Mullen’s notebook has a new CT scan revealing the injury.

Celtics taking fire out of Heat - Julian Benbow says that the Celtics and Heat are in opposite mental states right now.

Celtics-Heat Game 3: What to watch for - Paul Flannery looks at the keys to tonight’s game.

Rajon Rondo pressing point on Miami - Dan Duggan points out that having Rondo defending Miami’s point guards full court has completely disrupted the Heat offense.

D-Wade to play more at the point - Because of the above, A. Sherrod Blakely says that we can expect Miami to adjust by having Dwyane Wade bring the ball up more.

Chiarelli chose wisely with Satan - Joe Haggerty says that the Bruins GM made the right midseason move.

Bergeron won’t look past Sabres - Joe McDonald has Patrice Bergeron and the Bruins not ready to look ahead yet.

Bruins pick right time to play best hockey - Stephen Harris looks at the Bruins turning it on in this series.

Savard is at contact point - Fluto Shinzawa’s notebook has the Bruins center getting cleared for contact.

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Tonight is a HUGE night in Boston sports. Comcast SportsNet is putting to use the huge staff that they’ve assembled for SportsNet Central and will have live remotes related to all four major sports teams in Boston.

Here is the rundown for the night:

Miami
Sherrod Blakely, Greg Dickerson, Mike Gorman, Tommy Heinsohn, Bob Ryan and former Globe writer Marc Spears live from American Airlines Arena before and after Celtics-Heat Game. Reports will happen in the 6 and 10:30 editions of SportsNet Centraland Celtics Pre-Game Live and Celtics PostGame Live.

Buffalo
Joe Haggerty live from HSBC Arena before Bruins-Sabres Game 5 and Bob Beers live after the game. Reports will happen in the 6 and 10:30 editions of SportsNet Central.

Gillette Stadium
Tom Curran at 6 p.m. before Draft Round 2 begins and Globefootball writer Albert Breer at 10:30

Fenway Park
Sean McAdam live from Fenway before Sox-Orioles game at 6 p.m.

Filed Under: Morning Links
  • Chris

    I love watching football as much as the next person, but I can never figure out these ‘mock draft’ sycopahnts. They spend days if not weeks analyzing the NFL draft from every possible perspective…except the one that actually happens. You have a better chance of getting hit by an asteroid than predicting what the Patriots did last night.

    • Scott

      Is that the only reason a person would be interested in the draft? For the chance they can correctly predict it? Maybe people are interested in the draft just because they are. The draft has more than a little to do with what you’re watching, btw.

    • Guntfather of Sports radio

      Most people are interested in the process itself. The lazy media meme is to mock the mocks. I’m more interested in whether or not a team like the Patriots will eschew their specific parameters for an outside pass rusher(has to be tall, wing span) and go for a guy who may not fit those specifications but can actually play. Holley said they wouldn’t take a Brandon Graham for instance because he doesn’t fit the mold. I’m going to od on duck sauce with that kind of thinking.

  • Fred

    It’s amazing all the doom and gloom regarding the drafting of McCourty. Why do people have to feel instantly “gratified”? Who knows if this kid is the next Ty Law or Chris Canty pt 2? How many draft picks were “can’t miss” and turned out to be busts – see 2000 (Courtney Brown, Peter Warrick), 2001 (David Terrell, Gerard Warren), 2002 (Carr, Harrington & Mike Williams), 2003 (Charles Rodgers, Dewayne Robertson), 2004 (Robert Gallery, Winslow), 2005 (Alex Smith, Cedric Benson), 2006 (Bush, AJ Hawk, Bobby Carpenter), 2007 (Jamarcus Russel, Ginn), 2008 (McFadden, Gholston) to name a few. Everyone take a breath and relax.

  • Lance

    When watching last night I was as perplexed as anyone why the Pats would draft a cb when I feel a good pass rush would make any db better. But BB has a plan and am glad he pays no attention to the media.

    The best thing about drafting McCourty is that I knew I wouldn’t have to read any local media today because it’s all about a reason to whine. Of course most of those guys still think David Terrell would have been a better pick than Richard Seymour…

    • Curtis

      Did BB have a plan when he took Chad Jackson instead of Greg Jennings? Maroney instead of Jones-Drew? When he took Wheatley at 62nd just two years ago and now hes probably going to be cut. I have no idea if this kid can play and neither does anyone else reading this but I think when it comes to drafting (and acquiring DBs – Deltha O’Neal, Springs not dressing for weeks, Tank Williams, etc.) the media, and fans, have a right to at least question. No need for cheap shots or exaggerations, but the days of just blindly accepting BB’s moves have to be over.

      • Lance

        Actually have they ever stopped? BB was ripped mercilously when he reached for Logan Mankins. And how about Sebastion Vollmer? BB was ripped for drafting Ty Warren too.

        Yeah, I’m a fan and want to do well and admit I don’t know much about scouting college players. That being said I remember think they made a huge mistake trading for Duane Starks. And did anyone blindly accept benching Bledsoe for Brady? I can’t remember anyone doing that.

        But I do know one for certain. I don’t know and knuckle dragging shitstain “fans” don’t know how McCourty will do either. So to express a strong opinion either way is just stupid – unless someone is just desperate to whine some more.

        • Tony

          I think Bert Breer has officially jumped the shark.

          His “assessments” of every pick or move the Pats made in the first three rounds (on boston.com) were either critical or condescending (he especially seemed vexed that BB took players coached by his friends Greg Schiano and Urban Meyer with three of the Pats’ first four picks. The worst par is that Breer clearly seems like just another sportswriter who read what the “draftniks” had to say about certain players and then based his comments on that. When the Pats tabbed Cunningham over Dunlap in the 2nd round, Breer basically went along with the draftniks’ assessments that Dunlap was the higher-rated Florida defender, so he simply assumed that the Pats took the wrong Florida defender with that pick.

          Again, I’m not a Kool-Aid drinker. Belichick has made some moves on draft day the last few years that have annoyed the hell out of me (like passing on seemingly EVERY decent linebacker in the first 40 picks last season in order to keep wheeling and dealing, etc.)

          However, can we do without the snark in some of these “assessments” by the local media guys?

          Breer used to be a good “prospect”, to use a draft term, but since his return from Dallas he’s clearly been swayed by someone to enter the Felger/Borges zone when it comes to the Pats.

          Disappointing–even the panicky and irrational posters on the boston.com message boards, who love to rip EVERYTHING the local teams do, were giving Breer grief over his constantly negative blog posts during the Friday night segment of the draft.

  • derek gentile

    Certainly, we can question BB. We can question Doc Rivers, and Terry Francona, as well. That’s part of the turf. But realistically, all these mock drafts are whipped cream on the cake. No one is privy to all the info the Patriots have. I don’t get in a lather about the mock drafts and the pundits’ reactions because none of it means anything. It’s just good (or bad) reading. But I’ll bet this rutgers guy pans out.

  • mandb97

    Total aside: Doris Burke of ESPN just compared the explosion of the Murrough Building to the explosion of the crowd at the arena in the Lakers vs. OKC game 4.

    Also, has anyone heard from Sean Grande yet about the issue he had with a Heat fan last night? My guess is that he was in the okay because the police let him continue to broadcast standing.

    • Classless

      Why was he standing?

    • http://www.jonvssports.blogspot.com Jon

      that’s awful. I feel like an inadequate PC grad because I haven’t said anything idiotic in a while. Sigh. Go Friars.

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