After reading Stephen King’s On Writing on a 2003 trip to California, I found a desire in myself to start writing again about four years after I had effectively hung up the keyboard after graduating college. After focusing on sports at times on my personal blog that launched in 2003, I created SWB in 2007 at the prompting of my brother.

It began with my passion for baseball and especially, the Boston Red Sox. My initial vision was for a baseball-only blog featuring myself and several other writers contributing. I did get some interest from friends, but I couldn’t get a regular effort from the group and thus, I handled the majority of the content.

I soon found that I wanted to write more than just baseball, but didn’t want to start another blog. So without a name change or even a redesign of the awesome header created by my friend Ben, I started to introduce blogs about other Boston sports and media related topics. There was no real format, but I simply blogged about my opinions about topics that I loved to discuss or found really interesting. With the explosion of sports here in the Hub and the dawning of the social media age, it was a great time to launch.

As time went along, we definitely had some wins at SWB, the biggest being the first blog to run a recap of the infamous Mike and Mike Roast where ESPN anchor Dana Jacobson downed a whole lotta vodka and kinda went nutty (seen below). I can still remember the day as it was snowing like crazy and I was working from home, wondering why Mike and Mike weren’t discussing something they had pushed so hard for months. I did a little research and found a small online newspaper in New Jersey that was there and ran a story about what happened.

I searched and couldn’t find anything about it, so I did a full recap and spread the news among my network as best I could. The site traffic exploded and suddenly, SWB was known for something even though we never did get the credit for being first on the scene. Oh well.

Sadly, that was the only real major coverage we ever got, even though we did get some random links on CBS Sports, Deadspin and a few other sites along the way. I even got a weekly radio spot on WMLL FM here in Manchester talking Boston sports.

Thoughts of doing syndication with smaller local papers crossed my mind, but then a sport called MMA started to take off and grabbed my attention. I created RopesRingCage.com and my attention shifted. I found it easier to make an in-roads during the growth period of MMA than anything I was writing about Boston because of the blog explosion and the media saturation with the Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins.

As time went on, I began to post here less and less. Every time I would make a note about a subject I wanted to write about, I’d get caught up with other projects and then, the news would be old by the time I got around to it. It became obvious that my gumption for writing about the Boston sports scene just wasn’t there and that my goal of being absorbed by a media outlet just wasn’t going to happen. Even with a planned relaunch under BostonSportsObserver.com, the game was over.

Thus, I penned the final three columns at the end of 2009 (the top Boston sports stories of the year which were some of my favorite pieces to recap and write) and made the decision to no longer contribute fresh content to SWB. We’re calling it a day with this post, the 333rd in SWB history.

Remaining Thoughts

There were a few ideas left on the stove that I never did get to.

• The AL-to-NL difference in pitching – This is something that needs to be brought up more often, but when Brad Penny, John Smoltz and Vicente Padilla get ripped up in the American League and then go to the National League and suddenly dominate, isn’t that saying something? It’s not coincidence – the NL lineups are just that bad. I hate seeing pitchers hit and think it’s a joke. Why isn’t the lack of offense brought up more? I don’t understand this.

  Also, when it’s made out to be a big deal that a pitcher gets a hit, I think that’s wrong. Really, who likes to see pitchers hit – purists? Should we play all games during the day too? Let pitchers focus on what they do best: throw the baseball. Know how Randy Johnson got hurt last season? Hitting. Bring the DH to the National League and stop messing around already.

  If I was in the NL East, I would fear how great Roy Halladay will be as he likely could win 25 games this season. It’s going to be ridiculous how much he will dominate.

  The Globe’s Nick Cafardo actually did something on this subject here which is probably exactly what I would have wrote.

• Tommy Heinsohn: Our Crazy Old Awesome Celtics Grandfather – This was going be a post dedicated to the greatness that is the Celtics’ color commentator with some jabs at Bruins play-by-play Jack Edwards, who I don’t care for. I wrote a sentence, but know this: Tommy is awesome. Yeah, he’s a homer but in the most endearing way possible. ‘Nuff said.
• Five Things To Look For With The Red Sox’ 09-10 Schedule – I got through two things, started a third and just stopped. For the record, here’s what I originally wrote with the Manny stuff obviously being outdated:
  1) The potential return of Manny RamirezRemember that guy who got traded last season, the same one who was a future Hall-of-Famer for Boston yet garnered as much scrutiny as praise? Well that guy – Manuel Aristides Ramirez – could be coming back to play another round of games at the Fens – this time in an L.A. Dodgers uniform when the blue/white hit up Boston on June 18th-20th I say potential because there is no guarantee Ramirez will still be with the Dodgers next season.

  While he did sign a two-year, $45 million deal last year, he has the option to back out after 2009 and become a free agent again. With Manny and Scotty Boras in tow, that is entirely a realistic possibility.
  
  But wow, that would be a media event, even in Boston.

  2) Sox/Yankees continues to get messed with

  While Boston playing New York isn’t anything new, Major League Baseball has once again tinkered with the formula of 18 divisional games. Now, the two rivals will open up the season AND close the season against each other, which is kind of a cool concept.

  But if you’re a hardcore fan and the season is coming down to those last few games, wouldn’t you rather get a different draw than your biggest rival? Sports is entertainment, but this one drips of FOX forcing the issue rather than for the interest of competition. There are plenty of storylines that could draw out, especially if the season comes down to those three games. However, if both teams are comfortably in the playoffs, you’re going to see a ton of scrubs.

  But what really got me was that Boston plays the first six of these games at Fenway, then plays in Yankee Stadium for the next nine games and then plays the final three at Fenway. Nine straight in either scenario seems pretty foolish, as does the face the two teams don’t play each other in June or July.

  Open up the season with the two, but let the rest of the scheduling just play out like anyone else. It’s our rivalry…not everyone else’s.

  3) Bye-bye in July

  Out of 25 games in July, 16 will be played on the road including a 10-game West Coast swing. This is part of an overall stretch of 14 games in a row that starts in Boston with four games against Texas.
  

• 4th and Long: Much like what I used to do with the Pros vs. Joes recaps, I was going to do a running blog on the Spike show 4th and Long. I wrote one post and never published it. I ended up getting backed up on TV and only saw like four episodes so I have no idea what happened and assume the show will never return. Poor Michael Irvin.
  

There were a few others, but most cover subjects you can read other places. This also partially answers the question…

Why now? Here’s three reasons.

• MMA. I am a freelancer for national publication FIGHT! Magazine, along with doing the RopesRingCage.com stuff. Along with having a full-time job, I just don’t have the time to write for both SWB and RRC, especially when both aren’t really money-makers. I’m passionate about covering this still-growing sport and the fact that my writing on RRC has helped me get a paid gig with the top magazine in the sport was kind of a revelation.
• There’s enough voices out there. My voice is now just one of roughly 22,324 out there that have blogs. Having a blog was big when I started this in 2004 and is even bigger now. Honestly, it’s almost too easy as there is a lot of bad writing out there which makes it even that much harder to push your content through the muck. At some point, there are only so many different opinions you can hear about Jonathan Papelbon’s contract. Quite simply, I felt like my opinion just didn’t stand out that much anymore and when you hit that point as a writer, that’s a bad place to be.
• There’s a lot of good voices out there. With the collapse of newspapers, some of the guys I love to read have been snatched up by growing media empires. Mike Felger, Sean McAdam and even Peter Gammons are cranking out quality articles and opinions on the ‘net, taking a crowded marketplace and making it even more packed. Read the next generation of quality voices and give them your support. From established and about to turn the corner sites like Evan Brunell’s Fire Brand Of The American League or on-the-rise blogs like Darryl Johnston’s Sox Tea Party, there’s some great stuff out there from people that are passionate about Boston sports.

  (Side note on the above: Evan actually took on SWB as part of his now-defunct MVN Network, which I thank him for as we got to the 3rd page of Google under ‘Boston sports blog’. He deserves all the success that comes to him as he’s a hard worker that deserves a big break. Darryl has been a friend of mine for years and I’ve been helping him with his writing career for some time now. The best is yet to come with that guy….just wait.)

So that is that. Thanks to everyone that read and contributed over the years. Thanks to those that argued or agreed with me in public or private about my views as I thought that was the greatest benefit of all: people wanted to talk about what I wrote. In the approximately six years that SWB has been cranking it out, I think the site left a mark and at the least, helped get me back to a point where writing became important in my life again.

The site will remain up as a content hub and at some point, I’m going to add some older back content from my JoshNason.com site about the 2004 Red Sox run playoffs. You can catch me at RopesRingCage.com or in FIGHT! Magazine if you’re into MMA and especially the UFC. And of course, it goes without saying that if you’re one of the afore-mentioned media entities and you’re looking for a good writer, I’m sure I could be coerced into coming out of retirement. A guy’s gotta eat and gamble, right?

There are a lot of choices out there for you to read. Whatever you do, make sure that you find writers that matter to you and make you think. There are far too many sheep out there and not enough wolves. Demand better writing and thought provoking content and let others know about it when you find it. The ever-changing media game is going to continue to develop and evolve faster than we ever could have imagined but one thing will remain the same: quality, not quantity.

End transmission.

Josh Nason is the editor and main writer for Small White Ball, a Boston sports and media blog that was active from 2004-2010. You can still reach Josh at josh [at] smallwhiteball [dot-com] and follow him at Twitter.

The past 12 months have brought us another slew of games, decisions, play-calling, personalities and rivals to argue about at bars, barbershops and board rooms. Things like 4th and 2, whether to re-sign Jason Bay, the Evil Empire buying a title, the NHL Winter Classic and more were on our minds, lips and keyboards and thanks to the glut of sports media here, we have no shortage of outlets of which to get opinions from (including this one!).

We’ve looked at the Honorable Mentions and No’s. 6-10 on our list of the top Boston sports stories of 2009. Now as we prepare to welcome 2010, let’s say good bye to 2009 and the top five stories in Boston sports of the last 12 months.

5 – Harrison and Bruschi retirements, Seymour trade signal end of a defensive era for Patriots

Hey, look at it this way: the New England Patriots’ losses have been the networks’ gain as Rodney Harrison (NBC) and Tedy Bruschi (ESPN) both effortlessly slid into the role of “football analyst” to begin the season, flashing those million dollar smiles on faces that look like they’ve barely seen a combined 28 seasons of NFL action.

Once upon a time, the two were damn good football players too.

After patrolling and policing the Patriots defense together for six years (Harrison joined the team in 2003) and celebrating two championships together, Harrison and Bruschi both hung up their shoulder pads this summer and the Patriots have suffered for it. While their stats near the end of their careers may have not got headlines on the Monday recaps, there is no doubt that Bill Belichick’s defense has been in search of consistent leadership during this 2009 campaign. Combined with the surprising preseason trade of defensive mainstay Richard Seymour, this is a defense in serious transition.

There are positives. Even in a season where he’ll likely miss three games, Pro Bowl nose tackle Vince Wilfork has been a presence on the line and is making a case for a Albert Haynesworth-style payday when it comes time to ink a new deal this offseason. Young buck Jerod Mayo is evolving into the linebacker we are dying to have become a mega-star in New England.

But the secondary never has been fully addressed since Asante Samuel left town and once highly-touted free agent signing Adalius Thomas has evolved into more of a team issue than a team player. This group has their moments – like this past Sunday against Jacksonville – but in games against Indianapolis and New Orleans, they got handled badly. To lose all three of those guys at once was a huge deal as their presence alone was essentially an extension of Belichick on a player level.

Leaders take time to develop and personnel like Wilfork, Mayo and even Brandon Meriweather have shown they have the stuff to evolve into Double-B’s go-to guys. It just might be a while until they become the three-headed monster that Harrison, Bruschi and Seymour were for so many seasons, a monster that inspired the rest of the group to jump on for the ride. They get to start their own playoff journey and try in just a few weeks.

4 – Kevin Garnett hurts knee, misses 2009 NBA Playoffs

One of the toughest things in sports is to repeat as champions, but with the nucleus still intact and another year of maturity for one of the best young point guards in the league, the Boston Celtics had as good a chance as any to go back-to-back and win their 18th title. Even with the loss of the versatile James Posey, the C’s began the year at 27-2 – the best start in NBA history.

Then in February, things changed when spiritual leader Kevin Garnett injured his right knee in a game against the Utah Jazz. After missing 14 games, there was still reason to be optimistic as it looked like Garnett would be back for the playoffs. However, fans woke up from their dream abruptly when Garnett was shut down for the season after coming back for just four games. He would eventually have major knee surgery, but returned on time and has been as good as ever in ’09-’10.

Even without him, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and the rest of the Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals and arguably were a KG away from defeating the Orlando Magic in Game 7 and getting a rematch with the Cleveland LeBrons. Offseason rumors were that Garnett would have played if the Celtics had advanced, but this was never proven and finds its place in Celtics lore.

The injury was a hard reminder that seasons are long and that health is always the great equalizer for any team rolling along to the promise land. Just months removed from another Boston icon’s knee blowing up, New England fans felt the pain again with Garnett.

3 – The 2009 MLB Playoffs (aka Hell for Red Sox fans)

If prior to the 2009 playoffs, you had mapped out the worst possible scenario for Red Sox Nation, it’s hard to imagine it could have been any more brutal than what we experienced this fall. Not only did a perennial postseason punching bag finally defeat the Sox in the ALDS, but their blood rival that hadn’t won a title since 2000 (despite spending about $2 billion) actually took home the shiny brass ring and revived one of the more obnoxious fanbases in sports in doing so.

Let’s start with the direct pain. The Los Angeles Angels not only beat the Red Sox in a playoff series for the first time in five chances, but swept them in doing so – culminating in a sad Sunday game that was in Boston’s back pocket until a meltdown by closer Jonathan Papelbon snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. It was ugly, just plain ugly. The bats never did going and there was a general malaise over the team in general.

This team earned their playoff berth, but certainly didn’t battle like one. Something just felt off, didn’t it?

If that wasn’t bad enough, the Yankees won the World Series, earning rings for offseason acquisitions Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett. After spending and spending and spending and spending, they finally did it. Congratulations! That’s what spending that much cash and playing in a Little League-sized ballpark will do for you. (Bitter much? Yes, I am.)

If there’s any positive out of this mess, it’s that it feels like Boston vs. New York might actually mean something again in 2010. Since 2004 and then 2007, the Yankees haven’t really felt like a factor as we’ve been too euphoric in our own championship victories to even notice them making the postseason. But with the sweeping spending last year and the equally aggressive offseason moves this winter, New York isn’t going away and hopefully, Boston isn’t either.

No more joking around with Jeter or A-Rod, Big Papi. It’s time to get serious again…like Varitek/A-Rod serious.

2 – David Ortiz and the great steroids scandal of 2009

We all pointed, laughed and said, “I told you so” when reports broke in February that Alex Rodriguez had tested positive for steroids back in 2003. We then had to slouch, grimace and eat a bit of crow when two familiar names – David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez – were linked to the infamous steroids test of that year and leaked from “the list” this summer.

Not our guys! That’s impossible…improbable…and likely accurate.

Amidst one of the most worst offensive seasons he had suffered in years, Ortiz was faced with one of the worst nightmares a professional athlete can face: a drug scandal. Ortiz denied the reports and in a memorable press conference during a series with the rival Yankees, said he took a variety of supplements and vitamins but never steroids. The story eventually died down to a degree, but the coincidence with his offensive outage was remarkable.

Believe him or not, we now had our own national steroid scourge to deal with. I remember going to San Francisco in 2003 and being amazed as just how much the Barry Bonds bubble was in effect. People simply didn’t care about anything the rest of the world thought about their offensive hero. While there were a smattering of boos at the Fens and on sports radio, the opinion really was quite non-chalant. We finally got our own bubble to live in.

2010 will be an interesting one for Ortiz as it’s his final contracted year in Boston. The man that meant so much for so long could be taking his final swings in a Boston uniform. What kind of bat will we see? Will Ortiz answer Theo Epstein’s offseason call or will he regress? Where is he going to bat in this order? As #34 goes, so goes the Red Sox offense especially if Mike Cameron and Casey Kotchman end up getting the majority of starts in this offense.

We need ya, big guy.

(By the way, notice how Manny just kinda slid on by in this whole mess? Mannywood!)

1 – No championships for first year since 2006

Gawd, we’re spoiled.

Since the Celtics earned their 17th World Championship in June 2008, we’ve experienced a dry spell here in Boston. The past 12 months marked the first calendar year since 2006 and the fifth year this decade that a Boston team hasn’t celebrated a championship.

Say what? The city of Cleveland would love to have just one of the six combined championships the Celtics, Red Sox and Patriots have won this decade and we’re complaining about a calendar year? Yep, that’s right.

Admit it – holiday shopping did feel a bit different with no championship apparel to buy for friends and family. (Well, that and that damn 27th World Series that Yankees team just earned. Too much Yankees merch available around here these days.)

But the Celtics are healthy again and still the beasts of the Eastern Conference despite a horrible West Coat trip. The Patriots’ Brady-to-Welker road show is playoff-bound once again and if Theo’s plan holds up, the Red Sox will see the postseason yet again. So yeah, you gotta feel a bit of hope that championship joy will return to our corner of Mudville (Snowville?) by this time next year….or else it will be two years in a row. Ouch!

Josh Nason is the main writer for Small White Ball, a New England-based sports and media blog. Reach him via Twitter or josh [at] smallwhiteball [dot-com].

If you missed the honorable mentions, here you go. We’ll reveal the Top 5 on Wednesday. Enjoy!

10 – Rajon Rondo signs extension with Boston Celtics

It was a bizarre negotiation that came down to the wire, but in the end, the Celtics didn’t let budding young star Rajon Rondo get away, signing the point guard to a 5-year, $55 million extension in November.

What’s so bizarre about that? How about Rondo being called out by team personnel several times over the summer (GM Danny Ainge revealed he was fined for being late to a playoff game, while coach Doc Rivers made some well-publicized comments)?

Was it just a case of tough love? Maybe, but in this era of the modern athlete, it was a huge risk to potentially not just alienate their point guard from signing a deal but perhaps for the impending season. These days, that seems more like the norm than the exception.

But in a weird way, maybe it worked. The 23-year-old will be sticking around Boston for an important fraction of his career and can continue his evolution in a winning environment. The next few years will be intriguing when it comes times for NBA player movement but at one of the most important positions in the league, the C’s have their man…even if he still needs to work on his free throws.

9 – Boston secures the Winter Classic

Maybe it was the Bruins return to relevance last season OR the success at playing outdoor hockey at Wrigley Field OR the Red Sox ownership knowing the right people OR perhaps it was a combination of all that and then some that earned Boston the right to host the next NHL Winter Classic. Whatever it was, we’re glad it happened as Fenway Park will see some freaking freezing cold hockey action this Friday as they host the league’s annual major single-game event between the B’s and the Flyers.

Since the announcement, there has been a buzz about the game and everyone has been using up their favors in order to get tickets. People are getting together for New Year’s Day parties to watch and for one day, hockey will matter to the mainstream fan here in New England. We’ve known for a while that Boston is a major sports hotbed and getting one-off events like this that bring major exposure and additional revenue to the Hub prove it, even if tickets were near-impossible to come by. I have a feeling, however, that everyone is going to know someone that went, kinda like Ali/Liston in Lewiston, Maine.

Got any extra tickets kicking around?

8 – 4th and 2

Who knew that one call in one game would garner so much discussion? (Well, actually…we knew it would, didn’t we?)

The decision by Patriots head coach Bill Belichick to go for it on 4th and 2 in a 34-28 game against the rival Indianapolis Colts earlier this season had not only Boston buzzing, but the national sports media as well. As you well know, the decision didn’t work out, the Colts scored in like two seconds and went on to win 35-34.

Always happy to rip into Belichick, there were plenty of the usual pundits that took their shots but surprisingly, some also defended him as well, noting his history of brass-balls play-calling that usually worked. Alas, this time it didn’t and the pain stuck around for a while.

But while ’4th and 2′ was the main driver of the story, it was the questioning of Belichick here by some of the fanbase in New England that was most shocking. The guy that could previously get away with nearly anything because of his track record suddenly had doubters. Perhaps the season itself to that point had helped this sentiment evolve but suddenly, Belichick’s decision making wasn’t bulletproof – the first real chink in an otherwise stellar armor. Like it or not, things changed on that Sunday night.

Even former players like Tedy Bruschi and Rodney Harrison didn’t like the call and said that it sent a message to the defense that it couldn’t be trusted with the game on the line. In a million years, I would have never guessed either guy to speak out against Double-B like that. Belichick was his normal self and the team smartly didn’t question the decision publicly. However, I still wonder if behind closed doors, the defense really did feel slighted.

How the Patriots finish off this season will tell a lot. We know they’re in the playoffs, but how would a one-and-done go over here? Will the questioning increase or go away? What about the next ’4th and 2′ situation? For better or worse, no one is immune from fan and media scrutiny in Boston and now, Bill Belichick truly understands that. Welcome to the party, pal.

7 – WEEI vs. Sports Hub vs. NESN vs. CSNE: The Sports Media War Heats Up

And here you thought intense competition in sports was only on the field of play.

The fact that major sports media entities in Boston have intensified their efforts isn’t new, but the efforts at which they will go to continue their one-upmanship still is. Fortifying web content was huge as radio giant WEEI redesigned and bolstered their site, while Comcast Sports Net not only relaunched their site but made like the Red Sox and acquired various print beat writers like Sean McAdam, Tom E. Curran and Kevin Paul Dupont to come on board.

It’s like every outlet is attempting to fill out their pitching rotation, signing people that they hope will put butts in front of the TV/computer seats.

ESPN continued their trend of leveraging regional content by launching ESPNBoston.com and signing Mike Reiss away from the Boston Globe to lead their Patriots coverage. Their radio presence also continued to grow with an agreement with WEEI to provide some radio content, clearing the way for some of their insiders to appear on the ‘EEI airwaves. There has been some talk about them fully moving over the 850 AM spot, while WEEI moves to FM full-time but nothing has been announced.

Initially, Peter Gammons was to be part of this package but he decided to leave ESPN to focus on a reduced workload with MLB Network and NESN – a huge coup for the network known for Red Sox coverage. Gammons will contribute both on-air for 50 of the team’s pre-game telecasts and also be an online contributor as well.  The effect on NESN is equitable to what Albert Pujols would bring to the Boston lineup – just awesome.

But the most interesting twist of 2009 has to be the launch of 98.5 FM – The Sports Hub. Meant to be a direct competitor to WEEI, the CBS-owned sports station brought on their own hired guns in Mike Felger, Tony Massarotti, Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and the popular morning team of Toucher and Rich from the former WBCN. So far, so good as the Felger/Mazz afternoon drive-time show has been great listening and a nice change of pace from the yelling and screaming of Glenn Ordway’s The Big Show.

With media continually changing, it’s all about polarizing personalities, leveraging online content and overall creating a brand experience. Just using the traditional approaches simply isn’t good enough. Whether it’s airing a game, a newscast or even a special report, everything matters in a sports media saturated market like Boston. Who knows? If 2009 was any indication, 2010 may feel like it focuses more on who brings us the news rather than who they’re reporting on.

6 – Jim Rice inducted into the Hall Of Fame

A generation of Red Sox fans were finally able to breathe as Jim Rice was inducted into the Hall of Fame after a 15-year wait.

If you’re into Sox history, I don’t need to explain to you what a moment this was. The yearly push to include Rice practically became telethon-esque around here with a slew of team personnel, former players and media peeps pleading their cases as to why he belonged, while Rice – a NESN analyst for the past few years- calmly tried to explain his case while staying north of begging the BBWAA to let him in. That was never his style and like Eddie Murray years before him, probably was part of the reason things took so long.

Along the way, many newer fans got brought into the story and pushed for Rice’s inclusion even if they didn’t fully understand why.

The argument for Rice was that while his numbers were not collectively eye-popping, he was a dominant player during a stretch which years later, would be seen as the pre-steroids era. He led the AL in home runs three times and RBI twice, was an eight-time All-Star and won the AL MVP in 1978, finishing in the MVP race five other times. In 16 seasons, he finished with a .298 average, 382 homers, 1451 RBI, over 1200 runs scored and over 2400 hits.

The arguments against? Great player, but not Hall-worthy. Of course, this brought up the valid debate of the criteria to get into the Hall of Fame and one’s perspective of greatness. Comparisons to other players in and not in were brought up and Rice’s numbers were sliced, diced and reheated too many times to recount here. With this being his last chance, there was an impending feeling of closure for everyone involved.

A no-doubt HOF’er? No, but Rice’s inclusion is an interesting and deserved one, given the timeframe, the campaign to get him in and the ultimate result. It worked and Rice’s number is now retired at Fenway Park in addition to a nice bust in Cooperstown. A legion of fans that followed Rice for almost two decades is now vindicated, as is he.

1-5 this Wednesday..

Josh Nason is the main writer for Small White Ball, a New England-based sports and media blog. Reach him via Twitter or josh [at] smallwhiteball [dot-com].

If you haven’t figured it out yet, we care about sports here in Boston to a point that is almost scary.

A mix of Red Sox player moves and non-moves, Patriots wide receivers appearing on the national media radar for the right and wrong reasons and more, this list represents the Honorable Mentions for the SWB/BSO Top 10 Boston Sports Stories of 2009.

We launch into the main event with No. 6-10 on Monday, 12/28 and 1-5 on Wednesday, 12/30.

In no particular order:

The on-again, off-again love affair with Jason Bay

You’d think a left fielder coming off career highs in homers and RBI that is good defensively would be a sought-after commodity by the Red Sox – especially considering he played in Boston for the last season-and-a-half.

But whether it’s the amount of years Bay is reportedly asking for or the total contract value, Theo and company aren’t biting and inked outfielder Mike Cameron to a stopgap two-year deal. But now reports in recent days have Boston reportedly interested again. Does that mean Jacoby Ellsbury could be on his way out in a package trade for Adrian Gonzalez or did Boston jump too early at Cameron? What does it all mean?  The answers can’t get here soon enough.

Boston Bruins get No. 1 seed, then rip apart team

The Boston Bruins had a great ’08-’09 season, capped by a No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference – the first time that had happened since 2002. They met (of course) the rival Montreal Canadiens in the first round and somehow didn’t disappoint, sweeping the Habs and advancing in the postseason for the first time in 10 years. But that’s where the good times ended as they lost in a seven-game series to the not-so Original Six Carolina Hurricanes in the semifinals. Ugh.

In typical Jeremy Jacobs fashion, they decided to not keep the club together and dealt young star Phil Kessel to Toronto (!!!) for two 1st-round picks and a 2nd-round pick and also sent defensemen Chuck Kobasew and Aaron Ward packing. So far this year, Tuuka Rask and Tim Thomas has been great in net and the team has a winning record, but they are missing goal scoring…big surprise, right?

They’ve had some injuries, but Kessel’s absence and getting no one in return for him has hurt a lot. It’s great to dream of trading those No. 1′s for a superstar at the trading deadline, but I’ll believe it when I see it. These ARE the Bruins, remember?

MMA legalized in Boston

Finally, the UFC will debut at the TD Garden as Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill to legalize the sport in November, opening the door for the largest MMA organization in the world to come to Boston. UFC Prez and former Boston resident Dana White (right) has promised a mega-show in late-August as getting Boston was a huge accomplishment for the group.

As the guy that partly makes his living writing for FIGHT! Magazine, my level of excitement at this is beyond words.

The emergence of Wes Welker

One of the refreshing and inspiring side notes of this strange Patriots season has been everyone else realizing what we’ve known here in New England for a while now: Wes Welker is friggin’ awesome. Through 12 games, Welker is four catches away from a new career high (113) and already has a career-best with 1198 receiving yards. Since he’s been in New England, Welker has three straight seasons of 100+ catches and 1100+ yards.

In a copycat league, I’m shocked more teams haven’t gone with the “throw to the little white guy in the slot” offense.

Theo’s “bridge period” comment

Always be careful of what you say in Red Sox Nation. In what he probably thought was a passing comment during the December GM meetings, head honcho Theo Epstein said the team was in “a bridge period” and that while they wanted to stay competitive for the next two seasons, they also had to balance not dealing off their top prospects in doing so.

Just Google the term ‘Theo Epstein bridge period’ or ‘Theo Epstein bridge year’ to see how well that went over – especially considering it came in the same week the New York Yankees traded for Curtis Granderson. This is Boston…there’s no such thing as a bridge year.

Red Sox start year 8-0 in season series against Yankees, then lose 9 of the next 10.

Let’s just move on.

Patriots channel 2007, decimate Tennessee 59-0 in October snowstorm

If a snowstorm in October wasn’t enough to make this a memorable game, the fact the Patriots destroyed the winless Tennessee Titans in record-setting fashion made it so. Among the various records, Tom Brady tossed for an NFL record five touchdowns in one quarter, the team had the biggest halftime lead in NFL history (45 points) and tied for the sixth-largest margin of victory in NFL history. Simply put, it was annihilation.

Red Sox trade for Victor Martinez

Long-discussed, the Red Sox pulled off a big deadline trade in acquiring C/1B Victor Martinez from the Cleveland Indians for pitcher Justin Masterson and some mid-level prospects. While the popular and flexible Masterson was tough to let go, Boston needed some offense with incumbent backstop Jason Varitek struggling to do anything that didn’t involve throwing down signs.

This also kicked off a merry-go-round of Kevin Youkilis, Mike Lowell, Varitek, Martinez and eventually Casey Kotchman playing 1st, 3rd and catcher for the remaining months of the season. Martinez’ versatility and cheap option for ’10 made this a great trade. His competitiveness and bat also don’t hurt either.

Sox go with pitching and defense for ’10, ink pitcher John Lackey and outfielder Mike Cameron

After reportedly being rejected by outfielder Matt Holliday on a contract, the Red Sox changed gears and bolstered an already robust starting rotation by signing top free agent John Lackey to a five year, $82.5 million contract. Arguably the top pitcher on the market, the signing gives Boston three aces in its rotation to go with Daisuke Matsusaka, Clay Buchholz and Tim Wakefield. Personally, I’m finding it difficult to accept Lackey after so many years of snide comments toward the Red Sox while he was in the Los Angeles clubhouse, but I’m sure I’ll come around eventually.

The Cameron signing came as a surprise due to his age and what we believed were still negotiations with free agent Bay. However, with that deal looking dead (unless you believe reports saying otherwise), Cameron is looking to be the team’s opening day left fielder and will provide a flashy glove, 25 homers and a lot of strikeouts this season and next.

Pitching and defense may not be sexy, but it seems to be the plan for 2010 thus far. We’ll see how well the confines of Yankees Stadium respond to that challenge.

The villainous Randy Moss returns…or does he?

It’s hard to truly gauge exactly what is driving this winter’s debate about Randy Moss. Is he dogging it or playing hard and we just can’t tell? Is he the victim of playing against great cornerbacks or just making guys look better than they are? Are the Boston media just looking for a pound of flesh or reflecting what their national cohorts are pushing? Whatever camp you’re in, it’s undeniable that the perception of Moss has changed in the past month – partly because of performance and partly due to everyone’s opinion.

This story is going to come to an end sometime in early ’10 after the playoffs have concluded. I think we’ll have our answer then as to what the rest of Moss’ tenure is going to represent.

Josh Nason is the main writer for Small White Ball, a New England-based sports and media blog. Reach him via Twitter or josh [at] smallwhiteball [dot-com].

While Theo and the gang may be ready to just move on quickly, I’m not fully prepared to drive Bay to the airport just yet. Bear with me for a minute, throw on some Pearl Jam (his at-bat band of choice) and grab some tissues if you start getting emotional. We’ll get through this together.

The Canadian-born left fielder swept into Fenway in a time when The Nation needed him most. While the furor around MannyGate and exactly what to do divided media and fans alike, the ’08 trade deadline deal to acquire Bay in a three-way with Pittsburgh and Los Angeles ended up cooling off a lot of hotheads who were furious at what had become a daily soap opera in the clubhouse.

And considering all that had happened, it was a great coup. The Red Sox had dealt for a former All-Star who was good for 25 home runs and 100 RBI a year in the abysmal Pirates organization. The possibilities for Bay in one of the top lineups in the AL were tremendous and for a very affordable price with just one season remaining on the deal, it was as near a no risk proposition as you could get.

And for the rest of 2008, Bay came through time and time again, hitting .293 with nine homers, 39 runs scored and 37 RBI for Boston, playing a great left field and providing a calming influence after the chaos that ensued the Manny situation. Remember his first night on the job? Two runs scored, including the game-winner after he hit a triple in the 12th and scored on a Jed Lowrie single. In his first postseason, Bay hit .341 with three long bombs and nine RBI in 11 games.

Just like that, we had our new man of the moment – a hitter like Ramirez and David Ortiz who we trusted at the plate in a clutch situation because he came through time after time after time.

Then, 2009 came and we got more of the same…for the most part. The first two months of the season were just plain golden with 15 homers, a .288 average and 49 RBI. Bay looked like a sure-fire MVP candidate, but that’s why they play the whole season and a nasty slump fueled by the inability to hit a 1-2 breaking ball killed the lineup in June and July. He got hot again in August and September, but suddenly there were questions we didn’t have before. Did we still want Bay? How many years and at what price? Was there a better option?

Once the season closed though, you didn’t find too many people ready to kick him to the curb unless Matt Holliday was ready to move into the house. Surely the Red Sox wouldn’t let both Bay and Holliday slip through their ring-laden fingers and go into ’10 with less of a power punch than in ’09. If the past month has been any indication, that actually seems to be the case.

This offseason, it’s clear that pitching and defense have become the main goals of the organization while the power bats that many of us yearned for still haven’t found their way here. And with the addition of Cameron for two seasons of value at what one year of Bay would probably cost, there is no reason to believe that Jason Raymond Bay will be patrolling left field in Fenway ever again.

But before you run with the notions being put out there that he’s asking for too much money, that his defense isn’t that great and that the 36-year-old Cameron is essentially “Bay Lite” with a better glove, stop yourself for a second. At 31, Bay still managed to finish 7th in the AL MVP vote and had career-highs in home runs and RBI (and yes, strikeouts). He played a solid left field and adjusted to the Monster nicely in his season-and-a-half here.

Sure, he had the awful two month slump, but keep in mind that he also batted all around the lineup in a constantly reshuffling order that had major power outages at nearly every position. Yep, he’s got to take some accountability but with some better protection and a 15-20 point spike in that batting average, we’d be talking about the 2009 AL MVP.

In the next few weeks, Bay is going to sign a big deal, likely with the New York Mets or Seattle Mariners and just like that, it’ll be made official. He’ll be gone. And at some point during that deal, the day will come when he’ll make his return and get the same standing ovation he did the first time he took an at-bat in Fenway Park in 2008 – something that has become a hallmark of any former player’s homecoming – and he’ll deserve every single second of it.

Thanks for everything, J-Bay. It was a blast having you here, pun full intended.

Josh Nason is the main writer for Small White Ball, a New England-based sports and media blog. Reach him via Twitter or josh [at] smallwhiteball [dot-com].

Ramon Ramirez was a solid bullpen arm for the Boston Red Sox in '09.

In the Nation, we tend to get impatient…a lot. This tends to escalate in offseasons following disappointing campaigns, but then again, our version of disappointing would make about 80% of the rest of baseball angry considering the Red Sox’s run of success over the past decade.

We assume (hope?) there is going to be some massive moves made by Theo and the crew to bolster the offense and improve the team’s chances of winning another World Series. It’s only been a few years since we last tasted the champagne, but with the Yankees closing in on #27 any day now, it feels like an eternity.

So while visions of trading for Adrian Gonzalez, Miguel Cabrera or Felix Hernandez dance in our heads, it’s important to note that even the smallest trades can become impact moves. A one-for-one deal in December can pay dividends in July, even if it doesn’t involve sexy names or big contracts.

The Red Sox have shown infinite patience when it comes to making trades, often ending up on the positive side of the ledger. I think it’s even more impressive considering the furor of the fans when we seem to identify a player that could be shipped off for good players in return. We are not patient, but the Sox front office is…thankfully.

Take Coco Crisp for example. When Boston first acquired him from Cleveland for third base prospect Andy Marte (remember him?) prior to the 2006 season, there was excitement as he seemed to be on the brink of being an all-around standout center fielder about to enter the prime of his career.

This is probably what Coco Crisp will be most remembered for in Boston.

Besides having a cool name, Crisp had steadily improved in his four major league seasons, apexing in ’05 with a .300 average, 16 homers, 69 RBI, 86 runs, 42 doubles and a .345 OBP. Put in front of that 2006 lineup, there were high expectations for Crisp’s offensive numbers – coupled with defensive play that would complete the package.

But Crisp started out his Boston career on the DL and in three seasons at the Fens, never really did get it going. While the defense was there, it felt like Crisp just never came close to his offensive potential and was not good in the leadoff spot.

He became more of a frustration than anything and with Jacoby Ellsbury’s late season emergence in 2007, Crisp was deemed expendable by the fans – who were then surprised that Crisp lasted the entire ’08 season with the team.

Boston did get some decent play out of their 4th outfielder, but it was Epstein’s decision to hold onto Crisp that turned out to be a brilliant move. Going into his free agent year and somewhat complaining that he didn’t want to platoon again in ’09, the Red Sox traded Crisp to Kansas City for a young bullpen arm – Ramon Ramirez. It wasn’t treated as much, but turned out to be pretty damn good.

Then 26, Ramirez was a bright spot for an awful team, posting a 2.64 ERA in 71 games for the Royals, fanning 70 in 71.2 innings. With just three seasons under his belt, Ramirez wasn’t a gamble but a young power arm the Red Sox sorely needed. There would be no NL-to-AL transition year either as Ramirez had already been through the wars of fighting AL lineup. Why would the Royals want to give up a good player for a serviceable outfielder? There’s a reason why they are the Royals, people.

Now 27, Ramirez had a good first season at the Fens (7-4, 2.84, 69.2 innings), regressing in strikeouts – dropping to 52 – while staying nearly the same in walks. There were some rough spots as he allowed five more homers than the season prior and had a few stinkers, but in the first half of the season, he was near All-Star quality (2.23 ERA, 10 holds through 7/31).

Granted, he had an ugly August and September (4.00+ ERA each month, two blown saves), but perhaps some second half wear and pitching in a much smaller fishbowl got to him at times. But given another year with John Farrell and having this past season as a big learning experience, I’m excited to see what Ramirez can do with a back-end of Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon there as anchors. With Takashi Saito and likely Manny Delcarmen gone, he’ll have a more defined role in ’10.

Crisp, by the way, played in just 49 games with the Royals after tearing his labrum early in the year. He was hitting just .228 at the time and will look to have someone give him a chance to catch on this winter, likely in the National League where he always seem to rip it up in interleague games. There is no way Epstein could have predicted Crisp’s injury, but all in all, the Red Sox completely won this trade. If they had dealt Crisp prior to ’08? Likely not as good a part as a young power pitcher. They waited and it paid off.

So going into the cold of winter, keep two things in mind: small moves matter and trust in the patience of the front office. Like Pop Nason always says, patience is a virtue even if it makes the impatient grumpy.

Josh Nason is the main writer for Small White Ball, a New England-based sports and media blog. Reach him via Twitter or josh [at] smallwhiteball [dot-com].

Sunday’s Game 3 against the Angels is just another day at Fenway Park…we hope.

This is getting to be old news for the Local Nine: down 3-1 in ’04 against the afore-mentioned Yankees and down 3-1 in ’07 against the Cleveland Indians – both World Series winning seasons. They were also down 3-1 in the ALCS last season but since they lost in Game 7, many forget the accomplishment.

Some interesting (or potentially heartbreaking) stats:

- Since 2003, Boston is 13-3 in potential elimination games.

- The Red Sox have won three games in a row 14 times this season.

- In the Divisional Series, four teams have come back from 2-0 deficits, including the ’99 and ’03 editions of the Sox. In both situations, they lost their first two games on the road.

- Boston was 56-25 at home this season, 2nd best in baseball.

But the key today is to hit and hit early. In the first two games, the Sox offense has managed just eight hits and one run and will face old rival Scott Kazmir – someone is familiar with the confines of Fenway during his run with Tampa Bay.

Kazmir has had success at the Fens, allowing just 14 runs and fanning 46 in 40 innings of work from 2006-2008, holding the Sox to a .250 batting average. This season? Two starts and two wins in similar fashion.

But this is October and traditionally, this is when Boston plays its best baseball. There’s a reason why this club has come back time and time and time again. Until they falter, trust in the notion that this is old hat to Terry Francona. In fact, this is more the norm.

They’ve been here before. The question is can they do it again.

Josh Nason is the main writer for Small White Ball, a New England-based sports and media blog on the MVN Network. Reach him via Twitter or josh [at] smallwhiteball [dot-com]. 

Josh Beckett is the man even when he goes more than 200 innings.

On the early Monday edition of Comcast Sports New England’s Sports Tonight, co-host Gary Tanguay brought up concerns about Josh Beckett going into the postseason, specifically citing Beckett’s lack of success when he goes over 200 innings pitched in a season.

To paraphrase, Tanguay said that he simply wasn’t the same pitcher after he crossed that threshold. To be quite blunt, that is a ridiculous statement and simply not true.

Beckett has thrown more than 200 innings only three times in his nine-year career: 2006, 2007 and 2009. His regular season numbers in those years:

2006: 16-11, 5.01 ERA, 158 K’s, 74 walks in 204.2 innings (33 starts)

2007: 20-7, 3.27 ERA, 194 K’s, 40 walks in 200.2 innings (30 starts). He finished 2nd in the Cy Young voting and 22nd overall in the AL MVP vote.

2009: 17-6, 3.86 ERA, 199 K’s, 55 walks in 212.1 innings (32 starts)

So looking at these numbers, I guess I’m not seeing a trend of bad pitching. 2006 was his first season in the American League, so there’s going to be a transition year. 2007? Please. 2009? Despite a few bumps late in the season, how do you complain about those numbers?

With that myth debunked, perhaps Tanguay was referring to Beckett’s postseason performance when he goes over 200 innings. Alright then, let’s see the numbers.

2006: Boston didn’t make the playoffs.

2007: 4-0, 1.20 ERA, 35 K’s, 2 walks in 30 innings (four starts)

2009: His first start is Saturday.

Uhhh…what the hell was Tanguay trying to say? If there’s a point to be made, it’s that there could be concern over Beckett’s workload in the postseason considering he had a career-high in innings pitched this year and that last year’s playoffs weren’t that great for him. But he instead made a statement with no statistical backup and no one called him out on it…until now.

It took me roughly two minutes to look up Beckett’s stats and easily disprove Tanguay’s theory. And he’s the guy getting paid to be on TV and the radio? This was the same guy who said the Red Sox weren’t going to make the playoffs after their mid-summer swoon. Guess he was wrong there too.

C’mon Gary. You’re better than this.

Josh Nason is the main writer for Small White Ball, a New England-based sports and media blog on the MVN Network. Reach him via Twitter or josh [at] smallwhiteball [dot-com].

If you look at the last 10 World Series champions, it could. Then again, it might be just a meaningless side note.

From 1999-2008, six of the eventual champs went into the playoffs on a winning record, including the last two. Only three had losing records: the 2000 Yankees (2-8 and lost their last seven games), the 2002 Anaheim Angels (4-6) and the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals (3-7).

One team (the ’99 Yankees) went in at .500 in their last 10 games.

• 1999:  NYY 5-5
• 2000:  NYY 2-8
• 2001:  Arizona 7-3
• 2002:  Anaheim 4-6
• 2003:  Florida 7-3
• 2004:  Boston 7-3
• 2005:  Chicago White Sox 8-2
• 2006:  St. Louis 3-7 (only played 161 games)
• 2007:  Boston 6-4
• 2008:  Philadelphia 7-3

With two games left, the Sox are 4-6 in their last 10 and no matter what they do, they will go in on a losing record. Does it mean anything? Probably not as there are a ton of other factors that affect playoff performance like playoff opponents, setting up your pitching and injuries.

It’s an interesting stat, but not really that meaningful. Cementing your playoff status earlier than later and putting yourself in a prime position to win is what’s important. But hearing all of the chatter this week, you’d think the Red Sox have no chance at winning a title because of their recent play.

Last I checked, Jon Lester and Josh Beckett are your Game 1 and 2 starters and the rest of the team is healthy and ready to roll. That’s really what matters, isn’t it?

Josh Nason is the main writer for Small White Ball, a New England-based sports and media blog on the MVN Network. Reach him via Twitter or josh [at] smallwhiteball [dot-com]. 

One of the most valuable lessons I learned was that no matter how successful your organization gets, you always need to listen to your audience and when it’s possible. always do the right thing. A free pair of tickets here or a free t-shirt there doesn’t mean a whole lot financially in the long run and if that small gesture is appreciated and keeps that fan coming back after they feel like they’ve been wronged, it can mean a lot.

The best organizations seek these fires out before they happen and are proactive. There’s a reason why clubs win awards for great customer service and have loyalty beyond belief. Even a cynic like myself saw what just a little compassion and a eye for helping out can do for long-term fan loyalty.

Sadly, most teams in this era are driven solely by the dollar collected in the now and don’t see that big picture of ‘paying it forward’. On Wednesday, the Red Sox – an organization that has made a tremendous effort to improve the fan experience – had an opportunity to really go above and beyond, but didn’t. Instead, they stayed content with a packed house that had already paid their money to get in and were going to spend more anyway.

As the lineups for Wednesday’s game were announced, you could hear audible groans from across the Nation as our heroes like Pedroia, Youkilis and Bay were replaced by names like Gathright, Kotchman and Woodward. As the Sox had celebrated another postseason appearance thanks to Texas the night before, manager Terry Francona decided to give the regulars a well-deserved game off.

That’s not the issue. A manager has to worry about what’s best for the team, not for the fans. Allowing the outside world to influence on-field decisions can have disastrous results and implications. Having said that, you have to feel for the people who make it down to Fenway Park for one game a year to see the dregs of the lineup in there.

It’s an unfortunate coincidence and a hazard of going to a game that late in the season. I don’t have kids, but would hate to have to attempt to explain to my son or daughter why their heroes aren’t on the field. But that’s life and letdowns happen.

But here’s where management could have stepped up.

The afore-mentioned playoff celebration was done behind closed doors as Boston couldn’t punch their postseason ticket on their own and needed helped to do so in the late, late hours of Tuesday night. Normally, a berth to the playoffs ‘won’ at home elicits some in-stadium celebration with the fans watching on and celebrating in their own. But this time – due to the time of night, the nature of the win and the team decision – that team celebration was done with no media and no fans. 

In other words, the fans were shut out of something they deserved to enjoy as well. There’s a lot of commitment being a baseball fan, but again, letdowns happens.

So given that scenario above and then knowing the equivalent of a AAAA team was going to be on the field hours prior to the game, management should have done something to make it right. People paid top dollar to go to the game and while management couldn’t control who went on the field, they have full reign with what happens once that ticket is scanned in. Instead, they did nothing.

It could have been a one-night only deep discount on merchandise or $1 hot dogs all night or some other gesture that financially would have been appreciated and noticed. Would they have taken a hit on the nightly take? Sure, but hey, letdowns happen, right? There’s going to be a few playoff games where they will make it back.

Simply put, there was a right thing to do Wednesday night and they just chose not to do it.

You do get into a slippery slope situation where you don’t want to set a precedent that this is going to be the case every year. Every time a lackluster lineup is out there, ownership can’t just financially apologize as that’s way too subjective to legislate.

But Wednesday was different as you had the perfect excuse: the missed celebration the night before. Call it a playoff party and do something that makes it a special night to be there, no matter what lineup is on the field. It’s shouldn’t be a news flash here, but sometimes just going to Fenway isn’t enough – especially when the team on the field manages just a few hits and gets destroyed which was the real mule kick to the night.

Like I said before, working in sports isn’t the easiest thing to do. But sometimes the right decisions have to be made. On the field? That hasn’t been a problem for the Boston Red Sox. Off the field? There’s clearly still a lot of work to be done.

Josh Nason is the main writer for Small White Ball, a New England-based sports and media blog on the MVN Network. Reach him via Twitter or josh [at] smallwhiteball [dot-com].