Retreads. I’m so sick of retreads. Doug Collins was fired as coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1989 (a team with some guy named Michael Jordan). Today, he was hired as the new head coach of the Chicago Bulls. Huh? He wasn’t good enough to coach a team led by Michael Jordan, but he’ll do wonders with Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, and Smokem’ Noah? Yea, why wait for Tom Thibedeou? Or interview Mark Jackson? Avery Johnson? As much as I understand about sports, I will never understand sports.

I cannot comment on last night’s Pistons/Celtics game as my skull nearly cracked open from the headache that I had. It’s the 3rd occurrence in the last 4 times I have played basketball of me getting a splitting headache. So that’s fun.

I do understand that it was a great game that the Celtics nearly let get away from them, if not for Rodney Stuckey’s missed free throw late in the 4th. Most of the talk I heard this morning was about Kevin Garnett’s strong desire to lead the NBA in 4th quarter assists during the playoffs. On one highlight, he had a clear path to the basket and instead of driving and dunking, he took a half step and passed to a Detroit Piston. I’ve defended Garnett about his love of 4th quarter passing before, but really, this is getting kind of ridiculous. When he’s covered, sure, pass. But when you’ve got a clear path?

Kudos to Kendrick Perkin’s alarm clock for waking him up yesterday. If there’s an X Factor outside of the Big 3, especially in this series, it’s Perk. Performances like last night’s will get the Celtics into the NBA Finals.

For some reason, my eyes could tolerate the mass quantity of white at Pittsburgh’s Mellon Arena, so I was able to catch about 8 minutes of the 3rd period of last night’s game before collapsing into sleep. Probably the best action I’ve seen these playoffs (outside of “Game 6”). At one point, there was 5 1/2 minutes of non-stop skating and checking. No whistles. It was like Joey Crawford was officiating the game.

Anyway, the Pens were able to score a goal (3 of them) and beat the Red Wings (barely) 3-2, moving their series to a 2-1 score and giving them some much needed momentum heading into Game 4 at the electric Igloo, which from the outside looks something like a heap of scrap metal. The crowd was fantastic last night inside, however. Everyone in white. Everyone screaming. The arena was actually shaking after Sidney Crosby’s first goal and during the fantastic third period. It’s upsetting to me that these games have been opposite the Celtics/Pistons games. I may choose the Pens/Wings over the C’s/Pistons on Friday.

As promised, I have ranked my top 10 (it’s an easier number than 12) favorite MLB ballparks that I’ve been to. I’ve tried to take out my prejudices, how great the game was, the weather, etc. and just measure the park based on the atmosphere, food, and fans. (Number 12 is Florida’s Dolphin Stadium, which I’ve been to twice, had two great experiences, and still couldn’t rank it ahead of McAfee Colisseum and number 11 was Montreal’s Olympic Stadium which ranks ahead of Dolphin Stadium because it’s interior is cool and not orange).

(Dolphin Stadium Games: Braves @ Marlins (Tim Hudson vs. Scott Olsen) and Expos @ Marlins (Javier Vazquez vs. Carl Pavano).)

(Olympic Stadium Games: Astros @ Expos (Roger Clemens vs. Jon Rauch) and Astros @ Expos (Peter Munro vs. Livan Hernandez).)

10. McAffee Coliseum (Oakland)
For the sake of food, I’m only going to rank the hot dog, because it’s all that matters to me. Oakland has the best dog in the business. The Coliseum dog is big, and meaty, and delicious. And the bun is also great. The stadium itself is cavernous, like Dolphin Stadium, and the sightlines are even worse. I sat in the first level, in RF, and felt like I was a mile away from homeplate. Because it’s a football stadium, my seat angled nicely towards the left field seats. The fans are not at all memorable.
(My Game was the Angels @ A’s. Pitching Matchup was Jarrod Washburn vs. Tim Hudson))

9. US Cellular Field (Chicago)
Nothing about US Cellular, besides my great seats, was memorable. I left the game early because it was so boring. There was no atmosphere. The food was mediocre. Even though it’s a newer ballpark, it has no appeal. The only thing that ranks it ahead of McAffee was my ability to actually see the game. I like smaller parks. US Cellular won that important category.
(A’s @ White Sox. Joe Blanton vs. Jose Contreras).

8. Shea Stadium (New York)
As a Mets fan, this pains me (as does the 2008 season…fire Willie Randolph now!). I like Shea, despite it being a massive toilet. The atmosphere is great. The food isn’t bad at all. The sight lines are horrendous. The worst in baseball in my opinion. Overpriced seats placing you somewhere up with Jesus to watch the game. I could have flip-flopped 8 and 7.
(This will be kind of long)

(Marlins @ Mets (Brad Penny vs. Al Leiter), Phillies @ Mets (Jon Lieber vs. Pedro Martinez), Astros @ Mets (Roy Oswalt vs. Mike Pelfrey), Padres @ Mets (Jake Peavy vs. Brian Lawrence).

7. Yankee Stadium (New York)
The food sucks. The sightlines were not good, though better than Shea. The Stadium is in the middle of the ghetto. But the atmosphere is just so great. Yankee fans, except for Chris Matrumalo, are loud, offensive, violent, and mostly uninformed, as I have discovered. However, they’re fun and really add to the dynamic of the game.

(Mets @ Yankees (Oliver Perez vs. Chien-Ming Wang))

6. Nationals Park (Washington)
Bells and whistles galore. A glorious video board. Lots of food options. Decent sightlines (if not overpriced). And a terrible team. For sheer cleanliness, Nationals Park wins out over Yankee and Shea. The atmosphere at the previous two parks cannot in any way be topped by Nationals Park. However, if you took someone to Yankee Stadium with no previous knowledge of baseball and then Nationals Park and asked them, “which one is better?” they’d go with Nats Park.

(Mets @ Nationals (Johan Santana vs. Tim Redding)

5. Camden Yards (Baltimore)
I didn’t really love Camden Yards. Nothing about it really impressed me. So you may be asking yourself, what the hell am I ranking it here for? Good question. The food was very impressive. The atmosphere (that has since changed I’m sure since 2005) was very nice. And there were nice touches. Like placing TVs in the areas where the overhang was a problem. And it’s small and appealing. Nationals Park is somewhat larger. In a way, Camden is perfectly mediocre.

(Diamondbacks @ Orioles (Randy Johnson vs. Sidney Ponson))

4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
The smallest park I had been to up until a week ago. Sitting inside of CBP, you feel like you can touch everything with your hand. The food was very good. The atmosphere is similar to Yankee Stadium normally (I was at a weekday day game, so I’ll let the more relaxed atmosphere slide). There’s nothing wrong with Citizens Bank Park, beyond the view of a Holiday Inn hotel (which I stayed in) and not much else beyond the stadium.

(Mets @ Phillies (Steve Trachsel vs. Cory Lidle R.I.P)).

3. Fenway Park (Boston)
I can’t believe I’m doing this. The New Yorker that I wish I was hates that I’m doing this. But you can’t beat Fenway for atmosphere. It’s a classic ballpark (not a new one trying to be classic). The food is good. It’s all terribly overpriced, but it’s one of only 2 remaining classics in baseball. And that seems good enough to me for third place, poorly placed poles and all.

(Twins @ Red Sox (Greg Harris vs. Jeff Suppan), Nationals @ Red Sox (Tony Armas Jr. vs. Kyle Snyder))….Two gems there.

2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
A great baseball park. Perfectly small. Fairly priced seats. A great view. Amazing sightlines. The fan atmosphere is the only thing holding it back in my opinion. Otherwise it’s a perfect place to watch a baseball game on the East Coast (more on that in a second)

(Cubs @ Pirates (Carlos Zambrano vs. Zach Duke)).

1. AT&T Park (San Francisco)
It will forever be my number 1 park. Maybe if I go again, I won’t like it as much. But it was on the same trip as my Oakland game from number 10. And it couldn’t have been any more different. The park is absolutely gorgeous. The food is amazing. The sightlines are great. And the view. Oh the view. Even on TV, the park looks special. It gets overlooked often because it’s not an East Coast park, like PNC and Fenway, but I’ve never experienced a better place to watch a baseball game in my life.

(Cardinals @ Giants (Garrett Stephenson vs. Jerome Williams))…and Barry Bond’s 639th career home run.

Game O’ The Day: To practice for when the NBA and NHL aren’t around, I’m going to go with the best Major League matchup of the day. Chicago White Sox @ Tampa Bay Rays. Two first place teams going at it in front of about 11,000 people. John Danks vs. Edwin Jackson. Can you feel the excitement? I can.