BRING ON THE LAKERS!!!

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

No need to panic Celtics fans.

The Boston Celtics ARE NOT the Boston Bruins.

There's no choke in these C's.

Now, it's bring on those hated Lakers, if they can get by those pesky Suns.

But now the Celtics are back in the NBA Finals, for the second time in three years.

And this trip has been worth every single bump in the road.

Just think about the road to get here. Boston beat the Heat (with superstar Dwayne Wade), the Cavs (LeBron James) and now the Magic (Dwight Howard).

Nothing was handed to these guys, they earned every single win and deserve to have a chance to win another NBA championship.

Man, the Celtics were so frustrating during the regular season -- you can thank injuries for that -- but they are playing some great basketball right now. At the biggest time of the season, no less.

There's got to be something said for veteran leadership. The Big Three, despite showing their age at times, are still delivering and don't look old and slow at all right now. Now, add Rajon Rondo -- you can make a case that he's the biggest star on the team at this moment -- into that mix, and the Celtics are tough to stop with four legit scorers.

Great job little used guard Nate Robinson, who was a very good scorer with the Knicks. Robinson proved a spark that had the home crowd going into a frenzy. Robinson pumped in 13 points, including two 3-pointers, and the Celtics rode Robinson's coat tails and never looked back.

Yes, the C's have that knockout punch, unlike the Bruins.

Believe in the Boston Celtics. Hard to imagine they only need four more wins to win the NBA championship.

Bring on those Lakers. We want to beat the best the NBA has to offer.

Say it with me, "Beat L.A., Beat L.A."

Here's What I Have to Say

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Here are 10 quick-hitters in the weekly, “Here’s What I Have to Say” column.
1. The Boston Celtics better bring their ‘A’ game tonight at home or they will lose this series.
2. The Celtics and Bruins are not the same type of franchise. The Bruins have been dubbed ‘losers’ for years (I don’t call them that even though they’ve had such a long drought of winning the Stanley Cup) while the Celtics have to be considered ‘winners’ for all the banners hanging from the rafters.
3. Show your pride and start getting excited for the World Cup. Go USA!!!
4. Rajon Rondo has quickly developed into a superstar with his early playoff round performances, but where has he been vs. the Magic? Big-time players don’t go to sleep in big situations. I expect a big game from him tonight. Or maybe he’s hurting and that’s affecting his production?
5. How bad do you want a Celtics-Lakers matchup in the NBA Finals? It brings back the good old days in the 1980s when that series was so volatile …and I loved it as a young buck!
6. I said it before, the Red Sox are not dead. While I’m not a fan – at all – they just don’t die. And now they’re getting the pitching (Jon Lester has been lights out) and now David Ortiz is raking, they are a dangerous ballclub once again. The AL East should be a fun race to watch with the Big 3 of Boston, New York and Tampa Bay.
7. Don’t expect the Yankees to play great baseball until they start getting healthy. The Bronx Bombers are the walking wounded right now (starters Curtis Granderson, Nick Johnson, Jorge Posada are all on the DL).
8. Is it football season yet? This offseason is dragging. But isn’t it like this every year?
9. How can you not like NASCAR? Cars going 180-plus miles-per-hour, crashes and on- and off-the-track altercations. There’s always some kind of action going on in that sport.
10. Hey, it looks like Brett Favre is going to come back and play for the Vikings this year. Wow, shocking. This guy likes the spotlight, and we all can’t get enough of him throwing interceptions when the game is on the line.