I wrote earlier this week that the Rays needed to prove they can beat good teams in their division to be taken as serious contender. Enter the Boston Red Sox. Boston fell victim to a three-game sweep at the hands of Tampa Bay answering my demands for beating top teams.

I wish I could take it back.

Wednesday I ripped on the Burlington Royals after attending Monday night’s game. I said they wern’t trying hard enough and look lazy out there. Well what did the Royals go ahead and do? They won on the road against the Danville Braves.

Granted the Royals are still just 2-13, but I took note that my comments are being answered. It’s probably just coincidental, but it’s something to think about.

Everyone have a happy Fourth of July.

Not with stadium because the organization made some improvements during the offseason and it looks as good as ever, which wasn’t great to begin with, but it’s better. The field itself is in great shape, but the team stinks.

I went over to shoot some video and stayed for about five innings. What I witnessed should have been embarrassing for the Burlington Royals players.

The Elizabethton Twins were in town and they pounded the Royals all over the field. Burlington’s starter got shelled and he had no help from his defense. Burlington’s outfielders showed no effort whatsoever. I remember one play really well. It was a soft fly ball to short center field and the outfielder came in lazily and just let it drop in front of him and a run scored. He made no effort to hustle after it, to dive or to slide. He didn’t even try.

The left fielder wasn’t much better. He came in slow for a base hit and booted it for an error, allowing another run in. It was sad.

If possible, the offense might have been worse. The Royals couldn’t buy a hit. It was sad. They were facing a tough lefty who had good stuff, but they went out swinging at the first or second pitch every time up. No patience.

I know this is a young team, but so are all the teams in the Appalachian League. I just hope the Royals improve so it’s fun to go watch them play. The crowd out there, granted it was just after 5 p.m. because it was a doubleheader, was really weak. I hope more people come out to watch because maybe with some support they’ll get better. Maybe.

Now Cole is leaving Raleigh.

I remember chatting with Cole from time to time during the 2005-06 season in the RBC Center press area. Our brief chats usually came while grabbing a hot dog or a soda or a bag of popcorn, standard snack items in Raleigh. Cole was always a friendly guy, growing out a thick beard while watching his teammates win the Southeast Division and run through the playoffs.

Cole was a nonfactor for most of the playoffs, actually just about all of them, but while watching Game 6 of the finals in Edmonton against the Oilers, I was stunned to see Cole skating on the ice during warmups. Doctors had cleared him to play, determining that he couldn’t do any more damage to his vertebra and that it would never really heal any more than it already had. And seeing him watch from upstairs all those games, Cole jumped at the chance to get his name on the Stanley Cup.

The Canes lost that game 4-0 and Cole took just two shots in 18 minutes on the ice, but his presence seemed huge at the time and became a story within the story. Because with the Game 6 loss, Carolina was headed back to Raleigh for Game 7.

Cole played even less in Game 7, just 12 minutes, and took only one shot, but the Canes won 3-1 and Cole joined his teammates in hoisting the Cup and skating around the RBC Center in victory. That night was by far the coolest day on the job I’ve ever had.

But now, more than two years after that day, the Canes have traded Cole, sending him to Stanley Cup rival Oilers for defenseman Joni Pitkanen.

The Canes were in need of defenseman, but it’s still a sad day. It’s probably more sad for me because I miss covering sports and getting to go to big games like I did back then. Sports are my passion and I often find myself missing those times.

Monday I wrote about the Tampa Bay Rays needing to step things up if they wanted to stay in first place. For anyone that read the paper today or checked online knows that the Rays beat the Red Sox 5-4. I kind of wish I didn’t light a fire under Tampa Bay’s ass. Oh well, it’s a long season.

Not me and not anyone.

I don’t know if it was dropping the word “Devil” from the Mascot name or what, but these Tampa Bay guys are really lighting it up against the toughest competition. But if the Rays are to be a serious contender come September then they must learn to beat their division rivals, the Red Sox.

The Rays swept the Sox during their first meeting which seemed like ages ago, but have been swept in the last two series giving Boston a 3-6 edge on the season. Tampa Bay is 5-5 against the third-place New York Yankees.

Money has been the name of the game in the A.L. East for awhile now, with Boston’s payroll at just over $133 million and New York’s at a little over $209 million. Toronto comes up shy of $100 million and Baltimore’s is around $67 million, but the Rays come in at just under $44 million, way lower than their competition.

So what gives?

The Rays own the best record in the entire league and have 49 wins, second to only the Sox. A few other clubs also have 49. But Tampa Bay is having success with its youngsters. It has been developing a tremendous farm system through its tough times at the Major League level. While the Rays have been sucking, the Durham Bulls and other minor league squads have had success.

Another big test though comes tonight when the Rays play host to the second-place Red Sox. Tampa Bay needs to win the series here to make a statement heading into the All-Star break. Look for tensions to be high since last time out is when Coco Crisp got into it with pitcher James Shields. The benches cleared and a major brawl ensued. Look for some fireworks in response to that. I wouldn’t be surprised if Crisp got beaned once or twice in the series.

Shields pitches tonight in the comfort of Tropicana Field. But I don’t know if he’ll be too comfortable there since most road venues are havens for visiting Sox fans. We Bostonians travel well to support our guys. Look for a lot of boos tonight.

You can watch Wednesday night’s game on ESPN. I wish I could watch, but I just moved and won’t have cable.

I can’t help but wonder if part of the negative image comes because the NBA is just too immature. I watched most of the NBA Draft last night and wasn’t surprised with the top three picks since they had been plastered all over ESPN as easy predictions for weeks.

But when you stop and think about those first three picks, Derrick Rose (Memphis), Michael Beasley (Kansas State) and O.J. Mayo (Southern Cal) you note that they’re all freshman. These young men are only about 19 years old. They’re not even of legal age to drink, but now they are entering into the real world as professional athletes.

I understand it’s all about the money when it comes to joining pro otherwise everyone would stay in college four years because the NCAA March Madness Tournament is much more exciting than the NBA playoffs. But that being said, this year’s draft had a record number of freshman picks in the lottery and first round overall.

By my count there were 10 freshmen selected, four of the first five picks were diaper dandies, and four other players were international players under 20 years of age. This immaturity could be a reason for the NBA’s negative image.

I do think the image got better this year, not counting the scandals with NBA officiating, but the off the court violence and crime activity. Still, one would wonder if requiring players to stay in college up to a certain point would help solve this problem.

But I’ll disprove my point. The NFL does this and look at its problems with Pacman Jones and others. I think when it comes down to it with all the big bucks flying around greed might be the reason for all the negative occurrences. Money causes problems whether you have it or you don’t.

Wimbledon is under way over in England. The prestigious tennis tournament is one of my favorites to watch and I was going to write today about how exciting the tournament should be, but now I’m not so sure.

Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova were upset in today’s second round. Now those two big names losing doesn’t mean the matched and the tournament weren’t exciting, but I would rather see these players play than Janko Tipsarevic and Alla Kudryavtseva, the two no-names who beat the stars.

I’ll still tune in to the grass tourney to watch Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The rivals will likely play in the final for what seems like the 100th straight year. The difference this time around is that Nadal might be the favorite even though Federer dominates grass play.

Nadal has owned Federer on clay and every year Nadal improves a little more on grass. Last year he came very close to beating Federer. I think this could be his year.

For those of you that have DIRECTV, you know how awesome it can be. For major sporting events the satellite TV service has offered bonus coverage. For Wimbledon you can pick and choose which matches you want to watch and check out highlights from the day’s biggest players and matches. It’s pretty awesome.

DIRECTV did the same thing for a few other events including The Masters and the U.S. Open. It really is neat. If you don’t already have DIRECTV, you should really look into making a switch.

On Thursday my friend Ricky, Brendan and I woke up super early, 7:20 a.m. is wicked early for vacation time, and hit the links. We made an 8:10 a.m. tee time which looking back might not have been the best idea. We were struggling after a late night soaked in booze.

We barely made it to the course on time. We were in rough shape. The round went so-so for everyone. The front nine was miserable, the back not much better for me. But the scores aren’t the story.

The course, Charleston Municipal Golf Course, was crowded all morning and the design of the course had the tee boxes right behind the greens, disaster for a long shot with the large crowds.

On I think hole No. 4 I hit my tee shot just off the fairway to the right, probably about 225 yards or so. My ball landed in a good spot with a nice shot at the green, but was under a huge weeping willow tree. The course was lined with these trees which were more for beauty than obstructing shots.

After the group ahead left the green, I was first to hit. I took out an 8-iron thinking I was about 150 yards away, but turns out it was only about 110 yards. Big mistake.

As I went into my back swing I made excellent contact with the ball and it felt good. I couldn’t see the ball at first with the branches of the tree blocking my view. As I dodged out from under the tree I found the ball and it was headed right for the flag stick. But as the ball got closer it looked like it was going to be long and then at the last second I saw the group ahead of us at the tee box.

In a weak attempt to warn the group I shouted “Fore!” OK, I’ll be honest; the other two guys in my group could hardly hear me yell it. It was one of those last-minute attempts because I wasn’t noticing the people, just the shot and its proximity to the green. Selfish I know, especially considering what happened next.

The ball came in hot and as it got closer to the ground, a short man came into focus in the direct path of the ball. With a shattering stop, the ball came crashing down on what appeared to be his right shoulder. It was official, I had actually hit a guy on the golf course and he wasn’t happy about it.

We stood in shock and amazement, not sure if it actually hit the guy or not, but what the man did next confirmed our beliefs. He charged from his tee box back onto the green and began shouting and pointing at me, screaming words of profanity I can’t list in this blog. Most of them began with the letter “F” and he threw a few mothers in front. I yelled back an apology, saying that I didn’t see him and the ball until the last second which was true, but I still felt bad.

For the next 14 holes I avoided that group at all costs. I have never walked on egg shells while playing golf before. If I hit a shot near the next tee box, on that side of the hole, I walked slow, or took the long way to get there. I wanted to avoid confrontation at all costs.

I wish I could say that was the last run in with that guy and his group. We didn’t hit anyone else, but we yelled “Fore!” quite a few more times, causing all five players, yes, they were playing with five, to cover their heads and duck.

Now I know what you’re saying. “They were playing with five? Well he deserved to be hit then.” My thoughts exactly, but man that must’ve hurt and left a mark for sure.

It was a great trip and an amazing week. It’s kind of a downer to be back and not basking in the sun on the beach or lounging around in our beautiful rental home which had a spectacular view of the ocean.

But here I am back to reality. I won’t talk too much about my trip because it doesn’t have a lot to do with sports, other than our epic four-hour Bache ball games on the beach, duels in the horse shoe pits and intense volleyball matches.

One thing sports related that did occur was an insane journey to be able to watch Game 6 of the NBA Finals, one in which the Boston Celtics beat the L.A. Lakers to win the title at home.

During the early evening hours after we’d left the beach, it started storming outside. The skies opened up and torrential downpours flooded the streets as booming thunder and bright lightning scorched the island. This went on for several hours and after about 45 minutes the power went out. Click here to watch video of the storm.

The tip-off for the big game was at 9 p.m. and I was seriously worried that the power wouldn’t be back on in time. My fears were right because it wasn’t. We hung out by candlelight and I pulled out my laptop computer as tip-off came and went. I tried to purchase the game online at NBA.com, but was unsuccessful. I pulled up stat tracker, but the internet connection was slow. I had my parents on the phone giving me scoring updates while I figured out a game plan.

Downtown Charleston we’d heard from people passing by had power, but we’d all been drinking a bit throughout the day so we needed a ride. We called a cab, but after waiting over 45 minutes, we got a call to stay it was stuck. Apparently a telephone poll and some tress had been knocked down and were blocking off the bridge to the island. I started panicking, thinking that I wouldn’t be able to see the game.

I began searching the Web again, trying to find a way to purchase the game online. Just as I was about to give up, I heard someone yell, “Kreitman, the cab is here.” I was so relieved and excited I ran outside and hopped in.

We flew to downtown, or at least it seemed. I was so grateful for the cab driver who I think found some alternate route on the island or it had been cleared to get to us. Side note: the cab driver turned out to be a real pervert. He was talking about Asian women and strip clubs most of the way back, but on the way there he turned the minivan cab into a small nightclub with his flashing lights and bumping music. He was my hero.

We got to a bar downtown and I got to watch the game. No one there seemed real interested in it except me. Others opted for Karaoke, mixed drinks and dancing. Instead, I glued my pretty little eyes on the TV and watched as the Celtics crushed the Lakers to win their 17th NBA title. It was awesome. I was going wild as the second ticked down. It was an amazing sight to see, something I’d yet to see in my lifetime.

When the Celtics won their last title back in 1986, I was too young to recall. I had only heard stories and seen ESPN Classic games, but never experienced it live. It was all worth the nerves, hassle and $50 cab ride. I got to watch my team win it all. I’ll never forget that night and what I went through to see it.

It was wild experience and a lot of fun as I mentioned in Part One. I never thought I’d enjoy NASCAR but after going to a race I’ve fallen in love. The excitement and atmosphere is something I’ll always remember so enjoy the video documenting the day’s events. Click the picture the the right or click here to watch.

I’ll admit it wasn’t difficult to stay awake this time, but to not change the channel and give up on the Celtics was more of a challenge.

Boston was getting crushed for most of the game and it was painful to watch. L.A. hit every shot while the Celtics went one shot and done every possession. I was getting angry and disgusted, but I didn’t change the channel.

I know a lot of people gave up and watched something else, but I couldn’t help but keep it on. Thank God I did because the Celtics came back. It took awhile, but they kept chipping away and chipping away before finally tying the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Once they tied the game I still didn’t think they had a chance with Kobe Bryant making a few quick moves to the basket. It looked as if Bryant was going to take over, but he didn’t. Paul Pierce swarmed the league’s M.V.P and cut off any good looks from Bryant.

Defense, coaching and heart won the game for Boston. The Celts dominated the second half. Coach Doc Rivers went with a smaller, quicker lineup which really clicked and got Boston back in the game. Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Eddie House and James Posey were the group of five that got it done. Garnett played inside while the other four spread the perimeter which led to great 3-point looks.

Heart has been something the Celtics haven’t lacked all season. The Big Three have been longing for a championship and now that it’s one game away you can see the happiness and determination in their eyes, especially Pierce. I absolutely loved watching Pierce after the game celebrate the victory. ABC’s coverage was awesome when it walked with Pierce back to the locker room as he shouted “One more game,” “That’s how you get it done,” and other words of excitement and encouragement.

Pierce has been such a great player for so many years yet has had nothing to show for his grit and efforts. Pierce’s teams have been disappointments, mostly because of the supporting cast. But instead of doing what others, including Bryant have done, Pierce stayed put. He asked management for help instead of for a trade or more money like so many others. Pierce is an example of what a professional athlete should be. He is a role model for kids, adults and other athletes. Enjoy your job, try to win and have fun while doing it. Pierce is accomplishing all those things right now and hopefully he and the Celtics can get that last victory Sunday in game 5.