Is the ESPN Insider worth the cost?

Just curious. I didn't know if anyone had tried it. Was considering it. Your humble but accurate opinions will sway me. Thanks in advance.

Yes, definitely. I review the stories in Insider every day.
Don't subscribe to the Insider via espn.com.
If you subscribe to ESPN The Magazine, you get the Insider subscription for free.
I think it was the same price or less expensive to subscribe to ESPN The Magazine and get the free Insider subscription then it was to subscribe just to Insider.

The "experts" there have been about as wrong as they can be. They are frontrunners and know very little about hoop. Clearly.

jeb,

I don't know if you are talking about the "experts" not forseeing this Celtics run, but I don't see how they could have picked the Celtics to dominate the playoffs like they have.

The url below is of Bob Ryan and some other guy named Gary on Globe 10.0 on 4/15 which was the day after the regular season ended. Not only were they not positive, Ryan was almost mocking the Celtics chances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqgF1jxxgHc&feature=channel

Tj

Ryan sure was and it is equally fun watchin him backpeddle. They were all in love with Bron cause they need a superstar for job security. They have been revealed as frontrunning chumps.

This is what I think. I really do not like espn and think they are a big part of what is wrong with sports and no part of what is right.

jeb,

Do you realy believe what you wrote?
Doesn't Ryan work for the Boston Globe and not ESPN?
ESPN or any of their employees don't need LeBron. Of course they talk about him because he is extremely popular.
It wasn't just ESPN, it was people from Boston (Bob Ryan) and analysts/reporters from all over the country who did not see Boston making this run.
Other then faith in your team, there was nothing that the Celtics showed in the last 3 1/2 months of the regular season to make a reasonable prediction/expectation of a Celtics title run.

It is great for the Celtics and you guys that they are making this run, but it isn't fair to call out people for thinking that Boston wouldn't get past Cleveland.

TJ and Jeb,

I confess. I didn't think we'd get past Cleveland either until the series was already underway and I could see how matchups were working.

I'm wrong again!! Yeah!!!!


bob

.

tj

the hell it isnt. They were throwing dirt on our grave and openly mocking us. They MAKE LaBron a guy who has done NOTHING popular.

yeah ryan works for the globe and many of us here commented on his lack of any faith.

It is cheap sound bite crap with zero substance if you like it as a source god bless but i think it is a giant garbage can.

Bob Ryan is an old has been,actually more of a never was IMHO.His comments are what any knowledgeable sports fan already knows,rarely has he ever given me any insight that I enjoyed or left any good impressions on me.Hes just old and stale,I enjoy reading Sam and bob hecklers comments much more.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Bob Ryan is an old has been,actually more of a never was IMHO.His comments are what any knowledgeable sports fan already knows,rarely has he ever given me any insight that I enjoyed or left any good impressions on me.Hes just old and stale,I enjoy reading Sam and bob hecklers comments much more.

Cow,

Your post made me realize that since this site has been up and running, I seldom, if ever, look to the Globe, Herald, BDC, ESPN or other sources for Celtics news as I get all I need here. That says a lot for all of you on here.

Now, can you hand me a towel please.

bobheckler wrote:TJ and Jeb,

I confess. I didn't think we'd get past Cleveland either until the series was already underway and I could see how matchups were working.

I'm wrong again!! Yeah!!!!

bob.

Bob, TJ and Jeb,

I'm right there with Bob. I thought Cleveland would take us in six; ditto Orlando. I'm still not sure we will take Orlando. Since it came up earlier in this thread I'll even go as far as to say most of the negativity toward James, and Bryant while we're at it, is misplaced. They're simply the two top talents and most popular players in the league right now. I can deal with it; it doesn't belittle my team to say so.

I'm an avid Celtics fan and an optimist, but I do call it like I see it.

Like Bob, this is one time I'm very happy to be proven wrong so far.

Now that I've been distracted twice while writing this post I have to ask what was this thread about and why am I answering this?

Oh yeah, Ryan, I think. He always comes across as negative; that's pretty much his style. Wow; the brain checked out on this one.

Regards

Edit: We were talking about ESPN insider? Oh. Never mind.

deano sorry if that towel distracted you......didn't Ryan call out some female athlete or players wife about something stupid and was diciplined,then brought back?

Cow,

I do remember something about that, but I'm not sure what the story was. I think you're right in that they gave him a little vacation without pay.

Regards

nycelt

Yours is a voice I respect. However, I call em as I see em too and i stick by my words.

peace.

jeb

cowens/oldschool wrote:deano sorry if that towel distracted you......didn't Ryan call out some female athlete or players wife about something stupid and was diciplined,then brought back?

I think he said something about Jason Kidd's wife needing to be smacked around.

jeb65 wrote:nycelt

Yours is a voice I respect. However, I call em as I see em too and i stick by my words.

peace.

jeb

jeb,

Likewise.

We're just trading opinions and having a good discussion. Any one of us can be proven right or wrong down the road, and it doesn't matter at all because everyone here is a fan.

The fact that you do stick by what you say is an admirable trait in my book, and is among the many reasons I enjoy talking hoop with you.

Regards

nycelt

It's always just opinion anyway aint it? We all see the world a tad different and thank god. Otherwise it would be drab and we'd all be eating vanilla.

I guess it just rang my chimes the way they were talking about the Celts even if the Celts were playin pretty bad. it seemed short sighted, mean and obsessed with youth and flash. There was a personal component to it that really rubbed me wrong.

with that being said it makes what we are managing to achieve that much sweeter. I bet they will think twice when they type up gravely early obituaries in the future and maybe they might learn something about team ball along the way.

Jeb

TJ,

You wrote, "Other then faith in your team, there was nothing that the Celtics showed in the last 3 1/2 months of the regular season to make a reasonable prediction/expectation of a Celtics title run."

I believe the inverse of those 3 1/1months was exactly the reason for at least having great hopes for the Celtics. What you omitted were the first two months of the season. During that time, the Celtics revealed their potential.

Once revealed, the potential was never revoked. But their ability to achieve it was stunted during the 3 1/2 months you mention. For two months, the team had pretty good continuity in its quest for chemistry (which it seriously needed to establish anew, especially, the arrival of Sheed and the return of KG). Even operating with a still subpar KG and without Baby, they showed rather dramatic potential through Christmas.

Then the constantly revolving door of injuries began. When I talk about injuries, many people think I'm whining about missing a given player's contributions. That's not the case. I'm saying that, when the lineup/rotation is changing almost game by game, a team with a strong need to develop chemistry is prevented from doing so. People talk about lack of energy and all that bull. I claim they became dispirited because they were trying their best to click together and it wasn't happening. The chemistry they had already developed that season couldn't be sustained.

But the potential was always there. Doc saw it. I don't know why so many others couldn't see it. After Christmas, Doc's task became not to panic and overplay veterans just to try to win more regular season games so as to hope that everyone would be together by April and that there would be enough time for the necessary synergy to emerge.

In April, one could see positive signs. But I remember saying I felt the process of coming together would have to continue beyond the regular season, and possibly well into the playoffs, because they certainly had not hit their stride by the last few games of the season (when, by the way, Doc made the very smart move of giving KG rest at critical times).

We have seen what has occurred since. Many people think of it as miraculous. Frankly, I think of it simply as capitalizing on potential (and very possibly still escalating the process as these games wear on).

When the media recently asked Doc to compare the current Celtics team with the 2007-08 championship team, he answered that the correct comparison was with the Celtics team that started this season. The team that had demonstrated all that potential. And he was exactly right.

Perhaps many people could be excused for not having had Doc's vision. Because, even the potential of the team didn't guarantee that they'd eventually come together so well. What was also needed was the willingness of the team members, even in the midst of the mediocrity of those 3 1/2 troublesome months, to take a leap of faith that it was still worth shooting for the moon.

I have absolutely no idea what combination of dynamics fueled that inspiration. But I believe that at least three key factors were involved to one degree or another (presented in no particular order):

• Doc's vision and insights into players' psyches and the keys to motivation

• The fact that a veteran team had a better chance than a younger team of being infused with an inherent appreciation of what perseverance can produce

• An urge for greatness that I believe transcends Celtics generations and instills an abnormally high achievement ethic in Celtics teams that have a realistic shot.

A while ago, I started a thread about the Celtics being different, in which I said many of these same things. With due respect to other great teams, I believe the Celtics are unique in their achievement ethic, once they get a sniff of the roses. I feel it truly is an inherited trait. And it derives from the fact that all the Celtics and most of their fan base care about is championships. They (we) couldn't care less for second place finishes.

Over the years, the Celtics have had a legitimate sniff of the championship only 20 times. But, once they've gotten that sniff, they've batted .850 and were a sprained ankle away from .900.

I don't believe in predicting the future based on the distant past. But I do believe in traditions and ethos being passed from generation to generation.

And that, I feel, is the essence of what people who are not intimate with the Celtics have never quite understood about the franchise. That is why those people apply ordinary criteria to an extraordinary phenomenon called The Boston Celtics.

Go Celtics!

Sam

I probably should have just asked for a vote! Thanks guys. I just see the Insider teaser headlines on the ESPN site and wondered if the stories were as compelling as the teaser. I'll still consider subscribing to ESPN the Mag with free Insider. Thanks tj and all! Again, Celtics by 20 tonight. had chances in both the first two games to win by that margin. Three's the charm.

Sam

Really glad you were right and most experts and fans were wrong.....I was rooting for us obviously,but had no idea we'd be in midst of 5 game winning streak against the two bully boy teams of the East.Who knew KG had it in him to be playing this well?that turnaround he hit over Howard to put us up 1 was HUGE.Credit to all the trainers,players and coaches for believing and turning it around,boy has this run been great for my kids!!!!!and its not over.

deano

Bet your glad as I am that your not a good predictor,predict Lakers in 6 for me.

cow

I was really encouraged by the Miami series and I thought we hadda good chance against Cleve because I felt they hadnt SHOWN anything but I am dumbfounded bby what we did in first two games against magic...I thought the Magic were the best team left.