The Sports Weekender

Big Baby grows up and grows up and grows up, the Jaguars are ready to rumble, and Roger Clemens speaks in a language only he can understand in this edition of the Sports Weekender

As you all know, we love Big Baby Glen Davis. We fell hard for the portly second-rounder and his whimsical diary entries in the Herald, but we also knew that there was more to Big Baby than a quip and a smile. It’s odd that current Bull malcontent Tyrus Thomas became the scout’s meow after LSU’s improbable Final Four run in 2006, because Big Baby was clearly the best player on that team.

Not blessed with Thomas’ otherworldly athletic gifts, Big Baby nonetheless had serious basketball skill. The only question was, could he translate those talents as a vertically-challenged big man in the NBA. Well, you can ask the Pistons about that.

In what was the biggest game of the Celtics 2007-08 season thus far, it was Big Baby who took over in the fourth quarter, abusing Rasheed Wallace for 16 points Saturday night.

The C’s took some heat from Chauncey Billups after celebrating the win a bit too much, in the eyes of the veteran Piston. But, really now, how great was James Posey mocking the obnoxious Detroit PA guy?

Billups is no dummy. He knows the Pistons lost the battle, but he wanted to reclaim the psychological edge, which is all well and good. This Celtics season has been a benevolent gift from the basketball Gods, and while we can’t wait until April, we’re going to savor each of the steps along the way. If that’s OK with you Chauncey.

Meanwhile in Pittsburgh, the overrated Steelers were dumped by everyone’s favorite darkhorse, the Jacksonville Jaguars. The pundits love the Jags because they play ass-kicking defense, are one of the few teams with a great running game, and have a quarterback who makes few mistakes.

The Herald tries to make a go of it, as only the Herald can, by dredging up months-old quotes from Jaguar Paul Spicer about spygate. Really, ho-hum.

This will be very simple. If the Pats can stop the Jacksonville ground game, either by stuffing the run or by scoring a boatload of points early, it doesn’t seem like the Jaguars have too many other tricks up their sleeve. Of course, the Jaguars don’t mind talking too much either, and you can rest assured we will be there to chronicle every slight.

Finally, we have Roger Clemens’ appearance of 60 Minutes. Speaking in his own inimitable tongue that we all remember from his time as the greatest pitcher in the history of Red Sox (oh that never happened? Whew), Clemens declared his innocence to friend/questioner Mike Wallace. Quick aside: Is this the first time in history that someone requested Wallace for their 60 Minutes grilling?

Most were unimpressed by the Rocket’s denials, and now comes word that Clemens is suing former trainer Brian McNamee for defamation. This is odd. The two are scheduled to appear in front of Congress later this month where both will be under oath.

“We welcome a lawsuit. It makes our decision easy,” Richard Emery, one of McNamee’s lawyers, said earlier Sunday. “If he sued McNamee, it would make things very simple.”

Peter Gammons mentioned in our chat last week that if Clemens waged war with McNamee things could get really ugly, and that appears to be the direction this is heading. We’d say that we have no idea what the Rocket is thinking, but then we’ve never had much luck in that regard.