First Yankee Game

Is it me, or does this upcoming game against New York not feel the same as it used to? I would always look forward to the 1st Yankee game about the same as I looked forward to Opening Day. This year, it seems like another game to me. Maybe this atitude will change once the game starts and I hear all those New Yorkers chant stuff about having 11 more rings or some other shit.

Batting Order Change

With the end of Spring Training drawing near, Francona has begun to adjust the batting order to represent real games instead of just putting people places where they will get a certain amount of at-bats. At the beginning of spring training, Edgar Renteria was slated to be the #2 hitter in the lineup (I still want Bellhorn, but hey, whatever). However, there's been a change. Trot Nixon was moved into the 2 hole the other day. This makes the lineup look like this:

1. CF Damon L
2. RF Nixon L
3. LF Ramirez R
4. DH Ortiz L
5. SS Renteria R
6. 1B Millar R
7. C Varitek S
8. 3B Mueller S
9. 2B Bellhorn S

Here's a few things I don't like about this order. There are too many lefties bunched together. Granted, Ramirez breaks them up, but a team could put in their situational lefty for an entire inning without really being worried. That's no good. Let's look at speed. Who are the fastest two players on the team? Damon and Renteria. But Damon will have Bellhorn in front of him and Renteria will have Ortiz in front of them. These guys aren't that fast. Why are all the switch hitters at the bottom of the order? Why is Renteria, a man whose career high in HRs is 16, batting in a power spot in front of Millar, who hits for power? Renteria is a singles hitter. How are his singles going to drive in Ortiz unless David is on third? It's silly, if you ask me. Renteria belongs at 1, 2, or 9 in the lineup. Definately not 5. Here is my proposed batting order:

1 CF Damon L
2 2B Bellhorn S
3 LF Ramirez R
4 DH Ortiz L
5 1B Millar R
6 RF Nixon L
7 C Varitek S
8 3B Mueller S
9 SS Renteria R

Notice how not a single lefty bats after another lefty. Notice how Renteria and Damon won't be held up by slow players. Notice that by batting 9th, Renteria will become like a 2nd leadoff man, getting in scoring position in front of RBI guys like Bellhorn, Ramirez, Ortiz, Millar, and Nixon. The middle of the lineup needs to be powerful with guys who hit for extra bases.

Hockey at Fenway?
The Red Sox are starting to get desperate for revenues. I think the appeal of skating at Fenway would die down because when you're inside Fenway on the field, you can't really see the city at all except for the Pru. Then again, this will get the Save Fenway morons all excited. I think this idea is riddled with flaws though. There's way too much that can go wrong and very little that can go right. I think it would be a better idea to have high school or college football games or even soccer games at Fenway as opposed to hockey games. I also think the Red Sox should save all the capital they have in an effort to build a new ballpark but that would be too easy I guess.

Schilling to start Pawtucket's Opening Day
April 7th in Indianapolis against the Indianapolis Indians. If all goes well, the earliest he could start would be April 13th against the Yankees, the first game 5 or more days after the 7th. Before this AAA start, he will pitch in 2 minor league Spring Training games. I didn't see his alst start against the Twins but I saw highlights at the casino (won $150 in Hold Em) and he didn't seem like he was pushing off smoothely. I'm worried that he might be coming back too soon. As great as it would be to see him pitching in April, I'd much rather see him pitching in October.

UNH lost to Denver in the Regional Finals yesterday. Cornell lasted until overtime against Minnesota but fell 2-1. There are now no teams east of the Mississippi in the tournament and I've suddenly lost alot of interest in it. I was hoping for Cornell because if they won it all, the party here in Ithaca, NY would be SICK. Oh well.

BREAKING NEWS: BC CHOKES

6-3 loss to North Dakota in Worcester in the East Regional Final. BC Athletics do not fail to choke under pressure and on the verge of greatness. The #1 ranked team in the tournament loses to a team ranked 10th and 11th by the two college hockey ranking polls. BC beat North Dakota 5-3 in October. The Eagles were 11-3-3 against tournament teams this season and of course, they lose to North fucking Dakota.

Denver beat Bemidji State 4-3 in OT. Minnesota beat Maine 1-0 in a great OT game. UNH is the lone Hockey East/New England survivor after beating Harvard 3-2 in OT. Colorodo College came back to beat Michigan in Grand Rapids 4-3. Cornell upset Ohio State 3-2.

North Dakote will play the winner of the Cornell/Minnesota game being played tomorrow. Colorodo College will play the winner of UNH and Denver.


The Celtics dropped their 3rd straight, this time to Detroit in Auburn, MI in OT. They really need to get back to winning games in order to cruise into the playoffs and get some games at The Garden.

7 Days, 19 Hours, 53 Minutes until Opening Day in the Bronx.

Hyzdu Traded for Neal

MLB.com Story
Adam Hyzdu is probably best remembered by Sox fans as the answer to the question "Whos is that guy in the Sox dugout that Fox keeps showing during the playoffs?"

Blaine Neal is a 28 year old righthander who made 40 appearances last year with the Padres. He had an ERA of 4.07. He had a very good K/BB ratio of 36 to 11 (about 3.3 to 1). I think he'll be a decent addition at the end of the bullpen or down in Pawtucket in case someone gets hurt.

With the 4 man rotation the Sox look to be going with for the first 2 weeks of the season, the bullpen might look like this:

CP Keith Foulke
RP Mike Timlin
RP Alan Embree
RP John Halama
RP Blaine Neal
RP Matt Mantei
RP BH Kim

The Celtics have lost 2 straight to poor teams, the Knicks and the Bulls. They're still in good shape to win the division but they need to have a better record than the 6 seed if they want home court advantage in the 1st round.

BC barely beat Mercyhurst in the 1st round of the NCAA Hockey Tournament, 5-4. BU lost to North Dakota 4-0. Colorodo College beat Colgate 6-5. Michigan beat Wisconsin 4-1. My bracket for the other tournament is officially fucked.

Virtually Pissed in a Virtual Waiting Room

I'm a member of Red Sox Nation's online thingy with the Red Sox. They say I can enter for an exclusive opportunity to win a chance to buy Green Monster seats. So I enter and "win." Now I'm in a virtual waiting room. I know I'm not going to get Sox/Yanks tickets but I'd like to sit up in the Monster. I really think the Red Sox should develop a system like they have for European soccer teams. The more tickets you buy, the higher priority you are to get more tickets. It rewards loyal fans/customers. Or maybe they could just build a new stadium. Don't you think its a funny coincidence that every time they build new seats at Fenway, they're $50 to $300 a piece? I'm pretty sure they could build an overhang over the bleachers and sell those for $15 a pop and maybe more people could go to the games and more people could afford to go to games. As it is, it looks like the only Sox games I'm going to this year will be in Cooperstown, Baltimore, New York, Philly, and maybe Chicago.

Sox, Celtics, Eagles

David Wells will start opening day in Yankee Stadium. Schilling will start his first game since ankle surgery on Monday in a minor league game. He may miss 2 weeks and the team might go with a 4 man rotation until the 18th thanks to some off days.

Boston.com Story

Clement is slated to follow Wells after an off day, then Wakefield and then Arroyo. Wells and Clement will finish off the Toronto series and Wakefield will pitch opening day at Fenway. Of course, a rainout here or there will alter things but because the Sox are playing divisional opponents they probably won't schedule any doubleheaders.

The rotation looks to be the same as I said it should be with 2 changes. Wake and Arroyo have been switched and Halama is left out altogether. I guess I didn't think of a 4 man rotation because I was so used to Pedro needing extra days here and there in order to stay healthy throughout the season.

The Sox have been busy with transactions lately, assigning people to their minor league affiliates. The following players were optioned to AAA Pawtucket:

P Abe Alvarez
IF Alejandro Machado
C Kelly Shopach

The following players were optioned to AA Portland:

P Chris Smith
IF Hanley Ramirez

The following players were optioned to A Wilmington:

P Manny Delcarmen
P Anibel Sanchez
P Luis Mendoza
P Juan Cedeno

The following players were assigned to minor league camp:

IF Kenny Perez
OF Chip Ambres
P Denny Tomori
P Kris Wilson
IF Dave Berg
IF/OF Simon Pond

The Sox got crushed by the Orioles today.

The Celtics beat the Hornets in New Orleans. They've won 7 straight and 11 of 12.

BIG CHOKERS

So Boston College gets a break with #5 Alabama being upset by #12 UW-Milwaukee. BC starts the game going up 11-0. I'm thinking, it's in the bag, they'll move on to the regional semi-final with ease. Nope. Boston College likes to do this. They like to get the spotlight of Boston sports fans on them and then shrivel up and die. Their football team was on the verge of a Big East championship and a bid to a BCS Bowl. All they had to do was beat lowly Syracuse in Boston. What do they do? Get blown out. The hockey team is ranked #1 in the country and probably the most emotionally important game of the season, a Beanpot game against BU, they lose. The basketball team starts the season 20-0, then loses to Notre Dame, Villanova, and Pitt down the stretch. The Big East doesn't give BC a trophy so in order to prove that they deserved one, they need to do some damage in the Big East tournament. What do they do? Come out flat and lose to West Virginia, a team they beat by double digits twice during the season. They have an opportunity to prove themselves once again in the NCAA tourney and what do they do? Lose to a Horizon League team.

BC Hockey won the Hockey East tournament over UNH. BC, BU, Maine, Harvard, and UNH all got berths in the NCAA tournament. BC will play Mercyhurst in Worcester. BU will play North Dakota in Worcester. UNH will play Harvard in Amherst, MA. In order for BC or BU to win the championship they will probably have to go through Cornell, Minnesota, or Maine and then probably Denver or Colorodo College.

Worcester=Upset City

I hate Syracuse. There are alot of people up near my school that are Cuse fans and it sickens me. Anyone who has ever been to this part of the country knows how pathetic Syracuse fans are. They think they have a top football and basketball program. Granted, they've had alot of succes and have produced alot of quality players in both sports, but they aren't on the same level as the Oklahomas or Floridas of the world. They just aren't. That's why the ACC didn't invite them.

I also picked Bucknell to upset KU because I really didn't think Kansas was all that good. Coming down the stretch, they were absolutely terrible. I can't beleive they got a #3 seed and a game in Oklahoma City and BC got a 4 seed and games in Cleveland. KU was 3-5 over their last 8. Bucknell was a prime upset candidate team too. They beat Holy Cross in Worcester to win the Patriot League and that isn't easy to do. They also beat Pitt in Pittsburgh, that is flat out hard to do.

I picked alot of 1st round games wrong but none of my elite 8 teams are eliminated and only 1 of my sweet 16 teams is gone (LSU).

Green With Envy?
Apparently other baseball teams besides the Red Sox were sporting green on St. Patty's Day. I have my doubts that the Mets or Cards or Phillies are trying to represent their Irish communities, I think they're just trying to sell merchandise. Granted, the Red Sox sell alot of green shirts and hats, but they were wearing the green hats before they sold them to fans.

Celtics Still Rolling
This last win against Houston was very impressive. The Rockets are a good Western team that normally manhandles us but we did that to them. 10-1 with 'Twan and a game tonight against the hapless Hornets.

St Patrick's Day!!!

Name me any other holiday in which people wish they were a certain race. Happy St. Patrick's Day.

The Celtics won again 110-109 over Toronto.

Some Links

Just a few links I've added to the site recently.

Boston Sports Media Watch
This site does a pretty good job of keeping tabs on the Boston sports media which is a difficult task considering the size of it.

Friendly Fenway
A pretty solid and regularly updated Red Sox blog.

Mark Bellhorn.net
A web-site devoted to the underrated and under appreciated Mark Bellhorn.

Red Sox Wire
This is a great site for obsessed Red Sox fans who can't get enough info on the team. Every day this site features links for everything going on in the Nation from redsox.com, newspapers, and lowly blogs.

Sox fan in Connecticutt
That's not the title of the blog but Connecticutt is easily abbreviated to fit neatly into my links section. This unfortunate Sox fan is in the disputed territory of Connecticutt. I know how you feel buddy. Ithaca College is definately an outpost of Red Sox Nation but there are alot of insurgent Yankee fans.

Dressed to the Nines
I found this site via the previous site and it's really cool. You can look at team uniforms throughout the years. Any team, any year. They even have most of the Federal League's uniforms.

Sports-Blogs
This site was kind enough to include Blood Sox among its vast list of blogs so I'm returning the favor and linking to them. It's a pretty comprehensive site and if you wanna know random stuff like how Mariners fans feel about their bullpen, this site is perfect.

Between the Lines
My friend Ben has a column on this site and it is pretty solid. He's a Cubs fan though but its still good to get a non Boston/NY opinion once and awhile.

Coast to Coast Tickets
I got an e-mail from this site asking about a link exchange. I checked it out and it seems like a good place to find tickets which will be a necesity if any Sox fan actually wants to go to a game this year. I'll have to give them a shot and buy some tickets during the season.


Is there any stopping the Celtics? 8-1 with Walker back and a 4 game lead over Philly.

The Hockey East semi-final field was set when BU downed PC 2-0. Maine will face off against Boston College and Boston University will play UNH. Both games will be on Friday at the Fleet Center. The winners will play for the Hockey East Championship on Saturday.

The Red Sox cannot buy a win in spring training. Let's hope they get sick of losing come April.

Nicknames: Position Players, BC, Celtics

Now it is time to give the position players nicknames. Some of these are old, some are new.

Doug "The Grand Baron" Mirabelli
The best backup catcher in baseball deserves a grand nickname. Going along the same theme as Varitek's nickname (that's coming up) Doug has been given a noble title of distinction. Furthermore, because he has hit a few Grand Slams, he is the GRAND Baron.

Kelly "Insurance" Shoppach
All throughout the offseason while Varitek and Mirabelli's fates were unknown, the end of every sentence dealing with these guys was "well, we got Shoppach in Pawtucket."

Jason "The Count" Varitek or Captain Tek
This guy just looks like a Count. He's big and somewhat scary. Captain Tek is somewhat obvious. He is the captain of the Red Sox.

Mark "Rodney Dangerfield" Bellhorn
Much like Rodney, Mark gets absolutely NO respect in this market. All the stupid Pokey Reese fans who are already overrated Edgar Renteria (who I like by the way, I even bought a Renteria t-shirt today, but I think people are overrating him a la Pokey Reese) are saying Renteria should bat 2nd, not Bellhorn. Mark was part of the reason why the Sox were such an offensive machine last season, and you don't fix stuff that isn't broke.

Kevin "Moose" Millar or The High Life
Moose is a classic from when I first did this on the old blog. The High Life is pretty obvious. I think Millar is a High Life man.

Johnny "The Evangelist" Damon
This is an ode to an old time player who stole aobut 80 bases a year without getting caught. I forget his exact name and will try to find it on Baseball-Reference.com.

The Glove (Jay Payton)
Homage to Gary Payton of the soon to be world champion Celtics.

Manny "Lunchbox" Ramirez
This was a suggestion last year. I think it fits.

David "Crusher" Ortiz
We all know he is Big Papi, but DO is also the Crusher. This goes back to one day in 2003 before the Sox played the Yankees at Fenway. I was sitting on the dugout during BP as Big Papi came out. I yelled at him "David, you're gonna crush em!" He grinned and replied "Oh yeah." One of the best moments of my life.

I still need nicknames for Alejandro Machado, Bill Mueller, Hanley Ramirez, Edgar Renteria, Ramon Vazquez, Kevin Youkilis, Adam Hyzdu, Trot Nixon, and Adam Stern so leave a comment or e-mail me. Next time, I'll give some of the Yankees nicknames.

Boston College got a 4 seed and will be playing Ivy League champion Penn in the 1st round. Then they have the winner of the Alabama/UW-Milwaulkee game. Then they will probably have Illinois if they mnake it to the 3rd round. I don't have BC going very far in my bracket.

The only other New England teams in the tourney are UConn and Vermont. I fucking hate UConn and I would be very happy to see UVM beat the Cuse in the 1st round.

The Celtics are flying as high as I've ever seen them. They beat the Wizards 105-101 the other night. They play the hapless Bobcats tonight in Charlotte.

Nicknames: Pitchers

It's that time of year again. Time to come up with new nicknames for the new players, new ones for old players, and to remind people of the old nicknames. In the past 2 years, my nicknames have usually been negative because we were losers the year before. This year, however, I think they'll be a good amount of positive ones with a few negatives thrown in. For now, I'm just doing the pitchers, I'll do the position players next time.

Honest Abe Alvarez
Duh, allusion to Abe Lincoln, 16th president. I don't expect Alvarez to reuinte any countries but it would be nice if he could excel at AAA Pawtucket

Bronson No Cornrowyo
I miss the cornrows

Matt the Missile Clement
His name is kind of like Clemens's and Roger was the Rocket so why can't Matt be the Missile?

Manny Numero Dos (Manny Delcarmen)
I doubt Delcarmen will ever be referred to by his first name in this organization for a few years at least. Another possiiblity would be Manny II, or El otro Manny.

Lenny DinATO
Lenny is a member of my friend's frat (Alpha Tau Omega) and people often forget to pronounce the "r" in his name and turn the "d" into a "t" sound.

Lefty Embree
If you need help with this one, you probably don't watch much baseball. It's not original but he's the best lefthanded reliever on the team.

Keith "Beat the Traffic" Foulke
When he comes in, you can probably feel safe to leave the ballpark to beat the traffic because the game is most likely over.

John Halamanamalamana
Anyone who listens to WEEI's Big Show knows that Pete Shepherd has trouble pronouncing names and John Halama was no exception.

McCoy Stadium Kim
The only time BH Kim is going to see Fenway this year is if he buys tickets on a Paw Sox of day.

Sleepy Mark Malaska
Anyone who has seen Eight Men Out knows who Sleepy Bill Burns was and if you don't know, he was a mediocre pitcher whose biggest claim to fame was being involved in the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Mark Malaska just screams mediocrity and that leads to sleepiness, hence the name.

The Only Martinez (Anastacio Martinez)
Since Pedro left, Anastacio is the closest thing we have to him. We should get Ramon Martinez to be a coach or something.

Luis "Thank God it isn't Ramiro" Mendoza
The name says it all. Thank God the embedded Yankee is gone. And guess who signed Ramiro to a minor league deal? The New York Yankees. Hmmmmmmmmm. Interesting.

Christ Schilling
I don't beleive in God, but I do beleive in Curt Schilling. The man came to Boston and went through alot of suffering to deliver us from the Curse. And now, a short prayer to Curt:

Our pitcher, who lives in Dover.
Hallowed be thy arm
Thy fastball come
Thy will be done
In Fenway as it is on the road
Give us a win, our daily bread
And inform the police of drunk drivers
As we inform the police of drunk drivers
And lead us not into last place
But deliver us from Steinbrenner.
Amen.

Knuckles Wakefield
Knuckles sounds like a tough guy's nickname which is why I picked it. for its irony. This isn't to say Wakefield isn't tough, but he's not the type of guy who would have a name like knuckles unless he threw alot of knuckleballs.

Babe Wells
A fat, beer guzzling, hot dog eating, loudmouth lefthanded pitcher on the Red Sox? Why the hell not. We won 3 World Series with Ruth.

That does it for the pitchers. I still need nicknames for Tim Bausher, Juan Cedeno, Matt Mantei, Wade Miller, Anibel Sanchez, Chris Smith, and Mike Timlin. I also welcome suggestions for players who already have a nickname. E-mail me at rawbeezeitz@yahoo.com

The Sox lost to the D-Rays 6-4.

The Arsenal beat Bolton 1-0 to advance to the FA Cup Semifinal.

Making a Statement

Detroit Pistons 113
Boston Celtics 115 - 2OT

Paul Pierce came out tonight and along with his teammates, made a statement to the National Basketball Association. The Celtics are contenders again. The Truth had 38 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block. The block was on the last shot of the game which could have won it for Detroit had Pierce not gotten a finger tip on it. The Celtics could have lost this game at several points and missed a few opportunities to win it, but they stayed strong and came out on top.

In other news, David Patten was let go by the Patriots and they picked up speedy WR Tim Dwight. The Sox lost to the Blue Jays 7-3 which puts their records at 6-4, 4-4, and 2-1. Holy Cross lost to Bucknell in the Patriot League final. They pulled a BC and had a shitty 1st half then nearly came back only to lose.

UNH advanced to the Hockey East Semifinals with a 4-0 win over Northeastern. Providence College upset BU 4-1. Top seed Boston College needed overtime to beat UMass 3-2. Maine crushed UMass-Lowell 7-2. BU, UMass, and UMass-Lowell need to win tomorrow night in order to stay alive in the Hockey East tournament.

Apparently Kevin Millar is going to be appearing on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I'm not a huge fan of the show but I'll probably watch this episode.

Story

Rotation Possibilities

Last season it was pretty clear who was going to be in the starting rotation. The only question was what order would they pitch. This year, however, things are much different. With injuries, free agency losses and several new players on the team, Francona has alot of options as to who he'll put in the rotation.

Obviously Schilling will be in when he is healthy, but when will that be? Personally, I think the Sox should hold back Schilling at least until May. I think trying to start him too early may hurt his ability to pitch effectively over the course of the season and with the cold weather in April, the chances of aggravating his injury are increased.

After Schilling, there are 8 men on the 40 man roster who can potentially be a starter. Miller will be out for a while though, Alvarez is still a kid, and Kim will be lucky to get out of Pawtucket. So that leaves 5 men to fill 4 slots when Schilling gets back. There's Arroyo, Halama, Wells, Clement, and Wakefield. It's pretty obvious who the odd man out is. It's gotta be Halama. But I do think he could start the season as a #5 starting pitcher until Curt gets back. Here is how I think the rotation should look like once the season starts:

1. Wells
2. Clement
3. Arroyo
4. Wakefield
5. Halama

However, it appears as though Francona is looking at his staff from a bullpen perspective. He is thinking about moving Arroyo to the pen when Schilling and Miller return. This might make sense but I think Francona should keep his plans to himself. No-one knows what the situation will be when and if Schilling and Miller are both healthy. Perhaps another pitcher will have an injury or maybe Arroyo will be pitching very well. It is good to have options though.

Arroyo was the losing pitcher yesterday as the Sox lost to the Dodgers 2-1. The Sox now fall to 6-3 in spring training, 4-3 in the GL, 2-1 in the MC. They play the Blue Jays today.

The Patriots resigned lineman Stephen Neal but have recently let Troy Brown, and Ty Law go. Apparently Belicheck will be handling offensive coordinator duties next season with Eric Mangini handling defensive coordinator. The guy's won 3 Super Bowls in 4 years, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this is the right move to make.

Last night UNH opened the Hockey East tournament with a 6-1 thrashing of Northeastern. They play again tonight. BC plays UMass, PC plays BU, and UMass-Lowell plays Maine.

Wake Up Call

WVU Mountaineers 78
#7 BC Eagles 72

Boston College threw out any chance at a 1, 2 seed and now a 3 would be unlikely. BC threw out playing the first two games of the tournament in nearby Worcester and will now be playing in Boise, or Tuscon, most likely. They played like absolute shit in the 1st half and although they came back in the 2nd half, they still were making big mistakes. They were down 44-22 at halftime and got it within 4 points in the 2nd half but they just didn't have the energy to take the lead. This seems to be a trend at BC. They were on the verge of capturing a Big East title in football and all they had to do was beat lowly Syracuse in Chestnut Hill and they got blown out. They beat WVU with ease twice this season but when it mattered most, they fell. They started the season 20-0 and finished it 4-4 with losses to Villanova, Pitt, Notre Dame, and West Virginia. They don't look like a team ready to do damage in the tournament but maybe, just maybe, this game was a wakeup call for them.

Celtics to Subpoenas

I probably mispelled subpoena but hey who cares.


It is actually fun to watch NBA basketball again and I think alot of it has to do with the return of this man. At first I was worried that we'd go back to the 3 point taking and missing shoot or miss team we were a few years ago but Walker seems to have more energy and that seems to have rubbed off on the team. With Walker, Pierce, and Davis, we have 3 really good players to take alot of our shots. I can't wait to see how this team does in the playoffs. I don't think we'll win the conference but we might be a factor.

Congress subpeonas ballplayers
There are two names that stand out on this list and the lack of one causes notice. Curt Schilling and Frank Thomas do not have much of a history of being accused of steroid use. I think their presence is simply because they've been around and know who might be doing what. Schilling is a very outspoken person and even publicly stated that he beleived Bonds was on HGH. However, Bonds didn't get subpoened by Congress. Neither did Gary Sheffield.

The Red Sox beat the Twins 7-4 and were rained out today. They're 6-2 in Spring Training, 4-2 in the Grapefruit League, and 2-1 in the Mayor's Cup.

West Virginia beat Providence in the 1st round of the Big East Tournament. They'll play the BC Eagles Thursday. BC beat the Mountaineers twice this season. They beat them 73-53 in Morgantown, WV and won 62-50 in Chestnut Hill. There is no reason for BC not to advance.

By the way, it doesn't really matter, but it is bullshit that UConn was presented with a Big East trophy and BC wasn't. BC had a better overrall record and beat UConn in Hartford. The Big East is obviously pissed at Boston College for leaving for the ACC. BC has never been the focus of the Big East behind Syracuse and UConn in basketball and Miami and Virginia Tech in football. Why the hell should it be loyal to a conference that is collapsing and never really featured BC to begin with? This screw job will only make a Big East tourney win even better.

Holy Cross was the first New England team into the NCAA tournament after winning another Patriot League title. Every year it seems as though HC almost has a huge upset but every year they fall short. One of these years, they'll be the first 16 seed to beat a 1 seed.

Some Bullshit

Tim at Bullshit Memorial Stadium had a great quote on his site:

Let the Yankees have this one. We win the important games- in October

We've all heard Yankee fans say this whenever we won the early series in April and May and we've never really had a response to it. Now we do, which is awsome.

For those of you who don't know, Boston Dirt Dogs is perhaps the most well-known of the Red Sox blogs. It is so well-known that the Boston Globe sponsors it. I've posted on stuff like this on my previous blog but I'll talk about it again. People need to realize that their blogs are not media outlets. If you want to be a media outlet, you have to be serious and unbiased, or at least attempt to be. Blogs are a way of expressing opinions. No-one goes to my site looking for how the Red Sox did. They can go to a real media outlet's site for that. People want to read my opinions on the Sox. I don't know why but seemingly some people do. Anyway, here's the story.

Here's the latest Dirt Dogs story to be completely made-up: Nomar doesn't want World Series ring. It's a typical Dirt Dogs article. A funny headline with a large picture. The "article" itself is ridiculous. First of all, the Mesa, AZ part is not accurate because the story wasn't filed in Arizona, it was filed wherever the Dirt Dogs are. That part is supposed to make it look like a real newspaper article. This "Jessica" isn't a correspondant. She apparently e-mailed the Dirt Dogs. Now, I don't get too many e-mails with suggestions for the site but I often get e-mails about dirty secretaries who want to sleep with me tonight. Do I post that crap? No, because it isn't true and if it is, I can't verify it. The Dirt Dogs go on to say they were the lone internet voice of support for the Nomar trade. WOW! Now, I wasn't posting when the trade went down, but I did support the trade, very much. My first post since the trade went like this:

The Sox are rolling though. They're 24-8 without Nomar. I think the deals made really gave this team a winning character.

My archives

Boston Sports Media Watch has an article on the whole affair. Here's the link. A key paragraph is this one:

BSMW has learned in the last 24 hours that the original email was a hoax, and that the warning came from the same person who sent the original email. It was done on purpose by the person to see what Silva would do with the information. Copies of all emails from the exchange (with internet headers intact) are now in my possession. (note: BSMW had nothing to do with the original emails, we learned about all this after the fact

I think the worst part of this story is the willingness of other media outlets to run with the story even thouugh their sole source is a biased blog whose sole source is a semi-anonymous e-mail. What the hell happened to responsible journalism? Checking your own facts, et cetera. I guess CN8, ESPN, and The Globe are past responsible journalism and are more interested in sensationalistic journalism.

Oh yeah, Boston Dirt Dogs, it isn't news when you have a headline about Mark Bellhorn's strikeouts. That stuff belongs in box scores. Photoshops are cute but the only time I've ever seen them printed in real newspapers is when the media outlet is trying to fake a story. They usually get heavily criticised once they get discovered. If BostonDirtDogs.com were a newspaper, it would be more childish and graphically orientated than the USA Today, and that's saying alot.

Wang Comes Up Big for Yanks

There are way too many jokes in my head right now. This game really wasn't all that special. I can't beleive people paid $1,500 to see Abe Alvarez face Wang. The Yankees didn't evne have their full team as they played a split squad game earlier in the day against Tampa. The Sox fall to 5-2 in spring training with a 3-2 record in the Grapefruit League. They're still 1-1 in the Mayor's Cup.

I really don't like the idea of Edgar Renteria batting 2nd as opposed to Mark Bellhorn. Bellhorn produced most of the season until he got injured. He put up his best career numbers and meanwhile, the players around him put up career numbers. Manny and Ortiz produced better than almost every other tandem of hitters in the history of baseball. Damon had an amazing year. I know Renteria is faster which means he can steal a few bases but he only took 17 last year as opposed to Bellhorn's 6. I don't think 11 extra bases (plus 10 more times getting caught) is worth taking out Bellhorn's prowess to get on base. The job of the 1 and 2 hitters in this lineup is to get on base for Manny and Ortiz who are capable of knocking them in from any base. I honestly don't think Renteria's ability to take 2nd base a few times (and get caught doing so a few times) is going to make up for his lack of on base percentage compared to Bellhorn.

Miscellaneous Stuff

The Red Sox beat the Phillies today 5-4. Tomorrow they play the New York Yankees at City of Palms Park. The Sox are now 5-1 in Spring Training, 3-1 in the Grapefruit League and 1-1 against Minnesota for the Ft. Myers Mayor's Cup.

The Hockey East tournament begins Thursday night. 6th seeded Northeastern goes to #3 seed New Hampshire to begin their best of 3 series. On Friday night #2 BU hosts #7 Providence, #1 BC hosts #8 UMass, #4 Maine hosts #5 UMass-Lowell, and #3 UNH hosts #6 Northeastern.

Boston College not only won Hockey East's regular season, but they won the Big East basketball regular season. They earned a #1 seed in the Big East tournament which begins Wednesday at Madison Square Garden when 9th seeded Providence plays 8th seeded West Virginia. On the same day, #7 Georgetown will play #10 Seton Hall and #6 Notre Dame will play #11 Rutgers. BC will play the winner of the Providence/West Virginia game on Thursday. Villanova, UConn, Syracuse, and Pitt also received byes. If Boston College wins the tournament convincingly, they will have a good shot at getting a 2 seed and if some other teams have poor conference tournaments, they might even get a 1 seed.

Right now I think the 4 #1 seeds should be Illinois even though they lost to Ohio State, North Carolina, Wake Forest, and then either Kentucky or Boston College. Both UK and BC have few quality wins and have some losses to unranked teams. I think if UK has a poor SEC tournament and BC makes the Big East finals or wins, BC deserves the 1 seed.

The Celtics lost to Kevin McHale's T-Wolves tonight but since they got Antoine Walker back, they are 4-1. Furthermore, they got Gary Payton back. They basically traded nothing for Antoine Walker. It is the first really good move Ainge has made. The young players look pretty good too. With the additional draft picks the Celtics have amassed, they have the potential to build a solid championship contender in the next few years.

-BFKAP

Early Spring Training

I watched the first game of spring training the other day thanks to MLB.TV broadcasting it online for free. It was nice to see the champions. That's the only way to describe it. It was nice.

The Red Sox began the 2005 spring training season with a 4-3 victory over their crosstown rivals, the Minnesota Twins. The Sox then crushed the Northeastern Huskies 17-0 and beat the BC Eagles 11-5 later that night. Saturday the Sox lost to the Twins 12-7. But they also beat the Reds 8-7. On Sunday, the Red Sox host the Phillies.

Red Sox Records
Spring Training: 4-1
Grapefruit League: 2-1
Mayor's Cup: 1-1

New Season, New Blog

The era of Pedro Martinez has passed. Although I still like Pedro, he is a Met now. Thankfully he is not a Yankee and thankfully, the Sox will not have to face him apart from spring training, interleague play, and maybe even the World Series. I am no longer the PEDROphile. I am the Blogger Formerly Known As PEDROphile. (BFKAP for short)

The last time the Red Sox were champions, there was no such thing as spring training. Only white players were allowed to play. Most games were deseminated via telegraph. There was no system of minor leagues. Games were often called due to darkness. In the 86 years it took the Red Sox to reclaim the World Series trophy, baseball has completely modernized. Spring training is a huge part of preparing for the season. Players of all races contribute to the game. One can watch a game over the internet or listen to one on satelite radio. There are dozens of minor league teams. Games can be played all night long.

Every time I thought about what it would be like to win a World Series, I never ever considered what my feelings would be toward the next season. Would I be as anticapitory as I normally was? I guess I am feeling a different type of anticipation. In years past, I have needed the season to start to get over the failure of the previous one. This time, I WANT the season to begin because I want to take the same ride again.
-BFKAP