Round 1: Loss

What a display of great baseball and pathetic baseball on the same stage. I know it isn't the end of the world, but the Sox did not look that good tonight. Everyone seemed a little off except for a few players. The top 3 of the lineup went a combined 0 for 12 with 4 Ks, Mueller went 0 for 3, and Bellhorn struck out 3 times and left 4 men on base. The Sox made 2 errors and had to use 7 pitchers.

For anyone who doesn't know, after every game, I reward a Man of the Game (MOTG) and a Bitch-Goat. The MOTG is simply the player on either the winning or losing team who stood out the most and had the best game. The Bitch-Goat is "rewarded" to players who contribute to the Sox losing. There is 1 Bitch-Goat point per game but it is divided into tenths. If I feel a player/manager/coach/umpire is partially responsible for a loss, they will get 0.1 or 0.2 B-G points. If a player is very responsible for a loss, I will give them 0.7 or 0.8 or even 1.0 B-G points. Both MOTG and B-G will be kept track of and at the end of the year, a Man of the Season will be determined and the biggest Bitch-Goat will be determined.

For this game, Hideki Matsui was the Man of the Game. His 2 run HR in the 8th sealed the victory for New York. His catch in the 2nd of a ball destined for the seats stopped the Sox from gaining any momentum and allowed Johnson to get into a groove. He went 3 for 5, scored 3 times, and knocked in 3 runs. He was a big part of the Yankees 3rd inning rally which was where they won the game, in my opinion.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
David Wells: 0.4 - couldn't throw strikes or pitch 5 innings
Blaine Neal: 0.2 - allowed the Yankees to build on their lead
Johnny Damon: 0.2 - Error, 0 for 4, K
Edgar Renteria: 0.1 - 0 for 4, K, 2 LOB
Manny Ramirez: 0.1 - 0 for 4, 2 K

The Sox play New York again as Carl Pavano goes against Matt the Missile Clement Tuesday night in the Bronx.

The Celtics are starting to slip into a troublesome area. If they don't shape up, they may lose the divisional lead. If this happens, they either won't make the playoffs or will come in as an 8 seed pitting them against Miami.

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.