Thanks everybody and have a great season!

Also, just in case you were wondering...don't expect to see the Blue Stater decked out in any of this **** anytime soon. The Souvenir Store works fine for me, thank you very much.

It's become almost automatic for New England fans to dis Drew Bledsoe. Too stationary. Rattles too easily. Thin-skinned. While it may be the case that Bledsoe never was able to live up to his hype-although he fared far better than the other wunderkid in the draft that year, Notre Dame's Rick Mirer-all the snide talk has more than a little "what have you done for me lately," bandwagoner quality about it. A real fan, one who sat through every game of those miserable years between 1989-1992 (when the Pats went an overall 14-61 to be the laughingstock of the league) knows that's an unfair characterization. The young Bledsoe came into the league a model of consistency and accuracy, with a gun for an arm and the ability to thread a football through the eye of a needle when he needed to-his second year with the Pats he led the league in passing attempts, completions, and touchdowns. His best overall year with the Pats came in '97, with an 87.7 passer rating and went to his third Pro Bowl. It's also true he didn't age gracefully, and was never able to modify his game as his physical ability declined. Still, he retires seventh all-time in yards passing, 13th in touchdown passes and fifth in completions. So he must have done something right along the way.

My own personal fondest memory of Bledsoe will always be that 2001 AFC Championship Game against the Steelers. After losing his job to Tom Brady, and riding the bench in what must have been humiliating fashion that season, Bledsoe rose to the occasion and led New England to its' only offensive touchdown in a 24-17 upset. It was a nice final touch to what we all knew was likely his last game in a Pats' uniform.

So, good luck, Drew, and thanks for the memories. Hope to see you around the NFL very soon.

(In a related observation, the boobirds started coming out in earnest for Coco yesterday...he'd better find a way to turn himself around soon before he permanently alienates a significant portion of the fans, many of whom unfairly blame him for the Sox allowing Damon to walk.)

Oh, well, the nice thing about baseball is that it's played every day. A bad performance yesterday can be erased by a good one today.

Tim's on the mound. Given the Sox problems getting him run support, and what he witnessed yesterday, he must be a little trepidous about his chances today.

C'mon, Sox! Pick it up! Get Tim in the "W" column!

I've never travelled to the Far East, and know little about Japanese culture besides I love their cars (I drive a Subaru Legacy, the nicest car I've ever owned). So in honor of the historic meeting tonight, I've assembled my very own personal Top Ten Greatest Moments in Japanese Sports and Leisure:

10. The original "Shall We Dance?" was released in 1996. I saw it while on vacation in the Cape. Great movie. Far better than the Richard Gere version.

9. Samurai Bakery

8. in 1959, Sadaharu Oh joins the Japanese big leagues and over the course of 22 seasons becomes the world's all-time home run king, retiring in 1980 with a grand total of 868 big flys.

7. Toyota redesigned the Camry in 1992. Until then, it was a utilitarian vehicle, known more for function than style. After the '92 makeover, it became the rock star of family sedans.

6. The Hanishin Tigers in 1985 win their first and only Japan Series championship, thus initiating the Curse of Colonel Sanders.

5. George Steinbrenner, ever the picture of decorum, calls Hideki Irabu a "fat p*ssy toad." Stay classy, Boss!

4. Japan wins the World Baseball Classic, Dice-K named MVP, just a harbinger of things to come.

3.  Shizuka Arakawa wins a gold medal in figure skating in the 2006 Torino Olympics. Once every four years I care about figure skating, and she did a fabulous free skate that vaulted her past the two big favorites from the US and Russia. She had the best outfit on that night, too, as I recall. Blue sparkly thing.

2. Pedro Martinez gets Hideki Matsui to line out to right with the bases loaded and 2 out in the 6th inning of Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS, on his final pitch of the night, ending a Yankee threat to the Greatest Comeback in Baseball History.

1. Daisuke Matsuzaka makes his 2007 MLB debut in Kansas City, pitches brilliantly, goes on to win 20 games, ROY, the Cy Young and Game 7 of the World Series. Ok, I made that last bit up but in October I'll come back to this!

Go Dice-K, Go Sox!

So, welcome home, guys. I'll be sending good vibes to Josh Beckett to mow down the Mariners today, who are probably out of shape after being snowed out the last couple of games in Cleveland...kind of like the Portland Sea Dogs, who after four snow days finally got underway with an 8-6 win at Hadlock on Monday.

Go Sox! Let's start getting some big hits!

First, it's like thirty effin' degrees here. What the h*ll is that? It's April!

Secondly, MLB, take note: not one but two steroid abusers left the yard in a big way yesterday-Giambi for the Yanks, and then Sosa in the Sox game last night. Big moments made possible by baseball's cowardly refusal to take the steroid crisis seriously until Jose Canseco threw it in their faces and made denial no longer an option. Of course, to the fans of the teams these guys play on, nothing else matters as long as they produce...even to Yankee fans who were sending Giambi death threats not that long ago. I guess principle is measured at-bat to at-bat nowadays, eh, guys? Not that that's any different than it ever has been. Whatever.

Jason Varitek and Coco look awful at the plate so far this year. 

Then they switch today's game from 2p to 8p, just to accommodate ESPN. That means I've got to listen to Morgan tonight. I will for a couple of innings, until I can't stand it anymore. Then I'll turn the sound down.

The whole thing p*sses me off.

Oh, and happy Easter to all who celebrate it.

For the third straight day, the Portland Sea Dogs, AA affiliate of the Red Sox, were postponed due to snow and wet field conditions. For those of you "from away," we were socked with a spring snowstorm Wednesday and Thursday, blanketing the Portland area in over a foot of snow in some spots. We have to hand it to our grounds crew though-they've been out there 'round the clock   shoveling and hauling, and HOPEFULLY the season opener will be held tomorrow at 1pm. Lest anyone forget, the Sea Dogs are also the reigning Eastern League champs, and the championship ring ceremony will be held right before the game.

Let's go Sea Dogs! Here's to another championship caliber season!

(photos lifted from http://www.portlandseadogs.com/)

I've always liked Andy Pettitte (really, I have), but I think for Yank fans to pin their hopes that he will return to c.2000 form is...well...misguided. He's older, has some chronic injury problems now, and has probably gotten used to the less challenging demands of the NL, where he posted a career best 2.39 ERA in 2005. Don't look for that this year, IMO. I said that when I heard they were bringing him back.

As Thomas P. Wolfe noted, you can't go home again.

And that's good news for us Sox fans!

1. What's the matter with you people in KC? Only ten thousand of you show up for the major league debut of the next Cy Young? Man, if you had the chance to go today and passed it up, you are going to so regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life.

2. I like the new Josh Beckett. He threw a lot of pitches, gave up too many walks for my liking (four in five innings) but he wasn't trying to blow everybody away and wasn't afraid to go to something other than a fastball. Same intensity, too.

3. Daisuke Matsuzaka is worth every penny. Great debut.

4. Putting Paps back in the closer role is going to pay dividends, I guarantee it. IMO the biggest difference betwenn the Red Sox and Yankees of the past decade has been Mariano Rivera, and Papelbon is rapidly proving he can close that gap. Nice job today.

5. Coco Crisp got a hit and an RBI today. That's good, because I was about getting ready to jump off his bandwagon. Keep up the good work, Coco.

6. Who'd've thought the guy with the hottest bat after the first series would be...Dustin Pedroia?

7. Will Jason Varitek ever have a good swing again?

8. It seems funny to have a right handed leadoff guy. Yes, I know Coco was a switch hitter last year, so did start off some games right handed, and I know Youk led off a fair amount of games too, but still, it just seems odd. (Am I still hoping to see Johnny Damon leading off, and just in denial about it? Nah...)

9. I'm so far liking what I see from J.D. Drew, but seeing another left handed hitting right fielder wearing #7 still makes me sad (Trot, by the way, is hitting .556 for the Tribe right now).

10. Hope J.C. Romero doesn't die of exhaustion before Memorial Day!

As the iconic musician Meatloaf once declared, two out of three ain't bad. Now on to Texas.

I know, tomorrow is another day. The good news is that the Royals, while improved, still are not the Yanks in terms of lineup (well, neither are the Sox) and Beckett can't possibly be as bad tomorrow as Schilling was yesterday. If a few bats wake up (are you listening, Coco? Julio?) getting to Odalis Perez shouldn't be a problem...right?

Just one more interesting note...during the pregame show, Jerry Remy was talking about Dustin Pedroia. I heard him say, very clearly, that he was "not impressed" with him at the end of last season and didn't see that much had changed over spring training, although he was hoping to be "pleasantly surprised." Ouch. A lot of Red Sox fans feel the same way, unfortunately, although they seem more worried about his offense than his defense, which was Remy's issue. He did get a couple of good hits yesterday, one of which was negated by a stupid baserunning play at second, but to hear Remy comethisclose to calling out the Sox for the decision to start Pedroia was a little disconcerting.

Like everything else, time will tell.

Go Josh!

The weekend seemed a success. However, even in this festive atmosphere, racism in the old school mode was still on display. I think it's fair to ask why the major league representatives of the city of Cleveland, participating in this game because of their instrumental role in breaking the American League color barrier, continue to insist on displaying an unattractive caricature of a Native American on their caps. IMO it's long past time for this franchise-and others, including the Washington Redskins, which ironically is the team Howard Bryant left the Herald to cover-to address this issue. Yes, there are those who continue to insist it doesn't offend, but instead glorifies Native Americans, but frankly those arguments sound suspiciously like those who shrilly defend their display of the Confederate flag as a tribute to their "heritage" (yeah, their heritage of slaveholding and attempt to secede from the Union to continue the practice. What's not to be proud of in that?) The image is simply an offensive stereotype, and far beneath the proud city of Cleveland, it's citizens and ballplayers.

It's past time for the franchise and MLB to realize they're talking out of both sides of their mouths on this issue, and when better to do that than during a weekend dedicated to baseball and civil rights? I challenge them to do what my old alma mater and many others have done over the past 10-15 years-review the history and eliminate their role in perpetuating a stereotype.

Heck, maybe the league could even start an outreach program for talented Native American athletes.

Dopers and liars and cheats, oh, my! That's a lot on anybody's plate, no pun intended. So, how does baseball respond to all this?

Just how you would expect them to: by kicking Johnny Pesky out of the dugout.

Gordon Edes reports that once again MLB has gotten back on its' high horse and decided that since the nearly ninety-year-old Pesky is not welcome in the Red Sox dugout. The rules allow for players, manager, and six coaches in uniform and in the dugout, and since Pesky is none of those, he's out. Senior VP for baseball operations Joe Garagiola, Jr. put it this way: "Teams feel with some justification that an extra person could be a potential advantage, an additional set of eyes and ears for a manager. Somebody's job, for example, could be to bear down on the other club's third base coach and pick up signs."

Okay...let's just think about this. Johnny Pesky is eighty-eight years old. What are the chances he is sitting there slyly next to Tito, using his ancient bionic eyes to steal signs? My guess, if anything, is that Pesky is more of a distraction than a potential advantage there in the dugout. But he has been allowed to stay out of respect and affection, and as a symbol of the team's storied past. Because it's not just Johnny Pesky sitting there in the dugout. It's Pesky and Williams and Yaz and the '46 and '67 pennants and the millions of Red Sox fans who have filed through the old park over the past 65 years. Johnny Pesky is a connection, a tangible link to a time not that long past that is captured in the living memory of fewer and fewer of us. It is to be preserved and revered, not callously discarded because it's not in strict observance of the "rules." Joe Jr. comes from a rather storied baseball tradition himself. He should know this without me having to tell him.

Tell you what, Joe. You poll every major league team and ask them if they consider the presence of the iconic old man a threat, and see what they say. I'll betcha not one-not even those arrogant, paranoid Yankees-will tell you they are the least bit worried about Johnny Pesky stealing their signs. If you hear all that and then still kick him out, we'll know then that MLB is more concerned with enforcing arbitrary rules than honoring its' own traditions and memories.

And that would be a shame. 

For those of you a little older, a similar situation occurred years before in 1982, when comedian Andy Kaufman got into a screaming, obscenity-laced tirade with pro wrestler Jerry Lawler (there's those wrestlers again!) on "Late Night with David Letterman," prompting a protracted fued. Of course, it was all a stunt, played for laughs and ratings.  Lawler and Kaufman were actually friends.

Now, round three: Curt Schilling vs Dan Shaughnessy. Shaughnessy, master of the poison pen, has written several less than flattering pieces about Schilling, fondly known in intimate circles as "The Mouth." On February 2, Schilling had this to say about the way he felt Shaughnessy did his job: "I think there's things that you write that are absolutely and totally unequivocally uncalled for. I think you take personal vendettas to the paper. I think you rip people in the paper because you don't like them whether they're good people or not." On his blog 38Pitches, Schill referred to Shaughnessy as a "giant sphincter."

Well, today in his column, Shaughnessy took aim and scored a direct hit, portraying the spotlight-loving Schill as an overbearing egomaniac and the usually adoring fans that post to his blog as a bunch of drooling, moon-eyed minions.

The things that make you go hmmmm....

Now, I am not cynical enough-yet, although it wouldn't surprise me if I am wrong-to postulate that this is a completely contrived fued ala Kaufman and Lawler, but clearly there is something else going on here. I am reminded of a line oft quoted by NY Times columnist David Brooks, although he may not be the originator of it: "When two men fight over a woman, it's the fight they want, not the woman." Since there are no two men who like a good fight better than Shaughnessy and Schilling, it stands to reason that they both have a seriously vested interest in continuing the escalating war of words and making sure it plays out in public. Already, the wagons have begun to circle.

IMO, it's all theater. Act I over and done, and now on to Act II.

Just remember, guys, if the product on the field isn't good, the personalities won't matter. After all, it didn't save the XFL...

There are lots of reasons one wouldn't choose to live in the Northeast, or near the coast. The rising cost of living can rapidly outstrip one's ability to pay for it...it's too busy in the summer, too dead in the winter...and if we don't do something about global warming pretty soon, then we're all going to be under water in a few short decades anyway.  Why bother?

Well, these are the days when I remember why I make the sacrifice. It's a beautiful day here, about 55 degrees and sunny, so I made the short (<1 mile) jaunt from my house to the beach this morning. I'm so glad I did, I feel rejuvenated, like Rip Van Winkle must have after his long nap. I was greeted by lots of smiling people with romping dogs, bursting at the seams to be out in the ocean air after being cooped up for so long. A pair of brave mockingbirds which followed me along the beach path as I reacquainted myself with what it was like to climb over rocks, sit on the craggy beach, and smell the salt air that's made it's way into my bloodstream. It's spring, and life begins again.

That is, in part, I believe why we New Englanders are so fond of our Boston Red Sox. It isn't just about the game, although that's important too. It's that indescribable feeling of renewal that washes over us everytime the snow starts to melt a little and we venture out of our previously battoned-down bungalows and capes for the first time after a long winter. Opening Day makes it official: If the Red Sox are playing, it must be spring, and that means that winter is finally over!

Can summer be far behind...?