Non-Stop Boston Sports Wicked Pissahness

The Red Sox and Yankees play for four hours and 21 minutes. Extra innings. Then they play for 4:21 again even though it's only nine innings. Then the Celtics and Chicago Bulls wrestle for three hours and 32 minutes, through two overtimes. And all the while Bill Belichick makes moves that will be studied by draftologists for centuries to come. Like the DaVinci Code.

Oh, I almost forgot. We also had to follow the Rangers and the Capitals, and the Devils and Hurricanes because we still don't know who the Bruins are playing in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. There's a good chances the Bruins and Celtics will have another of those Causeway Street twinbills Saturday. The Red Sox will make their first visit to the new Yankee Stadium two days after that.

The Sox go for 11 straight tonight in Cleveland. Tomorrow night it's Celtics-Bulls at the Garden. Thursday it's the Bruins at home in Game 1 (we think), the Celtics in Chicago for Game 6, the first day of Patriots minicamp (welcome, Patrick Chung), and the Sox' first game in St. Pete since Game 7 of the ALCS.

-- Dan Shaughnessy, The Boston Globe

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As of today, April 30, 2009, ESPN is now referring on air to the Washington Nationals as the "Natinals."

Come Back, Tek

Fair warning. This is a post written by a fervent Red Sox fan.

Jason Varitek is perhaps the greatest defensive catcher or all time. Seriously. Nobody disputes that fact ... competitors, fans of every team, sports broadcasters, Hall of Famers, managers, and even fellow catchers. I'm not going to bore you with stats about his defensive prowess, so suffice it to say that a no-hitter is an extremely rare event. He's called the pitches and racked up the most in the history of the game. Equally important, he's a true leader. He will always be there to protect his team mates. Yes, your mind just flashed to Cappy getting into A-Knob's face).

Let me get to the point. This morning I said to a friend of mine "Varitek is kicking himself in the ass with the benefit of hindsight for not agreeing to arbitration. He was stupid for listening to [his agent] Scott Boras and holding out for a long-term deal."

Imagine my glee upon reading the article in today's edition of the Boston Globe. Here are the salient points, quoted and heavily edited into one paragraph.

Varitek requested the meeting [at Jason's home with Red Sox owner John Henry], an unusual development during a negotiating season typically dominated by agents. Boras could not be reached for comment, but it seems highly unlikely he would encourage a client to meet with any team without his presence, particularly at this stage of free agency. Had Varitek accepted [arbitration], he probably would have garnered a one-year deal worth $10 million to $12 million. Given the downturn in the market in the offseason, Varitek seems hard pressed to end up with even a one-year deal approaching anything near $10 million.

Jason is the captain of the Red Sox, an extremely rare honor which he did not seek nor accept willingly. He is the heart and soul of the team, and frankly I would be disgusted and saddened to see him wearing another uniform .... and just downright depressed if he should retire.

Come back, Cappy. Take a two year deal and go to the Hall of Fame wearing a Red Sox uniform.

Welcome to Title Town

The Red Sox will dismantle the Rockies. Maybe Colorado will win one game, but I doubt they'll take two.


You might as well just give the Patriots the Superbowl trophy now.


The Celtics are being tagged by the national sports prognosticators as a lock for the NBA finals.


The Bruins are off to a solid start, and gunning after #1 Ottowa in the Northeast Division.


The Boston College Eagles are now #2, nipping at the heels of Ohio State at #1.

Two Sad Losses for Baseball

Ugh. What a sad weekend for baseball. First we suffered the loss of Mike Coolbaugh, killed by a line drive as he was coaching first base during a game of the Colorado Rockies minor league's team, the Tulsa Drillers. Mike was only 35 years old. He had a wife, two young sons, and a baby due in October. Ugh.

From young to old, the oldest former major leaguer, Rollie Stiles, died at the ripe old age of 100. He pitched to Babe Ruth over three seasons, and Rollie said that the Babe only ever had three hits off of him. Cool.

Yeah, people die every day. I know that. But why so many people lately -- people close to me and people for which I feel such a connection?