More Good News in NE

As expected, New England's Tom Brady was named the NFL's MVP after he led the team to a 16-0 season. I have been out of town and therefore with very little news so I just found this out today, but it comes as no surprise! Just look at his records this year:

Most touchdown passes in a single season (50).
Most games with three or more touchdown passes in a single season (12).
Highest touchdown-interception differential in a single season (+42)
Most consecutive games with three or more touchdown passes (10).
Most touchdown passes in a single month (20, October).
Most consecutive games with completion pct. of 75% or higher in a single season (4 games from 9/9/07 to 10/1/07).
Most completions in first 100 passes of a season (79).
Most touchdown passes in a game since 1970 AFL-NFL Merger (6 on 10/21/07; tied with 11 others).
Highest single-game passer rating (perfect 158.3 rating, 10/21/07; 17th time since 1970)

Pretty good! If only Mike Lowell could have been the AL MVP to complete the NE Goodness.

No Red Sox news to report...except the Mailbag, which answered a question I have always wondered about...

I've always wondered about how lockers are assigned in the clubhouse. Who does the assigning? Who is next to whom? Where are the "best" locations in the room, and who has lockers there? Do veterans get to pick their own locker location? Do players change their locker location? Is it possible to get a layout of who is where or is that private information?
-- Abbe B., Vineyard Haven, Mass.

Red Sox equipment manager Joe Cochran is mainly in charge of aligning the lockers in the clubhouse. Cochran has been with the Red Sox for a long time, and he has a good understanding of the dynamic of the team and how to make everyone most comfortable. I'm sure that in certain cases, Cochran asks Francona or Epstein where to put certain players.

When you walk in to the clubhouse and look to your left, it's a long row of most of your position players. In that row, you will find Pedroia, Lowell, Alex Cora, Julio Lugo, Youkilis and others. Off in their own little corner are Ortiz and Ramirez. To the right is another little corner tucked away where you'll find Varitek, Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield. To the right of that is "pitchers' row," where you'll find relievers such as Mike Timlin, Javy Lopez, Manny Delcarmen, etc.

At the end of that row is one more corner, where you'll find Hideki Okajima, Matsuzaka, Beckett and Papelbon. Papelbon's space has always gone to a player with some clout on the team. It once belonged to Carl Yastrzemski, and it has been passed on to others such as Dwight Evans, Bret Saberhagen, Pedro Martinez and Keith Foulke through the years.