Bad Luck for My Teams

This has not been the best couple of days. Witness:

-Sox lost tonight. Brad Penny was again, not good.
-Oregon lost (Little League World Series) tonight.
-Rhode Island lost (LLWS) today (to Massachusetts, so it wasn't all that bad).
-Virginia (LLWS) lost yesterday (man, I am really bad at picking LLWS teams this year! Bring back Lake Oswego!)
-Novak Djokovic lost to stupid Andy Roddick yesterday.
-Roger Federer lost yesterday after being up 5-1.
-David Wright (I like him, but I don't know why) got hit in the head today.
-I lost my tennis match today!

However. All of the bad stuff was made okay with the sight of Alex Gonzalez back in a Boston uniform tonight. Yay! And if Blogger wasn't so mean to us FTP-ers, I would have that picture right here.

Back in a Big Way

Big Papi is, that is. He is definitely looking like he is getting his groove back, and man, is it a welcome sight.

Who is doing just the opposite? As in, not grooving. That would be Matsuzaka, who has been pretty much a disappointment this season. After being moved to the 15-day DL yesterday, Francona had this to say: "This is not going to be a two-week DL. We have to figure this out. We have a lot of work ahead of us to get him back to being Daisuke."

Sounds bad. Shoulder weakness, they are saying. So that opens the door for John Smoltz to come waltzing in, right? And conveniently, "Topping out the radar gun around 91 mph, slightly slower than he's known for, Smoltz threw six innings of one-hit, one-run ball as the Pawtucket Red Sox edged the visiting Durham Bulls, 2-1, at McCoy Stadium." He threw 74 pitches, 51 for strikes. It's like it was all planned. As long as he does good, right.

What else is going on? Nick Green hit a walk off HR last night, and it was awesome. One pitch in the bottom of the 9th was all he needed, and after a pretty interesting game, with Bobby Cox and Chipper Jones getting thrown out after J.D. Drew RBI'd after taking what was clearly strike 3 and the ump called it a ball; and Ortiz getting on (and then scoring later) after a little pop up landed between the miscommunicating Jones and shortstop. You kinda felt bad for the Braves, really...never enough to want them to win, but you know. Sucks to play like that.

That's about it for now. I haven't been updating (why is summer never as relaxing as it should be?) but I have been watching the Sox, never fear :) And now Wimbledon is starting, and Nadal isn't playing...and life should be good for the next couple weeks.

Validation

A few things to discuss:

A) Validation. #8 and #9, but especially #8. Now, how about firing them?

B) Boy was I wrong about the women's final. It was like....well, a massacre. Incredibly boring to watch, and if the Federer/Nadal match goes like that I will be awfully mad.

C) Good old Kevin Millar has been informed that he's not going to be returning to the Orioles...which means I no longer like anyone on the Orioles (well...maybe Mora. But that's it). Here's what he had to say, "Yeah, the bottom line is, obviously, they want to go in a different direction. Now, what that means, I don't know. Are they going to win games this year? No. Obviously we know that going in. You've got to be realistic.

"I told Dave Trembley a month and a half ago, 'Listen, I'm 37 years old. I'm ready to make that transition and do whatever I can do to help the young guys. If that means playing against left-handers, coming off the bench, whatever.' I told him I'm ready to do whatever I need to do. They decided to go in a different direction, which is surprising to me. I'm not talking about this to sell myself. I'm low risk. I'm a one-year deal. I haven't been on the disabled list in awhile. I get along with everybody."

He is right, they won't win games, but I think that's less to do with the fact that Millar won't be there and more to do with the fact that they kinda suck. Plus they have Boston, Tampa Bay, and New York to contend with.

UPDATE: Today is Varitek-Anticipation Day

Well, folks...."At some point on Friday, Jason Varitek's status, at least when it comes to whether he will remain with the only Major League team he's played for, should finally be resolved."

His offer? One year at $5 million, plus an option for 2010 that could either be picked by the team for $5 million or by Varitek for $3 million.

Pitchers and catchers report on February 12th (so close!).

Take the deal, man.

P.S. I would like to take this opportunity to scoff at the Australian Open and the tremendously stupid decision to put the singles finals at 7:30 Australian time, 3:30 am my time! How can I be expected to stay up until 6 am to watch a tennis match? I mean, Serena/Safina, whatever, I'll watch it at 9 am taped (though I do actually think it is going to be an excellent match). But Federer/Nadal Part 239834? This is a match I need to see LIVE. But no, I'll be watching it taped, all because Australia thinks night matches are super. WhatEV.

P.P.S. He took the deal!

Look on the Bright Side

Boston lost really bad today, and the Yankees won by a lot, and Toronto will probably win tonight, and it's my last day of freedom before med school owns me for the next 4 years...but on the other hand, my favorite player Dustin Pedroia has a birthday today! So it all works out, right? I think so, too.

Really, there is not a lot of good news to share. Nadal went ahead and won the gold medal in tennis, which I do not like. Federer is supposed to be #1 and I am not such a big fan of change. I like things to stay the same, nice and easy and predictable. Unless we're talking about a certain '04 World Series, because that kind of change I'm cool with.

And can I just say WHAT to Elena Dementieva winning the gold in women's tennis? She is certainly not the best female tennis player, so I don't know how that happened. I like her and all, just seems...weird. Unexpected. There we go with that again...

Important Bits and Pieces

Updates That I Deem Important:

a) No significant damage to Jacoby's wrist and the boy may be back this weekend! Absolutely my favorite news of the day.

b) Crisp was given a 7-game suspension for his fighting action the other night. Jon Lester got 5 games and Sean Casey got 3. All for defending a teammate. Hmph.

c) Things are cool with Manny and Youkilis. "It was a misunderstanding," said Ramirez. "Even in the best family, you fight and stuff like that. But it's done. It's over with. We got everything straightened out."

d) We're losing 7-0 right now. That is pretty bad news, guess we can't win 'em all.

Djokovic lost to stupid Nadal. And that was the worst news of the day.

It Took 13

It took 13 innings and a lucky error to beat the Orioles last night, and I of course fell asleep during the bottom of the 12th inning. It never fails.

What was I lucky enough to catch? Timlin loading the bases. Good thing he got out of that, because I was beginning to think they had resigned themselves to a loss by putting him in there.

Falling asleep also meant I missed that awesome barehanded catch/throw from Mike Lowell, meaning he really was the man of the hour. Though our bullpen did put on a great show as well! It was a good night all around for the city of Boston, with the Celtics pulling out a win to move to the Finals to (hopefully, please!) destroy the Lakers. Man, I hate those Lakers.

And hey, Ellsbury stole 3 bases last night! That is quite impressive.

Bad news is Matsuzaka is on the DL now. Made even worse when you look at his 8-0 record. We need that dude. No structural damage, thankfully!

French Open Update: Jelena Jankovic is safely through to the 4th round, as is Novak Djokovic. My main man Juan Carlos Ferrero exited early due to leg pain, I suppose. That is too bad, because he is one of like 2 men who beat Nadal this year on clay. Now it all hinges on Novak to win his second Major in a row...

Novak Won!

This is not Sox-related at all, but you all know I have to post this:

Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open last night (and I was up starting at 3:30 am to watch the whole thing, even though it really screwed up my day today!) in 4 sets over a very good Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. It was definitely worth it to stay up and watch it all--a very good match that ended just they way I wanted it to. He lost the first set, but that was all nerves, and he corrected himself as he went along. He was so on later on in the match that it wasn't even a question that he'd win (at least not to me!).


And you know during the press conferences they ask all these dumb questions, but I particularly liked this one:

Q. Would you like to play the whole year‑round on hard court without having to having to also play on clay?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Probably, yes. I'll speak with the ATP chairman about it to make all the tournaments hard courts (smiling).

And this one, too:

Q. Can you relive the match point?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I don't know. I really don't know. I can't remember. I just remember that I fell down and I was relieved and so happy. I even couldn't show my emotions because of the momentum, so it's very difficult to say what I felt.

So happy for him!! I think having the Red Sox win in October, Djokovic win in January, and the Patriots win in February would be pretty awesome!!

Get Out!

NO WAY it has been 11 days since I updated. NO WAY! I am stunned. I need some good news!

Realistically though, I probably wouldn't have updated anyway--I have been super busy and out of town and all that stuff. I see Kyle Snyder will be back, which is good, I like him.

If you look at the Red Sox website, they are so desperate to report something, they have an article about hoping to repeat as WS champs. Not interesting! And an ad on the logos! Not interesting!

Here's something interesting: my man Novak Djokovic took out Roger Federer in straight sets at the Australian Open! Holy mofo! That's freaking awesome. 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). Yes, they were close scores, but HEY! He won!!

Fed, who hasn't in the past had the nicest things to say about Joky, said this:

"There's no doubt I've played better in my life. I've not been really serving like the way I wanted to, maybe the last few matches. Look, it happens. But he covered the court well. He didn't give me much. So that obviously played a role in the way I played tonight. But … I wasn't completely satisfied. He's come through the draw convincingly. He's been playing very solid. He had a tough draw, you know, if I compare it to maybe Rafa's (Rafael Nadal's). So he absolutely deserves to be in the final."

Truer words never spoken. GO NOVAK!!

P.S. He is playing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final. This kid beat Nadal so he is pretty good....but no match for Djokovic, I say.

Also, the women's final is in 3 minutes. I like Sharapova and Ivanovic, so whoever wins will be cool with me. I am just hoping for a good match.

Final note: the look of a champion (or serial killer, I'm going with champion):

Davis Cup

The United States just won the Davis Cup! Yay!!

Congratulations to Patrick, James, Andy, Mike, and Bob, and thanks for bringing it home again!

--------------------------------------

P.S. The Red Sox today announced that the club has offered salary arbitration to free agent righthanded pitchers Eric Gagne and Mike Timlin. The club also announced it will not offer salary arbitration to righthanded pitcher Matt Clement, catcher Doug Mirabelli, infielders Royce Clayton and Eric Hinske and outfielder Bobby Kielty.

Hmm.

Go Pete

This is just a cute story that is nice to read on a lazy Sunday: Jacoby goes home
Lots of new Sox fans in Oregon for sure.

And because it deserves a mention, Pete Sampras beat Federer the other day in an exhibition match. I only post this because Pete was my favorite player from the time I started paying attention to tour tennis (probably when I was about 8) until the day he retired. Then came Ferrero. But the point is, I love this man and I don't care if it was only an exhibition, and Federer just came off a tournament win, it doesn't matter because there is a 10 year age difference and Pete is "old." Yay Sampras! He kept getting closer to winning, as you can see from the scores from the 3 matches they played: He lost the first 6-4, 6-3, almost won the second 7-6, 7-6, then won the final 7-6, 6-4. Good scores for the old man!

Josh Rules

If it wasn't official before, it is now: The Only hope we have left is Josh Beckett.

He pitched 8 wonderful innings last night to get us a win and put the series at 3 games to 2. Unfortunately, what that means is Beckett's game is over, and we have Schilling up next. Who was NOT that good during his last start. We really need him to pitch a good one to get us to Game 7, so if need be, Josh can come out of the bullpen.

But that bottom of the order? You all cannot get away with 0 or 1 hits all night! They need to improve the most, because we can't win without them coming through.

Boyfriend #3 had a good game last night (might I add, finally), with 2 hits, one of which was a double. It gets hard when your favorite player is not playing well...last night was a pleasant surprise.

And where were Boyfriends #1 and 2 yesterday? Playing each other! Boyfriend #2 beat #1, which I was not too happy about. But it was really close, and it was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC to watch them!!

P.S. In case it is not readily apparent, #1 is Juan Carlos Ferrero, #2 is Novak Djokovic, and #3 is Dustin Pedroia (if you didn't get #3, you should reconsider your fandom). Word to #2--lose the facial hair! PLEASE!

Stupid Internet Explorer

So I had a whole long post written about my trip to Baltimore, and I used Internet Explorer because Firefox has been randomly closing on me and losing my posts, and then IE goes and does the same thing! So I lost the whole thing, but I will eventually write another one. It just won't be as good.

But I do want to mention that horrible loss yesterday that included a grand slam by the OTHER team. What the hell happened? It was too terrible to watch, actually. Fortunately, we have Beckett pitching today, and things should go better today. I am not worried.

Also today, we have the men's final, which worked out just as I planned. Djokovic vs. Federer. Exactly what I wanted! Of course, I want Novak to win. So far he has beaten my mom's 2 favorite players, and now he takes on my dad's favorite. How nice it would be for Djokovic to win, not only because it would be awesome for him, but then I could say my favorite (I keep calling him that even though Ferrero is my real favorite) beat all of my parents' favorites. If only....

NOOOOO

NOOOO Jankovic lost to Venus NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

So mad right now.

Nice Stuff Going On Around Here

I thought I'd leave that no-hitter post up for a few days, but now I must talk about other (good) things...

Like the Sox' latest win streak (the best kind of streak). They made me stay up late last night to watch them win, but they gave me the night off tonight and won quickly. Unfortunately, Ferrer and Nadal are not being as nice (just started their match at 10:30!).

Why such a late start? Partly because the only player left that I care about, Novak Djokovic, took 3 long sets and 1 quick one to finish off Monaco. I had to space the match out over the whole day with all the stuff I had to do, and I finally finished watching it around 9:30. Now he plays Carlos Moya, which is a bit of a problem. You see, Moya is my mom's long-time favorite player. But they should be playing on my birthday, so of course Djokovic has the edge going in.

I won't be able to watch it live unless it's early....because I'll be in Baltimore at the Sox/O's game! It will be a GREAT birthday if Boston AND Novak win!!



P.S. I guess there is one other player I like -- Jankovic. She plays Venus tomorrow, MAN I HOPE JELENA WINS!

JOKY!

Non-Red Sox post ahead, I'm warning you:

JOKY JUST WON THE GREATEST MATCH

Novak Djokovic just won a four hour and 44 minute match against Radek Stepanek that went to a 5th set tiebreaker! I was so nervous during it, my stomach was horribly ill and my heart was pounding, even when he was up 6-1. That was a really, truly great match to watch. The score?

6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6

YEAH.Someone's gonna be tired for his 3rd round match!

Yes, you read that right: this was only a SECOND ROUND match!

The Open's getting good...

GO DJOKOVIC!

Nothing Good to Say

Strained oblique for Manny, that's what they told us yesterday. He didn't play last night, and he probably won't for a week or more...I miss Manny. I miss pitchers walking Ortiz to get to Manny and then Manny hitting an RBI double or something (and probably laughing inside, as we all do). I guess I will just have to wait.

So I had a bad feeling about last night's game all day, but that never really means anything. Except, of course, that I was proven right, and we lost another one. And right now? We are losing again.

NO SWEEP. I will not accept that!

Schilling gave up a solo shot to Cano and we are down by one, but it's still early. Still plenty of time for Wang to stop being good. We don't even have a hit yet though. At least I have Giambi swinging at the first pitch and flying out to brighten my day.

Please don't lose.

On another note, John Isner is playing some great tennis and has made it into the 3rd round of the U.S. Open. Juan Carlos lost in the first round, which sucked, but Novak Djokovic is still in it, even though it seems like forever in between his matches (and they didn't even show his first match! So mad about that). Donald Young moved into the 3rd round after Richard Gasquet, my French guy, pulled out with a fever or something -- but hey, Young in the 3rd round! That's still awesome. Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic are both in the 3rd round as well, but unfortunately they are both in the same quarter of the draw and therefore will have to meet in the quarters. I'd want Jankovic to win because she's my favorite female but Ivanovic is my second favorite (or third, I can't decide) and I'd like to see her do well. Of course, she has to get through Venus first before she'd meet Jankovic, and that's a tough thing to do.

Why Do You Excite Me, Just to Let Me Down?

We got ourselves a game going on right here! Boston was down 6-3 going into the 8th, they got a run then and now we're in the 9th. Coco singled, Lugo doubled him home, Pedroia K'ed, and now Youkilis is up. But he just struck out after a 3-0 count! WHY? So now it's up to Ortiz... 2 outs, down by one, bottom of the 9th. It's the perfect time to...walk. Okay, now it's Manny Time. And by that I mean it is time for Manny to strike out.

Dammit.

At least there's some good news. Juan Carlos Ferrero won today in Cincy and he will be playing James Blake in the next round. I like Blake, but Ferrero must win. With Djokovic out now (he lost to MOYA), he's my only guy left!


Go Juan Carlos!

Djokovic!!

Djokovic just beat Federer. Djokovic just beat Federer. Djokovic just beat Federer. Djokovic just beat Federer!!! He's gotta be the first guy to ever beat Nadal and Federer in the same tournament, right?

What a great, great match that was. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about Boston's game today -- they were of course winning, then late in the game they blew it and Kevin Millar hit a stupid walkoff home run. Kevin! You are supposed to be our friend!

And what's the deal with the supposedly really good bullpen? Schilling left poised to win it, and as soon as I saw Timlin in I knew the game could be lost. BUT TIMLIN DIDN'T LOSE IT!! (shock) Okajima, Gagne, and Snyder all gave up runs to get us yet another loss. Surprisingly, Timlin and Delcarmen were the ones who pitched well. I feel another late season collapse coming on and this is a really bad feeling :(

I Approve of that Game

Today was a much, much better performance by our team. Beckett almost went all the way, he just couldn't get the last out. So instead of 6-0 it was 6-2 but a win is a win. The offense was pretty good, I remember a lot of doubles specifically from Lugo, Lowell (of course!), and Drew. I also remember David Ortiz striking out 3 times, but that is something I'd rather forget.

So Beckett went 8 and 2/3 innings, and Delcarmen came in to get the final out but he ended up walking the guy. So Papelbon had to come in and save the day, as usual. Again I ask, where would we be without him?

The Yanks are up 10-2, looks like we will stay 5 games up.

And Djokovic just took the first set from Nadal (well, on the tape he did anyway). Go Joky!!!! Juan Carlos Ferrero better start winning because he is facing some serious competition from Novak for the title of my favorite player!

Dilemma

Oh, have I a problem. While I usually have too few options when it comes to watching my favorite sports on TV, it seems tonight I have one too many to choose from. Boston is playing Baltimore, which means I have baseball for the next 3 days, beginning tonight at 7. And I so rarely get to watch the Sox on TV. But..

I have good tennis on at 7:30! My 2nd favorite player is on and I think it's gonna be a good one.

So do I watch Novak Djokovic or Dustin Pedroia?

Life is cruel sometimes. I will just have to miss a few hits and a few down the line winners as I'm switching back and forth!

A Loss is Never Good

Another loss. After the extra innings mess that went down yesterday, a win would have been nice -- but now they all have a few days to recover, as they don't play again until Thursday to start a series against Toronto. But not everyone...

"Following the game, Ramirez boarded principal owner John W. Henry's private plane, along with David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett, Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, on a flight to the West Coast."

Look at all those Sox players! Doing us proud.

P.S. My other tennis team won today and we are going to the playoffs. So at least one good thing happened today (in addition to Federer beating Nadal, of course. Too bad about that Djokovic kid, I really wanted to see him in the finals!).

There's the Good and then There's the Bad

The Red Sox won tonight, and many good things happened: A two-run single that snapped an 0-for-33 hitless streak for Julio Lugo; Matsuzaka earned his 10th win of the season; and Juan Carlos Ferrero won his 4th round Wimbledon match. Oh, was that not baseball-related? I gotta show some love for my favorite tennis player, and I may not have much longer to do it -- he's playing Federer in the quarters :(

I know the Boston winning news is great, but there is something really, truly bad going on at the moment. If you've got 10 little minutes to spare, watch this video of a man who loves baseball and also happens to be 100% amazing in this clip.

Can They Keep it Going?

I've been away and the Sox have been destroying. Except for that Matsuzaka start, that wasn't such a great one. But since then, they've only had to play one game because of the rain, and they just pummeled the Angels in a 10-1 victory yesterday. The most surprising part of that win wasn't the huge offensive production (that's to be expected, right?), it was the huge offensive production in a game pitched by Tim Wakefield. I was amazed. Tim was pretty awesome himself, pitching 7 innings and only allowing that one run on 5 hits. Please note though, that 6 of the 10 runs were scored in the 8th, after Wakefield came out!

I had kind of given up on good old Tim, but if he keeps pitching the way he's pitched his 2 games...ooh man, we might have an ace. Not to get too far ahead of myself, though.

The game today starts in just over 30 minutes, and I do not think it is on TV. Which sucks. If only the stupid baseball channels on Comcast didn't cost a million dollars! Thankfully, the new and improved Gameday will keep me in the game.

So I'm watching tennis now, and my favorite player Jelena Jankovic is playing Venus Williams in this marathon match. They are in the 3rd set tiebreak, and man, they're playing some good tennis out there today. Venus is back, man. Of course, I'm cheering against her, but...J.J. won! AWESOME match.

Some Thoughts on This Sunday

I am going to start today with the most important news of all: yesterday was my USTA tennis team's final match, and we won, which makes us undefeated this season! My first time captaining and I put out an undefeated team. I'm very excited, and next week we will be in the playoffs. Yay!!

So, baseball. A week and a day until the first game in Kansas City. It will just fly by, I hope.

The recent announcement of Papelbon as closer and Tavarez as starting pitcher has really elevated my hopes for this season. Papelbon has really found his niche as closer, and as long as he can keep his shoulder healthy, he will be one of the best. Ever, I believe. He knows his shoulder had problems keeping up last year, and now he and Boston's excellent doctors can prevent the same thing from happening this year. And Tavarez as a starter is the ONLY job he should have - he was amazing as a starter at the end of last season. It's like he's a different person when he's starting versus when he's relieving/closing and I like Starter Julian a hell of a lot more.

Coco Crisp has been feeling kind of defensive lately: “I don’t care if people think I suck or they think I’m good,” Crisp said. “I just go out there and have fun, and hopefully the ball falls. . . . If the people think I’m good, then thank you. And if they think I suck, then thank you anyway. I don’t really care, you know?” That kind of tells me that he does care, but for me, I like him either way. He got injured last year early, and unfortunately he didn't have the best season. But really, he was probably the most upset of all about the way his season went. I know I sometimes mock players when they screw up (SEANEZ), but I know that they try their best and sometimes it doesn't work out. I love Coco, I hope he has a great season this year.

Quote of the Day:
Papelbon, showing his fantastic attitude about his game: "This is something that I've decided that I want to do for the rest of my career and chase records, and, hopefully, make the Hall of Fame and do [some] special things in the game that maybe no other closer has ever done before."

Good News and Bad News

I can't decide if this news is good or bad, so - Mike Timlin will start the season on the disabled list, but he is expected to be ready to pitch after Boston's first regular-season road trip, which ends April 8. Now, Timlin not blowing games is a good thing, but him already having an injury and the very real likelihood that he will not be 100% when he comes back (well, he hasn't been 100% in 3 years) is quite bad.

Bad News - Coco Crisp's shoulder hurts (hey mine too!) and he's been sitting out. My shoulder probably hurts more than his but I still suffered through it playing tennis last night! I suppose spring training doesn't matter and he should sit out as long as he needs.

Good News - Matsuzaka was pretty awesome today. Can't get too excited because it was just the Pirates, but it's better than doing bad against them!

Could be Good, Could be Bad News: With Mike Timlin all but certain to start the season on the disabled list, the role appears destined to go to Julian Tavarez, Joel Pineiro or Brendan Donnelly.

Eek!

Annoying Quote of the Day: "I got two years left, and that's it," Ramirez said. "That's the end of the story. I'm going to move on. I'm going to play, probably somewhere else. But don't worry, I'm going to be fine here. I'm not going to leave $35 million on the table."

Keep endearing yourself to us Manny, you're doing a fine job!

It Happened

Matsuzaka made his debut and everyone's talking about it. He gave up a leadoff double (wha?) but retired the next 6 men he saw. In his 2 innings of work, he threw 25 pitches, 19 being strikes, and allowed only that one hit. I don't know how much a win over Boston College means, and it is of course still very early, but we got a preview of what he's all about, and it was a good one!

Our other Japanese acquisition, Hideki Okajima, made his debut yesterday as well. He had a perfect inning in the loss to the Jays, getting his outs on curveballs and a fastball. I hope he doesn't get lost in the mix, I think he will surely help the bullpen out this year.

And then there was Manny, who fouled out to the catcher and got walked in his two plate appearances yesterday. After he took a huge rip for his first swing, Tito had this to say: "I don't know how a guy can come out of winter and, first at-bat, have your head be so still. I just don't know how you do it. I'm glad he's with us because he's special. Even David [Ortiz] is laughing. He says, 'I don't know how the guy does it.'"

So today, Tim Wakefield and Jonathan Papelbon will both be pitching against the Phillies. They'll each go two innings, and the game starts in about 15 minutes, at 1:05.

And the Patriots apparently picked up a coveted linebacker by the name of Adalius Thomas. I know very little about non-Patriots players, so if they tell me this is a good thing, I'll go with it.

And hey, I just realized I won't have to say Henin-Hardenne anymore, since Justine is separated from her husband. I was wondering why people were just saying Henin...yay! It's a small stupid thing but really, it was annoying having to add that Hardenne!

Baseball is About to Start, Kind Of

At this time tomorrow, Matsuzaka will have had his first spring training workout as a member of the Red Sox. Now, the workouts are closed to the media until Thursday, but I will try to be positive here and say somehow something will leak. Of course, the first day of spring training (and really...all of spring training) really means nothing, but it's SOMETHING! Finally, some baseball!

In Yankee news, Bernie Williams rejected NY's offer of a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training. Instead, Williams revealed his preference to stay at home, stay in shape, spend time with his family and wait to see if the Yankees change their minds and offer him a guaranteed roster spot.

Yeah. Bernie should just retire while he's still decent.

The United States won the first round of the Davis Cup! They beat the Czech Republic with Roddick and the Bryan brothers winning, including a singles win for Bob Bryan! His first ever singles win on clay, which is pretty cool. Next up is Spain, with Nadal, Robredo, Verdasco, Ferrer, and Lopez. It'll be tough bu they're playing in the U.S. so that is a huge advantage...no clay! Now we wait until April.

Time to Move On

I can't wallow in sorrow about the Patriots forever. Time to move on...and talk about my other favorite sports team!

From the Mailbag:
Can you tell me who was the last guy to start on Opening Day at second base for the Sox in back-to-back seasons?

-- John D., South Meriden, Conn.

Definitely a valid question, considering the turnover at that position in the last decade or so. But the answer to your question is a lot more recent than you would think. Mark Bellhorn started on Opening Day in both 2004 and '05.

A-ha! I always love seeing Mark Bellhorn news, and that's good enough at the moment.

As usual, nothing on J.D. Drew.

And because I love tennis, I must discuss it. James Blake played Gonzalez last night, and he played like junk. I was looking forward to him advancing far in this Australian Open after having such a good year last year, but he was not himself last night. Kind of like the Patriots!

Here's hoping Mardy Fish beats Andy Roddick tonight!