Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

-----The Red Sox will soon announce plans to expand Fenway Park’s capacity by 143-seats. Construction on the “Tower of Terror Pavilion” will begin immediately following the 2008 season and is expected to be finished in time for the 2009 campaign. The new seats, selling for $750 per game, will run up and down the giant Coke bottle located high above the center field bleachers and can only be accessed via a helicopter basket drop.

In order to ensure the project captures the “historic” feel of the ballpark, Sox President Larry Lucchino asked the architect to design all 143-seats at an angle that allows ticket holders a direct view of every inch of Fenway Park except the one area where all game action originates…the pitcher’s mound. In addition, they’ll barely be big enough to contain an average sized human being circa 1912, meaning anyone larger than 5’6” 145-pounds will need a giant shoe horn to slide in and out of the chairs. They will have cup holders, however.

-----In a move sure to stun the national media and fantasy football fans in search of an inside edge, Patriots coach Bill Belichick has decided to alter the team’s policy on disclosing injury information. Beginning with the first week of training camp, Belichick will open his daily press conferences with a 10-15 minute update on every player who steps foot in the trainer’s room, even if the sole purpose of that visit is to pay respects to a member of the team’s medical staff who suffered a death in the family.

This means Tom Brady will no longer be listed as “Probable (shoulder)” on the weekly injury report unless he’s really probable with a shoulder injury. In addition, the star Quarterback’s every step at Gillette Stadium and in Greenwich Village will be filmed by a member of the team’s video staff and broadcast live on Patriots.com. “It’s not like I can use these guys on the sidelines anymore” said the Pats head coach. “What do I care how many Stalkerazzi TMZ has to lay off as a result?”

-----Robert Kraft and John Henry are joining forces in an effort buy the Boston Bruins when current ownership puts the team on the market this offseason. “I’ve decided I no longer have the hunger to win a Stanley Cup at all costs,” said current B’s owner Jeremy Jacobs. “Actually, I stopped trying decades ago, but was making so much money off the insanely loyal Boston hockey fans that I couldn’t quite pull the trigger.” With Black and Gold wearing Hockey Krishnas no longer flocking to the “House Dimitri Kvartolnov Built” like lemmings, Jacobs figures the least he can do is sell to a pair of guys who know you actually have to spend a buck or two on quality players to win a championship.

-----Hollywood sources indicate actress Jennifer Garner will leave husband Ben Affleck when filming of “This Side of Truth” commences in Lowell next week. The actress, a staple of People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People in the World” list, has her sights set on another, yet unnamed leading man.

“I’ve grown tired of living with a filthy rich heartthrob like Ben,” Garner was reportedly overheard telling friends. “This new man is everything I ever wanted: aging, overweight, hairy and flat broke. He even writes his own sports blog. I can’t wait to tour the Mill City’s hot spots with him!”

In case that last “scoop” wasn’t enough to tip you off, check your calendars. And Happy April Fool’s Day!

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

For the first time in March Madness history, all four of the top seeds found their way into the Final Four. North Carolina vs. Kansas and Memphis vs. UCLA have the makings of classic matchups. Let’s see if the results on the hardcourt are as promising as they are on paper.

Meanwhile, the SunBlog Madness bracket of our Hoops Hysteria contest has undergone a bit of a transformation. Your new leaders, tied at 102-points, are Gary Favre of Chelmsford and Dracut’s Brian D. Tom G. of Lowell is third, followed by Carlisle’s John Habbe and Lowell’s Mike Grillakis. Further complicating things is the fact Mrs. Favre and Habbe, along with Tom G. and yours truly (tied for 7th) are all Sun employees, and therefore ineligible for any of the prizes.

So if you’re anywhere near the top of the pack and have your Final Four alive, stay with us because you’re very much alive for the prizes. It also might be a good idea, if you haven’t already, to identify yourself in an email to me (tpanos@lowellsun.com) so we can contact you in case you win a prize.

If you’re wondering what everyone else’s brackets look like, Joan Petros of Tewksbury told me how to do it. Go to our SunBlog Madness group standings, click on the name of the person’s bracket you want to see, and then click on the “Hoops Hysteria Pick ‘Em All at Once 3/20-08-4/7/08” and you’ll be taken to a link that will show you their picks.

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

How’s that for an obscure reference?

We’re down to the final six-pack of NCAA tournament teams, with the Final Four to be decided a couple of hours from now. Interestingly enough, Saturday’s games did nothing to change the SunBlog Madness leaderboard in our Hoops Hysteria contest. Apparently, all the top entries had North Carolina and UCLA advancing.

Therefore, I’m going to take the lazy route and tell you to scroll down below if you want to see the top seven. Add 16-points to yesterday’s totals, and you have your current standings. Either that, or go to the site yourself and figure it out…LOL!

It’s official. The Kansas City Royals have placed former UMass Lowell catcher Matt Tupman on their Opening Day roster. The Royals on Saturday cut 11 players from their active roster to get down to 24. They will open the regular-season on Monday in Detroit with Tupman as their backup catcher while Miguel Olivo serves a four-game suspension stemming from a brawl with the New York Mets last season while Olivo was a Florida Marlin.
John Buck is the Royals' starting catcher.
Tupman, 28, of Concord, N.H., helped the River Hawks to their only two Division 2 World Series appearances (2001-02). He was an All-American in 2002. He is in position to become only the second UMass Lowell product to play in the big leagues. Mike LaValliere, who was from Manchester, N.H., was a major league catcher for 12 seasons (1984-95).

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

Even Vince Van Patten couldn’t put together and eight pack this impressive.

All four #1 seeds (North Carolina, Kansas, Memphis & UCLA) in the NCAA Basketball tournament are still alive...#2 Texas is playing on its home turf...the two #3’s advancing (Louisville and Xavier) were better teams than the #2’s in their brackets coming into the tournament (especially since I thought so...LOL!)...and our token Cinderella #10 Davidson was one of the mid-majors expected to do damage (hey, I had them going to the Sweet-16 and wanted to pick them over Wisconsin…just couldn’t muster up the guts to pull the trigger…stupid me!). All of which promises a great weekend of college hoops.

As for Hoops Hysteria, the standings haven’t changed much since yesterday, other than the fact the 3-way tie for third has been whittled down to a 2-way tie. John Habbe of Carlisle continues to lead the pack by a point over Lowell’s Branko K. Elaine Heighington of Dracut is holding steady in third, tied with The Blogger. Chelmsford’s Gary Favre and Brian D. of Dracut are tied for 5th, with Tewksbury’s Joe Petros in 7th.

Why did I run down the list as far as I did? Well, because Mr. Habbe, Mr. Panos and Mr. Favre are all Lowell Sun employees, and thus ineligible to win any prizes. So those of you still near the top of the pack, keep hope alive. Even if you don’t finish in the top three, you might still win something.

Now then, my Final Four has North Carolina beating Kansas and UCLA over Texas, with the Bruins the eventually national champ. Since I can’t seem to find everyone else’s brackets, I’m curious how the rest of the leaderboard has the brackets progressing. What do you folks have for a Final Four result?

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

And then there were twelve.

The NCAA Basketball Tournament is at the midway point between the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight, which means there are now only 11-games remaining in our Hoops Hysteria contest. That’s 11-more opportunities for our SunBlog Madness contestants to pick up points toward the prizes.

The leaderboard features a new name at the top. John Habbe from Carlisle, MA is the current top dog with 61-points. Lowell’s Branko K. sits a point behind in second. There’s a three way tie for third, featuring Elaine Heighington of Dracut, Rick B. from Pepperell and the surprise of the tournament, Teddy P….alias, The Blogger. (For the record, John Habbe and I aren’t eligible for any of the prizes since we’re Lowell Sun employees.)

See you tomorrow with the next update!

Starting the season in Japan when they did — the earliest Opening Day in major-league history — was supposed to help the Red Sox avoid the fatigue that dogged the Yankees for three weeks after they returned from their season-opening trip to the Orient in 2004. But the earlier dates are just going to make things worse for the Red Sox, who should be justifiably exhausted by the time they return to Boston on Apr. 8 for their home opener against the Tigers. By then the Red Sox will have been living out of suitcases for nearly three weeks.
The Sox left Florida on Mar. 19 for two exhibition games and two regular-season games against the Athletics. But instead of returning to Fort Myers to resume spring training, they flew directly from Tokyo to Los Angeles, where they will play three exhibition games against the Dodgers this weekend. Next the Sox will jump up to Oakland for a couple of regular-season games against the A’s, then fly to Toronto for a series against the Blue Jays.
When the Red Sox finally arrive in Boston, they will have been on the road for 19 days, making this one of the longest road trips in modern major-league history. While the Sox have been trotting the globe, spending about 38 hours — an average of two hours per day — in airplanes and living in hotel rooms, the players on the other 28 teams have been going back to their spring training condos every night, sleeping in a familiar bed and eating at familiar restaurants or enjoying a home-cooked meal. Even Oakland is already home, playing the cross-bay rival Giants in an exhibition series this weekend.
This schedule is unquestionably a hardship on the Sox. There are only two unusually long road trips I can remember in recent years involving a major-league team. In 1994 the Mariners were supposed to finish their entire schedule on the road after the Kingdome had to be closed on July 19 because of tiles falling from the ceiling. They played 20 consecutive road games before the the season came to a premature end on Aug. 12 when the Players Association went on strike, sparing the Mariners from the longest road marathon in history.
In 1992 the Astros were forced to take a grueling 26-game road trip from July 27-Aug. 23 while the Astrodome was being rented for the Republican National Convention.
I say modern major-league history because back at the turn of the last century, teams often went on the road for four weeks at a time and then played four-week homestands. Travel was by train in those days, and teams never had to cross more than one time zone.
Teams may get where they’re going faster in the jet age, but the road trips seem l-o-n-g-e-r.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O’Neal left little room for doubt when he attempted to clear up what he deemed a misinterpretation of his comments in Wednesday’s Boston Globe, saying, “I don’t give a f--- what (Miami Heat head coach Pat) Riley said because I said something that wasn’t really meant like that. What I meant was that when I was on the court with (Chris) Quinn and Ricky Davis, the defense would back off. Now that I’m playing with Steve Nash, the defense has to play different. I don’t give a s--- how he interpreted it. I know what I said. Anything he said doesn’t matter to me at this point. I’m disappointed about a lot of things, but I’d never say it. If I got something to say, I’d say it to him.”

O’Neal made the comment after being informed that Riley said he was “disappointed” with O’Neal’s comments about playing with the Heat.

O’Neal was traded from Miami to Phoenix on Feb. 6.

The recent O’Neal comments that started the commotion were part of a column by The Globe’s Jackie MacMullan.

She quoted O’Neal as saying, “''I love playing for this coach and I love playing with these guys. We have professionals who know what to do. No one is asking me to play with [Heat guards] Chris Quinn or Ricky Davis. I'm actually on a team again.''

O’Neal said after Wednesday night’s game at the TD Banknorth Garden that he was just “clarifying” his statement.

Manny Ramirez went deep this morning to account for the Red Sox's only run in a 5-1 loss to the Oakland A's. That is 5 RBI in two games for Manny, who had only 13 RBI in all of March and April last season (24 games).
But what's up with Keith Foulke mowing Manny down two straight days with that feeble stuff?
Manny has openly declared his love for Japan. Hopefully he is still OK with hitting in the States.
You know David Ortiz (0-for-7, 2 walks so far) will start finding the seats soon. He hit two balls squarely on Tuesday.
From a Red Sox perspective, the best thing about their 1-1 trip to Japan is that it is over. And if David Aardsma's performance today is for real (1 2/3 ip, 1 h, 2 k), Boston may have found another power right arm to join Manny Delcarmen’s in the parade to Papelbon.
Of course Aardsma, a former first-round pick of the Giants, also started strongly for the White Sox last season, leading all AL relievers with 23 Ks in April, before slowing and being shipped to Triple-A. The 26-year-old former Rice Owl was acquired from the White Sox in January and is playing in his fourth organization in five years. He remains intriguing.

Sleepy observations about this 6-5 Red Sox victory in 10 innings on Opening Morning:
-- Thank goodness for Emil Brown’s 10th-inning base-running blunder or the Red Sox and A’s might still be playing.
-- Daisuke Matsuzaka's early wildness could be easily dismissed if not so reminiscent of how Dice-K pitched too often last season. Thirty pitches in each of the first two innings! Still, it is March 25. The excitement of pitching back in his homeland perhaps contributed to Matsuzaka’s wildness. When Dice-K (5 walks) threw strikes, he was outstanding (6 Ks, and only two hits allowed over five innings). But a legitimate major league lineup – which the A’s are not – would have put Matsuzaka down 5-0, instead of 2-0, after two.
-- As NESN’s Jerry Remy keenly noted, had Dice-K not thrown all those pitches early, Kyle Snyder would not have been pitching the sixth inning. Jack Hannahan clubbed a two-run homer off Snyder to put Oakland back in front, 4-3.
-- A line-drive single. A tantalizing bid for a go-ahead homer in the ninth (foul ball). A fearless leaping grab in center field. Jacoby Ellsbury oozes excitement.
So what was that Coco guy’s name again?
-- Everybody has been so focused on Ellsbury supplanting Coco Crisp in center, what about Brandon Moss replacing brittle J.D. Drew in right? You can hear that talk-show brouhaha brewing already. Moss’ first major league homer tied the game 4-4 in the ninth. He has been a very good minor-league hitter. He is still only 24. Three years ago, Baseball America rated Moss as Boston’s second-best prospect behind Hanley Ramirez – and ahead of Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia and Manny Delcarmen.
-- Manny Ramirez (2 doubles, 4 RBI) has just started running to first base. Papelbon’s ERA is 9.00. Time of game: 3 hours, 39 minutes. Are we really ready for 161 more of these?

A few things to chew on while searching for a sushi place that does breakfast:

Can’t wait to see television ratings for the Red Sox-A’s season opener in Japan. I have a hunch most of America will choose sleep or work over baseball, but here in Red Sox Nation, I’m guessing the numbers will be quite good. Productivity in the workplace, however, will suffer more than the parents of a teenager.

Regardless of how they make out in the Far East, expect Boston’s Boys of Summer to rule the American League East. Just don’t expect a World Series repeat. Sox management decided to stand pat and let the youngsters develop, a decision the fan base is more likely to tolerate because they’ve won two of the last four championships instead of none of the last eighty-six.

While that choice may pay dividends down the line, there’s no guarantee, particularly for the pitching rotation. Those waiting for Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz to blossom in such a high-stakes environment are likely to be disappointed. You have to go all the way back to Roger Clemens and Bruce Hurst to find a successful, homegrown starter who cut his teeth on the Fenway mound.

The intense glare of the media spotlight, coupled with the almost obsessive devotion of a fan base becoming more pink hat than blue collar makes it difficult for youngsters to stay on an even keel through all the highs and lows a young pitcher must endure. Far better for that roller-coaster ride to occur where people don’t care as much. Think Josh Beckett in Florida.

For my money, the 2008 World Series goes through Motown. As for the Tigers opponent in the Fall Classic, it’s a three-way battle between the Mets, Cubs and Brewers.

If all this baseball talk has you primed, check out SportsTalk over at thesunblog.com. The Sun’s baseball boys, Chaz Scoggins and Dave Pevear, have begun blogging on a regular basis, and they promise to do even more of it once the season begins.

Due to space limitations, there are all sorts of interesting pre and post game notes you won’t find in print. Those will be available on TheSunBlog, along with notes on Terry Francona’s pre-game press conferences from Fenway. My fellow fantasy geeks with daily roster changes might be particularly interested in knowing the starting lineup well before game-time, information the early arriving Pevear will gather from the ballpark.

Madness Update: Things are getting mighty interesting in our Hoops Hysteria contest. Before giving props to the early round leaders, let me thank everyone who entered for making the SunBlog Madness group the largest contingent, by far, in the national contest. Who knew the Merrimack Valley was such a hotbed of college basketball?

Our leader heading into the Sweet Sixteen is Tewksbury’s Joe Petros with 48-points. Apparently, they know their hoops in the Petros household, because Joe’s wife Joan finished second in last year’s SunBlog Madness. Only a point behind Joe right now is Elaine Heighington of Dracut, while Litchfield, New Hampshire’s Rob Fay is two points out of the lead in third. A group of three entrants is tied for fourth, including defending champ, Ken Scarber of Chelmsford.

Your favorite blogger? Well, after a rough first couple of days, yours truly is tied for 11th place, only 5-points back, with my entire Elite Eight still alive and kicking. Fear not. I’m not eligible for any of the prizes, just bragging rights. If you think I’m obnoxious now…

Finally on this day before March 25th, let me wish my fellow Hellenes a Happy Greek Independence Day tomorrow!

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

There’s a new name atop the leaderboard after Day 3 of Hoops Hysteria.

Joe Petros from Tewksbury had a great third day in his NCAA tournament bracket, leapfrogging the crowd to take over the lead with 38-points. Elaine Heighington of Dracut is holding steady in second place, just one point behind. She’s been at or near the top of the charts since opening day. There’s a tie for third with 36-points between Dracut’s Michael Cafeteiro and Litchfield, NH entrant Rob Fay And I might as well mention the 3-way tie for 5th place between Michael Houston of Dracut, Thomas C. of Tewksbury and Ken Scarber of Chelmsford. If that name rings a bell, it should. Ken iw the SunBlog Madness defending champ making his presence felt once again.

As for your friendly neighborhood blogger, a respectable third day has me somewhere in mediocrity-ville with 31-points. However, watch out, my Final Four and Elite Eight are still intact (there’s the jinx if I’ve ever seen one!), so don’t be surprised if you see a continued rise up the charts.

Now then, those of you at the top or those who will be at the top after Sunday’s games, how about you send me your full names or post them here in this entry. I’d like to fully identify you in my column that will appear in Tuesday’s paper, and a last-name initial is much too impersonal…LOL!

And finally, how is your bracket going? Perhaps it’s just me, but I can’t see everyone’s entry, so I have no idea how your brackets are doing. Is there a way for me to see other contestant’s entries? Or are we just going to have to do this blind?

Feel free to start talking trash anytime you’d like!

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

Day 2 of the NCAA tournament saw a host of upsets, including #4 UConn being bounced by #13 San Diego and another unlucky number seed, Sienna, destroying #4 Vanderbilt.

Now, your friendly neighborhood blogger isn’t eligible for any of the prizes...not that it would have made a difference. 19-of-32 in the first round is perhaps the worst showing I’ve ever had, which is saying something considering I’ve never won one of these damned things!

However, there are more than a few folks who excelled in the first round, upsets and all. Your leader heading into Day 3 is Alan H. of Dracut with 26-points. There’s a two-way tie for second between Dracut’s Elaine H. and Tewksbury’s Thomas C. with 25-points. Behind them, there’s a ten-way logjam in fourth place at 24-points.

Of course, the points double in round 2, as does the unpredictability, so chances are we’ll see a few new names atop the leaderboard in the next couple of days.

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

And we're off!

The first day of the NCAA Basketball Tournament is in the books. No “shocking” upsets to speak of, though #15 Belmont came oh-so close to knocking off #2 Duke.

As for our Hoops Hysteria contest, we have a four way tie atop our SunBlog Madness group here. With or without upsets, 15-of-16 correct picks is, in the words of Adam Sandler, not too shabby! Here are your leaders in the clubhouse:

Brian M. from Chelmsford
Elaine H. from Dracut
Michael C. from Dracut
Thomas C. from Tewksbury

Way to work gang! Of course, if you respond to this post with your last names, we’ll be able to fully identify you. And, yet one more reminder, if you haven’t already identified yourself to me, please do so by sending an email to tpanos@lowellsun.com so we can contact you in case you win. Unless, of course, you’re so ashamed of your picks you don’t want any of us to know who you really are!

This isn’t the first time Red Sox players have threatened to boycott a game — or delayed one — over money. The Red Sox and Cubs threatened to boycott Game 5 of the 1918 World Series in Boston over the distribution of World Series shares.
Before the 1918 season began, the owners of the major-league teams decided to redistribute the shares. There was no players union in those days, so the players weren’t consulted, and many of them weren’t aware that their shares were going to be cut until they were riding the train from Chicago to Boston and got their first look at the documents handed them just before the Series began.
Until 1918, players received 60 percent of the proceeds from the first four games, which usually meant three or four thousand dollars for each player. But the owners unilaterally cut the players’ share to 55 percent in 1918, of which only 60 percent of that total would go to the players on the Cubs and Red Sox. The remainder of the money would be distributed to players on the second-, third-, and fourth-place teams in each league. The theory was that by giving the players of runner-up teams a few hundred dollars in World Series shares, the owners of those teams could use that money as leverage to hold down salaries.
Furthermore, American League president Ban Johnson ordered each Red Sox player to donate 10 percent of his share to charity as part of the war effort.
When the Cubs and Red Sox got to Boston, they demanded to meet with the owners, who stalled them by promising to meet the following day. The teams played. But when they showed up the next day, the owners’ representatives refused to negotiate.
The players asked once more for a meeting on the morning of Game 5 and were told they could meet after that game. But the Red Sox led the Series 3-1, and if they won that afternoon, it would be all over and the players would have no leverage.
The Cubs and Red Sox agreed to strike. With a crowd of nearly 25,000 at Fenway getting restless when the game did not start on time, the owners’ reps finally met with the players. They told the players that if they didn’t play, the remainder of the World Series would be canceled and the players wouldn’t get a dime.
Red Sox star outfielder Harry Hooper told them they could give the money to charity. This was a matter of principle, and the players wanted their traditional share. Johnson, who was reportedly drunk, insisted the system could not be changed back on the spot, and he pleaded with the players that they owed it to the doughboys in the stands to play.
Reluctantly, the two teams agreed to play. The fans, unaware of what the dispute was all about, thought the players were being selfish and blamed them for the delay and jeered them with catcalls like “Slackers!” and “Bolsheviki!”
The Cubs won, and barely 15,000 fans turned up the next day to see the Red Sox win the World Series.
The champion Red Sox received the lowest shares for a winning team in World Series history, $1,102 per player.
The owners also punished the players by refusing to give them their traditional championship medallions, which were the equivalent of rings today. In 1993 a story by Red Sox historian Glenn Stout that revisited the slight prompted the Red Sox to present the families of the players — all of whom were dead by then — with championship medallions in a ceremony at Fenway Park later that year.

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

Hey Gang! Apologies for going M.I.A. the past couple of weeks…been a bit hectic in Panos-land and will continue to be through Easter. Thankfully, Chaz and Dave have come aboard the blog bus and are keeping the content fresh and interesting. I promise to get back to a more prolific posting schedule next week so we can resume our daily arguments. In the meantime, here are a few quick nuggets for you to comment on:

***Bravo to the Red Sox for banding together and watching out for their staff. Players often get a bad rap for being out of touch with the common folk, so it was nice to see a team of guys that “gets it.”

***I’m not hearing or reading as many of those “yeah, but wait till they go on the road against the iron of the west” radio call-ins and articles about the Celtics. NOW are the non-believers prepared to admit the NBA championship goes through Boston in ’08?

***I’ve read the Pacman to the Patriots rumor on two different sites. Much like the Randy Moss rumors last year, I’m starting to get the sense that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Coincidentally, I’d written my “the Patriots have lost their way” column before the “Rainmaker” stories began breaking. Unlike my A-Rod over Lowell piece, this most recent one drew more “you’re right” remarks in person than the “you’re an idiot” taunts I heard about A-Rod. Could it be that the “no questions asked” love affair with New England’s football entry is beginning to sour?

***Nice going on the SunBlog Madness pool gang. As I write this we already have 50-entires, by far the largest private pool in the entire Media News Group family of papers. In fact, we have more than 2 ½ times all the others combined! Way to represent, Lowell and the surrounding communities!

There is playing good, hard baseball. Then there is out-of-control vengeance like Yankee enforcer Shelley Duncan opted to go for last week. Duncan’s spikes-high slide very late into Tampa Bay second baseman Akinori Iwamura — a retaliatory strike against Tampa Bay for a home-plate collision four days before that left Yankee catching prospect Francisco Cervelli with a broken wrist — was embarrassing to those who still vigorously defend the sagging Yankees for their class. (Like me.)
Because take away that class — the Yankees’ highly professional clean-cut approach to our pastime — and not much is really special about the Bombers anymore.
In recent years, their front office has been outthought and their team outplayed by a Boston franchise that for a century had merely been a pesky mosquito to the Bronx Colossus. The Yankees have not won a World Series since 2000. Their string of 13 consecutive playoff appearances will end this year unless young phenoms Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain mature immediately into Vic Raschi and Allie Reynolds, and Alex Rodriguez clubs 83 home runs. Hank Steinbrenner (Boss II), who says he is out to properly realign a Yankee Universe, insulted classy manager Joe Torre with a one-year contract offer and turned to fiery Joe Girardi after Torre turned it down.
Girardi’s fire apparently goes out during spring training games — unless, of course, he first becomes riled by a division doormat failing to adhere to some unwritten rule against playing all out in games that don’t count. You have to be careful, after all. Billy Crystal might get hurt.
Manager Joe Maddon’s Rays maybe have their own unwritten rule (since they are not written down, just follow only those you believe), a timeless one which Girardi’s Yankees would be wise to heed: You practice like you play.

Posted by Teddy O'Panos, Sun Staff

A few “green” observations on this St. Patrick’s Day, plus a reminder to hurry up and get those Hoops Hysteria entries in before Thursday:

Glad to see Dice-K’s wife co-operated and gave birth well before the Red Sox planned departure for Tokyo. This way, we avoid the spectacle of Larry Lucchino and Bud Selig tripping over each other in the maternity ward as they raced to induce the poor lady. After all, wasn’t Matsuzaka’s triumphant return to Japan the main point of this overseas exercise?

Speaking of wives and kids, exactly when will the two ladies in Tiger Woods’ life begin to adversely affect his golf game? In the past three years, Woods has experienced marriage, the loss of his father and the birth of a daughter, personal changes that were supposed to help bring him back to rest of the golf pack. Instead, Tiger’s roar is louder than ever and his grip on golf dominance more secure than ever before.

As impressive as Tiger’s current run of five consecutive PGA tournament wins is, I’m not so sure it’s more eye-catching than the Houston Rockets streak of 22 in a row. Woods has actually won seven successive PGA events in the past, so he still has two more weekends of work to match his past performance.

The Rockets, on the other hand, now hold the NBA’s second longest streak in history, trailing only the 1971-72 Lakers run of 33 in a row. What’s more amazing is they’ve won the last ten since losing towering center Yao Ming to a stress fracture that likely ended his season and was expected to kill any chance Houston had at a title.

Should the Rockets continue their winning ways, they’ll do so at the expense of the Celtics, who visit NASA-land Tuesday for a nationally televised contest. And I don’t care how many months have passed since the Kevin Garnett trade, I’m still positively giddy about the fact regular season basketball games actually matter again around these parts. Just wait till the young ‘uns, who have no idea what real playoff basketball in Boston is all about, get a load of the Garden come May and, hopefully, June.

Most Boston fans point to the Pistons as the biggest obstacle between the Celtics and a return trip to the NBA Finals. The team they really should be worrying about is Cleveland. Or should I say, King James and his court. Call me paranoid, but I have nightmares about LeBron doing what he did to the Pistons in Game 5 of last year’s conference finals and single-handedly carrying an inferior team to victory.

Are the Celtics a better team than last year’s Pistons? Sure they are. Are they better than this year’s Cavaliers? Yes, over an 82-game schedule. In a best-of-seven series, with the refs giving LeBron the “superstar” treatment, I’m not so sure.

Mad about this contest: There’s still time to sign up for the Sun’s Hoops Hysteria contest. The winner of the national March Madness contest wins a 20-inch Flat Panel HDTV LCD. However, if you sign up through our SunBlog Madness group, you’ll also be eligible to win a pair of Boston Red Sox and Lowell Spinners tickets.

To register, simply click on the Hoops Hysteria ad on this page. After you’ve entered the necessary information, click on the “Hoops Hysteria all at once” box, then the “Group Play” link. Select the “SunBlog Madness” group, enter the password “lowellsun” and you’re in. If you have any questions or problems signing up, just fire off an email to tpanos@lowellsun.com and I’ll be happy to help you through the process.

Good luck!

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

If the Detroit Pistons steal the top seed in the Eastern Conference - the spot widely assumed to belong to the Boston Celtics - the next two weeks will likely have a lot to do with it.

Starting tonight the Celtics get a small taste of life in the Western Conference. The Celtics hit the road for games against the San Antonio Spurs (44-22) tonight, Houston Rockets (46-20) on Tuesday, Dallas Mavericks (44-23) on Wednesday, and New Orleans Hornets (44-21) on Saturday.

Next week the Celtics return to the TD Banknorth Garden to play host to the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, and the Hornets.

It should also be noted that each of those Western Conference opponents are jockeying for playoff position. The top eight teams in the West are separated by less than five games.

As if the games weren’t going to be challenge enough, Celtics head coach Doc Rivers will be trying to work in playing time for new additions P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell.

Brown has played in five games since signing with the Celtics on February 27. Cassell, who was waived by the Los Angeles Clippers, has played in three games since signing on March 4.

“It's going to be tough to work guy into a rotation in that trip, but we're going to," Rivers said last Wednesday.

The Pistons begin this week 4.5 games behind the Celtics.

There was no police escort for Doug Mirabelli out of town the way there was when he flew back into town on May 1, 2006, hours after being reacquired by the Red Sox, who had been appalled by Josh Bard’s attempts to catch Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball. The Red Sox rushed Mirabelli onto a chartered plane in San Diego, and he arrived at Fenway Park in the nick of time to catch Wakefield against the Yankees that night.
The Red Sox released him yesterday, giving the job of Wakefield’s personal catcher to Kevin Cash, whose only real advantage over Mirabelli is that he’s seven years younger.
I don’t understand why so many Red Sox fans — and members of the media — were always so down on Mirabelli. IMHO, he was the consummate backup catcher, a guy who could catch and throw and didn’t complain about his playing time. Sure, he didn’t hit much for average, but he was good for a half-dozen homers a year and was always, at the very least, a threat at the plate.
If Red Sox fans thought Mirabelli’s bat was bad, wait ‘til they get a long look at Cash’s. The guy has never even reached the Mendoza Line, and he doesn’t have Mirabelli’s power or batting eye. Cash’s best year was .193-4-21 in 60 games for the Blue Jays in 2004.
Here’s a comparison of Mirabelli’s and Cash’s career stats:
Batting Average: Mirabelli .231, Cash .167.
On-Base Percentage: Mirabelli .317, Cash .223.
Slugging Percentage: Mirabelli .407, Cash .265.
Okay, I’ll grant you it was seven years ago when Mirabelli was Cash’s age. But in 2001, when Jason Varitek broke his elbow, Mirabelli stepped in and hit .270 with nine homers and 26 RBI in 54 games for the Red Sox.
Varitek is also seven years older now and more prone to getting hurt. If something serious were to happen to Varitek, could Cash be expected to step in and contribute the kinds of numbers Mirabelli did? Somehow I doubt it.
The one thing Cash does seem to have in his favor is that, like Mirabelli, he is a good defensive catcher. He has caught 27 of 75 base stealers during his major-league career, an impressive 36 percent. He’ll probably be able to handle Wakefield’s knuckler.
But if he can’t ... well, Doug Mirabelli might be getting another police escort to Fenway Park by May.

Posted by Chaz Scoggins

It was one of the most unpopular trades in Red Sox history at the time it was made. But time has shown that it was also one of the best.

Red Sox fans were up in arms when the Red Sox dealt Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs at the trading deadline in 2004, part of a three-cornered deal that brought shortstop Orlando Cabrera and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz to Boston. Garciaparra had won two batting titles for the Red Sox and was a .323 lifetime hitter. He had posted a slugging percentage above .500 and hit at least 21 homers and 37 doubles in each of his full seasons with the Sox. He had scored 100 or more runs six times, and four times he had driven in more than a 100. He had just missed another 100-RBI season in 1997 when he knocked in 98 while batting leadoff the entire season. That earned him AL Rookie of the Year honors.

The Red Sox had tried to sign him to a five-year, $60-million contract before the 2004 season. But Garciaparra balked, and the Red Sox feared they were going to lose him to free agency after the season. He had also started breaking down physically, and his defense was vastly overrated. With the club in its third straight month of mediocre ball, the decision was made to deal Garciaparra and tighten up the infield defense. We all know what happened. The Red Sox went on to win the World Series for the first time in 86 years.

At the time of the deal, it looked as if Garciaparra was headed for Cooperstown someday. Right now he’s a marginal candidate, at best. He has continued to be dogged by injuries, first with the Cubs and now the Dodgers. Since being traded, Nomar’s batting average is .292. He has posted a .500 slugging percentage once, has neither driven in 100 runs nor scored 100 runs in any season, and has hit 20 homers just once. Last year he hit only seven homers and had a weak .371 slugging percentage for the Dodgers. Nomar, now 34, is injured again. He was hit on the wrist by a pitch in training camp, and it’s not known when he’ll play again.

I have often said that if Fred Lynn had played his entire career in Boston, he would have been a Hall of Famer. But I don’t think that’s true of Nomar. Physically, despite his enormous talent, I don’t think he had the stamina and the ability to stay healthy and put up the kind of numbers that would have earned him a plaque in Cooperstown someday.

It was unpopular at the time, but hindsight has shown us that trading Garciaparra when the Red Sox did was the right thing to do. Had Nomar accepted the contract offer that spring, however, Red Sox history might have been very, very different. And probably not for the better.

It’s that time of year again: Time for college basketball to re-enter the American consciousness. Time for office productivity to freefall while internet usage skyrockets. Time for Cinderella to transcend fairy tales and dominate the sports pages. Time for the advice of blowhard Bracketologists to send you scurrying for the nearest psychologist.

March Madness is back, baby!

If you’ve been reading the pages of The Sun or visiting our internet sites, you’ve probably noticed the ads touting the Hoops Hysteria contest, where all you Dick Vitale wannabes can match wits with other college basketball crazies throughout the nation for a chance to win a 20-inch Flat Panel LCD HDTV.

Of course, what would a great local newspaper be without offering area contestants the chance to win great, local prizes as well? So we’ve also incorporated the aspects of last year’s SunBlog Madness contest and will once again give away a pair of Red Sox tickets to the local contestant who fares the best in our group. Second place gets four Lowell Spinners tickets and the third place finisher gets two Spinners tickets.

Here’s how to enter: Find the Hoops Hysteria contest ad on this page. It’s the big orange thing that engulfs the right side of your computer screen. You can also find links at www.lowellsun.com and on our sister blogs, but show us some love and go through our SportsTalk blog. We get a buck for every hit. (Just kidding…though I like the idea!)

Once you’ve found the Hoops Hysteria ad, click on it. You’ll get redirected to the registration page. Fill in all the necessary information. After submitting the registration info, you’ll find yourself on a page giving you the option to sign onto a bunch of contests. The one you want to click on is called “Hoops Hysteria all at once” and can be found in a gray box with a blue border. It’s in the center of your screen.

That will take you to the “bracket challenge” page. On the upper right hand side of that page, you’ll notice a “Group Play” tab. Click on that tab and you’ll come to a page with a list of groups. Select the “SunBlog Madness” group, enter the password "lowellsun" and, voila, you’re good to go. You’re a member of our group and eligible for the local prizes, as well as the LCD television. (Make sure you’ve joined the SunBlog Madness group. If you accidentally join another one, you can leave that group and come on over to ours. We’re much more fun than those other folks!)

From there, all you have to do is wait for Selection Sunday and begin filling in your brackets. Now, I know this might seem like the easy part after having to follow all those steps just to sign up, but entering is really quite simple. And if you have any difficulty, feel free to fire off an email to me (tpanos@lowellsun.com) and I’ll be more than happy to help you through the process. Believe me. If an oaf like me can do it, it’ll be a piece of cake for you!

(One more thing...after you sign up, send me an email with your team name and contact info (email address or phone #) so we can contact you in case you win.)

As was the case last year, we’ll post the leaderboard on the blog and in my Tuesday column so you can brag to your friends about what a knowledgeable college hoops junkie you are. Just remember, he, or she, who brags last, brags best. Not to mention, gets to see the Red Sox at Fenway Park!

OK then…you got it? Good! Let the Madness begin!

Posted by David Pevear, Sun Staff

Coco Crisp has sounded angry this winter. Jacoby Ellsbury had been slumping, though granted, Boston's Wonder Boy was slumping in meaningless exhibition games. Ellsbury was 3-for-5 with 2 RBI on Saturday to raise his spring average to .190. Still, what should we make of the Red Sox's center-field situation? Is it an ideal competition – and where there is competition, there is strength? The champs have a dynamic prospect backed up by a spectacular defensive player. That sounds ideal.

But will Crisp’s simmering dissatisfaction turn an ideal situation into a chemistry problem that cannot be soothed with John Henry's checkbook? There is a strong feeling that Crisp will be traded sometime soon. Yet the more Crisp talks about soldiering on through injuries last year, the more brittle he sounds. This is not helping his trade value.

The center-field job is thought to belong to Ellsbury. The Ellsbury of last September and October sure looked ready be the everyday center fielder. He was a dynamic force. The Ellsbury of this March, though, is 15 pounds heavier from an off-season training regimen designed to keep him strong over the long haul. Hopefully next year at this time we are not hearing that Ellsbury needed to drop those 15 pounds because they slowed him down in ’08.

Posted by Chaz Scoggins, Sun Staff

One of the problems facing a team with the second-highest payroll in baseball and two World Series championships in four years is that the youngest players who have played key roles in the club’s success believe they should be earning more than a few thousand dollars above the major-league minimum.

Last year players like Kevin Youkilis — who earned a World Series ring in 2004 — and Jonathan Papelbon weren’t especially happy with the raises being offered by the Red Sox. Youkilis had scored 100 runs in his first season as a regular, and Papelbon was an All-Star who saved 35 games as a rookie. They didn’t gripe too loudly, but clearly they weren’t happy when the Red Sox unilaterally renewed their contracts.

This year Youkilis was arbitration-eligible and cracked the millionaire’s club, octupling his 2007 salary of about $450,000. Papelbon made a little more noise this spring and was on the verge of being renewed but finally reached a settlement with the Red Sox that nearly doubles his 2007 salary. His paycheck goes from $425,000 to $775,000.

Now, I don’t begrudge a player trying to earn as much money as he can. But I also understand that the only real control teams can exercise over their payrolls anymore is by limiting the salaries of players who don’t have enough service time to qualify for arbitration or free agency.
After almost 30 years, teams have finally figured out how to play the arbitration game, and they rarely lose anymore. But it’s also true that players never truly lose in arbitration; they’re guaranteed a huge raise even if they don’t win their cases.

I’m sure it’s frustrating for young stars like Papelbon and Youkilis to have outstanding years and get rewarded with a raise of $20-30,000. But with the major-league minimum at $380,000, they’re still handsomely compensated. And if you’re in your mid-20s and can’t live for three years on a salary ranging from $380-450,000, there’s something seriously wrong with your lifestyle.

In a perfect world, everybody would be compensated commensurate with his true worth. But the world isn’t perfect, even in baseball. After Darryl Strawberry won the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 1983, Mets GM Lou Gorman generously gave him a $200,000 contract for the next year, a huge raise even though Strawberry wouldn’t be eligible for salary arbitration for another two years. If Gorman thought he was purchasing some goodwill and might catch a break from Strawberry on the other end someday when the players have all the bargaining leverage, he was wrong.

This is the system, and the young players have to live with it. After all, it’s a pretty good living anyway, isn’t it?

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Detroit might want to get out and contest Kevin Garnett's jump shot. Garnett has already racked up 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He'd be the only Celtics player in double digits if not for a Paul Pierce three-pointer with less than 10 seconds left. Pierce has 10 points.

Rasheed Wallace turned it up, offensively, in the second quarter. After going scoreless in the first quarter, he shot 6-of-10 and put up 14 points to lead the Detroit at the break.

Kendrick Perkins has been doing man's work on the boards, grabbing eight rebounds in 15 minutes of play.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics meet tonight for the third and final time this season. The season series is on the line, home court throughout the playoffs is potentially on the line, not to mention whatever mental edge the players will obviously downplay.

"Business as usual," was the phrase used by Celtics guard Ray Allen before the game.

Detroit handed Boston its first home loss of the season on Dec. 19, 87-85, and the Celtics returned the favor on Jan. 5, 92-85, in Detroit.

Newly signed Celtics guard Sam Cassell will not play tonight, but Boston did activate forward P.J. Brown. Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said he was not sure if he would play Brown tonight. Boston center Scot Pollard was placed on the inactive list.

Posted by Gayle Simone, Sun Staff

What exactly was that last night because it certainly didn't look like two NHL teams in Washington, it looked more like the old women's Beanpot games when Boston University had just a club team and they had to face BC, NU or Harvard. The worst part is, I couldn't even bring myself to change the channel because I kept hoping my team could stage a great comeback and at least salvage a point. Talk about being delusional.

The Bruins did not look like a team riding a six game winning streak when they faced off against Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals last night, they looked more like a bunch of misfits that couldn't do anything right. Alex the great recorded a five point night with a hat trick and two assists leading the Caps to the 10-2 destroying of the Black and Gold. The way the Capitals undressed the Bs last night was more embarrassing then BC and NU's games against the Red Sox last week.

The question is now, which team will show up to face the Florida Panthers tonight at the TD Banknorth Garden? We already know that Alex Auld will start the game instead of Tim Thomas. But will the power play units show up tonight? How about the defense? Captain Zdeno Chara is having a career year in goals and points and is a leading candidate for the Norris Trophy, but which "Big Z" will show up tonight? The one that had fans cursing his signing last year or the one that had eight goals in 12 games?

Last year around this time, the Bruins spiraled themselves right out of the playoffs, are we about to see a repeat of that? I don't think so. I think this team definitely has the resiliency to not allow that to happen two seasons in a row. One thing is for sure, the Eastern Conference is so tight right now that losing a handful of games can cause even the mightiest of teams to be on the outside looking in come playoff time.

So, why do I keep holding on? Do I truly believe in this team? The answer is simple - yes, I do. I think this team has a lot more to offer than what transpired last night in the Nation's capital. What's your take? Are the Bruins doomed to repeat last season's woes or are are they strong enough to bounce back? Am I completely delusional?

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

Hey! Have you noticed that big, orange banner ad to the right of the SportsTalk homepage?

Well, that’s this year’s link to our SunBlog Madness contest. (The link is all over the place on lowellsun.com, too!) Only this year, the contest is bigger and better than ever. By signing up, you’re entered in a national pool which makes you eligible to win the grand prize…a 20-inch flat-panel HDTV LCD. It will also make you eligible for a bunch of raffle prizes on the site.

But wait…there’s more! Instead of just signing up for the national pool, sign into the SunBlog Madness private group and compete against our blog entrants. You’ll earn bragging rights and more, because I’m working on a prize package for the members of the private group. If you’ll recall when we did this last year, we gave away a pair of Red Sox tickets, two sets of Spinners tickets and two sets of Lowell Devils tickets.

Here are the instructions for signing onto the private group:
1) Click on the big orange banner ad, or click here or on any of the SunBlog Madness links throughout this text
2) At the top, click on the blue “Hoops Hysteria pick all at once” box
3) Click on the “Group Play” tab on the upper right
4)Underneath “Create a group,” click on “join a group” and when the drop down box opens, find the group “SunBlog Madness” (note: you may have to click on “Hoops Hysteria all at once” in the drop down box before getting to the SunBlog Madness entry)
5) Once there, you’ll be asked for a password. The password is: lowellsun
6) YOU’RE IN!!!

If you have any problems signing up, send an email to: tpanos@lowellsun.com or tedpanos@aol.com and I’ll be happy to help. (Since I’ve already signed up and created the group, it’s allowing me to skip a step or two along the way, so my directions to you might be a bit off. Trust me, however, it’s so simple even an internet oaf like me was able to do it!)

Good luck…and let the Madness begin!

Last week I posted the following entry, titled “The Choice is Yours”:

You're the General Manager of an NFL team and you have two standout players facing free agency. One is a shutdown cornerback who has proven himself as a clutch performer, that rare breed who actually raises his level of play in the post-season. He has 5-career playoff picks in 14-games, 3 of which have been returned for touchdowns, which ties him with the Raiders Willie Brown for the most in NFL history.

Oh yeah…one more thing. The receiver just turned 31-years old while the cornerback is 4-years younger. So I ask you, Patriots fans...why are most of you so eager to retain an older guy who fares worse in the playoffs and who plays a less valuable position on the field than the younger, more clutch performer?

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, these words were written about Asante Samuel and Randy Moss.

Since this posting last Thursday, Samuel signed a 6-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, reportedly worth $57-million, $20-million of that guaranteed. Moss put his John Hancock on a 3-year, $27-million contract with the Patriots, though we don’t yet know how much is guaranteed.

Refusing to pony up big bucks to a key contributor on championship teams isn’t anything new. So after contributing to two Super Bowl victories and giving Bill Belichick four high quality years for roughly $2-million dollars total, Samuel held out prior to the 2007 season, knowing this was his only leverage. Not wanting to sabotage a Super Bowl run, a la the Deion Branch situation, Belichick and Scott Pioli brought Samuel back with a big raise and the incentive based promise of not placing the franchise tag on their top cover corner. The escape route was paved, and the 27-year old defensive back didn’t backpedal out the door. He bolted full speed the first day he could. All’s fair in love, war and NFL free agency.

Moss, on the other hand, gets his reward after a record-setting season in which he helped take the Patriots offense to a new level…at least in the regular season. The playoff disappearing act has already been documented above, and it should also be noted it came after a bye week of “horseplay.” In essence, the best reason I’ve heard for signing Moss is to keep Tom Brady happy. Then again, winning the Super Bowl is what ultimately makes Tom Terrific happy on the gridiron, not any regular season stats or records. Did he look happy to you in Arizona?

Here’s the part that gets me: when all’s said and done, Moss and Samuel get roughly $9-million per season. One has two championship rings. The other has never won a thing in the NFL. One’s been a model citizen. The other is a trouble magnet. The Patriots are a franchise built on great coaching, quarterback play and defense. And yet faced with their biggest offseason decision, it appears they never gave it a second thought.

Which begs the question I didn’t ask last Thursday: Have the Patriots lost their way?

Posted by Chaz Scoggins

You didn’t really think the Red Sox were going to go unbeaten during the Grapefruit League season, did you? Like it really matters anyway.

I’m sure a lot of you were surprised to see phenom Clay Buchholz get beat up by the Twins. But it was his first official outing of the spring. Personally, I’d be more concerned about Craig Hansen, because he had trouble throwing strikes, walking three batters and hitting another.

File this away for future reference: Power pitchers are always slower to come around in the spring than finesse pitchers. It wasn’t unusual to see Nolan Ryan still getting lit up in April, while junkballers like Geoff Zahn were going 4-0 with microscopic ERAs, and nothing has changed. When the Astros trained in Cocoa, not far from Cape Canaverel, whenever a rocket took off in the middle of a game, the Astros players would all joke: “Uh-oh, there goes another Ryan fastball.”

Ace pitchers like Luis Tiant also pitched poorly in the spring. The only pitchers who worry about getting knocked around in the spring are minor-leaguers trying to make an indelible impression on the major-league staff. But very few judgments are made on any spring training statistics.

Trust me. If Jim Rice had ever depended solely on his spring training performances to win a job with the Red Sox, he never would have gotten out of Triple-A. The thing is, when you’re ready, you’re ready. And the guys evaluating the major-league talent know it, even if the prospects themselves sometimes don’t believe it.

Well, UMass-Lowell is officially heading to a place very few thought they’d reach this year…the Hockey East playoffs.

Congrats to Blaise MacDonald and the gang. Last night’s 5-4 overtime conquest of Northeastern has the River Hawks playoff bound. When you consider the crazy offseason (including threats to do away with the program) and the fact that 17 freshmen and sophomores play key roles on a nightly basis, that’s a rather amazing accomplishment in a conference as deep and talented as HE. Now the question becomes...can the Hawks make any noise in the playoffs?

Avoiding the 8th seed and UNH in the first round I think is a must, and I’d rather they avoided red-hot Boston University, too. But other than that, I think they stand a decent chance against anyone. On paper, BC should be avoided, but the Eagles are crash landing. Something’s wrong there. The rest of the playoff entrants are good, but not unbeatable.

That’s the view from here…how do you see it?