Sports Redux: What Dennis Haysbert and Manny Ramirez Have in Common

--Eric Gillin, writing for Deadspin, posted one of the best summaries of the upcoming Red Sox season. Why was it so good? The author found a way to parallel each Red Sox player to a character in Major League II. Here's a taste of the article that compares Pedro Cerrano (a bulked-up Dennis Haysbert) to Willy Mo Pena and Manny Ramirez: "After not winning the ALCS, Cerrano returns to the team as a completely different man -- a Zen-like Buddhist who loves everyone -- which is exactly the same transformation that happens to Manny every year! But unlike Cerrano, Manny can hit the curveball. Wily Mo Pena, the freakishly large 26-year-old fourth outfielder, most certainly cannot. Manny's the off-field Cerrano. Wily Mo is the on-field."

--Last night was an amazing March Madness night in which two underdogs gave some big names a run for their money. In nailbiting games, Vanderbilt almost beat Georgetown, Butler almost beat Florida, and USC almost beat North Carolina, only to melt down toward the end. At least Boston College fans, who saw their team lose to Georgetown, can take comfort in the fact that Roy Hibbert never really got going in the game with Vanderbilt and eventually fouled out.

--In fact, March Madness showed us how real basketball is done. The Celtics, however, did not. They lost again to the Mavericks, 109 to 95. But if Doc Rivers really intends to give the young fellas some playing time, then perhaps he should just give Paul Pierce a rest. The Globe reports: "Pierce plans to see a doctor next week to possibly determine whether he should continue playing this season." They're in the basement, so why not? It probably improves their chances at that precious top draft pick.

Image of the Red Sox as the cast of Major League II from Deadspin. And we hope this encourages you to read the whole post!