Sports Redux: The Dice-K Tini?

Daisuke Matsuzaka Mania has already jumped the shark, and the season hasn't even started yet. The Globe had a long, loving look at how the arrival of Matsuzaka is going to juice up Boston's economy. (Better hide Pastor Wall's warning to tourists about the risks of getting shot around here.)

We are anticipating Matsuzaka's official debut as much as the next sports fan. And we are tickled that one guy is expected to pump $14 million into the city's coffers. But we are a touch underwhelmed by the new drink that one of the local hotels is selling:

The Ritz-Carlton Boston Common has introduced a concoction called the Dice-K-Tini in its Jer-Ne Restaurant & Bar. The drink consists of 3 parts vodka, 1 part sake, and 1 part "passion fruit puree," in which bobs an ice cube in the form of frozen red dice.

A foofie drink symbolizing a member of the Red Sox? The Red Sox needs beer! We can't imagine a regular Sox fan sipping from a Dice-K-Tini. We hope some people enjoy the drink, but the Dice-K-Tini pushes Matsuzaka Mania over the brink.

Now to real sports. The Red Sox announced its roster yesterday. Here's the winners in a nice, tidy list (slightly modified from the Globe's) in case you need to update your fantasy baseball rosters:

Pitchers - Josh Beckett, Matt Clement (d), Brendan Donnelly, Javier Lopez, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima (you are not in the shadows to us, Hideki!), Super Bon-Bon Papelbon, Joel Pineiro, J.C. Romero, Curt Schilling, Kyle Snyder, Julian Tavarez, Mike Timlin (d), Tim Wakefield, Jon Lester (d)

Uh, all those little "d's" for "disabled list" makes us a touch nervous. So moving on …

Catchers - Doug Mirabelli, Jason Varitek

Infield - Alex Cora, Mike Lowell, Julio Lugo, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youklis

Outfield - Coco Crisp (insert "we hope you're not soggy" joke here), J.D. Drew, Eric Hinske, Willy Mo Pena, the enigmatic Manny Ramirez

The Bruins took on the Ottawa Senators, and the results were exactly what we expected. Crappy. Sure, they beat the Senators, but leave it to the Bruins. They can't make the playoffs, nor can they maintain a decent losing streak.

Oh, and surprise! Patriot running back Lawrence Maroney had shoulder surgery, which uncovered "significant damage" to his shoulder joint. No wonder the Patriots went into a player-buying frenzy! And they'll keep building their arsenal - they're not lacking for picks in the NFL draft.

Image of a martini from Flickr user ginsnob.