Sports Redux: Home Cookin'

It's the day we've all been waiting for, particularly if you're among the 38,805 blessed souls holding tickets to the Sox home opener against Seattle. The Mariners have been snowbound in Cleveland since Thursday; hopefully, they'll be rusty from a long weekend of playing tiddlywinks and touring and retouring the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Josh Beckett goes against Jeff Weaver.

The Globe has a photo essay of the preparations for Opening Day. Some of the Fenway improvements that you'll never get to see include an interior redesign of many of the luxury boxes. You might have a chance at the new bleachers in "Conigliaro's Corner", which sell for $25 a pop on gameday only, and you have to go right into the park after you buy your tickets.

Which is just another indignity heaped on the poor, maligned scalper ticket broker. The Globe reported yesterday that things are about to get tough for these gougers honest businessmen; police say they plan to crack down on transactions outside the park, and a Quincy judge is threatening to force agencies to divulge their ticket sources, which the companies say will expose their scam curtail their flow of trade. Good thing we're impartial enough to serve on any jury that may come about.

The Celtics are about to extend Doc Rivers' contract, the Herald reports. It might be nice to see how much of this season's fiasco was actually Doc's fault; while we've questioned - repeatedly - his in-game coaching style in the past, you can't deny that a lesser motivator might have let this team dissolve into anarchy and in-game fistfights. Let's just hope that if the Celtics do land the #1 pick that Rick Pitino doesn't come calling.

Finally, with the Bruins' season officially entered in the record books (filed under "D" for "disappointing"), we have to pick which of the NHL playoff teams Bostonist will actually be rooting for. We're inclined to usually root for the Original Six Franchises (which would be Detroit, since we're not going to root for NY) or the Canadian teams (since they, y'know, invented the sport). And we're not going to root for Nashville or Atlanta, just on general principles. We'll take suggestions, is what we're saying.