Sports Redux: The Blue Birds of Unhappiness

The Sox express train derailed last night, as the Jays finally solved Tim Wakefield en route to a 7-3 win. The culprits? Well, the first four guys in the lineup went 1-for-19.

A doable 2-run deficit doubled in the 8th inning; Vernon Wells hit a rocket into center field. Wily Mo Pena looked more like Sily Mo Pena as the ball bounced over his outstretched glove and careened around for a triple. Aaron Hill then took Mike Timlin deep and that was pretty much that. Roy Halladay and Julian Tavarez lock horns tonight before the Sox head out on a five-game Midatlantic swing.

North Carolina's Brandan Wright is about to declare for the NBA Draft. He's a 6-9 forward with a sweet shot and and solid rebounding skills. Y'know; just in case you're not brimming with confidence that the ping-pong balls will bounce the Celtics' way.

Finally, Bostonist was devastated to hear that author David Halberstam was killed in a car crash yesterday morning. Although Halberstam was known for writing on politics, history, and all manner of scholarly subject, he held sports dear to his heart as well. His The Breaks of the Game, chronicling a year in the life of an NBA team (the '78 Blazers), is rightly considered a landmark in sports journalism. He also wrote The Summer of '49, chronicling the epic Sox-Yankees pennant race, and recently penned an in-depth book getting into the life and mind of Bill Belichick. He will definitely be missed.

Blue jay photo courtesy of Flickr's Nature55.