1-0. That's all that matters.

Sure, Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched like he just got off the plane after a 19-hour trip. Papelbon was shaky. J.D. Drew got hurt. But look at the bright sides. Hideki Okajima upstaged his countryman and got the win. Manny's on pace for 648 RBIs. And J.D. was replaced by Brandon Moss, who hit the game-tying home run.

In case you had cable or satellite problems, you weren't alone. And ESPN's GameCast was apparently travelling by Morse Code around through Kamchatka and the Aleutians; they may still be on the third inning. So thanks to Sports of Boston for liveblogging the game for those of us who weren't able to follow more closely.

1-0. All alone in first. We like it so far.

The first game home after a tough road trip is always dangerous in the NBA. You let your guard down a little; maybe you count on the home fans to carry you more than you should. And then you have to act surprised when a spunky Sixers team used a 19-0 run to blow past the Celtics last night. Whether it was fatigue or not (the C's claim not), the home team completely withered down the stretch. Doc kept the starters out for most of the withering; we guess that's to his credit, because you don't want to burn them out in March. But losing hurts at any time. Luckily, Philly's red hot and will be someone else's headache in the first round.

The Bruins' scuffle for survival resumes tonight in Toronto. They'll have to do it without Marc Savard, who took a crunching hit in Montreal the other day and had to have a CT scan on his bruised back.

Image from US State Department.