Sports Redux: Youk's Got A Friend

Let's think about baseball for a minute. It's colder than the surface of Neptune out there right now, and it's nice to imagine, however improbably, that three months from now, the grass will be green, the sausages will be cooking...and Kevin Youkilis will be at first base (unless he's at third) and all will be right with the world.

Because Youk got himself a nice payday yesterday, signing a four-year deal (with an option for 2013) for upwards of $40 million. We should point out that Derek Lowe, who should have "14-10" tattooed on his arm, just signed a 4-year deal with Atlanta for $60 million. So parents, make those kids pitch and pitch in Little League no matter how much they complain. They'll thank you down the road.

Back to winter sports, and the main challenge for the Bruins last night was staying awake in the hopeless atmosphere of the Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders, hockey's far-and-away worst team, have won just twice since the end of November. The Bruins did stir enough to score two goals: Marc Savard with a wrist shot and Martin St. Pierre with a tailor-made rebounder. Tim Thomas was his usual fantastic self, stopping 40 Islander shots and coming a "bad bounce with less than a minute to go" away from his fourth shutout. The B's visit Washington on Saturday.

The Cavaliers lost, so the Celtics are back in a virtual three-way tie for top spot in the East. Cleveland's 30-7, Orlando's 31-8, and the C's are 32-9. And neither of them has New Jersey for their next game. Bob Ryan talks to a giddy Bill Walker after his very impressive garbage-time performance on Wednesday.

Photo (not of Youk reacting to yesterday's news) by Eric Kilby, from Flickr, under a Creative Commons license.