Sports Redux: Are You Ready For Some Football?

With the summer already seemingly down in flames (more on that later, if we can bear it), there was a bit of welcome news yesterday, as the NFL released its 2009 schedule, so we can now see what the Patriots' fall will look like. We already knew about the Monday Night opener with Buffalo and the trip to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of London in October, but it's here in all its glory.

The most intriguing games are the annual trip to Indianapolis on Nov. 15, one of three night road games the Pats will play in addition to their home opener (the others are back to back in New Orleans and Miami). They visit Josh McDaniel and the Broncos in Week Five, and Foxboro fans will have the chance to thank the Jets in person for bombing in the final week of last season on Nov. 22. If there are any Jets still there from last year.

All right, it's not fair to say that the summer is completely shot. Our winter teams are still around, after all. The Bruins are ready - so very ready - for tomorrow's playoff opener against Montreal. Steve Conroy of the Herald writes a great summary/preview. The Celtics' penultimate regular-season game, which doubles as an almost-certain first-round preview, saw them beating Philly without Ray Allen (suspension) or Kevin Garnett (sigh). Paul Pierce, left as the only superstar, scored 31 including the gamewinner. Tony Allen and Leon Powe (yay) took the starting spots usually occupied by the other Big Two.

OK, we've put it off long enough. We have to talk about the Red Sox. Daisuke Matsuzaka turned a 1st-inning 3-0 lead into a 1st-inning 5-3 deficit, sparking fears that the WBC ruined him for the spring, if not the year. The bullpen did sparkle, shutting down the Oaklands for ten innings as the Sox tied it, but Javier Lopez walked the bases loaded and allowed the winning single in the 12th. The Sox are now 2-6, their worst start in 13 years, and trail the godawful Nationals by 1 1/2 in the race for the first draft pick. So, as a courtesy, we've installed our annual Bostonist BandwagonCam to judge the mood of Red Sox Nation.