The bad news is, the Red Sox still face Toronto eight more times this year. The good news is, it can't get much worse than it did yesterday, when the Blue Jays enthusiastically pounded Jon Lester and scraped the Sox off their cleats, 11-0. Lester, who's been the island of competence in a Sox staff filled with injuries, control loss and a million question marks, didn't even make it three innings. Vernon Wells kicked off......

Do we really need to say anthing? This iconic photo by Dellplain says it all. 17!......

Thank god George W. Bush isn't a Celtic. On a visit to Ireland (a prime example of using the presidency as an excuse to travel the world before he gets kicked out), Dubya tried to shoot hoops with some Irish youngsters, but missed four of four shots. As The Independent puts it, "His sporting aim was far from true." We think his aim has been off in some non-sporting situations, too. (The video is......

DBomb Photography too shows her Celtic pride. Let's wrap it up this weekend boys; this city needs another Championship.......

The uteri of an undetermined number of Boston women turned themselves inside out today with the news that a Somerville man had been posing as little-known NBA player Jeff Turner on local singles' message boards. Ronnie Craven admitted today that he had been using the name of Turner, an unremarkable power forward/center who played ten seasons for the New Jersey Nets and Orlando Magic, in order to get laid. When reached at his Somerville home......

Update: KG just gave a shove to Pachulia of the Hawks, and he's been taken out. Marvin Williams of the Atlanta Hawks is officially the Number One Creep of the NBA playoffs. Just now, during the Celtics-Hawks game, Rajon Rondo broke away, with Williams after him. Williams proceeded to clothesline Rajon Rondo, wrapping his arm around Rondo's neck and throwing him down to the ground. The rest of the Celtics and their fans should be......

Nobody around here enjoyed last night very much. The Sox' listless loss to Detroit has us wondering where we chucked the Panic Button. The offense is anemic (did you catch Lugo coming six inches away from hitting into a triple play?). David Ortiz is off to a particularly wretched start, at .091. Mike Lowell jammed his thumb and we don't know how hurt he is. Jon Lester keeps digging holes for himself that he doesn't......

We'd heard the Miami Heat were terrible. At 13-60, with Shaq traded, Wade shelved, Pat Riley having wandered off in indignity, we didn't expect a real tough game for the Celtics last night. But terrible doesn't even begin to describe this team. Miami set an NBA record for fewest field goals (17) in a shot-clock-era game, set an unofficial record for passes right to defenders, and would have only been able to climb back in......

--Divers are looking for the body of a man who somehow went from the Mass Pike into Sudbury River last night. [Boston Globe] --The Guardian Angels have decided to send members to Brockton. [WCVB] --A State House committee will hear testimony about whether or not people can sue for emotional distress after the death of a pet. [Boston Herald] --A helpful list of the hearings about Cape Wind that are scheduled for this week.......

Ivy League schools aren't supposed to have good basketball teams, are they? They have teams for fun, so they can relax their weary minds with sports, but no one expects them to be a powerhouse. They're supposed to suck. A good Ivy League team might rip the fabric of the universe. Tommy Amaker, coach of Harvard's men's basketball team, might not have gotten that memo. The New York Times reported that Amaker has been considering......

The San Diego Chargers are hoisting their macho flag in the sky. One player who has the first name Igor (no joke) already boasted that the Patriots are more worried about the Chargers than the Chargers are of them. Can Igor do math? A perfect record is nothing to sniff at. Bostonist heard on ESPN that Coach Norv of the Chargers told Igor to shut his trap. No sports action last night, but tonight the......

Who is that swinger-lookin' 70s dude that the Celtics insist on flashing up on the Jumbotron during games? Why, that's Gino--the unofficial team mascot who is capturing the hearts of players and fans alike! The clip in which Gino appears is from '70s era "American Bandstand." He resembles Adrian Zmed of "TJ Hooker" fame, only with a lot more facial hair, and he knows how to work his sexy snake hips. Once you see......

One of the most remarkable things about the Celtics' remarkable turnaround is that NBA players actually want to come here. You may remember the lure of playing in Boston almost got Reggie Miller off his couch, and now there's talk that future Hall-of-Famer Gary Payton called his agent the other night and said he'd like to come to Boston. Now, this is amazing news for Bostonist. For years, our favorite non-Celtic players in the......

You know the old saying: you can't win 'em all. There are some gentlemen in Foxboro who may disagree, but the theory holds up for the most part. Which the Celtics and their eager fans learned last night at the Garden, as the battle-tested Pistons came in and outlasted the C's for the first home loss of the season. It was a great game, though. The first quarter belonged to Rajon Rondo, including an early......

-- The Bruins lost to Ottawa on Tuesday night, 3-2, and the Globe was quick to point out that the Bruins started to lose their steam around this time last year. The paper asks about whether this year could be a repeat. We'd answer, but we're busy wondering about whether Dan Shaughnessy helped Kevin Paul Dupont with his story. -- The Celts are facing off against Detroit tonight -- and Ray Allen is back and......

We could choose to be disappointed. We figured (and we weren't the only ones) that the combination of crappy weather, boisterous fans and motivated personnel would mean the Patriots would kick the Jets' butts up and down the field for three hours. We figured that, even though we're better than New York in every sport right now, yesterday would be a cathartic blowout to soothe any lingering anti-NY feelings around here. Well, not quite. The......

It was kind of adorable, the way the Celtics were quipping on Friday night. After defeating the Bucks, 104-82, and tying the franchise record for the best start on the ol' Boston parquet, the Celts tried to demur. Which, in turn, reminded us all of how awesome the team is. We could remark on the fact that Kevin Garnett (15 points), like, totally sounded like a Valley Girl when he tried to explain that he......

We're not the biggest Japanese-movie-monster buffs in the world, but we honestly can't remember an entry in the series when the monster got to go home early because Tokyo didn't even make a token effort to defend itself. But Ghidorah was sent to the bench early last night; the "Big Three" were no longer needed amid the Celtics' utter annihilation of the listless Knicks last night. It was a 23-point lead at halftime, and when......

Larry Bird was once quoted as saying, "I've got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end." If this theory holds true, Larry was speaking in the long-term - the Celtics gave 100 percent last night and things didn't work out in Cleveland in the end. After battling through regulation and overtime, the Celtics fell to the Cavs, 109-104. In order to pull......

--The Mattapan teenager who was shot in the jaw yesterday has not been named but was a student and basketball player at Charlestown High. Also yesterday, a man was stabbed last night on Cambridge Street, and he is in the hospital with life-threatening injuries. --An armed robbery happened at the Au Bon Pain at Harvard Square the night of November 19. Matt Dunning Erin Smith at the Cambridge Chronicle reports that three masked robbers "tied......

Does the venue make the team or does the team make the venue? And what happens if the venue has two teams, two games, and one day to pull it all off? The two host teams win, venue staff deserve medals, and a lot of people walk out of the place happy. There wasn't much of a battle on the boards of the TD Banknorth Garden on Friday night. The Celtics, doing what has become......

Where do you start when giving Thanks to everyone in the local sports scene who's made the past eight months or so almost perfect? Not to beat a dead turkey, but the Red Sox are world champs, the Celtics are rejuvenated and playing great basketball, the Revolution made the Finals again, BC is headed for a bowl game you've actually heard of, the Bruins are playing better than expected and are fun to watch, and......

No matter how old we get, the more we get a kick out of the immature, downright gleeful sensation of zinging another city's team. Case in point: Toronto on Tuesday night. The Maple Leafs hosted Boston, who in turn officially introduced the NHL to Tuukka Rask. Rask, a mere cub at 20 years of age, then made 30 saves and led the Bruins to a 4-2 victory over the Leafs. The zinger? Bruins fans know......

The Celtics extended their undefeated streak on Friday night to eight games, but fans of the Bill Belichick School of Gloat-Free Victories can take heart in the fact that the team wants to take it to the next level. "We are nowhere near where we want to be," is the quote, provided by Paul Pierce, that sums up Friday night's game at the Garden, which ended with a 92-91 Boston advantage over Miami. Yes, the......

Tim Thomas has been a rock in goal for the Bruins; even when they've been floundering offensively - and make no mistake, they have - Thomas has played well enough to keep them in the game. But last night against Toronto, another team struggling to put the biscuit in the basket, the B's found their rhythm and controlled the tempo, punishing old friend Andrew Raycroft for a 5-2 win. (Your humble correspondent was there, doing......

Josh Beckett got to hoist the championship trophy, ride down Boylston on the duck boats, and will get a huge ring in the spring. He earned the Sports Illustrated commemorative issue cover, the champagne and beer showers, and the reputation for serving as the ace among aces in October. He had a rich season, so we're hoping that such a reminder helps as C.C. Sabathia is toasted as the American League's newest Cy Young winner.......

So we were driving home from a party Saturday night, and heard on the radio that BC lost. Almost reflexively, we went, "Figures; as soon as we start paying attention to BC, they start losi....". Then we stopped and thought for a minute. Being reflexively negative and miserable just doesn't cut it when four of the five pro teams in town are either undefeated, in the championship game, or current World Champs. We know we're......

You may have heard that the Patriots are undefeated, the only team so remaining in the NFL, and are causing many a sleepless night among the '72 Dolphins champagne brigade. It may not be as flashy - it may not even last 'til tomorrow - but the Boston Celtics enjoy a similar distinction. With their brushing off of the Hawks last night, combined with the Clippers' (!) loss to Detroit, the C's begin today as......

While you, and we, have been fixated on the Red Sox and the Patriots and the Celtics, the Revolution have quietly made their way back to the MLS Cup. And it's time attention is paid. The Revs are in the Finals for the third straight year, and fourth since 2002. They got there by outlasting Chicago 1-0, with Taylor Twellman scoring his second goal of the playoffs. Which was also the team's second goal of......

For a day that featured not a single Boston professional sports team in game mode, Tuesday was jam-packed with sports news. And what made things even more ridiculous was the fact that, for a good portion of the day, one faced difficulty figuring out what news was legit and what was a sports scribe's attempt at an exclusive gone wrong (Tom Brady exclusive, anyone? Don't worry, we'll get it to it). We're going to sort......