We were worried? Remember, last season the Bruins were 0-37-1 against Montreal in the regular season, and still managed to force the Habs to seven games in the playoffs. 1-8 against the Angels in the regular season? Pfffft. As long as we're comparing Game One of the ALDS to hockey, there aren't a lot of games where it's easier to pick your Three Stars than last night in Anaheim. It's just putting them in order......

Nobody's going to be boxing this one up and sending it to Canton. It was slow, grinding, methodical and (objectively, let's be honest) kind of boring. But it was also quiet and efficient. Coach Belichick doesn't want style points - not right now, anyway - and he got exactly what he wanted, which was a W at New York. The defense had a few shaky moments. Brett Favre led the Jets on a long opening......

The Red Sox split their doubleheader with Toronto. The Rays split their doubleheader with New York. So nothing changes at the top of the division, but the clock continues to tick on the Jays and the Yankees, so that's what really matters right now. The Sox were tickled pink to salvage the split after the afternoon game, which saw Paul Byrd smacked around by Toronto for an 8-1 final. Meanwhile, A.J. Burnett carved through Sox......

"The show must go on," says Randy Moss. And the Patriots will have to be in New Jersey next Sunday, and back in Foxboro the Sunday after that, and so on. But it could be a long, long season. For seven and a half minutes, Tom Brady was in charge of the Patriots offense. And then, suddenly, he wasn't. And nobody this morning seems to be indicating anything other than season-ending surgery. The right leg......

Dustin Pedroia. It's never gonna get old. Once again slipped into the cleanup spot due to Kevin Youkilis' absence, Dustin rose to the occasion again, homering and driving in five runs as the Red Sox torched Baltimore last night, 14-2. This was a nice gift for Jon Lester, as the Sox posted four in the third and six in the fourth off of hapless O's starter Radhames Liz. David Ortiz got the party started with......

Well...that sucked. Trying to stop a modest 1-game losing streak, Josh Beckett was turned into hamburger by the suddenly red-hot Blue Jay bats. The Jays shelled Josh for eight runs in less than three innings, and Beckett got the loss in a 15-4, 22-Toronto-hit massacre. "They were just really, really bad pitches. Well, good pitches to hit," said Beckett, and it's hard to argue. The Sox did scratch out a little offense - an RBI......

Tom Brady met the media as the Patriots began camp yesterday. After spending the offseason at beaches around the world trying to wash the disaster of last season off himself, he says the time off was good for him, and he's ready to join Coach Bill and the team in the singleminded pursuit of finishing the job this year. (Bostonist has to admit, we're partial to the idea of tanking opening day against the Chiefs,......

--One of the survivors of the fatal rear-end Green Line D trolley collision is sharing her story of one passenger staying with her and helping her until rescuers could help free her from the train. [Boston Herald] --After lawsuits and retaliation, American Airlines will no longer charge a $2 fee for curbside check-in, AND you can actually tip the skycap if you so choose. [Boston Globe] --The Entiwistle trial is staying in Middlesex County.......

It was about a week ago when we noted that the Bruins were in 6th place in the Prince of Wales Eastern Conference, which was a decent place to be, thus drawing the winner of the weak-sister Southeast Division. In that week, the B's have solidified the 6th spot, but are now officially in spittin' distance of bigger and better things. They've won blowouts this week, they've won shootouts, they've won at home, they've won......

Bostonist never thought of Bill Belichick as cover material, unless one counts the awesomeness of the Sports Illustrated cover with Belichick as Santa. But a few gay males might get a surprise when they pick up the latest issue of Spirit Magazine, "Boston's Premier Magazine for the Gay and Lesbian Community." Because there's Bill Belichick's mug and hoodie alternative on the cover. Fabulous it is not. First off, Belichick is a cougar-sexual. Second, "Belichick" and......

From satire by the Upright Citizens Brigade (see video above) to Bob Ryan to editorials in the Boston Globe magazine, the media appears to be wailing on Patriots coach Bill Belichick after Spygate and the Super Bowl loss. So he lost, and so he might be a cheater, but would people be as angry if the Patriots won the Super Bowl? Maybe not. Doug Most writes in the Boston Globe Magazine, "But now it's......

You'll have to forgive the Celtics if they felt like they arrived in Portland having lurched their way up the Oregon Trail. Three losses in a row doesn't quite compare to running out of buffalo meat and spilling a wagon into the Big Blue River, but combine that with the debacle in Phoenix, and you can understand why some of the team felt like they died of cholera. Things reached the lowest of the low......

He was the last man added to the Eastern All-Star team. When KG scratched, he waited for the call, only to find it went to Rasheed Wallace. When Washington's Caron Butler went down, the call finally came. He had to cancel the fishing trip and make plans to go to New Orleans. And when he got there, Ray Allen was awesome. He scored 28 points in 19 minutes, mostly in the fourth quarter, to lead......

Can you put a price on Super Bowl immortality? MasterCard would likely say no (because let's face it, it's priceless), but some people in St. Louis offer a resounding "hell yes." The estimated price of a 2002 Rams Super Bowl win, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, is $100 million. The lawsuit, which names the Patriots organization and Coach Bill Belichick, stems from former Rams player Willie Gary,......

--A truck making an illegal left turn near the BU East Green Line Stop hit a Green Line train yesterday morning. One Green Line passenger went to the hospital, and the truck driver has a date with the courts. [Boston Globe] --Speaking of bad drivers, some people never learn. [Boston Globe] --Laura Crimaldi into how the mortgage mess has hit the city, particularly Dorchester, where 33 percent of the city's foreclosures happened. [Boston Herald]......

Tuesday was supposed to be a glorious day. A crowd was to stand in the rain, braving the elements to cheer for the football heroes ambling down roads lined in blue and red. And after the last bits of confetti were cleaned up, the celebratory mass of people would tune in to cheer for their basketball team's winning ways. Clearly, that didn't happen. Instead, Boston was treated to a day of quiet coaches, plea-entering players,......

It seems for some reason, Tom Brady and Randy Moss don't want to take a 6,000 mile flight this week and be reminded of Sunday's crushing disappointment. Brady's ankle issues are well-documented, of course, but Randy is feeling sympathy pain and is skipping the trip to Hawaii as well. So the Pro Bowl will have to go on without them. Tissues all around. The fallout is still...well, falling. The Patriots have to decide how much......

Is it even an argument at this point? Boston's Mayor Menino caused the Patriots' loss by planning the city's victory party a little too early and much too transparently. Last Wednesday, well before the unthinkable happened, the Herald was already proclaiming, "Tommy, you might as well have suited up for the hated Giants." While the mourning (and the blame game) continues, political life must also go on. With the Massachusetts primary being held tomorrow, the......

Update: At least someone found humor in the hoodie. Let the finger-pointing begin. Whose fault was it that the New England Patriots lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl? Tom Brady? Bill Belichick? Or was it ... Bill Belichick's new hoodie? Bostonist blames the hoodie. Belichick came out in a hoodie with the sleeves cut off at three quarters, but the hoodie was in a hot-red shade that no one could miss.......

After one of the most painful, stunning, heart-breaking upsets in sports history, local football fans were left to pick their jaws up off the floor. Right up to the end, it seemed like the Patriots would win. In post-game interviews, coach Bill Belichick looked shell-shocked than usual. A few local newscasters wore expressions suggesting that close relatives had died. It was an ugly mood. On the way home, Bostonist walked past a few bars, which......

Patriots coach Bill Belichick flicks his "Sexy Beast" switch on and off like a light. One moment, he's all Mr. Serious and Scary, and, the next moment, he's on a cougar hunt. It seemed that Belichick would focus on the football during Super Bowl weekend. However, the Track Girls have spotted not one, but two, cougars joining Belichick in Arizona. Linda Holliday has been seen with Belichick in the past and may have inspired the......

--An MBTA bus driver lost control of his bus this morning in Revere. The driver suffered from an unspecified ailment and went to the hospital, along with two passengers. [Boston Globe, Boston Herald] --A 5-year-old boy died choking on an object while on a school bus in Marlborough yesterday. [WBZ] --A UMass-Lowell student was hit by a truck as she waited for a bus. Police said that this driver might have had an unspecified......

Here's something we never thought of: the Patriots' (hopeful) victory parade would have to be on Tuesday, thus conflicting with the Massachusetts primary. The team won't be back on Monday, and most of them have to go to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii on Wednesday. So Tuesday (and not AFTER the Pro Bowl, which would just be crazy talk) it is. "We have to have a plan," saidMayor Menino. "I'm just thinking about it; I......

Bostonist hearts the Herald's habit of mashing up anything sports-related with other subjects, such as online romance. Today, as the Super Bowl approaches, Joe Dwinnell contacted a shrink to help fans find meaning in Bill Belichick's hoodie and cope with various neuroses. The good doctor warns that fans might want draw clear mental boundaries between themselves and the Patriots coach: Q: Bill Belichick is so dry, but that’s good. Should we all go through life......

--A massive fire that started in an abandoned nightclub and eventually destroyed 14 buildings in downtown Lawrence broke into the national news. In a miracle given the size of the fire, no one was hurt. However, 30 families were displaced. Authorities think the fire is suspicious. The owner, who was in the process of turning the spot into a restaurant, says he has no insurance and that someone "jealous of his success" started it.......

In a way, it doesn't feel right; the Colts should perhaps be in town today. They are(were) the defending champs, after all. They gave the Patriots the first in a long stretch of runs for their money that the Pats survived. The Dungy-Belichick and Manning-Brady rivalries are about the biggest stories in sports in this young century. But who cares, really. The Colts are on the golf course and it's San Diego who's in town......

After Randy Moss vigorously defended himself after a woman in Florida served him with a temporary restraining order, the woman's lawyer, David McGill, provided a different story. Where Moss suggested that the woman, whom he has known for some time, was trying to extort money from him, the lawyer said that Moss tried to pay her "hush money" in the six figures. In court documents, the victim checked off a box stating that Moss had......

Ask Bill Belichick about last week's game, and you may as well be asking him about the Treaty of Ghent. Ask him about the 14-point-underdog Chargers, and you may as well be asking him about an All-Star team composed of the '85 Bears, '89 49ers and the Justice League of America. You know what you get from Coach Bill when you ask about football. But apparently, ask him about team fight songs and you hit......

Thanks to the Freedom Of Information laws and the PATRIOT Act, we were able to petition the federal government to listen in on last night's weekly Manning Family phone call. Here's a sample: E: Hey, Peyton, it's me. P: Oh, hi, Eli. What's up? E: Well, I don't know if you saw it, but we beat the Cowboys last night. It was pretty awesome. P: Yeah, I saw. Congratulations. E: Thanks, big brother! You know,......

Any given team, any given night -- in this case, any given Saturday. The Jaguars are preparing to do what they can to put the Patriots' perfect season to an end, and they'll give it a shot tonight at 8:00 p.m. Bill Belichick would note that tonight's game features two teams with the same record - 0-0. But just about everyone else out there is putting their money or bragging rights on New England. We're......