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......

First place was in their grasp. So close. Josh Beckett was humming, the Rays were putting up a line of zeroes, and even though it was only 1-0, the Red Sox had to feel good about taking first back last night. Until Carlos Pena solved Beckett and put one into the seats over a leaping Jacoby Ellsbury (shown here). Suddenly, it was Tampa Bay starter Andy Sonnanstine and the remarkable Ray bullpen that looked magical.......

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......

We think we can officially admit that Tampa Bay isn't just going to go away. For weeks, while the Red Sox played very good ball, only to see the Rays blow through the rest of the AL, our mantra was always, "we've got six shots left at these guys". Now we're down to three, the Sox haven't won in Tampa Bay all year, and the half-game deficit has ballooned to two and a half. Uh......

Folks...the late season magic has arrived. The Red Sox seemed poised for another near-sweep, so close and yet so far. Daisuke Matsuzaka, the master at digging then getting out of holes, had gotten the Sox down 4-0. The seventh-inning stretch had arrived. (By the way, Bostonist was at Fenway the other night and noted that fans now have to be reminded to stand up for the seventh-inning stretch, but leap up out of their seats......

Is this going to be the game that we look back on and say, yes, this was the day the 2008 Red Sox got it together? It's not out of the question. The Sox have been - let's go with scuffling - for a couple of weeks. They've watched Toronto blow them out of Fenway and blow Jon Lester out of SkyDome or whatever it's called now. And they stepped up, taking the Jays to......

Two Red Sox may have moved themselves off the "what's wrong with this guy?" list in Kansas City last night. Well, nothing's really been wrong with Tim Wakefield; although he went into last night 6-8, he's gotten miserable run support and has had to deal with the constant emotional roller coaster that is the lot of the knuckleballer. But he was awesome last night (6 innings, 4 hits, 1 ER, 6 Ks), even though Royals......

Jon Lester doesn't want to be known anymore as the guy who survived cancer. Jon Lester doesn't even want to be known as the kid who no-hit the Royals. Jon Lester, thank you very much, would like to be known as a lights-out pitcher and a cornerstone of the Sox' staff. And so shall we know him from now on. With the team reeling, losing five in a row and watching the Rays run out......

Tim Wakefield deserves better. He got the loss and was technically outpiched by Tampa Bay's Matt Garza, but if you give up five hits and only one earned run, you deserve better. That's our opinion, anyway. Wake was the victim of a 3-1 loss to the scorching hot Rays, mostly due to a couple of ill-timed wild pitches. The first TB run scored on a walk, a groundout, an error, and a wild pitch. Not......

It's lonely at the top, they say. But there are now 24 men in the 500-home run club, and it probably feels a lot less lonely now that Manny Ramirez has joined that prestigious bunch. Manny took former teammate Chad Bradford deep in the seventh, stood and watched, then took his victory lap and got one of those bounce huddles usually reserved for walkoffs. Manny is the third guy to hit #500 in a Red......

Remember during rerun season a few years ago, one of the networks, instead of trying something different, since there are 300 million people in the country and we still can't come up with anything better than Two and A Half Men reruns during the summer, trotted out the ham-fisted, "if you haven't seen it, it's new to you!" promotion? Well, Bartolo Colon may not be a loveable kid with a brilliant backstory like Jon Lester,......

Boston Magazine released its annual power issue, which is an annual must-have for any lifestyle magazine. This power list leads to the inevitable question, what does "power" mean, anyway? Does "power" refer to one's title? If you looked at how Deval Patrick's casino proposal turned out, you might argue that Patrick certainly didn't merit fourth place. But he does get to have "governor" in front of his name. Does "power" refer to popularity? Of course,......

Someday, when Johan Santana and Jacoby Ellsbury are on the same Hall of Fame ballot, we're going to think back to the time when one was almost traded for the other. And then we're going to remember nights like last night, and no matter how many wins, K's and Cy Youngs Santana racks up over his career, we're going to thank Theo Epstein for keeping Ellsbury in Boston. Jacoby ruled the day last night in......

Paul Pierce might not think about the games he's recently played, but Celtics fans had past performances in their minds on Wednesday night - particularly the manner in which he'd faltered last month during play against those pesky Suns of Phoenix. It was with a big cheer (and sigh of relief) that we responded to a 27-point effort from P Squared during last night's 117-97 Celtics win at the Call It What You Want......

...only makes you stronger. That has to be the attitude the Bruins take today, after having their winning streak stopped, killed, set on fire, stomped, buried, and the earth salted. The good news is, they will never play a worse game than they did last night. It was 6-0 Capitals in the first period. Alex Ovechkin had a hat trick before half the fans had found their seats. Tim Thomas got pulled, put back in......

Jacoby Ellsbury seems to be popping up all over boston.com as the new hot endorsement machine. Boston.com did a http://www.boston.com/business/gallery/sports_endorsements/">photo gallery of famous endorsements by sports figures, and they front-loaded it with an image of a shiny, muscled Ellsbury pushing a ridiculously large tire and a photo of him at Taco Bell. Is the new fascination with Ellsbury a sign that Tom Brady might be losing ground as Boston's resident sports stud? Even after BabyDaddyGate......

--Hug a social worker today. If you've ever wondered why the Department of Social Services couldn't stop an act of violence from happening, read this eye-opening article on just how hard it is to be a social worker. According to the piece, "between one-third and three-quarters of all social workers nationwide have been threatened, physically assaulted, or had their property damaged." [Boston Globe] --A Bridgewater State College student and his girlfriend, a student at......

We are optimistic about many things. We're optimistic about the Bruins' chances when it comes to the Stanley Cup. We're optimistic that the Red Sox will manage to land Johan Santana while keeping Jacoby Ellsbury on the roster. We're optimistic that the San Diego Charges will, after being defeated soundly at Gillette on Sunday, line up as a team at the 50-yard-line and bow down before Brady and Moss. We can be optimistic all we......

With the best year EVER in Boston sports coming to a close, it's time to do a little reviewing. We've come up with a series of lists from the highs to the really highs to the lows, and we'll be sharing them for the next few days. Here's a list of Boston sports' 10 Biggest Disappointments of 2007: 10. Coaches' wardrobes. Our hopes for a delayed winter were shattered, which meant two things, (1) snow,......

Given that there were no local games to be had on Tuesday evening, we here at Bostonist wanted to dig below the surface, uncover some little-known facts about the local sports scene and its ripple effect. And did we* come up with some gems for you! -- Mike Ditka Doesn't Like the Pats! As we mentioned Tuesday afternoon, Ditka spoke out after Sunday's Pats win and said that Tom Brady was as wrong for acknowledging......

--When word got out that Mayor Menino wanted to bring in a petting zoo to revitalize Downtown Crossing, we thought it was a joke. But it turns out that the barnyard animals are at the crossing on weekends outside Filene's Basement. Animal activists are underwhelmed, and how can looking at sad, cold animals inspire people to shop? [Boston Herald] --Wondering what all the screaming was about early yesterday evening at Downtown Crossing? It didn't......

Well, the Twins aren't cooperating. Instead of being excited about the chance for yet another Minnesota star to come to Boston, they're dragging their feet on the inevitable Johan Santana trade. They now want Jacoby Ellsbury thrown in the mix, to counter Hank Steinbrenner's throwing-in of pitching prospect Phil Hughes. The Red Sox say maybe on Ellsbury, but that would mean no Jon Lester. The Yankees say if they don't hear from Minnesota soon, the......

Bostonist always knew that The Hub offered prime casting choices for the CW's Beauty & the Geek. This season features three local geeks and one local beauty. Naturally, the casting crew headed to Boston to find new talent for the next cycle. Based on what Bostonist saw at The Estate on Saturday afternoon, the casting team couldn't have been disappointed. Despite miserable, dank weather, plenty of beauties and geeks arrived for group interviews. Two MIT......

--After a series of positive experiences, Urban Paramedic has reconsidered the Guardian Angels: "People may disagree over the value of Guardian Angel patrols, but they certainly deserve credit for believing in what they do." --The Food Monkey has an epiphany thanks to Jacoby Ellsbury's winning a free taco for America. --On Common Ground evaluates the Globe's choices for this year's Top 25 Most Stylish People and finds this year's list to be an improvement over......

Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without an operator provoking a response from the transport authorities. Elsewhere, London's answer to Central Station is about to open for business, and Londonist got a sneak preview. Meanwhile, spooky goings-on beneath London Bridge, where a cache of skeletons provided an apt story for Hallowe'en.......

Bostonist saw today's "Rolling Rally," featuring the players riding duck boats across the city and relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon dancing to the Dropkick Murphys, from two different vantage points--near the Common and at the Hynes Convention Center. Everyone clearly enjoyed themselves, especially Papelbon: Wherever you were along the parade route, it was simply madness. Of course, the Red Sox faithful turned out in their jerseys. Hundreds of little kids skipped school. College students sat down......

View Larger Map During today's "Rolling Rally," be sure to thank Jacoby Ellsbury for stealing a base and earning everyone in the nation a free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco. If you are looking for a taco after the rally, your best bets are the Taco Bells on Comm Ave, at Cambridgeside Galleria, and in West Roxbury. Even if the promotion is somewhat absurd, at least according to the transcript of Royce Clayton and Coco Crisp......

Well, the Red Sox proved that they can win even when Colorado finds its offense. So it's 3-0, and teams coming back from 3-0 is a once-in-a-lifetime deal. (We're engaging in a little post-2004 thinking, but don't think we're not engaging in all the superstitions, wearing the same cap, drinking the same coffee, wearing the same underwear, etc., in the meantime). The Sox came out blazing, slapping Rockies starter Josh Fogg around for six in......

There's been interesting discussion prompted in New England these days: that we're the center of the sports universe. We don't know what will come of our shiny and new Celtics lineup, but it sure looks pretty. The Patriots have suggested thus far this season that they are as close to unstoppable as a team that has to play on any given Sunday (or Monday) can be. The Bruins have decided to stop lurking in the......

If what they say is true, and Curt Schilling truly pitched his last game as a member of the Boston Red Sox last night... Let there be no mistake. The dividing line between the Sox' Era of Perpetual Failure and the current Golden Years can easily be geotagged; it's somewhere between Theo Epstein's Thanksgiving dinner in Arizona and the first time Curt posted on the SOSH message board. Somewhere in that stretch, the Red Sox......