5:38 PM. Let the live blog begin! We're back at Bostonist Auxiliary HQ in Central Mass, where we've been for 15 out of the previous 18 games this season (2 of the 3 we missed were the way-too-close Baltimore and Jets II games, so no way we're taking any chances). We're joined for a little while by a 2 1/2 year old who has never seen a Patriot Super Bowl win in his entire life.......

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......

Mike of The Food Monkey shares his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more on consuming the opponents and other food news, go to the Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to the Food Monkey's contact page. After a long hiatus filled with flurries, football, food, and fireworks, I resume my series......

The Chargers sputtered for a while yesterday, but finally turned it on enough to beat Tennessee and ensure that the Jacksonville Jaguars will be the next team to come into Foxboro and try to spoil the Pats' Date With Destiny. The Jags, everyone's chic pick to make a wild-card run in the AFC, barely beat Pittsburgh, but the consensus is that they're well-suited to giving the Pats as tough a game as they've had all......

Hope you sports fans were able to relax yesterday. The disappointing non-slaughter of the Jets is in the rear view mirror, the Dolphins game isn't quite as exciting since the stupid Ravens ended Miami's bid for a winless season, everything is sewn up in the AFC, and the Monday Night game wasn't that exciting. Plus, the Celtics and Bruins were off. But we've got some big games coming up in the next 48 hours, so......

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......

We're really glad we're not the New York Jets. Especially today. First of all, if you were a Jet, you'd have to be outside for hours and hours in this weather. Second of all, you're not a very good football team, and you are playing today against a remarkably good team. Third, you're the team whose coach finked out Bill Belichick early this year, putting the Patriots on a mission to destroy everything in their......

--The following falls more in the "Don't Panic" category instead of the "Blotter" category. If you stuck a TV set on top of a light pole at the corner of Main Street and Bishop Allen in Cambridge this morning, the Cambridge Police Department would like to have a word with you. You caused quite the freak-out. [Cambridge Chronicle] --The Christmas tree at the State House is covered blue light-emitting diodes," which conserve energy. However, the......

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......

If Anthony Smith has learned anything this week, it's that guarantees are best left to Cajun chefs and the Men's Wearhouse guy. Because when you're an inexperienced safety trash-talking a 12-0 juggernaut, you can bet they'll listen. And listen the Pats did, toasting Smith twice en route to a 34-13 pasting of the Steelers. First, Smith misplayed Randy Moss, which is almost always good for a highlight, as Brady hit Moss for a TD while......

The baseball winter meetings are over, and the Red Sox find themselves without an ace. Except for the one they have. And the Japanese guy who might yet become one. And the old cowboy back for one more year. And the two or three promising kids who might be a couple years away. But they haven't landed Johan Santana, which is either a failure (if they really were after Santana) or a success (if their......

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......

Mike of The Food Monkey has joined Bostonist to share his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more, go to the Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to the Food Monkey's contact page. In friendly competition, one attempts to best one’s opponent–so long as it doesn’t happen to cause too much of......

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......

A Jets fan took Videotapegate way too personally and is suing the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick for taping the Jets' signals. When this item appeared on Sports by Brooks, it looked like a clever gag. But someone is actually suing the Pats, and they want $148 million for himself and the disillusioned Jets ticket holders. Carl Mayer of Princeton Township, New Jersey, has some high-minded notions about the sports complex. Mayer's attorney said,......

We thought we might be able to squeak by with optimism (whether produced naturally or provided by alcohol), we thought that the worst was behind us. But here we are, rounding that final bend before we plunge into the postseason and...well...the Sox lost to the Blue Jays on Tuesday night, 4-3, while the Yankees pulverized the Orioles, 12-0. Here we go, gang: only two and a half games separate Boston and New York. Sox fans......

Yeah, baby! We all know that the Red Sox should be thumping the Devil Rays, but it's hard to argue with two consecutive hard-fought, come-from-behind wins from a lineup that's been painful to watch for stretches this season. Last night, the Sox surrendered four early runs to Tampa Bay, with starter Jon Lester throwing 65,431 pitches and only making into the fourth inning. Rays starter Edwin Jackson, looking like a Cy Young candidate (the Sox......

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has decided that the Patriots violated league rules by videotaping the Jets' signals during Sunday's game. Pats coach Bill Belichick has apologized publicly. Belichick's statement at the conference was a tad slippery: Although it remains a league matter, I want to apologize to everyone who has been affected, most of all ownership, staff and players. Following the league's decision, I will have further comment. Uh, Coach Belichick, you might want to......

Lots to cover today, but let's begin with a show of hands: who turned off the Red Sox game once Devil Ray killer Tim Wakefield slunk off the mound in the fourth inning on Tuesday night? It's OK, there's nothing to be ashamed of - after praying for Boston's rains to clear up so Wake could face the DRays, it only makes sense that a poor start from the ol' knuckleballer would drive the NESN......

Your optimists can say that the Red Sox still have a decent lead in the AL East. That October is a foregone conclusion at Fenway. That Schilling is back and hitting his stride just at the right time. That's why optimists don't last long around here. Games like last night, when the Sox couldn't get ONE SINGLE measly solitary guy around to score against the Devil Rays, break their spirit. In the midst of first,......

The national script for this game was supposed to be that the Patriots, widely considered Superbowl favorites, would have a tough test against a hungry Jets team that made life tough for the Pats last year. Well...not exactly. The Patriots played like they were all outta bubblegum yesterday, kicking the Jets' butts up and down the field. Want offensive highlights? Well, Brady and Randy Moss shushed the haters by connecting nine times for 183 yards......

Sure, it was 147 degrees yesterday, but fall is in the air today. The Patriots are in New Jersey, the J-E-T-S are staring at them from the opposite sideline, and the game is on. All the question marks, fortunately, are fairly minor. Will Laurence Maroney step up to being the number-one option running? Will the secondary stay strong with Rodney Harrison in football purgatory? Is Randy Moss a ticking time bomb, or will the Pats'......

Tom Brady has had a lot on his mind as of late: the upcoming Pats season, the new arrival of lil' JET Moynahan, making sure to spend enough quality time with Gisele Bundchen. We get it. It's tough to be a multi-millionaire football star, famous hottie and anything-but-typical Boston guy. But this flip-flopping business has got to stop. Boston.com features today some photos of Tom and Gisele hanging out Wednesday in the Back Bay, and......

Tom Brady is playing it real classy when it comes to being a babydaddy. He announced yesterday that he wants to take time off when the baby is born. Bridget Moynahan has been wandering the streets of LA with a dirigible attached to her waist area, and the birth is imminent. In fact, the birth has been imminent for weeks. The press has been covering L'Affaire Babydaddy for so long that it feels like Moynahan......

Sure, it's Memorial Day weekend, and it's 90 degrees out. But it's not too early to start thinking about this fall, specifically Patriots football. A limited number of single-game and standing-room tickets are on sale today. There aren't going to be many out there, so act quickly. Which games might you actually have a chance at getting to go to? Preseason (2) vs. Tennessee, NY Giants. Preseason football, combining the high prices and long......

It seems like just yesterday that we were reading articles about the Sox home-field advantage, the way the team lights up the ballpark when they make it home to Yawkey Way. After Tuesday's 14-3 slaughter of the Mariners, Sox fans made their way into Fenway Park with cameras (lots and LOTS of cameras with very bright flashes) and the hopes that that advantage and the much-hyped Matsuzaka/Ichiro showdown would make for memorable baseball. It was......

We Boston sports fans are a funny bunch. While we cheer on the Patriots' hard play through those cold winter months, we're busy dishing, dissecting and debating the Red Sox hot stove season. And yet today, as we count down the hours until Dice-K takes the mound at Fenway, we can't get the Pats off our minds. Why? The new season's schedule is out, friends. New schedule. While we know that many will want to......

Bruins 2, Ottawa Senators 5 - The Bruins may have been smoked, but this game is notable for marking the return of Bruin rookie Phil Kessel, who deserves a round of applause. He's already back on the ice after a bout with testicular cancer a month ago. We know you're thinking it, so we'll say it - anyone who can play hockey so soon after a terrible health scare has some serious cojones. And,......

Patriots 37, Jets 16: The Patriots trounced the Jets in the AFC Wild Card, but an even more interesting story emerged after the game. Pats coach Bill Belichick was so determined to give defeated Jets coach Eric Mangini a hug that he barreled his way through a horde of photographers, brutally shoving some poor guy out of the way, just to deliver that hug in person. Now, on to the Chargers, and LaDainian Tomlinson better......

The Pats flubbed another one this weekend in the Bostonist satellite office down in Foxboro, to the hated Jets of all teams, 17-14. This one was a mud bowl, and one would think that would benefit the home team, seeing they have control over their field. But, not this time around. And speaking of field conditions, can anyone respond and tell Bostonist why in the world the field at Gillette Stadium looked more like......