If you looked at the Red Sox schedule at the beginning of the season, and someone told you there'd be a series in the first week of July with first place on the line, you'd probably assume it was the weekend series in the Bronx. You'd be wrong. So wrong. The Red Sox find themselves on the last day of June in second place, looking up at the Tampa Bay Rays and heading into St.......

Objectively, the Celtics are right where we want them. They did their job and took one in LA, and have two chances to finish the Lakers off at home. Realistically, though, the C's had a golden opportunity - just waiting there - to snatch another game, and thus the series, away from the Lakers last night, but just couldn't finish it off. The Celtics did themselves no favors by digging another monster hole in the......

Does this game really have to start at 9? The fretting, the pacing, the worrying, the shot after shot of tequila - can't the NBA string this brutal and glorious anticipation out for three more hours? How about midnight basketball? No, it's going to start at 9. Or 9:07 or 9:15 or whatever. The Celtics and the Lakers are finally going to play basketball. It's almost impossible to sift through all the previews and projections,......

And just like that, the epic story of the Celtics' postseason road failures is over. The C's built a big lead, survived a Detroit run, built another big lead, survived another Detroit run, and walked out of the Palace of Auburn Hills up 2-1 with a 94-80 win. Home-court advantage is back, the haters and doubters are quiet, and all is more or less right with the world. Until we get to the Sox, that......

"...full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing." - Shakespeare, Macbeth Matt Walsh had his moment in the sun, and it turned out to be a whole lot of nothin'. The ex-Patriots employee promised tales of treachery and devious deeds, and hinted that he had shelves full of damning evidence. Just before the Superbowl, the Herald bit, and published Walsh's claim that the Pats taped St. Louis' final walkthrough before Superbowl XXXVI. Yesterday, Walsh met for......

Hey, remember when the knock on the Celtics was their depth? Remember when everyone assumed Ghidorah would play great and then all hell would break loose when the second unit came in? Think Cleveland is remembering those predictions wistfully? The first quarter last night was a hangover from Game One. Ghidorah was still struggling (we were ready to call for a wheelchair to escort Ray Allen off the floor, if not a gurney). LeBron James......

We honestly don't have much new to say about this afternoon's game. Win, and everything's forgotten and it's 0-0 against Cleveland. Lose - the unthinkable - and God only knows how ugly it's going to get in this town. Doc needs to coach like he's NOT being mugged, coaching a playoff game and watching his house burn down at the same time. Pierce needs to be smart and not give the refs a reason/chance to......

Two great outings by Red Sox starters...two perplexing losses. Maybe the Rays are for real. Josh Beckett, trying to stop the Sox' freefall back into a pennant race, pitched almost as well as humanly possible. He went seven innings, striking out thirteen, giving up only two runs - one unearned on a JD Drew throwing error, one on a home run by Rays wunderkind Evan "No, I'm Not Married To Tony Parker, Please Stop Asking"......

The long drought is over! With the Revolution losing the MLS Cup, and the results of the Superb-oh God, we still don't want to talk about it - it's been almost six full months since a local team brought home a piece of significant championship hardware. No more. Boston College hockey captured their second title of the young century by flummoxing Notre Dame 4-1. Nathan Gerbe, as he does, led the charge with two goals......

It was a lot closer, anyway. That's about the best thing we can take from the Sox' 7-4 loss in Toronto that ended the worldwide road trip and sent the boys home 3-4 and in the AL East cellar. The big difference was that Toronto ace Roy Halladay pitched like an ace for the most part, while Sox ace Josh Beckett pitched like a rusty, easily-tired version of himself. He hung in for a while,......

A very weird day in Boston sports. It's a day when Ghidorah takes the day off, but the Celtics still romp. A day when the Bruins' hard work and perseverance is rewarded with a trip to the torture chamber. And we still don't know what the hell is going on with the Red Sox. So let's start there. The Blue Jays punished Clay Buchholz and a series of ineffective relievers en route to a 10-2......

We'd sure like to know what happened in the Bruins' locker room between the second and third periods last night. After two, the Leafs had tied the game 1-1, had peppered Tim Thomas with 18 shots, and had everybody at the Garden pontificating whether the game would be a microcosm of the entire season. Well, maybe not everybody. But whatever was said, it lit a fire under the B's; Phil Kessel, Glen Murray and Peter......

This is the week we've had circled on our calendar since the Celtics' blistering start. We knew at least three of the four games would be tough, but now every team between the Mississippi and the Pecos has their eyes on the NBA Finals, and since the Celtics want to be there to meet them, these four games are huge. It starts tonight in San Antonio against the defending champs, who have a shocking 2-game......

Passionate baseball fans like to know the ins and outs of their teams, the little things that may come to play roles in final scores and performances. But we'd hoped that we'd heard the last discussions about a Red Sox player's sleep schedule last year, when we learned that Dasiuke Matsuzaka was having a tough time transitioning from Japanese beds to their American counterparts. Instead, 2008 has brought with it the Josh Beckett SleepWatch, and......

Does anyone remember what the preseason over/under for the Celtics was? Because we're pretty sure it was about 48 wins, but it seems like all evidence has been scrubbed from the Internet. If anybody thought back then that Ghidorah would take a few months to get used to one another and the C's would struggle, they sure wouldn't want it on their record now. Because last night was win #50 for the Green, who look......

If your eyes flit down the NHL results and see "NYR 1, BOS 0 (SO)", you might dismiss it as another tough loss in a month that's been full of 'em so far. In other words...rats, they lost, what's next? But 1-0 doesn't tell the whole story. The B's were tired, they were drained after the Saturday slugfest with Washington, they were sans Zdeno Chara and Aaron Ward, and still scraped out a point in......

A year ago, the Celtics and the Memphis Grizzlies were nervously eyeing one another for ping-pong balls. Neither team was going anywhere, and both were playing out the string fully aware that getting too good would kill their lottery chances. As it turned out, neither team had a lottery chance, as the Fates punished both franchises by withholding Oden and Durant. The Celtics, as you may have heard, took the blow as a chance to......

It was the rarest of rare occasions: a Beanpot final that didn't involve BU. Instead it was Boston College and Harvard, with the Eagles leading by two midway through the third period. BC almost blew it before taking control in overtime and winning on a Nick Petrecki goal. So two overtime wins for Boston College. And a very relieved Jerry York. BU beat Northeastern in the consolation game. Pitchers and catchers don't have to be......

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......

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.......

You'd think that a day on which we learned that the Pope would rather celebrate mass at Yankee Stadium than anywhere near Boston would be a grim one. Let's face it, that's kind of like George Steinbrenner holding a press conference to announce that Yankees fans are guaranteed eternal salvation, but Red Sox fans will be hitting the highway to hell when their times come. But hey - let the Pope do what he will.......

They rode before us on Duck Boats and flat-bed trucks, with microphones and punk bands, flags and signs. Some came with camcorders, others with disposable cameras. Your 2007 World Champion Boston Red Sox lineup consisted of a group of men united under a team name and cause, but let's face it: we had one really eclectic bunch of characters. Tuesday's Rolling Rally celebration gave the fans quick opportunities to see just how different the guys......

The Red Sox have been linked time and time again to reality television this season. There was "Sox Appeal," of course, but there were also calls for the jigging Jonathan Papelbon to Riverdance his way onto "Dancing With the Stars" and the segue FOX used last week to link the Boston bullpen band (the Black Pearl) to what looks like a God-awful new series, "The Next Great American Band." Sox bloggers, however, just might be......

"That's not the way we drew it up," said Colorado manager Clint Hurdle. "Obviously we have to change our game plan," added Todd Helton. "You can't make any mistakes," chimed in shellshocked starting pitcher Jeff Francis. If you're Colorado, what else can you say? The team that charged through September and most of October, and held Arizona to eight total runs in their mockery of an NLCS, looked like they hadn't played baseball in eight......

Gothamist learned about the craziest urban nightmare come true: A huge python found in the bathroom pipes. It was also a nightmare for some Yankees fans, as manger Joe Torre declined to come back and manage the Bronx Bombers. At least the city's attempt to give some direction to subway riders was interesting, pranksters went shirtless at the Fifth Avenue Abercrombie & Fitch and the I Heart Brooklyn Girls calendars came out. And just......

So Sheriff Beckett stared down the Cleveland gang last night. Once again, when the Red Sox needed Josh to be at his absolute best, he pretty much was. Sure, he gave up one more hit than he did in his Game One dazzler, but he only gave up one run - on a double play ball. Other than that, he struck out 11 Indians and gave 44,588 Clevelanders something to do with their towels beside......

This one's fresh from Deadspin: The Cleveland Indians have pulled out all the stops to excel in the ALCS. Now that they have a shot and winning the series against the Red Sox, they have basically decided to deliver a low blow to the Sox and to tonight's starting pitcher Josh Beckett in particular. How? By trotting out Josh Beckett's ex-girlfriend, country singer Danielle Peck, to sing the national anthem. That's cold. That's just plain......

We sure hope Josh Beckett found time during yesterday's off-day to watch High Noon. If you haven't seen it, the plot is that Sheriff Gary Cooper has one day left until retirement, and a pack of mean outlaws are coming to town to wreak havoc. He tries to round up a posse to meet them, but everyone in town has a dentist appointment, or their hair is drying, or they don't roll on Shabbos, or......

We can second-guess or backseat coach all we want. Should Beckett have started Tuesday night's game instead of Tim Wakefield? Should Jacoby Ellsbury have started in the outfield for J.D. Drew or Coco Crisp? Should Doug Mirabelli have been replaced by Jason Varitek the moment Wakefield left the game? Should Julian Tavarez be on the pitching roster in these ALCS games? But that will only madden Red Sox fans and distract them from the reality......

First, the really great news: Josh Beckett managed to make C.C. Sabathia look like a Little League pitcher (no offense to some of those who are the future of America's pastime) on Friday night at Fenway Park, ably leading the Red Sox defense in what turned into a 10-3 routing in Game 1 of the ALCS. Seriously, we were a little worried about what hinted at a pitching fan's dream matchup - two great aces......