There are 39,195 lucky souls in the metropolitan area today. They're the ones holding tickets, through fair means or foul, to the home opener today at Fenway. They get to see the flag unfurled, the bling distributed, and hopefully the Red Sox get back on track against the winless Tigers. And when we say foul means, it's not just our standard we-can't-get-tickets bitterness. Stories like the Sox auctioning off Green Monster seats, and police giving......

We were going to let yesterday's hawk incident go. We swear. Everyone's gotten their yuks in already, from the wildlife expert who commended the hawk for protecting the plate, to the clever fellow who said that they should release the hawk when Joba Chamberlain is in town. We would have been OK letting it go, except the girl who got attacked is named Alexa Rodriguez. She, we repeat, is fine, but she's glad her friends......

One of the few remaining regular-season goals left for the Celtics is checked off. They've seen every NBA team; they've beaten every NBA team. The Hornets were the last stragglers, winning in New Orleans last week. Last night, they found out what 2008 Celtics basketball is really all about. The game was close at halftime, but the C's clamped down the defense, completely took out the Hornets' stars, and rallied to their 2nd straight 20-point......

Maybe it was being in L.A. one night after the Oscars, so the magic of the stars could rub off on them (because when you think "glamour", you think Coen Brothers). Maybe it wasn't. Probably it had a lot to do with the injury-riddled, overmatched Clippers. But whatever the reason, the results speak for themselves: the C's blasted LA last night, and come home with a 2-game winning streak. The Clippers only broke 20 points......

It looks like it's going to be an easy season for Red Sox beat writers. It looks like all they'll have to do is set up a microphone within half a mile of Jonathan Papelbon, and he'll come a-runnin' with enough material to fill a dozen Notes columns. More, if they can be padded out with 40-year-old rock lyrics (hi, Dan!). So it's the time of the season for Spring Training, and Papelbon held court......

As tempting as it would have been for the Bruins to come out swinging last night, playing back the Flyers for Patrice Bergeron's concussion, that's not how they roll. And they needed the two points even more than they needed the visceral satisfaction of seeing the Flyers laid out like the wounded soldiers in Gone With the Wind. The 6-3 shellacking wasn't exactly a tea party, though. Defenseman Andrew Alberts left the game after a......

When the RMS Carpathia began hauling Titanic passengers out of lifeboats in the North Atlantic in 1912, those passengers probably didn't want to spend a lot of time reflecting about the food, or the music, or man's hubris. They were just happy to be alive. Was that too Nick Saban-y an analogy? Sorry about that. But that's kind of how we feel after the Patriots clawed their way to survival against Philly last night. The......

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......

The boys are back in town, the taco meat has been brought up from the cellar, and all of New England's non-essential personnel are taking the afternoon off for a parade. (Dude...Tuesday afternoon? Really?!) The good news, for some people, is that Jonathan Papelbon's dance of spontaneous excitement and youthful exuberance has now been added to the Official Canon of Sox-Nation-Approved Quirks. The Duck Boats will slow down at predesignated locations so that Papelbon can......

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......

The Bruins pounded the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 last night. Not only are the Bruins winning consistently, but they are getting closer to a playoff spot. A few weeks ago, this would have been inconceivable, but the Bruins continue to surprise. It's looking like Marco Sturm is close to re-signing, and Patrice Bergeron seems to be recovering from his injury. After a series of spankings, the Celtics played the LA Lakers last night, 122 to......

Hey, one of our teams is winning! The Bruins beat the Edmonton Oilers 3 to 0. Maybe that trade worked out all right! But the victory really belonged to Tim Thomas, who blocked every shot in his path. However, Patrice Bergeron got hurt in the midst of the game and had to leave the ice. No one wanted to talk about the nature of the injury, which is a little weird given that every other......