A year ago, I wrote a happy story about my 10-game plan tickets arriving. I'd recently revisited that post and realized that today should be the day my tickets arrive this year. At 2:00 today, I got an e-mail from the Red Sox, confirming my tickets had shipped. (They've never done this before.) They even gave me the tracking number. So, I was right, today was the day. I went to the Dee Aytch Ell site and entered my number: They'd arrived! But a signature is required for pick up. Oh, no, I've got to go to some place and get them, I thought. Then I looked down further down the page: "Signed for by: A RODRIGUEZ"

A-Rod was stealing my tickets!

I got home, and fortunately, A. Rodriguez was the really nice dude from the cleaners' next door. He gave me my package, and I thanked him, not nearly enough considering what was inside. Seeing those tickets all together, unripped, like when you sometimes get two Cheese Nips stuck together, side by side...it's a thrill that renews itself every March.

So I've got some more ticket pics for you. Ones I hadn't seen yet: Schilling--who shares his thoughts on the Extra Innings controversy on his blog here--pictured just after a pitch at Fenway; Timlin, finally getting his due, ticket-pic-wise; and Dice, which I'd heard about--it's him at his locker, wearing a suit. I also got another '67 one: Lonborg with his arm around a happy Yaz in the clubhouse.

The bats are alive today, as we scored four times in the first. A triple for Lugo, a double for Papi and Doug, and a sac fly for the little guy. Gabbo-cubed is working on giving back the runs in the bottom of the first, though. Quit working on that gyroball, Kason.

Craig Hansen will get his first work in today. On Tuesday, I reported he pitched in the ninth inning against the Marlins. This was reported by Gameday, and even went into the original boxscore. That boxscore can be seem in this RSN.net thread. (It even credits Hansen with the win and a blown save.) And here is where people on SoSH argue back and forth about whether or not it was Hansen in there or not. You'll see in that thread a cut-and-paste from Gameday showing that Hansen had replaced Mike Burns. What really happened was that Burns stayed in the game. How they could think a new pitcher came in when it was really the same guy is beyond me.

When I have no access to actually witness the game, I have to go by reports from the 'net. When MLB makes a mistake, and I report it, that's their fault. It's not like I heard from a friend of a friend or something. All I can do is correct it later when I find out what really happened. Please direct all complaints and grievances to the MLB offices and Gameday staff. Hopefully they won't make mistakes in the regular season.

q.com: qwest. x.com: paypal. z.com: Nissan.

I'd think more people would snatch those up. How could there not be an a.com? And why did paypal buy x.com?

The latest on the Extra Innings deal here.

Basically, the offer made by DirecTV won't make EI exclusive to them, should anyone else match the offer. So if the cable companies (or Dish TV) want in, they can get in. Now, I remember hearing that DirecTV's offer of 700 million bucks is way more than what the cable people paid in the past. But in this article, it says that any other offers will decrease the value of the total amount that goes to MLB. So wouldn't that mean the cable companies and Dish TV only have to offer, like, a third of $700 million each, or something like that? I don't even know what to say about this. Is this how the deal was going to go down all along? Wasn't it not even "official"--the rumor that it would be an exclusive deal with DirecTV, end of story? But then you had Selig defending it like that was the deal. I don't know. I'm sure in the end we'll all be complaining about something.

AND PARTS OF NEW ENGLAND STILL WON'T HAVE NEW ENGLAND SPORTS NETWORK. (Another killer about that is when other problems do get solved, you're left at the station with a tear in your eye as all your friends ride off into the sunset in celebration--in this case, with a victory for out-of-towners while the locals continue to be screwed. And I don't even live in Fairfield County anymore, but I'll always fight for the place where I was born and raised--if only on this one issue.)

It's kind of like when the Ghostbusters beat Mr. Sta-Puft, hence destroying all the ghosts, and they're all celebrating, but then they realize that Venkman did lose his would-be girlfriend in the chaos. But it turned out she was alive in the end, so there will always be hope for Fairfield County--one day it will break free of it's dog-shaped mold!

I saw on Joy of Sox that Curt Schilling just started a blog. This is so weird. There he is, in his own comments section, answering questions like any other blogger.

"If you want to rip me and not have the post deleted please do so as cleanly as possible." --Curt Schilling

Looks like Curt has the same problems as the rest of us...

Ooh, look at this, from a commentor on the first post: Schilling, Bloody sock notwithstanding, you talk too much. Its that simple. Shut up and pitch. And take this stupid web site down.

In classic dumbguy asshole style, the dude spells "it's" without the apostrophe. But Curt responds!

Simple solution is to not come here and read it:)
Pretty sure no one made you click the link to come here.

This is bizzarro.

Note: The pic at the top of his blog is the exact same one that's used for the "Spring Training Spotlight" article, currently in the two-hole at redsox.com. What's the deal with that?

I had this brilliant idea, but, well, check it out.



I love how Chan plays the "dad" role in this. Speaking of dad, happy birthday, dad.

Watching this again, that first attempt wasn't half bad. Oh well.

Good day for the Red Sox' starters today against New York (NL). Three shutout innings apiece for Wake Island and Pap I'll Land (That Closer's Role Again if Jere Has Any Say in it). Pap's only hit was a bloop double that dropped in between two players, according to some random person on a message board. All the regular-types either got a hit or knocked in a run, except for Dice in the Mir' (Mirabelli, not Dice-K). Currently it's 5-0 Sox in the sixth.

EXHIBITION GAME OVERREACTION UPDATE: It was a guarantee--not because I jinxed it, but because our bullpen is pretty shitty. I saw Donnelly's name, and I had no doubt runs would score. Sure enough, he walks the first two, then two singles, then Okajima comes in a boom, 3-run homer. 5 for the Mets in the seventh to tie. How about putting Pap back in the pen, even if it's for no other reason than so we'll have one solid pitcher out there?

GAND SLAM WALK-OFF BY ED ROGERS UPDATE: Yeah, that. Nice job, Ed. What a way to make a livin'.

I've been noticing on message boards lately that people will put an "@" before someone's name to imply they're referring specifically to that peron's previous comment.

For example:

Sh1tSt0rm said: I think Britney it hott with no hair. Also, I'm a total tool.

N0w0rryz84 said: @Shitstorm: She needs help. I'm a tool, too.

Now, while I agree with Britney's decision to shave her head (wicked hardcore, Britney!--to quote what my friend Bruce said to me when I showed up to work in 1998 with a shaved head after having had long hair for a decade), I can't stand by and watch people use this ridiculous "@" system. First of all, I've had enough of "@" in general. Second, and more importantly, AJM invented the correct way of speaking directly to someone in a comments section or message board, albeit accidentally--"jf." Meaning "just for."

Example:

bsmemorial: Terrible job by me for not commenting on Jere's blog anymore. I am missed.

michael leggett: jfbsmemorial: It is, indeed, a "TJ" by you. You haven't gone over to, Big Stein's, "dark side," have you? Or have the Fox Sports, gestapo, aka McCarver and co, abducted you?

peter n: jfEveryone: I love you all!

The red numbers on the blue jersey have the Sox moving into...the 90s. Of course, I've only seen photos so far. This weekend I'll be in NESN country for a while, and I hope to at least see some live highlights, since apparently they aren't showing many games this spring--none this weekend. We play the Mets today, but SNY is only showing Mets home games in ST. I think the first game I'll see is the Dunbar game on YES next Monday. I'll be sure to report on whether or not Kay describes these beautiful new hats and uniforms to the blind audience. Maybe he should keep it a secret from them: "The Yankees are decked out in their traditional road grays, no half-moon gussets or underarm color stripes to speak of here. Go to sleep little babies..."

'zaka threw three innings today--no runs. Hansen was the latest to show us what we had in Papelbon as he blew a three-run lead in the ninth, but the Sox came back with either 8 or 9 (the mlb scoreboard has been horrible with simple math so far this exhibition season--but, hey, addition is a "high level mental activity") in the tenth for a blowout win.

The Sox will be wearing these crazy new pedometers this year. You know, it's not just steps that count, it's the quality of the steps. Did you know Dustin Pedroia's value Over Replacement Steps is 4.5 repeating? And David Ortiz had 45 Calorie Shares last season? Those old pedometers are bullshit, I tell you. 'Number of steps' alone? Come on.

You've probably heard Nirvana's "Breed" (formerly "Immodium") in the new MLB video game commercials. Instead of giving you the usual "oh my god that blows my mind," well, I think I've reached the point now where the surprise is gone. The Buzzcocks are in every other commercial anyway. Henry Rollins is the narrator for any ad that needs a narrator. I've heard "Blister in the Sun" about twenty times in the last week. Devo is in a beer commercial. It's time for me to realize that all the ad agency people all know all the bands that were once unknown, and they're gonna choose those bands' songs sometimes. And now it's at the point where they've made it up to 1991--the point when I realized there was more to music than Skid Row.

So, unless I see Ian MacKaye pictured lounging around at a barbecue in one of those "Carlton is Lowest" print ads, I'm just never gonna be shocked by this stuff again.

Did you know there's beef fat in Ho Hos? Terrible job, Ho Hos.

Speakin' of ho hos, the Yanks are in dead last, which is a good sign. (You know my theory, wins=losses in spring training. Unless, of course, your team wins, in which case you can at least say "they're getting used to winning, which is good.")

Good to know Lester was back on the hill today.

The latest quote atop my blog is from this article. The language barrier is gonna lead to some hilarious quotes this season.

Another light-jacket day in the city, shown here through the bus window from New Jersey. Use mouse to control arrow- or Mickey Mouse hand-thing, putting it on top of each picture, to make that picture appear larger and alone.

Paul Pierce is the most recognizable Celt, to me, so I got a bunch of shots of him.

The Cs before the game.

This almost has to sound tongue-in-cheek, but, seriously, if you like a whole lot of bells and whistles--and explosions--with your sports, the NBA is for you. It definitely gets tiresome--music playing literally on every possession, and party during every time out, with cheerleaders and dancers and t-shirt tosses and fire and confetti--but at least they're trying, and I'm sure a lot of people, especially kids who have no clue what's going on, eat it up. If you only go to baseball games (at somewhere other than whatever Comiskey Park's called now), see an NBA game once.

The fact that it's hard to take pics when you're in the dark aiming at a very well-lit area makes for some cool blurriness sometimes. Uh, I mean, I meant to do this. The Nets do these weird jumps into each other doing intros. This is Mikki Moore and another dude.

My boy Mikki! (Gains "my boy" status because I went to college with the dude 13 years ago, and now he appears to be an NBA star, and also incredibly looks like my old drummer, who also used to wear tank tops, was tall and lanky, and tied back his dreads sometimes.)

My boy Mikki at the line. (It's pronounced like Mikey, by the way.)

Pierce in action.

The slam-dunk contest champ, Gerald Green, at the line. I love the new (?) black on the Celts' road unis. I told my girlfriend this on the night of the dunk contest. She asked if this made me any closer to becoming a Cs fan. Maybe, sweetie. May...be.

Doc doesn't seem to sure of this shot by Pierce. Paul missed a million shots in a row, and had 0 points close to halftime. But he eventually sunk some, and it didn't look so bad for him at the end.

As part of kids' day, they had kid cheerleaders. Doesn't it look like she's being used as the ball? I should draw in some players trying to pull her down off the glass. For an offensive she-bound. Sorry.

The looks on their faces sum up the Celts' season. Fe-bound? Okay, I'll stop. With a little over a minute left, the Nets were up by nine. I pulled out the camera, and thought it would be a good time to test the video function, thinking there might be some alley-oops in this blowout. As people were gathering their things and leaving, and me watching the game through my little camera screen, the Celts get a hoop and Chan says, "they always have to make it interesting..." I look at the scoreboard, shocked to see it was down to a three-point lead. But only seconds remained, and the Nets had the ball. They made two free throws, but the Celts quickly scored again on a three. They fouled again, and this time the Nets only made one, leaving the Celts with a chance for a game-tying three, which they got from Delonte West. It was captured by me below:



The Celts went on to win in OT. Wacko.

After the game, we took the bus back to the Port Authority, and decided to hang out in Times Square until we got hungry enough for dinner. Chan suggested we go into the Crowne Plaza to use their wicked pissers, so I in turn suggested we take the elevator to the top. (Hotels continue to rule with their "come in and do whatever you want and we'll assume you're a guest" policy. Terrorists: pretend you didn't hear that.) So we went to floor 46, and I took some shots out the window. Chan appears in the reflection of this shot. You can see Jersey off in the distance. In fact, that pointy building is visible in the first shot of this post, left of center.

46 stories above Times Square. Then we went to Mary-Ann's on 79th and 2nd, in AJM's wife's former territory. Rumor has it they might be closing. The one closer to Chan and I already closed. TJ. It's pretty good Mexican food. Enjoy.

I imagine something like this would be the holy grail for an eBay seller:

"Dear PantLoad45--

I saw your listing for the brown size 8 women's snowpants today. Honestly, I have no interest in winter sports, nor am I a woman. I couldn't even tell you how I found the item. But when I saw that you wrote the word "awesome" in capital letters with three asterisks on either side, I clicked the "Buy It Now" button.

I don't know what I'll do with the pants, nor how I'll explain the missing money from my wife's and my joint bank account. (We've got three young children--one handicapped--and we're almost out of Chardonnay!) But if they're as awesome as you say they are, I'm sure everything will work out fine.

Keep up the good selling! (I work at an advertising agency and can talk to my HR person if you're looking for a job.)

TTYL,

3KidzOneCapped"

But I keep getting free tix, so here you go, the game-tying shot by Delonte West in today's high school-quality matchup between the Nets and Celts:

Pics to come tomorrow.