63 and sunny for Opening Day in Boston, as we start Fenway Park's 101st season. Ceremony 1:30, game 2:05.

Update on the gates-opening situation: Looks like they've made a compromise. Instead of part of the park being open 2 hours before gametime and the rest 1.5, they'll now open all gates at once and the whole park will be accessible, starting 2 hours before weekend games, and 1.5 hours before weekday games. The RSN opening will still be 2.5 hours before gametime and go for an hour. The one thing that will now overlap will be the RSN people who choose to go to CF, duing their final half hour on weekend games, which will be the first half hour all gates will be open. Therefore, in CF for that 30 minutes, you'll have the RSNs and the Regulars mingling....

By the way, with Opening Day upon us, I still haven't received my RSN stuff in the mail. So tomorrow it's gonna be all these people with printouts waiting to get in at Nation's Way, with none of us getting our cards scanned for potential prizes. Terrible job by the Red Sox, completely dropping the ball on one of their most highly promoted initiatives. I just re-read the e-mail I got when I signed up in early February: "Membership packages will begin shipping in March 2012. The package will arrive 4-6 weeks after shipment". So even if they all shipped March 1st, that still potentially wouldn't have them arriving until right around tomorrow. If they shipped mid-March, we could be waiting two more weeks!

In case you missed it: I took some pics around Fenway on the under-photographed "day before Opening Day," and the podcast I was part of at Surviving Grady has been posted.

So we come home 1-5. Last year we went 0-6 but then went on to play the best baseball of anybody for months. Too bad people's memories in our society don't go back that far--except for the bad things. Notice that the media won't mention that last year's bad start was quickly erased when talking about this year's. But if we go into September, ya think they'll bring up what happened last September? Funny how that works. I even heard one of the radio gasbags today say something that to me is an admission that they want the team to fail. When accused of just that, he said how he wants the team to do well, to win the World Series, because the team is on his station, and that would be good for everybody. Right there, he's saying that what he wants is for the most interesting thing to happen. And he knows full well that chaos is more interesting on sports radio than a smooth sail through summer, when no one calls because there's nothing to complain about. We really need to start berating these guys when we see them at Fenway. If I see any, I'll be booing them to their smug faces.

And speaking of that, I guess it's not just Dishonest Abe who thinks Beckett will be getting booed. TC and Eckersley also acted like it's inevitable, as if it's just something we all know and agree with. The guys I listened to today on my trip to Boston also talked about it. And there's even an article on mlb.com talking all about it. I had no idea that this was something people were "talking about" as if it's a real thing. Maybe I'm the one who's out of touch, but had I not listened to any of these people, I literally wouldn't have even thought of the possibility of Beckett being booed in Opening Day introductions. But I think I'd rather be out of touch with that crew than with reality. They've actually brainwashed people not only into thinking Beckett is a horrible person, but that he's not a good pitcher. Go ahead, ask your water cooler pals at work what Beckett's ERA was last year. Or just ask which pitchers were good and which weren't. People have been taught that he's this huge question mark. I just don't get it. Still, I'm so pissed that of all the days he has to go and give up FIVE home runs, it has to be his pre-Opening Day start. Because now the people who think he's bad got "proof." Whatever. There's nothing I'd love more than to hear a big long cheer for Josh and then see Dishonest Abe at the park and just rub it into his face. I still can't believe there'll be anything more than that one EEIdiot listener per section who does what the radio tells them while the rest of the crowd reacts normally. But honestly, I'm more concerned with why people think he isn't good anymore. Articles will talk about how important it is to see "how he responds" and all this crap. Why? The guy's had a few bad outings after a season of great ones. Look at his game log from last year. Where does this massive uncertainty surrounding him come from? If he's got an injury that's one thing. But he says he's okay. Hopefully he's healthy.

See ya on the other side, Ray. I guess we'll also see if my Wake-to-Tek first pitch prediction comes true today....