Weekends and odds

A few notes from the week, as I sit by the fire watching my alma mater's hockey team try to knock off Boston College again.

Item! The Red Sox have resigned Jason Varitek after one of the sadder chapters of Sox history in the past decade. A player who only a couple of years ago was named captain and rewarded with a large contract was suddenly holding out for more respect. Even after being instrumental in securing a second World Series (a second Red Sox World Series!) and the face of the franchise for the better part of the decade, the local nine were ready to start fresh. On the flip side, we're talking about a 37-year-old catcher who hit .220 last year. Offensive production from a catcher is gravy, but .220 is abnormally low for any catcher, nevermind a well-paid one. Further complicating matters, the market had shriveled up and any initially interested suitors had long since moved on. Notoriously dickish agent Scott Boras isn't the most cuddly dude at the negotiation table. Varitek actually loses $6 million this year by not accepting arbitration eight weeks ago. While the media is cautiously touting this deal as a "good thing for both sides" (Tony Massarotti, NESN, on as I'm writing this), I'm merely relieved that the whole issue is ending but cannot shake the icky feeling of bad blood between player and team. My take? Neither side looks too good these days.

Item! Sometime between coming up with my brilliantly clever title and researching V-tek's batting average from last year (my guess was .187... sorry Jason), the skating Friars split a 2-2 decision at Schneider Arena against their Hockey East pseudo-rivals Boston College Eagles. The freshmen look pretty good. I'm thrilled to see them go minute-for-minute with the defending national champions, even if they couldn't seem to score on any power plays. There was a lack of focus immediately after scoring, however, that led to penalties being called on both occasions and, in the second case, allowed the Eagles to score the tying goal. Still, a tie against the #11 Eagles is a moral victory for PC, and it's fun to see your college and your friends on TV. The pep band sounded excellent tonight as usual. Eh, no one reading this cares. I'll move on.

Item! An observation on the Celtics: As someone who works with children, I've been struck by how quickly the kids of today have taken to wearing Celtics gear. At first, I figured this was just bandwagoning on the part of the parents. None of these kids gave a crap about the Celtics two or three years ago. How many Kenny Andersen jerseys did you see back then? Vitaly Potapenko t-shirts? Remember kids looking to score FleetCenter tickets to check out Raef LaFrentz in person? Then I realized something. The kids of today are the same as the kids of the Bird and Russell eras, who grew up when the Celtics were awesome. They will remember and cherish these years for the rest of their lives. I grew up when pretty much all Boston sports teams were terrible most of the time.

That's actually all I've got tonight, I'm exhausted. Though there isn't much competition, this easily qualifies as my lamest post to date. Better stuff to follow, I'm sure.