A trip around the sports page

SPORTING GOODS

So many sports on. Hard to get up off the couch to write about it.

- The team may be 2-2, same as the Sox, but Yankee fans are probably pretty worried about their starting pitching. Through 4 games, the starters have averaged 4 and 1/3 innings and 4 and 3/4 runs. That's an ERA over 9 for you non-math majors, and no Yankee starter has left the game eligible to get a winning decision.

- One subway transfer away, the Mets are really fun to watch aren't they? It's going to be great when they actually come home. Hey Mets fans, the Mets could play .500 ball the rest of the year and have the same record that the Cardinals did last year.

- Speaking of coming home, I can't imagine what it will be like when Dice-K throws his first pitch at Fenway...against Ichiro! I was lucky enough to watch Dice-K's last 4 innings on NESN up at a bar in Boston on Thursday. A million writers and fans have said it, but he is fun to watch. But the part of the game I enjoyed the most may have been Papelbon's entrance. I understand that all the math says that he would be most valuable as a starter. But it sure is nice having that much confidence in a closer, even if it means Julian Tavarez is your fifth starter.

- Missed in the hype of Dice-K's first start, was another big first start. Jon Lester pitched in A ball on Thursday and apparently was great. Would be just an amazing story if he could come back to help the team this year. Either way it's already a good story, and hopefully his test results continue the narrative.

- In case you didn't notice, the MLS is back. I'll definitely keep an eye on it this year, but I just won't get that excited until the Red Bulls have a real stadium.

- With the Celtics playing for nothing but more ping pong balls, I can't say that the NBA really interests me right now. I guess I'm looking forward to the Suns-Mavs Western Conference finals match up (so please don't mess that up Spurs!). My interest took an even bigger dive when the Wizards lost Agent Zero for the rest of the year. Because of Gilbert Arenas, and some of the other players on the team (like UConn alum Caron Butler), I was all ready to root for the Wizards. But with one of the most exciting, and definitely the weirdest, stars out of the playoffs, I just don't really care. At least we can still follow Agent Zero's exploits here.