Fenway Saved!

For those of you who ended up on this page today looking for David Scott after his appearance on the O’Reilly Factor last night, you can read his work over on the BSMW Scott’s Shots page, and he has an update today, including from feedback from O’Reilly viewers. The column has been on fire recently and is a must read. He updates at all different times of day, so again the best option to get notified might be a RSS or XML subscription. Today on the main page, we’ve got the account of the Celtics getting whipped in New York, more on the Red Sox and Fenway, continuing articles on Tedy Bruschi, and we’re back into March Madness and the NCAA.

The Celtics laid an egg in Madison Square Garden last night, and Doc Rivers was not at all happy with it. Peter May looks at Rivers saying that his club acted like a low-class basketball team last night. Mark Murphy and Dan Hickling also have game stories from New York. Mike Fine looks at the development of Ricky Davis into a Sixth man of the year candidate. Murphy’s notebook has detailed accounts of the trash talking between the two clubs last night, with the Knicks obviously getting the better of the situation. Who says the Boston/New York rivalry has lost spirit? Hickling’s notebook also looks at the tempers flaring in the first half of the game. May’s notebook looks at how the “new” Celtics were completely out of sorts last night.

David Wells is your opening night starter for the Boston Red Sox. He is also the subject of a number of articles this morning, as the lefty was roughed up by the Orioles in a spring training start yesterday. He isn’t too worried about it though, and Tony Massarotti says that he fits right in with the Red Sox loose clubhouse. Dan Shaughnessy has Wells speaking about yesterday, opening night, and the pressures of playing for the Yankees and the Red Sox. David Borges looks at Wells being able to laugh off his performance yesterday, thanks to the ribbing from his teammates. Sean McAdam looks at Johnny Damon, who became in many ways the identity of the Red Sox “idiot” culture last season, and who may part ways with the Red Sox after the season as his contract will be up then, and there have been no talks on a new one. Jeff Horrigan looks at Keith Foulke, who is having a much better spring than he had last year in his first season with the Red Sox. Alex Speier has a look at Edgar Renteria, who he compares in many ways to Derek Jeter. Gordon Edes has a detailed piece on Mike Timlin, the anchor of the Red Sox bullpen. There is also a slide show with audio included with the article, which is interesting as well. Boston.com is trying out some neat things with multi-media content on their pages. Joe Haggerty catches up with David Ortiz and talks to the Red Sox slugger on a number of subjects. Bill Reynolds has a column on Barry Bonds.

The subject of the Red Sox staying in Fenway Park is still the subject of a number of articles today. Sasha Talcott has the story in the Globe of the Red Sox decision and their plans for the revamping of the park and surroundings. Art Martone looks at the decision to stay in Fenway and the vision for the future of the ballpark. Michael Silverman also looks at the decision and the many improvements that have been made in and around the ballpark. Joe McDonald and Tom Yantz also have articles on this subject. Mike Barnicle (subscription only) has a column today where he fears that the shortsightedness of critics could hinder an opportunity by the Red Sox to turn the Fenway neighborhood into a revitalized, vibrant community. Michael Gee (subscription only) compares the Red Sox to a good neighbor who is always working on improving his property, and thus the value of the neighborhood.

Chris Snow’s notebook has a progress report on Alan Embree, who will pitch in his first game in over a week today against Baltimore. Horrigan’s notebook has Wade Miller feeling good physically and excited mentally after having face live hitting yesterday. McAdam’s notebook has more on David Wells fitting in with his teammates. Borges’ notebook has some more on Wade Miller.

Kevin Mannix says the Patriots need to find an inside linebacker and takes a quick look at the remaining thin free agent class and the few prospects in the draft. Ron Borges talks to Romeo Crennel about the challenges he faces in rebuilding the Browns and bringing them to respectability. There seems to be a little confusion about what the Patriots were protesting at the NFL meetings when they tried to pass a motion limiting the powers of the competition committee. On Tuesday, Borges wrote a whole article saying that it was about the point of emphasis on illegal contact last season. It appears the actual reason for the Patriots motion had nothing to do with that rule but was regarding the “icing the kicker timeouts. John Clayton of ESPN.com notes this at the end of his report on the meetings.

The Patriots lost 28-4 on a proposal to prevent rule changes or interpretations by the league or the Competition Committee unless there is a formal vote by the owners. A lot of that was caused by Bill Belichick's protest of a rule adjustment by the league last season involving the stoppage of back-to-back timeouts to ice the kicker.

You may recall that the committee actually changed a rule in the middle of the season this year as a result of Mike Vrabel motioning for last second timeouts in both the Indianapolis and Arizona games early this past season. Mike Reiss reports on the Patriots bringing Don Davis back into the fold. Tedy Bruschi is still a hot topic, as Alan Greenberg and Michael Parente report on the linebacker possibly sitting out this season and of his hiring Brad Blank as his agent. Eric McHugh also reports on Bruschi and addresses the rumors that the Patriots have an offer on the table to Ty Law. Mannix has a short second piece on what Blank’s role with Bruschi might be.

Mark Blaudschun and Rich Thompson both report on UMass’ expected decision to name Travis Ford as head coach. Bob Ryan looks at why University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee coach Bruce Pearl is public enemy number one in the eyes of Illinois fans. The Globe has many more articles on the NCAA tournament games as editor Joe Sullivan has made a commitment to bringing full coverage of this event, which is a passion with him. The offerings are impressive.

Top Five Links from Yesterday
1) Jonathan Comey (Five questions around the Patriots)
2) Ron Borges (Bill Belichick at NFL coaches breakfast)
3) Kevin Mannix (Patriots need Pioli’s best)
4) Ron Borges (NFL Notebook)
5) Steve Bulpett (Struggles of Jim O’Brien and the 76ers)

CBS has NCAA Tournament action starting at 7:00.