I can't believe ... That I have managed to get myself suckered in to watching the Red Sox again. After last year's debacle, I told myself, "Never again." As a baseball fan, that is a hard thing to do. This year, I think I saw all of two or three innings all year. Sure, I might skim the sport pages of the Herald to see what was going on but I didn't really follow the team. Instead, I played men's softball twice a week and had one hell of a time playing the sport instead of sitting on the couch watching the pros.
However, my wife started watching them during the championship series with the dreaded Yankees and I got pulled into the Sox maelstrom again.
After Saturday night's humiliating 19-8 loss, I thought for sure it was over. But over the next four games the Sox pulled off a miracle which was watched in disbelief by millions. So bring on the Cards. Maybe this the Sox's year after all. Go Sox!

A terrible tragedy: The death of Emerson College student Victoria Snelgrove was a terrible tragedy and it could have been prevented. Unfortunately, most people have focused their disgust on the media - which I will get to in a minute - and the cop who shot her, instead of the people who are really responsible.
For so many years, the city of Boston, its leaders, and its universities, have done nothing - NOTHING - to reign in the out-of-control, drunk, and arrogant college students who run amok in the town. This has been going on for years and years and years. We're not talking about "Animal House"-styled pranks. We're talking outright criminal and toxic behavior. Residents, property owners, and law abiding citizens have been begging - pleading - for the city to do something about drunk and out-of-control college students. And every time, they have been ignored. The mayor hasn't done a thing about it even though residents have complaining for years. He just goes off about how great this school is and that university is. It's an embarrassment and a tragedy and now it is even more tragic.
About the media: The reaction to the Herald printing an almost full page front photo of Snelgrove's bloody body lying on the ground has been pretty swift. Dan Kennedy's take is here: ["A Tabloid's New Low"].
The Herald's editorial director Ken Chandler will offer an apology tomorrow but Dan printed it today:

"The Herald today published two graphic photos that angered and upset many in our community. For that I apologize. Our aim was to demonstrate this terrible tragedy as comprehensively as possible. In retrospect, the images of this unusually ugly incident were too graphic."

On the Herald's Web site, where they have been allowing comments like a blog, there has been a slew of letters: [eLetters].
Of course, no one has said word one about all the TV coverage [Howie Carr talked about it tonight] with Kennedy mentioning that the Globe had the photo too. But the larger point is that this can be used as a tool for parents to warn their children not only to behave themselves but to also avoid mobs. It will also, hopefully, lead to more action taken against drunken lunatics and the colleges that house them. It is time for the city to get tough on these students and these schools. For far too long, the residents of Boston have been held hostage because of these institutions. Now is the time to fix these problems.

ABC's new shows: I'm not a big fictional TV person. I prefer to watch C-Span or cable news. But of late, I have enjoyed some of the new TV shows this season on ABC.
The first one, "Lost," is pretty interesting. An airliner crashes on a remote island and there is some unknown monster out there. The plane is off course so there is no way rescue teams can find them. Through flashbacks, we learn about the passengers' lives and some oddities about the characters. The older brother from "Party of 5" plays the main character and there is a guy who was on "Millenium" playing this kinda creepy guy. I wonder if they will spend the whole season introducing us to the characters and wait until the end to unveil the monster.
"Desperate Housewives" is another show which ABC had been promoing all summer and I am enjoying it. Sure, it is a bit racy; but how can you not watch all those hot older women? Terry Hatcher looks so great although Nicole Sheridan has not aged well. The woman who plays the cold wife and used to be on "Melrose Place" also plays a loony perfectionist.
"Boston Legal," the off-shoot of "The Practice," isn't so good without some of the stronger characters from the previous show. I like James Spader a lot. In fact, I've liked almost everything he has ever been in. But he can't save the show. William Shatner's character is getting annoying. In every seen, he IDs himself as "Denny Crane." It got old in the latter weeks of "The Practice" and is getting really old now. But there are some other potentially strong characters, including some unknown female actresses who put on a pretty good show as attorneys.
And, I can't wait for the return of "Alias."

Unity map finally gets it right: In previous posts, we have chastised The Unity Campaign, an anti-Nader outfit, that has been twisting polling numbers to make Ralph Nader look like he was stealing the presidency from John Kerry even though there wasn't much truth to the numbers. Well, the latest posting of the map finally gets it right, showing no Nader effect: [Nader 04 Impact Map]. The presidency is a toss-up. We have all known this for a long time. And now the Nader-haters have finally started being honest about it.