Surprises and Questions

Would you ever think that a guy with just one Final Four team in his NCAA tourney pool could win the whole thing?

Nope...me neither.

But that is exactly what happened to me. Well not exactly -- I tied for the win. You know what the worst part about this is? The fact that both of us knew we had won before the Final Four even began.

That's when you know there were a lot, I mean A LOT of upsets.

So while I may be a hundred bucks richer, I am still not feeling all that good about the happenings around Boston lately.

The Sox are off to to their worst start in 15 years, standing at 0-5, and while there is a long way to go, and plenty of good teams go through 4-, 5- and 6-game losing streaks throughout the course of a season...It just isn't fun to watch when the expectations are pushing your shoulders down.

One thing that continues to concern me (as mentioned in the pre-season post) is the starting pitching. You know a team with this lineup is going to be fine over the course of 162. But you could look at this starting rotation and say there are 4 out of 5 serious question marks.

-- Can Beckett return to the form of three years ago? On top of that -- will his fastball ever see the mid-90s again? Does he like anyone in the media -- or anyone for that matter?

-- Can John Lackey -- a guy who wasn't all that good when everyone said he was good...be good enough to be a number 2 or 3 in this town? Will the "John Lackey Face" become a commonplace term among the faithful reflecting the look he gives whenever something doesn't go his way -- or most especially -- after giving up a homerun?

-- Dice-K? (Seriously...that's it. The guy is one big question mark.)

-- Buchholz -- can he put it all together again this year (and stay healthy)...If so, this question mark goes away fast. He had a great year last year with a 17-7 record and sub-3 ERA...but he does need to prove it was no fluke and he has longevity.

There you have it. My biggest sports concerns today. That's right -- not one Celtics reference in this post (oh, Goddammit -- I almost made it the whole way.)