Daisuke And Some Random Thoughts

I was lucky enough to be at Daisuke Matsuzaka's Fenway debut last night. The atmosphere was great -- and the view from the EMC Club was amazing -- but the Red Sox fans that expected Matsuzaka to strike out every batter were left disappointed. The Dice Man certainly impressed me. He should be a great pitcher for the Red Sox for a very long time. But he proved last night that he is a mortal who has as much to learn about America, Boston and the American League as we have to learn about him. The biggest thing I noticed about him last night is that he lacked the ability to finish off batters. In many instances, he would get two strikes on the Mariners but then fail to put them away immediately. I remember Pedro being in situations like that and just erasing whoever was facing him. I would like to see Daisuke finish off opponents like that, if only to conserve pitches. Other than that, I have no problems with his performance last night. Allowing three earned runs in seven innings is a very good night and Seattle -- with Ichiro Suzuki, Adrian Beltre, Richie Sexson, Jose Guillen and Kenji Johjima -- has an above average lineup. Of course it didn't help his cause that "King" Felix Hernandez, Seattle's 21-year-old ace, nearly no-hit the Sox. Hernandez was dominant, tossing a complete game, one-hit shutout. Daisuke's next scheduled start is Monday against the Angels on Marathon Monday although weather will probably push him back at least two days. If Daisuke can, on average, allow just three runs over seven innings, the Sox will be very happy that they made the choice to invest so much in him... Harvard University hired former Michigan and Seton Hall coach and former Duke star Tommy Amaker to be its' basketball coach, replacing Frank Sullivan. Harvard has never competed seriously for the Ivy League championship with the likes of Penn and Princeton but hopefully Amaker can make the Crimson revelant among the smart kids... The NFL released the 2007 schedule yesterday. Taking a quick look at it, the Patriots will have another challenging year. They will have their normal home-and-away AFC East games with the Jets, Dolphins and Bills. Outside of the division, they will host San Diego, Cleveland, Washington, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and will travel to Cincinnati, Dallas, Indianapolis, Baltimore and New York (to play the Giants). It is a daunting schedule when viewed on April 12 but that comes with the territory of being a winning franchise in a league that does everything it can to promote parity. I'm especially looking forward to the Chargers game on September 16, the Ravens game on December 3 and the Colts game on November 4. The Patriots should compete with those three teams for supremacy in the AFC and playing them in the regular season will potentially provide fans with playoff previews... In other football news, after fifteen years in the NFL, 44,611 passing yards and 251 touchdowns, former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe announced his retirement yesterday. Bledsoe was the overall No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft by the Pats in 1993 and was the cornerstone of the franchise until the 2001 season when he was replaced by Tom Brady after being seriously injured by Mo Lewis of the Jets. Bledsoe was bitter that he was replaced but Brady did go on to lead the Pats to a victory in the Super Bowl that season. People with short memories forget just how important Bledsoe was to the Patriots. The Pats were a joke in the NFL before they drafted him out of Washington State over Rick Mirer of Notre Dame -- a decision that probably kept the Patriots in Massachusetts. Then owner James Orthwein wanted to move the team to St. Louis but with the renewed interest in the Pats because of Bledsoe (as well as coach Bill Parcells), Orthwein sold them to Bob Kraft and the rest is history. Bledsoe was selected to four Pro Bowls and led the team to a berth in Super Bowl XXXI but he never joined the pantheon of Boston sport greats alongside the likes of Bill Russell, Ted Williams, Bobby Orr and Larry Bird. He was exposed by teams that could blitz up the middle and even before he was injured in the second game of the 2001 season, there were whispers about the possibility of Brady being the QB of the future. He was traded to Buffalo and then signed with Dallas as a free agent two years later (reuniting with Parcells) before being released by the Cowboys following the 2006 season. 2006 was another bitter year for Drew as he was replaced at quarterback by Tony Romo. Many Patriots fans, including myself, will miss Bledsoe. He was involved in every great pre-Super Bowl memory and without him, we probably wouldn't have a team anymore... Kevin Durant, the fabulous freshman forward for the University of Texas who was the consensus National Player of the Year, formally announced his entry for the NBA Draft on Monday. Durant, along with fellow freshman Greg Oden of Ohio State, is considered to be a potential "franchise" player in the NBA. The Celtics are hoping to land one of the the top two picks in the Draft to get the chance to select either Durant or Oden, who should declare himself sometime soon... Rich Hill was fantastic for the Cubs in his 2007 debut. He allowed just one run (on a solo homerun to Corey Hart) on one hit and struck out six Milwaukee Brewers in seven innings to get his first win. His second start was scheduled yesterday at Wrigley Field but was postponed because of rain and snow. He will now start Saturday against Bronson Arroyo and the Reds. Rich is following staff ace Carlos Zambrano, making him the No. 2 starter for the Cubs, a role that Peter Gammons reported that manager Lou Pineilla thought Rich would eventually fill...