Yeah, I'm posting a commercial for free. I know.

Look, I'm doing it again

And again. this one is a real classic- Cantona's Au Revoir at the end pleases me to no end.

In the next ten or so days we have:

• The Boston Marathon One of the world's great sporting events takes place in my back yard I love the Marathon and this year my girlfriend and I are going to watch it from the course together, which is a first. We're heading to Heartbreak Hill to watch the elites and hopefully catch sight of Lance Armstrong before heading home for a little relaxation. Should be an awesome day.
• The Red Sox playthe Texas Rangers on the very same day. The annual Patriot's Day game has an early morning, 11:00 AM start time. Since the Marathon course goes right through Kenmore square the convergence of the two events is occasionally serendipitous- the game getting out just as the elite runners are hitting the square.
• The Boston Celtics, truly great again for the first time in twenty years, open the NBA playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks. I know the NBA is hoping for the return of the dream match up to end all dream match ups- a Celtics/Lakers NBA Final.

  I'd be pretty happy with that result too <- understatement.

• Over in Europe, the spring cycling calendar continues with The Amstel Gold Race on the 20th, La Flèche Wallonne 2008 on the 23rd and Liège-Bastogne-Liège on the 27th. While they don't possess the grand drama of the grand tours, the spring classics are dependably great racing and this week of back-to-back-to-back action is an annual highlight.
• Closer to home the top American riders will all be on the start line of the Tour de Georgia. Folks like George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, Tom Danielson, Dave Zabriskie, Chris Horner, and Bobby Julich will be vying for top honors in this challenging race through the state of Georgia.

  Of special interest, as always, will be the premier stage in all of North American cycling, the mountaintop finish atop Brasstown Bald. The nearly mile high peak brings the best out of the American climbers and adding a win atop Brasstown Bald is one of the most impressive victories a cyclist can earn on North American roads.

• Women's Marathon 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be held in Boston the day before the Marathon (the 20th.) I'm not sure if I can make it out but it might be a lot of fun if I'm able. How often can one say they've seen two marathons live in two days?
• The Bruins? Heck, they might even be able to pull of an upset of Les Habitants. Not that I pay much attention to hockey anymore, but I know some people that do, so I've got to shout out the Bs
• Chelsea play Manchester United on April 26th. A game which could decide the Premier League. Fun times.

Did I miss anything? Even if I did that's enough to keep me entertained and my DVR in good shape for a while. Good times.

Baseball

I know it's early, but I really like this year's edition of the Boston Red Sox. The pitching staff has the possibility to be the best of my lifetime and the positional players seem like they could come together to be a real force. To my mind, the lynch pins are probably Coco Crisp and the health of JD Drew. If Crisp can be the player he was a couple of years ago (and he's starting to show signs) and Drew can remain healthy I really like this team's chances.
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I've been meaning to go to a Revolution game for the past couple of years (once I realized how close I now live to Foxboro) and now with the ability of the MLS teams to sign select high priced stars it'll make it even more appetizing. Beckham, of course, is already here, but if someone the caliber of Robbie Fowler ends up playing at every team it'll make for a lot of interesting match-ups, even if the point for me is to just say "Yeah, I saw player x play live"

It'll also be interesting to see these guys, seasoned Internationals and veterans of the greatest leagues in the world, playing in the small pond of the MLS. Talk about a rejuvenating switch…

Fowler in talks over US transfer