With all of us preparing to board the train to blackout city this New Years, I thought I'd take a stroll down memory lane to recap the decade in sports and remind us all just how dominant Boston-based sports teams were.  After tireless research looking at one website while watching Spongebob Squarepants ruin everyone's day in Bikini Bottom, I've come to the realization that we have all witnessed arguably the best decade in Boston sports history.

In case you forgot, for all intents and purposes, the Patriots used to be the Raiders and the Raiders used to be the Patriots.  Up until this decade, the Patriots were always circled as a win on opponent's schedules.  A new ownership, three rings, and an undefeated regular season later, the Patriots are one of the most prominent franchises in the NFL.

In 2006, I can distinctly remember rooting for the Celtics to lose in order to get the best lottery chance the next year.  In my eyes, the only way to get better was to get worse.  Do the math.  There are two things I'm not proud of in my life: admitting to watching Jersey Shore and rooting against the Celtics that year.  Even though I still consider it warranted, cheering for your team to lose is just un-American.  Anyways, you might remember the Celts trading for a couple decent guys and winning their first banner in 20 years.

And then there was the Sox.  I've never seen a team play worse or better in one series like the 2004 Red Sox did against the Yankees in the ALCS.  I was at Game 3 (final score: 19-8) and left a great deal of my dignity at Fenway that night.  I remember pretty much the only guy who wasn't looking on to next year was Kevin Millar.  Constantly reminding people to not count the Sox out, the old cowboy pretty much called the outcome.  A lot of Boston fans already know that there will never be another championship as special as the 2004 run.  Oh yeah, they added another one in 2007 just to prove they were legit.

And, who knows, maybe the Bruins will take home the cup this year to add on to the greatest decade in Boston sports history.

UPDATE: Heres a list of all the championships won this decade in the four major sports divided into region.

Arizona - 1 (Daimondbacks)

Baltimore - 1 (Ravens)

Boston/NE - 6 (Patriots-3, Red Sox-2, Celtics-1)

Carolina - 1 (Hurricanes)

Chicago - 1 (Cubs, oh wait, sorry, I meant White Sox)

Colorado - 1 (Avalanche)

Detroit - 4 (Red Wings-2, Pistons-2)

Florida - 4 (Marlins, Heat, Lightning, Buccaneers)

Indianapolis - 1 (Colts)

LA/Anaheim - 6 (Lakers-4, Angels-1, Ducks-1)***

New York - 3 (Yankees-2, Giants-1)

New Jersey - 2 (Devils-2)

Pittsburgh/Philadelphia - 4 (Steelers-2, Penguins-1, Phillies-1)

San Antonio - 4 (Spurs-4)

St. Louis - 2 (Cardinals-1, Rams-1)

*** - Even though both Boston/NE and LA/Anaheim are tied with 6 titles, Boston gets the edge because men here don't like plastic surgery as much as sports.

        

Take a good look at this flying Italian Stallion because he is next on the laundry list of Red Sox shortstops as the team today announced the signing of free agent SS-2B-3B Marco Scutaro to a two-year deal with an option for a third, according to reports.

Let us all now bow our heads in prayer and thank our respective divinities that Dusty isn't moving over to shortstop. I'm not saying he couldn't do it; he can literally do anything and if you say differently he'd probably slap you in the face and then do it. I'm just saying he's a Gold Glove second baseman and that's where he belongs, so better not to mess with a good thing.

Scutaro had career highs in almost every offensive category last year,hitting .282 with 12 bombs and 60 RBI. He also never strikes out (75whiffs last year), gets on base a lot (.379 OBP), and scored 100 runs in '09. To put itin Red Sox terms, he struck out 50 less times than Kevin Youkilis lastyear in 83 more at-bats. That's legit.

You might be wondering why I'm not pissed the Red Sox signed another stop gap aging shortstop with debatable success at the big league level. Well, that's because we're only paying him 6 mil a year. So, to put it in perspective, Scutaro's being paid the same money that Rocco Baldelli's underachieving ass made last year. Plus it's only a two-year deal, so if he does regress and approach his career averages (which are considerably worse than last year's career year), we can just go another direction. All in all, it sounds like another low-risk, high-reward signing by Theo Epstein.

So at least we Sox fans don't have to worry about the revolving door at shortstop for the next two years. I just hope someone lets Scutaro know that those chants coming from the Fenway Faithful are actually SCUUUUT and not BOOOOOO.

        

The Red Sox today announced that they have acquired Marlins outfielder Jeremy Hermida - he of No. 4 overall prospect in all of baseball in 2006 according to Baseball America fame - for minor league lefties Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez.

Well it didn't take long for the club to make an offseason splash after a disappointing early postseason exit. In Hermida, the Sox get a potential steal as not so long ago he was projected to be one of the best hitting outfielders in the game. Things haven't exactly panned out that way, however, resulting in the bargain price Theo and Co. got him at. Hermida's still a big question mark, hitting just .259 with 13 homers in 129 games last season, but the upside is too great to not take the calculated risk. There's a reason BA ranked him the Marlins' top prospect for three straight years, folks! Plus, the Sox now have a Plan B (granted, a pretty meager one) should they not be able to re-sign slugger Jason Bay. I just hope they don't try to use this as leverage somehow in their negotiations with Bay.

        

Jesus Christ, relax dude. Act like you've been there before. And actually, you have been there before, so there doesn't need to be much acting involved. I get that you're excited because you just beat your mentor, the unquestioned top coach in the league, and you want to pump up the hometown fans, but God damn, there's a point where it gets to be a bit too much. And did you see McDaniels leap into the arms of a defensive end, Kenny Peterson, who then held him up as high as he could like he was some little kid in his daddy's hands? Wow... Chill the fuck out, Josh.

        

A brutal yet appropriate ending to an "eh" Red Sox season. Many people - myself included - expected a much better showing out of this bunch in the ALDS, at least more so than that three-game suck fest we all just witnessed, but in the end it wasn't in the cards and the Angels proved too formidable. I'm a bit less pissed than in years past because this team just never seemed capable of making it all the way, but that doesn't diminish the disappointment much; it still sucks. Anyway, without further ado, here's a look at my top storylines from the past year (and heading into the future):

• Jonathan Papelbon isn't the dominating stopper we all thought - and hoped - he was. Is he a top 10 reliever in the league? Yes he is, and he'll probably continue to be an All-Star two out of every three years or so, but he's shown himself to be incredibly vulnerable this year. Yesterday was just a microcosm of his steady decline. With just one year left on his deal, Paps looking unlikely to agree to a club-friendly contract, and the Sox holding a good deal of young relieving talent, a trade is a definite possibility.
• Similarly, Josh Beckett is not the clear-cut ace he once appeared to be. 5.40 ERA and just 3 Ks over 6.2 innings in a must-win just doesn't cut it. He pitched the most innings of his career this year and compiled his second highest win total (17), but it's clear he's not going to be to this club what Pedro was back in the day.
• On the other hand, the young gun starters (Lester and Buchholz) give us plenty of reason to be hopeful. Lester had a downright fantastic season, racking up a career-high 225 Ks with a fantastic 9.96 K/9 ration, and Buchholz really seemed to settle in late in the season. It'll be fun watching what these two can do next season.
• The offense needs to get a whole lot younger... fast. I love Mike Lowell, but he can't run anymore. I used to love David Ortiz, but he's going to be no good to us hitting in the .220s (even if he does come close to 30 home runs). Jason Giambi clone, anyone? J.D. Drew had a quietly productive year, but he still only appeared in 137 games and apparently even asked out of several. And don't even get me started on Jason Varitek. Long story short, it may be time to throw a lot of money at a young free agent corner infielder, or even start the Lars Anderson era in Boston a bit earlier than expected.
• The Sox need to stick with Alex Gonzalez at short. This team has been infinitely better with Gonzo at short than anyone else over the past few years, and while I don't expect him to bat higher than .250, his clearly superior defense more than makes up for it. Keep Lowrie waiting in the wings, but hold on to Gonzo for at least another year.
• Victor Martinez isn't the long-term answer at catcher, but I'll certainly take him in the short term. V-Mart was arguably the team's top weapon offensively over the last month, and aside from Joe Mauer, he's the best offensive catcher in the league. If he can stay behind the dish for about 100 games per season (he caught 85 between Cleveland and Boston last year), he'll be a pivotal factor in the team's future success. As a backup at $3 million next season, Tek should actually be a bit of a bargain. You know, if he doesn't lose us back-to-back games by letting up a pair of ugly passed balls.
• Jason Bay is not worth Mark Teixeira money. So don't give it to him, Theo. 4 years at about $14 to $15 per sounds about right.

There's surely more to ramble about, but I'm tired from a week in Aruba for my cousin's wedding. Back tomorrow with a look at the Pats' rough start.

        

Solid deal, although $4 million per season does seem to be a bit much for a guy that's never scored 20 goals in a season. Last season's 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) were a career high, but he's likely to eclipse that mark this season. Even if he doesn't make a big leap the way many are predicting, the B's and their opponents feel Looch's impact far beyond his season stats. Nice to know one of the team's top young game changers is locked up through 2011-12.

        

The national media has been all over Matt Sanchez's nuts for the better part of a month now, and how does he reward them? A 27.0 Week 4 passer rating with 3 interceptions, one of which resulting in a score for the Saints. The rookie "phenom" looked absolutely lost out there, and against one of the league's perennial bottom-dwellers defensively. Plus, the defense gave up receptions to 10 different Saints, as well as 153 yards on the ground! As Rex Ryan is fast learning, you can only fool 'em for so long.

        

Wow. Rather than looking like the team that sent the B's home in the first round last postseason, the 'Canes looked like a high school team out there. All that intensity and playmaking we were hoping to see in Game 1 burst out in a big way tonight. You know it's on when Marc Savard is dropping the gloves to help protect teammates. Best game of the year by far (I know, I know, it's only the second game, but what a game it was!). On a related note, I lost a lot of respect for Andrew Alberts during this game. Not that I had much respect for him to begin with, but that high hit on Sturm was absolute horse shit. Alberts should know better, considering he was on the same team as Sturmy just two seasons ago.

        

Gonna be honest - until about 20 minutes ago, I totally forgot I used to pick the games against the spread last year. Just had no remembrance of it whatsoever. My bad. I haven't been betting as much so it just slipped my feeble 25-year-old mind. Tough economy and all. So here I am, three weeks late, with the first installment of The Picks, 2009 edition. Be sure to let me know how much green you win thanks to my unparalleled wisdom.

Oakland at Houston (-8.5) - Slaton goes off despite Seymour's presence. PS - Sorry in advance for the 2009-10 season, Richard.
The Pick: Texans -8.5

Tennessee (-3) at Jacksonville - Jags' passing game slowly starting to catch up with the ground game.
The Pick: Jaguars +3

Baltimore at New England (-1.5) - Encouraging display late against Atlanta, but Brady's not clicking on all cylinders yet. Not even close.
The Pick: Ravens + 1.5

Cincinnati (-6) at Cleveland - Browns have two quarterbacks which, as we all know, means you have no quarterback.
The Pick: Bengals -6

New York Giants (-9) at Kansas City - Bowe's iffy and Larry Johnson looks lost out there. The Chiefs may not score this week.
The Pick: Giants -9

Detroit at Chicago (-10) - Solid showing by the Lions last week, but Cutler's doing too well and Forte's got too much to prove.
The Pick: Bears -10

Tampa Bay at Washington (-7.5) - The Redskins are just awful this year. Unfortunate considering I'm a Clinton Portis owner.
The Pick: Buccaneers + 7.5

Seattle at Indianapolis (-10) - Julius Jones will keep the 'Hawks in it, but there's no way the Colts lost this one at home.
The Pick: Seahawks +10

New York Jets at New Orleans (-7) - Jets D will test Brees and Colston, but Sanchez is still overrated.
The Pick: Saints -7

Buffalo at Miami (even) - TO's a non-factor, but Jackson and Lynch will tear it up on the ground.
The Pick: Buffalo (even)

St. Louis at San Francisco (-8.5) - Rams sucked with Bulger, now they're absolutely unwatchable. 'Niners run wild even without Gore.
The Pick: 49ers (-8.5)

Dallas (-3) at Denver - Broncos D is overachieving but the Cowboys have looked mediocre at best. Romo may miss The TO Show.
The Pick: Broncos +3

San Diego at Pittsburgh (-6.5) - Vincent Jackson and Darren Sproles will do surprisingly well against an excellent Pitt D.
The Pick: Chargers +6.5

Green Bay at Minnesota (-4) - Mark it on your calendars: 3 scores for ADP and 2 through the air for Brett the Jet.
The Pick: Minnesota (-4)

        

    

Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers, and actor Eduardo Noriega. We all know Gasol's story - soft ass dude who couldn't win on his own but was finally lucky enough to get traded to a contender and play on a team with Kobe. The only thing I've ever seen Noriega in is that shitty movie "Vantage Point," so the jury's still out on him, too.