FanHouse Boston

What a day of college basketball! Especially in the ACC. The three remaining unbeaten teams in ACC play all took the court on Saturday. Only one survived.

One of the teams that didn't was top-ranked North Carolina who saw their trouble spots all hit a perfect storm today against Maryland. They weren't hitting from the perimeter (they missed 18 of their 25 three-point attempts) and weren't tight with their defensive assignments. It hurt them against Clemson and Ga Tech, but they left both places with wins mainly because their outside shots were hitting. Today, they weren't. It was like watching the Georgetown game all over again.

On another point of the Triangle, Gavin Grant stole an inbounds pass and scored a layup with two seconds remaining to give NC State a 79-77 victory over #24 Miami. The win was the first in conference play for the Wolfpack who looked horrific in their first two ACC games and gives the Canes a two-game losing skid.

"They can look at it their way and I respect that and understand that," Jones said. "I'm not going to sit here and keep dwelling on the situation. It was a month ago and I'm getting over it and I'm back playing worrying about my team and helping our team win."

I used to think the only things first basemen had to worry about were being alert for pick-off plays and avoiding the likes of Matt Stairs barreling down the basepath.

But in the latest issue of Boston Globe Magazine, Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis reveals his greatest fear: that someone might try to swipe away his good mojo.

"Cleveland's Casey Blake always does that. If I have a bunch of hits in a game, if he gets to first base, he'll always try to touch me. Try to get hits. They just try to rub your arm. They try to take your hits away from you. Some guys try to rub the good luck on to them."

Personally, we're against any sort of touching in the workplace (and if you saw some of the people in our offices, you'd understand). But you can't blame anyone for trying to get a little of that Youk magic; his stellar D and recently revived bat have been two critical components of the Sox' success in 2007.

After the Red Sox beat the Twins tonight at Fenway Park, reducing their magic number for taking the AL East to one game, a few thousand fans stuck around to watch the Yankees take on the Orioles on the jumbotron.

Those who stayed didn't leave disappointed; the Orioles, down by 3 in the ninth, pulled a Lazarus, tying the game before winning it in the tenth, and setting off an AL East-clinching celebration on the field and in the stands at Fenway.

It's the first time the Sox have won the division since 1995, but there's still a small bit of drama to be played out this weekend, as the Sox are neck-in-neck with the Cleveland Indians for the best record in the American League, which would give them home field advantage for the playoffs.

As I type this, they're still tossing beer, quaffing champagne and playing grab-ass with the fans at Fenway Park. But the next couple weeks will show us whether this team can conjure as much post-season magic as the 2004 model.

As we've noted before here at FanHouse, things haven't been going so well for Julio Lugo. He'd been in an 0-for-33 slump, batting .189 -- roughly what Stephen Hawking would hit if he were in the AL East -- and quickly becoming the last guy you'd want to see with a bat in his hand when a key hit was needed.

But it all ended last night, as Lugo collected two hits against his former team the Devil Rays, raising his average to a robust .194, and ending the longest Sox slump since 1991.

Of course, with the benefit of a 10-and-a-half game cushion in the AL East, Lugo got more support than death threats from Boston fans. Monday night they chanted his name when he came to the plate with the bases loaded. Last night, they gave him a lengthy standing O when he finally connected.

"That felt good. (Monday) night was really special for me," Lugo said. "I'm a guy who's going to go out there and give 100 percent every day. Fans see that and appreciate it. That built me up a lot. Things had to change. Because these people deserve for me to play good."

If he can somehow get that average up over .200 by the end of today's Fourth of July matinee game, that'd be pretty much all the fireworks we need here in Boston.

It may be time for Julio Lugo to call in an exorcist. Because, yes, things have gotten that bad for him.

The embattled Red Sox shortstop has been simply putrid at the plate, in an 0-for-31 skid that got him dropped from the leadoff spot, and batting an unquestionably anemic .089 over the last 30 days.

But during last night's loss to the Texas Rangers, Lugo proved he didn't need to take bat in hand to ruin everyone's good time. In the bottom of the eighth, with two out, the Looger was called in to pinch run after a Dustin Pedroia double. With the Sox down by one run and the red-hot Kevin Youkilis at the plate -- the same Kevin Youkilis who'd already launched a two-run homer in the second inning -- Lugo broke for third and was thrown out by a country mile.

You can't blame the guy for trying; he'd been 20-for-20 in stolen base attempts so far this season. But this one played out so awkwardly -- Lugo didn't slide, opting instead to try to bowl the third baseman over -- even Sox color man Jerry Remy declared it one of the strangest attempted steals he'd seen in a while.

The move left a few of Lugo's teammates bewildered as well, according to today's Boston Globe:

Youkilis, who was left to lead off the ninth, wouldn't offer any theory or explanation.

"You're going to have ask Julio about it. I'm not going to answer. I'm not here to answer for Julio. You'll have to ask Julio about the questions," said Youkilis.

I've gone on record as saying I think Lugo's gonna turn it around and prove a late-summer hero. But that's assuming some crazed Sox fan doesn't get his or her mitts on him before that.

He's got 601 home runs, but think of how many Sammy Sosa might have whacked if he played regularly in the bandbox that is Fenway Park. It's a scenario that almost played out, as Sammy came thisclose to being a member of the Boston Red Sox, not once but twice.

With Sammy in Boston this weekend for the Sox-Rangers mash-up, Jeff Goldberg of the Hartford-Courant reminds us that The Sos was actually signed to a free-agent deal by the Sox in early 1995 while baseball was still officially "on strike." But the deal, orchestrated by then-Sox GM Dan Duquette, was kiboshed when MLB struck a new labor deal to end the strike.

His name surfaced again in trade talks in 2000, with rumors flying that the Sox were attempting to swap Trot Nixon for Sammy, but nothing materialized.

Sammy himself said he would've been totally down with playing in Boston.

"This is a great place to play," Sosa said, seated in the visitors dugout at Fenway Park. "I remember one time I almost signed here. I would have had even better numbers."

Considering that Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy once famously referred to Sosa as "Sammy Soosa," that's pretty nice to hear.