OK, so baseball is "saved." There's a new agreement that runs through 2006 which should prevent further baseball labor strife until well into Madame President Clinton's first term (got you, didn't I?).

I've not seen many specifics, but suffice it to say the rich teams are giving money to poor teams, there's a luxury tax in place, but still no guarantee that all this extra money is going to go towards making the small market teams better. Maybe I missed it.

Also, no contraction talks until 2007, meaning that the Montreal Expos live on. Sort of; for all I know they'll be the Norfolk Expos or the San Antonio Expos or the Expositos de Cidudad Mexico.

Anyway, I'm just happy I can now see the Sox genteel decline in its full glory. Eight back in the AL East, 4 back in the wild card. During training, we do an exercise where people write down on cards things they are concerned or worried about for the coming year. We read the cards, and people blow out candles to show that they share that concern, and those who didn't blow their candle out relight others to show they can help. Someone put the Sox on a card. You can guess whether or not my candle stayed lit.