Manny, my Manny

On a lighter note, how am I to deal with the fact that my first round pick (9 of 12) in my recent fantasy baseball draft was -- gasp! -- Manny Ramirez. Sure, a perennial all-star and future hall-of-famer, but... one of those detested Red Sox! Am I to root for him -- and his flagrant abuse of the rules of fielding and baserunning -- even as I long for the Sox to go 0-162?

I say this, needless to say, as a Jays fan and, against my better judgement, I hold the Yankees in high regard as an organization. How can you not like Joe Torre? As the two-time defending champion of what is a fairly serious fantasy league, though, I have no choice but to hope that Manny pulls off his usual magnificence at the plate.

More on the ups and downs of my fantasy team -- Les Expos, I call it -- as the season moves along.

Is there anything more wonderful in sports than the start of the baseball season? It's the truly beautiful game.