If you live in Boston, your day of sports viewing may have started with the running of the 113th Boston Marathon, I decided to take a pass on the event. Don't we all know the drill by now - a man and a woman from the continent of Africa wins their respective race and Americans bemoan the lack of world class marathoners in the good ole U.S.A.

In the women's race, American Kara Goucher tried to stand up for American long distance runners and challenged two African women in the last few miles of the race. Goucher fell off the pace at the end as defending champion Dire Tune from Ethiopia and Salina Kosgei from Kenya raced to the finish. Tune and Kosgei battled to the end, and seemed to nearly collide at the finish, with Kosgei out sprinting the defending champion. (You have to love the beauty of instant replay. It sounds like the women's race would have been worth watching, but I am a busy man. ) An American woman has not won the Boston Marathon since 1983.

Deriba Merga of Ethiopia won the men's race. The last time I checked Ethiopia was found in Africa and not the United States.

Down the street from the finish line at Copley Square, the Red Sox hammered the Baltimore Orioles, 12-1, on the annual Patriot's Day morning affair at Fenway Park.

For those of you who don't live in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Patriot's Day is a big deal. Schools close for the day but this week Patriot's Day is a part of April vacation, some businesses close, people actually attend the marathon, college kids hold parties and get arrested for underage drinking, diehard drunks or rabid Red Sox fans start getting loaded at the bars surrounding Fenway at 8:00 am and then crawl up to the finish line at Copley Square to watch the sea of human misery finish the marathon. If you're a sports fans or Revolutionary War reenacter, it really is a great weekend to visit Boston. 

No comment on the dirty knees - I'll leave that to your imagination.

Today's running of the Boston Marathon and the Patriot's Day affair at Fenway Park are mere opening acts for tonight's Bruins and Celtics playoff games. If anyone is left standing at the bars in Copley or Kenmore Square, they may need interpreters to explain the action on the plasma screens above their heads. If these interpreters are fluent in the language of the inebriated, they may have a chance communicating with the mutants still standing or crawling on all fours, but let's not bet Johnny's beer money on that.

Playoff TV Viewing

If you're a big Boston sports fan, you're screwed tonight. Both the Bruins and the Celtics have 7:00 pm starting times. The Bruins will be up at the Bell Centre in Montreal looking to continue their dominance of the Canadiens by adding another win to their 2-0 series lead. The Celtics will be at the TD Banknorth Garden fighting to even their playoff series at 1-1 against the young Chicago Bulls.

Does the NHL, NBA, Versus or TNT care about Boston sports fans? The apparent logic seems to be that neither fan base will watch the other team's playoff games. I don't buy that. Bandwagon fans abound at this time of year. A lot of Massholes in Massachusetts want to be a Celtics or Bruins fan when the smell of winning is in the air. Where is the sense is having one local team compete against the other for viewers in April?

How about the NBA and NHL communicating with each other? Am I wrong to think that ratings would improve for both teams if they did not have to vie head-to-head for the Boston sports fan? I don't see MTV airing "The Duel 2" versus "Bully Beatdown" on MTV2. In a difficult economy, why would Versus or TNT want additional viewers? The NBA is hemorrhaging money and the NHL isn't usually described as Fort Knox. You would think a little creative scheduling would be in the offering, but that would mean the NBA and the NHL would have to acknowledge the other's existence and that's not going to happen in 2009.

Tonight, in the Boston television market, the Bruins will draw more viewers than the Celtics. Without Kevin Garnett, the Celtics are considered playoff fodder and not championship material. Hub hockey fans can sense something special is in the works and the Bruins will draw big numbers versus a hated rival. Guys will be sporting their vintage Bruce Shoebottom jerseys and North Shore women will make a visit to the nail salon to make sure their acrylic tips match Bruins gold.

For those of you who rejoice in schadenfreude, the C's Ray Allen may be your cup of tea tonight.

MTV's The Duel 2

Oh, MTV has sucked me in. At some point today, I am going to watch the first episode to watch the brawl between Adam and CT. CT is your typical 'roids rage Masshole. Someone should take a baseball bat to the back of his head (Al Capone style) or put him on "Bully Beatdown" - the suits at MTV can thank me for this idea.

However, I will give a shout out to the MTV suit, who came up with idea of having the challengers compete in bikinis and speedos on a frozen sheet of ice. Sheer sophomoric genius!

The alliance crap is really annoying and juvenile, which makes the show so appealing to so many people.

Eventually, I will lose interest in The Duel 2 because how many secret alliances can you handle?