SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Opinion

April 12, 2012

Our View: Plenty to cheer

From Bangor to Bristol, tomorrow marks the day we leave winter behind and start to anticipate glorious summer.

It's Opening Day at Fenway Park, which this year is marking its 100th year as home of the Red Sox.

Forget The Collapse and the fact that it is also Friday the 13th. Ignore the shaky start in Detroit and Toronto. Yawkey Way will be alive with activity once again, and the day will be celebrated by far more than the 37,000 people fortunate enough to have the afternoon off and tickets to the game.

Opening Day means the warm weather is on its way, which is welcome news even after the mild winter we've just been through. It means the Sox are still in the hunt for the playoffs (and still undefeated at home).

• • •

Speaking of the playoffs, the Bruins begin their defense of the Stanley Cup against the Washington Capitals tonight. And given that the championship team from last spring is pretty much intact, we like their chances.

The surprise coming into playoff season for the winter sports teams has been the Celtics. Written off as too old and too injury-riddled, the team has had the best record in the NBA since the All-Star break and Tuesday beat LeBron James' vaunted Miami Heat for the second time in as many weeks.

Guard Rajon Rondo, whose point and assist totals are regularly in double digits, has expanded the list of Celtic "bigs" from three to four. From here, this looks like a team with a legitimate shot at a deep playoff run.

Get ready for some late nights in front of the TV.

• • •

While the Sox were in the process of blowing not one, but two leads to the Tigers on Sunday afternoon, most eyes were on The Masters golf tournament down in Augusta, Ga.

With Tiger Woods out of contention early, many were hoping to see Phil Mickelson win his fourth green jacket. But in the end, the tournament — generally considered the most prestigious in golf — went to a rising star from Bagdad, Fla., Gerry Lester "Bubba" Watson Jr.

We suspect Woods and Mickelson will still have their moments of glory, but Watson, 33, represents the new breed of American golfer whose success is essential to keeping the sport in the public eye.

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