I just wanted to touch on a couple of items from the classic 13-inning game between the Yankees and Red Sox last month.

1) Since the game was played, I've been trying to think of a better regular season game I've seen. I officially give up.

2) For a political columnist, Bob Herbert is a great sportswriter. His NYT op-ed on the game indicates that he's in the wrong department:

By then the players on both sides seemed to have entered a special zone that transcended the rivalry of the two teams. They were locked in an extended competition played out at such a high level of skill and intensity that it conferred a kind of grace on all who participated, no matter who would end up losing.

That was one of the most amazing things about the game - the way the players on both sides dropped all pretense in extra innings, and combined an all-out effort to win the game with undisguised awe at what they were a part of. Except, of course, for the Red Sox's soon-to-be-former shortstop. It wasn't just the sitting out of a key game, or the contrasts with the great plays and efforts of his ancient rivals Jeter and A-Rod. It was the contrast vivdly portrayed by the TV cameras - his Red Sox teammates standing at the top step of the dugout, mouths uniformly agape for innings on end, while Nomar sat by himself on the bench, motionless and emotionless. Sometimes, the TV camera does not lie.

3) My brother had tickets to the game. He gave them away less than an hour before game time. The recipient has promised to name his first-born child after my brother. (Let's hope it's a boy.)