Saluting our Sportsmen; frank talk from Frank

RETURN TO LANSDOWNE STREET The first World Series win around here in 86 years was worth the wait, if only to hear Denis Leary toast the champs (with New York expletives undeleted), as he did last night at Avalon. Patrick Lyons's lounge in the shadow of the Green Monster was the place to be -- if you were invited -- to see Curt Schilling and the rest of the dirt dogs crowned Sports Illustrated's 2004 "Sportsmen of the Year." Still coalescing from surgery on that pesky peroneal tendon, Schill, accompanied by his daughter, Gabriella, accepted the award on behalf of his band of idiot brothers. (He also won it in 2001, with Big Unit Randy Johnson.) Others walking the red carpet last night included frequent Leary sidekick Lenny Clarke, who was asked to rank the 2004 World Series in Boston's sports history and replied with a fair impersonation of Johnny Most's "Havlicek stole the ball!" (Meanwhile, the Celtics' legendary sixth man, John Havlicek, was standing about 10 feet away.) Also present were: Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, clutching the World Series trophy, reliever Alan Embree, catcher Doug Mirabelli, and former players Jim Rice and Rico Petrocelli, and Pats players David Givens, Dan Klecko, Patrick Pass, and Larry Izzo, and Olympic hockey hero Mike Eruzione. We're sure it says nothing about the Sox that last night's party was sponsored in part by Viagra.

HOMECOMING When he's not in Iraq or Afghanistan, where does WGBH's war correspondent David Aquila Lawrence go to relax? Not to a spa or a nightclub. Quil, as he's known, goes back to rural Benton, Maine, where he grew up and where he's building a stone house. Masonry -- that's relaxing, right? "It's my favorite spot, post conflict," said Quil, who's just back from the war. Asked about the scene in Iraq these days, Quil said it's pretty much what Wall Street Journal reporter Farnaz Fassihi described in her widely circulated private e-mail earlier this fall. "Everything in that e-mail was factual. . . . There's a growing sense of frustration covering Iraq, because things haven't gone so well," Quil said.

A LEGAL WINE PAIRING In a local food-world coup, Legal Sea Foods' Roger Berkowitz announced Sandy Block has joined the seafood eateries as vice president of beverage operations. "I worked in restaurants about 15 years, so this feels like coming home -- at a much higher level," said Block, one of only 22 Americans who holds a master of wine title.

FRANK GETS FRANK WITH BANKERS File this one under: Uh, thanks for coming, we think. In what attendees described as a fiery and lively keynote speech in New York City on Wednesday night, Congressman Barney Frank lit into a group of bankers on the subject of executive pay. "At the level of pay that those of you who run banks get, why the hell do you need bonuses to do the right thing? Most people in the world don't get bonuses to do the right thing," Frank told the 250 bank executives, regulators, and politicos gathered for the trade publication American Banker's annual Banker of the Year Awards. According to remarks provided from the evening, Frank said: "I mean, do we really have to bribe you to do your jobs? I'm serious. I don't get it. I don't get a bonus. Cops don't get bonuses. . . . And the problem is not just the bonuses. Think what you're telling the average worker, that you who are the most important people in the system and at the top, that your salary isn't enough, that you need to be given an extra incentive to do your job."

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