Francona: ready for some football?

Because last night's debacle, authored by Tim Wakefield and the bullpen, is better forgotten than dissected, today's full NFL slate allows a nice diversion until 3:05 p.m. rolls around. The Red Sox themselves will be in full scoreboard-watching mode today -- one eye on the Rays, one eye on their fantasy football teams.

Terry Francona, for one, said fantasy football for him, just like countless of fans who spend Sundays on the couch rather than in a dugout, has "ruined" the way he watches football: he can't focus on anything but players' stats. He remains a fan, though, and tries to get down to Foxborough each season.

“Not as many as I would have liked," Francona said. "One a year. Just, when it’s all said and done, fighting the traffic. I hate being cold. I went once last year, Scott [Pioli] showed me around before the game. I mean, it was great. But by halftime, I was like, I got to get home and watch the fourth quarter.”

Francona grew up a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, but his loyalty has been tested by his proximity to the Patriots and the time he's spent with the folks who run the team.

“I’m not as much as a Steeler fan as I used to be, because I’m so far removed. I mean, that was Chuck Noll. It’s hard. You grow up a fan of a team, it’s hard not to have an allegiance. I like the people [at the Patriots] so much now, it’s hard not to root for them.”

And what about the Eagles, the team whose city Francona shared during his occasionally tumultuous tenure managing the Phillies?

“You know how I feel about that,” Francona said. “I want every team in that city to lose. Pretty honest about that. I remember driving down to spring training [the year the Patriots beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl]. They were coming back from Jacksonville. I must have drove by 50 cars that had Eagles paraphernalia. They’re all dejected. I’m honking my horn.”