A Krafty maneuver by Putin
Picked-up pieces while waiting for my Super Bowl ring . . .
Truly, this is the most hilarious story of our time. First there was Ronald Reagan saying, ''Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Now it's Bob Kraft wearing the blue shirt with the white collar saying, ''Mr. Putin, give back that ring!"
It probably makes no sense to anyone else, but I can't watch Danica Patrick being interviewed without thinking of Nomar Garciaparra. She's got the same features and the same sneer.
Top player on this year's Wesleyan baseball team was none other than Jeffrey Maier -- who made history in 1996 when he reached over the right-field wall in Yankee Stadium and turned Derek Jeter's fly ball into a home run in a playoff game against the Orioles. Maier, a junior outfielder, hit .350 and led his team in slugging, on-base percentage, hits, runs, double, and triples. Still good with the glove, too.
Good thing Tom Brady wasn't with Kraft at Konstantinovsky Palace near Leningrad. We shudder to think what might have happened if Brady had introduced Bridget Moynahan to Vladimir Putin.
David Halberstam is taking time out from his massive Korean War book project to write a short book about Bill Belichick (hope nothing in there offends Michael Holley). The author and the coach both have homes in Nantucket. Sounds like a keeper. Halberstam hasn't missed yet, and ''The Teammates" was his biggest seller ever.
The New York Post polled readers asking, ''Whom should George Steinbrenner fire?" and the winner (loser) was Billy Connors (head of George's Tampa operation), ahead of Joe Torre and Brian Cashman, who each got 16.4 percent of the 7,118 respondents.
HBO's ''Entourage" might be the best thing on TV.
As part of his warmup for Cooperstown, Wade Boggs will be in New York next weekend for the Yankee legends game. The Boss might want some of the legends to stick around for the second half of the 2005 season.
We shouldn't need a reminder after all these years, but anyone who attended the Sports Museum's Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the New Garden came away impressed that Bob Cousy is one of the great class acts this town has ever known.
Hard to believe we've got Jose Offerman, Brian Daubach, and Doug Mientkiewicz (currently on the disabled list) competing for playing time with the Mets this summer.
Leon Fitzgerald of Raymond, N.H., had his 15 minutes in Philly Saturday. The Sox fan lost his shorts when reaching over the rail for a foul ball hit by David Ortiz in the second game of the Sox-Phillies series. Not since Steve ''Psycho" Lyons has anyone gotten more pub from dropping trou at a big league ballpark.
Keith Foulke makes life tough on himself by insulting fans as ''Johnny from Burger King booing me," and talking about granting interviews only to those who pay him. This is a man who makes his living playing baseball, while making it obvious that he doesn't like baseball.
Paul Pierce for Ron Artest. Would you do it? I would.
Hard to believe, but Kenny Rogers went on the ''Late Show with David Letterman" after his perfect game in 1994. Now he's doing stupid pitcher tricks with camera people.
Back off, e-mailers. Yours truly did not ''Gowdy" the Red Sox season with last Sunday's prediction that the Sox will win the American League East by 10 games. The prediction stands. The Sox are a sure thing. Don't get unnecessarily discouraged by a couple of losses to the Indians.
Oh, and while we're talking about the Indians, is Travis Hafner a stud or what? The Sox haven't developed a hitter like that since Mo Vaughn.
Nobody does a better job with a column than Rick Reilly, and the Sports Illustrated scribe was seen chatting with Johnny Damon in the Sox' dugout early this week.
Memo to the McCourts: Major League Baseball is not happy with some of the stuff going on in the Dodgers' front office.
You knew Taylor Coppenrath would get a shot with the Celtics sooner or later.
Today is the one-year anniversary of the night Jeter dived into the stands while Nomar sat and sulked for 13 innings. It was never going to be right for Nomie in this town after that, and he was traded later that month.
Bronson Arroyo goes to the bullpen when Curt Schilling comes back. CEO Larry Lucchino just about made if official on WEEI yesterday. Also, Larry should stop referring to his manager as ''Francona" when he's on with Dennis and Callahan. It makes it sound like he doesn't like him. Even Grady got the first-name treatment from the CEO.
The Red Sox will host the Wellness Community of Greater Boston July 17 when the Yankees are in town as part of the National StrikeOut Cancer Day program. Hall of Famer Paul Molitor will be at Fenway for the event. For information, call 617-332-1919.
Light a firecracker for George Steinbrenner. Born on the Fourth of July, the Boss turns 75 Monday.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is dshaughnessy@globe.com. 