HE GETS PAID FOR THIS? (via Glenn Dryfoos):

Roll of the Daisuke (Bill Simmons, 4/05/07, ESPN: Page 2

When my editors asked me to keep a running diary of Daisuke Matsuzaka's first Red Sox start, I wasn't enthused about the idea. After all, the game was taking place in Kansas City and I live in Los Angeles. If I couldn't sit at the Kauffman Stadium press box and write down mundane tidbits while sitting at a crammed table with 20 other sportswriters, the column just wouldn't feel credible.

"If I did this from home," I told them, "I'd just feel like some guy or gal sitting on the couch making fun of the play-by-play announcer and bemoaning commercials."

"But wait, that's why it would be entertaining," they argued.

Oh, yeah. I forgot. So screw it, here's a running diary of Dice's first start... [...]

11:21 -- Never seen this before: 20-25 photographers snapping shots behind home plate of Dice's warmup pitches. This is gonna be a weird season. If you don't think one of the grizzled Boston media people will punch one of these photographers in the face over the next five months, you're kidding yourself.