I watched the debates with a six-person focus group the News (Maggie Haberman and I) had assembled for this very purpose. The most pro-Bush participant, a NYU college student who had volunteered at the RNC, said, "I'm going to go home and cry..." She said Bush had given a fiery speech at the convention, and was expecting more of that ... instead, "Kerry was rattling off facts like a textbook ... I was like, this was what Bush was supposed to to."

I thought Kerry clearly won, showing a clear command of facts and seeming "presidential." Bush tanked early -- was he tired? -- but eventually recovered. His best moment was complimenting Kerry on being a good dad and talking about their daughters.

There really was no knockout blow or crystalizing moment scored by Kerry -- no one "you're no JFK" line that made Bush look terrible, however, no matter how much he fumbled at times.

So maybe Kerry won, but did he win enough? Who knows...

Eeek. The BBC reports that several managers at a Chinese public broadcasting station have been fired after asking contestants in a prime-time quiz show to guess how many children died in the Beslan school massacre.

They were offered a choice of between 302 to 402 ... the correct number was 329.

Did the 18-mile marathon tune-up in the park yesterday. 2:36. Felt good afterwards. Maybe I will do a fall marathon after all.

I'm not conceding anything. Yanks still have a series to play against the Twins while we play the D-Rays. This is not over.

So now Boston is 91-60, Oakland, 86-64, Anaheim, 85-67 and Texas, 84-67.

If Texas goes 11-0 (and Oakland wins the division), Sox must win at least five to win the wild card outright.

As for Anaheim ... if Boston wins three more games, and finishes 94-68. Anaheim would have to go 9-1 to tie. That means winning five from Oakland, which would then finish at best 93-69, losing the division. Hmm... if Boston finishes 93-69. Anaheim must go 8-2 to tie ... Oakland could lose four and still win division at 94-68.

So: Boston's magic number for TEXAS is five. That number will drop with every Boston win or Texas loss. Sox magic number for ANAHEIM is three - which will drop with a Sox win or an Anaheim loss to anyone but the A's.

Apparently there is a web site that does this. Although its "playoff clinch" number is the number needed to clinch at least a tie, rather than an outright clinch.

Math exercise: Boston is now 90-60. Oakland, 87-63. Anaheim, 85-66. Anaheim and Oakland have six games against each other remaining. How many games must Boston win to be assured the AL wild-card berth?

Let's see ... if Boston wins just four more games and goes 94-68 ... Anaheim would have to go 9-2 to tie at 94-68. But that'd mean winning at least four of its six remaining with Oakland. If Oakland only loses those four games and goes 8-4 it'd finish 95-67, still winning the division, and Boston and Anaheim would (I think) play a tiebreaker.

If Boston wins five more games, and finishes 95-67 ... Anaheim would have to go 10-1 to tie. That means winning five of six with Oakland ... those five loses mean the A's end up, at best, 94-68. So Anaheim would win the division, and Boston would get the wild card.

Hmm... but what if Texas goes 12-0, to finish 95-67? That'd mean taking two from Oakland ... but Oakland could still win the division. (Oakland and Texas have two games remaining against each other, tonight and tomorrow).

So as of this afternoon, Sox need to win six to clinch. ... The Boston Globe was right after all.

Soxaholix.com: may be even better than Boston Dirt Dogs... awfully funny. We're still in good shape...

I am heading to New Orleans for the hurricane. not sure how i'm getting there yet.

Friday: Arroyo (9-9) v. El Duque (8-0)
Sat: Lowe (14-11) v. Lieber (11-8) ... lots of ground balls
Sun: Pedro (16-5) v. Mussina (10-9)

So John Kerry has lately:

• mispronounced the name of Green Bay Packers stadium Lambeau Field as "Lambert Field" during a visit to Green Bay.
  
• claimed his favorite Red Sox player was "Manny Ortez." (We do have a Manny Ramirez and a David Ortiz, but no Manny Ortez.)
  
• claimed the Red Sox were 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees when we were 3 1/2 games back.
  
• Told a Wisconsin audience he enjoyed hunting deer "with my trusty 12-gauge double-barrel, crawl around on my stomach... That's hunting." Only, no one hunts deer on their stomach, that's ridiculous. They either walk stealthily or sit in a tree.
  

Okay, Bush makes a lot of misstatements too, sometimes about more serious things. But if you pretend to be a fan when you're not a fan ... you come across as kinda phony. Get with it John!

The widening Newsday circulation scandal just gets more and more interesting. Apparently the Newsday circulation managers, under scutiny from ABC auditors, claimed they were selling thousands of papers through a street-hawking operation. "Well, we'd like to see it," the auditors said. Only there were no street hawkers. So the managers invented a sham -- having carriers drive by and buy five or six papers at a time....

Also: supposedly the independent contractors Newsday uses to deliver papers can make up to $90,000 a year! but you have to start work at 2 a.m.

I have packed my bags ... may be heading down to Florida for Hurricane Ivan tomorrow!

Suspect documents, silver stars, purple hearts, the Alabama National Guard ... bleah bleah bleah.

With all the issues facing the country, I can't believe how much this presidential campaign (both sides) has dwelled on Vietnam! Get over it! It was three decades ago ... who cares!

(okay, maybe people care somewhat. but these this is getting wayy too much attention).

How lame is Rob Neyer? I've liked some of his writing, but jeez, he doesn't do himself any favors here with his campaign against a rival book about "a day in the life" of Fenway park. (His own book, which he e-published, was unbelieably bad, IMHO). Not only did he post a bad review under a fake name on Amazon.com, he penned a second scathing review and had a friend post it. Then it he started waging a war against the positive reviews, complaining to Amazon in an effort to get them deleted.

And he admits all this, unapologetically, on his website! What did the guy ever do to you, Rob?

So unbelievably lame.

A sweep! 8-1 on the toughest stretch in the season!
Obviously puts us in a very comfortable position ... but worth noting that Twins have now won 7 of 10 and trail Oakland by only two games in the loss column. So if the AL East wins the wild card, that wild card winner might play vs. Minnesota, not the AL West.

Marine Corps News>Marines have constructed a minature Fenway Park in Iraq, using over 200 panels of recycled wood, old light poles and 120 gallons of green paint.

"It was a two-week project," said Cpl. Jason M. Samuels, 22, and an artillery mechanic with the unit. "Putting up the Green Monster was the hardest part. We built it on the ground and stood it up. We had 30 guys lifting it up and it was shifting and wobbling."
...
"I think by building this field we have provided all troops on this base an outlet for stress and tension," said Pritchard. "It gives them a chance to forget about the daily grind of the day and just enjoy some softball."

"I grew up with the Red Sox, so this field makes me feel like I am back home with American traditions," said Petty Officer 1st Class Fernald J. Darrin, a company chief with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 14. "It makes you feel like you aren't in a war zone. It's a stress reliever."

Two consumer products to recommend:

• The Gillette Mach 3 Power. This is the vibrating razor you see advertised on TV. I couldn't really tell the difference between the various Mach 3 models -- until this. It really is smooth; it seems like it takes fewer strokes to get a good shave.
  
• Braun Oral BI bought the Braun Oral B 7900DLX Professional Care on Amazon.com for $99 ... leaves my teeth feeling very clean and fresh, and makes brushing very easy.
  

Yeah, you can get the job done (shaving/tooth-brushing) for a lot less money ... but when I thought about all the money I spend on stupid s--t, this wasn't all that much for two items I figure to use everyday...

So five three-game series left: Oakland, Tampa Bay (2) and New York (2), as well as three four-games series: Baltimore (2) and Seattle.

We're in good shape, but no room to relax...

I was here when this lone protester was arrested ... police said she was demonstrating illegally, blocking foot traffic and gave her a 30-second opportunity to leave. When she didn't immediately take it, she got hauled away in handcuffs.
There was almost no pedestrians on the 11th Ave. sidewalk, which was easily able to accommodate five or so walking abreast.