Will Steve Begin and the Bruins be celebrating after Game 7 Friday, or will they go down in the history of worst collapses? (AP)

The Bruins are teetering on the edge of infamy.

After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinals matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers, the B’s are faced with a winner-take-all Game 7 Friday night at TD Garden. The Flyers — playing with a third-string goaltender and a string of injuries to match the Bruins own issues — have won three straight games and are brimming with confidence as they look to stun the Bruins.

If the Bruins fall on Friday night, the collapse will rank alongside some of the worst in Boston sports history. Here are some of the other contenders.

1978 Red Sox

The Sox held a 14½ game lead over the New York Yankees in the race for the AL East pennant in July. With his slumping team in need of a shakeup, George Steinbrenner fired manager Billy Martin and replaced him with Bob Lemon.

The results were immediate. The Yankees stormed back from the dead and ran off a 19-8 streak in August to cut the lead to six games. By the time the Yankees rolled into town for a four-game series at Fenway Park, the Sox lead was just that: four.

It wouldn’t be for long, however. The Yankees swept the series in what became known as the “Boston Massacre,” and all of a sudden the two teams were tied. Everyone knows what happened next — the two teams fought down the stretch and ended in a deadlock at the end of the regular season, setting up a dramatic one-game playoff.

The Sox took an early 2-0 lead off of Ron Guidry, a 25-game winner and the eventual recipient of the Cy Young award, thanks to a homer from Carl Yastrzemski and an RBI single by 1978 AL MVP Jim Rice. But then Bucky “Bleeping” Dent struck his homer off Mike Torrez, and the Yankees went on to finish off the Sox’ collapse with a 5-4 win. Well, the Yankees would call it a stunning comeback.

1979 Bruins

In what ranks as easily one of the worst moments in Bruins history, the B’s were less than two minutes away from reaching the Stanley Cup before a dramatic collapse.

Boston had the hated Montreal Canadiens, the three-time defending Stanley Cup champs and the team that had defeated them in the finals two straight years, on the ropes. After falling behind 2-0 in the best-of-seven semifinal series, the Bruins thought they would finally exorcise the demons and get a shot at winning the Cup. The Bruins held a 3-1 lead in Game 7, only to see the Canadiens storm back and tie it up. With just under four minutes left to play, Rick Middleton appeared to score the game-winner, squeaking a shot past Ken Dryden and giving the Bruins the 4-3 lead.

But the Bruins’ excitement was short-lived, and the Canadiens were not ready to give up their crown just yet. An unfathomable too many men on the ice penalty gave the Habs a power play, and Guy Lafleur tied the game up with just 74 seconds remaining.

Montreal would go on to win the game, and the series, in overtime and win their fourth straight Stanley Cup.

1986 Red Sox

The Red Sox were oh so close to getting the monkey off their back and winning the World Series. Up 3-2 in the series, the Sox battled back and forth with the New York Mets and headed to extra innings in Game 6. Boston took a 5-3 lead in the 10th inning and got the first two outs, needing just one more to win its first World Series since 1918.

And then, the improbable happened. Three times the Sox had Mets hitters at two-strike counts, but Gary Carter, Kevin Mitchell and Ray Knight all singled, cutting the Mets’ deficit to one run. After a wild pitch from Bob Stanley tied the game, Mookie Wilson was all set to finish off the win.

It is perhaps the most famous mishap in sports history. Wilson’s grounder went through Bill Buckner’s legs and the Sox lost the game. The Game 6 collapse carried over to the seventh game, as the Sox lost the series. But 1986 will always be remembered for Buckner’s gaffe, the capper on an epic meltdown in Boston. And Buckner capitalized on his infamy.

1989-90 Celtics

Patrick Ewing and the Knicks came back from an 0-2 hole to beat the Celtics in the 1990 playoffs. (AP)

Toward the end of the era of the Big Three — the original Big Three — the Celtics finished second in the Atlantic Division and won 52 games, giving them the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics averaged 110 points a game in that season, despite Larry Bird being on the downside of his career after his back injury. That was evident in the first two games, as the C’s scored an astounding 157 points in their Game 2 win.

But the biggest problem? The C’s couldn’t play any defense. The Knicks averaged 118 points per game in this series and came back to win three straight games, including the final one in the Boston Garden.

2006 Patriots

It was supposed to be another classic Colts-Patriots matchup on the biggest stage possible: the AFC championship game. The Pats looked like they had booked another trip to the Super Bowl after taking a 21-3 lead, thanks to an Asante Samuel interception return for a TD.

But Peyton Manning and the Colts had other ideas. Whether it was on the ground — the Colts had 125 yards rushing — or through the air, as Manning had 349 yards passing,  the Colts stormed back to win the AFC title.

In the end, the Patriots lost the game 38-34, and it was the Colts who went on to win the Super Bowl over the Chicago Bears.

It might be lost in the shuffle with the NBA and NHL playoffs heating up and the MLB season in full swing, but the NFL offseason has been full of intrigue. OK, it has been full of a bunch of head-scratching decisions and curious rumors like every other offseason, but that doesn’t mean that it there isn’t anything happening.

Let’s start with some news concerning an old Patriot, Super Bowl hero Adam Vinatieri. Word from Indianapolis is that the kicker might not be a lock to keep his job this coming season. You might recall that Vinatieri, who struggled with injuries for much of last year, was passed over for kicking duties in the playoffs last year in favor of 42-year-old Matt Stover. Now, Vinatieri will have to fight off a younger rival, undrafted former Michigan State Spartan Brett Swenson, to win back his job as the Colts’ primary placekicker.

The Bengals are giving Pacman Jones another chance to resurrect his NFL career. (AP)

In Cincinnati, the Bengals are back to their old ways, bringing in another notorious troublemaker: Adam “Pacman” Jones. Despite the fact that not even Jerry Jones could put up with Pacman after he got into trouble in Dallas, the Bengals are taking a shot at resurrecting the former Titan’s career.

The Bengals camp reportedly was split on the decision to add Jones to the roster. The move was not met with approval from the entire coaching staff, and the team’s scouts and front office also were not 100 percent on board with the move. Jones does seem to have some backers in Cincinnati, though. One is defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, which is curious considering that he will have to compete just to be a backup at corner with Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph firmly entrenched in the starting roles. But hey, Chad Ocho Cinco likes the move, so that is a win right there.

Speaking of players in trouble, Texans linebacker Brian Cushing, last year’s NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, was suspended for the first four games of the 2010 season for violating the league’s policy regarding performance enhancing drugs. The positive test occurred in the first month of the 2009 season, meaning that Cushing played the entire year and won the ROY award and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl despite knowing he was facing some punishment. Cushing appealed the suspension in February but could not overturn the suspension. It is a big loss for a team that was on the rise after finishing 9-7 last year, the franchise’s best-ever record.

Eagles wideout DeSean Jackson is another young star who has been in the headlines recently for all the wrong reasons. The Sporting News magazine coverboy made some disparaging comments about his former quarterback, Donovan McNabb, in the accompanying article, saying that he doesn’t think the Eagles “lost anything” in the trade with the Redskins. McNabb took the high road in his response, but it is just another indication of how badly he needed a change of scenery.

The Raiders finally cut ties with former top pick JaMarcus Russell. (AP)

Finally, the Raiders continued their bizarre offseason of making moves that actually make sense, finally cutting ties with the underachieving JaMarcus Russell. After trading for Jason Campbell on draft day, the Raiders gave the former No. 1 pick one last shot to prove his worth to the team in their recent minicamp. But after coming to camp in surprisingly good shape (earlier reports in the offseason indicated he weighed close to 300 pounds), Russell failed to impress.

As of right now, Russell will be known as the biggest bust in draft history, especially when you consider his enormous salary. But someone has to give him another chance. Right? If Pacman Jones is playing football next year, you can bet Russell will be, too.

It was quite the return for Marc Savard in the Bruins’ Game 1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Returning from almost a two-month layoff after the vicious hit by Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke that sidelined him with a concussion, Savard played the hero in the Bruins’ 5-4 overtime victory  at TD Garden. He blasted a shot past Brian Boucher just over 13 minutes into overtime to give the Bruins a leg up in their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup.

It was a great play, and it might go down as a better story. When the Bruins needed a goal at a critical juncture, Savard showed no rust in netting the game-winner. Savard joins the list of great first-game comebacks from an injury layoff by Boston athletes. Here are a few other memorable performances.

Tony Conigliaro

One pitch almost cost Tony Conigliaro not just his career, but his life.

On that fateful day in August of 1967, as the Red Sox were in the midst of their Impossible Dream season and facing the California Angels at Fenway Park. Conigliaro, the young star from Revere and St. Mary’s High in Lynn, was up at the plate for Boston in the fourth inning and facing Jack Hamilton. And then, all of a sudden, he was down for the count. Hamilton’s pitch hit Conigliaro just above the left cheek bone, causing a facial fracture and damage to his retina. Instantly, Hamilton became an infamous villain in Boston and the Sox lost their most popular player.

It was remarkable enough that he survived, but even with blurry vision Tony C desperately wanted to make a comeback. It was an arduous journey — Conigliaro wanted to come back that season, but he ended up missing the rest of the year and all of 1968 as well. He finally made it back on the field for Opening Day on April 8, 1969. And he returned with some of the old magic that Sox fans were used to, belting a two-run homer in the 10th inning and scoring the winning run in the 12th inning of Boston’s 5-4 win over the Orioles in Baltimore.

Jon Lester

Before Jon Lester was being counted on to be at the top of the Sox rotation, he was the Sox’ top prospect in 2006. He made his Major League debut in June of that year and went on to win his first five decisions. The future seemed bright for the 22-year-old left-hander.

And then things started to unravel. In his next seven starts, Lester went 2-2 with an ERA of 7.75 (it had been 2.38 in his previous outings.) He did not look comfortable, and he complained of back pain in August. By early September, the youngster was faced with terrible news: He had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The cancer turned out to be treatable, and Lester was back on the mound in spring training in 2007. But he had to work his way back to the big leagues, starting in Class-A Greenville and working his way up through the minor league system. He finally made his return on July 23, 2007, less than a year after he first found out he had cancer. And he helped the Red Sox earn a 6-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians, allowing two runs in six innings and striking out six.

If that wasn’t enough, Lester would end his comeback on an even higher note, getting the win in Boston’s World Series clincher against the Colorado Rockies. It was a fitting way for Lester to end the year, beating the National League’s best just like he had beaten his disease. It was a remarkable comeback story, and ended with a fitting tribute: the Tony Conigliaro Award.

Drew Bledsoe

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.  Fresh off signing a record 10-year, $103 million contract, Drew Bledsoe thought he might have a chance to lead the Patriots to the playoffs. But then he met Mo Lewis, and his fortunes, and the Patriots’ as well, changed forever.

Backup Tom Brady came in and led the surprise Patriots to the playoffs, in the process supplanting Bledsoe as the starter. But for one moment, Bledsoe got the chance to relive his glory days.

Replacing an injured Brady, Bledsoe came in and helped lead the Patriots to an upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2002 AFC championship game. Four plays after replacing his former understudy, Bledsoe threw an 11-yard TD to David Patten to give the Patriots a 14-3 lead. They would jump out to a 21-3 margin and hold on for a 24-17 win.

That renewed fervor in the Bledsoe-Brady debate that had been an ongoing discussion throughout the season.

But Brady returned to help the Pats win the Super Bowl, and cemented himself in Patriots lore. Bledsoe was traded to the division rival Buffalo Bills that offseason, but for one brief moment he played a key role in helping the Patriots win their first Super Bowl.

Tom Brady

The Patriots’ remarkable 2007 season ended in heart-wrenching fashion in Super Bowl XLII. Their 2008 season started off in much the same fashion.

With one blow, Bernard Pollard knocked Tom Brady out for the year and put the brakes on any hope of a repeat performance from his MVP campaign.

Much like Brady in 2001, unheralded backup Matt Cassel came in and shockingly led the Pats to an 11-5 record, just missing out on a playoff spot. Any thoughts of a quarterback controversy were quickly put to rest, however, when the Pats traded Cassel to the Kansas City Chiefs in the offseason. There was no way they would be getting rid of their three-time Super Bowl winning signal caller.

But it was not known how Brady would play after his return. There was a lot of talk about how he would mentally prepare to be hit again and whether his knee would withstand the rigors of a full season. He put all those concerns to bed, however, in the 2009 opener.

With the Pats down 24-13 in the fourth quarter, Brady threw two touchdowns to Ben Watson in the final 2:06 of the game, leading the Patriots to a shocking 25-24 win over the Buffalo Bills and proving that he hadn’t lost the ability to perform in the clutch when he missed almost all of the 2008 season.

Sure, Brady needed help from Buffalo’s Leodis McKelvin, with his disastrous fumble on the kickoff return, but the QB finished the day with 378 yards passing and the two scores (he also had a terrible pick returned for a TD —hey, we can’t all be perfect) in his first meaningful performance since the Pollard hit. Not a bad way to get back into the swing of things.

Dwyane Wade was simply unstoppable Sunday afternoon.

Dwyane Wade was sensational in Miami's Game 4 win Sunday. (AP)

Whether he was yelling at his hands or splashing in 3′s, Wade did it all in Miami’s Game 4 win over the Celtics, helping the Heat stave off elimination for at least one more game. The Celtics had no answer for Wade’s offensive showcase, as the Miami guard outscored the Celtics in the fourth quarter by himself with 19 points to help the Heat seal the win. Wade’s 30 second-half points helped him finish with a playoff career-high 46 on the day.

It was a performance that can stand up to some of the best in playoff history. But where does it stack up against the best playoff games by an opposing player against Boston teams? Here is a breakdown of some of those performances. You be the judge as to where Wade’s stands.

‘It’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan.’

MJ had some of the most memorable playoff performances ever. There was the “Flu Game” vs. the Utah Jazz in the 1997 NBA Finals and “The Shot” over Craig Ehlo in round one of the Eastern Conference finals in 1989. But his best performance might have come in a losing effort in Game 2 of the 1986 first-round series vs. the eventual NBA champion Celtics on the hallowed parquet of the Boston Garden. Jordan, who had been limited to just 18 regular-season games in his second year because of a broken bone in his foot, came back at the end of the regular season and willed the Bulls into the playoffs. Then he put on a show unlike anything anyone had seen in playoff history.

In the Celtics’ 135-131 double overtime win, Jordan was a force of nature, breaking Elgin Baylor’s playoff record with 63 points and almost single-handedly carrying his team to a victory over arguably the greatest team of all time. None other than Larry Bird compared His Airness to God, and it was just the beginning of Jordan’s ascension to the best player of all-time.

‘The Shootout’ — ‘Nique vs. Bird

The Atlanta Hawks were a force in the late ’80s, continually putting up 50-win seasons. Their only problem was they kept running into the Celtics in the playoffs and losing. In 1988, it appeared they would suffer a similar fate in the second round of the playoffs. The Celtics had stormed out to a 2-0 lead at home in the Eastern Conference semifinals, only to see the Hawks come back and win three straight, including Game 5 in the Boston Garden. But Boston came back and edged Atlanta for the win in Game 6 and the stage was set: Game 7 and a trip to the Eastern Conference finals on the line.

And on the biggest stage, two of the game’s best delivered iconic performances. Dominique Wilkins and Larry Bird engaged in one of the best duels in playoff history. The “Human Highlight Film” lit up the Celtics for 47 points on an astounding 19-for-23 shooting display. The only problem for the Hawks was Larry Bird was up to the task of matching their star. Bird scored 20 of his 34 points in a back-and-forth battle with Wilkins in the fourth quarter, helping the Celtics earn the 118-116 win.

We’ll let current Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who was an All-Star point guard for the Hawks and played in that game (though he did not play particularly well in that one), sum it up.

“Bird and ‘Nique were in a different world. Late in the game, I was trying to get back in and I just kneeled there and watched them go back and forth.

” ‘Nique was great in Game 6 and 7. He just decided we weren’t going to lose that last game. Unfortunately, Bird had decided the same thing, and only one of them could be right. Bird may have won the game, but Dominique won the duel.”

Twenty years later, Doc would be on the sidelines for the Green to witness another classic duel in an Eastern Conference semifinals Game 7: Paul Pierce vs. LeBron James.

El Duque dazzles

For all the recent playoff battles between the Red Sox and Yankees, it is easy to forget that the first time the two rivals met in the postseason was in 1999. The Yankees, who would go on to win the World Series, cruised through the playoffs, including dispatching the Red Sox in five games in the ALCS. The MVP of that series? Orlando Hernandez.

The leg-kicking Cuban starter was on the top of his game in the decisive win in Game 5. Pitted against Kent Mercker (if you remembered that, you are clearly a diehard Sox fan) for the second time in the series, El Duque kept the Sox bats in check all night.  He tossed seven shutout innings and struck out nine batters before Jason Varitek homered in the eighth, ending his chances of a shutout. Still, his performance was enough to have everyone from Staten Island to the Bronx doing the El Duque.

Godzilla helps Yanks smash Sox

Hideki Matsui earned his status as a Red Sox killer after his performance in Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS. (AP)

Every Yankees fan would like to forget the 2004 ALCS. At least the last four games, anyway. But if the series had been best-of-five, the Yankees would have gone out with a bang with their 19-8 demolition of the Sox in Game 3, and it would have largely been thanks to Hideki Matsui.

All the Yanks cleanup hitter did in that one was deliver a five-hit, two-home run performance, finishing the day by knocking in five of his team’s astounding 19 runs. It all started with a two-run shot off Boston starter Bronson Arroyo, who was lifted after Matsui doubled off him in his second at-bat. The man they call Godzilla then capped his night with another two-run blast in the top of the ninth inning, leaving fans at Fenway Park reeling.

Of course, the Red Sox would be the ones who left New York fans stunned after coming back from a 3-0 hole to win the series. But try not to let that overshadow what Matsui did in Game 3, if that is possible.

Brodeur gives Bruins a devil of a time

It’s not like Martin Brodeur hasn’t flummoxed a cast of NHL teams. When you are the all-time leader in the NHL in wins and shutouts, it is safe to say that you have stymied plenty of opponents.

But Brodeur’s performance in the 1995 playoffs was special, even for him. The Devils came into the playoffs as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference after the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season. But Brodeur’s strong play helped the Devils stun the hockey world and win the Stanley Cup.

Martin Brodeur had no reason to hang his head after his performance against the Bruins in the 1995 playoffs. (AP)

It all started in the first round against Boston. Brodeur was simply superb, recording three shutouts in five games in the best-of-seven series, becoming just the fifth goalie to accomplish that feat, and the only one to do so in as few as five games. It got so bad for the Bruins that they were left wondering if they would ever score a goal. Of course, they scored more than one in a 3-2 win in Game 3, only to see Brodeur come through with his third shutout in a 1-0 overtime victory for the Devils. The only consolation for the Bruins was that no other team that had much luck against Brodeur in his second “full” season. He didn’t have any more shutouts, but he was the main reason his team went on a run that ended with an emphatic sweep of the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings in the finals.

And now, after a disastrous playoff campaign for New Jersey, people are wondering if Brodeur is washed up. Even if that is a case, he is still arguably the greatest netminder in NHL history.

T.O.’s comeback

Say what you want about Terrell Owens. Go ahead, none of it can be disputed. But there is no doubting that his performance against the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX was remarkable.

After suffering a severe ankle sprain and a fractured fibula when he was horse-collared by the Cowboys’ Roy Williams on Dec. 19, Owens missed the rest of the regular season and the playoffs. But he vowed to come back for the Super Bowl, and thanks to a hyperbaric chamber and a miracle, he did just that.

Owens dominated the Patriots secondary despite playing with the injury. He finished with nine catches for 122 yards and would likely have been the MVP for the Eagles if they had completed their comeback, or if Donovan McNabb didn’t end up puking in the fourth quarter. Despite the 24-21 loss and Deion Branch’s 11-reception, 133-yard day overshadowing Owens’ accomplishments, it was still a memorable performance from someone who likely should not have even been on the field.

Heisman Howard does in the Pats

Before Super Bowl XXXI, Desmond Howard was best known for the video below.

But he certainly made sure that fans in New England remembered why he won that Heisman Trophy. Howard become the first special teams player to be named the MVP of the Super Bowl after his 99-yard touchdown return in the third quarter sealed the 35-21 win for the Packers. Howard was the most dangerous man on the field, finishing with 154 kickoff return yards in the game as well as a Super Bowl record 90 punt return yards, for another record of 244 combined net yards.

Taylor runs over New England

Well before he came to New England, Fred Taylor ran all over the Pats in his first playoff game as a rookie in 1998. (AP)

Before he came to New England, Fred Taylor was the Jacksonville Jaguars. And those Jaguars had a habit of running into the Patriots in the playoffs. In 1996-97, two years before Taylor came to Jacksonville, the Patriots beat the upstart Jags to earn the AFC championship. And the Patriots beat Taylor and Jacksonville on two other occasions, in 2005 and 2007. But for one year, in 1998, the Jags had the Patriots’ number. And it was all thanks to the legs of Taylor.

The rookie ran all over the Patriots in the teams’ wild card matchup, helping Jacksonville earn a 25-10 win. Taylor had 162 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries in one of the best performances from a rookie in the playoffs.

Manning, Colts shock Pats

The Colts-Patriots rivalry is the best in the NFL. And there were so many instances when Bill Belichick’s team came out on top. But in the two meetings prior to the AFC championship game in 2007, the Colts had finally gotten the better of Tom Brady and the Patriots.

However, nothing could have prepared the Patriots for what happened in that game. Peyton Manning would not let his team lose, finally shedding the label of not being able to win a big game. He led his team to an unbelievable comeback after the Patriots built up a 21-3 lead in the first half, and the Colts earned the trip to the Super Bowl with a 38-34 win.

The Patriots become the first team in NFL history to lose a conference championship game after leading by 18 points, thanks in large part to Manning’s turnaround. Twice the Patriots took the lead after the Colts stormed back to tie the game at 21, only to see Manning engineer another comeback. He finished the day with 349 yards and a touchdown through the air while also adding a 1-yard score on a QB sneak. It all culminated in a perfectly executed drive at the end of the game by Manning, which was capped off by a 3-yard Joseph Addai score.

Since that meeting, the Colts have won two of the last three contests between the teams in close affairs, including last year’s “fourth-and-2″ game.

PGA Tour player and NBC golf analyst Brad Faxon joined Dennis & Callahan Monday morning to talk about Phil Mickelson’s triumph at the Masters and Tiger Woods’ return to the competitive stage.

Faxon said that will all the family issues Mickelson had been dealing with, he finally was able to focus on his game the last few weeks in preparation for the Masters, which was a big help in his performance.  ”[Phil] was on a three-week in a row trip. He played in Bay Hill at Arnold [Palmer's] tournament, he played in Houston and had [coach] Butch [Harmon] there and then he spent the couple of days at Augusta,” he said. “So I think this was his first real chance to just play golf.”

Faxon added that Mickelson ”is as popular on the golf course as Tiger is and it has been that way for a long time.” He was also impressed that Mickelson was able to play so well on the back-nine Sunday despite struggles off the tee. ”He had only 13 putts on the back nine and he hit seven greens despite hitting just the two fairways,” Faxon said. “This guy kept pounding driver, playing his game and I love that. He didn’t try to play anyone else’s game.”

As for Woods’ play, Faxon said that he was surprised that everything seemed to unravel in the final round on Sunday. “That is the worst I have seen him hit shots in the clutch,” Faxon said. “It is usually the opposite; when he gets down to the nitty gritty he looks neat and clean, and he looked disheveled. He was taking divots with a three wood and he was hitting three wood on holes where a lot of guys were hitting driver.”

Faxon also added that he was still surprised Tiger did not play another tournament before coming to Augusta. “Coming back to play in a tournament after a five-month layoff, no matter what tournament, there’s always going to be little things that you can’t practice for in your preparation that will happen in the tournament,” he said.  ”They made a big deal yesterday of his chips and this is the first time he has played with the new v-groove; those little things make a difference.”

The highlights of the interview are transcribed below. To listen, click here.

How did you know Mickelson would win? Most people who had watched him in the previous weeks had felt his putting was off. Did you fix him?

Not at all. He works with Dave Stockton on his putting. I haven’t really helped Phil with his putting at all. I did get to go to dinner with him last week in Houston and with Butch Harmon the week before. But I do know one thing, he has had a tough time at home. As tough as it has been for Amy [Mickelson], it has been tough for Phil. He says, ‘Amy doesn’t know when she wakes up how she is going to feel and she wants me around, so I haven’t been able to practice and get out of the house to do the stuff I normally do.’ But he was on a three-week in a row trip. He played in Bay Hill at Arnold’s tournament, he played in Houston and had Butch there and then he spent the couple of days at Augusta. So I think this was his first real chance to just play golf. It was kind of an experiment for him in Houston. He was just ripping drivers everywhere and thinking about the week of the Masters. I could tell something was going on that made him my favorite.

We think we know Phil. Are we going to find out one of these days that he is as big a fraud as Tiger?

No way. No way. I really like him. He is as popular on the golf course as Tiger is and it has been that way for a long time. Phil is a guy that smiles and he might say a couple of bad words, but you don’t hear him say it. This whole thing about Tiger changing is funny to me because every athlete swears under their breath. In Tiger’s case it is tougher because there is a mic near him every shot he takes, but most of the time you do it with pursed lips or away from a microphone. You are trying to be careful about what you say. But Phil is not a controversial guy. He is not going to have any of that stuff.

Is Tiger suffering more this morning because Phil won? Would he have felt better if Anthony Kim or Lee Westwood won and not Phil?

Well, that is hard to say. I think he is mad at himself more than he is mad that Phil won or that Anthony Kim or Lee Westwood didn’t. But I was surprised with his interview with [Peter] Kostis because first of all, Kostis doesn’t really get to interview Tiger all that much because I don’t think Tiger gets along with Peter Kostis. But I think he had a chance in that interview — Tiger did — to say, ‘It felt great to be out here. It felt great to be in contention. Yeah, I didn’t win …’ That is what the champions before him have done, and Nicklaus better than anyone was a guy who said, I gave it my all and it didn’t work out and hats off to Tom Watson or whoever beat me.

Tiger didn’t say hats off to anybody.

I can understand in the heat of the battle that you are upset that you couldn’t pull it off. And I did make a good prediction on Phil this week but if you remember, John, I also made a bad prediction because I said I thought Thursday would be the toughest day for Tiger. And if he got himself in contention on Sunday, that would be the easiest day for him.

And it just went the opposite for him.

It was. He shot a 69 or 70 and we are thinking the world is going to end for Tiger. But that is the worst I have seen him hit shots in the clutch. It is usually the opposite; when he gets down to the nitty gritty he looks neat and clean, and he looked disheveled. He was taking divots with a 3-wood and he was hitting 3-wood on holes where a lot of guys were hitting driver.

As far as Tiger goes, what do you take out of his performance?

I don’t think we are going to stop Tiger from winning tournaments. First of all, I was surprised that he got himself in contention and looked that comfortable on Thursday. It looked like he had not missed a beat. Thursday was the most televised golf tournament, the most watched tournament ever, for a Thursday. So he is bringing back the viewer and the PGA needs that and the sporting world would love to see him play and contend. That is why I wish he would say, ‘Hey, I’ve got some work to do. I am going to come back and play in ‘X’ tournament,’ or whatever tournament. I wish he would say that because it would be good for everybody. But I really believe he doesn’t know when he is going to play.

Jack Nicklaus said that if Tiger really wanted to win he would have played another tournament before the Masters. If he wanted to better his chance to win, would he not have played some place else first? And didn’t he choose Augusta because that provided the safety we talked about.

I agree with Jack. Coming back to play in a tournament after a five-month layoff, no matter what tournament, there’s always going to be little things that you can’t practice for in your preparation that will happen in the tournament. They made a big deal yesterday of his chips and this is the first time he has played with the new v-groove; those little things make a difference. It is still mind boggling to me why he wouldn’t have come back to play in Arnold’s tournament or the Tavistock Cup where he lives just so he could have a few rounds under his belt. Because you need them to win a major, and I don’t know anyone who has ever won a major after five months off. It is hard to do.

Did you think Tiger would behave differently?

That is one of the reasons you like to watch anybody. You like to watch John McEnroe in tennis because you love to see the outbursts as much as you want to see the anything else. I think Tiger made a comment to Kostis where he said, ‘This is really overstated or overplayed about my comments. I’m not going to be happy or peppy when I am making bogeys.’ That is true of any player. I don’t think he needs to be less emotional when he plays golf. We love the emotion — both side, the good and bad of it — and I don’t know what he was trying to get at with that.

If you were on the pine straw with a two-shot lead, Masters title on the line, what would Brad Faxon have done?

A six-iron would have been a perfect layup for me. [Mickelson] hit it on the green. A couple of things amazed me about that shot. Hitting a shot off the pine straw with a perfect lie isn’t that tough. It is difficult to get good footing in there, but Phil wears metal spikes and that helps a lot. A lot of guys don’t wear metal spikes anymore; I don’t know if Tiger does but you saw him on the 11th hole taking his batter’s box stance and ripping the pine needles out of there. I was amazed too at how quickly Phil hit that shot. He made a couple little back swings and he knew that club was going to hit the tree or come close on the back swing. He and Bones — his caddie, Jim MacKay — were talking about hitting his shot to the left of the flag, and there was a hill up there so any shot that went long would come back to the flag. He was aiming to the left and he hit the crap out of it and drew it more than he thought. He swung as hard as he could swing and that was the shot of the tournament.

If he hits it in Ray’s Creek there, everyone would have said, “What are you doing, Phil.”

Everybody would have said something, but I think two things there. If he hit it in the creek he was very confident he could get the next shot up and down. It would have been a bread and butter pitch shot for him — it wasn’t like the flag was close to the creek — so he was thinking five there at worst. He said afterward that he had to make birdies and you saw some of the charges — Anthony Kim went five-under for four holes — so he knew that could happen to a lot of players there and that he needed to keep making birdies.

That was almost better for Phil because he said he could win this and be himself anyway.

That is one of the things I have learned the last few months with NBC. I was watching Phil down at Doral and Bay Hill with Gary Coke and Johnny Miller and  he has two different drivers, one goes a mile and one is supposed to go straighter and a little lower. He was always hitting the driver that goes longer, full bore, and both Coke and Miller were wondering why he was doing that and saying that he just needs to learn to hit it straight. And I told them they had it wrong; Phil Mickelson has never been a guy who has hit it straight. Faldo falls into the same trap as these guys and says he can’t win if he keeps hitting driver. Yesterday on the back nine he hit driver on every hole except 18 when he had the tournament wrapped up and hit a three wood to stay in front of the bunkers. He hit two fairways — and that one that I thought was crucial was 15, the par 5 — but he kept missing fairways and he kept missing drivers. John, you sent a text to me about the putting and he had only 13 putts on the back-nine and he hit seven greens despite hitting just the two fairways. This guy kept pounding driver, playing his game and I love that. He didn’t try to play anyone else’s game.

Those two guys who shot 65 yesterday — Anthony Kim and Nick Watney — do they wake up and say, ‘I could have been in contention if not for that 76′ in Watney’s case and 73 in Kim’s? Or do they know it is different to shoot a 65 from the middle of the pack that at the top?

Well, I think they know that. These two guys are part of the under-30 crowd and they are both great players and have the chance to win majors going forward. They are excited. They can’t wait to play the next tournament and the next major. No matter if you are back in the pack a little bit, 65 on Sunday in any major is a great story. Those two guys, watch out. Like Lee Westwood, they will be in it on a Sunday.

Spring finally is in the air, and that mean one thing to baseball fans: Opening Day. After months of waiting and agonizing weeks of spring training speculation, the Red Sox roster is set and the regular season opens Sunday night. And the opponent is a familiar one — the defending World Series champion New York Yankees.

Josh Beckett will be on the hill again for the Sox when they open the season Sunday against the Yankees. (AP)

It is the second straight year that the Sox have faced the defending AL champs in their home opener, after they defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 last season. That was a memorable opener, with Josh Beckett helping the Red Sox get revenge after their defeat at the hands of the Rays in the playoffs the season before by dealing seven innings of two-hit ball. Beckett will be back on the hill Sunday night vs. Yankees ace CC Sabathia as the Sox try to keep their five-game home opening win streak alive. But before you focus on that, here are some of the memorable opening day moments in the past 30 years of Red  Sox history.

2008

The Red Sox and A’s opened the Major League schedule in 2008, but the game wasn’t played at Fenway or the Coliseum in Oakland. Instead, the Sox headed to Japan to play at the Tokyo Dome the year after winning their second World Series of the decade. It was the earliest opener ever, and it allowed Daisuke Matsuzaka to pitch in his home country. While Dice-K could only get a no-decision after struggling early, Manny Ramirez delivered the game-winning two-run double in the 10th inning to give the Sox a 6-5 victory.

2005

Just in case Yankees fans had somehow recovered from the Sox’ astounding comeback after being down 3-0 in the ALCS, there was a little salt to rub in their wounds in the 2005 home opener. The teams opened the season in New York on April 3 (a 9-2 New York win), and eight days later, the Sox opened their home slate vs. the Yankees and received their World Series rings from 2004.

If the fans weren’t delirious enough, they certainly were after the Sox emerged with an 8-1 win. Here is a gallery from the memorable day.

2004

The first game of the Terry Francona era was also the last Opening Day start in a Sox uniform for Pedro Martinez. Pedro had a forgettable day, giving up seven hits and three runs in his six innings in an ugly 7-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. Maybe he didn’t have his lucky charm with him that day.

Remember when Pedro Martinez was a regular on the mound on Opening Day for the Sox? (AP)

2003

Red Sox fans would prefer to forget the disastrous closer-by-committee idea. It was one that was doomed from the start, as the Sox let up five runs in the ninth to blow a 3-1 lead and lose the opener, 6-3. Despite a gem from Pedro, who let up one unearned on just three hits, Alan Embree and Chad Fox couldn’t hold the lead. Embree let up a two-run homer to journeyman Terry Shumpert and Fox gave up the game-winning three-run shot to Carl Crawford as the Sox fell.

1997

The Sox entered the ninth inning down 5-2 to the Anaheim Angels but unleashed a furious comeback off of one of the best closers in the game, Troy Percival. The Sox rallied for four runs in the inning and earned a dramatic 6-5 win, thanks in large part to Percival imploding, walking three guys and letting up the four in just two-thirds of an inning to start off the year with an astounding 54.00 earned run average. That probably was enough to make Percival let out a few obscenities.

1988

Roger Clemens delivered a gem at Fenway Park, but he was matched by Tigers ace Jack Morris. Both starters went nine innings and let up three runs and the game entered extra innings. Sox manager John McNamara brought in closer Lee Smith to take Clemens’ place, but that was a disastrous decision. Smith gave up a two-run bomb with two outs to Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell, giving the Tigers the 5-3 victory. And that is why you don’t bring a closer in when the game is tied.

1984

The Sox held a precarious 1-0 lead over the Angels thanks to a solid performance from lefty Bruce Hurst. But the Angels rallied in the last inning and loaded the bases after an intentional walk with two outs. With Bob Stanley on in relief, Jackie Gutierrez, who had come in to play short after starter Glenn Hoffman was lifted for a pinch-hitter, committed an error that let two runs in, losing the game in shocking fashion.

1981

After 11 years in Boston, Carlton Fisk made his first appearance at Fenway in a White Sox uniform in the opener in 1981, hitting a game-winning home run. (AP)

This was a memorable opener for one reason: the return of Carlton Fisk to Boston in a White Sox uniform. Fisk signed as a free agent with Chicago in the offseason after spending his first 11 seasons in a Red Sox uniform. In the familiar surroundings of Fenway Park in his first game with the other Sox, Fisk smacked a three-run home run to give his new team a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning. The White Sox went on to win the game 5-3.

Butler is returning home for the Final Four. (AP)

Everyone loves an underdog, and no sporting event delivers more than the NCAA tournament. And while Cinderellas including St. Mary’s and Northern Iowa fell over the weekend after some shocking upsets (though St. Mary’s beating Villanova was not that surprising), at least fans still can root for Butler.

The Bulldogs return to Indianapolis for the Final Four riding a 24-game win streak after disparaging No. 2 seed Kansas State in the West Regional final 63-56 on Saturday. Butler will be playing just five miles from its campus and home base at Hinkle Fieldhouse, which just so happens to be where one of the greatest stories of a basketball Cinderella run was filmed: “Hoosiers.”

This Butler team is no Hickory High — it came into the tournament ranked No. 11 in the AP poll — but it still is an underdog against the likes of West Virginia, Duke and Michigan State, just like it was against Syracuse and Kansas State. In fact, a lot of people have egg on their face after picking UTEP as a likely upset candidate against the Bulldogs in the first round. Add up all that, and that is enough to make the Horizon League champs join the list of the tournament’s Cinderella squads, even if the Bulldogs don’t fit the traditional criteria that some of the other notables below do.

1966 Texas Western Miners

How do you know you are a Cinderella? Well, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have a Disney movie made about your team.

Sorry to spoil the movie, but this was the Texas Western team that helped change the dynamics of college basketball. Don Haskins trotted out an all-black starting five in the NCAA championship tilt and stunned the legendary Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky squad, 72-65. So although UTEP (which is what Texas Western became) fell to Butler this year, it still has its own memorable story.

1970 Jacksonville Dolphins

Back when the term Cinderella was more about the fairy tale, future ABA and NBA great Artis Gilmore led Jacksonville on an unheralded run in the 1970 NCAA tournament. Though the Dolphins eventually fell to perennial powerhouse UCLA — which would win its seventh title in eight seasons — in the championship game, 80-69, they upset a number of high-profile teams along the way. With Gilmore and fellow 7-footer Pembrook Burrows in the middle, the high-scoring Dolphins — they were the first team in NCAA history to average over 100 points — took down the likes of Iowa and Rupp’s top-ranked Kentucky squad, helping Jacksonville become the smallest school (by enrollment) to ever make it to the Final Four and play for the title. And as the players recall, Jacksonville certainly played up the “nobody believes in us” mantra that has become a Cinderella staple to this day.

1983 North Carolina State Wolfpack

NC State and Jim Valvano were giant-killers. And in the 1983 championship game, they slayed one of the biggest favorites that college basketball had ever seen — Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma squad, led by Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. No team with 10 losses had ever won the NCAA championship, until the Cardiac Pack pulled off the improbable and made its march. NC State, which won seven of its last nine games after trailing in the final minute, pulled off one of the most memorable endings in college basketball history thanks to Lorenzo Charles.

1985 Villanova Wildcats

Celtics fans will remember Ed Pinckney for his tenure in Boston, and Danny Ainge actually was dealt in the move to get Pinckney and Joe Kleine in green. But before he was an NBA bust, Pinckney was a star for ‘Nova in the 1985 tournament. In the first year the field was expanded to 64 teams, the eighth-seeded Wildcats became the lowest-seeded team ever to win a championship. But Rollie Massimino’s team came through with the upset in the final against Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown team, the top-ranked team in the nation and the defending national champion, thanks to a tremendous shooting display that featured the Wildcats shooting 78.6 percent from the field.

2006 George Mason Patriots

Will Thomas and George Mason had everybody raising their hands in disbelief. (AP)

In 2006, George Mason redefined the term Cinderella and mid-major, all in one fell swoop. The 11th-seeded Patriots marched to the Final Four in stunning fashion, joining the 1986 LSU Tigers as the lowest seed to reach the tournament semifinals and provided the most memorable tournament run in recent history.

This was a team that lost to Hofstra in the Colonial tournament and had to face the likes of Michigan State — which had made a Final Four appearance the previous year — the defending national champion in North Carolina and tournament favorite UConn. But Jai Lewis, Tony Skinn and the Patriots overcome the odds and made it to Indianapolis. The slipper finally came off against Florida, which would go on to win the championship, with a 73-58 loss in the semifinals, but not before George Mason shocked the college basketball world on the sport’s biggest stage multiple times.

PGA Tour pro Brad Faxon joined Dennis & Callahan on Wednesday morning to discuss Tiger Woods’ return to competitive golf, which will take place on the sport’s biggest stage: Augusta National. Woods will make his return to golf on Thursday, April 8, in an event that Faxon believes will be “all-time hoopla for golf.”

Faxon said he is surprised that Tiger will not play another tournament before the Masters. “Going into play a major for the first time in however many months is going to be tough,” Faxon said. “But Tiger has been great at controlling his environment forever, and if you are going to play in any PGA tournament, this is the best place to go.”

Faxon also speculated on what the time off might do to Tiger’s game. “Do I think he’ll play great? I don’t know, but he has been a guy that has always liked to show how strong he is mentally and how good he is at the game,” he said. “I am sure he is spending every waking minute of his life right now saying, ‘I can put these people in their place and show them that I can still win.’ ”

Faxon added that he is not sure if Tiger will be in contention come Sunday because the pressure on him will be tremendous. However, according to Faxon the first round will be Tiger’s most difficult test. “I think that first tee shot for him, that is going to be the hardest moment for him,” he said. “If he gets to the point where he is playing on Sunday and he is a couple of shots off the lead and he is playing with Phil [Mickelson] or Vijay [Singh], that will be the easier part for him.”

To listen to the interview, click here. A full transcript is below.

Are you surprised that Tiger is going to try to hit the ground running at Augusta?

I really am. It made sense to me that he could play a little tournament at Isleworth, stay at home and get some of the cobwebs out, play at [Arnold Palmer's] tournament where he won last year and just get loosened up. Because going into play a major for the first time in however many months is going to be tough. But Tiger has been great at controlling his environment forever and if you are going to play in any PGA tournament, this is the best place to go. I am sure he is going to want to be able to not answer the questions he is going to have to answer.

Why is he playing the Masters?

Well, I think there are a couple of theories. We all know he wants to win majors. He has probably given himself time to practice and get where he feels comfortable. And I’m sure he has his little reasons. Like, we know when he goes to the Masters, all the tabloid media won’t be there; they are not going to get inside the gates to ask him about his private life, and he is not going to answer those questions anyway. But I think it will be a more controlled crowd at Augusta. You won’t hear the heckling, and if someone says something wrong, the Masters has the ability to take those people off the premises right away.

And I think if you look at his history of what has been going on, he might be mad — as silly as this may sound — he might be mad at an article or interview at NBC and thought that, “You know what? I might just not show up at a tournament for NBC.” Because I heard that theory from the NBC guys. They were kind of worried that the “Today” show did an article that could have got him upset so he decided just to start at a CBS tournament.

This is certainly going to be a circus-like atmosphere. Don’t you think there could be some kind of incident at Augusta?

Absolutely. The Masters is certainly the most difficult place for this to happen. If you remember years ago where Ray Floyd won the Masters, that was the first time you heard anybody yell, “You the man” at the 15th tee. You’re not going to stop someone who has had a few beers or playing to a coup because you don’t know who it is going to be. Our great friend Jim McCabe, who was a longtime Globe writer and now is at Golf Week magazine, sent me a text the other day wondering if Tiger could actually stay in one of the cabins at Augusta. Because somebody is going to find out where he is staying for the week, and I don’t know how  you guard that unless you are in a gated community. And I’ve never heard about a player staying on campus except for the amateurs who stay up top, and we call that the Crow’s Nest.

Sean McManus has already said that CBS is not going to cover his personal life. But what is to keep CBS from showing some bimbo who comes out and plants a kiss on his cheek on the 18th green? Because I think something like that is going to happen.

I do too, Gerry, and I just hope it is not John. Last week, Dan Hicks said when they did their first telecast after all the transgressions, after his statement, they covered the Chevron World Championship, which is Tiger’s tournament in California. And they were told by NBC brass upstairs that, “This is not going to be anything we are going to talk about. We are just going to talk about the injury he had during the car accident, and then it is just going to be about golf.” So NBC golf did the right thing and just talked about golf that week. I think that is what CBS is going to do. They are going to talk about him just playing. They will have to say, “Coming back from any kind of break is tough, let alone to a Masters.” Everybody is going to speculate whether he can play well after this much time off. We have seen him play well after time off. I just think everybody at the Masters — on the one hand they are elated that he is coming back and they will get so much press, not that they are going to need it, but on the other hand they are looking at how they are going to prevent anything like that happening.

This would be like Albert Pujols taking 2-3 weeks of batting practice and infield drills and then jumping into a playoff game. It is different when you play competitively than hitting balls for three or four weeks.

Well, Tiger has won four Masters anyway. I think this is way more difficult, giving all the circumstances — time away, coverage. Nobody else would ever think to do something like this. So I don’t know really what to expect. Do I think he’ll play great? I don’t know, but he has been a guy that has always liked to show how strong he is mentally and how good he is at the game. I am sure he is spending every waking minute of his life right now saying, “I can put these people in their place and show them that I can still win.” It can happen, and I will tell you that I wouldn’t be the most surprised person in the world. I would be surprised, but it is just going to be so unbelievably interesting to watch.

You expect him to make the cut, right?

Absolutely.

And do you expect him to be in contention on Sunday?

Well, it is hard to say that. You can’t simulate the on-course pressure, that tournament pressure, back home and you will never see the conditions you will see at Augusta anywhere else. You will never find greens that have the speed and the slope these have anywhere else. And I am sure he will make a trip up there or two, either with friends or with Steve Williams, his caddy. He will make sure he is prepared, because even the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday practice rounds, that is kind of open to the public. There are more people there on those days and less screening of who they are.

Won’t there be hecklers at the par 3?

Yeah, but he won’t play the par 3.

If he were to go there and play a round with a few friends today, would he play better than he would on Sunday paired with Phil Mickelson or Vijay Singh?

I think the pressure he is going to face is going to be more on the first day. If he gets to the point where he is in contention on Sunday then he has already passed the test of getting through the gate, looking at the media, talking to the media, seeing his fellow competitors … I think that first tee shot for him, that is going to be the hardest moment for him. If he gets to the point where he is playing on Sunday and he is a couple of shots off the lead and he is playing with Phil or Vijay, that will be the easier part for him. I think it is the first few days, seeing his friends from the tour and he will have to go do a media press conference. That is required out of almost all the top players. That will be something to see.

Will you be more interested in that press conference or the first round?

I would much rather see that first round. See his first few shots to see what he is working on in his game with Hank [Haney] right now and whether it holds up under Masters pressure, because you know there is tournament pressure, there is majors pressure and for someone like Tiger there is Masters pressure. It is hard to describe.

Do guys like Tiger rent a house down there?

Well, there are a few beautiful areas down there at Augusta and about 80 to 90 percent of the players are renting houses. A lot of the players use the same homes over and over again. There are a few, but not many, gated communities. He will have to stay in a place that is contained. There is no way he is staying at a hotel, that’s for sure.

Do you think Tiger’s impenetrable armor shows some chinks on that first tee? Do you think there will be some fear there?

Absolutely. I don’t know if it is fear from that first tee shot and whether it can find the fairway or not, but obviously he is human and he is going to be very self-conscious of what happened. I’m sure he feels terrible about all this stuff, but he is going to want to get out and get inside the ropes. Every player, when they talk about the troubles they are going through they want to get inside the ropes.

Do you think he is kind of sticking to Arnold Palmer here? Do you think it would have reflected well to other golfers if he played at Bay Hill?

I would think so. Arnold would be the No. 1 guy any PGA tour player — and I put Jack [Nicklaus] right next to him — but if this guy called and you see Arnold’s name on your cell, you answer it on the first ring and you say, “Yes, Mr. Palmer.” I’m sure he has had conversations with Arnold about his reasons why. You know, the Tavistock Cup, which is a Monday and Tuesday of Bay Hill, is a two-club tournament at Isleworth and Lake Nona where a lot of players live. They have this tournament between the two clubs and the owner Joe Lewis is a great friend of Tiger, so he’s had to have the same conversation with Joe and Arnold about his reasons.

How does the tournament committee decide who his playing partners are?

Can you image the feelings his playing partners are going to have? I listened to Steve Stricker and Kenny Perry last night and they said they would love to play with him and they welcome him back with open arms. This is good for the game of golf, that Tiger’s coming back. This first pairing — and it is threesomes now, the Masters used to be twosomes — it is going to have a huge affect on things. And if you remember the way the Masters does their pairings, a lot of times the past champions are paired with amateurs. Tiger has played with an amateur quite a bit the last few years, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets an amateur and if he is also paired with a good friend of his.

Like?

Well, a guy like Stricker who is friendly with and who he has enjoyed playing with at Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups.

Just from a historical standpoint, so you could have a front row seat, wouldn’t you see some value in being in that pairing on Thursday morning?

Absolutely. That would be something you can talk about forever. There will be a lot of TV sets on that Thursday afternoon while people are at work, hoping they can witness what is going on. And I am sure they will find a way to get some cameras on him walking out of the locker room and on the range. It is going to be all-time hoopla for golf, for sure.

You can forgive Syracuse fans if they are a little surly the next few days. The reason most likely will be that not only did the Orange get passed over for the third overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament despite winning the regular-season title in the best conference in college basketball, but they also get a first-round matchup with a team that brings back nightmares for ‘Cuse fans: Vermont.

It was only five years ago, in the 2005 tournament, that the 13th-seeded Catamounts, led by Taylor Coppenrath and coached by Tom Brennan, beat Syracuse in one of the great first-round upsets of the last decade. Vermont won the game 60-57, thanks to back-to-back treys from Germain Mopa Njila, who had a career-high 20 points to lead his team, and T.J. Sorrentine in a 48-second span in overtime.

The Catamounts are back in the NCAA tournament this season after overcoming Boston University and a player’s tragedy to win the America East tournament. A 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1 in the history of the tournament, and that is the task that awaits Vermont. It is highly likely that there will be no teams left from the New England region come Friday night.

With that in mind, here are some of the memorable moments from the tournament involving New England teams in the last decade, in case you are feeling the void of a Big Dance without the likes of UConn or Boston College.

The Bell tolls for BC

Troy Bell's 32 points were not enough to lead BC past Southern Cal in 2001. (AP)

Last season, Southern Cal knocked out Tyrese Rice and BC in an opening-round game in Minneapolis. But that loss to the Trojans was not nearly as devastating for Eagles fans as the one that occurred in 2001. Led by Big East Co-Player of the Year Troy Bell, BC was coming into the tournament on the heels of its then-best record in school history and had just won the Big East tournament. But the Eagles were upset by a USC team that featured the likes of current Celtics forward Brian Scalabrine. Bell did all he could to get BC to the Sweet 16, scoring a career-high 32 points, but it was not enough as USC used the 74-71 win to make a run to the Elite Eight before losing to eventual champion Duke.

This was the same year that Holy Cross emerged on the national scene under coach Ralph Willard. The 15th-seeded Crusaders gave Kentucky all it could handle before Tayshaun Prince took over down the stretch and ended the hopes of an upset.

Infamy: Oh so close

Ralph Willard could not get Holy Cross over the first-round hump. (AP)

Sure, a 16 seed beating a top seed has never happened. But that doesn’t mean that no team has come close, so Vermont fans shouldn’t write their team off as one-and-done.

The aforementioned Holy Cross nearly pulled off an even more impressive feat a year after almost besting Kentucky, giving Kansas all it could handle before falling 70-59. The Crusaders led by five points on two different occasions in the second half and were down just one with six minutes remaining. But Willard’s team went cold in the last few minutes, missing shots on five straight possessions, and Holy Cross was once again thwarted.

Diener does in Cross, again

If this is starting to feel like a broken record, that is because it is. Once again, Holy Cross nearly pulled a shocking upset, only to come up just short. This time the Crusaders were seeded 14th and the opposition was Dwyane Wade and Marquette, who bested Holy Cross, 72-68, thanks largely to the shooting display of Travis Diener. It was another near miss for Holy Cross, which again failed to win a tournament game, a drought that stretches to 1953. It was also the last time that the team from Worcester would come close to pulling off a victory. As you can see, certain alumni were frustrated by that fact.

Huskies glory

Emeka Okafor led UConn to the title in 2004. (AP)

This year marks just the second time since 2001 that Jim Calhoun’s UConn Huskies will not be a part of the field of 65. But although UConn will be trying to impress in the NIT instead of on the grander stage, the Huskies  still can fondly recall their 2004 run to glory. Led by NCAA Player of the Year Emeka Okafor and sharpshooter Ben Gordon, UConn cruised through the Elite Eight before meeting Duke in the Final Four. The Huskies trailed by eight with less than three minutes left but clamped down on defense down the stretch to earn a 79-78 win.

Calhoun would clinch his second title a few days later when the Huskies beat Georgia Tech 82-73. It was a Yellow Jackets team that barely sneaked past BC in the second round of the tournament, as Jarrett Jack thwarted the Eagles’ hopes of reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1994.

So any UConn fan who feels dejected that their team faltered when it had an at-large berth in its sights, this is for you.

Goliath, meet David

He was right. (AP)

Giant killers. Cinderella personified. The least heralded team to ever make the Final Four. George Mason could have been considered all of these things in 2006, when it made its unprecedented run as an 11 seed all the way to the national semifinals in Indianapolis.

What some people might not remember is that the trip to Indy came at the expense of No. 1 seed UConn, the heavy favorite to win the entire tournament. That Huskies team featured the likes of Rudy Gay, Marcus Williams and Josh Boone. The Patriots’ best player was Jai Lewis, who would briefly go on to try to carve out a career in the NFL as the next Antonio Gates rather than jump to the NBA. While the NCAA tournament is full of upsets, this one probably is the greatest of the decade, and one of the best of all time. UConn fans still are in disbelief.

BC’s best shot

Craig Smith and BC lost a heartbreaker to Villanova in the 2006 Sweet 16. (AP)

While most people were focused on George Mason, 2006 also was the year that BC had its best shot at tournament glory this decade. The Eagles had turned some heads in 2005 when they started 20-0, moving as high as No. 3 in the rankings, but it was the next season that they really broke out. With a veteran team led by Craig Smith and Jared Dudley, BC nearly upset Duke in the ACC tournament final in its first season in the league.

But BC’s trip to the Big Dance nearly ended early. Pacific battled back from a 13-point deficit to force overtime and led by as much as six in the first extra session before BC closed the gap and sent it into double-OT. The Eagles eventually escaped with the 88-76 victory. The Eagles then reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in 12 years after beating Montana, earning a matchup with an old Big East rival, Villanova.

The Eagles led in that game by as much as 14 points, only to see Villanova mount a furious comeback. BC actually had to force overtime, which it did thanks to a clutch 3-pointer from Dudley. It looked like BC might move on when Craig Smith (who played the overtime period with a broken hand and still took the big shot in the closing seconds) hit a layup with 12 seconds left. But Eagles fans were dealt an agonizing blow when ‘Nova took a 60-59 lead in the last three seconds on a goaltending call and ended BC’s season.

It only took one play for Pittsburgh Penguins winger Matt Cooke to join the ranks of Bruins villains.

The hit that knocked out the Marc Savard, likely ending his season according to Boston GM Peter Chiarelli, has caused quite a stir in Boston. Shawn Thornton warned that “no one should push [the Bruins] around” despite the fact that the team did not respond to Cooke’s vicious hit. Mike Milbury said that he believes the Bruins are too soft. Savard’s mother even got in on the act, saying that she would have gone after Cooke herself after the hit. About the only person not up in arms over the hit is NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell.

Cooke will now forever join the list of notorious individuals in the minds of Boston fans. Here are some of the more famous villains in Bruins history.

Chris Nilan

Nilan grew up in Massachusetts idolizing Bruins great Bobby Orr and went to school at Northeastern. He eventually ended his career playing two of his last three seasons with the Bruins like he had dreamed, but it was a bizarre turn given his early career with the Montreal Canadiens.

Nilan was the Canadiens’ resident tough guy in the ’80s, leading the NHL in penalty minutes multiple times and earning the nickname of “Knuckles” due to his fighting habits. Naturally, he became a villain in the eyes of Bruins fans. Most famously, Nilan delivered a cheap shot to an unsuspecting Paul Boutileer, causing a bench-clearing brawl to ensue at Boston Garden.

You’ll notice in that video that then-Bruins coach Terry O’Reilly joins in on the brawl as well, getting into it with Mike McPhee. Interestingly enough, O’Reilly had his own history with Nilan.

Claude Lemieux

Lemieux was one of the most vilified hockey goons in NHL history. He seemed to get into disagreements with every team, particularly the Detroit Red Wings, most notably when he lit up Kris Draper in 1996 as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. Even though Lemieux won four Stanley Cup titles over the course of his career, he was more known as one of the most infamous instigators in the NHL during his tenure. And the Bruins were amongst the teams that did not take kindly to him, particularly Cam Neely, who called Lemieux a “gutless puke.”

Of course, Lemieux ended up in his patented “turtle” position when Neely went after him. He was always more of an instigator than an actual fighter.

Scott Walker

Before there was Matt Cooke, there was Scott Walker. The Bruins came into the Eastern Conference semifinals last year as the top seed, facing off against the Carolina Hurricanes after dominating the rival Canadiens in a four-game sweep in the first round. But the Hurricanes took a surprising 3-1 lead in the series, forcing the Bruins into must-win mode in Game 5.

And though the Bruins pulled it out, Walker’s sucker punch of Aaron Ward was the bigger story.

Ward called it “a joke” and Bruins fans were upset that Colin Campbell did not discipline Walker for the punch, which many felt was a cheap shot because Ward still had his gloves on and wasn’t ready to fight. To add insult to the injury, it was Walker who scored the decisive goal in overtime in Game 7 that knocked the Bruins out of the playoffs.

Ulf Samuelsson

It is a hit that lives in infamy for Bruins fans — one that contributed to the demise of Hall of Famer Cam Neely’s hockey career and led to the vilification of Samuelsson in the minds of Boston fans on a level previously held for the likes of Bill Laimbeer. Neely certainly had his own thoughts on his rival, calling into question the way Samuelsson played — a style similar to that of Lemieux, as Samuelsson, too, was no fighter. As a tough-guy himself, Neely took exception to Samuelsson’s on-ice style and his penchant for knee-on-knee hits, or knee-on-thigh in the case of Neely.

Samuelsson was well-known as a dirty player. He ended the career of Pierre Mondou in 1985, when as a member of the Hartford Whalers he delivered a high stick to the Canadiens forward’s eye. Hockey icon Don Cherry also was not a fan of Samuelsson, and said it was a matter of time before someone took him out.

As it turns out, Cherry was right. In 1995 the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Tie Domi leveled Samuelsson, then with the New York Rangers, with a brutal sucker punch that caused Domi to earn an eight-game suspension.  It was well worth it, considering he probably earned hero-status in Boston, and around the NHL, thanks to this punch.

Interestingly, Samuelsson’s son, Philip Samuelsson, is a freshman defenseman at Boston College who was drafted by the Penguins in the second round of the 2009 draft.