Boston

(Newser) - Talk about an embarrassment of riches. The Boston Bruins have long toiled in the shadow of the Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots, but there's a surefire way to tell that the local NHL entry's hot streak is the real thing, Charles P. Pierce writes for OT, the Globe 's weekly sports magazine. At a recent game, he found signs of what he calls "the Pinkification of Sports." More »

(Newser) - Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player today, the Globe reports, beating out Minnesota’s Justin Morneau and Red Sox teammate Kevin Youkilis. Pedroia, 25, was the AL’s top rookie last season, and finished 2008 with a league-leading 213 hits, batting .326 with 17 home runs and 83 RBIs. He also won the Gold Glove at his position. More »

(Newser) - Where it began, he couldn’t begin to know, so Jonathan Elias of Boston’s WBZ-TV reached out to learn how Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline became an 8th-inning singalong tradition at the Red Sox’ Fenway Park. The not-as-cool-as-you-thought answer, per the ballpark’s DJ: “They started playing it over and over again and it sort of became an institution.” More »

(Newser) - Clark Rockefeller repeatedly abused his ex-wife before she finally left him last year, prosecutors alleged yesterday during the con man’s trial for the kidnapping of his young daughter. Sandra Lynne Boss tried to leave Rockefeller— actually Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter of Germany—in 1999 but was “wooed back” and became pregnant with Reigh “Snooks” Boss, now 7, reports the Boston Herald . More »

(Newser) - The World Series champs are back in the playoffs. The Red Sox clinched at least a wild-card berth with a 5-4 win over Cleveland tonight, the Boston Globe reports. The victory officially eliminates the Yankees from playoff contention and ends their streak of 13 consecutive appearances. The Red Sox can still catch Tampa in the AL East, but it's looking less and less likely. More »

(Newser) - Most Americans have never heard of him, but the writings of an aging US academic by the name of Gene Sharp have played a key role in nonviolent resistance to government the world over. Sharp, 80, has been slammed by leaders from Iran to Venezuela for his ideas, which have been widely translated and explored by activists in Zimbabwe, Burma, and Russia, to name just a few, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

(Newser) - Boston's health honchos have approved some of the country's toughest anti-tobacco rules by banning sales at some stores, the Boston Globe reports. The new rules forbid pharmacies and campus convenience stores from selling cigarettes. They also ban smoking on bar and restaurant patios. The city's cigar parlors, previously exempt, will also have to stub out after a 5-year grace period expires. More »

(Newser) - Boston’s cab drivers are furious over a new rule requiring all taxis to be hybrids by 2015, Wired reports. With rising gas prices already pressing the industry, cabbies are loathe to trade their $6,000 used Crown Vics for new $24,000 Priuses. Many also argue that the hybrids aren’t tough enough to do the job. But an unsympathetic city isn’t budging. More »

(Newser) - Boston’s mass transit system has blocked three MIT students from revealing a flaw in its electronic fare system, the Boston Globe reports. Most Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority customers use the CharlieCard, which allows them to store fares. By cracking it, the students vowed to give attendees at a Las Vegas computer conference “free subway rides for life." More »

(AP) - Now that the Boston Celtics are once again NBA champions, American basketball's next great championship hope falls to the men's Olympic team. "They need it worse than the Celtics needed a championship this year," said Celtics forward Paul Pierce. "The US has been a perennial basketball power and they just need to establish that once again. I think this is the team to do it." More »

(Newser) - As the buzzer sounded last night, giving the Boston Celtics the NBA Championship over the Los Angeles Lakers, it wasn't heard only in Beantown. All over the world, from London to Shanghai, basketball fans watched the Celtics take home their 17th Larry O’Brien Trophy. "It’s a global world," said a team partner and investment banker. "So when a team does so well like this with such a storied franchise, people know right away." More »

(Newser) - Kobe Bryant scored 36 points to lead his LA Lakers to an 87-81 victory over Boston in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the LA Times reports. Los Angeles now trails the best-of-seven series 2-1. The Lakers also got a strong lift from Sasha Vujacic (20 points), who came up big during game's closing minutes. Game 4 is Thursday in Los Angeles. More »

(Newser) - Catholic universities are increasingly leaving pro-choice politicians off their lists of possible commencement speakers and honorary-degree recipients, reports the Boston Globe. John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, and other Catholic pols who don’t hew to the church's party line, especially on abortion, find themselves sidelined as the 225 American Catholic schools bow to pressure from the Vatican and some US clerics. More »

(Newser) - The soaring price of gas is driving people across America out of their cars and onto mass transit, the New York Times reports. Buses and trains are up 5% or more in cities like Boston and New York, where mass transit is already a popular alternative, but the biggest leap in rider numbers—10-15%— has been in cities in the South and West where car culture is strongest. More »

(Newser) - Wedding bells have rung for more than 700 homosexual couples in Massachusetts since the state started marrying gays in 2004, prompting the New York Times to profile young gay men who said “I do.” But there are many things the spouses don’t do, such as follow traditional norms: “We don’t think there is any set way to do this,” one 24-year-old said. More »

(Newser) - Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya became the fourth man to win the Boston Marathon four times today, crossing the finish line on 2:07:46, 32 seconds slower than his own course record, the AP reports. Dire Tune of Ethiopia won the women’s race in 2:22:25, squeaking past Russian Alevtina Biktimirova by just 2 seconds in the tightest women's finish ever. More »

(Newser) - A woman accused of drunk driving slammed head-on into Sandra Bullock's SUV last night near the Massachusetts coast, the Boston Globe reports. Bullock, 43, her husband, Jesse James, 39, and their driver were unhurt in the crash. Police said oncoming driver Lucille Gatchell "almost giggled" when told who she had hit. "She said, 'My first drunk driving and I hit Sandra Bullock,'" a policeman said. More »

(Newser) - Some might call it a curse, others might say it's a goodwill gesture by longtime baseball rivals. The official charity of the Red Sox, the Jimmy Fund, began an eBay auction Thursday for the David Ortiz jersey that was buried under the New York Yankees' new stadium by a Boston fan hoping to create a hex.  More »

(Newser) - This century has seen a drastic reversal of the Red Sox and Yankees' fortunes, but the draw of the teams' storied rivalry is still as strong as ever. Although small-market fans across the country will express derision or disinterest at the meeting of the powerhouses, chances are they will still tune in to tonight's series opener, writes Boston Herald columnist Steve Buckley. More »