• I've got the quandary of all quandaries this Monday morning. After throwing a gem of a game on Friday night against the Milwaukee Brewers, Brandeis baseball alum Nelson Figueroa will get the ball on Thursday night in Shea Stadium against Washington. It turns out that I will be in NYC Thursday and actually have tickets for that night's Yankees-Red Sox game. My friend Max, who also played baseball at Brandeis, is going to the Boogie-down Bronx with me for the Yankee game, but I'm now wondering if we make the switcheroo to watch Figueroa throw against the Nationals. I've been to a number of Yankees-Sox games, but never seen Nelson throw in a MLB game, just an alumni game. Perhaps I could start out at Shea for three innings, watch Figueroa throw, hop on the 7 train to Grand Central and switch to the 4 uptown to the Bronx and get the last three innings of the Yankee-Sox game. Any thoughts?

• Speaking of Yankees and Red Sox, did you see the story about the construction worker who buried a Boston t-shirt in the foundation of the new stadium? The Red Sox enthusiast was trying to curse the new stadium and his co-workers didn't find it amusing. I'm sure there are plenty of these types of stories out there - do you know any from the collegiate ranks?

• It's kind of crazy to think that the Yankees spent time and money digging that shirt out of the foundation, especially when I'm sure there are other things already buried on site. Superstition has always played a big part in athletics - are there any superstitions you know of that are a bit off the wall?

• The Divisions I, II and III Management Councils are meeting in the NCAA national office today. We will provide updates from the meetings during the next couple of days. Remember, the NCAA is a membership-driven organization, and the Management Councils are near the top of the structure, with athletics directors, commissioners, faculty athletics representatives and senior woman administrators making up the rosters.

• I spent the weekend outside Chicago, where I made a presentation at the SEME Central conference at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management yesterday. During the presentation, I recorded a live podcast with SEME executive director and Georgetown associate dean Matt Winkler. The two-minute conversation (listen to podcast) tells you all about this impressive sports/events/ marketing experience.

• Were you in Lawrence, Kansas yesterday? You must have been, because there were about 50 million people at the national championship parade. Actually, Lawrence police estimated the crowd at 80,000, which is still a ton of folks. I'm not sure the Yankees, Patriots, etc. get that many people for championship parades. What does that say about the passion people have for intercollegiate athletics?

• Tiger finished second at the Masters this weekend, coming in three shots behind winner Trevor Immelman. It's really quite amazing to think about how Tiger has transformed the sport of golf - we actually expect him to win every single time out. Finishing second at the Masters is a huge weekend for any other golfer, but for Tiger, second is one spot behind where he's supposed to be. Is that fair?

• Virginia Tech golfer Drew Weaver missed the cut at Augusta National, as did the other two amateurs in the field. Weaver will get back to tournament action this coming weekend at the ACC Men's Golf Championship.

• Michigan senior Kevin Porter won the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Friday night, earning the nod as college hockey's best player. Porter edged Boston College standout Nathan Gerbe for top honors.

• Gerbe probably doesn't care too much, however, as he scored two goals to lead BC over Notre Dame on Saturday to win the NCAA men's hockey championship. The 5-foot-5 dyanmo was named most outstanding player of the tournament as Boston College won its first crown since 2001. The Eagles had been to the Frozen Four each of the last three years.

• Speaking of hockey, how about the United States' women's national team? The Americans won their second world championship Saturday, stunning Canada, 4-3. Natalie Darwitz, who starred at Minnesota, had two goals in the victory.

• One year after finishing second at the national championships, the Maryland-Eastern Shore bowling team won it all Saturday over Arkansas State. After falling behind 2-1, the Hawks rallied to win three in a row for the 4-2 victory. In the semifinal round, Maryland-Eastern Shore trailed Vanderbilt 3-0 before producing the ultimate comeback to win 4-3.