A marathon week

by Andy Hiller

HILLER INSTINCT

Thursday, April 15

Fever meter: The Red Sox are off to a 6-1 start, but they still trail the Yankees. Pennant fever is less likely to sweep Boston this year than scarlet fever.*

Friday, April 16

Political football: The Herald writes that Tom Finneran "single-handedly killed the last attempt to keep the Patriots." Wrong! Blame reps d/b/a mutes for making the Speaker of the House the Speaker for the House.

Saturday, April 17

War update: The news is more bad than good. We're losing. Worse, what's left to win?

Sunday, April 18

Gored: A new poll shows Al Gore's favorability rating slipping below 50 percent and most Americans "tired of all the problems associated with the Clinton administration." Gore finally has an image: "collateral damage."

Monday, April 19

Heartbreaker: Boston needs the Marathon more than it needs us. With our professional teams so run-of-the-mill, the race defines the city to the rest of the sporting world.

Tuesday, April 20

Patriots coming? The Pats belong in the Bay State. We're MASS-o-chists.

Wednesday, April 21

What else is new?

* We've now completed the first full schizophrenic cycle of Sox-fan fever. Overtaken by events, as they say in Foggy Bottom.

WHDH-TV Channel 7 political analyst Andy Hiller can be reached at ahiller@whdh.com. His reflections in a flinty eye appear weekly in the Phoenix.