With the end off the semester fast approaching and the schoolwork starting to pile up like a mountain of raked leaves, I unveil the second installation of my Bows and Boos. For those who missed the first one, it’s simple: I dish out one paragraph of a laudatory or finger wagging nature on several subjects that range from a single person to entire organizations. So without further ado….

A Bow to the UMass Boston Athletics team for their hard work and dedication to their individual sport. The balance of academics and extracurricular activities is a juggling act few can handle well, but a majority of the athletes manage to excel in both fields. Many of these student athletes hold jobs as well, which goes to show the maturity and focus of these outstanding young people; success follows those who face challenges and grow from them.

A Boo to the National Football League (NFL) and their shameful hypocrisy. First of all gentlemen, you market your sport with promotions of violent collisions between players, whether it is for an upcoming game, electronic entertainment (video games), or authentic NFL athletic wear. Then you want to curtail the knockout hits and concussive blows by fining players with no consistent guidelines. What ever it is that you want, at least make up your mind and then stick to it.

A Bow each to the Bruins and Celtics. It is early on in their season, but not to acknowledge their good player would be wrong. If either one of these teams had stumbled coming out of the gates, then critique would be in order. However, good play should receive praise. Hopefully, praise will whet the desire for further success.

A Boo to Roy Jones Jr. The greatest fighter in the world, pound for pound, has decided to bulk up so that he can duke it out with local hero, John Ruiz. For Jones, this only serves to satisfy an ego that will never be appeased by his middleweight status. Jones had success because of his lightning fast moves and great footwork. The heavy weight division is an entirely different ballgame. Although Ruiz is not the best, Jones is going to be in for quite shock after a few rounds with the Chelsea, MA native.

A Bow to Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics. He might have been playing a coy game with the Red Sox; however, I believe his reasons for staying in the Bay Area. Money is not everything and if he is comfortable with his life on the West Coast, then why mess with it? Not everyone wants to come to Boston; it is not the dream job for every general manager (although sports pundits and media types would have you believe otherwise). Although it would have been nice to have you aboard, I say good luck to Billy.

A Boo to the many of the baseball writers who voted on last weeks American League Cy Young Award. It goes to show that pettiness does reign, and impartiality is highly questionable for some hardball scribes. There is highly any argument that the race for the Cy Young came down to two guys: Barry Zito of Oakland and Pedro Martinez of Boston. Although I thought Pedro should have received the award, Zito was worthy of winning. My gripe stems from the ludicrous reasoning that saw so many writers place Pedro not second but third behind teammate Derek Lowe. Lowe had an incredible season, but not as good as Zito and definitely not as good as Pedro. The whole issue is really shameful.

I’d like to give a mini-boo to you, Pedro. These writers did what they did not because your Dominican, but because of your ego, pompous attitude, apparent selfishness…. Shall I go on? It doesn’t make what they did right, but don’t play that card when it’s not the case. Grow up and realize what the real case was.