The rumors are, evidently, true: MICHAEL SCHLOW -- an avowed Yankees fan and the celeb chef behind RADIUS, VIA MATTA, TICO, and Wellesley's ALTA STRADA -- will open a diner called HAPPY'S BAR AND KITCHEN in the old Burton's Grill space, on Boylston Street in the Fenway. The spot, within pissing distance of Yawkey Way (and even closer to the Phoenix offices), is scheduled to open in time for opening day, according to Grub Street, which quotes a Schlow rep describing the concept as "comfort food" and "cutting-edge American fare."

Welcome to "Meet the Mayor," a segment in which we interview local Foursquare Mayors in their natural habitats.

Fenway Park
Matthew Goldstein

So, you take pictures of fans and the Park sells them as souvenirs. Has anyone ever made an obscene gesture while you took their picture?

For those who lived through both, the takeaway from last night's final scene of the Red Sox collapse was: it was pretty bad, but it was no 1986.

Bullshit, says Nate Silver, the New York Times political stats guru who is warming up for the 2012 elections by crunching some painful baseball numbers.

"It’s hard to describe just how epic the Red Sox’ collapse was — something on the order of [Bill] Buckner’s play multiplied by itself two or three times over," he writes in this definitive, stomach-turning analysis of the Sox epic fail

And so the Red Sox beat the Yankees last night. How odd that after an offseason that prompted debates among some fans over whether or not the Red Sox would have enough offense they score nine runs, and after all of the excitement over the run-preventing prowess of new acquisitions Mike Cameron, Adrian Beltre, and Marco Scutaro they allow seven runs.

In our tribute to the Red Sox this season, we give you Brave Play, a fictional graphic novel set in 1948 about baseball. But this comic is just a little off the beaten path from most baseball strips -- what do you expect from us? You won't find discussion of stats and reliving of great plays made in years passed here; instead you'll find a historical world where supernatural conspiracy rules the outcome of games.

Walking on Van Ness Street this morning I noticed workers moving in and out of Fenway Park. It turns out they're building the hockey rink for this year's NHL Winter Classic (you can watch them yourself by clicking here), in which the Bruins will face the Flyers somewhere between the infield and the outfield.

It's not uncommon for movies about Boston to open windows onto this city's foul underbelly. That said; while there is no doubt a rich history of organized crime here, the majority of real-life perps are into much more mundane hustles, like scalping Red Sox tickets.

In his feature-length passion project Scalpers - which premieres this Wednesday on Lansdowne Street (info below) - Boston-born actor Jay Giannone (Three Kings, "Entourage," Gone Baby Gone) marries his experiences from growing up bad in Beantown with behind-the-scene lessons learned from working in Los Angeles.