Could last weekend have been any better for Boston sports fans? I think not.

First, Curt Schilling willingly brought his dominant right arm to the Boston Red Sox rotation.

He is one of the top six pitchers in the game and he loves the chance to help the Red Sox end their World Series drought (1918).

During a TV interview Monday night, he said he has heard from a number of Red Sox fans online and he loves their passion.

The motivated Schilling said he can’t wait to take the ball for his first Red Sox-Yankee game, particularly trying to shut the crowd up at Yankee Stadium.

Now if they could just land reliever Keith Foulke, who has 130 saves in 146 chances over the last four seasons, and shortstop Alex Rodriguez, who has averaged 47 homers and 127 RBIs over his last six years.

Second, when the 31-year-old Willie McGinest tackled Indianapolis’ Edgerrin James short of the goal line to preserve New England’s 38-34 triumph Sunday, the Patriots were 10-2 for the first time.

It’s hard to recall a team that has been as resilient and won as many nail-biters as this one. They simply find a way to win.

There are few teams who suffered as many injuries as the Patriots have this season but they have never whined about it. The replacements have filled in admirably and head coach Bill Belichick and his staff have done a masterful job devising schemes to maximize their strengths and camouflage their weaknesses.

If they only had a better running game…..

BC should pull away

The parity in Hockey East is remarkable with one exception: Boston College.

The Eagles should win the league championship because they are the only team without a weakness and the only one that is good enough to survive a sub-par performance and still win league games.

They have game-breakers in Ben Eaves and Tony Voce, a half-dozen other forwards who can score, a mobile and strong defense corps, and respectable goaltending.

Maine has the best one-two goaltending tandem in the league with Jimmy Howard and Frank Doyle, and its defense corps has been better than expected. The conscientious back-checking of the forwards has been vital. The Bears’ question mark is can they score enough goals against upper-tier teams?

New Hampshire has one of the league’s most dynamic lines with former Reading High School (Mass.) teammates Steve Saviano and Sean Collins surrounding Nathan Martz. They have another good scoring line and goalie Mike Ayers is one of the league’s best. UNH’s blue-line corps is strong but its mobility is questionable.

UMass is the real deal. Coach Don Cahoon and his staff have done a quality job raising the talent level. The Minutemen can skate with anybody and have one of the nation’s top defensemen in Thomas Pock. Their question mark is goal scoring.

BU has been held to two goals or less seven times in 12 games but you can expect the Terriers to make a run. Scoring will be a question mark.

Providence is good in goal, has one of the league’s top defensemen in Stephen Wood, and some fast, tenacious forwards. Scoring and its mobility on defense are the concerns.

UMass-Lowell’s gifted sophomore class and resurgent goalie Chris Davidson will enable the River Hawks to battle for a top-four league finish.

Larry Mahoney can be reached at 990-8231, 1-800-310-8600 or by email at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net.