This, that and another thing or two.

This past weekend’s Red Sox-Yankees series proved only one thing – both teams need pitching help.

Beyond New York’s Mike Mussina and Boston’s Pedro Martinez, no pitcher was able to put the clamps on the opposition.

Granted we didn’t see New York’s Roger Clemens or Boston’s Derek Lowe, but we saw plenty.

Steve Karsay pitched well on Saturday, but that was after having been hit around Friday night. The latest Yankees acquisition (don’t they always seem to have one?), Jeff Weaver, gave up five home runs. Ramiro Mendoza was ineffective and the Red Sox eventually got to Orlando Hernandez.

From the Red Sox standpoint, beyond Martinez there wasn’t much to be happy with. Ugueth Urbina was great Friday night and a bit unlucky on Sunday and Tim Wakefield was his usual scary self, getting himself out of jams.

John Burkett and Rolando Arrojo were ineffective (to say the least) and although he’s extremely popular with the fans, when was the last time El Guapo, aka Rich Garces, had an effective outing?

The teams’ staffs may be strong enough against most teams in the American League but against each other, 9-8 scores may be the norm.

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Hate to say it but if he stays healthy (mentally and physically), watch for Terry Glenn to have an All-Pro year with Brett Favre throwing to him in Green Bay.

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The college football season is just a little more than a month away. My yearly routine since I was a teen-ager was to buy every preseason college football magazine in sight. I must be on the wall of fame at Street and Smith’s and The Sporting News headquarters for the money I have spent with each company.

This year I came across the best such magazine I’ve ever read. Phil Steele’s College Football Preview is incredibly detailed. From punters’ hang times to special teams information, it is all there.

And best of all – it was given to me.

(The preceding was not a paid endorsement.)

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Here’s a thought for boxing referees – if you question a boxer after he has been knocked down, listen to what the boxer has to say.

If you were watching HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” last Saturday night, you may have seen a case when a referee heard what he wanted to hear and not what the boxer was saying.

In the Eric Harding-Antonio Tarver fight, Tarver took over the fight in the fourth round, repeatedly catching Harding with left hooks and knocking him down. Harding was saved by the bell, but Tarver continued the assault against an almost defenseless Harding in the fifth.

Harding went down again and staggered back to his feet after almost falling through the ropes. Referee Bill Paige asked Harding whether he wanted to continue. Harding responded, “I’m from Philadelphia.”

Well, he may have been from Philadelphia but he was in Indianapolis and was not long for the ring.

Tarver again knocked Harding down and as Harding was being helped to his corner, he could be heard shouting, “We’re in Indianapolis.”

It was the shout of a fighter with courage who wanted to continue but who had also already taken more punishment than he should have.

Meanwhile, Tarver was screaming at Paige, asking him if he was trying to get “[Harding] killed.”

Obviously, that was not the referee’s intent, but in this case Harding could have been seriously injured. At that point in the fifth round, he was nothing more than a human punching bag. And even if Harding had told Paige he was OK and ready to continue, the bottom line was that he could not defend himself and should not have been offered up for more punishment.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045 or dperryman@bangordailynews.net