If you figured the Yankees were going to walk into Fenway and come away with a series victory in early April, well, you expected something unexpected.

If you thought either team would show anything other than its offensive attributes, well, you were wrong.

This series is everything expected between the Yankees and the Red Sox in a season opening series.

Josh Beckett gave up bombs and couldn't locate his curveball. The Yankees were ready for him and he was brutalized.

CC Sabathia figured out it was April sometime in the fifth inning. His night was over shortly after.

Then there was the Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia tandem, along with clutch hitting from Victor Martinez. Consider they all love April and it came as no surprise.

The important thing I've noticed is that with all the runs, the close scores, the pitching changes and the fans, this series will end up teaching us nothing other than who finishes with a winning record through three games and who doesn't.

We know Beckett and Lester will be solid (with Lester ending up exceptional). We know Sabathia will be an ace, and we know Burnett, well, he may have been the only thing we saw. A pitcher with great stuff, unable to locate at times, dominant at other times.

Otherwise, the Yankees have a solid defense and haven't shown it. The Yankees have a deep bullpen, but it was uncomfortable in game one. The Sox are beating the Yankees in April in Fenway, and it means nothing.

But man, it feels great to have real games again. The stress, the suspense, the hatred, it all came rushing back as soon as Jorge Posada hit the foul pole and Kevin Youkilis hit the gap.

• Great deal by the Sox to lock up Beckett for four years. There's nothing wrong with his shoulder,that's a typical Sox Front Office tall tale to gain negotiation leverage, but this time it wasn't even necessary. Beckett was sensible with his last extension and just as sensible this time around. This deal is a million times smarter than signing a guy from the AL West who has demonstrated structural damage the last two seasons. No impossible to prove health language to force a 35 year old coming off injuries to pitch for the league minimum is going to change that. Beckett is a solid two starter and will be no worse than a middle-of-the-rotation arm by the end of his deal.
• If you think David Ortiz is going to ever be the Juiced up Ortiz we used to see, you're smoking straight crack. The dude won't hit 94 miles per hour unless it freezes in an alternate universe right before it crosses the plate.
• Was there ever a time both fan-bases could legitimately expect a well pitched game every day of the week?
• If I'm a Sox fan, I'm ecstatic about the potential of Adrian Beltre hitting in a pinball machine half the season. If I'm a Yankees' fan I'm ecstatic about the early showings of Brett Gardner deep in the order. This Yankees' lineup might allow less than 20 starts all season where the starting pitcher pitches seven or more complete innings.
• Sign number one the Yankees will be dominant later in the season head to  head: A lot of the damage has come from the amped up new Sox hitters, who will likely cool (ala Jason Bay) the more the Yankees become familiar with them (I'm looking at you, Marco and Cameron!).
• It wouldn't surprise me if Chamberlain took a solid month to become the dominant reliever we're used to. It wouldn't surprise me if Dice-K took longer, like, maybe, by August.
• Who is off the 25 man roster first, Damaso Marte or Chan Ho Park? I GUARANTEE both are not on the playoff roster and I'm optimistic about their potentials.
• You can call the Yankees' elitist, obnoxious, arrogant or whatever other synonym you would like, but let's get two things straight:

1. Randy Levine was absolutely right to tell the Brewer's owner to more or less shutup and stop whining about the Yankees' payroll. Not because it isn't valid for the Brewers to wish the franchise could double its own payroll, but more so because until smaller market teams demonstrate where their luxury tax and revenue sharing money is going, it's a non-issue. There are plenty of ways to win in baseball, and Milwaukee doesn't seem to have an issue with the Cubs payroll in their own division (or Matt Holliday in St. Louis), so really they have an issue with higher revenue teams in other leagues winning, and that only weakens the argument and makes you come off as unprofessional and misguided.

2. "Yankees Suck" is about as worn out, childish, and "elitist" as it gets. It's really at the pathetic level at this point that Sox fans A: Can't think of any intelligent way to insult the Yankees. B: Bicker more about the Yankees' "sucking" than rooting for the Red Sox and C: Chant it regardless of game situation, whether the Sox are trailing or not.

Honestly, use some of that quality public education in Massachusetts to broaden your vocabulary and to get a hint.