Yesterday, we brought you the insanity that is the new Yankee Stadium, with its ridiculous amenities that make it almost certainly the most luxurious sporting venue in the world. Meanwhile, the Red Sox still play in the old bandbox known as Fenway Park, and with the boatloads of cash the Yanks are going to be pulling in on their new digs, wouldn’t it make sense for the Sox to at least consider a state-of-the-art ballpark?

Apparently not, as Boston CEO Larry Lucchino has said that he expects the team to remain at Fenway for another 50 years. The Yankees can apparently have all their shiny bells and whistles. Fenway was waterproofed in the off season. Take that, Steinbrenner.  There’s no doubt that the old yard has a ton of character, but some are saying it might be time to let it go.

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How much are tickets going to cost at the new Yankee Stadium next season? So much that even Red Sox President Larry Lucchino thinks they’re ridiculous. If you want the best seats in the house, you’ll be paying a face value of $2,500 even for a mid-week snoozer against the Orioles.

(Now Yanks can afford undershirt for Yogi?)

The warm fuzzies of last night’s celebration at the stadium have given way today to speculation about what the new park will bring to the table — and how much richer baseball’s Goliath will get going forward. Lucchino has his worries, especially facing an economic downturn. And he’s in charge of the second richest team in baseball. What is everyone else thinking?

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How desperate were the folks at Rogers Centre to fill seats for tonight’s Buffalo Bills exhibition game? Mike Zeisberger of the TORONTO SUN reports free tickets to tonight’s game “have been handed out to organizations such as The Hospital for Sick Children and The United Way, an act the naysayers claim is a desperate effort to make the 53,000-seat stadium appear full.”

Rogers Media Senior Director of Marketing Anthony Antonelli denied the claim, saying “We have sponsorship agreements or relationships with Sick Kids and The United Way.”

But Zeisberger then asked, “at one point, it was alleged that there were 180,000 names on the waiting list … If that is the case, why can fans suddenly buy single-game tickets for tonight?”

Garth Woolsey of the TORONTO STAR takes a wild guess: “No doubt there are NFL fans in our midst. Plenty of them. But it is still worth noting that only the cheapest seats are sold out (for tonight’s game, and) at $70 a pop ‘cheapest’ is relative.”

The average ticket price for the game was reportedly into the triple digits. If those tickets could’ve be sold, do you think all those sick kids would’ve been gifted?

*Note to self: don’t hire Vincent Askew as a lifeguard*

Paul Farhi of the WASHINGTON POST reports Tony Kornheiser’s talk radio contract will not be renewed by DC’s WWWT-AM “after his program’s ratings declined substantially this spring.”

That leaves Kornheiser as a free agent in the DC radio marketplace, and causes Mike Stern of MEDIAWEEK to speculate that Kornheiser’s talk host services “may be very appealing” to Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder.

(Will Tony K. saddle up Snyder’s Red Zebra?)

Why Snyder? Well the NFL’s very own Napoleon also runs something called Red Zebra Broadcasting, which recently acquired DC sports talker WTEM-AM and owns a “portfolio of [DC] area stations.”

That would be rather interesting, Snyder signing Tony K.’s checks - especially with Kornheiser’s on-air role on “Monday Night Football.” Though it could be considered a conflict of interest, Kornheiser would surely bend over backwards to call off viewer thoughts of impropriety.

STUFF in New Zealand reports on Rachel Hunter’s latest shining knight. Make that (Los Angeles) King. 26-year-old Jarrett Stoll is engaged to the 38-year-old Hunter, who calls him “my first love since Rod.”

(She looks great! And so does Rachel)

I assume she means her former husband, Stewart.

Mary Schmitt Boyer of the CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER has my favorite story of the day (see buried lead). NBAer Damon Jones guested on ESPN’s “First Take” this morning and talked about the Cleveland Cavaliers’ lack of offseason player moves with co-host Skip Bayless.

Jones was a member of the Cavaliers at the time of the discussion. Moments later, he was being chaffeured to the airport when his limo driver informed him he’d been traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Boyer’s note end there, but it turns out the limo driver was the father of an ESPN producer, who called his dad to inform him of the deal.

As a Laker fan, I’d like to lodge a personal request that someone in Bristol fly in Vlad Rad for some astute offseason Lakers analysis.

Sad news about ESPN’s once-mainstay Bill Pidto.

MCCOURTS’ BOSOX ENVY LEADS TO COURTING LUCCHINO? Larry Lucchino, the man as responsible as anyone for the emergence of the Red Sox as a MLB superpower, reportedly may eventually land with the Dodgers.

The SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE reports today that “former Padres marketing chief Charles Steinberg worked nearly three decades as a top aide to CEO Larry Lucchino before joining the Dodgers this month, and in the Padres front office some believe Lucchino might eventually follow Steinberg to the Dodgers.“Dodger Owners Frank and Jamie McCourt are from Boston, and well-known for their unceasing obsession with the area and local MLB member organization. The only rub is the McCourts’ propensity for hogging the spotlight, which is why we find it hard to believe that Lucchino would lunch pail for the insufferable couple.

And according to the U-T, some Red Sox non-uniformed personnel agree: “Red Sox staffers, though, doubt Lucchino would be eager to work for Dodgers owners Frank and Jamie McCourt.”

But on the bright side Dodger fans, it appears your team will have their starting third baseman back in the lineup by opening day.

RED SOX PITCHER’S PLANS FOR JAPAN MIGHT BE NO DICE: As Red Sox Nation knows, Boston’s season will start next year in Tokyo. But now there’s a chance the club’s biggest Japanese star won’t even play:

The ASSOCIATED PRESS delivers news that pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka may be off the mound and in the maternity ward, as his wife Tomoyo is scheduled to be giving birth to their second child around the same time.Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said the team and the MLB front office were already aware of Dice-K’s impending re-fatherhood when they scheduled the games between the Sox & A’s for March 25 & 26.

Lucchino hopes the kid “will be born at such a time to allow (Dice) to participate,” but also added that Dice “has an important obligation with respect to the birth of that child.”If the baby does pop out at that time, Boston won’t be short-handed when it comes to bringing along Japanese pitchers. Hideki Okajima will have a chance to return to the field where he spent 12 years of his career.

And another Sox hurler is already looking forward to the trip. Curt Schilling proclaims, “I’m not going to pitch over there, so I’m going to have fun.”

Seems like he’s already having fun, with his Red Sox squad beating SbB’s Royals in SPORTING NEWS Strat-O-Matic action.Damn him! (for this week, anyway)