For years, Boston has been the town of sports losers. Not any more. With the Red Sox sweep of the Rockies in the World Series, the 8-0 Pats’ 52-7 demolition of the Redskins, the Boston College Eagles at #2 in the college football BCS poll and the Celtics ready to unleash their new acquisitions Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, it’s all good up in Beantown.

It’s not so hot in New York, where apparently Alex Rodriguez has opted out of his Yankees contract, the moribund J-E-T-S Jets go to 1-7 while changing quarterbacks and former Yank manager Joe Torre is now a leading candidate to replace Grady Little as manager of the L.A. Dodgers, with the Bombers reportedly eyeing Joe Girardi to guide them through the post-A-Rod era. And in L.A., the only two "pro" football teams left in town, USC and UCLA, both lost, while, on the eve of the NBA season, rumors ran rampant that Laker star Kobe Bryant is about to be dealt to the Chicago Bulls. Whoa.

In movie box office news, Lionsgate’s franchise Saw IV led the weekend with a take of $32.1 million, with Disney’s well-reviewed Steve Carell comedy, Dan in Real Life, notching #2 with $12.1 million. Overall, Hollywood revenues declined for the sixth-straight weekend, though business was off only a fraction compared to the same weekend last year. The top-12 movies took in $86.1 million, down 2%, better results than the previous weeks, when business had fallen significantly more. All this and a Writer’s Guild strike on tap. The vampire movie 30 Days of Night was #3 with $6.3 million, followed by the Rock vehicle, The Game Plan, at $6.3 million and Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? rounding out the Top 5 with $5.7 million.

Arista Nashville’s Carrie Underwood is in line to debut at #1 this week on the HITS’ Album Sales chart, with Carnival Ride looking at somewhere in the vicinity of 525-530k after a very active weekend. Stay tuned to HITS’ Building chart here through today and tomorrow to astound all your friends around the water cooler with your knowledge. Also expected to debut in the Top 5: Rounder’s T Bone Burnett-produced Robert Plant and Alison Krauss duet album, MCA Nashville hard-living Gary Allan, Reprise’s System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian making his solo debut and Columbia prog-art-rockers Coheed & Cambria.

The L.A. Times’ Ann Powers isn’t waiting until December to reveal her 2007 Top 10 albums. Check out her choices, which are hard to argue with, here.

The L.A. Times’ correspondents weigh in on some of their Grammy picks here.

The L.A. Times’ Todd Martens reveals five critically acclaimed performers with albums still to come this year on his blog here.

The L.A. Times’ Natalie Nichols gets intimate with PJ Harvey here.

The L.A. Times’ Greg Burk staggers down memory lane with “an uneven” Sex Pistols at their recent Roxy show here.

The N.Y. Times’ critics dissect new albums from The Eagles, Project Pat, Levon Helm and Lil Wayne here.

The N.Y. Times’ ever-erudite Kelefa Sanneh ponders the implications of Britney Spears’ new Blackout album here.

The N.Y. Times’ Jon Pareles pays a visit to Neil Young and talks vintage automobiles here.

The N.Y. Times’ Kelefa Sanneh analyzes Swedish indie-rocker Jens Lekman here.

The Hollywood Reporter says Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee Movie has plenty of buzz, but lacks sting here.

The N.Y. Times’ Andy Newman checks in on a musical tribute to Staten Island, featuring natives David Johansen, Vernon Reid and Hair composer Galt MacDermot here.

Newsday's Rafer Guzman reviews Bon Jovi's performance at the brand-new Prudential Center in Newark, the first of 10 shows, here.

ABOUT A BOY: Scottish actor James McAvoy (who starred opposite Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland) may be in the running to play Kurt Cobain in an upcoming biopic. Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love will reportedly executive produce the project, while Universal Pictures have allegedly secured the rights. The Nirvana film will be based on the Charles Cross book Heavier than Heaven. David Benioff (The 25^th Hour) is set to write the script.

MUSIC ON TV: Joe Perry on David Letterman (CBS 11:35 p.m.); Carrie Underwood on Jay Leno (NBC 11:35 p.m.); Avril Lavigne on Craig Ferguson (CBS 12:35 a.m.). The Sex Pistols will be on Leno tomorrow night (10/30) and on Ferguson Halloween night (10/31)

ON THIS DATE:

In 1955: Billboard cast its critical eye on the new single “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard. It decided the song was “cleverly styled novelty with nonsense words, rapid-fire delivery.”

In 1957: Buddy Holly released “Oh Boy!” with “Not Fade Away” on the B-side. The song became his third Top 10 single.

In 1961: Bob Dylan performed on the radio show Folksong Festival.

In 1966: Memphis’ Beale Street, popularly referred to as “The Home of the Blues,” was made a national landmark.

In 1967: Pink Floyd appeared on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. They had lip-synched their single “See Emily Play,” but singer Syd Barrett kept his mouth shut throughout.

In 1967: Hair opened at New York’s Public Theatre as “The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical.”

In 1967: In Battersea, England, The Beatles shot sequences for their film The Magical Mystery Tour. Scenes included Ringo and his aunt going up the street to the tour bus.

In 1971: Guitarist Duane Allman died after wiping out on his motorcycle outside Macon, GA.

In 1977: Meat Loaf released Bat out of Hell.

In 1983: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon had been on the Billboard album charts for 491 weeks, which established a new record for longest-listed album.

In 1990: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced plans to induct LaVern Baker, The Byrds, John Lee Hooker, The Impressions, Wilson Pickett, Jimmy Reed and Ike & Tina Turner.

In 1999: The Who reunited to perform at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. The concert, which also featured Kiss and the Dixie Chicks, was held to celebrate the launch of Internet video company Pixelon’s new player. It turned out the company’s founder was a wanted felon.

In 2003: Clay Aiken topped the album chart for a second week with his debut album, Measure of a Man.

In 2003: Rod Stewart entered the charts as the highest new entry at #2 with As Time Goes By... The Great American Songbook, Vol. II.

In 2003: No Doubt's Gwen Stefani unveiled her L.A.M.B. clothing line, which included bikini tops, low-slung pants and bum flaps.

In 2003: Joan Jett appeared on TV's Crossing Over with John Edward. The "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" singer served as a psychic conduit for friends to hear from their daughter, who recently passed away.

In 2003: A Nielsen survey found that Beatles fans were getting younger rather than older. Nearly one-third of the people who bought their 1 compilation were between the ages of 18 and 24.

In 2004: Jay-Z and R. Kelly's Best of Both Worlds tour fell apart after Kelly was pepper-sprayed by a member of Jay-Z's entourage at New York's Madison Square Garden. Kelly refused to take the stage because he said he saw guns in the audience.