No More Turns

The horserace that is this election cycle has left the final turn and is in the homestretch. The final kick starts tonight, when the mayoral candidates meet for a little hot debate action.

The debate is sponsored by the Fitchburg Pride, FATV, and AM 1280 "The Blend." The Pride will have live coverage on its website, barring any kind of technical difficulties. The debate will be aired live on FATV and on "The Blend."

And don't worry, the 7 p.m. start time and 60-minute timeframe means there is plenty of time to watch, and then get your Sox on (more on that in a minute, I think).

But, what to expect tonight? The last time Lisa Wong and Tom Donnelly met, it was Oct. 1. Wong was flush with a big victory, and Donnelly was trying to refind his footing after the surprising preliminary election results.

Almost four weeks later, now what? The big buzz has kind of been taken out of this race. While the candidates are still grinding away with door-knocking, standouts and appearances, much of the big publicity -- and water-cooler talk -- has shriveled up. A big lead can do that. Throw in an pretty interesting at-large council race, and attention has started to divide up and down the ballot.

But, tonight, the spotlight gets turned back on the top-of-the-ballot race. So, who does what tonight (warning, golf analogies ahead)?

For Wong, another confident, fairly strong performance is the obvious answer. A month, we were begging a candidate to step up in the last debate before the preliminary and go for the green. Tonight, Wong probably only needs to keep it in the fairway and get on the green in regulation. If she makes a birdie or two, all the better for her. She needs to avoid bogies.

For Donnelly, he needs to shoot for the pin. He can't layup on the par-5s. He needs to put the pressure on early and keep the pressure on. He needs to try to fluster Wong, move the debate to his ground, and keep hammering. He can't sit back. He can't. He'll need to question everything she says, and offer a smart alternative. Of the three debate performances I've seen, he hasn't been particularly outstanding in any of them. He's even said in debates he's not the best debater or speaker. Tonight, he's going to have to be.

It's not a make-or-break night for Donnelly, but it's a night where he can try to gain some momentum, and get people thinking he's still in this race. The simple math from the preliminary election means he's running from behind, and he won't have many opportunities to gain ground in a hurry. Tonight, though, can be one of those nights when he can, if he makes it happen. That will be the question of the night.

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Actually, the question of the night might be, can Curt Schilling be any good tonight? The Sox obviously got off to a good start last night, but going to Colorado 2-0 would be huge. For the last four days, the Rockies have heard they don't have a chance in this series. Last night went a long way to making that talk seem like reality. Another win tonight would make for a looooong plane ride back to Denver after tonight's game.

Simply, the National League is a lot worse than the American League. Also, Colorado got here by beating a lucky-as-hell Phillies team that wasn't very good, and an Arizona team that was only marginally better. Who would you rather take, Cleveland or Arizona? Thought so.

That said, let's not start making parade plans just yet. Remember 1985? In the Memorial Day Massacre, the Celtics killed the Lakers, absolutely killed them, by 30 in Game One (Scott Wedman went 11-for-11 that game, I believe), and then lost the series, 4-2.

Good start, but let's see what happens tonight.