Because you asked for it, and because I've exhausted every other means of filling this space during the lull between winter and spring sports, it's time for another installment of "Ask Fearless," the recurring feature of your Blue Ribbon Daily in which readers get a chance to ask me insightful and probing questions, and I get to offer equally informative answers in response.

All questions that appear hereafter are 100-percent guaranteed to be figments of my overactive imagination, with a thin veneer of truth as gleaned from more than 30 years of personal feedback, phone calls, e-mails and insults shouted from passing cars. Only the names have been changed to keep my lawyer from getting richer.

Without further ado:

Dear Fearless: What do you think about us starting the season in Japan next week?

-Dice-K, Fort Myers I'm thinking that those are games I'll be satisfied in seeing on the "Sox in Two" replays later that night. No way I'm getting up at 6 a.m. to watch live. I'm actually more excited over seeing you guys play the Dodgers in an exhibition game the following weekend at the old LA Coliseum as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Dodgers' move from Brooklyn.

Hey, at least it's a big deal for you and your countrymen. When the Patriots were talking about playing a preseason game in China last year, I'm sure it would have been just as meaningful for all of the Patriots of Chinese ancestry ... although as far as I know, Eugene Chung may have been the only one. Ever.

Dear Fearless: If you had a suggestion for car dealers as they plan new sales and service buildings, what would it be?

-Herb and Eddie Jr.

A work area with desks and comfortable seats for people with laptop computers, and, like me, no laps upon which they can balance the laptop. This column is being written with my upper torso twisted at a 90-degree angle as I balance the computer on the seat next to me in the service department of a dealership that shall remain nameless, and it's killing me. The sacrifices I make for my readership ...

Dear Fearless: Seriously, do you think March Madness is all it's cracked up to be?

-Dickie V., Bristol, Conn.

It certainly would be if ESPN had the games, right? Actually, I wonder if interest in the NCAA college basketball tournament would be as high as it seems to be if not for the office bracket pools that accompany it. Personally, I just like watching the basketball, but I think parity has hurt the tournament a little because people like to follow the dominant programs, and there just aren't that many of them any more.

Dear Fearless: You were very critical of the change back to quarters play for high school basketball back in December. How do you feel about it now?

-Your pals at the MIAA I'm more than happy to report that my fears about games starting later because of playing quarters instead of halves never materialized. For the most part, schools got their freshman and junior varsity games over and done with in good time, allowing most of the varsity games to start reasonably close to their published starting times.

I still prefer the pace of games played in 16-minute halves, but going to quarters is not going to cause me to lose any sleep.

Dear Fearless: OK, enough already about our private lives. So what if we sneaked into that wine cellar for a quickie? You're just jealous that you couldn't be there with your own video camera to record the festivities. As long as it has no bearing upon what goes on on the field, what business is it of anyone?

-Tom and Gisele, NYC

I'm just not sure that you really want to be the next big YouTube stars, especially with all of the hits the image of the Patriots has taken over the past year. Your team just had the best season in the history of the franchise, and the only thing people remember about it is Bridget's baby, Spygate and losing the Super Bowl. Why add to that?

I suppose I can just be thankful that it's not Curt and Shonda Schilling involved in a situation like this. They'd film it themselves and sell copies to benefit one of their charities.

Dear Fearless: OK, you're so smart, who should I pick with the No. 7 selection in the first round of next month's draft?

-Bill B., the bunker

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not that smart. I wait for the smart people - i.e., the guys who publish the Pro Football Weekly and Ourlads guides to the draft - to tell me who's hot and who's not, because they have the time and energy to follow college football 24-7, not me.

However, my guess is that you won't use that pick you got from the 49ers in any event. You'll find some sucker who'll give you extra draft picks in exchange for No. 7, and unless Matt Walsh has something really interesting to say to the commissioner, you'll be pretty much as well off as you were before you lost that other first-rounder because of Spygate.

Dear Fearless: You really laid into that guy who wrote you the soccer-related letter last week. Just because he jumped to conclusions ridiculously, it doesn't mean you had to drop in another obligatory insult toward soccer and soccer fans. Besides, don't you ever get tired complaining about the same things over and over?

-Taylor T., somewhere that starts with a "B."

Yeah, I guess you're right. But this one really got under my skin because I'd tried to be quiet on the soccer front recently. I thought people had started to understand that they should direct their efforts at converting sports fans to soccer devotion toward individuals who actually might be receptive, as opposed to someone like myself whose opinion is not going to change.

I still get the feeling that some soccer zealots (and not all, certainly) don't want simply for their sport to be accepted as part of the general sports menu. They want dominance at the expense of the popularity of the traditional American sports, and that just isn't going to happen. Soccer has been "the sport of the future" for 40 years or more, and still, very few Americans who are more than a generation removed from their immigrant roots really care about it.

But, as I said, I'm all for anything that gets kids outside and running around as long as they can have fun doing it - and they don't have to be regarded as the vanguard of a American sports revolution that has never materialized, nor will it ever.

Dear Fearless: I said I didn't want to go to a team the Patriots are playing this year, but hey, Eric Mangini said he'll throw a ton of money at me. What should I do?

-Troy B., on I-95 somewhere

Bingo! You've got bingo ... at least if the fellow they used to call "Mangenius" comes up with the cash. And what the heck, eventually, fans around here will forgive you. Eventually. Just wear earplugs when you return to Gillette if you sign with the Jets.

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com