This is the best time of year for fans of professional sports, because three major league sports are going on at the same time. Hockey and basketball have managed to extend their seasons from October to May be letting more than half of the teams into the playoffs. But no matter what they try, the Boston teams will prevail in the end.

The Celts will host the Buffalo Braves at the Boston Garden Friday night at 9 p.m. If you want to see the Braves this year, you'd better hop onto the red line out to the Garden because sources tell me that the Celts will end the Braves' 75-76 campaign with a humiliating drubbing.

After breaking the Flyers 24-game home-ice winning streak Tuesday night, the Bruins have no place to go but up. The Bruins are scheduled to win the third game of the series Sunday night, beginning at 7.

Die-hard Red Sox baseball fans will continue to live this weekend, but they'll have to take to the tube for their fix. The Stockings begin a four game series with the Texas Rangers tonight. All of the games will be on television, with games all starting at 8:30 and the Sunday finale beginning at 3.

For those not inclined to venture into the real world, sporting activities will abound in Cambridge. The batmen will take on the Green Monster (not the Fenway Park version) as the Dartmouth baseball team travels here for two games on Saturday.

In the world of crew, the Harvard heavies will stroke against Princeton and MIT for the Compton Cup, while the lights will try to sink Navy in the Holmes Cup, Saturday on the Charles.

The laxman will tighten up for an encounter with Princeton Saturday at 2 p.m., hoping to extend their win streak to three.

If none of these things satisfy your craving for sports, there's always IAB hoop action, Soldiers Field softball, or hardball, if you're into that kind of thing.