The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) has issued a “special invitation” to participate in the 2014 Boston Marathon to official entrants in the 2013 Marathon who were unable to cross the Boylston Street finish line, according to a press release.

“The opportunity to run down Boylston Street and to cross the finish line amid thousands of spectators is a significant part of the entire Boston Marathon experience,” said Tom Grilk, B.A.A. Executive Director. “With the opportunity to return and participate in 2014, we look forward to inviting back these athletes and we expect that most will renew their marathon training commitment.

“Boston spectators are known for their impassioned support and unbridled enthusiasm, and they will give these returning athletes some of the loudest cheers at next year’s race. We want to thank our participants for their patience as we continue to work through the details of arranging this accommodation for them, and we ask for continued patience from the running community as we plan the 2014 Boston Marathon next April.”

To be eligible, a 2013 Boston Marathon participant must have been an official entrant who started the race and who reached the half marathon mark in this year’s race on Monday, April 15. Registration for the 2014 Boston Marathon is scheduled to occur in September, and 2013 Boston Marathon participants who were unable to cross the finish line on Boylston Street will receive a non-transferable unique code in early August to be used for entry.

According to the release, 5,633 runners are eligible for this “special invitation.” Of the official starters who were unable to finish, 2,611 are from Massachusetts. The group is comprised of 2,983 women and 2,650 men with ages ranging from 18 to 82.

No decision has been made on the maximum field size for the 2014 Boston Marathon, including the number of qualifiers and invitational applications available.

For more information, visit BAA.org

To raise money for The One Fund, the team is raffling off a custom “B Strong” vinyl poster signed by the entire team, as well as a custom bat remembering the four victims who lost their lives during the tragic Boston Marathon bombing. The bat is also signed by the entire team.

Raffle tickets are just $10 each and all proceeds from the raffle will benefit One Fund Boston Inc. Tickets can be purchased on the team’s website at http://redsox.com/bstrong.

Check out a photo of the banner below.

Photo via Twitter/@RedSox

Instead, it will be because Plouffe invited four officers from the Watertown, Mass., police department to Thursday’s game, according to a team spokesman. The selfless gesture should certainly earn him goodwill among fans of both teams, as Plouffe shows his thanks to the police department that helped capture those responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings.

Very classy move by @TPlouffe24 inviting 4 Watertown Police Officers to tonight's @Twins game at Fenway.

—
Dustin Morse (@Twins_morsecode) May 09, 2013

Plouffe, who describes himself as a “lover of America” on his Twitter profile, certainly is doing his best to prove it on Thursday night.

You can now purchase that famous cover in the form of a 23×28 poster, made available by the magazine. Moreover, all the net proceeds from the sale go to The One Fund Boston, so your $20 ought to be well spent.

If you’re interested in purchasing one of the posters you can follow this link. And on the off chance that you haven’t seen the touching design yet, check out the image below.

Photo via Twitter/@Slate

The TD Garden was Boston Strong on Saturday evening, as Boston Marathon bombing victim Jeff Bauman served as banner captain for the Bruins before Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series.

In an emotional moment for everyone in attendance, Bauman — who lost both of his legs in the attack, yet played a crucial role in capturing those responsible — waved a “Boston Strong” flag as the TD Garden crowd reveled in an unforgettable moment.

“I want to thank everyone for their amazing support for me and all those injured and their families,” Bauman said in a statement. “I’m making great progress and I thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. Please continue to respect our space at this time. I want to thank the Bruins players and organization for the generosity and support for all those impacted. Like all those in Black and Gold I can’t wait to see them on another quest for the cup. Go Bruins!”

Check out the pregame ceremony in the video above.

Boston Bites Back (BBB) will bring 100 of Boston’s top chefs together to raise $1 million for The One Fund, led by celebrity chefs Ken Oringer and Ming Tsai, the Red Sox, Governor Deval Patrick, Mayor Thomas Menino and ARAMARK.

“BBB is an opportunity for the city to join as one and acknowledge our strength as a community,” said Oringer, owner of Clio, Toro, Coppa and Uni. “Nothing speaks more to our collective resolve than an evening of hospitality, unity and hometown pride in one of the most iconic venues in Boston — Fenway Park.”

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience,” said Tsai, owner of Blue Ginger and Blue Dragon. “This event is an occasion for Bostonians to reconnect over food, mingle with chefs and honor our city’s inspiring resilience. It’s an opportunity for Bostonians to literally ‘bite’ back.”

From 6-10 p.m. on May 15 at Fenway, chefs will be cooking and serving guests from behind concession stands as well as at tables throughout the Big Concourse and the Budweiser deck. Only 5,000 general access tickets will be sold at $200 each. There will also be 200 VIP tickets at $1,000 each, allowing additional access to an intimate and exclusive gathering in Fenway’s EMC Club.

An online auction leading up to the event will feature many one-of-a-kind packages including unique dining experiences from Oringer and Tsai and personal shopping with fashion expert Gretta Monahan.

To learn more, buy tickets or bid on auction items, please visit www.bostonbitesback.org.

He has even bigger plans now that his city is dealing with the long recovery from the events surrounding this year’s Boston Marathon.

White was in Boston this week with the goal of raising money for The One Fund and helping those affected by the tragedy, and he said he hopes to take a more personal approach — something he wasn’t comfortable doing just yet — when he returns in August.

“People are still hurting,” he told The Boston Globe. “When I say that, I don’t mean physically. People still need time. I got money that we are donating for people, but I’m backing off on the whole meeting people. Even mayor [Tom] Menino is still visiting families. People are emotionally trying to deal with what’s going on, so I backed off a bit.”

While White is giving people their space, he didn’t hold off on using strong words when he talked about the attack on the city that was his home and training ground for so long.

“From a guy who’s walked those streets and been there at the finish line so many times, it really freaked me out,” he said. “It still freaks me out. I have a hard time talking about it. How cowardly and disgusting that these people, who lived in the city as long as they did, did that. To put the bag right next to kids — I don’t even like talking about it. It’s just disgusting. … It hit me so hard, obviously, because it’s a city that I love.”

White didn’t keep a completely low profile when in town — he and UFC held a #Hunt4UFC scavenger hunt in Boston even though those occasions are usually reserved for cities hosting a fight. He detailed that adventure on his Twitter feed.

It sounds like he’ll be back in August with much more.

During a tough time for Boston, baseball cities across the country showed their support by singing Neil Diamond‘s “Sweet Caroline,” mimicking the Fenway Park tradition.

A recent NESN advertisement sought to capture those touching moments from all around Major League Baseball. Check it out in the video above.

Kraft donated $100,000 to The One Fund last week, and he pledged more to the cause Thursday night.

Kraft invited 25 Boston police officers to a pre-draft party for season ticket holders Thursday evening. He welcomed each officer to the stage, presenting them with a Patriots jersey with “1″ and “Boston” on the back. Kraft also announced that he and the Patriots are pledging $617,000 to The One Fund, in honor of Boston’s “617″ area code.

“I just felt it was right, that it was karma, to go to 617,” Kraft said.

He said he may make that number even bigger in tribute to the local “781″ area code.

As for the draft at hand, Kraft was focused on making the right moves to improve the Patriots and seemed confident in Bill Belichick and the staff making those decisions.

“I don’t want to win the PR battles today,” Kraft said. “Whatever works to make our team better. We have a plan what to do and whom to pick, and at the same time, we’re prepared.”

Check out a photo of Kraft and the Boston officers below.

Have a question for Luke Hughes? Send it to him via Twitter at @LukeFHughes or send it here.

Kelly and his staff are honoring the victims of the Boston Marathon tragedy and the first responders by wearing Boston Police Department polos.

Pretty cool gesture ... New England native Chip Kelly ordered up @Boston_Police polos and is wearing one tonight for 1st night of the draft.

—
Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 25, 2013

The polos are dark blue — like Boston police uniforms — and have an emblem on the left chest.

Kelly has a lot on his plate with his first NFL draft ahead of him this weekend, but it’s great to see that even in such a stressful time, he still remembers his roots.

Check out Kelly sporting the polo at a pre-draft event in the photo below.

Photo via Twitter/@Mindycaaat 

The song has taken on added meaning, comforting the city and its fans. It’s been played around the country, and even its creator, Neil Diamond, put together an impromptu visit to Boston to honor the city with a firsthand singing of his song.

Now, all the money the song made throughout the week will be handed over to help the victims of the tragedy, a representative of Diamond told The Associated Press.

“Sweet Caroline” sales are up 597 percent, with 19,000 tracks being sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The song, written in 1969, has sold 1.75 million tracks altogether.

The mag made up for it in its first issue back since the Boston Marathon bombings.

Boston magazine struck a perfect tone in designing the cover for its May issue, using shoes from marathon runners to etch the shape of a heart.

Check out the perfect tribute in the photo below.

Photo via Twitter/@BostonMagazine

The Bruins matched up against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night in Philly, and the host team honored the city of Boston in a touching pregame ceremony.

The Flyers’ pregame tribute included inspiring photos from last week’s tragedy following the bombings at the Boston Marathon. Singer Lauren Hart performed the National Anthem and God Bless America before the game.

Check out the video above to see the touching tribute.

The Bolts are in Boston on Thursday, and when they take the ice against the B’s, they’ll be wearing special Boston Strong ribbon stickers, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Also according to the report, the Lightning will then autograph the helmets and auction them off. The proceeds will be donated to The One Fund Boston, the fund set up to raise money for the victims and families of the Boston Marathon tragedy.

Boston mayor Tom Menino announced Tuesday that The One Fund had already raised more than $20 million. The Bruins’ opponent Tuesday, the Philadelphia Flyers, will auction off their jerseys which will feature the Boston Strong ribbon.

The Flyers will be the latest team to show its support for the Hub in advance of their game with the Bruins. NESN’s Jack Edwards tweeted Tuesday that Philadelphia will pay tribute to Boston prior to the Bruins-Flyers game.

Philly shows what it's made of! Boston Strong tribute tonight, covered in full on NESN PLUS (go to NESN.com to find) at 7:30.

—
Jack Edwards (@RealJackEdwards) April 23, 2013

Like other teams in the past week, the Flyers will also pay tribute to Boston on their sweaters. The Flyers will wear jersey patches with the “Boston Strong” ribbon on them for Tuesday night’s game. The Flyers also announced that the jerseys will be auctioned off, with the proceeds going to The One Fund Boston.

The fund was established last week to raise money for the victims and their families. Boston mayor Tom Menino announced Tuesday that The One Fund had already raised more than $20 million.

See a photo of the jersey patch below.

Photo via Twitter/@NHLFlyers

Diamond caught a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Boston as soon as he heard Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was caught by police, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He went straight to the ballpark to make sure he could sing the Fenway tradition live.

Diamond was so inspired by last week’s events in Boston that he’s actually written a song about the attacks.

“I’m writing now and obviously affected by this situation in Boston,” Diamond told Rolling Stone. “So I’m writing about it just to express myself.”

Diamond said the song will not only be about the Boston Marathon bombings, but recent tragic events in general.

“It’s like an infestation, and I’m writing about the general situation,” Diamond said. “Not just about this bombing in Boston, but what we’re going through with all of these tragedies – shootings and so on and so forth.”

Diamond has already begun recording the song and said he expects it to be finished soon. It is unknown when the song will be released.

Photo via Facebook/Boston Red Sox

The Bombers held yearly tryouts, maintained a summer league and put on clinics for local youths. The team is affiliated with the Women’s Blue Chip League. However, after last week’s events, the team decided to make the name switch, already scrubbing its social media presence.

“We changed it due to the events Monday,” a spokesperson told Gawker. “Our fans [were] not happy with the name.”

The team has not released its new moniker yet, but says it will sometime this week.

Photo via Twitter/@bostonbombers

Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman made an appearance last week at Boston Medical Center to visit Jeff Bauman, a survivor of the attack at the Boston Marathon. Edelman’s teammates, tight end Rob Gronkowski and running back Stevan Ridley, also found time to visit a number of the victims of the tragedy.

Check out photos from the duo’s visits below.

Boston's Strongest!! Y'all keep fighting and we'll keep praying!! @RobGronkowski http://t.co/0ZggjTO0yt

—
Stevan Ridley (@StevanRidley) April 23, 2013

In partnership with Boston Properties, the City of Boston adorned the Prudential Tower with blue and yellow lights on its top, and with the number 1 on its north face. The tower was lit at sundown.

The move is to show support for The One Fund Boston, which was set up last week by mayor Thomas Menino and governor Deval Patrick to help those affected by the tragic incidents.

For more information about The One Fund Boston, visit www.onefundboston.org.

Check out the special lighting in the photo below.

Photo via Twitter/@TomlinM

Instead, the day was filled with moving tributes, as players, fans and others honored the victims, first responders and others involved in the attacks on the Boston Marathon.

From David Ortiz‘s memorable pregame speech to Neil Diamond‘s live rendition of “Sweet Caroline,” the day was filled with many moments that fans in attendance and watching from afar will never forget. While Daniel Nava‘s late-inning heroics propelled the Sox to a win over the Kansas City Royals, it was a very special day for the city of Boston regardless of any game’s outcome.

Click here to see more photos from the ceremony >>