"Many thanks to the great fans of New England and the city of Boston," it read. "It was a privilege and an honor."

The display included a photo of Damon in a Boston uniform and his signature.

Again, how can we miss him if he won't go away?

Damon is not the first athlete to publish such an ad, of course. Most notably, Drew Bledsoe and Mo Vaughn made similar gestures on their way out of town. But those were submitted the same week as their departure, not 10 days before spring training with their new teams.

Let's not forget this "honor and privilege" comes a week after he told the press in New York how unhappy Manny Ramirez is playing in Boston. He wants the slugger join him with the Yankees. David Ortiz, too. It also comes a week after he said was starting to feel "like a Yankee" and was looking forward to discussing "the Yankee way" with team owner George Steinbrenner. It comes a week after he told radio host David Lee Roth how he and his kids shared a cry after he told them the Red Sox didn't want him.

Johnny Damon has spent all his time lately convincing himself and the world what a great decision it was to move on to the Yankees. If this is his desperate attempt at making sure he doesn't completely destroy his legacy in Boston -- a motion that would have been an act of class on Dec. 21 -- is today far too little, and much too late.