DHL Dan CCVI - Harry Sinden On The Bruins

Shank talks to the former Boston Bruins coach / GM / Mr. Everything:

Getting Harry Sinden’s take on the Bruins’ playoff chances, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while watching Red Sox defense videos to the tune of the Benny Hill theme song …

▪ The Bruins are in the playoffs again. What does Harry Sinden think of their chances?

“They’re definitely a contender,” says the 91-year-old Bruin-in-Winter. “I’m not on top of the team, but from what I’ve seen, they are a reasonable contender. I think they have a good chance to advance. I couldn’t call them the No. 1 team, but they’re going to give anyone a heck of a time.”

A player, head coach, general manager, and Boston Garden king of hockey, Sinden first came to the Bruins organization as a player/coach in Kingston, Ontario, in 1961. Today he watches games on TV from his home north of Boston, and as “Senior Advisor to the Owner and Alternate Governor,” he ranks fourth on the team masthead, trailing only owners Jeremy and Charlie Jacobs, and team president Cam Neely. Sinden traded for Neely in 1986, and drafted today’s GM, Don Sweeney, in 1984.

DHL Dan CCV - Everything To Prove

In today's Picked Up Pieces column, Shank states what most people have been saying all season about this year's Boston Celtics:

These Celtics still have everything to prove, and other thoughts

Picked up pieces while waiting for the playoffs . . .

⋅ NBA teams have been playing an 82-game schedule since the 1967-68 season. In that time, the Celtics have won 66 or more games three times.

With Dave Cowens as league MVP, the Green won 68 in 1972-73, but failed to win the NBA championship because John Havlicek hurt his shoulder during the conference finals and Boston lost Game 7 at home to the hated Knicks.

In 1985-86, with a four-man-rotation frontcourt of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and Bill Walton (plus Hall of Famer Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge at guard), the Celtics won 67 regular-season games, went 50-1 at home (including Hartford games and playoffs), and won the NBA championship. In my opinion, that was the greatest NBA team of all time. Certainly the most fun to watch.

In 2007-08, the Ubuntu Celtics — led by Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen — won 66 games and crushed the Lakers in a six-game championship final. It is the only championship the vaunted franchise has won in the last 38 years.

That sets the tone for the rest of that part of the column - win or else!

Another Terry Francona Column

The former Red Sox skipper shares his thoughts on the 2004 World Series champions and other things:

On eve of a return to Fenway, Terry Francona reflects on ’04 Red Sox, the state of baseball, and retirement

Former manager Terry Francona will join players from his 2004 ball club when the Red Sox honor their curse-bustin’ champs while celebrating the lives of Tim and Stacy Wakefield at the Fenway home opener Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s unbelievable that it’s been 20 years,” Francona said. “The best thing about it are the memories. I’ll be so happy to see so many people, particularly [former coach] Brad Mills. But the Wake thing is what I think is really special. When Pam [Sox vice president Pam Kenn] asked me to come back for this, it took me about two seconds to say yes.”

His favorite memory of the 200-win knuckleballer?

“There’s a lot when you’re around somebody that much,” said Francona. “One thing that shows you what kind of a guy he was is Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees [a 19-8 loss that put the Sox down, 3-0], when we were just getting beat up. And here he comes up the tunnel with his spikes and his glove, and he said, ‘I can go suck up some innings.’

DHL Dan CCIV - The Larry Lucchino Column

Former Red Sox general manager Larry Lucchino passed away earlier this week. Shank's here to deliver the eulogy:

Boston baseball was well served by Larry Lucchino, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while pondering the life and times of Larry Lucchino …

▪ He was the last of a kind — a personable, hard-charging baseball executive who demanded results, never suffered fools, and most of the time made things better for fans. He should be in Cooperstown simply for Camden Yards (which changed everything about the fan experience in every ballpark built after 1993), and he could have been commissioner of baseball, but Boston was best served because Lucchino ran the Red Sox from 2002-15.

The Sox haven’t been the same since he “retired,” and you can be sure Lucchino wouldn’t have tolerated the “let the fans eat cake” message ownership delivered in the recent non-full-throttle offseason.

Larry Lucchino. Think Harry Sinden with a law degree. Think Red Auerbach brawling with NBA owners at Board of Governors meetings. Think Tommy Lee Jones as Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard in “The Fugitive.”

High praise indeed!

It's clear Shank 'sampled' many of his previous columns about Lucchino, and I'm still amused by his use of 'the Nixon White House' when the first thing Shank ever said to me was whether I was recording the phone call. I'll give him some credit for briefly mentioning the conflict / falling out he eventually had with Lucchino and didn't completely duck any of the bad stuff, unlike his shameless Bill Buckner eulogy.

DHL Dan CCIII - You'll Never Walk Alone

It took him a while but Shank's finally, FINALLY! accepting a certain sports reality:

FSG’s message to Red Sox fans seems to be ‘you walk alone,’ and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while finally understanding the message Fenway Sports Group has delivered to loyal Red Sox fans around the world …

From this point forward, you walk alone.

▪ Sadly, that’s it right there, folks. After a couple of decades of all-in, four-championship, money-is-no-object ownership, Red Sox boss John Henry evidently has decided that the Sox are no longer a top priority, but merely a part of “a global sports, marketing, media, entertainment and real estate portfolio.” FSG is out of the winning business with its baseball team in 2024, and Sox fans have every right to feel abandoned.

Red Sox Nation was once like FSG’s prized Premier League soccer team, whose fans locked arms, raised a pint, and sang, “You’ll never walk alone.”

No more. If you still care about the Red Sox, you very much walk alone.

It should be clear to all by now: The Red Sox brass is not going to spend money or make much effort to improve this team. The message to Alex Cora, his staff, and fans, is unambiguous: This is your team. Figure it out. We don’t care if you finish last for the fourth time in five years and the seventh time in 13 years, we are not going to spend another penny to make it better. We are done.

DHL Dan CCII - 'The Dynasty' - Hated it!

Full Disclosure - I did not read past the headline when I started this post. Honest!

If there's something that tends to portray New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft ina positive light, you can count on Shank to take a piss on said light:

Why the Patriots docuseries ‘The Dynasty’ is a farce, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces after heart surgery …

▪ It was not my intention to return to these pages this soon, and I am far from 100 percent, but some things cannot wait. I remember ripping tubes out of my arms after sinus surgery when I got the word that the Red Sox had finally fired crusty manager John McNamara on Bastille Day in 1988. been waiting three long seasons for that moment and was not about to let another Globe scribe Knife the Mac on the day the Sox made the long-overdue sacking.

Revenge is a dish best served cold!

Which brings us to … “The Dynasty,” the entertaining yet loathsome 10-part Kraft hagiography/Belichick hit piece that dropped its final two episodes on Apple TV last weekend.

The Globe’s estimable Ben Volin has already given great voice to the preposterousness and unfairness of the series, but my dark, healing heart would not allow this moment to pass without joining the chorus of “Dynasty” detractors.

Bottom line: As Patriots/NFL history goes, “The Dynasty” is a farce.

It’s great to have so much locker room footage, and the Apple folks give us a lot of credible and interesting voices. Hearing Rob Gronkowski tell his truth and Tom Brady drop F-bombs is new and enlightening. Free of Big Bad Bill, Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater, Ty Law, Tedy Bruschi, Randy Moss, Willie McGinest, and Danny Amendola are worthy truth-tellers. It’s great to hear so much from Ernie Adams.

But make no mistake: This is Bob Kraft’s authorized history of the Patriots. Nothing less.

I haven't watched the series but nearly every discussion of 'The Dynasty' I've heard so far points to this sameconclusion and it's nearly impossible to think this wasn't done on purpose to try and bury Bill Belichick.

No Shows

This theme includes a couple of items, chief among them not reporting Shank's heart surgery from last month. I've been there myself, so I'm not exactly sure why I didn't post on this when it originally happened, but there it is.

In other no shows, Red Sox ace Curt Schilling won't be at Opening Day 2024 to commemorate the 2004 Boston Red Sox championship:

Curt Schilling will not attend Red Sox’ 2004 World Series celebration at home opener

Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling has declined the team’s invitation to be part of the April 9 Opening Day ceremonies at Fenway Park, a source with direct knowledge told the Globe.

The Sox on Monday announced plans to honor the 20th anniversary of the 2004 champions, who are famous for ending the team’s 86-year World Series drought.

Schilling was a key part of that team, forever earning his place in Red Sox lore by pitching with a surgically repaired ankle in Game 6 of the ALCS against the Yankees — known as the “Bloody Sock” game.

The Sox also plan to honor the lives of Tim and Stacy Wakefield that day. Tim, who started Game 1 of the 2004 World Series against the Cardinals, died in October from brain cancer. His wife Stacy died from a different type of cancer in February.

Schilling came under fire in September for revealing the health diagnoses of the Wakefields in the days before Tim’s death.

DHL Dan CCI - Theo's Back!

Shank notes the return of former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein as an adviser to the team:

Theo Epstein has been away a while but he knows how the Red Sox work, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while remembering the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady nine Super Bowls from 2002-19 …

▪ Theo Epstein is back with the Red Sox as a part-owner of Fenway Sports Group and a senior adviser to its many holdings.

Too many holdings.

FSG’s insatiable quest to expand its portfolio and take over the world has made the Red Sox the abandoned stepchild of the corporation’s family. The Sox might as well be Connor Roy.

Theo and Sam Kennedy were teammates at Brookline High and did a lot of their learning as very young men under the tutelage of Larry Lucchino with the Padres in the 1990s. When Lucchino came to Boston as part of John Henry’s group, he had to negotiate with the Padres to acquire the services of “The Brookline Two.”

I don't think he's going to impact things much with the Sox, if at all.