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Sunday, July 13, 2008

Reminiscing about the Back Yard

Shaughnessy has a nice column today about how he turned his backyard into a mini Fenway back in the 1990s for his kids to play wiffle ball...to include painting the fence with paint from the real Fenway. It is a nice piece that captures a slice of parenthood, growing up, looking back, and a genuine love for the game. Call me a sentimental sap but this is a nice read for a Sunday morning. (And this probably also explains why I pretty much enjoyed his book Senior Year)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is a nice piece that captures a slice of parenthood, growing up, looking back, and a genuine love for the game.

Or you could say it's self-indulgent nonsense that's likely to be written around the All-Star break because he's run out of all other ideas.

Just sayin'...

Anonymous said...

....oh yeah, that was a very "heartwarming" story....just like acid reflux.....sorry, but I don't give a rat's ass whats in Shanks backyard

Dave M said...

I must be in a reflective mood - I did enjoy it. Not sure if I would call it heartwarming, just nice. To each his own!

Chris said...

Just an aside: The LA Times and the Chicago Tribune are jettisoning people left and right...in the newsroom and into the corner offices. PLEASE...the Boston Globe has to be nearing this 'Come to Jesus' (Allah?) moment themselves, no?

Anonymous said...

It's really a shame that Shaughnessy doesn't pour his heart and soul into his columns on a regular basis. This column proves he still has the ability God gave him to write solid,interesting pieces such as this one.

At one time he was an insightful journalist who wrote columns that sparkled, not the recycled, hateful crap that has become his wont in recent years.

It's really a crying shame that he's become a caricture of the writer he once was.

Perhaps the best thing that could happen is the Globe folds (not likely, in spite of its falling circulation and the pitiful numbers the NYT Company is posting stock-wise), or Dan moves on to another newspaper or position elsewhere, where he could rejuvinate his flagging style.

Until then, though, I'll continue to have my Alka Seltzer ready to take before reading his tired, old diatribes.

Anonymous said...

That's "caricature," of course. Duh!

mike_b1 said...

Unadulterated pap!

JJS37 said...

I'm going with "self-indulgent nonsense." Really, could this guy pat himself on the back, say "look how great I am," or just otherwise say "pay attention to me! I'm cool, I really am!!" anymore?

My favorite part is "The 1-2-3 Kid," or "The 3-2 Kid" or "The 666 Kid" hitting a "homer" over the "left field fence" in an intense game of wiffle ball.

This pretty well sums up who Shank is: a self-indulgent, more important than you, pissed off at the world because-I-can't-be-an-athlete type of guy.

What a jerk-off. Sorry, douche bag.

Anonymous said...

can somebody please write a response to his terrible article today, about how the angels will never beat the sox in the playoffs because... we beat them in 1986??? what a garbage story. sort of like how the sox would never be able to beat the yankees, dan?