Rick Pitino Watch

Since Shank likes ripping former Boston area professional athletes, I'm left wondering why he's not ripping former Boston Celtic coaches who are now on the skids?

Rick Pitino could be in some serious trouble.

After the FBI announced its investigation into an NCAA corruption scheme earlier this week, the Louisville head coach was identified as "Coach 2" in federal court documents that claim he played a role in sending illegal payments to the family of a highly-touted recruit, CBS News' Dana Jacobson reports.

Prosecutors allege Adidas executives funneled $100,000 to the family of a top recruit - believed to be five-star freshman Brian Bowen - to ensure he'd play basketball at Louisville, an Adidas-sponsored school. Louisville reportedly suspended Bowen this week.

Pitino was placed on unpaid administrative leave Wednesday along with athletic director Tom Jurich, but has denied any wrongdoing.

The Hall of Fame coach was already due to serve a five-game suspension this season stemming from his role in the program's escort scandal.

Among a few posts, here's some of Shank's previous work on Pitino.

Retweets, By Dan Shaughnessy

Since Shank's under an obligation to no longer harshly criticize Red Sox players, instead he'll keep beating up former Red Sox players:

"I carried hate for that city for a long time,” Carl Crawford told @ScottMillerBbl. "But now, I'm over that.” https://t.co/tJVvC1goLS

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) September 28, 2017

I can't imagine how Carl Crawford could have come to that conclusion.

Likes And Dislikes

Shank gives us his good and bad take on this year's Red Sox as they get ready for the playoffs.

OK, so the Red Sox are in the playoffs and they are on to Cincinnati. They have six more games against moribund teams (Reds, Blue Jays), then a final four at home against the Houston Astros, who are still most likely Boston’s first-round opponent in the Division Series.

So here are some personal likes and dislikes about your first-place Boston Red Sox:

Dislike: John Farrell sending Chris Sale back out to the mound in the eighth inning of an 8-0 game just so that Sale could pick up his 300th strikeout of 2017. Lunacy.

I Think He's Pissed, McClane!

Shank's upset with Red Sox manager John Farrell over last night's personnel management / mismanagement:

What is Chris Sale doing still in this game?

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) September 21, 2017

After long inning, Sale back out for 8th in 8-0 game?
Getting to 300 Ks tonight bigger than playoffs?
This is SO Red Sox.
Grady Farrell.

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) September 21, 2017

What the hell, Manager John? Sale still can get a shutout. Why not send him back out for the ninth?

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) September 21, 2017

I'm with Shank on this one - Farrell doesn't have the same in-game savvy that Francoa or Maddon have.

Fourth Rate Column

When you have nothing else to write about and you've used up your quota of 'picked-up pieces' columns for the month, you write about which team's on the bottom of the local sports totem pole.

Four is a number always associated with the Boston Bruins.

Bobby Orr — the greatest hockey player of all time — wore No. 4. Black-and-Gold No. 4 jerseys pepper the stands wherever the Bruins play. The best Boston sports bar is The Fours on Canal Street.

Now, as the Bruins get ready for a new season, they once again are all about number four . . . but this time not in a good way.

When I saw this column, I got the sense that Shank had written something like this before. A search of the archives did not ratify this belief, but you'll be shocked to find out that the overwhelming majority of Shank columns on the Boston Bruins were written... after a loss.

A Superdome Story

The New England Patriots won yesterday, 36-20, over the New Orleans Saints. Since the Boston Globe paid for his trip to the Big Easy, he's obliged to write something.

Oh, and some football happened here, too. Seven Super Bowls have been played in the 76,468-seat space-ship theater they now call the “Mercedes-Benz Superdome.’’ This includes three ultimate games that involved your New England Patriots.

This is where the Fridge scored a touchdown and the Bears crushed the Patriots in New England’s only Kraft-less Super Bowl. This is where Desmond Howard kept returning kicks before the Packers beat the Drew Bledsoe Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. And Bill Parcells didn’t fly home with the team.

DHL Dan LX - David Price Update, Etc.

I'm wondering why Shank is going out of his way to stay positive with his coverage of David Price. Normally this would be the stage in the relationship with the player when Shank's trashing him, just before the one or two 'run him out of town' columns.

Picked-up pieces while wondering how things will end for the 2017 Indians and Dodgers . . .

■ So now the Red Sox are paying David Price $217 million to be Heath Hembree?

The Sox activated Price Thursday, and manager John Farrell announced that the sour southpaw will work out of the bullpen for the rest of this year. I hate this.

I'd rather he not reinjure his elbow. Price in the bullpen will insure he won't be throwing 100 pitches in a given day. This is logical. How Shank thinks otherwise is baffling.

Perhaps it’s rational given Price’s recovery from elbow woes and his potential value as a lefthanded power arm out of the pen. But I still hate it because it’s letting Price off the hook too easily.

As much as it might be dangerous for the Sox, I wanted to see Price get the ball for a playoff start in 2017 (with double-barrel action in the Boston bullpen during the anthem). It’s my thirst for great sports theater.

That, and pints at The Fours.

He still hates the Red Sox, in case you're still wondering:

■ Kudos to the New York Post for placing an asterisk next to “Boston” in its daily American League standings. Below the standings, the asterisk denotes, “Caught stealing.’’

When the Sox got caught cheating, how come nobody made the connection to “Damn Yankees”? The name of the devil in the famed Faustian show/movie is “Applegate.’’

One of my favorite readers reminds us, “You can’t hold a whole baseball team responsible for the behavior of a few sick, perverted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn’t we blame the whole major league system . . . ?’’

Shank realizes the movie 'Animal House' is almost forty years old, right?

He still hates the Patriots:

■ Hate to rub it in, but the New York Football Giants will salute their 2007 Super Bowl champs when they play their home opener in the Meadowlands Monday night against the Lions. Eli Manning and Zak DeOssie are the only players left from that squad. David Tyree currently works for the Giants as director of player development.

...and Federal judge Richard Berman, of Deflategate 'fame':

■ When it comes to the Yankees, Judge Sonia Sotomayor makes Fanboy Richard Berman look neutral. The Supreme Court justice donned a robe and sat in the “Judge’s Chambers” in right field (named for Aaron Judge) when the Red Sox visited New York last month. She cheered madly for her Yankees.

But that's different!

The End Of An Era

Shank laments the lack of interest in a particular college football game.

Did you know that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are coming to Chestnut Hill to play the Boston College Eagles Saturday at 3:30 at Alumni Stadium?

Of course not.

Nobody knows.

I knew, but only because they announced it at the end of the Notre Dame - Georgia game on Saturday.

Shake down the thunder and dropkick me Touchdown Jesus through the goalposts of life. Our region’s abject apathy about this game is the latest demonstration that we are the worst college sports town in America.

There’s no shame in this. Not in my book anyway. I love the fact that we have evolved into a pro sports-only town. The Four Horsemen of Boston sports — the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins — provide more than enough fodder to fill these pages and fuel four all-sports local radio and television stations.

He then goes on to rue the lack of college football. Typical of Shank to try and have it both ways.

Choose The Headline

The choices - 'Beating A Dead Horse' or 'Plucking The Carcass of a Dead Animal Like a Vulture':

On today with @ZoandBertrand from 11-1. More dissection of KC loss. Zo and I are literally on to New Orleans where we will party once more.

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) September 12, 2017

What 'more dissection' is really necessary?

And Now For More Boston Globe Bashing - LVIII

I'm sure they'll get it right, eventually...

Due to production problems the paper may be delivered at any point throughout the day or on Monday. We apologize for the inconvenience.

— Boston Globe Support (@GlobeSupport) September 10, 2017

Remind me why in 2017 we should stay tethered to a paper subscription that is so unpredictable and unreliable? 2/2

— RobHalpinⓋ (@Niplahr) September 10, 2017

I remember @John_W_Henry indicated these issues would be solved by Labor Day. But he didn't say which year....

— Greg Cunningham (@gregcjr) September 10, 2017

Newspapers are losing subscribers and it seems you are trying to lose more.

— Paul G. Watts III (@PaulWattsIII) September 10, 2017

Ask And You Shall Receive

Not a tough call, but a good call nonetheless.

FOXBOROUGH — “Bad defense, bad coaching, bad plan, bad football.’’

This was Bill Belichick’s post-midnight confession after the Patriots were spanked by Kansas City Chiefs, 42-27, in their season opener Thursday night at Gillette Stadium.

I guess this means 19-0 is out of the question.

Firm grasp of the obvious there...

Yeesh.

We all know the Patriots and their fans were getting a little full of themselves. After winning the greatest Super Bowl ever, they won the offseason. They went all in and assembled the perfect football team. Here in New England, football was not about competition anymore. Simply coronation.

After winning the Super Bowl in Houston, the Patriots partied. They handed out gaudy rings with 283 diamonds (get it, Falcons? 283 diamonds, as in 28-3). Team Trump went to the White House, patented the “Blitz for Six,’’ motto, and gleefully cooperated with another NFL Films homage to their superior preparation and brainpower. The Patriots not only beat you, they embarrassed you. They made sure everyone knows that they are smarter than all the other teams they play. They anticipate everything.

This column exhibits an earnestness and glee that Shank writes with when he's infatuated with the subject at hand, which generally involves a losing local professional sports team.

Aren't We All Waiting

...for Shank to bang out another column taking a massive dump on the Patriots after they lose to the Chiefs 42-27 tonight?

The One Where Shank Lectures Pats Fans, Again

Now we have our answer as to why Shank wasn't tweeting all the usual crap during the first half of tonight's Chiefs / Patriots game:

FOXBOROUGH — OK, Patriots fans. You can let it go now. You had your fun. You won the Super Bowl with the greatest comeback in NFL championship history. You got to shout down the commissioner with a spontaneous outburst of booing when he tried to speak on the postgame stage in Houston. You got to insult Roger Goodell again Thursday night at Gillette with shirts and towels bearing the commissioner’s clown-altered image. You got to see the unveiling of championship No. 5 and then you got to see the Patriots kick off their inexorable quest for No. 6 vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s probably time to release the ghosts of Deflategate and get on with your lives.

This, from a guy who still bears a grudge that he held for years and still continues to this day with the Pats' second Super Bowl appearance, against Green Bay.

Shaughnessy’s digs are predictable…and despicable. That breakfast snub 15 years ago or so really burns him up so much to this day?

More Shank:

Except for one parking lot photo with some Patriots fans (who should have their Fan Cards revoked), Goodell in August pretty much got in and out of town without anyone noticing.

Didn't he just tell Patriots fans to give it up?

You get the gist of it - more Nurse Ratched at the link.

Love To Hate The Red Sox

Any bad Red Sox news is good news for Shank:

The New York Post has an asterisk next to Red Sox W-L record atop the AL East with
"Caught Stealing" featured under the standings.

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) September 8, 2017

Predictions

1) Will Shank tweet before and during the game?
2) How many tweets will contain the following - defer the kickoff, double score and / or tomato cans?
3) Any more comparisons of Deflategate and the Red Sox' sign stealing saga?

Leave your own predictions in the comments.

Frontrunners

Look who's back on the bandwagon:

Mark Wahlberg is at Gillette going through pre-game ceremony. Do we get to tease him for leaving Super Bowl 51 early?

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) September 7, 2017

Answer - HELL YEAH!

Other Than That, The Tweet Was Accurate

Shank was just a bit too eager to take a shot at the Red Sox. By the way, every level of management apologized to Eck, even though they should not have had to do that. Price has never done so.

Electronics in dugout, Goofy base running, ambushing Eck, headhunting Machado . . Red Sox never admit they are wrong

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) September 6, 2017

uh, they admitted the apple watch thing..keepup dude!

— Dudley DooRagz(@DudleyDooRagz) September 6, 2017

Yeah, Dombrowskiwas a suuuuuperapologetic in his presser last night. Keep up dude!

— HoHo(@EvCoEatManyHoHo) September 6, 2017

Almost as bad as making a name for yourself from writing about a nonexistent curse

— Brad Strowger (@BradStrowger) September 6, 2017

@PeteAbe "I'm the worst writer at the Globe".. @Dan_Shaughnessy .. "holdmy beer"..

— Mike Johnson (@Draftman516) September 6, 2017

@Dan_Shaughnessy a Red Sox scandal is basically porn for you

— Aggie Pug (@yieldguy) September 6, 2017

Tweet Of The Day

Presented without comment...

Hey @Dan_Shaughnessy ..maybe the @BostonGlobe can do another hit piece on Brady to deflect from signgate

— Scott Zolak (@scottzolak) September 5, 2017

Mountain Out Of A Molehill - II

Shank's latest column allows him to mount his Shetland pony high horse and moralize a bit about the Red Sox.

Boston’s reputation in sports takes another hit

Where do we start on this one?

The New York Times says that the first-place Red Sox are cheaters. The Times says that the Sox admitted it. Evidently, the Sox got dimed out by the Yankees (Brian Cashman is the new Fredo) and they totally fessed up when caught.

So where do we go with this now? What do we tell our out-of-town friends? Every time we start talking about all those duck boat parades, they’ll have an answer.

As far as I can tell, sign stealing's been around as long as I can remember. I don't know whether or not there are prohibitions on using technology to do this (EDIT - there are!). We'll see what commissioner Rob Manfred says about it, and what penalties go with it.

To me, here's the more interesting part:

Michael Schmidt — the same guy who broke the news in 2009 that David Ortiz tested positive for PEDs in 2003 — reported the story for the Times. At the end of his story, Schmidt wrote, “Some in baseball would like for Mr. Manfred to take away some of Boston’s victories . . .”

I'd trust a New York Times reporter as far as I could throw him down a set of stairs, but that's just me. Still, this is the perfect thing to have happened as far as Shank's concerned.

Missed Golf Column

It looks like Shank wrote his yearly golf column after all.

NORTON — Justin and Jordan.

Jordan and Justin.

I have grown to despise this trite technique of his.

Both 24 years old. Both American. Both golf stars at NCAA football factories. Each one praised at one time or another as the next superstar of golf. Both winners of coveted majors — three for Jordan Spieth, one for Justin Thomas.

If you don't know a lot about these two, it's worth a read.

What's In A Tweet?

It's not too difficult to translate this one. The Red Sox are currently in a tailspin and Shank will have the next five months of passive-aggressive behavior to simultaneously shit on and offer false praise for the New England Patriots. Both situations make him happer than a pig in slop.

😀⚾️🏈👍

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) September 5, 2017

When It Rains, It Pours

Shank's recent prolific column output has nothing to do with the Red Sox losing three out of four games to the New York Yankees, does it?

NEW YORK — Panic?

Not yet. Probably nobody wants to hear it, but despite last night’s 9-2 beatdown in the Bronx, the Red Sox are still in pretty good shape to win the American League East. They certainly have trouble with the Yankees and Orioles, but they are coming home for a nine-game stay vs. the dregs of the American League. The Yankees, meanwhile, are heading out on the dusty trail, starting in Baltimore. The Sox can’t possible squander their 3½-game division lead. Can they?

Surely that's a rhetorical question for Shank...

Glass Half Empty

What a shocker - Shank isn't too keen on the Red Sox come playoff time!

NEW YORK — How are you feeling about the prospects for your first-place Red Sox when the playoffs get going next month?

Me? I’m not feeling great about this team.

Sorry. I know these guys have good pitching and they’ve had all those walkoff wins and they have been in first place since Aug. 1 and they have one of the top six records in all of baseball. Closer Craig Kimbrel is enjoying a historic season.

But I just don’t feel good about this team in October.

More doubt and pessimism at the link.

Live From The Yankees Clubhouse - II

Amazing that you can get an entire column out of a single bunt.

NEW YORK — We’ve waited a long time for this. The Red Sox and Yankees are in first and second place respectively, and national television networks still love them, but everybody knows the rivalry has been somewhat tepid since the passionate, angry golden days of 2003 and 2004.

But some of the old hard feelings resurfaced Thursday and Friday when pantload CC Sabathia called the Red Sox “weak” and challenged anyone who doesn’t like it to “meet in center field . . . I’m out there early every day.’’

And all this because Sox infielder Eduardo Nunez had the audacity to do his job and lay down a bunt in the first inning of Thursday’s 6-2 Yankee win. Nunez swung away in third inning Friday night and belted a two-run homer in the the Sox’ 4-1 victory.)

You Heard It Here First

Longtime readers of this blog know how well Shank loves the Neil Diamond song 'Sweet Caroline'. About an hour or so ago I'm on ESPN 3 watching one of the World Cup qualifiers (Malta vs. England) and the Maltese crowd was singing, you guessed it, 'Sweet Caroline' just before the first half kickoff. My prediction - with that insipid car commercial fueling the fire, this might catch on worldwide, displacing 'Seven Nation Army' by the White Stripes as the song of choice.

Live From The Yankees Clubhouse

... Our Man Shank is there!

NEW YORK — Welcome to the visitors’ clubhouse at Yankee Stadium. This is where stuff happens.

This is where David Price had his first Jack Nicholson-esque, five-star nutty back in June when he hurled insults at writers and equipment into his locker. This is where the Sox staged that goofy champagne-and-goggles celebration last Sept. 29 moments after Craig Kimbrel surrendered a walkoff grand slam to the retiring Mark Teixeira. This is where Terry Francona, then-employed by ESPN, pulled up a chair and started a bull session with his ex-players in 2012 while “new” Sox skipper Bobby Valentine fumed in the corner office.

Looks like Shank has found a Red Sox player to latch onto and trash for the rest of the season.