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.