DHL Dan CCCX - Grudge Match

This seems like a column theme right up Shank's alley:

Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown is the latest in a long line of Boston sports grudge matches, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while wishing Tom Brady a sincere welcome home Sunday at Gillette . . .

⋅ The Celtics are in Philadelphia Tuesday, which means we finally get to see Jayson Tatum playing basketball against Jaylen Brown in a regular-season NBA game.

I haven’t been this fired up for an old-fashioned Boston sports grudge match since Roger Clemens came to Fenway in a Blue Jays uniform for the first time in 1997 and glared in the direction of Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette while coming off the mound after striking out 16 batters in a 3-1 victory.

Memo to coaches Joe Mazzulla and Nick Nurse: Let there be no load management for this one. NBA America needs to see Tatum and Brown in each other’s faces for the full four quarters.

DHL Dan CCCIX - The Return Of The Royal We?

Is Shank jumping on the bandwagon here?

Patriots are where we thought they’d be after seven games, but it’s been fun so far, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while wondering what to do Sunday when the Patriots aren’t playing …

⋅ With seven games down and 10 to play, the Patriots’ place in the AFC is about what we thought it would be. The Flying Elvises are 4-3 and now 1½ games behind the Bills in the division. A legit playoff contender but probably not bound for a second straight trip to the Super Bowl.

Still, it’s a fun ride.

When the schedule was released, it was obvious there wouldn’t be another 10-game winning streak this year. Playing five of last season’s playoff teams in the first seven weeks, we figured they would do well to come out of it 4-3.

Which is what they are.

Echoes of Bill Parcells - 'You are what your record says you are.'