DHL Dan CCCIV - The Almost Jaylen Brown Trade

Last week's big NBA trade (that didn't happen) was the Boston Celtics dealing away Jaylen Brown to the Milwaukee Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Here's Shank taking half of his Picked Up Pieces column takling about... Manny Ramirez?

Can Jaylen Brown be like Manny Ramirez and brush off nearly being traded?

Picked-up pieces during hydration breaks and stoppage time . . .

⋅ Never thought it would come to this, but Boston needs Jaylen Brown to be like Manny Ramirez. Not like Nomar Garciaparra.

In December 2003, two months after the Red Sox’ epic collapse against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series, the Sox agreed to deal savant slugger Manny and wildly popular Garciaparra in a three-team deal that would have delivered Alex Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez to Fenway Park. It all seemed pretty done. We even saw Red Sox infielder Kevin Millar on ESPN, smiling, telling Dan Patrick, “We’ll take A-Rod!”

The whole thing collapsed a few days later because of complexities involving Rodriguez’s massive contract and MLB’s Players Association, but the baseball world knew the Sox had been ready to part with both stars.

It made for a big bowl of awkward at spring training in 2004, but Boston’s “slighted” superstars took separate paths. Manny walked around smiling, saying, “They put me on eBay,” while drum-tight Nomar sulked and said, “The priorities are obviously not for me . . . I was definitely hurt by a lot of it.”

“My first day on the job in Boston was after all that had gone down,” former Red Sox manager Terry Francona remembered this past week. “It was unbelievable. Welcome to the Red Sox, right? Manny was yelling about being on eBay, but he sort of laughed about it and got over it. And he always hit. I remember John Henry telling me when I got there, ‘Keep him on the field. That’s your job.’ ”

DHL Dan CCCIII - Eddie Andleman, RIP

I didn't listen to sports talk radio a whole lot back when Eddie Andleman and others were on the airwaves, but it sure sounds like Shank did:

Eddie Andelman gave us sports talk radio gold with his no-holds-barred interview of Wade Boggs in 1989

Picked-up pieces while begging the Tartan Army to come back every year …

⋅ New England’s sports talk airwaves have been far less interesting since Eddie Andelman retired in 2010, and there were tributes aplenty when Eddie died this past Monday. A pioneer of the genre, he was hilarious, kind, charitable, combustible, and eternally devoted to his family, the Red Sox, the Celtics, the Hot Dog Safari, and the Kowloon. Eddie was one of one.

He brought me into radio in the mid-1980s, and I’ll always remember some advice he gave during a commercial break in one of my first days.

“Dan, sometimes you think before you answer a question,” Eddie said. “Any kind of silence is bad for radio. Don’t think about what you’re going to say. Just start talking.”

Says a lot about sports talk radio, doesn’t it?

My favorite show with Eddie was a dinner-hour special at the USA Inn in Winter Haven, Fla., during Red Sox spring training in 1989. Ever embroiled in controversies, Wade Boggs was a favorite Eddie target and didn’t like Boston’s favorite blab-master. I told Boggs that Eddie was in town doing shows for three nights and wanted him as a guest. The future Hall of Famer smiled mischievously and said, “Can’t wait.”

On that fateful Friday night, our “studio” was a table in the middle of the Florida fleabag’s sprawling lobby. A handful of sunburned spring-breaking Sox fans served as our “live studio audience.”

A potential shitshow interview in the making here? I'm all for it!

DHL Dan CCCII - Rooting For A Shitcanning

In this week's Picked Up Pieces column, Shank wonders about the employment status of Craing Breslow:

Maybe the Red Sox should replace Craig Breslow, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while debating whether to watch Haiti-Scotland World Cup or Knicks-Spurs Game 5 Saturday night . . .

⋅ Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver rarely held “team meetings” when the Orioles were struggling.

“Why would I have a meeting if we’re going bad?” Weaver reasoned. “Suppose we have a big meeting then go out and lose the next game. What do I do then?”

This is where the Red Sox find themselves as they lurch into the middle third of their sorry season. Fenway Sports Group and Craig Breslow nuked face-of-the-franchise manager Alex Cora and six of his coaches after merely 27 games of the 2026 season. Now that the Red Sox look even worse, it’s bad optics to fire chief baseball officer Breslow, even though it’s fairly obvious he’s a huge part of the problem.

Asked Thursday about the possibility of replacing Breslow, Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy told WEEI, “It’s not even on the table.” Swell. But it should be on the table.

If part of your earlier response was to fire Alex Cora and most of his staff, then maybe you should consider Breslow as well. That would depend on what direction ownership truly wants - to win or to maximize profits.

DHL Dan CCCI - Talk Of The Town

First off - that's the title of a very nice song from The Pretenders.

Now, onto Shank's weekly Picked Up Pieces column! The Boston Red Sox have been doing terrible this year, currently mired in last place in the American League East and shipping former starting pitcher Brayan Bello to Worcester after crapping out in his last start yesterday. On sports talk radio, the sorry state of the team has been fodder for weeks, yet Shank says...

In this sad Red Sox spring of 2026, they’re no longer the talk of the town, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while waiting for Mickey Gasper to sign a multiyear deal with W.B. Mason . . .

My morning routine takes me on a slow neighborhood jog and I regularly cross paths with a couple of sports fans who’ll often comment on the latest events involving our local teams.

“How about those Sox?” I teased as I shuffled past the guys this past week.

“We don’t talk about them anymore,” said one of them. “We just talk about A.J. Brown.”

Bingo. Such is the tone of most sports conversation in this sad Sox spring of 2026.

It’s early June and the Sox are the only game in town, but they’re largely ignored on local sports airwaves. If you visit a Hub saloon, the TV over the bar will probably feature golf, the Knicks, Roland Garros, or Stephen A. Smith ripping Jaylen Brown.

That last bolded part is 1,000 percent pure, unadulterated bullshit. Check out any podcast from 98.5 The Sports Hub in recent weeks for this demonstrably false assertion / statement.

DHL Dan CCC - Here's To The Fans

Just what the doctor ordered - a fan friendly column:

Offering up a toast to New England sports fans. It’s different here, for the better, and other thoughts.

Picked-up pieces while noting that only Jaylen Brown could have all of America rooting for Stephen A. Smith . . .

⋅ Here’s a toast to New England sports fans, especially those who read the Globe.

I grew up reading these pages and got my first byline in 1973. More than 60 years of reading the Globe and writing for its pages convinces me that our readers are the smartest, funniest, and most passionate sports fans/readers in the world. We enjoy a back-and-forth with readers that’s unique in American sports journalism.

Here’s proof:

The Bruins are done for this season, but like many of you, I still keep an eye on the playoffs, and I watched the Canadiens beat the starving Sabres in overtime in Game 7 Monday.

Tuesday morning at 9, I got this email from a random Globe reader:

“Long live the Adams Division!!! Montreal, Quebec, and Hartford still alive! Sound the Brass Bonanza!”

DHL Dan CCXCIX - Interim Managers

Interim Red Sox managers isn't a new thing. Shank called up Walpole Joe and got his take on the new guy:

Joe Morgan, the greatest interim manager in baseball history, knows what Chad Tracy is dealing with, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while waiting for the Super Bowl rematch when the Patriots visit Seattle Sept. 9 …

⋅ With the 2026 Red Sox wrapping their third week under “interim” manager Chad Tracy, it’s time to hear from the greatest interim manager in baseball history, Walpole’s Joe Morgan.

“What the hell happened to [Alex] Cora and all those coaches?” Morgan asked when I reached him at his home this past week. “Boston is tough, isn’t it?”

Not for Joe Morgan, it wasn’t.

Pull up a chair and listen, young’uns: Way back in 1988, the star-studded, underachieving Red Sox fired crusty skipper John McNamara July 14, and named Morgan — who’d been their Triple-A manager for nine seasons — interim manager.

Morgan’s Red Sox ripped off 12 straight wins, and 19 of 20, climbing from nine games out of first to one game back in three torrid weeks. Morgan shed “interim” six days into the surge and signed a contract extension through 1989 just three weeks after taking over.

DHL Dan CCXCVIII - The Ted Turner Column

Ted Turner, owner of the Atlanta Braves and creator of CNN, passed away last week. Shank recalls Ted actually managing the Braves for one game:

Ted Turner managed the Braves (for one game). Imagining what it would be like if that happened in Boston, and other thoughts.

Picked-up pieces while wondering if Joe Mazzulla would have started Denny Galehouse against the Cleveland Indians in the 1948 one-game playoff …

⋅ Imagine if John Henry made himself manager of the Red Sox.

Ted Turner did this when he owned the Atlanta Braves.

For just one day.

Turner, the bombastic tycoon who revolutionized TV journalism, died Wednesday in Florida at the age of 87. His New York Times obituary called him a “media mogul who cut a brash and vivid figure … extending his restless reach into professional sports, environmentalism, and philanthropy.”

All true.

Turner also was a big league baseball manager. For just one day.

With his Braves in the throes of a 16-game losing streak in May 1977, Turner, who was in his second year as owner, gave his manager, Dave Bristol, a 10-day sabbatical, and made himself manager for a night game in Pittsburgh.

DHL Dan CCXCVII - Q & A Session

Speaking for 'the fans', a favorite / classic tactic for passive aggressiveness, Shank airs out 'fan' grievances like it was Festivus:

Red Sox fans have more questions than answers about their last-place team, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces in the aftermath of last weekend’s “Knives Out” Red Sox blockbuster …

⋅ The Sox on Friday returned to Fenway for a weekend series with the Astros after an unforgettable 3-3 road trip that further damaged one of baseball’s great brands. They started May in last place with a new manager, a raft of new coaches, and a 12-19 record, eight games behind the Yankees.

Boston fans have more questions than answers in the wake of the Saturday night massacre that took down Alex Cora and six of his coaches.

Let’s start with third-year president of baseball operations Craig Breslow. Exactly what has Breslow done to earn his status as King of the Red Sox? Team CEO Sam Kennedy says the axing of Cora and six coaches was entirely Breslow’s call, a decision that Kennedy says ownership “fully supported.”

“He wanted to fire everybody who was here before he got here,” a source told The Athletic.

Breslow's status is Chief Penny Pincher for the Red Sox; just think 'sports and spreadsheets'.

DHL Dan CCXCVI - Eraser

Shank spots what seems to be a Trotsky-esque revision of the past by eliminating one of its participants:

Why does it seem like the Red Sox are trying to erase Larry Lucchino from franchise lore, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while wondering if 76er Paul George has met American sci-fi author John Ringo . . .

⋅ What’s up with Fenway Sports Group’s not-so-subtle campaign to erase Larry Lucchino?

Lucchino, who died in the spring of 2024, had enormous impact on FSG’s Red Sox success for 14 seasons but is hard to find in a new team statement and video celebrating “25 seasons of stewardship” since John Henry’s group purchased the ball club in 2002.

Those of us who were there from 2002-15 remember how the “new” owners presented themselves as a united trio: Henry, TV magnate Tom Werner, and Lucchino, a visionary ballpark builder who came into baseball with the Orioles under Edward Bennett Williams in 1979.

It was always “John, Tom, and Larry.” After Theo Epstein came on board as boy wonder general manager, they were “Theo and the trio.”

Four months after Lucchino died, Henry said, “The three of us had one of the greatest rides in sports history . . . He [Lucchino] was as much a part of Red Sox history as any part of the organization.”

And yet it’s hard to find his place in team history when one views FSG’s silver anniversary celebration.

DHL Dan CCXCV - The Best Draw

Shan's enjoying this time of year sportswise, and especially so the Celtics' first round opponent:

Younger fans may not know, but there’s real history in a Celtics-Sixers playoff series, and other thoughts

Picked up pieces while blissfully living my sports life in the Wayback Machine . . .

⋅ We’ve got playoffs. We’ve got rivalries. Sweet.

The Bruins will play the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the Stanley Cup tournament. While this may not conjure memories of B’s-Habs, seven men on the ice, or Dryden between the pipes, it’s great to see the locals playing a fellow American franchise 400 miles to our west. The Bruins have faced the long-suffering Buffs eight times in the playoffs, including 2010, when Boston’s rookie coach Marco Sturm was on the ice for the Black & Gold.

...

All of which brings us to Celtics-76ers for the NBA record 23d time!

I could not be happier.

A week ago, there were still six possibilities for Boston’s first-round opponent, including Atlanta, Miami, Toronto, Charlotte, and Orlando. Also known as Boring, Boring, Boring, Boring, and Boring.

No thanks to all of ‘em, especially Orlando, who couldn’t even beat Boston’s third string last Sunday in a game the Magic had real incentive to win. We saw those boring bums in the first round last year. Zzz.

Instead, we get the once-hated Sixers and their frustrated fans. Perfect. Too bad Joel Embiid had an appendectomy last week. His presence would have made this even better.

DHL Dan CCXCIV - Careful What You Wish For

As the Boston Celtics begin their playoff run this year, Shank's hoping they meet up with the team that defeated them last season in the second round:

Here’s hoping for a Celtics-Knicks rematch in the playoffs, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while waiting for the Celtics in the NBA playoffs again …

The drudgery is almost over. The regular season ends Sunday night at the Garden against Orlando, and the playoffs start next weekend.

Thursday’s regular-season game No. 80, a steel-cage-match loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, was a nice tease for what’s ahead. It felt like the first playoff game of 2026. The first half had 10 lead changes and seven ties. Playing without Jaylen Brown (Achilles tendinitis), the Celtics fell behind by 13 in the second half, rallied to take a 7-point lead, then lost by 6 when Josh Hart went all Andrew Toney in the final seconds.

Wouldn’t it be great if the Celtics and Knicks meet in the second round of the playoffs just like last year? These original league franchises have played one another 575 times, including 15 playoff series, and it was the Knicks who ended Boston’s season last May in six unsightly games, after Jayson Tatum blew out his Achilles in Game 4 at MSG.

No, it wouldn't be great - if the Celtics continue to chuck up dozens and dozens of three point shots, they'll losego cold for a few games like they did last year and lose the series again.

DHL Dan CCXCIII - Rember When?

I don't always remember where I was for every seismic sporting event. I remeber where I was when the ball went between Buckner's legs in the 1986 World Series because I was watching the game with some Mets fans who went absolutely apeshit when it happened. I also remember the Tuck Rule game, because I went to bed as soon as I saw it happen, convinced it was a fumble. And now, we have the latest thing that makes you jump off of your couch:

You’ll always remember where you were when Braylon Mullins shot UConn into Final Four, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while waiting for the Red Sox to stagger into Fenway for their 126th home opener . . .

⋅ Where were you when UConn’s Braylon Mullins launched the shot heard ’round basketball America?

I was alone in my TV room/man cave, eyes glued to the giant flatscreen as the beautiful orange sphere flew 35 feet, then ripped through the netting with nary a trace of iron. I hollered, “Wow!” or some other profound remark that no one could hear. Not even the chair.

I starting thinking of friends and family across the land, wondering where they were watching, and how they were reacting.

Was former Globe columnist Leigh Montville watching? Montville’s a proud UConn alum who goes back to the days of Wes Bialosuknia and Toby Kimball. I knew he’d made a small purchase at Jordan’s Furniture during the “your furniture will be free if UConn’s men’s and women’s teams play for the championship” window. For sure, Leigh was watching.

What about Jim Calhoun? He’s a Braintree guy who first coached at Dedham High School, then had Reggie Lewis at Northeastern, and wound up at UConn, where he won the school’s first three men’s NCAA basketball championships. No doubt Calhoun was watching. Maybe he was there.

DHL Dan CCXCII - Mild Criticism

You figure if a team plays bad, Shank's all over them, right? Last week's Picked Up Pieces column, leading off with the Sox's Game 2 loss to the Cincinnatti Reds, doesn't throw much of a punch:

Red Sox’ run prevention looks a lot like 2025 in the early going, and other thoughts

CINCINNATI ― Picked up pieces from four days on the road with the Red Sox . . .

Saturday’s 11-inning, 6-5 loss to the Reds in front of 38,298 at Great American Ball Park was one of the most entertaining Game 2’s in baseball history.

Exaggeration? Of course. But who’s going to argue? There’ve been a lot of memorable Opening Days, but Game 2’s generally dissolve into the ether as emphatically forgettable. Just one of 162.

Not this one. The Sox were sloppy early as Sonny Gray struggled in his Sox debut. Boston trailed, 5-3, in the late innings, but were lifted by Wilyer Abreu (do they have a better hitter than this guy?), who roped an RBI double to cut it to 5-4 in the seventh, then hit a two-out, ninth- inning homer off flamethrower Emilio Pagán to send the game into extras.

The Reds won it in the 11th when Dane Myers singled home TJ Friedl on an 0-1 pitch from Justin Slaten.

Speaking of flamethrowing, I wonder when Shank's going to torch the team again? Stay tuned!

DHL Dan CCXCI - Sidelined

I wonder if Shank wrote the following stuff with any sense of irony:

It may be March Madness to the rest of the country, but around here we’re feeling a little left out, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while reminding you to say “thanks” to Chaim Bloom for Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Trevor Story, Garrett Whitlock, and Marcelo Mayer . . .

⋅ Ever feel like there’s a big party going on and we’re not invited? (like a certain pregame Super Bowl Breakfast in 1995? - ed.)

Welcome to March Madness, Massachusetts style.

Across America, college basketball is all the rage. Everybody’s got a bracket and every television in every bar features 10 college players running up and down some court in Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, Buffalo, or Baton Rouge. Bill Raftery is once again ubiquitous and the nation is agog at the skill sets of Sarah Strong and AJ Dybantsa. If you check anything on Google this week, you’ll notice the site’s search option features an image of a basketball rattling through a rim as the clock ticks down to zero.

DHL Dan CCXC - Not Gonna Fold

In this week's Picked Up Pieces column, Shank looks at a looming battle in Foxborough:

If you’re expecting Foxborough to bow to FIFA, think again. The town has a history of standing up to power.

Picked-up pieces while waiting for the return of Jayson Tatum . . .

⋅ Forgive me for enjoying the wonderful David vs. Goliath dustup unfolding in Foxborough (pop. 18,000-plus), where the town’s five-person select board is telling greedy global giant FIFA and the all-powerful Krafts to “show us the money” if they want a license to play World Cup games at Gillette Stadium this summer.

News outlets from near and far gathered Tuesday at Foxborough Town Hall for the latest installment of Foxborough vs. FIFA. No agreement was reached during the animated session, and the board sent lawyers for Boston 26 (FIFA) home with a March 17 deadline for the town to receive $7.8 million in federal funds to provide security for seven scheduled World Cup matches.

There was more noise from Boston 26 and the Krafts on Thursday, with both parties sending letters to Foxborough, pledging ultimately that the money will be there. This led to some reporting that a deal had been struck.

Not quite.

“We appreciate that the Kraft Group and BS26 are moving toward addressing the concerns of the Town but, to be clear, we have not reached an agreement with respect to their proposed funding arrangement,” board chair Bill Yukna told the Globe late Thursday. “What they have presented is essentially an agreement with themselves but such terms are not responsive to the town’s requirements and will not suffice to address the Town’s needs for providing security services for these events. We look forward to continue working with all stakeholders on this matter.”

Sorry, FIFA. Sorry, Krafts. There’ll be no license until the $7.8 million has been delivered.

Not promised.

Delivered.

Seems like a no-brainer - always get the money up front.

DHL Dan CCLXXXIX - No Limits

In this week's Picked Up Pieces column, Shank lets the Boston Celtics general manager hype their championship chances just a wee bit:

‘I don’t put a ceiling on us ever’: Celtics president Brad Stevens not surprised his team is playing so well this season

Picked-up pieces while hoping Olympic hero Jack Hughes restores his two front teeth …

⋅ Do the Celtics have a chance to win the NBA championship this season?

“I don’t put a ceiling on us ever,” answers team president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, the man who tore down, then rebuilt Boston’s roster after Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles and the Celtics were bounced from the playoffs last spring.

A lot of us (me, for one) figured the Celtics would hover near .500 this season and be candidates for the lame, postseason play-in tournament.

Wrong. They are a legitimate NBA contender. They’ll go into Sunday night’s home game vs. the 76ers with a record of 39-20, second only to the Pistons in the Eastern Conference. Tatum is clearly coming back and this dreaded “bridge season” suddenly presents a real opportunity to return to the NBA Finals.

Well, that's if Tatum makes a comeback this year; I'm not sold on that.

DHL Dan CCLXXXVIII - PR Gone Wrong

In this week's Picked Up Pieces column, Shank milks the foot in mouth Red Sox theme a little more:

It’s clear Red Sox management still needs to work on its messaging, and other thoughts

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Picked-up pieces while waiting for Celtics at Lakers, TV tipoff 6:30 on NBC Sunday night . . .

⋅ Red Sox (and Globe) owner John Henry chooses not to take questions from media or fans anymore. It’s been six years since the owner last engaged in a full-blown media session (after the Mookie Betts debacle), and he kept his streak alive this past week when he made his annual appearance at the team’s organizational meeting to kick off the first full-squad workout at spring training.

In his stead, the Red Sox rolled out CEO/president/mouthpiece Sam Kennedy, who took questions for a half-hour while Sox chairman Tom Werner had a rare sitdown with the Globe’s Peter Abraham.

After all the words were spoken, we were more confused than ever. Within 24 hours, Kennedy was on NESN, furiously backpedaling on his unfortunate, “If Alex Bregman wanted to be here, ultimately he’d be here” fireball, while Rafael Devers was being asked to respond to Werner’s “just pick up a glove” broadside.

DHL Dan CCLXXXVII - The Never Ending Feud

In this week's Picked Up Pieces column, Shank manages to get some more mileage out of Bill Belichick's recent Hall of Fame snub:

Bill Belichick’s reputation was actually helped by Hall snub, but his feud with Krafts will never end, and other thoughts

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Picked-up pieces on the trail from San Francisco to the Gulf Coast of Florida . . .

⋅ Bill Belichick had a strong two weeks after it was learned that he’d been dissed by voters for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. When news of the ridiculous snub broke, Bill got a ton of support, even from longtime rivals and haters. Without making any comment, Belichick’s reputation was renewed and enhanced. It was the Hall that was embarrassed, not the coach. And folks in Canton, Ohio, will probably fix the voting process to make sure Belichick is enshrined in the summer of 2027.

The Patriots’ awful performance in Super Bowl LX was also good for the Hoodie. It was a reminder of how hard it is to win a championship. Lack of halftime adjustments made by Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels featured a sharp contrast to Belichick’s work with the Patriots in nine Super Bowls. The Pats lost three of those nine games, but were never blown out and could have gone 9-0. Bill somehow pulled out a game after trailing, 28-3. The 2025-26 Patriots, on the other hand, were almost historically bad in the Super Bowl — the first team in 51 years to go scoreless for the first three quarters — no threat to overcome a puny, 9-0 halftime deficit.

All in all, despite the Hall snub, Belichick quietly restored his image and reminded all that he’s one of the greatest coaches of all time.

I think people are inclined to forget the most recent things when evaluating a person's professional career. I don't think Belichick got any sort of boost from this, and this Hall of Fame rejection was little more than other folks in football delivering a righteous 'fuck you' to Belichick, who was a dick to pretty much everybody, and that might be soft pedaling things.

DHL Dan CCLXXXVI - Lazy Narrative Established

Shank has the first of his Super Bowl columns out, and it covers some well trodden ground:

Patriots need to finish the job to avoid being called ‘lucky’ to get to the Super Bowl, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while still wondering if the Fortunate Sons of Mike Vrabel are truly great or just really lucky …

⋅ It’s a tired issue — ever a hot button — but won’t go away. New England is an underdog against Seattle in next Sunday’s Super Bowl, and if the Patriots are routed by the Seahawks (unlikely), this stuff will rear its head forever.

It happened once with our local football team. The 1985 Patriots came out of nowhere, ran the table on the road in the playoffs, winning at New York, Oakland, and Miami (gulp), then were destroyed in the Super Bowl by Mike Ditka and the Refrigerator Perry Bears, 46-10. Ouch.

Far be it from me to go all negative at a swell moment like this, but I’m a little worried as we head to Santa Clara, Calif., for Super Bowl week. The Patriots have been the real deal in these playoffs, and the Seahawks are not the ’85 Bears … but here’s hoping we don’t get a Boston belly flop at Levi Stadium next weekend.

If that happens, Patriot Haters Inc. and cynics (like me) no doubt will fall back on the lazy narrative that the 2025-26 Patriots were the product of good luck as much as anything.

I get the feeling the lucky label gets slapped on the Patriots, win or lose - they had a historically easy regular season schedule, few bad and serious long term injuries during the season to their own roster, then key and timely injuries to playoff opponent's players just before those games are played. Granted it's not the only factor involved (ace QB, solid coaching staff, ascendant defense, etc.), but the lucky factor is established fact by now.

DHL Dan CCLXXXV - You're Saying There's A Chance?

Shank looks at the AFC Championship game in Denver:

The Patriots have a chance to finally win a playoff game in Denver, and other thoughts

DENVER — Picked-up pieces while waiting for Sunday’s AFC Championship game kickoff …

⋅ Denver.

This place.

Again.

When I was in college a thousand years ago in the early 1970s, those of us in little New England thought Denver was the coolest place in America. New Mexico-born John Denver certainly thought so. He changed his name from Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. to John Denver and wrote about “comin’ home to a place he’d never been before,” in his fresh-air anthem “Rocky Mountain High.”

Colorado chic was all the rage in those days. The coolest guy in the world, Robert Redford, played a character from Colorado in “Downhill Racer.” “Mork & Mindy” lived in Boulder. Teen heartthrob Robby Benson skated at Colorado Springs’ famed Broadmoor in “Ice Castles.” Shelley Duvall hit Jack Nicholson with a baseball bat (Carl Yastrzemski model) in the film adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Shining” at a fictional hotel in the Rockies.

And let’s not forget Coors beer, that coveted frosty “brewed by pure Rocky Mountain spring water,” which — in the early ’70s — was harder to score than front-row seats for the Bobby Orr Bruins. Time magazine reported that Vice President Gerald Ford smuggled cases of Coors to Washington after ski trips to the Rockies. We believed. You certainly couldn’t find Coors in Worcester.