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.

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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.

Opening Day

I went to one Red Sox home opener. It was in the late 1980's, bleacher seats and I was there with someone from school. We get to the sixth inning and a guy about three rows in front of us gets up and drops trou. She shrieked; I'm like 'full moon, baby!'

That sort of thing doesn't happen nowadays, but after an awful first set of games, the Red Sox kicked off the start of the home games on the right foot:

A new season at Fenway, as it always does, conjures up the memories

Booed yesterday. Cheered today.

You’re never as good as you look when you win or as bad as you look when you lose. The only certainty in the Boston Baseball Experience is that in one form or another, it’s always about the past.

You can embrace 2026 with its robotic umps, player empowerment, in-game celebrations, and starting pitchers who get a parade if they last six innings.

But at the end of every Fenway opener, it’s winning or losing and how a particular game compares with stuff that happened 20, 40, maybe 100 years ago in this same sacred space.

The last-place Red Sox — tied for worst record in baseball with the lowly A’s and ChiSox at the start of the day — defeated the Padres, 5-2, at Fenway Park in the 126th home opener for the team originally known at the Boston Americans.

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!

Red Sox Roundup

Shank's done a lot of columns about the 2025 Boston Red Sox over the last couple of weeks and I havent, so let's get all caught up!

With this column, Shank straddles the fence on a good but possibly flawed team, followed up by saying nice things abuth their opening day win.

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.

Makes You Wonder Why He's Here, Then

Shank's on his annual semi-vacation known as Red Sox spring training, Shank talks to Aroldis Chapman, bullpen ace:

Catching up with Red Sox fireballer Aroldis Chapman, who’s dreaming of a third World Series ring

FORT MYERS, Fla., — Speed thrills.

Every kid who picks up a baseball wants to throw hard. It’s a measure from the first time we step on a baseball diamond. Throw hard. Make ‘em swing and miss. Sit down, chump. Who’ll be next to try to catch up to the heat?

There’s a reason everybody lines up for the radar gun underneath the stands at ballparks around the world. Kids want to impress each other. Young men show off for their girlfriends, maybe ripping a rotator cuff trying to crack 76 miles per hour on the speed detector.

Your Boston Red Sox have the world record-holder, the Gas God from the Altar of Speed: lefty reliever Aroldis Chapman.

It’s all relative of course. There was no measure for the the fastballs of Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, or Nolan Ryan, but since there’s been reliable calibration, Chapman is the fastest of all. In September of 2010, he threw a pitch in a big league game that was clocked at 105.8 miles per hour.

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Acknowledging that the 2025 season was the season of his career, Chapman’s says he going for a third World Series ring in ’26.

“That’s the goal that this organization has and that’s my goal,’’ he said.

Does anybody really believe this is the goal of the Red Sox front office? They lowballed Alex Bregman, who signed with the Cubs because they offered him more money than the Red Sox, and yesterday Sam Kennedy preposterously claimed that “If Alex Bregman wanted to be here,” Kennedy said, “ultimately he’d be here.” You can't have it both ways, Mr. Kennedy, and the notion this is a World Series contender when they can't be bothered to land key players is laughable.