That staple of lazy columnists everywhere, the "picked up pieces" column.
Dan starts off strong, telling us the Bruins let go of Nate Greenberg.... I don't know who he is either.
He follows up with a trivia question that I heard nine months ago on the Notre Dame broadcast. (Which four colleges have graduated both a president and a Super Bowl winning quarterback?)
He then proceeds to flip through the sports news from the past week offering vanilla commentary ("Anybody else tired of Kobe Bryant?" That's the extent of the comment on Kobe.) and unoriginal observations that you could have gotten from a million sites on the internet ("Look for the Celtics to trade that coveted No. 5 pick in the draft.").
String together 15 or so of these (none more than a five sentences, most just a sentence or two) and you've got yourself a column.
15 comments:
And I forgot the random, senseless shot at Bill James.
Why do I think that no one was more excited than Shank to hear the old Journey song in the Sopranos final scene?
Right - another excuse for a tired old pop-culture reference. But let's give Dan some credit for keeping it current: Len Bias and Paula Abdul date back as recently as the '80s.
Nate Greenberg was a senior official in the Bruins organization who joined them in 1973. Sean McAdam noted his roles with the team and also the classlessness with which the Jacobs (as is their wont) dumped him.
Other than that, Shank again didn't offer a whole lot this time around.
"Dave Roberts or Jonas Salk? Which one gets the bigger ovation? You make the call."
This one made me scratch my head has well. What the heck does the discoverer of the polio vaccine and 2004 ALCS hero Dave Roberts have in common? To call that a non-sequitur would be an understatment.
On the one hand you have a local sports legend. On the other you have a giant in the field of medical research.
I say Jonas Salk gets more applause since he'd have to raise himself from the dead to get to Fenway park. All Dave Roberts had to do was take a cab from his hotel.
"I say Jonas Salk gets more applause since he'd have to raise himself from the dead to get to Fenway park. All Dave Roberts had to do was take a cab from his hotel."
Best. Line. Ever.
Dan only wishes he came up with this.
SHAUGHNESSY VOTED MOST HATED MAN IN BOSTON!!!
check this out!
http://thephoenix.com/Article.aspx?id=42259&page=1
To quote The CHB:
“I don’t think sports should be treated as different,” he added. “I’m a fan of the story. The Red Sox winning or losing, the Patriots winning or losing, does not impact me emotionally. I don’t believe it’s a good idea to have that; it’s like betting on the games or something. . . . When I got into the business, I was trained that you kind of do take off your fan hat. You’re a fan of the sport. But a rooting interest in the people you’re covering? Not good.”
Unfortunately, a decade or two of Globe columns contradicts all of this. Shaughnessy roots for his bank account.
Nate Greenberg is probably best described as the Dr. Chas. Steinberg of the Bruins -- ostensibly a PR guy, but in reality, a lot more than that.
His departure from the Bruins organization was well-covered in print, on the Web and on television.
To snidely remark that you don't know who he is "either" is to publicly parade your ignorance.
As for the 'bits and pieces' type column, they have their roots in the great Another Man's Poison columns by George Frazier (look him up and maybe learn something.) They are used effectively by many journalists and are generally a good read. The beatified Bob Ryan does it, so does Clark Booth, although with longer takes. Incidentally, it was Barnicle's version of that kind of column that exposed him.
You can go to http://thephoenix.com/article_ektid42259.aspx and cast your voye in an online poll asking "Is Dan Shaughnessy the most hated mad in Boston"?
"As for the 'bits and pieces' type column, they have their roots in the great Another Man's Poison columns by George Frazier (look him up and maybe learn something.)"
So you're admitting that Shank is a hack who rips off column templates from other, more successful writers. Welcome to our side.
BTW, I did look up Mr. Frazier. He was on Nixon's enemy list. Shank is on Schilling's. Which one was/is the more powerful and influential writer?
If Greenberg was the Mad Dentist of the Bruins, then I hate him regardless.
Second, I could not care less about most sports columnists(or any newspaper columnists) from the past. Sports columns age worse than dog shit.
Congratulations to Paul on his new vocabulary word, "templates" which apparently pleased him so much on seeing it used in The Phoenix that he has adopted it for his own.
It is beyond absurd to suggest that anyone who writes a column consisting of a number of items about a number of subjects is ripping off the world's best practitioner of that particular art form. It is like saying anyone who writes a "watch" blog is engaging in stealing.
Nice to see dbvader again demonstrating the level of maturity that makes this blog the work that it is. Greenberg isn't the mad dentist; I explained his role. His departure is significant since he was the last remaining connection to when the Bruins mattered, the human face on a franchise run by the arrogant Jacobs and the arrogant and incompetent Sinden -- and it's rather curious that nobody called Sinden's firing what it was or pointed out that it was the Thornton trade that finally did him in.
"Congratulations to Paul on his new vocabulary word, "templates" which apparently pleased him so much on seeing it used in The Phoenix that he has adopted it for his own."
Ummm...What?
I used "templates" a grand total of once in my two comments. (Two if count this one). I didn't know "templates" (Three) was copyrighted by the Phoenix. They also used the words "the" "is" and "and" in their column as well.
I'll make sure to give Adam Reilly double what I earn from commenting on this blog. Get a grip, Bruce.
OB,
Shank writes for the readers. Then why did he write about somebody no fan has head of?
A guys got to die for him to be deemed relevant to Dan.
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