DHL Dan XCV - Titletown?

I'm wondering how Shank came up with this first angle - did it dawn on him at some point or did he rip someone off after they brought it up in conversation? I'm going with 'ripped off':

Thoughts on Titletown, TB12, UMass football, and other sports topics

Picked-up pieces while waiting endlessly for Tom Brady to tell us where he’s playing next season . . . for Mookie Betts to be traded . . . for the Red Sox to hire a manager . . . for Rob Manfred to tell us whether the 2018 Red Sox were cheating . . . for Danny Ainge to acquire a big man before Thursday’s NBA trading deadline . . .

■ Imagine my surprise when I heard a guy from San Francisco talking about his region as a home of sports champions. Doesn’t everybody know that Boston is Titletown, USA? Twelve duck boat parades in this century?

It turns out that the Bay area has been our equal over the last decade, and if the 49ers had prevailed Sunday, that region would have more championships than Boston since 2010. Instead, we are tied with six crowns and 11 appearances in finals over the last decade.

Since 2010, the Bay area has won three World Series (Giants in 2010, 2012, 2014) and three NBA crowns (Warriors 2015, 2017, 2018). In addition, its teams have been in five other championship rounds (2012 Niners, 2016 Sharks and Warriors, 2019 Warriors, and 2019 49ers). Boston since 2010 has six championships in 11 finals (Celtics 0-1, Bruins 1-2, Patriots 3-2, Red Sox 2-0).

All that and more at the link.