I am done with this

It gets tiring sticking the same old pinata.

Scott's Shot's has a post on Shaughnessy mad lib/self plagiarism regarding the annual Red Sox games against local college teams.

One last thought:

Through a friend of mine who has two brothers overseas, I found this local group that provides care packages for servicemen and servicewomen.

Special Kindness In Packages, Inc.

I know that the people who run the program bust their asses out of a strong sense of dedication and the servicemen and women are very grateful. Maybe you can help with a t-shirt or something else.

There is a new sheriff in town

Dan takes a look at the Tampa Bay Rays and their emergence as one of the AL East superpowers alongside the Yankees and Red Sox.  He says they look as good (if not better)  than last year and Dan offers us a few flashbacks to last year's Sox - Rays ALCS tilt.  Dan plays it straight.

Rocco and Dan O

Dan writes about one of the newest Red Sox, local boy and fan-favorite-in-waiting, Rocco Baldelli. Dan completes the checklist with references to his personal faves, Manny, Nomar, and JD Drew.

A Counterpoint to Dan's Curse Nonsense

Here is a book I have not read except for the excerpt in the link. "It Was Never About the Babe", subtitled "The Red Sox, Racism, Mismanagement and the Curse of the Bambino", is an attempt to see the history of the Red Sox as not the product of mystical powers but the product of deeply embedded racism.

A key article in debunking the curse is Glenn Stout's "A 'Curse' Born of Hate."

Leigh Montville's "The Big Bam" partially counters some of the issues raised by Stout. You can check out the whole mess on the 'Curse of the Bambino' wikipedia page.

Bye-Bye

Dan Shaughnessy: Baseball Genius

One could argue that Drew is a drag on the Red Sox offense. He is productive enough to stay in the lineup, but he doesn't hit a lot of home runs and he misses a month or more every year. With a lineup suddenly wanting for power (no Manny Ramírez, and David Ortiz in apparent decline), Drew would seem to be clogging up the middle.

And "One" would be incredibly wrong.

More on Shaughnessy's Plagiarism

I wanted to follow-up on my morning's post about Shaughnessy's self-plagiarism.  I think it is bad and I think it is worthy of his suspension.   I was able to find 8 items in today's column that were also pretty much written up in the same way in his book Spring Training co-written with Grossfeld.

Here are the quotes from today's column:

"Spring training is where Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski played a steel-cage tennis match at the Winter Haven Ramada Inn in 1979."

"Spring training is where I saw a Montreal left fielder crash into a fence in Winter Haven chasing a fly ball. Back in 1976. The kid was out cold for a spell. Fans applauded when he finally got to his feet. He wound up spending most of his career behind the plate. Gary Carter. Hall of Famer."

"Spring training is where Twins owner Calvin Griffith stood on the balcony of his Orlando condo and stared blankly into a sky filled with wreckage from the Challenger spacecraft in 1986"

"It's where the local newspaper published the titles of overdue videos (all pornos) rented by Boyd. The Maniacal Chuck Waseleski dubbed it "the Can's Film Festival."

"Spring training is where … Bill Clinton spoke with Wade Boggs outside the visitor's dugout in Kissimmee in 1992."

"It's where Boggs announced, "I'm the white Irving Fryar," after tumbling out of the family jeep when his wife wheeled out of Christy's Restaurant in Winter Haven in 1992."

"Spring training is where a 5-foot-8-inch Orioles catcher named Dave Criscione caught three foul pops in a single inning against the Braves in West Palm Beach in 1978. Anybody ever see that, at any level? Criscione played only seven big league games."

"It's where Bill Lee told baseball writers of the Sox' acquisition of Dennis Eckersley in a six-player blockbuster in 1978, screaming, "Send lawyers, guns, and money, the [expletive] has hit the fan!" Eck wound up in Cooperstown."

Now from his 2003, Spring Training book

”It’s where Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski played tennis against each other at a Winter Haven Ramada Inn in 1979.”

"I remember sitting with young Globe Scribe Peter Gammons watching a young Montreal outfielder named Gary Carter slam into a fence in Winter Haven"

"It’s where Calvin Griffith stood on the balcony of his Orlando condo and stared blankly into the sky at the wreckage of the Challenger spacecraft"

"Spring training is where silly stories can become big news.  In the spring of 1987, the Winter Haven police came into the Red Sox clubhouse to inform pitcher Oil Can Boyd of some video rentals that were overdue.  Naturally, the local newspaper unearthed Oil Can’s play list and the titles were predictably ribald…Western Massachusetts statistical wizard Chuck Waseleski dubbed the event “the Can’s Film Festival”"

"It’s where Bill Clinton spoke with Wade Boggs outside he dugout at the Astros complex in Kissimmee Florida during the early stages of the 1992 campaign."

"In 1992, Boston’s final spring training in Winter Haven, Boggs and his wife Debbie dined at Christy’s and somehow Wade fell from the family jeep when Debbied wheeled out of the parking lot.  Wade wasn’t seriously hurt but the back wheel of the jeep ran over his elbow; the next day the batting champ showed off scars from the steel-belted radial and announced, "I'm the white Irving Fryar!"

"I remember one night when we marveled at the exploits of an Oriole catcher in West Palm Beach earlier that day.  Dave Croscione was a backup backstop who stood 5 foot 8 and played only seven games in his major league career.  But against the Braves on that particular March afternoon, he’d caught three pop ups in a single inning"

"This was the same area where the Boston scribes gathered in the spring of 1978 waiting to learn if the Sox had pulled off a trade for young Cleveland ace Dennis Eckersley.  When word of a six-player megadeal was leaked to the dugout, Bill Lee ran toward the scribes in the right field pen and exclaimed “Send lawyers, guns and money.  The shit has hit the fan.”

***********

Bill Lee's last quote could apply to Dan Shaughnessy and his current situation.

Hope I am not the only one who believes this is a serious breach of journalistic integrity?

Shaughnessy, The Self-Plagiarist

Dan has arrived in Florida and uses his first day as a springboard for a walk down memory lane of memorable spring trainings past.  I tend to like his sentimental journeys and this one is not too bad.  Unfortunately, Shaughnessy plagizarizes much of this fine work from his 2003 book Spring Training co-written with Stan Grossfeld.

- His "Spring training is where.." convention is used in the same fashion in both pieces

-  the story about Calvin Griffith is in both places

-  The story about Dennis Boyd is in both places

-  The story about Wade Boggs and Bill Clinton is in both places

-  The story about Wade Boggs commenting about being the white Irving Fryar is in both places

-  The story about Gary Carter is in both places

- (Edit: 828 AM: The Story about Yaz and Ted Williams and their tennis match is also in both places)

There is no credit in today's Globe column given to the Spring Training book.

 Shaughnessy, thanks again for proving yet again that you just mail it in these days.  I wonder if he gets in trouble for this?

More A-Rod

Have at it. I cannot stand the issue anymore. It's mainly a way for sanctimonious twats to act in high dudgeon. For Dan, this includes taking shots at Patriot fans.

He Can't Really Believe This Stuff

Dan has Boston College upsetting Duke last night.

I don't follow college basketball (although I do root for Duke), but even I can spot some of the whoppers Dan throws out today.

First, the win isn't as big as Dan wants you to believe. Duke sucks.

Then there is this gem:

Rice is in some pretty good company. The only other two-grand men in BC hoops lore are Troy Bell, Craig Smith, Dana Barros, Billy Curley, Jared Dudley, and Danya Abrams.

Rice has quite the NBA career ahead of him.

Maybe you would like these nuggets:

But no one could remember a Conte Forum moment like this one.

Beating Duke brings out the bandwagon in Boston, but the Eagles don't like to be asked if this means they can play with any team in the country.

In the last five years or so, the Eagles have won the ACC regular season title, been ranked #3, and have had a nice run to the Sweet Sixteen. Less than two months ago, the team handed the #1 team in the nation its first loss. This game, against a Duke team that was drubbed at home by UNC, is somehow the start of the BC bandwagon? Sure, if you say so Shank.

Multi Media Dan

Dan appeared on Dan Patrick's radio show/podcast to discuss Alex Rodriguez. I haven't listened, but the recap isn't very interesting. Mostly a rehash of his Wednesday column.

Via Deadspin

Dan's Not Having Any Fun

Dan writes about how voting for the Hall of Fame has become a burden.

This would have been better if Dan had made the issue less about himself and his fellow voters and more about the fans because what he is feeling is similar to what fans are going through as they try to make sense of the mess.

A Little Bit of Reality

Dan has a good piece on the Alex Rodriguez fiasco, offering a calm look at the circumstances. Rodriguez wasn't alone and he owned up to it. Yes, it was after being caught, but as Dan points out, who among us would have admitted to something without being caught?

A Look at the Suprising Star

Dan writes about the important role of Concord, N.H. native Matt Bonner.

It has some mildly interesting stuff, most of which can be found on Bonner's wikipedia page. But the column really misses out in capturing the excitement of yesterday's game, especially the fourth quarter.

And then you have passages like this:

Bonner was valedictorian of his senior class at Concord High School. He starred at the University of Florida before playing a year in the Italian A1 League. In 2004 he broke into the NBA with the Raptors, where he was famous for riding Toronto's public transit system. He found another way to save money by pocketing per diem and eating at Subway.

Bonner claims to have eaten more Subway food than Jared. What's not to like about a guy like that?

Bonner played two seasons with the Raptors before he was traded to San Antonio. He entered yesterday averaging just 8.0 points per game, but was hitting 52.2 percent of his shots, 48.9 percent on threes. Now he's raining long-range missiles on the heads of the Celtics. Three of Bonner's points came when he banked a shot-clock-beating trey from out top in the third quarter.

That reads like a fifth grader's bad "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" report.

It Must Be Tiring

Dan goes three days in a row and it is clear that he is wiped out. Dan previews tonight's big matchup between the Celtics and Lakers. Not much there, just a few obvious observations (Did you know the Celtics lost to the Lakers on Christmas, which was the start of a 2-7 skid?); a patented Dan space filler, using long quotations; and a 20 year old anecdote to end things.

Will Wonders Never Cease?

My dislike for Dan's "Picked Up Pieces" columns is obvious. Today's effort was, to say the least, a surprise.

It is not just a list of things that have been in the news over the past few weeks with a little bit of commentary. There are semi-interesting things I haven't hears about and some actual analysis of recent events. There are some bombs, but they do not overwhelm like they usually do.

Good, but still not Bob Ryan.

Thank God There Was a Good Game

Dan has a recap of last night's thrilling BU-Harvard Beanpot semifinal.

It's a good look at underdog Harvard's push to tie the game in the final seconds after giving up a 2-0 lead, filled in with some context and interesting anecdotes.

This phrase struck me as odd:

That's why it was such a surprise when the Johnnies led, 2-0,

I had to look up the Johnnies reference. I found two: A Michael Medved column from June; and an excerpt from the 1952 Yale yearbook.

Northeastern and the Beanpot

(I have had a bad track record lately--keep missing these Dan columns. My regrets)

Dan's piece yesterday focused on the Northeastern hockey team and how they can top off a stellar season by winning the Beanpot. He discusses how Northeastern is the team on the local scene that gets no respect and even though they are ranked #4 in the country this season, they would dearly love a Beanpot win to answer any lingering questions of how far they have come aand how good they are.

The one strange bit comes in the first paragraph...Shaughnessy compares Northeastern to Ringo Starr (ok - fair enough - but I think Shaughnessy has used that more than once and it is a little dated now) and then to Teddy Roosevelt on Rushmore (since all the other guys have monuments). Hey Dan, Teddy has his own island in DC (http://www.nps.gov/this/) and he is featured in some great recent movies (Night At the Museum and its upcoming sequel). Not too bad for ole Teddy :)

It's a solid piece but anything would be better than the Brady crap from the other day (For those people who said the Brady piece was satire, can you fill me in on what actually Shaughnessy was satirizing?)

Pathetic

Dan has a meaningless column that offers nothing except the silliest notions of sports talk radio callers.

I guess when you are as bankrupt of ideas as Shank is, anything will do.

A Look at Ray Allen

Dan takes the occasion of a Celtics' blowout to focus on Ray Allen, who scored 23 yesterday, 20 by halftime.

Dan starts with an interesting anecdote from Ray Allen's childhood and goes on to describe the game while discussing Ray Allen's improved season.

Varitek and Other Things

Totally missed this piece...thanks DBVader for mentioning it. Shaughnessy writes about Jason Varitek: Varitek needs a job; the Sox need a catcher and therefore they need to work this out. (Despite the bad blood with Boras). Actually, a decent piece though I take issue with this sentence:

Reward him for past contributions. Put together a deal that makes it look like something less than capitulation.

The whole "reward him" thing...first, Varitek has been paid handsomely enough already, has he not? Second, this is coming from Shaughnessy who has bitched and moaned about Schiling's contract from last year...a contract which I personally think had a "reward him for past contributions" aspect to it.

Totally different topic. I am reading the book "Juicing the Game" by Howard Bryant. He references a 1990's CHB special in which Shaughnessy declared that there was no relationship between steroids/performance enhancing drug use and a baseball player's performance. Shaughnessy was writing just after McGwire got caught by a reporter for having andro in his locker. Shaughnessy wrote

It's no wonder players loathe the media. In McGwire's case, it is misleading to write that he's using a performance enhancing drug. He's a baseball player, not an Olympic sprinter. There's nothing sold at drugstores that would help any of us hit a home run in the big leagues (unless that store has a book on hitting written by Ted Williams.) Facing Randy Johnson and hitting a ball over the fence requires bravery, timing, hand-eye coordination, reflexes, leverage, and strength. Most of all, it requires practice."

Sure, I admit it's very easy for me to criticize Shaughnessy with 20/20 hindsight. But I still would argue that this was lazy and shallow analysis, which is all too typical of Shank