July 31st

July 31st in kind of a big deal in Boston and in my life. Including Garnett's picture because he was my favorite NBA player until the day he retired:

Boston Celtics trade for Kevin Garnett in 2007.

Rowdy Roddy Piper dies in 2015.

Celtics icon Bill Russell passes away.

Nomar Garciaparra is traded from the Red Sox in 2004.

Boston trades Heathcliff Slocum for Jason Varitek and Derick Lowe.

JK Rowling's birthday.

Great Moment in Boston Sports.

A ton of Boston sports related things happened on this date or yesterday.

- I did not see this 

- Missed their loss on Thursday night but the players were obviously raised right.

- Saw this game. Also remember that Mike Lowell was a "salary dump" for the Marlins and thrown into the trade that netted Boston Josh Beckett.

- An emotional night for Boston College Hockey,

- I remember watching this game too.

Some Memes You May Enjoy

 Many a truth is said in jest.

- Knew there was a reason I liked White Claw.

- Funny because its true!

- Sad because its true!

- True as far as you know

100 Greatest Boston Sports Players by Uniform Number

Didn't do much analysis of the choices but three jumped out at me as being 100% wrong:

• 18 should be Dave Cowens - no doubt
• 22 should be Doug Flutie's Boston College jersey - legendary
• 39 should be Mike Greenwell. Saltilamaccia? Come on man.

Via

Kyrie Irving Clown Nose

Kyrie Irving has now surpassed Roger Goodell as the number one sports villain in Boston. Saw many vendors selling the Kyrie Clown Nose shirts but none of the Roger Goodell ones.

Also prominent was the classic "LeBron James is a Douche" t-shirts. That's always a big seller.

Stay classy Boston!
 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I consider myself a realist. I was never afraid of a virus that could make me sick but was 99.9% non-lethal for people in my demographic. However, being realistic the lack of current Covid cases in the US probably has a lot to do with the warm weather and people getting outside. You never see many cases of the flu in late spring early summer either. That said I also won't be panicking if there's an uptick in cases once cold and flu season rolls around... Someday we'll learn that the woke virus Ghostbusters 2016 was accidently released from a lab... As an aside - any national sportswriter who refers to Boston as "Beantown" I automatically dismiss as not knowing jack shit... I remember they announced a female Dr. Who and then I never heard about Dr. Who again... Clickbait Hobgoblins would be a good name for a band or a blog that focused on nothing but Fake News...  

A Few Good Belichicks

"Son, we live in a wold that has playoff games, and those playoff games have to be played by men with talent. Who's gonna do it? You Felger? You, Tom Curran? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for N'Keal Harry and you curse my draft picks. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know, that N'Keal Harry's pick, while tragic, was the best we had on our board. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, 'wins playoff games.' You don't want the truth because deep down in the places you don't talk about on sports talk radio, you want me in that draft room. You need me in that draft room. We use words like talent, intelligence, character. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent building a winning organization. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man whose income comes from the very wins that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide those wins! I would rather you just said 'thank you' and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you take a job yourself in a front office. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to!"

[The NFL Draft is Thursday which means until then Boston sports reporters will continuously speculate on who Bill Belichick and the Patriots will pick and they will also continuously litigate Belichick's capability as a General Manager. It's predictable and stupid.]

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

How spoiled are Boston sports fans? Largely because we've had 12 championships since 2000 (6 Patriots, 4 Red Sox and one each for Celtics and Bruins) - most sports fans don't even bother to count the 6 NCAA Men's Hockey championships (7 if you count Providence College's) since 2000 (4 Boston College, Boston University and now UMass)... Heh Heh... Texas passes the Star Spangled Banner Act which makes it mandatory to play the National Anthem at sporting events. Good job Mark Cuban for making this an issue and making people believe you actually hate the country that made you a billionaire... Still say that miniature pony chariot races would be a TV ratings bonanza. Especially if they had monkeys as the charioteers... This book is not about what I hoped it was about... 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Osmium is a member of the platinum family and the densest element. The second densest element is sports radio discussions in Boston regarding Gordon Haywood signing with the Charlotte Hornets. Jeez give it a rest... Dave Chappelle explains why he asked Netflix to stop streaming The Chappelle Show... I may print up business cards with the title "Director of Harlotry" - I just like the sound of that title... Maskachusetts - sadly this is true... Yes AC/DC has a formula and this is pretty much it. The funny thing is the band knows this and has been amazed it has worked for so many years. Still doesn't take anything away from their great music... Elon Musk passes Bill Gates to become the world's second richest person. Good for Elon Musk! Interesting that the three richest people in the world are all Americans (although Musk was born in South Africa) and that the two richest people now also own rocket companies with the goal of getting to Mars... 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The NBA trade I'd like to see is Boston sending Daniel Theis and Milwaukee's 2020 1st round pick to Phoenix for Aron Baynes. It works money wise and I think the 1st round pick gives the Suns the incentive to make the move. The Celtics know that Baynes is a fit for the team and it helps them where they are weakest - against strong centers in the East like Joel Embid and Giannis... Knuffle Bunny - kids book or female self-pleasuring device? Surprise it's a kids book... John Henry has become the most unlikable sports owner in Boston. That's quite an accomplishment for a guy who broke the curse and whose team last won it all two years ago... No matter what happens in the 2020 election I'd love to see Norm MacDonald and Andrew Yang make a series of "on the road" movies together. Like the old Hope and Crosby flicks. Or maybe a re-make of the Odd Couple. Netflix make this happen... Meanwhile in Iran... What are the chances that Paul Krugman's password was "password"?... "Subordinating your ego is the ultimate form of self-confidence" quote that caught my fancy from a recent Jocko Willink podcast...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Thinking of having business cards printed up that say "Chris Lynch - International Free Agent" (technically it's true!)... Have to wonder if the Twitter handle @JoshShawNFLPicks has already been taken... "All I want is peace, peace is happiness at rest and happiness is peace in motion" - Naval Ravikant... Seriously think that Boston sports fans are undergoing a success exhaustion. Patriots lost last night and deep down some fans wonder if the dynastic run is over. In other regions this may cause some depression but because the other Boston teams (Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) have also been successful during the past 15-years there's a sort of resigned "meh" we'll see how the other teams do feeling... Too funny... I seriously would like to see Disney do a re-make of Team America: World Police just to see what their version would look like...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

When I saw trending on Twitter was Emma Watson's "self-partnered" comment and the NBA's "load management" issue - I assumed they were related. Am I a bad person because my mind works like that?... This is such a tremendous way to get your message out... Boston pro sports are a combined 25-4-2 between the Patriots, Celtics and Bruins so there really should be nothing to complain about. Every other sports city in the USA would be celebrating their good fortune. Yet in Boston you'd never know how good things are if you only got your information from sports talk radio... Excellent quote "Your mind automatically generates thoughts related to the information you consume. Be Conscious of your information diet"... Do you remember when certain comedians and pundits tried to force the nickname of "Donald Drumf" on the President? It will be interesting if any of those now try to pass themselves off as non-partisan... Nice - Teen Jeopardy Champ donates $10,000 to cancer research in Alex Trebek's name...

Goodbye Red Sox - Hello Patriots

With the Yankees completing a 4-game sweep of the Red Sox over the weekend - I think I speak for many Boston fans when I say it's time to turn our attention to the Patriots.

Don't get me wrong I appreciate all the Red Sox did for us last season but the 2019 Red Sox have now lost more games (55) than last year's World Series Champion team (54). Continuing to pay attention to them will just lead to false hope at best and bellyaching and criticism at worst.

Life's too short for that. Especially when you have the defending Super Bowl champs about to start their pre-season games.

Love Tom Brady as much as the next Patriots fan but this is funny. And speaking of TB12 - good look back at how the Patriots scouted and ended up taking Brady.

As an aside to out of state folks - if you ever wanted to watch a game at Fenway Park and will be visiting Boston in the next month and a half - I'm guessing you'll be able to find some pretty good value on tickets on StubHub or from scalpers. Spoiled Boston fans just won't be going to the games.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Technically nobody ended up sitting on the iron throne. Dany touched it but never sat on it. So I wonder how the casinos treat that prop bet. Was there an option that nobody would end up sitting on the iron throne?... This guy is awesome!... Maybe Bernie Sanders is so against millionaire baseball players because A) he doesn't know how the economy works or B) they didn't play baseball in the Soviet Union. Can you imagine how racist he would have come off as if he complained about millionaire NBA players?... Heh Heh... If Mel Gibson announced he was running for President as a Democrat would his antisemitic views now be considered "mainstream" or "progressive"?... Can you imagine the number of wedding proposals this woman received. And the types of tattoos the guys proposing were sporting?... Pretty sure that the Boston sports teams have been conspiring for the past 20-years to murder my liver... 

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Recognizing the lies we tell ourselves to help make better decisions.

- Well that explains that

-  Interesting - What to do with Fannie, Freddie. (Via Stephen Landry)

- Why eating processed food might will make you fat. Eat real food!

- Join the resistance!

- Tiger Woods being sued for wrongful death of a bartender who worked at his Florida restaurant. After reading the facts of the case I'm on Team Tiger on this one. I wonder if all the publicity from winning the Masters and this lawsuit contributed to his poor showing at Bethpage Black?

- Welcome to Boston

Boston Sports

Two straight years now the Boston Bruins have knocked the Toronto Maple Leafs out of the NHL playoffs with a game seven victory.

This year's game seven win had two interesting wrinkles. David Pastrnak owning Justin Bieber on Twitter and Bruins Coach Bruce Cassidy thanking Patriots wide receiver (and Super Bowl MVP) Julian Edelman for chugging a beer to get the crowd going (not that a game seven crowd at the Garden needs any help).

The Bruins victory means the Boston Slam is alive! The potential still exists for Boston to hold the championship in all 4 major sports. The Red Sox and Patriots have done their part and the Celtics and Bruins have just won their playoff series. This is most likely not going to happen but it doesn't diminish the great accomplishment of Boston teams on a streak of winning 8-consecutive playoff 'series'. The last Boston team to lose a playoff series was the Celtics in last year's Eastern Conference Finals vs LeBron James and the Cavaliers.

The Bruins winning the Stanley Cup is not a far-fetched proposition. Boston has the best record of the teams remaining so the Bruins would enjoy home ice in all remaining playoff series. And we saw last night how important home ice can be.

One final thing for the record - Tuukka Rask is the best goalie in Bruins history. He'd be the biggest sports star in so many NHL cities but unfortunately in Boston I think he's vastly underrated.

Next up the Columbus Blue Jackets. Go Bruins!

Nick Cafardo

The first thing to understand about Nick Cafardo is that he was a good guy. I mean the type of guy who you've never heard a bad thing about. Everybody liked Nick Cafardo.

The second thing to understand is that he was very good at his job. Especially covering baseball. He was with the Boston Globe since 1989. Imagine covering sports in a town as critical as Boston and nobody having a bad thing to say about a sportswriter - IN BOSTON! Everybody liked Nick Cafardo.

The last thing to note on the passing of Nick Cafardo is he was just 62-years old.  He was working at the park despite it being his day off. He loved his job and he loved baseball. But he was just 62 and he leaves a wife and two kids. He was just 62-years old.

Don't take any day for granted. And find something you love to do. Like Nick Cafardo loved covering Boston sports.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Boston sports primer - people who complain about Tuukka Rask taking time off for personal reasons are not Bruins fans, people who complain about Al Horford's contract or play are not Celtics fans, people who bitch about losing to the Titans Sunday are not true Patriots fans and finally people who sing Sweet Caroline at Red Sox games molest collies... Interesting - A bubbling pool of mud is on the move and nobody knows why. Also Bubbling Pool of Mud would be a good name for a Primus cover band or a euphemism for a loose bowel movement... And speaking of bowel movements - sorry but the Chic-fil-A "tonight is nugget night" promotion sounds more like something Danny Thomas or John McAffee would tell their mistress than something geared to make me hungry... Love this photo... Words in a Cunning Order would be a good name for a blog or a publishing company... Don't find someone who looks at you the way Trump looks at the President of Morocco...

Great Time To Be a Boston Sports Fan

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

It is sad to think that there are some children in New England, some almost 5-years old, who have never known the joy of a Red Sox World Series Championship. Won't someone please think of the children!... Great time to be a Boston sports fan... A Sequester in ancient Rome was a man who held a bribe for a client until a politician delivered on his promise. The more things change the more they stay the same... Who knew? In the ancient Middle East the phrase "let it be so" was "Amen." The Red Sox will win the World Series Amen,.. This move by President Trump doesn't seem to be getting much press but it's the right thing to do... "You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending" - CS Lewis...  Heh Heh...