Author: Dave Long

The Big Story – The Tom Brady Super Bowl: Even though the great man is retired, Sunday’s Big Game between the Chiefs and 49ers is still sorta the Tom Brady SB without him even playing. It features Patrick Mahomes, who’s likely going to break all Brady’s passing records someday. And after being drafted lower than TB-12’s 199 slot, 2022’s Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy is taking his team to the Super Bowl in his second season just as Brady did. So the game’s top storyline is this: Will today’s top QB take another step toward Brady’s seemingly untouchable record total of seven by winning his third SB? Or will Purdy’s Cinderella story match Brady by winning his first in his Year 2? We’ll know on Sunday night.

Sports 101: Only two players have won championships in two different professional sports. Who are they? Hint: One won one of his playing for the Celtics.

News Item – Theo Epstein is Back at Fenway: Everyone is hoping that means as overlord of Fenway Park. But it’s as senior advisor to what John Henry values more than the Red Sox these days, his Fenway Sports Group investment arm. But at a time when co-owner Tom Werner builds ridiculous expectations by saying the rebuild will go “full throttle” this winter and then pass off last week’s signing of 29-year-old reclamation project Melvin Adón as “exciting” after posting a 7.56 ERA with a 2.10 WHIP and .297 batting average against last year in SF because he hits 100 mph on the gun, any news of Theo being close to JH is welcome to a desperate Red Sox Nation.

News Item – Sports Word of the Week: Disgraceful, used to describe the completely unprofessional state of mental readiness and contemptible lack of effort put forth by the Celtics in a 114-105 loss last week to the undermanned L.A. Lakers playing without LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The best evidence for their “who gives a bleep” attitude was their mindlessly turning it over nine times in the first quarter.

The Numbers:

… Of the Week Awards

Why Can’t We Get Guys Like That Award – Joe Thuney: The guard the Pats cheaped out on in free agency a few years back, sending him to KC, where he made first team All-Pro this year thanks to leading all linemen with an astonishing 99.1 pass block win rate. Though ironically, the incredibly durable Thuney may miss the SB with a pectoral tear.

Nikki Haley Was 100% Correct Award: As if we needed more evidence of what a fool Vivek Ramaswamy is, now we have his conspiracy theory about the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce romance being part of a plot that involves fixing the NFL playoffs to make sure her boyfriend’s team got to the Super Bowl so a presidential endorsement of Joe Biden during the halftime show would have the biggest possible TV audience. It’s so idiotic it backs up Gov. Haley saying in the first GOP debate, “Every time I hear you I feel a little bit dumber.”

Thumbs Down – Joe Mazzulla: It’s one thing to back your players against an unfair media assault, but to stand up against their, ah, effort being called “embarrassing” by calling that reaction “disrespectful” to a team that clearly mailed in it should be embarrassing to Joe. While losing the locker room is a way to get fired, a quicker way is to let non-efforts like that utter embarrassment slide.

Random Thoughts: Reminder to folks saying Coach B should take a year off to decompress. Moot now, but that’s what people said Andy Reid should do after he bounced out in Philadelphia. Instead he went to KC, where he’s won less than 10 games just once in 10 years, while winning two SB’s, and he’ll be in the big game Sunday for the fourth time in five years.

Sports 101 Answer: The dual title winners are Gene Conley and Otto Graham. Conley pitched for the champion 1957 Milwaukee Braves and won three times as Bill Russell’s backup with the Celtics. For Graham it was for the Cleveland Browns and Rochester Royals of the NBL, which merged with the Basketball Association of America the next year to form the larger NBA.

A Little History – Otto Graham: He took Cleveland to the championship game 10 times from 1946 to 1955, winning seven times to set the mark TB matched. Except he only played 10 years to Brady’s 23. His winning 81 percent (103-17-6) is the highest winning percentage in NFL history, as is his 8.63 yards career yards per pass attempt. So is Brady the G.O.A.T. or is it Otto?

Final Thought – Super Bowl Prediction: When the young Brady won his first SB he faced football’s best QB in Kurt Warner. That mirrors Purdy’s task and since he’ll get more time to throw from his OL than Mahomes will from his patched up group, I’ll go with the younger Brady version in a, ah, Taylor-made SF win over KC: 27-23. Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Super Bowl-Bound: After a Sunday filled with great performances and bizarre plays we’ve got our Super Bowl teams.

Despite completing a pass to himself for a 13-yard gain, Lamar Jackson and favored Baltimore were undone at home by KC 17-10, thanks to a terrific defensive effort that got two turnovers at the Ravens’ end zone and a great game from Travis Kelce in catching all 11 balls thrown his way for 116 yards and the opening TD that gave KC the lead for good.

Game 2 was the opposite as the 49ers roared back from down 17 at halftime to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in a 34-31 win. The key play was a 51-yard gain after Brandon Aiyuk caught a ball that ricocheted off the face mask of the guy covering him. And the Lions were undone by the thing most responsible for getting them to the NFC Championship game, the grit to always go for it on fourth down.

See you in Vegas on Feb. 8.

Sports 101: Four people have won a Super Bowl as a player and a head coach. Name them.

News Item – Crazy NBA Scoring Week: Joel Embiid broke Wilt Chamberlain’s single game Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers franchise scoring record by going for 70 in a win over the Spurs, and wasn’t even the week’s highest scorer. It was Luka Doncic with a fourth best in history 73 in a 148-143 win over Atlanta.

But big scoring didn’t guarantee a win, as the Suns’ Devin Booker and Minnesota’s Karl Anthony Towns each had 62 in losses to Indiana and Charlotte respectively when Towns had an astonishing 44 in his first half.

News Item – NBA Trade Deadline Arrives Next Thursday: With the Celtics going well and restricted by ridiculous NBA salary cap rules don’t expect much from them. Lots of rumors, though, where Portland could continue reshaping the Eastern Conference, as after shipping Jrue Holiday here and Damian Lillard to Milwaukee they could give the Knicks, who are 9-2 since getting OG Anunoby, a further jolt by sending Malcolm Brogdon there as rumored. And surprisingly they supposedly have Robert Williams on the block too.

The Numbers

152 – most ever career playoff receptions recorded by aforementioned KC tight end Travis Kelce to move past Jerry Rice as the all-time NFL leader.

… Of the Week Awards

Got It Wrong Again Media Report – NY Post: Early in the search it reported the Atlanta Falcons were “desperate” to hire Bill Belichick. It turned out they interviewed 11 different guys before hiring Rams D Coordinator Raheem Morris instead.

NFL Draft Oddity – Jared Goff and Brock Purdy: Sunday’s game between Detroit and SF was the first time in history that a QB taken first overall in the draft (Goff) and a QB who had been taken dead last (Purdy) faced each other as starters in a playoff game.

Separated at Birth – Goff and Ryan Gosling: Speaking of Goff, is it just me who thinks he’s a dead ringer for the Ken doll Hollywood star?

Put It in Perspective Coach B Quote of the Week – Jayson Tatum: who said on Belichick’s departure as Patriots coach. “… It’s a little weird, he’s been coaching the whole time I’ve been alive. All I’ve known is Bill Belichick and the Patriots.”

Random Thoughts:

I’ll remind folks saying Coach B should take a year off to decompress that that is exactly what people said Andy Reid should do when he was bounced out in Philadelphia. Instead he went to KC, whom he immediately turned around. And in his 10 seasons there he has won less than 10 games just once, while winning two SB’s, and is now on his way to the big game for the fourth time in five years.

Sports 101 Answer: The four guys who won a Super Bowl as a player and head coach are Tom Flores, Mike Ditka, Tony Dungy and Doug Peterson.

Final Thought: God love his gung-ho style. But it was ironic seeing the very thing, Dan Campbell used to instill the fight and toughness that got the long moribund Lions to the NFC title game undo them in the end.

It’s not a second guess to say he should have taken the field goal both times he went for it on fourth down in the fourth quarter vs. SF. It’s a lesson to those who blindly follow the analytics crowd, because making it 59 percent of the time on fourth and three or less means that also it doesn’t work four times out of 10. Thus more factors need to be considered, like field position, distance, the score, time left, what an opponent’s strengths are and momentum.

Campbell didn’t do that in a game his team lost by 3 (34-31) when not taking the two chip shot field goals he passed on likely cost his team a chance to go to the Super Bowl. The good news is it’s a live-and-learn world and it doesn’t overshadow the great job he did. Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – NFL Championship Weekend: The Sunday when the NFC and AFC championships are played is the best sports day of the year. And that’s what we’ve got coming Sunday, when defending champion KC led by football’s best QB (Pat Mahomes) takes on Baltimore and the best running QB (and likely MVP) Lamar Jackson) in Game 1, followed by a rematch of the famed 1957 NFL special playoff game (finally) between the 49ers and Lions to determine who’d represent the Western Conference in the ’57 title game vs Cleveland. Which, oh by the way, is the last time the Lions were NFL champs. Can’t wait.

Sports 101: Name the two players who’ve scored the most TD’s in NFL playoff history.

News Item – Mahomes on the Road: Amazingly Sunday in Buffalo was the first time he had ever played on the road in the playoffs during his entire six-year career. Though a heartbreaker for the Bills, it was actually lucky number 50 for him. As it was his 39th overall road win to make his road winning percentage of 78 percent the best career for any QB in NFL history.

News Item – The New Philly Phold: In Philadelphia it’s hard to top the famed Phillie Phold (which turns 60 this year), when their baseball team blew a 6½-game lead in the final week of 1964 after not being out of first place even one day the entire season. But by going from 10-1 to finish 11-6 and getting smoked by mediocre Tampa Bay in the Wild Card round, the Eagle collapse may have done just that.

News Item – Chip Kelly Hot Topic: The rumor mill is cranking overtime this time of year in the NFL. One interesting item has the local lad and current UCLA head coach on the wish lists of several teams with openings to be their offensive coordinator.

News Item – Jaylen Brown: When he is bad he is often beyond belief awful bad, Exhibit A being his impossible to forget elimination Game 7 disaster at home vs. the Miami Heat. This time it was Friday’s battle of 2024 NBA titans with Denver when:

(1) he was 1 for 9 from three-point land,

(2) had two lay-ups blocked from behind because he eased up instead of dunking it like he needed to and usually does,

(3) down 1 with a minute to go, he clanged two free fouls in a game they lost 102-100,

(4) he stepped into the lane 2 seconds early on a missed Aaron Gordon FT with 17 seconds left to take away a crucial rebound from Boston in lieu of a jump ball that resulted, and

(5) he was one of several guys toasted by Jamal Murray on his way to his killer 35-point night.

The Numbers:

10 – most all-time playoff meetings between two teams in NFL history, which came Saturday when SF won a 24-21 thriller over Green Bay.

16 – after getting two more vs. Buffalo, times Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce have hooked up for TD’s in the playoffs to pass the Tom Brady–Rob Gronkowski combo for most in NFL history.

… Of the Week Awards

Funniest Super Bowl-Worthy Commercial – Uber Eats: Seeing iconic British actress Helen Mirren sitting on a sofa watching playoff action eating cheese balls just delivered by Uber Eats as she yells, “a Jets sweep on third and 11 — YOU IDIOTS!” before throwing the cheese balls at the TV. Very funny.

Why Can’t We Get Guys Like That Award – Nelson Agholor: He may have been a disappointment in Foxboro, but after he scored the Ravens’ first TD in their 31-10 win over Houston they loved him in Baltimore.

Thumbs Up – Dan Campbell: He’s gone from over-the-top gung-ho nut who’ll last two years tops as head coach in Detroit to a guy who’s somehow done the impossible, transforming the eternally awful Lions into the Cinderella story of the NFL.

Sports 101 Answer: With 22JerryRicehasscored the most playoff TD’s in history.Emmitt Smith and Thurman Thomasare next with 21.

A Little History – 1957 NFL Championship Game: Hard to believe, but the Lions were Patriots-like in the 1950s NFL, winning 3 times. The last was in 1957 behind backup QB Tobin Rote (also the QB for San Diego as they demolished the Pats 51-10 in the 1963 AFL title game) with swaggering Hall of Famer Bobby Layne lost for the season. First by bringing them back from down 24-3 to a 31-27 win over SF. Then Detroit crushed Cleveland 59-14 as Rote threw four TD passes and ran for another to avenge a similar 56-10 beatdown by the Browns in the 1954 Championship game.

Final Thought – Predictions:

49ers-Lions: SF should win, but being the hopeless romantic I am, I’m pulling for the upset by upstart Detroit 34-31. I know, dumb. But that’s my story.

Chiefs-Ravens: Another titanic QB battle. I’ll take Mahomes over Jackson until he proves me wrong. Final-minute 24-23 KC win.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story: After 24 years of mostly excellence Bill Belichick is out as head coach of the Patriots, something that until recently seemed unfathomable. Followed by the choice of Jerod Mayo, which we’ll have more on later.

Old-Timers Sports 101: Name the two QB’s involved in the shocking 1964 QB-QB trade between Philadelphia and Washington.

News Item – Coaches: Whether it was a firing, a push out, resignation or mutual agreements, last week was a landmark for coaches in football. This generation’s greatest pro and college coaches, Belichick and Nick Saban, are stunningly out in Foxboro and Alabama respectively. And they were followed out the door by Pete Carroll after 14 years in Seattle, the highly regarded Mike Vrabel in Tennessee and possibly Jim Harbaugh at Michigan if the (annual) rumors going around are to be believed. All will likely show up on TV or a sideline somewhere again. But it’s a sea change to be sure, which few expected when 2023 began.

News Item – Pats’ Jerod Mayo: The succession plan was already in place and Kraft lived up to it by hiring Mayo to replace Belichick; chillingly, if he hired a coach before he hired a new general manager, the new GM will probably come from the same pool of people who’ve been drafting so poorly for years.

News Item – Michigan Football: It was a good week for football in Michigan. First their U demolished Washington to win the national championship in college football. Then the Lions beat the Rams and their one-time star Matthew Stafford 24-23 for their first playoff win since 1992 while keeping their hopes alive to win their first NFL championship (1957) in 66 years!

And if you’re keeping score on the biggest QB-QB swap since the 1960s of Stafford for Jared Goff: No fewer than five key guys in Sunday’s win came to Detroit directly from L.A. or future draft picks from the deal. Including TD’s in the game from RB Jahmyr Gibbs and rookie tight end Matt LaPorta.

The Numbers:

0 – Green Bay Packers voted to the NFL Pro Bowl game, compared to seven for Dallas, whom GB annihilated Sunday 48-34.

4 – times Celtics get a life Coach Joe Mazzulla told the media he watches the Ben Affleck-directed Boston heist film The Town each week.

… Of the Week Awards:

Best Coach B Line – at his Press Conference: “I haven’t seen this many cameras since we signed [Tim] Tebow.”

Fun Media Feud – Steven A. Smith vs. Jason Whitlock: It started with the Blaze provocateur calling into question the truth in Smith’s recent book, to which he responded by calling Whitlock a “fat b—–!” Two best shots were Whitlock calling him “Stephen A Myth” andSmith saying, “This is the dude that will have a funeral that ain’t got no pallbearers.”

Worst Sneakers – Giannis Antetokounmpo: Those chartreuse numbers he wore Thursday against the Celtics. You’ve got to be secure to wear a pair of those.

Thumbs Down – NBA Discipline Czar: For cutting habitual offender Draymond Green’s latest suspension to just 12 games. What are they going to say next time (and there will be one), “This time we really, really mean it, Dray”? Booooo.

Sports 101 Answer: Washington got future Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen while Philly got Norm Snead, who was later traded to the G-Men for another HoF quarterback, Fran Tarkenton.

Final Thought – Bob Kraft: Let’s just say I’m not optimistic that the decisions made last week were the right ones.

Moving Coach B out puts approval-craving owner Bob Kraft at center stage in the team’s reconstruction. After lucking into Tom Brady way back when and now not having Belichick to shield him from criticism when things go haywire, he’s now the one to look at over what happens going forward. And while it’s not quite the same, hopefully it’ll go better than for similarly credit-conscious Dallas owner Jerry Jones after his battle of egos with Jimmy Johnson led to JJ’s departure from Dallas after winning two Super Bowls. Because it’s 28 years and counting since the Boys have even been back to the NFC title game, let alone the Super Bowl, after the architect of their three SB wins in the 1990s left the building. And while it had to end sooner or later, it makes me wonder if that’s what’s in store for New England as well. Especially when Kraft picked a totally untested defensive guy to lead a 4-13 team crying out for a new age mind to fix the worst offensive team in franchise history.

And there’s an unsettling historical parallel with Butch Hobson, who Red Sox GM Lou Gorman elevated far above his capability to be his manager because Lou was somehow afraid he’d get stolen away by another team. Which sounds a lot like Mayo’s story.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Bill Belichick’s Future: After the season ended, what happens to Bill Belichick was the raging local question and would be until the answer comes, which may have happened by the time you read this. So stay tuned.

Sports 101: Name the four teams who’ve never played in the Super Bowl.

News Item – NFL Wild Card Weekend: The biggest national story is the opening of the NFL playoffs. The three most intriguing side stories are these:

Miami at KC: Tyreek Hill’s return to Arrowhead Stadium.

Cleveland at Houston: It pits the team involved in bringing DeShaun Watson to Ohio against the one that not only now has the better QB anyway in CJ Stroud but also has all those draft picks Cleveland gave up for Watson.

L.A. at Detroit: Round 2 of who got the better of that Matthew Stafford–Jared Goff deal. Round 1 went to L.A. when they immediately won the SB with Stafford. But the Lions are now thriving with the much younger QB the Rams dumped and have a brighter long-term future thanks to the boatload of picks that came with Goff. A win for Detroit tilts the arrow toward them.

News Item – College Football Championship Game: The game between Big 10 Michigan and (not for long) PAC 12 Washington would have been played on New Year’s in the Rose Bowl a generation ago. And while it’s exciting for many, the two things that strike me are that it’s the swan song for the PAC 12 Conference, and UM’s coach is there despite being suspended twice for cheating this season. Oh, and semifinals-losing Texas had a back-up QB (Arch Manning) who made $3.2 million in NIL money as a freshman. Welcome to college football2024.

The Numbers:

7.8 – eye-popping yards per carry average (on 103) by rookie Miami back De’Von Achane.

15 –secondbest in the NFL rushing TD’s done somehow by quarterbacks Josh Allen of Buffalo and Jalen Hurts of Philly.

236 – last in the league points scored by the pathetic offense of your New England Patriots.

… Of the Week Awards

Shot of the Week – Nikola Jokic: The big fella delivered a 40-footer off glass as time expired to make Denver 130-127 winners over stunned Golden State. Though I ain’t buying Joker’s claim he called the bank, so if it’s H-O-R-S-E Nuggets lose.

Thumbs Down of the Week – NFL and NBC: For its sign of what lies ahead in putting Saturday’s KC-Miami wild card game only on NBC’s pay TV streaming service, Peacock.

Random Thoughts:

Disgruntled Patriots tackle Trent Brown wants to be elsewhere next year. Fine with me.

Speaking of Hayward: While durability is always his issue, if he’s bought out by Charlotte, he’d fit perfectly as an affordable point forward, 3 and D option off the Celtics bench.

Sports 101 Answer: Three of the Super Bowl-less teams — the Lions, Browns and Texans — can end their streaks this month, while Jacksonville missed again.

Final Thought – Coach B:

Here’s what my thinking on Coach B would be if I owned the Patriots.

Biggest Problems

Picking Talent: The player evaluation and draft strategy has been mostly awful since 2014. And the big free agent spending year of 2021 was a gigantic bust. It’s left them devoid of talent, especially on offense.

Strategic Approach: He just doesn’t seem to get how important a dynamic wide receiving threat is in 2023.

Can It Be Fixed? Yes, but it means a personnel chief must come in from the outside.

Biggest Issues Determining Whether Bill is the Guy to Fix It

(1) Is he willing/able to work with someone else picking the groceries?

(2) Can he adjust offensive strategy?

(3) Can he still coach them up?

(4) What’s more important: winning SB 7 or him breaking Don Shula’s record as a Patriot?

Answers:

(1) Doubtful, and who from the outside would want to do that?

(2) Maybe, since he did the same adding Randy Moss and Wes Welker after being run over by Peyton Manning in the 2006 AFC title game. Or if the unemployed Josh McDaniels (who was in Bob Kraft’s suite Sunday) comes back as OC.

(3) Given all the crazy penalties, unnecessary timeouts and questionable game management moves the last few years I wonder about that.

(4) For me the wins record is the final exclamation mark to the dynasty, so it tops SB7.

Bottom Line: While I think he’s leaving, if he accepts Issue 1 and brings back McDaniels I give him one last year. As for who has the stature to be Bill’s boss, I give Tom Brady a minority share of the team to nix his Raiders deal and put him in charge of football operations. Then we’re on to 2024.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Ahead in 2024: The new year has arrived, so it’s time to look ahead for things you hope happen in 2024 and to give predictions for things that will.

Sports 101: Besides Larry Bird, who was the last Celtic to be league MVP?

News Item – Celtics Deals Cause Havoc Elsewhere: Hard to find someone who doesn’t like the Celtics pickups of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. But not so much for teams involved on the other side. While the Celtics won 24 of their first 30, Memphis (10-20), Portland (8-21) and Washington (5-25), where the new C’s came from and Marcus Smart landed in the Porzingis deal, are the opposite at 18-66 in 2023-24.

2024 Predictions:

Speaking of Smart, before 2024 is out he’ll be traded again with the landing spot being rivals Milwaukee or Philadelphia.

We’re confident the now 28-game record-breaking Detroit Pistons losing streak ends sometime this calendar year. Though not sure if it happens this season or the first half of 2024-2025.

Pats keep Bill Belichick as coach and bring in a GM to buy the groceries. They also stick with Bailey Zappe to use their high draft position to put beef in front of him and speed on the outside to make the O more dynamic.

Red Sox finish last again, but Red Sox Nation is too dumb to stop going to games to send the owners the message they need to hear loud and clear: sell or spend or we ain’t coming until you do.

Kristaps Porzingis plays a not-great-for-normal-guys but decent for him 66 games.

Celtics meet Denver in the NBA Finals.

Shohei Ohtani hits 50+ homers in Dodgerland while becoming the most popular Dodger since Fernando Valenzuela.

Things We Hope Happen:

BradStevenssomehowpulls off the rumored trade for big man depth for either Utah’s free agent to be Kelly Olynyk, whose deep shooting is a perfect fit behind Porzingis, or better yet 6’8” Detroit bruiser Isaiah Stewart because he’s a good eventual successor to Al Horford with, at just 22, room to get better as their big off the bench, or with a $15 million contract coming next year, a long-term big money tradeable asset.

Tom Brady passes on the Raiders ownership deal for a similar one for a stake in the Patriots. Bring him home, Bob.

I’m on my knees actually begging Joe Mazzulla to not let Jayson Tatum do that Kobe wannabe garbage isolation at the end of any quarter because he NEVER even gets a good shot let alone scores.

For once let the Patriots not cheap out and spend the money needed to retain Kyle Dugger, Michael Onwenu in free agency and extend Christian Barmore before he becomes too expensive to keep when he becomes a 2025 free agent.

John Henry and Tom Werner give us all a break and sell the Red Sox.

The Numbers:

1987 – the last time the Celtics had five guys score 20+ in the same game as they did in their 144–119 bounce-back win over Sacramento after a bad OT loss the night before vs Golden State.

268 – NBA record consecutive games with a 3-ball streak that ended for Steph Curry when he was 0-8 vs. Portland last week.

Of the Week Awards…

Worst TV Show: I am a survivor of the Irv Cross, Phyllis George, Brent Musburger NFLpre-game show era of the ’70s, but the three bozos on NFL Network Christmas Eve pre-game show are BY FAR the worst I’ve ever seen. High school TV shows are more professional. Embarrassingly bad.

Worst Uniforms: Denver has to be kidding us with those all orange with white helmets jobs worn on Christmas Eve. Nike’s done a lot of bad things to sports but retro Tampa Bay circa 1977 uniforms tops them all.

Yoko Ono Award: Apparently I’m not the only one a little sick of the Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce thing. With KC losing five of their last eight when Kelce hasn’t been his all-world self, folks have started calling Swift “Yoko” in reference to Yoko Ono’s role in starting the downfallof The Beatles.

I could see a coupling between Brady and say, Margot Robbie, being fawned over like they were Monroe and DiMaggio. But a tight end and a girl next door pop star? Come on.

Sports 101 Answer: The C’s last MVP besides Bird was Dave Cowens in 1972-73 when the C’s won a team record 68 games.

Final Thought – Don’t Lean On Them: Does anyone in the NBA know how to set a legal pick? It’s incredible that almost everyone doesn’t, from rookies to 37-year-old Al Horford.How many offensive foul calls is it going to take before they get it? They are at the highest basketball level and no one seems to know your feet need to be set and YOU CAN NOT LEAN!!! The guy coming off the screen is supposed to rub off you. Not the other way around. Jiminy Cricket.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – As the year closes, it’s time to look at the biggest stories of 2023 and to remedy Sports Illustrated’s choice of Deion Sanders as Sports Person of the Year by giving five better nominees for that distinction.

News Item – Top 5 Sports Stories of the Year:

Women’s Sports Growth in Business: The WNBA’s Seattle Storm sold for $160 million and an all-women group is putting up $100 million to bring a NWSL expansion team to Boston. These are previously unheard of prices for women sports franchises, so it’s clear the business of women’s sports is finally on its way.

Collapse of Pac-12: The generation of fans who grow up with it may come to love the bloated conference world. But those of us who grew up with schools’ regional identities tied to the conference they played in never will. Stanford in the ACC? USC, UCLA and podunk Rutgers in the Big 10? Creighton in the Big East? Give me a break. The culprit, of course, is money, with the first three schools mentioned being the reason behind the collapse of the once great Pac-8 (then 10, then 12).

Shohei Ohtani the $700 Million Dodger: The final number makes it hard to see how it can match the return L.A. will get back. And you don’t need much imagination to envision how an early injury to an already injury-prone guy can wreck this deal. But I’ll still root for him because he put greed aside to defer all but $2 million of his annual $70 million salary to let L.A. afford more players, which happened less than a week later when the Dodgers (incredibly) also put prized Japanese hurler Yoshinobu Yamamoto under their Christmas tree for a paltry $325 million.

Rise of Gambling in Sports: You can’t turn on any TV sportscast without being overrun by legalized sports betting ads. It’s gone from the ultimate taboo to “it’s all fine with us, boys, as long as you keep sending the cash.”

Collapse of the Patriots Dynasty We now have a clear answer to “Was it more Tom or Bill?,” don’t we? Tom Brady didn’t play in 2023 but clearly he was even more important to the dynasty than most realized.

News Item – Sports Person of the Year:

Brock Purdy: He may not be Brady just yet. But by going from 2022’s last player drafted to beating out the QB who cost the 49ers three first-round picks to get a year earlier, to the MVP favorite, he’s a Brady-like Cinderella story.

Pat Mahomes: The heir apparent to Brady’s passing records won his second Super Bowl.

Nikola Jokic: He led Denver to the NBA title, so he actually did something in Colorado besides promoting himself.

Nick Sirianni: By leading Philly to the SB while somehow adding excitement to the ancient QB sneak with the unstoppable Brotherly Shove, he’s a coach who actually did something besides promote himself.

Notable Deaths – RIP:

Tim Wakefield – 57: He wasn’t the greatest player, but he did earn a special place in Red Sox Nation’s heart.

Jim Brown – 87: The Browns 1950s-’60s fullback was simply the greatest and most indestructible football player who ever lived.

Dick Butkus – 80: No one was scarier or hit harder than da Bears’ MLB. With all due respect to LT, he was the most intimidating player I’ve ever seen.

Bobby Knight – 83: Dan Patrick said it best on his radio show: “I had friends who played for him. I had people who swore by him and swore at him. … This is a coach who demanded poise, composure, but he didn’t have it.” All true, but no one got more out of less athletic ability than the Indiana coach.

Vida Blue – 73: You had to be there to fully get how the A’s fireballing lefty took baseball by storm in 1971 like no first-year player ever has.

Willis Reed – 80: No one has ever put the hopes of his team and its fans on his back like the Knicks captain did in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals. After two days of “will Willis play or won’t he?” fears, he limped onto the Madison Square Garden floor to face Wilt Chamberlain and the L.A. Lakers to energize everyone watching, then scored the game’s first two baskets to crush L.A.’s hopes 90 seconds into the game. I’ve never been more inspired or had a greater day as a sports fan.

Thumbs Up – Brad Stevens: Adding Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday to reshape the C’s has worked perfectly. Add bringing back Al Horford and Derrick White to town and every trade he’s made as Celtics GM has been a heist.

Thumbs Down – John Henry: He’s currently destroying his legacy as the Sox’ best owner ever. Save the legacy by taking the $3 billion profit you’ve earned and sell to someone who wants to win.

Final Thought: Happy new year to all.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Xmas Arrives: With the holiday season a time of joy, the focus for the big story is the early success of the Celtics and Bruins. The C’s start this week with the best record in the NBA, on pace to win 65 games. Time will tell if the pace can be maintained, since a tough five-game western swing lies ahead, ending vs. LeBron and the Lakers in the marquee national TV game on Christmas Day. The Bruins are tied with the Rangers for the best record in the East after Saturday’s tough 2-1 OT loss to the New Yawkas. They close the year with a mixed bag of six games, some tough and some easy. As for the other two Boston teams, thank them for great thrills over the first 20 years of the century and leave it at that.

Sports 101: Name the only full-time NFL kicker to be named MVP.

News Item – NBA Scores Going Through the Roof: Something is in the water in the NBA and it’s affecting the scoring. There were six games last Monday night and the lowest total by a winning team was 129 by Denver in a seven-point win over Atlanta. In the others, two had 131, in addition to a 132, 136 and the Sixers crushed Washington 146-101. At the top is Indiana, who won 131-123 over Detroit and are on a 129-points-per-game pace that would be more per game than any team in history.

News Item – Five Christmas Wishes: Five presents under the tree for the New England sports fan.

(1) Coach B steps down and the Patriots get the next hotshot GM from the SF or Philly organizations to shop for the groceries.

(2) John Henry sells the Red Sox. Thanks for the memories but he no longer has the fire that’s needed in the owner’s box to win big.

(3) The Celtics (somehow) find a big under the tree to give them needed depth up front.

(4) Seats with cushions and more leg room in the stands at Fenway.

(5) Trip to the Finals for the Celtics. Not wishing for a championship, because I want to see them earn that on their own.

The Numbers:

12 – all-time Saint Anselm record for 3-balls made in game as Josh Morrisette went for a career-high 44 points in an 84-77 over Franklin Pierce.

18 & 23 – team record losing streaks for the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistonsrespectively. The Spurs’ streak ended on Friday with a win over the Lakers, but Detroit’s rolled on with Sunday’s 146-104 blowout to Milwaukee.

64 – points scored with no box score-inflating 3-balls by Giannis Antetokounmpo, by going 20-28 from the field and making 24 of his astonishing 32 free throws to go along with 14 rebounds in Friday’s 140-126 win over Indiana.

A Little History – Giannis’ 32 Foul Shots: In case you’re interested, Wilt Chamberlain also had 32 foul shots that day in March 1962 when he went for 100 points vs. the Knicks, making 28. Dwight Howard holds the record for most FT’s in a game (twice) when he only made 25 and 21.

… Of the Week Awards

Biggest Joke: Warriors Coach Steve Kerr saying they want to “help” Draymond Green rather than “punish” him after his latest cheap shot got him suspended. Are you kidding me? If anyone needs to be sent to his room without supper it’s this dirtbag. You’re enabling him with that nonsense.

Late Xmas Present: Even though it was done in the early 1990’s, if you’re stuck for a present for a real baseball history fan it’s hard to find a better one than a boxed set of the baseball documentary from Ken Burns that originally aired on PBS.

Random Thoughts:

When did playing back-to-back games in the NBA become the equivalent of scaling Mt. Everest in a Speedo and wearing flip-flops?

Earth to Adam Silver: Enough is enough with Draymond Green. Suspend that blight on your game for the rest of the year.

Sports 101 Answer: Paul Hornung (1961) and George Blanda (1970) were kicker MVPs, but it was also for a combo of duties as a running back and off the bench backup QB/savior for Green Bay and Oakland respectively. The Redskins’ Mark Moseley was just a kicker when he somehow was MVP during the strike-shortened nine-game 1982 season.

Final Thought:

Happy holidays to one and all.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – A Weird Local Week: No story dominated. The Red Sox actually got worse at the winter meetings and the Bruins surrendered their overall points lead in the NHL thanks to going 5-4-1 in their last 10 games, while thin-skinned refs heard it from Jaylen Brown after he was surprisingly ejected vs. New York on Friday. But most notable was D.C. political pub Politico reporting that for the first time in 20 years presidential primary candidates are now scheduling events during Pats games because the Pats are so bad. Exhibit A: the negative yacking about Thursday’s win over Pittsburgh because it may hurt their draft position in April.

That’s where we start the week.

Sports 101: OnSaturdayJayden Daniels became the third player from LSU to win the Heisman Trophy. Name their other two winners.

News Item – New Hampshire Athletes: Two locals were in the news last week. Steelers tight end PatFreiermuth of Durham had three catches for 18 yards vs. the Pats, and Merrimack’s Mickey Gasper was taken by Boston in the Rule 5 draft after spending five years catching in the Yankees organization. He’s got to stick all year with the Sox or he reverts back to New York.

Lakers Win First NBA In-Season Tourney: Yawn. That’s all we got for that.

The Numbers:

3.2 –NFLlowest yards per carry allowed by the stingier than you think Patriots defense.

50 – second best in the NBA blocked shots recorded by San Antonio 7’6” rookie Victor Wembanyama after 19 games, with the 50th being his viral swat off the backboard of a layup attempt by T-Wolves big Naz Reid.

129 – points averaged by the Indiana Pacers, which will set the NBA record for most points per game ever if the number holds.

… Of the Week Awards:

Honors –Good guy Red Sox radio voice Joe Castiglione was elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame. After 41 years and 6,000 broadcasts he’ll go in next July as the recipient of the Ford Frick Award for broadcast excellence. It’s about time. Congratulations.

Grudge Match –The long feud between historically overrated Chris Paul and touchy referee Scott Foster grabbed headlines again after Paul claimed Foster’s tossing him with two quick T’s was “personal.” The interesting side note is Paul’s teamhas won just twice in the 20 games officiated by Forster since CP3 entered the NBA. It got both a (David) stern response from Commissioner Adam Silver to knock it off.

Stat – Patriots are 1-3 when they’ve given up 10 points or less, while the rest of the NFL is 53-0 when teams have done that.

Thumbs Up – Fisher Cats Sold: As first reported by the Union Leader, the F-Cats were sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings, the operator of 29 minor-league teams, who also bought the Red Sox AAA club in Worcester days earlier. Best of all they’re staying put.

Thumbs Down – Sports Illustrated: In the latest flash-over-substance drone pick, the teenagers now running Sports Illustrated (into the ground) somehow named Colorado Football Coach Deion Sanders as its Sports Person of the Year, a guy who following a 3-0 start after running off almost every Buffalo from 2022 finished at 4-9. Who was their runner-up, Kyrie Irving? What planet do you people live on?

Random Thoughts:

Sorry, Pat Mahomes, you can’t blame the refs for calling back Travis Kelce’s oh-so-alert cross-court lateral/pass to Kadarius Toney that went for a TD vs. Buffalo. Toney lined up in the neutral zone, a preventable mistake that was entirely Toney’s fault. No excuse for such a bonehead move.

Sports 101 Answer: The other two LSU Heisman Trophy winners were Joe Burrow in 2019 and running back Billy Cannon, who after winning in 1959 gave the AFL a huge publicity boost by being the first big name to sign with the fledgling league.

Final Thought – Yanks Got Better, Sox Got Worse: Aside from making their everyday line-up weaker by gift-wrapping Alex Verdugo to the Yanks for three pitchers no one ever heard of, Craig Breslow came away with a doughnut at last week’s winter meetings.

Not sure it was the first mistake of the Breslow era. But it made the Yanks seem less desperate to improve their outfield and thus took some of the leverage San Diego appeared to have as they pursued slugger Juan Soto, who they got the next day in a seven-player blockbuster deal for what’s been called a disappointing return.

This was done with a majority of the starting pitching trade options coming off the board and as the marquee free agents eliminated Boston from their wish list, most notably Shohei Ohtani. Though, since he almost landed in Toronto and got an astonishing $70 million for 10 years from the Dodgers, the dominoes fell right with him.

But if this doesn’t change right away, can you say last in the AL East? Again.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Big Week for New Red Sox GM: Except for the St. Louis Cardinals, the action all over baseball has been pretty slow so far this off-season. But with the winter meeting happening this week in Memphis that’s expected to change.

The first order of business for new Red Sox GM Craig Breslow is finding two starting pitchers. And if the desire is to preserve as much of the young farm system talent assembled over the last three years as possible, at least one needs to be a free agent.

The top target is Japanese import Yoshinobu Yamamoto. But with almost every team looking to upgrade their pitching and the pool of quality free agent arms limited, Breslow will need to have the checkbook open and be ready to act quickly if he is to get things started on the right foot.

Sports 101: Who is the oldest player to win an NBA championship?

News Item – Tiger Woods Returns: The biggest takeaway from Tiger Woods’ return to golf last weekend at the Hero World Golf Championship was that his health/back held up. But in his first tourney since the Masters he was, as expected, rusty in finishing 18th out of 20 players and 20 shots behind the winner. Still the story was how he fared physically, so the weekend was good news.

News Item – Victor Wembanyama Update: The brouhaha over the 7’6” French import isn’t translating into wins. The Spurs started the week 3-16 and battling it out with Detroit for the worst record in the league. For his part Wembanyama is leading the Spurs in scoring (19.2), rebounding (9.7) and blocks (2.7) while shooting at 43.7 percent. That puts him in a tight battle for Rookie of the Year with Oak City’s Chet Holmgren, whose numbers are 17.6, 8.0 and 2.2 while shooting 53 percent.

News Item – Three Red Sox Questions:

(1) Should they get in the Shohei Ontani sweepstakes? Yes — expensive, but getting Ohtani would give them the clean-up hitter needed to use Raffy Devers in a trade for a major starter.

(2) Trade Devers? Yes. He’s a terrific hitter but a lousy third baseman who can’t be moved to first base with Triston Casas the future there. Plus he’s got a body that’s a bad risk for the back end of his 10-year deal.

(3) How Do You Fix the Bullpen? Give the seventh and eighth innings Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock and make Chris Sale the closer. Risky, I know, but I’m betting the 3- to 4-inning-a-week workload does for Sale what moving from starter to closer did for Mariano Rivera and Dennis Eckersley. Plus moving on from Kenley Jansen gives them more trade ammo.

The Numbers:

1 – wins the Patriots have the four times they’ve held their opponent to 10 points or less including Sunday, when they were a 6-0 baseball score loser to the L.A. Chargers.

12.3 – points per game the Patriots offense is averaging, which is the lowest in their 62-year history.

… Of the Week Awards

Win – The 49ers’ 42-19 demolition of Philly in a chippy showdown win on the Eagles home turf.

‘How’d They Do That?’ Loss: The Dallas Mavericks, who somehow managed to lose to Oak City 126-120 despite having a 30-to-nothing run in the fourth quarter on Saturday.

Random Thoughts:

It’s his life, but seeing Tiger struggle to make the cut each week is tough to watch. Fine for others, but he’s a historic icon.

Aside from top pick Trevor Lawrence the supposed Year of the QB 2021 NFL draft that had five taken in Round 1 has been a bust. While seeing Justin Fields (11th ) as the 14th-ranked passer is a bit surprising, his Bears are just 4-8, while 30th-ranked Mac Jones (15th) is benched and likely done in New England, Bret Wilson (second) is at 33 and a total bust in New York and third overall pick Trey Lance has already been traded by SF.

A Little History – Great Rookies: Putting the hype aside, Wembanyama has a long way to go to match the career starts of Larry Bird, Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Shaq, who joined teams that had won just 29, 27 and 21 games respectively and by Year 2 Bird’s and Kareem’s teams won the title and Shaq had Orlando in the Finals.

Sports 101 Answer: The oldest NBA champion was 43-year-old Robert Parish as a reserve with Chicago in 1997.

Final Thought – Florida State Gets Screwed: The latest example of how morally bankrupt big-time college football is came Sunday when 13-0 Florida State was left out of the four-team CFP tournament because their starting QB, Jordan Travis, is out for the year. Which means a team that demonstrated the fortitude to overcome losing its first- and second-string QBs to remain undefeated is denied what they earned because the TV ratings won’t likely be as good without Travis. Greed, Greed, GREED!

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.