Category: News

The Big Story – NBA Season Begins: It begins with a lot less enthusiasm than we’ve had in these parts for some time. But don’t blame GM Brad Stevens. It’s due to Jayson Tatum’s torn Achilles and the league’s destructive collective bargaining agreement, which forced a championship-level team to dump two terrific players for little return to avoid onerous financial and roster-building penalties. Boo, Adam Silver!

Sports 101: Name the guy who coached the most NBA teams and the nine he did it with.

News Item – Pats Win Fourth Straight: Yes, it was 1-6 Tennessee they beat 31-13. But they were (thanks to Joe Milton) just one game better than the Titans in 2024, so it was a benchmark of sorts to gauge their improvement.

Key Stat: Drake Maye going 21-23 for 222 yards with16 straight completions at one point as NE took control of the game.

Improvement – The D: They gave up just three points after allowing 10 on the first two possessions and had four sacks with two turnovers.

Kayshon Boutte: With his third LOUD TD in two games (fourth overall) and by averaging 17.8 per catch he’s become their first deep threat since Brandin Cooks in 2017. And he’s come from out of nowhere.

Observation: Is it my imagination or are the linebackers a lot faster than in 2024? None more so than K’Lavon Chaisson, who had three tackles and two sacks along with a scoop-and-score TD.

Backslide: The coverage teams gave up good starting field position all day.

Game Ball – Maye: He threw for those 222 yards with two TD’s and no TO’s and had 62 rushing yards on eight carries too.

News Item – Joe Mazzulla’s Top 3 Tasks: Given the dour forecast given in the Top Story here’s what the coach must do in 2025-26:

1 – Anfernee Simons: Get him to actually play defense, because he can score.

2 – Help Neemias Queta Find His Ceiling: He has likable attributes around the basket, but they need more than just that.

3 – Find A Way To Better Manage His Three-Ball Mania: His refusal, or was it his inability, to adjust as game conditions dictate cost them last year’s playoff series with NY. This year he’ll have to do it without bigs like Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis, who could bomb threes.

Somehow I don’t think he will or can.

The Numbers:

21-42-1 – record of teams the Patriots will play in the last 10 games. Combined with the records (16-30) of those already played, it’s 37-72-1 overall to make it one of the easiest schedules in league history.

33 – after being shut out for three quarters, the most ever fourth-quarter points scored, as the Broncos handed the G-Men a devastating 33-32 loss, by a FG as time expired.

522 – rushing yards on just 20 carries by Curry College’s Montie Quinn in a 71-27 drubbing of rival Nichols (per the Boston Globe). Yes it’s D-3, but when you score seven TD’s on runs of 85, 84, 76, 64, 56, 30 and 2, that’s a great day for anyone at any level.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – For Retiring Malcolm Brogdon: Hehad a short but effective season in Boston, when he was Sixth Man of the Year.

Quote of the Week – Mookie Betts: Said after Shohei Ohtani sent L.A. to the World Series (again) with a 5-1 win over Milwaukee by astonishingly striking out 10 (in six innings) and hitting three homers, “It’s like we’re the Chicago Bulls and he’s Michael Jordan.”

Babe Ruth Award – Ohtani: While the Babe won games as a pitcher and hit three homers in post-season games twice, he never did it in the same one as the Eighth Wonder of the World did Friday.

Random Thought: How is it that a team with three Gold Glove finalists — Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Carlos Narvaez — can still lead the majors in errors with 116?

Sports 101 Answer: Larry Brown has coached the most NBA teams — Denver, NJ, San Antonio, Indiana, LA Clippers, Philadelphia, Detroit, New York and Charlotte.

A Little History – Larry Brown: He also took Kansas (won) and UCLA (runner-up) to the Final Four.

Final Thought – L.A. Lakers Title Count: The Lakers will fittingly unveil a statue of Pat Riley when they play the Celtics next February. But this also brings into focus the LA Lakers’ hypocrisy in claiming they have won a second-most NBA titles at 17. Five of them came (in six seasons) in Minneapolis behind the game’s first truly dominant player, George Mikan, who was every bit as important to any title won by any Lakers team. But there’s no Mikan statue in L.A. because they have no real connection to Minneapolis — where there is one of Big George in front of the T-Wolves’ Target Center. So if they do it that way, then the total won by the LOS ANGELES Lakers is actually 12, to be six behind the Celtics, where all 18 were won in Boston. Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Pats Are Back: The clearest sign they’re headed in the right direction is that the sense of anticipation has returned to game day.

And it’s going to be worse next week after another Drake Maye beauty in Sunday’s 25-19 win in New Orleans, one that included three long TD passes, two of which were dropped in so perfectly they made me say W-O-W!

Then, while it’s best to take it one game at a time, with the Titans (1-5) up next, followed by two at home vs. the Falcons (2-2) and Browns (1-5), it’s conceivable the Pats could be 7-3 when they meet Tampa Bay on Nov. 9.

That’s conceivable, not probable. It’ll be interesting to see if this young team can take advantage of that soft spot in their schedule. If they can, it’ll put them in solid playoff position after nine games.

Sports 101: Name the only person to win the MVP in his first two seasons in the NFL.

News Item – Patriots Game Ball: There were major contenders like Maye and Kayshon Boutte (six catches, 93 yards, two TDs) but it goes to HC Mike Vrabel, whose use of the replay challenge rule was better than anything I ever saw Coach B do. First by passing on a sure win based on game circumstances. He then turned a Saints reception into a key fumble recovery, and the other reversed that Boutte stepped out of bounds on a late reception to retain possession and let them run out of the clock. Excellent in-game coaching.

News Item – Hit of the Week: It wasn’t quite Bobby Thomson’s dramatic walk-off homer over arch-rival Brooklyn for the playoff win that gave the NY Giants the 1951 NL pennant and didn’t make big market-hungry TV execs happy. But it punched Jorge Polanco’s ticket to Seattle Mariners immortality with his RBI single to right in the epic winner-take-all 15-inning 3-2 instant classic over big-market Detroit, sending Seattle to their first ALCS since 2001.

The Numbers:

40 – tickets the New Orleans-bred Boutte had to buy for family for Sunday’s game at the Super Dome.

53 – second most NFL penalties, committed by your NE Patriots.

603 – after running for 123 in a 31-27 win over the Jacoby Brissett’s Cardinals, NFL-leading rushing yards for the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Drake Maye: He’s coming faster than most thought. He’s led the Pats to three straight wins by completing 73.9% of his passes with five TD passes and no picks. For the year it’s 73.2%, 1,522 passing yards, 10 TD passes, just two picks and a QB rating of 112.5.

A Little History – Tom Brady: Brady’s QB rating in his Year 2 was 86.5 and the only time in his 20 years here he exceeded a 112 QB rating was 117.2 when he threw 50 TD passes and was league MVP in the 16-0 season of 2007.

Thumbs Down – Mike Greenwell RIP: He was a collision waiting to happen on every fly ball toward left for sure, but he could hit, going over .300 in each of his first five seasons, seven times overall in a 12-year career, with the peak being his .325-22-118 submission in 1988, when he should have been MVP because he finished second to steroid-stained Jose Canseco. He sadly succumbed to pancreatic cancer last week at 62.

Feeling The Heat Quote of the Week – Jets HC Aaron Glenn: Said as the first-year coach scolded a reporter for having the audacity to ask if he was considering a change at QB: “…what kind of question is that?” Well, with his team 0-6 after his QB Justin Fields threw for a franchise worst ever -10 yards passing in a loss to Denver (yup, I said minus 10), it seems like a good one to me.

Sports 101 Answer: The great Jimmy Brown was MVP in his first NFL season of 1957 and then again in 1958.

Final Thought – NLCS Spending Disparity: Few local media folks will mention this because it conflicts with their “John Henry should spend, spend, spend” mantra. But in case you missed it, the NLCS is the ultimate “it’s not how much you spend, it’s how you spend it” series showcase. The Dodgers payroll is a highest-in-baseball $350 million with an astonishing $1 billion (with a b) in deferred payments owed. The Brewers on the other hand had the best record in the majors with just the 21st highest payroll at $121 million. Half of what the $246 million “cheap” Red Sox spent in 2025. Showing immense spending can be overcome, because it still comes down to judging talent and putting the pieces together.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.