Category: Sports

The Big Story – Pats Elevator Going Down: During the first run of the TV show Frasier, when things were really going bad for Frasier Crane he would pretend he was in an elevator and say, “going down.”Well, after the Patriots’ latest disaster, this time in Germany, the elevator on Coach B’s time in New England is descending so rapidly it’s like the cable snapped and the safety protocols aren’t working either. The latest in a series of debacles came in the form of a 10-6 baseball-like score vs. Indianapolis on Sunday, sending them into the bye at a surreal 2-8.

Talk radio will be ablaze with (1) will Coach B still be on the sidelines when they return in two weeks? (2) Mac Jones has punched his ticket out of town, and (3) with no chance of pulling out of their nosedive should they just tank to enter the Caleb Williams sweepstakes? Given all that, no sports radio for me, because none of it will be about finding solutions. Just pointing the finger of blame.

Sports 101: Who has committed the most fumbles in NFL history?

News Item – Pritchard’s Shooting Woes: Earth to Joe Mazzulla: Payton Pritchard may be short, but he’s not a point guard. The reason he’s shooting under 30 percent is that he can’t shake defenders for room to shoot. If you want points off the bench, let Jayson Tatum play point forward and spot up Pritchard behind the line, because what he is is a catch-and-shoot guy.

News Item – Rookies on Record Paces: Since Gale Sayers set an all-time NFL record with 22 TDs it will be tough to become the best NFL rookie ever. But Houston’s CJ Stroud and L.A. Ram wideout Puka Nacua are giving it the old college try. Stroud is on pace for 4,958 passing yards, which would obliterate Andrew Luck’s record 4,374 from 2012. And he has a shot at Justin Herbert’s record of 31 TD passes, though he’ll need to pick it up a bit as he’s on track for 28. As for Puka, he’s at 60 catches and 800 yards, which will give 120 catches and 1,562 receiving yards in 17 games and take him by Jaylen Waddle’s and Ja’Marr Chase’s 104 and 1,455 respective records.

News Item – 76ers Minus Harden: It was just one game, but what was evident when Philly beat the Celtics last week was that they are better without James Harden. And not just because he dominates the ball and can’t cover my grandmother. With Harden’s dominating days over, the emerging Tyrese Maxey is just better.

The Numbers:

11 – a not bad losing margin by the basketball team at the U when they lost to Syracuse in the Dome 83-72.

28 – Not so much for Dartmouth when they got smoked by Duke in a 92-64 loss the same day.

520 – million dollars over 10 years ESPN.com projects Shohei Ohtani will get in free agency this winter despite his injury-riddled career.

… Of the Week Awards

What A Stupid I Yam: To me for omitting in last week’s Sports 101 that Russell Westbrook joins Harden and Bob McAdoo as MVPs who’ve been traded four times.

Thumbs Down – Barf-Inducing Moment: I can take bad extra uniforms to juice merchandise sales, an in-season tournament I don’t get, even Tatum wearing hot pink sneaks, but I draw the line at having a non-parquet floor in the Garden at any time, like for the NBA’s new in-season tournament games. Come on, Adam Silver, that’s like tearing down the wall at Fenway for the All-Star game. Boooo. Barf. Booo.

Sports 101 Answer: Brett Favre is the all-time leader with 166, which means that since he’s also the interception leader with 336 he turned it over more than 500 times in his career.

In case you’re interested, Tom Brady is sixth with 138, while it’s astonishing Peyton Manning is ranked 59th with just 75.

Final Thought – Injured List: Those who said they were willing to include Rob Williams (which I was not) in the Celtics deal for Jrue Holiday because he’s injury-prone were right on the money last week. Lob It To Rob didn’t even make it out of the year’s first week before being lost for the season after knee surgery.

My fret was over lack of depth and that they were giving up the eventual replacement to Horford. But with the injury-prone Malcolm Brogdon now out with hamstring issues too, if they’d stayed the C’s depth would be even worse.

Ironically the injury news came on the same day Al Horford sat out to avoid playing back-to-back games. But the C’s won anyway when Pritchard and Sam Hauser had 28 bench points in a win over Brooklyn. So, as Casey Stengel used to say, you never know.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – The final dagger was plunged into the back of the Chaim Bloom era in Boston by Nate Eovaldi when he concluded a postseason run for the ages with a 4-1 Game 5 win over Arizona to end the World Series. It gave the Texas franchise its first ever world title since being born as the second version of the Washington Senators in 1961.

Eovaldi was deemed too expensive by Bloom for the starting pitching-poor Red Sox. He was replaced by the aging and injury-prone Corey Kluber. And by pitching just 56 innings all year while going 3-3 with an un-microscopic 7.04 ERA he was a major nail in Bloom’s coffin.

Meanwhile deep in the heart of Texas Eovaldi went 12-5 in the regular season and made the All-Star team as a prelude to his historic postseason performance, where his team won all six games he started as he went 5-0 with a 2.95 ERA and 41 K’s in 36.2 innings, leaving Red Sox Nation to play the Bob Lobel role and say, ‘Why can’t we get guys like that?’

Mark Ferdinando Memorial Sports 101: With his trade from the 76ers to the Clippers last week James Harden became just the second former MVP to be traded four times. Name the first one.

News Item – The ‘Was It Tom Brady or the Coach?’ Debate: Rough week for the coaches’ side. Coach B’s rep took another hit after the latest Patriots game ended in a 20-17 loss to the terrible Washington football team. Then, after getting whacked in Vegas to make it the second time he didn’t make it to the end of Year 2 as a head coach, you’ve got to think that’s all she wrote for Josh McDaniels’ HC career, which puts another notch in Brady’s belt.

Then there was Colin Cowherd reporting on his show the combined record of the Belichick coaching tree — McDaniels, Eric Mangini, Matt Patricia, Joe Judge and Romeo Crennel — wascollectivelyunder .300 lifetime.

News Item – Red Sox Introduce New GM: The gullible among us are buying the rap that new Sox Baseball Ops President Craig Breslow is the smartest intellect in baseball. The skeptics, however, note Bloom was also a Yale man and are thinking of Lou Gorman telling all he hired the equally inexperienced Butch Hobson as manager because a bright young mind like his won’t last long on the open market. And given that both were complete disasters, it makes one wonder if the only reason Breslow got the job is that all the top-tier candidates said thanks but no thanks to working for indecisive Sox owner John Henry.

The Numbers:

11 – wins vs. no losses on the road as Texas roared through the MLB playoffs.

38 – points along with 10 rebounds, two blocks and two assists in the breakout game for giant 7’5” French import Victor Wembanyama when the Spurs downed the Suns 132-121 last week.

80 – amount in millions Las Vegas is paying McDaniels and Jon Gruden not to coach the Raiders

… Of the Week Awards

Halloween Costume: Sen. Mitt Romney and wife Ann went as NFL “It” couple Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. Didn’t look anything like them, but A for effort for the buttoned-up Mittster.

Thumbs Up – The Celtics: Got to like their 5-0 start while becoming the second team ever to score 500+ points in their first four games of a season.

Thumbs Down – James Harden: Who cares if Danny Granger lost his job only because this me-first creep wanted out of Philly. Right, James? Boooo.

A Little History – Revived Classic Old-Time Quote: It comes from legendarily feisty Indiana Basketball Coach Bobby Knight, who passed away last week at 83. He once told a packed Assembly Hall crowd, “When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are past, I want they bury me upside down and my critics can kiss my ass.” An on-the-mark personal eulogy if there ever was one. RIP, Bobby.

Sports 101 Answer: The other four-times-traded MVP is the great Bob McAdoo, whose NBA odyssey took him from the Buffalo Braves (now L.A. Clippers) to the Knicks, Celtics, Pistons and eventually L.A., where he was a killer off the bench for the ’80s Showtime Lakers. He also was the guy Pistons GM Dick Vitale (yes that one) gave the two first-round picks for that Red Auerbach turned into Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, leading to three Celtics titles in the ’80s.

Final Thought – Corey Seager’s Mega Deal: I thought Texas was nuts giving the injury-riddled shortstop a 10-year deal, let alone for the whopping price tag of $325 million. Since he only played 119 games in 2023 I’m still iffy on the 10-year part. But in batting .327 with 33 homers and then being World Series MVP as Texas won its first ever world title, he’s paid off so far.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – Celtics Get Started: The NBA season kicked off last week with great expectations for the local five. After an off-season of major changes, the new-look Celtics are among the favorites to win it all.

First they’d have to get by Milwaukee, who had a major renovation by acquiring Damian Lillard and saying goodbye to Jrue Holiday (which will hurt more than they think) in a trade with Portland. To which the Celtics said thanks very much when Holiday was flipped to them a few days later.

Then comes defending champ Denver and reconfigured Kevin Durant-led Phoenix out west.

It started well with newbie Kristaps Porzingis pulling their bacon out of the fire with a big fourth quarter in the opening-day win over New York at MSG. Two nights later new starter Derrick White was the man with 28 vs. Miami at home.

All of which suggests an interesting season lies ahead.

Sports 101: Who’s the all-time leading scorer in NBA Finals?

News Item – Strength: They arguably now have the best six-player group in the league. And while I loved (most) of what Marcus Smart did, it was clear at the end of last year White was not only the consistently better player but also the better on ball defender. And while his toughness was invaluable, it was time for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to become the top leadership dogs.

News Item – Concerns – The Bench: These also were revealed in Game 1, when the bench gave them nothing (four points) in 33 minutes. And while Payton Pritchard could be ready for a bigger role, better consistency is paramount and answers for everywhere else are not obvious. So in some ways the season rides on whether Pritchard and Sam Hauser can exceed low expectations and someone (anyone) can emerge as a reliable big off the bench.

News Item – The New Guys: Besides the obvious (needed size up front), by going for33 vs. the Knicks with a strong inside defensive/shot blocking presence and surprisingly tough rebounding, Porzingis demonstrated in Game 1 what he can do — if he remains healthy.

The real surprise was seeing Holiday play a 6’9” bull like Julius Randle all night as he shot 4 for 22 in scoring just 14 points. That was impressive toughness.

The Numbers:

0, 4, 7, 8, 9 – Am I the only one who noticed Celtics starters Tatum, Holiday, Brown, Porzingis and White all have single digits on their jerseys? That’s a first in team history?

Random Thoughts:

I know he’s two years away from free agency, but the Celtics may rue the day they didn’t get White signed to an extensionby last week’s deadline.

I do love seeing Jalen Brunson, who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else Dallas owner Mark Cuban let walk to NY, ranked 32nd ahead of Kyrie Irving’s 34 in ESPN’s Top 100 Players. All while making $10 million less per than Cuban pays the overrated, team-killing Kyrie.

Continuing on with those ESPN’s Top 100 rankings. The guy who had Grant Williams, who wasn’t even in the Celtics’ regular rotation from March on, rated over the not-ranked Horford and Brogdon must be on some really strong recreational medication.

Porzingis at 62, Klay Thompson at 41, Holiday at 23 and Brown at 19 seem lower-ranked than they should. I’ve got JB cracking the Top 15.

Sports 101 Answer: L.A. Laker Jerry West is the NBA Finals top scorer with 1,679 points, followed by LeBron James (1,562) and Kareem Abdul Jabbar (1,317).

Final Thoughts – The Blockbuster Deals: I loved the Porzingis-Smart trade immediately. But not so much with the Portland deal. And it isn’t because by giving up Rob Williams, Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon and two first picks they overpaid for a 33-year-old point guard. It’s that they did so at the expense of their depth because it gives them zero insurance against a big injury to the not durable Porzingis and in the second game of the 12 back-to-back games Horford will not play in. But even more so after finding the long-term replacement for the 38-year-old Horford, it put them right back in the same position of needing to find his replacement with less trade material and more salary cap obstacles than before.

Brad Stevens hasn’t missed on one deal yet, so he gets the benefit of the doubt. But the feeling that gnaws at me is he’s taking a big long- and short-term risk to go for it right now over maybe having both without the second trade.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – Heat on Mac Jones: It’s amazing what actual pass protection does for a quarterback. After being thoroughly pummeled as being most responsible for the Patriots’ 1-5 start, Mac actually got some on Sunday vs. Buffalo.

And guess what? With the O-line playing well for the first time all season the Pats resembled a good team as Bill Belichick got his 300th career win. And with Jones going 25-30 for 272 yards and two TDs with, most importantly, no picks in the 29-25 win, the heat is off Mac for the minute.

But to keep it off, he’ll have to do it again this weekend vs. Miami, who’ll likely be looking for payback after losing 31-17 to Philly last Sunday night on national TV.

Sports 101: Name the one-time Patriot who holds the NFL record for TD passes caught from the most different quarterbacks.

News Item – Sox Struggle Finding New Baseball Boss: The search for a new chief of baseball operations is about to enter its third month for your Boston Red Sox, and the most notable thing about the search is the number of people who have said they’re not interested in the job.

While President Sam Kennedy arrogantly (and delusionally) sniffed at questions during the season-ending press conference about widespread disinterest in Boston, the rumors appear to be true, with the problem being the owner, whose indecision and recent lack of interest have been behind each of his last three GMs’ lasting just four years on the job before getting dumped.

The big question about their search is not who’s it going to be, but will they be able to get the best person for the big job ahead?

News Item – Jose Altuve Bombs Away Again: After hitting two more vs. Texas, the Astros’ 5’6”, 166-pound second baseman is at it again. Altuve hit a monster ninth-inning three-run shot to give the Astros a crucial Game 5 comeback win to put them up 3-2 in the ALCS. It gave him a second most ever 26 homers in just 424 postseason at-bats. That makes him the active leader and puts him in position to maybe catch all-time leader Manny Ramirez’s 29 if Houston got to the World Series with a Game 7 win that happened just after I filed this story.

The Numbers:

0 –interceptions by Jets DB Jordan Whitehead the last five weeks after getting three vs. Buffalo in Week 1.

523 – second-best NFL rushing yards for Indy’s Zach Moss after stepping in at running back due to star Jonathan Taylor’s holdout. But with Taylor now back, that’s a lot of yards going back to the bench

902 – league-leading receiving yards for Miami’s Tyreek Hill after six games, which projects to 2,558 over 17 games and would top Calvin Johnson’s single-season record 1,942 by more than 600 yards.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Eagles on Sunday Night: Loved those 1960s throwback uniforms Philadelphia wore Sunday night vs. Miami. Brought back memories of speedy flanker Tommy McDonald, the last NFL player to not wear a face mask, and the game’s last two-way player, ferocious Chuck Bednarik.

Why Can’t We Get Guys Like That – Nate Eovaldi: In case you ain’t been paying attention Big Nate is tearing it up in the postseason. After winning Sunday’s ALCS Game 6, he’s now 4-0 in October with a 2.42 ERA and 28 K’s in 26 innings.

Random Thoughts:

I know Kyle Schwarber has five homers in 11 postseason games for the Phillies. But with 14 whiffs in 42 at-bats and just six RBI, why in the name of Richie Ashburn is a .196 regular-season hitter batting lead-off?

Is there any offensive or defensive coordinator NBC’s Cris Collinsworth doesn’t make out to be a genius? The latest was Miami DC Vic Fangio, whom he endlessly praised Sunday for concocting defenses that are soooo confusing to QB’s. Well, if he’s so good, how come in 37 years of coaching he’s never been on a team that won a Super Bowl?

Sports 101 Answer: Former first overall pick Irving Fryar, who once got into a caraccident during a game he played in, holds the record for catching TD passes from 19 different QBs during his 17-year career.

Final Thought – Tips For Coach B: Two notes Bill Belichick needs to take from the Buffalo win.

(1) Leave Michael Onwenu at right tackle instead of moving him back to guard because they play much better when he’s on the outside.

(2) After his day on Sunday of four catches for 54 yards and 20 rushing yards, I don’t care if Demario Douglas fumbles five times next week. Leave him in because he has a speed burst none of the other receivers have. And he’s also got the Welker/Edelman-like quickness in tight spaces that is vital (and been MIA) to play in the slot, which is the second most important position in their offensive system.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – Pats Fall to 1-5: The struggles continued for the Patriots on Sunday with a 21-17 loss in Las Vegas made worse by coming at the hands of an alumni club including Josh McDaniels, a now-ticked-off-at-Bill Adam Butler, Jakobi Meyers (who scored their only TD), Jimmy Garoppolo and, after he got hurt, (gulp) Brian Hoyer, who was solid QB-ing off the bench.

With Buffalo and high-flying Miami dead ahead it’s now or never over the next two weeks, where we’ll know if it’ll just be an ongoing struggle for the rest of 2023 or a (surreal) go for Caleb Williams’ tank-a-thon.

Sports 101: Who’s played the most MLB games without ever playing in a postseason game? Hint: He’s a Hall of Famer.

News Item – Bruce Bochy a Difference-Maker: In his first year as manager the Rangers go from 73 wins to 90. Then in the playoffs he/they were bad news for the AL East as they swept 98-win Tampa Bay in the wild card round and then rolled the 101-win Orioles in the ALDS.

News Item – Japanese Important on Red Sox Radar: They’ve gone there before with Daisuke Matsuzaka. That is, going all in to sign a hyped Japanese pitcher for big money. The next one is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, whose career numbers — 70-29 and a 1.82 ERA along with winning three straight Japanese pitching triple crowns — are impressive. With a few exceptions, the numbers have rarely stood up for Japan imports like Dice-K. But, given their desperation for starting pitching and the need to give its highly irritated fan base red meat, it seems certain they’ll be in the hunt for their next big guy.

News Item – Baseball’s Playoffs March On: It’s the battle of Texas between the Astros and Rangers in the ALCS, notable for the fact that this is Houston’s seventh consecutive time in the ALCS. And in the NLCS it’s the second straight year deposed Red Sox GM Dave Dombrowski has his Phillies face off with Atlanta while the Sox are on vacation.

The Numbers:
11 – tackles recorded by my new favorite player, David Long Jr., to lead Miami in Sunday’s 42-21 win over Carolina.

12.1 – yards per carry average by Dolphins rookie runner De’Von Achane, the highest in history by anyone through four games of a season. Overall 460 yards on 36 carries, including 157 on 11 vs. the Giants two Sundays ago before injuring a knee, which will sideline him for a month.

457 – astonishing rushing yards and five TD’s on 27 carries in a ho-hum day at the office for Souhegan HS’s JJ Bright as they ran over Hanover High 41-22 earlier this month.

… Of the Week Awards
Question: With him stuck on 299 for three weeks people are wondering if Bill Belichick will ever get his 300th career regular-season win.

Triplets: In the Celtics’ 112-101 pre-season win over Philly, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingas and Derrick White each played 17 minutes and each scored 11 points.

Double Play: Game 2 of the Philly-Atlanta NLCS ended with an 8-6-5-3 double dip. After a great leaping warning-track catch, Michael Harris wheeled and over threw to second base, but third baseman Austin Riley, backing up second base, got it and whipped it to Matt Olson at first base to nail Bryce Harper, who was way past second base after thinking the ball would drop.

Random Thoughts:
With the arrest of former safety Sergio Brown for the alleged murder of his mother, that’s two guys from the 2011 Patriots arrested for murder, Aaron Hernandez being the other one of course.

The hardest thing to wrap my head around about the demise of the Patriots is how boring they are to watch.

Must say I love seeing the Dodgers lose in the playoffs. Mostly because I hate the fraidy-cat, by the book, robotic way Dave Roberts manages. It’s a big reason they get knocked out early almost every year.

Sports 101 Answer: The great Chicago Cub Ernie Banks holds the record for most games without playing in the postseason at 2,520.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – Belichick Hot Seat Gets Hotter: A week after being humiliated by the Cowboys, things got even worse for the Patriots as after being crushed again, this time by New Orleans 34-0 in Foxboro on Sunday, the last-place Patriots are effectively four games behind the 4-1 Dolphins in the AFC East already since Miami owns the tiebreaker from their 24-17 Week 2 win.

The second straight inept offensive performance led QB Mac Jones to be yanked again in the second half. And while Coach B says it won’t be next week, it seems inevitable he’s on the verge of losing his job to a guy who was cut in the final week of pre-season camp.

With them next heading to the site of last year’s most humiliating loss in Vegas, followed by games vs. Buffalo and in Miami, it’s likely the seat Bill Belichick sits on could be red hot before November even arrives.

Sports 101: Which franchise has the most wins in NFL history?

News Item – San Francisco Rises: A week after humbling the Patriots 38-3, the Cowboys got the same in a 42-7 loss on national TV to the 49ers. It moved the Niners to 5-0 as QB Brock Purdy continues to follow the script of the young Tom Brady in moving to 10-0 as a regular season starter after being taken dead last at 262 overall in the 2022 NFL draft. It grew SF’s point differential to +99 and strengthened the perception they’re now the team to beat.

News Item – It’s Not How You Start, It’s How You Finish: The Rays were the living breathing example of that old adage as their record-setting 13-0 start to 2023 didn’t mean much in the end. First Baltimore, who were already six games behind by April 14, caught them in mid-July on their way to winning the AL East by two games. Then it ended quickly in the wild card round, losing 0-2 vs. Texas.

The Numbers:

177 – number representing how bad a week it was for the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott, as it’s how many passes Houston rookie CJ Stroud has thrown to begin his career without an interception, breaking the record held by Dak until Sunday.

149.3 – passing rating against the just re-acquired JC Jackson during his tenure with the Chargers after leaving Foxboro as a free agent in 2022.

162.00 – ERA of Dodgers hurler Clayton Kershaw after surrendering five hits, a walk and six earned runs while getting just one Arizona batter out in L.A.’s 11-2 NLDS Game 1 loss.

19,704 – shockingly sparse number of people at Game 1 of the Rays–Texas playoff series in Tampa. It was baseball’s smallest postseason crowd since the 1919 World Series, when, oh by the way, gamblers paid the Black Sox to throw the series.

… Of the Week Awards

Why Can’t We Get Guys Like That Award – Jakobi Meyers: The ex-Patriot had 18 catches for 199 yards after his first three games with the Raiders before being sidelined with a concussion. The best anyone on his old team has mustered in five games is Hunter Henry’s 17 and 176.

Thumbs Up – Wenyen Gabriel: Nice to see one-time Trinity HS Pioneer get a chance to make the Celtics via the training camp contract he just signed.

Random Thoughts:

So much for drama in MLB’s Wild Card Series. Four 2-0 sweeps with only one game within two runs. Snore.

Sorry, Myles Bryant, a celebration dance after a sack with the Pats down 21-0 minutes into the second half is for losers.

Taylor Swift – Travis Kelce. Someone tell me why I should give a flip about that silly story.

A Little History – RIP Dick Butkus: Words can’t convey the ferocity of how the Bears’ all-time great middle linebacker played. Only a trip to YouTube can illustrate just how scary he was.

With all due respect to Lawrence Taylor, Butkus, who passed away last week at 80, was the most intimidating player ever.

While Taylor revolutionized the outside backer position I’d take Butkus over LT by a smidge as the greatest defensive player ever too, because he had a wider influence over the entire field than Taylor, exemplified by his 27 fumble recoveries and 22 interceptions in 112 games to LT’s two and 15 in 58 more games. RIP, big fella, and thanks for the memories.

Sports 101 Answer: Green Bay has the most NFL wins with 735. Pittsburgh, who picked number 700 last Sunday, is second.

Final Thought: I’m on record as saying short of a 2-15 disaster Coach B won’t get the ax after this year no matter what. But now I’m not so sure.

It’s not just the disasters of the last two weeks. Or even the 23-27 record since Tom Brady left the building. Most alarming as the dynasty fades in the rear view mirror is that they’re 3-12 vs. playoff teams post TB-12. Which means they are heading in the wrong direction with no apparent sign better days are on the horizon. And that’s all on Bill.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].