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Post by dex on Jan 23, 2016 12:14:53 GMT -5
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH
A show definitely worth watching
BILL REYNOLDS
So here we go again, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in Denver on Sunday afternoon, get the trumpets, winner goes to the Super Bowl, direct from Central Casting. Call it the Last Dance. Call it the Last Waltz. Call it anything you want. It’s a matchup that comes to us all but dripping with NFL history and nostalgia, a matchup that gets delivered to us one more time by the football gods. And so what if Manning is running on football fumes now, his arm strength gone, trying to get by on memory and guile? He is still Peyton Manning, once again on a very big football stage, terrain he long ago became very familiar with.
Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, two of the greatest quarterbacks in the long history of the NFL, once again together on one of the biggest stages in the game.
And maybe for the last time. ›
Rodney Bullock is the key to the Friars, for when he plays well, the third amigo along with Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil, they are very tough to beat.
› Is Julian Edelman always open, or does it just seem that way?
› Ditto for Gronk.
› When did the expression “haters’’ start, and more important, when will it go away?
› You know these are strange times in the sports world when one of the biggest stories is the rumored fixing of matches in professional tennis.
› QUIZ OF THE WEEK: Two NFL teams have been in the playoffs nine straight years, an NFL record. Who are they? (Answer near the bottom of the column.)
› LINE OF THE WEEK comes from the New York Daily News: “Alaska yakker Palin hops on Trump crazy train.’’
› LINE OF THE WEEK II comes from the Broncos’ Antonio Smith on Brady: “I’ve never seen any quarterback look to the referee right after he gets sacked more than Brady. Every time he gets sacked he looks at the ref like, ‘You see him sack me? Was that supposed to happen? He did it a little hard. Please throw a 15-yard penalty on him. Get him fined.’ ”
› LINE OF THE WEEK III comes from Ed Hawk, via email: “The three new realities in Rhode Island are death, taxes and truck tolls.’’
› LINE OF THE WEEK IV comes from Sarah Palin on Trump: “He’s been going rogue left and right.’’
› Then again, the General Assembly’s been going rogue for years, right?
› Knicks’ rookie Kristaps Porzingis has the fourth-best selling jersey in the NBA, right after Stephen Curry, LeBron and Kobe.
› According to the book “Super Bowl Gold: 50 Years,’’ the 1973 ad for Noxzema with Joe Namath and Farrah Fawcett was the first to use celebrities in a Super Bowl spot.
› You know the world has turned upside down, Bunky, with the news that some forms of alga are supposed to be good for you, and meat isn’t. Like who knew?
› Speaking of Brady, he’s 2-6 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver.
› They’ve been playing jazz at Bovi’s in East Providence for years, but now Bovi’s is closed and the word is the band is moving to the Met in Pawtucket.
› The Broncos had the most quarterback sacks with 52. The Pats were second at 49.
› Changing of the guard? Did you see where Rafael Nadal went out in the first round of the Australian Open?
› Davis Miller first met Muhammad Ali in 1988, and his new book “Approaching Ali: A Reclamation in Three Acts’’ is wonderful.
› Speaking of Brady again, the New York Daily News had a full back page this week of a picture of a baby underneath Brady’s face, with a headline that said, “CRYBABY.’’ › And politicians think they have it tough around here? › How long do you think it’s going to take the rest of the NFL coaching geniuses to realize the Pats’ quick-strike offense is the way to go in today’s NFL? › Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber, two child stars who got thrown into a bankrupt celebrity culture way too soon.
› In a fictional universe Peyton Manning wins the Super Bowl and walks away.
› But it seems to me reality is going to be ugly.
› Sort of like the Jeb Bush campaign, if you think about it.
› This from Joe Theismann on the Panthers’ Cam Newton: “He was a great athlete playing quarterback. Now he is a great quarterback who just happens to be a great athlete.’’
› Not many things surprise me anymore, but seeing my longtime colleague Jim Donaldson reclining on a bed while singing a Cardi’s TV commercial makes the cut.
› QUIZ ANSWER: Dallas (1975-1983) and Indianapolis (2002-2010).
› If the Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore shows up in your area you know it’s not going to be good.
› Bonzie Colson, former St. Andrew’s star and son of ex-Ram Bonzie Colson, had 31 points for Notre Dame as the Irish upset ninth-ranked Duke last weekend. Why can’t we get players like that?
› If this were boxing, Brady vs. Manning would be billed as the first great fight of the new century.
› Tyronn Lue the new coach of the Cavs, as Dave Blatt is out? No big shock. Lue’s always been LeBron’s guy.
› There’s no truth to the rumor that the two new official state foods are bread and milk.
› Or where is Salty Brine when we really need him?
— breynold @providencejournal.com On Twitter: @breynolds401 (401) 277-7340
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Bunky
Feb 20, 2016 10:52:54 GMT -5
pcdad likes this
Post by dex on Feb 20, 2016 10:52:54 GMT -5
COMMENTARY
We shouldn’t expect athletes to be more than they are
BILL REYNOLDS
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: One last word on the Peyton Manning mess, arguably the biggest sports story in the country this week.
It comes from an old quote about athletes by Thomas Boswell, a longtime sports writer at the Washington Post, which was brought to my attention the other day by Harry MacDonald of Cumberland, via email.
“They are as they do, nothing more,” Boswell wrote.
And shouldn’t that be enough?
They aren’t role models. They aren’t teachers. They aren’t there to give us life lessons, other than the obvious ones like hard work, commitment and dedication to their sport.
That is the enduring takeaway from this Peyton Manning mess, one of this country’s most recognizable athletes in the country, now in the crosshairs of controversy. The same Peyton Manning whose carefully constructed public image is beginning to unravel piece by piece.
Just the latest example that “They are as they do.”
Watching Kris Dunn in the open court is like watching a sprinter going downhill.
There is no way Manning comes back next season.
And you know that it’s just six degrees of separation, Bunky, with the news that Tom Brady and Gisele, and Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are vacationing together at an exclusive ski resort in Montana. Talk about a foursome.
How can you not like the Celtics, a spunky team with a great young coach?
¦ Nothing says spring around here more than the pictures of pitchers and catchers in Florida.
QUIZ OF THE WEEK: Can you name the four teams that were No. 1 seeds in last year’s NCAA men’s college basketball tournament? (Answer near the bottom of the column.)
LINE OF THE WEEK comes from the New York Daily News, which under a huge picture of Donald Trump, and a subhead about how the Pope said “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” has a screaming headline: “ANTI-CHRIST.”
¦ LINE OF THE WEEK II comes from Howie Carr in the Boston Herald on the young Bernie Sanders’ voters: “Your place or my mom’s basement?”
¦ LINE OF THE WEEK III comes from Kobe Bryant: “When you’re young, you never think you’re going to get old.”
¦ LINE OF THE WEEK IV comes from Kanye West, who says he’s $53 million in debt: “If I spent my money on my ideas I could not afford to take care of my family. I am in a place that so many artists end up.”
¦ This, of course, is the same Kanye West that one website lists his net worth at $145 million, so we probably won’t have to pass the hat anytime soon. ¦ Speaking of Kobe, did anyone ever get a bigger farewell than him at the All-Star Game, a three-hour send-off? ¦ Wake me up when the Nets get good.
¦ I never really thought that Donald Trump and the Pope would be mentioned in the same sentence, but clearly that was just my lack of vision.
¦ The New York Giants have re-signed long snapper Zak DeOssie, the former Brown football star, which makes him the second-longest tenured Giant behind Eli Manning. ¦ Little kids shouldn’t be allowed to watch the basketball atrocity that’s become the NBA All-Star Game.
¦ Either Kanye West has really lost his mind, or he needs an intervention.
¦ Then again, the General Assembly has needed an intervention for years, and no one’s stepped in yet, right?
¦ No sport milks the preseason any better than baseball, which long ago turned spring training into a slice of Americana.
¦ Did you see where former Sox player Will Middlebrooks and former NESN reporter Jenny Dell were married on Valentine’s Day?
¦ And that Clay Buchholz says Trump fixed Buchholz up with his wife Lindsay.
¦ And did you see where Drew Bledsoe said his most favorite year in football was last season when he coached his town’s high school football team — with three of his sons on the roster — to the state championship?
¦ This from the New York Daily News: So far in 2016 there have been at least 365 people shot in Chicago, with at least 70 dying from their wounds. ¦ The NBA trading deadline is just the latest example of anticipation being better than realization.
¦ “Hail, Caesar!” Not really. If it had been any worse, I would have crawled out of the theater.
¦ It’s going to take awhile before Cam Newton crawls out of the PR mess he created for himself.
¦ Did LeBron even play in the All-Star Game, overshadowed by Kobe’s last appearance and the ascension of Steph Curry as the guy everyone wants to see?
¦ Am I the only one who thinks last year’s Friars were better?
¦ R.I.P. Andy Dickerman, longtime Journal photographer, at 73.
¦ The word is that the new item is Rhode Island’s Olivia Culpo and the Pats’ Danny Amendola.
¦ Look up “cat fight” in the dictionary and there’s a picture of Trump and Cruz.
¦ QUIZ ANSWER: Kentucky, Villanova, Duke, Wisconsin.
¦ There’s no truth to the rumor that Kris Humphries just got traded for Kim Kardashian.
¦ Or that the new state dessert will be Toll House cookies.
¦ Or that if Hanley Ramirex can’t play first base the next stop is fast-pitch softball.
¦ Speaking of fast-pitch softball, you’ve seen too much, Bunky, if you remember Local 57.
¦ Pope Francis 1, Donald Trump 0, if you’re scoring at home.
— breynold@providence journal.com On Twitter: @breynolds401
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Bunky
Mar 5, 2016 7:42:38 GMT -5
Post by dex on Mar 5, 2016 7:42:38 GMT -5
COMMENTARY
Hey Roger Goodell, enough is enough!
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH:
¦ Ah, Deflategate.
Just when you thought it finally had slithered away, it’s back with a vengeance. Really?
That’s the only question to ask Roger Goodell as this sorry little saga now has another act. Really?
It’s as though Goodell has some kind of corporate death wish. Either that, or a bloodlust for vengeance. Nothing else makes any sense. It’s already been over a year since this sorry little spectacle began to play itself out, and from the beginning it didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Let’s see, we’re going to take the glamour player in the league and we are going to try to tarnish for him for supposedly deflating footballs? Not for domestic violence. Not for substance abuse. Not for any of the things that truly tarnish the sacred brand.
For supposedly deflating footballs.
Really?
¦ Steph Curry’s game-winning shot last Saturday — from almost 40 feet — to beat the Thunder has to be seen to be believed.
¦ Did you see where Joe Flacco just signed an NFLrecord contract extension for $66.4 million, including a $40 million signing bonus? Joe Flacco?
¦ The Republican debates aren’t exactly Lincoln-Douglas are they?
¦ The Knicks are so dysfunctional they make the Kardashians seem like Ozzie & Harriet.
¦ Either that, or the Republican debates.
¦ There aren’t too many NBA coaches any better than the Celtics’ Brad Stevens. ¦ QUIZ OF THE WEEK: Who is the only PC basketball player in the top five in both career scoring and rebounding? (Answer near the bottom of the column.)
¦ LINE OF THE WEEK comes from Curt Schilling on a Kansas City sports talk show on Hillary Clinton: “If she’s allowed to get to the general election before she’s in prison, I’ll be stunned and upset.”
¦ LINE OF THE WEEK II comes from 75-year-old Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti in the New York Daily News, who says he took 525,000 blows to the head: “Are you telling me I don’t have issues? Of course I have issues. I have cognitive issues. I have falling issues. I have balance issues. I do have, do have, do have … If I sound like I’m upset, it’s because I am.”
¦ LINE OF THE WEEK III comes from LeBron James on Stephen Curry, via Twitter: “needs to stop it man!! He’s ridiculous man! Never before seen someone like him in the history of ball!”
Me neither, LeBron, for what it’s worth.
¦ LINE OF THE WEEK IV comes from Chris Rock while hosting the Oscars, and talking about the lack of diversity historically in Hollywood, and the lack of protest about it: “When your grandmother’s swinging from a tree, it’s really hard to care about best documentary foreign short.”
¦ The Boston Herald’s “Inside Track” is reporting that Gronk is going to host a kids show on Nickelodeon, something like “America’s funniest home videos with jocks.” ¦ But there’s no truth to the rumor that he’s going to leave the party bus at home.
¦ Or that the now-defunct Trump University was going to be on the Friars’ nonleague schedule.
¦ Or that Trump is Bruce Sundlun on steroids.
¦ Or that Trump and Marco Rubio looked like they were doing a scene from “Jersey Boys” the other night. At a carnival.
¦ Either that, or doing a remake of “me and Julio down by the schoolyard.”
¦ You know it’s spring training when the big news of the day is that someone threw a “side session.”
¦ Although a “side session” in the General Assembly means someone’s making a deal, right?
¦ You know what big time in college sports is these days? Big time is that the Michigan football team is having four practices in Florida at the IMG Academy.
¦ You know it’s not your daddy’s world anymore, Bunky, with the news that the Rolling Stones are going to perform in Cuba.
¦ Are you getting the feeling that sophomore Ben Bentil might be shooting himself right out of Friar-town next year?
¦ The Oscars’ TV ratings fell to their lowest in eight years.
¦ Seton Hall appears to be heading to their first NCAA Tournament in a decade.
¦ A-Rod will turn 41 in July, if you want to send him a card.
¦ Why does anyone care what a celebrity thinks about politics?
¦ You know we’re living in very strange times, Bunky, when 17 million people supposedly have seen nude pictures of TV sports reporter Erin Andrews on the Internet.
¦ Bovada has the Sox at 8/5 to win the American League East, followed by the Blue Jays at 7/4 and the Yankees at 7/2.
¦ Narragansett basketball player Jason Palmer is the great-grandson of former South Kingstown basketball great Paul Frye.
¦ There’s no way in this world that social media is good for kids.
¦ QUIZ ANSWER: LaDontae Henton.
¦ Sylvester Stallone got robbed the other night at the Oscars for his great performance in a supporting role in “Creed.”
¦ How good is Stephen Curry? If he hadn’t made a two-point shot all year, he still would be averaging 20.4 points a game. That good.
¦ When John Farrell looks over does he see Torey Lovullo in the on-deck circle?
¦ R.I.P. Bud Collins at 86, the former Boston Globe sportswriter who found his TV celebrity for his tennis knowledge, big personality, and outlandish outfits.
¦ Mike McDermott, who has been the sports editor here at The Journal for the last six years, goes across the room to become an assistant managing editor/metro. He has my enduring thanks.
— breynold@providence- journal.com On Twitter: @breynolds401
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Bunky
Jan 28, 2017 10:09:33 GMT -5
Post by dex on Jan 28, 2017 10:09:33 GMT -5
COMMENTARY
It all comes down to this for Brady, Belichick, et al
BILL REYNOLDS
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH:
■ The “Revenge Tour” has only one game to go.
Tom Brady’s “Revenge Tour.”
Bill Belichick’s “Revenge Tour.”
Robert Kraft’s “Revenge Tour.”
Patriots fans’ “Revenge Tour.”
Only one game to go in this strangest of seasons, one that began with a four-game suspension for the farce known as Deflategate, and this season that’s been about revenge ever since.
■ There’s no truth to the rumor that Roger Goodell might take a “sick day” on Super Bowl Sunday.
■ The Falcons have the NFL’s most prolific offense and have topped 40 points six times, including the playoffs, this season.
■ What ... exactly ... is “alternative facts”?
■ You know we’re officially in the Twilight Zone, Bunky, with the news that the Celtics will begin wearing a small GE logo on their uniform tops next season. What’s next, “Chico’s Bail Bonds?”
■ QUIZ OF THE WEEK: Who are the NBA’s top five all-time leaders in triple-doubles? (Answer near the bottom of the column.)
■ LINE OF THE WEEK comes from Brady: “I don’t like a lot of confrontation. Those things don’t make me feel very good. I wouldn’t be a good talk show host.”
■ LINE OF THE WEEK II comes from former Jets linebacker Bart Scott, via the Boston Herald, on the news that someone had pulled a fire alarm in the Boston hotel the Steelers were staying in last weekend: “It’s always something. Everything always goes a little crazy out there.”
■ LINE OF THE WEEK III comes from Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the New York Post about his rivalry with Brady: “It’s a team game; we’re not playing tennis.”
■ LINE OF THE WEEK IV comes from columnist Steve Buckley in the Boston Herald: “Our country has been transformed into a coast-to-coast high school cafeteria, and a food fight of biblical proportions is just getting under way.”
■ The movie “Hidden” will steal your heart.
■ Jack Nicklaus is 77, if you’re trying to keep score at home, Bunky.
■ I still can’t get used to Syracuse in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
■ Old friend Rick Harris recently won his 200th game as the coach of CCRI’s men’s basketball team.
■ And the sleeper movie of the year is “Moonlight.”
■ Brent Musburger, 77, one of the most recognizable voices in sports broadcasting, is calling it quits on Tuesday.
■ I never thought I’d see the Celtics wearing gray uniform tops with short sleeves, but never say never, right?
■ And in Tuesday night’s game between the Celtics and the Wizards both teams were wearing short sleeves.
■ R.I.P. Mary Tyler Moore, one of television’s all-time greats.
■ Did you see where Roethlisberger is thinking of retiring?
■ The Celtics’ Isaiah Thomas is now second in the NBA in scoring, as his dream season continues.
■ The women’s march on Washington last weekend felt like the 1960s all over again.
■ Creighton began the season as one of the best college basketball teams in the country. Then they lost point guard Maurice Watson Jr. to injury, and now they aren’t.
■ If the Pats win the Super Bowl next weekend, does Brady stake his claim as the the most successful player in the game’s history?
■ Alternative facts or just fake news? You tell me, Bunky.
■ Or as Barbara Ortutay of The Associated Press wrote the other day: “Down is up. The sky is red. Dogs are birthing kittens. Facts? Nope. Try ‘alternative facts.’ “
■ St. John’s beat the Friars at The Dunk the other night. That was the best-shooting St. John’s team I’ve seen in many a basketball moon. The great Chris Mullin, now the coach, must be giving them lessons.
■ The Steelers came out Sunday night against the Pats as if they were from Beverly Hills, not gritty Pittsburgh.
■ There are four basketball games at CCRI on Saturday afternoon, with CCRI playing Roxbury Community College at 2 p.m., followed by South Kingstown, Classical and Coventry playing three Connecticut teams.
■ I can’t remember the last good song I heard on the radio.
■ Both Brady and Belichick scramble when asked questions about President Trump.
■ Certain television shows used to unify the country. Now there are too many channels.
■ But there’s no truth to the rumor that if Trump comes to Rhode Island, he’ll think the Independent Man was put on top of the State House to honor him.
■ QUIZ ANSWER: Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, Wilt Chamberlain, Russell Westbrook. (Larry Bird is sixth.)
■ Barnum & Bailey is gone? So what, we’ve got Washington, right?
■ There will be two high school games to raise money for Special Olympics on Saturday afternoon. Bay View will play West Warwick in girls basketball at 1 p.m. at Brown University. And Coventry will play Hendricken at 2:30 in boys basketball on Sunday, also at Brown. Admission is $5.
■ Did you see where Phil Simms said Aaron Rodgers is the greatest thrower in the history of the NFL?
■ Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma Thunder is as talented an offensive player as there is in the NBA.
■ Raise your hand if you see a lot of cranes in the sky around here, Bunky.
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pcdad
Friar Fanatic
Posts: 3,707
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Bunky
Jan 29, 2017 15:58:25 GMT -5
Post by pcdad on Jan 29, 2017 15:58:25 GMT -5
Got Oscar, Wilt, guessed Magic, I guess didn't appreciate Kidd, Bird as 6th makes sense. Would not have guessed Russell Westbrook as I don't watch nba anymore.
My son tells me that the nba has great players and chides me for watching college basketball. So I posed Bunky's quiz question and he not only named the top 6 but in the correct order....
Humbled...again.
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Bunky
Jan 29, 2017 17:00:29 GMT -5
Post by dex on Jan 29, 2017 17:00:29 GMT -5
COMMENTARY
It all comes down to this for Brady, Belichick, et al
BILL REYNOLDS
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH:
■ The “Revenge Tour” has only one game to go.
Tom Brady’s “Revenge Tour.”
Bill Belichick’s “Revenge Tour.”
Robert Kraft’s “Revenge Tour.”
Patriots fans’ “Revenge Tour.”
Only one game to go in this strangest of seasons, one that began with a four-game suspension for the farce known as Deflategate, and this season that’s been about revenge ever since.
■ There’s no truth to the rumor that Roger Goodell might take a “sick day” on Super Bowl Sunday.
■ The Falcons have the NFL’s most prolific offense and have topped 40 points six times, including the playoffs, this season.
■ What ... exactly ... is “alternative facts”?
■ You know we’re officially in the Twilight Zone, Bunky, with the news that the Celtics will begin wearing a small GE logo on their uniform tops next season. What’s next, “Chico’s Bail Bonds?”
■ QUIZ OF THE WEEK: Who are the NBA’s top five all-time leaders in triple-doubles? (Answer near the bottom of the column.)
■ LINE OF THE WEEK comes from Brady: “I don’t like a lot of confrontation. Those things don’t make me feel very good. I wouldn’t be a good talk show host.”
■ LINE OF THE WEEK II comes from former Jets linebacker Bart Scott, via the Boston Herald, on the news that someone had pulled a fire alarm in the Boston hotel the Steelers were staying in last weekend: “It’s always something. Everything always goes a little crazy out there.”
■ LINE OF THE WEEK III comes from Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the New York Post about his rivalry with Brady: “It’s a team game; we’re not playing tennis.”
■ LINE OF THE WEEK IV comes from columnist Steve Buckley in the Boston Herald: “Our country has been transformed into a coast-to-coast high school cafeteria, and a food fight of biblical proportions is just getting under way.”
■ The movie “Hidden” will steal your heart.
■ Jack Nicklaus is 77, if you’re trying to keep score at home, Bunky.
■ I still can’t get used to Syracuse in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
■ Old friend Rick Harris recently won his 200th game as the coach of CCRI’s men’s basketball team.
■ And the sleeper movie of the year is “Moonlight.”
■ Brent Musburger, 77, one of the most recognizable voices in sports broadcasting, is calling it quits on Tuesday.
■ I never thought I’d see the Celtics wearing gray uniform tops with short sleeves, but never say never, right?
■ And in Tuesday night’s game between the Celtics and the Wizards both teams were wearing short sleeves.
■ R.I.P. Mary Tyler Moore, one of television’s all-time greats.
■ Did you see where Roethlisberger is thinking of retiring?
■ The Celtics’ Isaiah Thomas is now second in the NBA in scoring, as his dream season continues.
■ The women’s march on Washington last weekend felt like the 1960s all over again.
■ Creighton began the season as one of the best college basketball teams in the country. Then they lost point guard Maurice Watson Jr. to injury, and now they aren’t.
■ If the Pats win the Super Bowl next weekend, does Brady stake his claim as the the most successful player in the game’s history?
■ Alternative facts or just fake news? You tell me, Bunky.
■ Or as Barbara Ortutay of The Associated Press wrote the other day: “Down is up. The sky is red. Dogs are birthing kittens. Facts? Nope. Try ‘alternative facts.’ “
■ St. John’s beat the Friars at The Dunk the other night. That was the best-shooting St. John’s team I’ve seen in many a basketball moon. The great Chris Mullin, now the coach, must be giving them lessons.
■ The Steelers came out Sunday night against the Pats as if they were from Beverly Hills, not gritty Pittsburgh.
■ There are four basketball games at CCRI on Saturday afternoon, with CCRI playing Roxbury Community College at 2 p.m., followed by South Kingstown, Classical and Coventry playing three Connecticut teams.
■ I can’t remember the last good song I heard on the radio.
■ Both Brady and Belichick scramble when asked questions about President Trump.
■ Certain television shows used to unify the country. Now there are too many channels.
■ But there’s no truth to the rumor that if Trump comes to Rhode Island, he’ll think the Independent Man was put on top of the State House to honor him.
■ QUIZ ANSWER: Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, Wilt Chamberlain, Russell Westbrook. (Larry Bird is sixth.)
■ Barnum & Bailey is gone? So what, we’ve got Washington, right?
■ There will be two high school games to raise money for Special Olympics on Saturday afternoon. Bay View will play West Warwick in girls basketball at 1 p.m. at Brown University. And Coventry will play Hendricken at 2:30 in boys basketball on Sunday, also at Brown. Admission is $5.
■ Did you see where Phil Simms said Aaron Rodgers is the greatest thrower in the history of the NFL?
■ Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma Thunder is as talented an offensive player as there is in the NBA.
■ Raise your hand if you see a lot of cranes in the sky around here, Bunky.
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Bunky
Oct 7, 2017 8:56:59 GMT -5
Post by dex on Oct 7, 2017 8:56:59 GMT -5
COMMENTARY
It’s amazing what a victory can do
BILL REYNOLDS
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH:
■ Are we all off the ledge yet? Is the shrink no longer on speed dial? Is everything back to normal, Foxboro still the center of the NFL world? Sure seems like it. We all knew that the Patriots couldn’t be as bad as they looked in the first few weeks, right? We all knew that a Bill Belichick-coached team wasn’t going to keep playing defense as if it were in some flag football game, right? We all knew that it was only a matter of time before the Pats were going to start looking like the Pats again, and everything was going to be all right with the football world again, right? I mean we all knew this, right?
■ If your team’s not in the playoffs, it’s like driving by a party at someone else’s house.
■ R.I.P. the big movie complexes. It’s just a matter of time.
■ Don’t invite LeBron and Donald Trump to the same party. Not after LeBron recently called him a “bum’’ on Twitter.
■ He’s never really lived up to expectations with the Red Sox, given the $217 million he got to come here in 2016, but now David Price has another chance to endear himself to Red Sox Nation, this time as a reliever.
■ QUIZ OF THE WEEK: Who has hit the most home runs at home for the Yankees in one season? (Answer near the bottom of the column.)
■ LINE OF THE WEEK comes from the Knicks’ Michael Beasley on all the money-driven scandals swirling around college basketball, via the New York Daily News: “You guys are just catching on.’’
■ LINE OF THE WEEK II comes from former Jets and Bills coach Rex Ryan, who supports the NFL players kneeling in protest: “I’m ... off. I’ll be honest with you, because I supported Donald Trump.’’
■ Tom Brady was sacked 15 times all of last season. This season he’s already been sacked 16 times.
■ The Giants are off to a 0-4 start. Where is Sam Huff when you really need him?
■ South County is never more beautiful than in October.
■ No, Mookie Betts didn’t have the kind of season he had last year, but he’s still the Sox’ best player.
■ Who knows where the time goes, Bunky? Pedro Martinez Jr., son of you know who, has signed a minor-league contract with the Detroit Tigers.
■ Harlan Coben has written something like 30 crime novels, many of them best-sellers, so you can be assured that his new one, “Don’t Let Go,’’ will be one, too.
■ What’s up with Colin Kaepernick? He in the witness protection program, or what?
■ In today’s bleak movie world, “Brad’s Status’’ is “Gone With The Wind.’’
■ Jim Calhoun, 75, the Hall of Fame basketball coach at UConn who retired five years ago, will coach next year at St. Joseph, a Division III school in West Hartford.
■ The Associated Press is reporting that legal sports gambling could be in 32 states within five years.
■ Fox News is the No. 1 cable network for the 63rd straight quarter.
■ Speaking of Kaepernick, you don’t have to be the reincarnation of Vince Lombardi to know there are worse quarterbacks in the NFL.
■ Ron St. Pierre, of WPRO fame, will be inducted into the Pawtucket Hall of Fame on Oct. 27 at Pawtucket Country Club. He already is in the R.I. Radio Hall of Fame.
■ Speaking of the Yankees, you’ve got a great memory, Bunky, if you remember that from 1981 until 1995 they never played in the postseason.
■ This from the New York Daily News: Since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, there have been 1,518 acts of gun violence in this country in which at least four people were either killed or wounded, nearly one a day, according to the Gun Violence Archive website.
■ R.I.P. Hugh Hefner, a cultural icon of sorts.
■ But few things seem more dated than Playboy magazine.
■ QUIZ ANSWER: Aaron Judge with 33 this season. (Babe Ruth had 32 at the Polo Grounds in 1921.)
■ It’s just a matter of time before some TV network gives away the store for the O.J. interview, right?
■ Did you see where Russell Westbrook just got a five-year contract extension from Oklahoma City for $205 million.
■ Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys. Let them grow up to be NBA superstars.
■ There’s no truth to the rumor that the Independent Man has played out his contract and is now a free agent.
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pcdad
Friar Fanatic
Posts: 3,707
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Bunky
Oct 7, 2017 19:53:39 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by pcdad on Oct 7, 2017 19:53:39 GMT -5
Thanks Dex. Thanks Bunky for the observations and factoids. None more sobering than the aftermath of the Sandy Hook slaughter of innocents.
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Bunky
Nov 12, 2017 10:17:34 GMT -5
Post by dex on Nov 12, 2017 10:17:34 GMT -5
FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH:
■ Who is the world's greatest living athlete?
GQ magazine says it's LeBron James.
And as the story says, you have to be more than just a great athlete. You have to be some sort of global presence, as inflated as that sounds.
It has to be LeBron, the best player in a global sport, someone who is recognized virtually everywhere he goes.
■ The Friars played at Alumni Hall on Friday night. When I was a kid, that was the state's basketball dream palace. Sacred ground.
■ Can we get through a week in this country without some nut job going on a rampage with a gun that was meant for war, or has that become too much to ask?
■ As great as Isaiah Thomas was last year for the Celtics, Kyrie Irving is better.
■ Speaking of Irving, there are very few people in the long history of the game who handle the ball any better than he does.
■ QUIZ OF THE WEEK: What was the name of the Patriots when they first moved to Foxboro? (Answer near the bottom of the column.)
■ LINE OF THE WEEK comes from Brian Hoyer in the Boston Herald on Tom Brady needing just 32 yards to rush for 1,000 in his career: “It only took him 18 years.”
■ LINE OF THE WEEK II comes from all-time NFL great Nick Buoniconti, who said the other day in the Boston Globe from his wheelchair at Boston University that his life has been irreparably damaged by football head collisions, and is pledging to donate his brain and spinal cord for research: “I'm not half the man I used to be.''
■ LINE OF THE WEEK III comes from LeBron in GQ: “I don't owe anybody anything.”
■ LINE OF THE WEEK IV comes from Tom Brady on Instagram with a photo of Gisele in a bikini sprawled on some beach: "Sun's out.''
■ The Associated Press is reporting that Ultimate Frisbee is due to become a high school varsity sport in two years.
■ There's no truth to the rumor that tears are falling down the faces of old New York Giants when they look at the mess the Giants are now.
■ Or that the Independent Man is out on a case this week.
■ The new emerging superstar in the NBA is 7-foot-3 Kristaps Porzingis of the Knicks.
■ NFL ratings are reportedly down 19 percent from two years ago.
■ Another college football season and there is Alabama right up there in the polls. You know the ''Bear'' is smiling somewhere.
■ Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum is the real deal.
■ The Sixers went over the .500 mark the other night for the first time in nearly four years.
■ But there's no truth to the rumor that Julius Erving in his prime is going to come walking through that door anytime soon.
■ Every time I see Billy Donovan coaching in the NBA I see the PC kid who Rick Pitino turned into "Billy the Kid,'' the beginning of this amazing basketball journey Donovan is still on.
■ The late John Saunders, of ESPN fame, has a posthumous memoir out with John U. Bacon. It's called "Playing Hurt, My Journey From Despair to Hope," and it's one interesting tale.
■ R.I.P. Roy Halladay.
■ The NCAA needs a makeover.
■ Did the state decide to now do all the road work that should have been done over the last decade, or does it just seem that way?
■ The Pats start the second half of the season with five of six games on the road.
■ David Ortiz has a future in broadcasting if he wants it.
■ You need a guide to figure out the new radio formats in Boston.
■ QUIZ ANSWER: The Bay State Patriots
■ The jobless rate is at a 17-year low.
■ Dwyane Wade, now 35, looks as if he's playing on fumes.
■ The New York Post has URI as the 24th-best college basketball team in the country.
■ You know the one book I'd love to read some day? The one where both Brady and Belichick tell the truth about their long relationship.
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Post by wtm97 on Nov 12, 2017 13:45:43 GMT -5
Good column from the Bunkmeister ..
Alumni Hall is SACRED GROUND.
Hilarious is Tom Brady needing 18 years to make 1,000 yards even as he is getting hit hard now - he goes down and so do the Pats with both back ups now traded.
Very early on it is true but tune in to see Celtic's 19 year old rookie Jason Tatum who has all the markings of being a very special NBA player - Danny Ainge strikes again.
Should add Brad Stevens is one heck of a coach - and yes coaching DOES matter in the NBA.
And yes, for those of us who still like and watch baseball, David Ortiz does have a future in broadcasting - he is engagingly funny without being a cartoon character - guy is smart and knows the game.
So does Pedro Martinez for that matter...
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Bunky
Nov 18, 2017 12:20:20 GMT -5
Post by dex on Nov 18, 2017 12:20:20 GMT -5
Sports talk radio follows crooked line
BILL REYNOLDS
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH:
■ Sports talk shows want their hosts to be edgy, controversial, and always in the middle of the cultural fire.
Just don’t step over the line.
Even if the line is always moving.
The line moved for NBC Sports Boston host Michael Felger when he dumped all over the late Roy Halladay for essentially being reckless in his small plane over the Gulf of Mexico.
The lasting message?
Just keep doing what you’re doing, because it’s very popular, until you go over that line that’s not really defined.
Then we’ll start this little dog-and-pony show all over again, this public charade.
■ Brad Stevens is coaching the Celtics as if he were present at the game’s creation.
■ American Exceptional-ism? Forty percent of us are reportedly overweight.
■ Has Comic Con left downtown Providence yet? Sometimes it’s difficult to know.
■ How good is the Red Sox’ Chris Sale? He has been a major-league starter for six seasons and has finished in the top six of the Cy Young Award voting all six years. That’s how good.
■ All the best to URI’s E.C. Matthews, a wonderful kid with buzzard's luck, who fractured his wrist the other night and will be out for 4-6 weeks. He missed all of the 2015-16 season with a knee injury.
■ QUIZ OF THE WEEK: Who was the first Celtics player to be named to the Basketball Hall of Fame? (Answer near the bottom of the column.)
■ LINE OF THE WEEK is from longtime NFL broadcaster Al Michaels: "Father Time has no idea where Tom Brady lives.''
■ LINE OF THE WEEK II comes from Richard Pitino, who stopped in here Monday night with his Minnesota Gophers and beat the Friars: "The thing about Providence is the people never leave. I might be the only one who got out of here because everybody is the same and that's 12 years ago. I love that about Providence.''
■ Pitino, by the way, has all the little coaching mannerisms of his father on the sideline.
■ LINE OF THE WEEK III comes from the Celtics' Al Horford on his new 3-point shooting ability: “The young Al Horford couldn’t shoot 3s.”
■ LINE OF THE WEEK IV comes from the New York Post: "Millennials don't believe in free speech because it's too hurtful.''
■ LINE OF THE WEEK V comes from ESPN's Jay Bilas on college basketball's "one-and-done'' phenomena: "We didn't have parity before the one-and-done era. There's never been parity in college basketball.''
■ Take away Aaron Judge, and the Red Sox' Andrew Benintendi would be the American League's rookie of the year.
■ Speaking of Aaron Judge, he will be the new public face of Pepsi.
■ People magazine is calling Blake Shelton the "sexiest man alive." Blake Shelton. Really?
■ No wonder magazines seem to be against the ropes in this increasingly bizarre culture of ours.
■ Bruins' owner Jeremy Jacobs was a 2017 inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
■ Joe Biden in 2020? Really?
■ You don't have to pass the hat for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. He reportedly wants $50 million in salary, along with a so-called "compensation package.''
■ And I thought they were still called salaries. Silly me.
■ GQ's "Citizen of the Year?'' Out-of-work quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who hasn't played a game in nearly two seasons.
■ "Her Every Fear,'' a new crime novel mostly set in Boston, by Peter Swanson, should keep you interested.
■ Mike Francesa, the longtime sports talk show host at WFAN in New York, is leaving the station Dec. 15.
■ Looking for the new definition of "football wasteland?'' New York City, where both the Giants and the Jets need a "do over.''
■ So does the General Assembly, but what are you going to do, Bunky?
■ One word on Celtics' rookie Jason Tatum: WOW!
■ Zen Question of the Week: How come celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain never seems to gain weight?
■ Jacoby Ellsbury just finished the fourth year of his seven-year $153-million dollar contract, and the word is the Yankees can't wait to get rid of him.
■ Kyrie Irving was the 17th-best scorer in the NBA in the last list I saw.
■ The Yankees were a lot more fun when "The Boss" was running the show.
■ As was Rhode Island government back in the day when Bruce Sundlun was strutting around the state as if he owned it.
■ The Friars' game the other night at Alumni Hall had a great atmosphere.
■ Warriors coach Steve Kerr called the Celtics the team of the future in the East the other day.
■ Do yourself a little favor, Bunky, and go back to your roots on Thursday morning and check out a high school football game.
■ QUIZ ANSWER: Ed Macauley in 1960.
■ NFL players hate playing Thursday night. Stay tuned.
■ Once again Tom Brady is in the race to be the MVP of the NFL as we head toward the three-quarter pole.
■ Why isn't Luis Tiant in the Hall of Fame?
■ The Friars need both Rodney Bullock and Jalen Lindsey to step it up, two seniors who have quality talent.
■ There's no truth to the rumor Kennedy Plaza is Comic Con on training wheels.
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pcdad
Friar Fanatic
Posts: 3,707
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Bunky
Nov 18, 2017 22:18:54 GMT -5
Post by pcdad on Nov 18, 2017 22:18:54 GMT -5
Ellsberg is a bust. No need to gloat. The Boss was a convicted criminal. And I'll refrain from disparaging him further.
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Bunky
Nov 28, 2017 9:37:22 GMT -5
Post by dex on Nov 28, 2017 9:37:22 GMT -5
COMMENTARY
Rams’ victory an attention getter
BILL REYNOLDS
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH:
■ Signature win?
The one that goes out across the college basketball world like a shot in the dark?
URI’s victory over No. 20 Seton Hall on Thursday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn was it.
Could there be a bigger early-season victory for Dan Hurley and the Rams?
Not many.
These are the kind of wins that get attention in the college basketball world, the message that says the Rams are legitimate.
And, yes, they have another big game in a week when they host the Friars, but perception-wise, this game was bigger.
■ Online gambling is the future, Bunky, like it or not.
■ The NFL’s TV numbers continue to go down.
■ Move over Gisele. Kendall Jenner is now the highest-paid model in the world.
■ Great coaches make teams better as the season goes on and the Pats are just the latest example.
■ QUIZ OF THE WEEK: Name the quarterback with the most consecutive starts in NFL history? (Answer the most consecutive starts in NFL history? (Answer near the bottom of the column.)
■ LINE OF THE WEEK comes from Chris Mullin, the St. John’s basketball coach, who has made the Red Storm better: “Everything we do, going back two years, has always been geared towards winning. I’m not here recreationally. I swim for recreation.”
■ LINE OF THE WEEK II comes from President Trump, who said after LaVar Ball, the father of one of the three UCLA basketball players jailed in China for shoplifting, criticized him, “I should have left them in jail.”
■ LINE OF THE WEEK III comes from Esther Wojcicki, the mother of A-Rod’s ex-girlfriend, Anne Wojcicki, who is a Silicon Valley honcho: “I liked A-Rod, he was very nice man. But I right away figured this was a mismatch. He had no academic background. He couldn’t have an intellectual conversation about anything.”
■ ZEN QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Does Seton Hall keep Dan Hurley on its alumni list after his Rams beat the Pirates the other night?
■ Speaking of the Balls, Lonzo Ball, the Lakers rookie, is shooting just 31.5 percent from the field, and 25 percent on 3-pointers.
■ The Cleveland Browns are 4-43 going back to November 2014, the worst 47-game stretch in NFL history.
■ But there’s no truth to the rumor that Jim Brown was seen walking around with tears in his eyes.
■ Or that someone should throw Eli Manning a life raft as the Giants seem lost in a swirling sea.
■ Or that the Independent Man says he’s not sure he’s ready for another Rhode Island winter.
■ The late Manute Bol has a 7-foot-2 son, Bol Bol, who has signed to play basketball at the University of Oregon next year.
■ Tom Brady has not missed a game due to injury since 2008.
■ Forbes has Beyoncé as the highest-paid female singer from June 2016 to June 2017 with $105 million, with Adele at $69 million. The rest of the top five: Taylor Swift, Celine Dion and Jennifer Lopez.
■ Dolphins quarterback Jay Cutler says he’s had three concussions in the last seven years.
■ All you have to know about how bad the AFC is, is that the Jets still think they’re in the wildcard chase at 4-6.
■ And that the Independent Man thinks he can play for them.
■ Yes, Kyrie Irving is great, but the Celtics wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as they are without Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, two kids with talent as big as the Garden itself.
■ Ed Iannuccilli writes wonderful, evocative memoirs about growing up in Rhode Island, and his latest is “My Story Continues: from Neigborhood to Junior High School.”
■ R.I.P. Ferdie Pacheco, “The Fight Doctor,” at 89.
■ Watch the NBA, and tell me what the rules are, Bunky.
■ It’s kind of like politics, the line is always moving.
■ This from Raiders quarterback Derek Carr on the Patriots: “They don’t do anything special. They just do everything right.”
■ Is it some kind of sin around here to say that too many Pats’ games are boring, all the suspense gone by halftime?
■ And is it bad form to root for the turkey at the next Thanksgiving Day family dinner?
■ QUIZ ANSWER: Brett Favre with 297.
■ Is there always an SUV in your rearview mirror, or does it just seem that way?
■ Jets wide receiver Jeremy Kerley says there will be no more football for his 8-year-old son, who came home from football practice saying he had a headache.
■ Did you see where Warriors coach Steve Kerr called the Celtics the team of the future in the East?
■ Memo to Tom Brady: the NFL is not supposed to be this easy.
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Bunky
Dec 2, 2017 10:52:57 GMT -5
Post by dex on Dec 2, 2017 10:52:57 GMT -5
COMMENTARY
Best day of the year in college basketball
BILL REYNOLDS
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH:
■ In many ways Saturday’s game between PC and URI is the best college basketball day of the year around here, a game that always comes to us wrapped in both history and passion, a rivalry that is always about home turf and bragging rights. And most important? It’s about identity, too. And, yes, it’s complicated. Old memories die hard? No doubt. But the game is always a Rhode Island treat. And if once upon a time they used to play twice a year, that’s now long gone. So they will play this one in early December and then go off on their respective basketball journeys. But what a game it promises to be.
■ Kris Dunn, the former Friars great, now in his second season, is starting to settle into the NBA with the Chicago Bulls.
■ Matt Lauer, we hardly knew ‘ya.
■ Memo to Darrelle Revis, who just signed with the Chiefs: There are no islands in Kansas City.
■ The NFL is a cruel lover with a short memory? Look at what the Giants are doing to Eli Manning, who has been benched after 210 consecutive starts.
■ QUIZ OF THE WEEK: Larry Bird holds the Celtics’ record for career triple-doubles with
69. Who is second? Hint: The category began in the 1979-80 season. (Answer near the bottom of the column.)
■ LINE OF THE WEEK comes from Tiger Woods, who said he was in a personal hell for too many years due to his bad back and the prescription drugs he took to deal with the pain: “I’m loving life now.’’
■ LINE OF THE WEEK II comes from John Dennis, the former radio and TV personality, on his time in Boston working with the now disgraced Matt Lauer: “I was just a lowly sportscaster so he didn’t really interact with me. He didn’t really want to get the soles of his Bruno Magli’s dirty by associating with the cretins of the sports department.’’
■ LINE OF THE WEEK III comes from former Giants linebacker Carl Banks on the benching of Eli Manning: “He deserves better. If there’s a New York Giants Mt. Rushmore, he’s on it.’’
■ LINE OF THE WEEK IV come comes from reader Lynn Clapham, via email: “Is there anything sadder than a closed Benny’s store?’’
■ Did you see where UConn lost to Arkansas on Sunday in men’s basketball by 35 points, its worst loss since 1977 when Syracuse blasted them by 40?
■ The dirty little secret of the NFL? If you don’t have a quality quarterback, you can’t win.
■ And the bigger one? Too many of the teams already have checked out on the season.
■ And the other new reality? Ratings for the three NFL games played on Thanksgiving Day fell double-digits from last year.
■ And you have no doubt seen too many NFL games, Bunky, if you can remember when the Pats were just a gleam in Billy Sullivan’s eye and the New York Giants were everyone’s local team around here, on television every Sunday afternoon.
■ Michael Connelly is one of the great crime novelists in the country and his latest is “Two Kinds of Truth.’’
■ Then again, the General Assembly has been dealing with two kinds of truth for decades now, right?
■ Just when you think it’s a slow news day, along comes Michael Flynn.
■ Since Eli Manning became the Giants quarterback, the Cleveland Browns have started 24 quarterbacks, and the Knicks have had nine head coaches.
■ Harvard and Yale will play their 135th football game next season at Fenway Park.
■ “Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri’’ is a decent movie, if for no other reason than it’s watchable.
■ Which is all I have to know about movies in this day and age. Are they watchable? Nothing more.
■ There’s no truth to the rumor that parents hate their kids’ music the same way their parents hated theirs.
■ Then again, maybe there is.
■ Jimmy Garoppolo makes his first start for the 49ers this weekend.
■ You know the world is not in a good place with the news that Hawaii will fire up air raid sirens that have not been used since the Cold War.
■ James Harden is leading the NBA in scoring and assists.
■ QUIZ ANSWER: Rajon Rondo, with 32.
■ R.I.P. Butch Baker, a lifelong friend who was a genuine original, one of the funniest people I ever met in my life. And maybe it’s this simple: If you knew him, you will never forget him. There aren’t too many better epitaphs.
■ You know that the times are a changin’ with the news that Holy Cross is under pressure to rid itself of its “Crusader’’ nickname, because it might be offensive to Muslims.
■ MarShon Brooks, the former PC player, is playing in the Chinese Basketball Association.
■ There’s no truth to the rumor that the Independent Man was seen with a “man-bun” the other day.
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Bunky
Dec 9, 2017 10:41:30 GMT -5
Post by dex on Dec 9, 2017 10:41:30 GMT -5
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH:
‒ Memo to Rob Gronkowski: Last Sunday was not your best moment.
It was a day it all could have changed for you, the day you went from being a lovable lug who just might be the best tight end in the long history of the game, to a guy who put a vicious hit on the Bills’ Tre’Davious White, one that could have ended his career. And one that could have changed everything for you.
So you are very lucky that White was not seriously injured, for if he were hurt who knows how all of it might have played out.
I hope you realize that.
Hope you realize that it was one bad decision that could have changed everything for you.
Hope you realize that everything is precarious, even this golden life you seem to have.
‒ The Friars are a very different team when Kyron Cartwright is not 100 percent.
‒ Getting into a little catfight on the sideline last Sunday with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was not Tom Brady’s finest moment.
‒ Did you see where Roger Goodell just signed a five-year contract extension?
‒ But there’s no truth to the rumor that the Independent Man wants one, too.
‒ Speaking of the Pats, they keep rolling along, turning the NFL into the Patriots’ Invitational.
‒ QUIZ OF THE WEEK: Who holds the Celtics’ single-season scoring record? (Answer near the bottom of the column.)
‒ LINE OF THE WEEK comes from LeBron James on Donald Trump, via Twitter: “Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up.″
‒ LINE OF THE WEEK II comes from Tom Brady: “There’s not many happy endings in sports.″
‒ There’s no truth to the rumor that if you look up “nitwit” in the dictionary LaVar Ball stares back at you, the same LaVar Ball who is like a Little League father on steroids.
‒ Or that the Ryan Center was at times close to levitation last Saturday during the PC-URI game.
‒ Or that the URI-PC game was so big that even the Independent Man was looking for a ticket.
‒ If there was a modern day Mount Rushmore of basketball coaches, the Celtics’ Brad Stevens would be on it.
‒ Tiger Woods is about to turn 42, hasn’t won a tournament since 2013, and is still the biggest name in golf.
‒ There are few things I care less about than the British royal family, so spare me all the Prince Harry stories.
‒ “The Boston Mob” by Marc Songini is about the Boston that doesn’t make the travel brochures.
‒ Few people in baseball have deeper roots in the game than new Yankees manager Aaron Boone, as both his father and grandfather were major league players, as well as himself.
‒ Remember when the 3-point shot was viewed as almost a circus shot? Now it’s like a routine jump shot.
‒ Larry Bird turned 61 on Thursday, if you’re keeping track of those kinds of things, Bunky.
‒ My kinWowom for a song I can listen to on the radio.
‒ Legalized sports betting around here? It’s just a matter of time.
‒ The New York Football Giants are a disaster. Or where did you go Frank Gifford?
‒ R.I.P. Ron Meyer, who coached the Pats from 1982-84. He was 76.
‒ “Lady Bird″ is a sweet, little movie.
‒ J.J. Barea, the former Northeastern star, is the only native Puerto Rican in the NBA.
‒ Julien Ayotte is a writer from Cumberland, and his newest crime novel is “Disappearance.″
‒ Did you see where Harvard lost by only nine points at Kentucky the other night?
‒ Kudos to Mike Martin and his Brown basketball team for taking the Friars into overtime on Wednesday night at The Dunk.
‒ Is there a sports mascot that doesn’t offend someone these days?
‒ QUIZ ANSWER: John Havlicek in 1970-71 with 2,338 points.
‒ From the All Things Lead Back to Rhode Island Dept.: Is a guy who once played football at Middletown High School going to bring down the president of the United States?
‒ Brad Stevens already has coached more games with the Celtics than he did in his six years at Butler.
‒ When the Independent Man gets caught up in a sex scandal I’ll pay attention. Al Franken? Not so much.
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