Dan Shaughnessy: Taking a dump in your mouth one column at a time

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Always liked how much respect he showed Earl Weaver. On the other hand, if Weaver was the Sox manager he'd have skewered him for losing 3 World Series, 2 of which his team was heavily favored (69 and 71, before he covered the team)...and the third one, where his team blew a 3-1 lead (79, which I believe he was on the scene for).

I think that he respected Weaver because he came up as a Baltimore beat writer when Weaver was probably the best manager in the league. He was also one of the best when Shank was a kid.

Shaughnessy has a weird reverence for old timers that he liked when he was a kid: Auerbach, Cousy, Williams, Weaver, etc.The only player that broke that mold was Bird but anyone born after 1960 is a punk who would get his ass handed to him in the era when men were men, the late 60s and prior.

He gives these guys a lot of latitude because deep down Dan Shaughnessy is a little boy who desperately wants to prove to his elders (ie Dad) not only that he can hang with them but that he can be like them.

It’s more than a little pathetic.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

You know the best thing about Shaughnessy?

I never think about him or his columns any more. He's irrelevant. I can get 1000% better takes, analysis, and humor from a cursory review of here, reddit, Twitter, or Fangraphs.

The fitting end he deserves.

 

[Humphrey]

"
You played at the top level till you were 45, just as you pledged all those years ago. You hold all the records and you’ve won everything there is to win. You’re Michael Jordan, Tom Cruise, and Benjamin Button. You gave us so much joy here in New England for all those years and we can never thank you enough.

But here’s hoping you don’t succumb to the hubris and neediness of getting back out there with yet another team next year. There’s no need to try to do this again with Josh and the Raiders. The 49ers and Dolphins are pretty much set, thank you, and we all know you can’t come home again.

A half-century in this biz has taught me that it’s not up to media, or fans, to dictate when a player should retire, and I’m pretty sure you are determined to keep playing, but anyone who truly cares about you would tell you that it’s probably time to stop. "

On this rare occasion, he made a solid point w/o going off on one of his typical cynical tangents. My only disagreement w/him in this case is that Miami has an unsettled qb situation and, right or wrong; could see him ending up there.

 

[Fisks Of Fury]

I can get 1000% better takes, analysis, and humor from a cursory review of here, reddit, Twitter, or Fangraphs.

or ChatGPT

 

[jezza1918]

You know the best thing about Shaughnessy?

I never think about him or his columns any more. He's irrelevant. I can get 1000% better takes, analysis, and humor from a cursory review of here, reddit, Twitter, or Fangraphs.

The fitting end he deserves.

Amazing & well said. He's only still relevant in my life because of two older family members who still try to send me his takes sometimes. And then I immediately pop onto SoSH to gather info to take a steamy dump on said takes.

 

[Harry Hooper]

"
You played at the top level till you were 45, just as you pledged all those years ago. You hold all the records and you’ve won everything there is to win. You’re Michael Jordan, Tom Cruise, and Benjamin Button. You gave us so much joy here in New England for all those years and we can never thank you enough.

But here’s hoping you don’t succumb to the hubris and neediness of getting back out there with yet another team next year. There’s no need to try to do this again with Josh and the Raiders. The 49ers and Dolphins are pretty much set, thank you, and we all know you can’t come home again.

A half-century in this biz has taught me that it’s not up to media, or fans, to dictate when a player should retire, and I’m pretty sure you are determined to keep playing, but anyone who truly cares about you would tell you that it’s probably time to stop. "

Ah, projection. This snippet could easily be re-written to address himself as a writer (minus joy from his decades of contributions).

 

[Quiddity]

You know the best thing about Shaughnessy?

I never think about him or his columns any more. He's irrelevant. I can get 1000% better takes, analysis, and humor from a cursory review of here, reddit, Twitter, or Fangraphs.

The fitting end he deserves.

He loves being a troll towards the fans, the problem is that's 90% of local media these days and a sizable portion of the national media too. So him doing it is nothing interesting or unique. I generally forget he exists outside of this thread.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Has he deliberately scaled back his radio and TV work the past decade plus? You don’t see the guy anywhere.

 

[Patriot_Reign]

He used to do a weekly spot on Zolak & Bertrand but he's been gone from that gig for over a year I think. Assume there was some form of financial impasse.
And with his column being behind a paywall I wonder what his viewership is now, he's pretty invisible all things considered.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Yeah amazingly you cannot continue to shit upon all things new and different and expect to remain relevant as old ways of media get subsumed.

 

[Marciano490]

The best part is you know he draws deep distinctions between himself and the rest of the frothy trolls, but they’re all very much the same.

 

[nattysez]

When I need a pick-me-up, I like to think about how much Simmons's and Russillo's success must grate on Shank and John Dennis.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

When I need a pick-me-up, I like to think about how much Simmons's and Russillo's success must grate on Shank and John Dennis.

I was thinking about John Dennis and Gerry Callahan today. Not that I care, but what are those two assholes up to?

 

[Patriot_Reign]

Callahan does a one hour podcast five times a week "The Gerry Callahan Show" but Dennis has long since retired to sunny southern Florida.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Gerry is also busy on Twitter posting hateful shit. So his days fly right on by.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Callahan does a one hour podcast five times a week "The Gerry Callahan Show" but Dennis has long since retired to sunny southern Florida.

I wonder how popular this podcast is? I'm sure 99% of his listenership have no idea what a podcast is, much less how to download one.

As far as Dennis goes, that's another reason to stay clear of the Sunshine State.

 

[ifmanis5]

or ChatGPT

This was good.
We should do a Dan-style classic comparison column between him and a CGPT column pretending to be him and see which one is better. Edge, CGPT.

 

[lars10]

Has he deliberately scaled back his radio and TV work the past decade plus? You don’t see the guy anywhere.

Even when he was on the radio the big show had a meme of ‘I’m contributing’ for how little he would talk or being anything of meaning to the show. Now that the Red Sox have won a few he doesn’t have the books to sell or sow the misery of the curse. Guy is hopefully living his golden years in a farm upstate tilting at windmills to an audience of one.

 

[lars10]

I wonder how popular this podcast is? I'm sure 99% of his listenership have no idea what a podcast is, much less how to download one.

As far as Dennis goes, that's another reason to stay clear of the Sunshine State.

Feel like there are plenty examples of right wing podcasts that are popular that Gerry shares an audience with.. it’s not only old people that like listening to hateful shit.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Feel like there are plenty examples of right wing podcasts that are popular that Gerry shares an audience with.. it’s not only old people that like listening to hateful shit.

It was a joke, dude.

 

[lars10]

It was a joke, dude.

my apologies.. there's a stiff breeze where that flew right over my head. In my defense I've been traveling all day and woke up at 6 after going to sleep at 2:30 so I'm in that special kind of tired zone.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

my apologies.. there's a stiff breeze where that flew right over my head. In my defense I've been traveling all day and woke up at 6 after going to sleep at 2:30 so I'm in that special kind of tired zone.

Not a problem at all. I understand tired and message boarding.

 

[Shaky Walton]

Have the Bruins or Celtics won since he wrote this?

DAN SHAUGHNESSY
The way the Bruins and Celtics are
going, something very rare could
happen in June
By Dan Shaughnessy Globe Staff, Updated January 25, 2023, 8:15 a.m.


There has never been a winter like this winter for our Boston Garden teams.
They play just about every other night. They win just about every other night. We are more than halfway through the Bruins and Celtics 2022-23 regular seasons, and they have the best records in their respective sports.
So we must ask ... can both play here in the Finals in June?
Imagine. The NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Final unfolding simultaneously in
the Hockey/Hoop Hub of the Universe. A Bull Gang Bacchanal. The Larry O’Brien Trophy and Lord Stanley’s chalice sitting side by side in the bowels of TD Garden. Past champions Johnny Bucyk and Robert Parish — Chief and Chief — walking hand in hand on Causeway Street. Bobby Orr as Banner Captain one

night, Larry Bird handing out the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP trophy the next.
No city has ever won both winter sports titles in the same spring, but a duck boat doubleheader is possible for Boston in June.


(Please forgive my formatting. Posting from my phone)

 

[Shaky Walton]

Here’s a link to the Curse of the CHB.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/25/sports/nba-nhl-champions-same-city/

 

[Section15Box113]

Thankfully, the curse was broken in OT last night. It lasted three games across two sports.

 

[joe dokes]

"Because no one born after 1951 will talk to me, ' . . . we rounded up Bob Cousy, Dave Cowens, and M.L. Carr to discuss these Celtics.'"
Three former champion Celtics assess the chances for Banner 18, and other thoughts - The Boston Globe

 

[chrisfont9]

Today he worries about the Bruins because of 1971. Presumably that's the last time he had an informed opinion about hockey. But hey, at least no Black people are involved so the comments won't all be coded racism like his Celtics coverage.

 

[Shaky Walton]

Today he worries about the Bruins because of 1971. Presumably that's the last time he had an informed opinion about hockey. But hey, at least no Black people are involved so the comments won't all be coded racism like his Celtics coverage.

That was actually a very good column.

He discussed certain aspects of the 1971 team that were interesting. One, Wayne Carelton scored twenty plus goals (along with a bunch of others who didn't surprise me). I'm sure that I once knew that but after all these years, that Scoop scored 20 was unexpected. The other nugget that I enjoyed was Sanderson's take that Tom Johnson's coaching played a big role in the result. The Turk claimed that Sinden would have had them on their toes and Johnson was less innovative and purposeful.

The column was a good example of what Shank can do when he's not looking to be spicy and provocative.

Speaking of the Globe, Gasper's "of course it's not me, but the Bs will be a failure in the eyes of Average Joes if they don't win it all, like the 2007 Pats" was just about the most obvious column one could have imagined. I mean...really, people will look at a regular season juggernaut as a failure if they don't finish the deal? You don't say?

Why do I read the Globe every day? Other than for game stories and Chad Finn, there isn't much reason. Habit, I guess.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

We've had this very same conversation on this board recently and while most people are in yours and my boat (the season is a roaring success even if they don't win the Cup), there are still a bunch of folks who think that for a team to dominate night in and night out like this, anything less than the Cup would be a disaster.

I mean, I was really bummed that the Pats didn't win the Super Bowl in the 16-0 season. But for five months, that was a wild, awesome ride that I don't think I'll ever experience again (football wise). Part of the reason why I love the 2018 Sox was the same way, six months of dominant baseball. They won the World Series, but if they didn't does those six months mean nothing? I say no. Same thing with this season's Bruins team. But not everyone feels like that and I can kinda see it.

 

[Patriot_Reign]

Speaking of the Globe, Gasper's "of course it's not me, but the Bs will be a failure in the eyes of Average Joes if they don't win it all, like the 2007 Pats" was just about the most obvious column one could have imagined. I mean...really, people will look at a regular season juggernaut as a failure if they don't finish the deal? You don't say?

Not really fair to compare hockey playoffs to the NFL's.

 

[tims4wins]

We've had this very same conversation on this board recently and while most people are in yours and my boat (the season is a roaring success even if they don't win the Cup), there are still a bunch of folks who think that for a team to dominate night in and night out like this, anything less than the Cup would be a disaster.

I mean, I was really bummed that the Pats didn't win the Super Bowl in the 16-0 season. But for five months, that was a wild, awesome ride that I don't think I'll ever experience again (football wise). Part of the reason why I love the 2018 Sox was the same way, six months of dominant baseball. They won the World Series, but if they didn't does those six months mean nothing? I say no. Same thing with this season's Bruins team. But not everyone feels like that and I can kinda see it.

It took a long time to appreciate, but holy hell those 4 months were absolutely incredible. I've never experienced anything like that as a sports fan, and doubt I ever will again. That team just steamrolled everything in its path. I was in grad school at the time and had to go to BW3 to catch about half the games, and would basically be sitting there drinking Miller Lite with a shit eating grin for 3 hours every Sunday.

 

[snowmanny]

We've had this very same conversation on this board recently and while most people are in yours and my boat (the season is a roaring success even if they don't win the Cup), there are still a bunch of folks who think that for a team to dominate night in and night out like this, anything less than the Cup would be a disaster.

I mean, I was really bummed that the Pats didn't win the Super Bowl in the 16-0 season. But for five months, that was a wild, awesome ride that I don't think I'll ever experience again (football wise). Part of the reason why I love the 2018 Sox was the same way, six months of dominant baseball. They won the World Series, but if they didn't does those six months mean nothing? I say no. Same thing with this season's Bruins team. But not everyone feels like that and I can kinda see it.

One thing about that Pats run was that we had two separate times that the team went more than a year between losses. That is pretty fun.

That being said, hockey is my number four sport, and the Bruins won in 1970 and 1972, and I was just a kid, but I’m still pissed about 1971.

 

[54thMA]

That being said, hockey is my number four sport, and the Bruins won in 1970 and 1972, and I was just a kid, but I’m still pissed about 1971.

You and me both.

10 year old me was gutted.

 

[Shaky Walton]

Not really fair to compare hockey playoffs to the NFL's.

Why not? The principle is the same. How do you view a team that wins at an other worldly regular season pace and then fails to close the deal in the playoffs? That the sports are different (and in particular tha the NFL is a one and done kind of playoffs does make it different), but the ultimate question remains the same.

To me, it's not very interesting because I think it's kind of obvious that while we can and likely will always have a lot of fondness and good memories of that dominance, the failure to win it all will always make the regular season enjoyment bittersweet in the end.

Gasper posits that is a less enlightened attitude when I think it's close to universal. Fans will vary on how much reverence they will have for the plus side, but most will view that season with a giant footnote in light of the ending.

However this ends, the Bruins of 2022-23, like the 2007 Pats, the 1986 Celts, the 1971 Bs and the 2018 Sox will always have a special place in my sports fan memory bank. (Yes, I'm assuming they will continue to win until game 82 when I say that).

I just hope they join the 1986 Cs and 2018 Sox in the pantheon of regular season killers who won out in the end.

PS: I get that you were only talking about the playoffs...and they are different...but to me the difference is not big enough to dismiss the overall idea.

 

[Patriot_Reign]

My intent was that the NFL playoff structure is teams play one game a week for a maximum of four weeks to get to the Superbowl. The NHL playoffs are months of best of seven rounds. Not discounting that winning a Superbowl is very hard, but when you have months of playoffs like the NHL a lot more shit can go sideways with things like injuries or running into a hot goalie who's standing on his head.
If the Bs don't win it all it'll be disappointing for sure, but personally speaking won't be near the pain of the Pats losing to the Giants in the 18-1 season.

Edit: Of course it also depends on how the Bs lose if they do. For example getting swept in the second round versus losing a hard fought game 7 in the finals.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Edit: Of course it also depends on how the Bs lose if they do. For example getting swept in the second round versus losing a hard fought game 7 in the finals.

I’d almost rather them lose in a four game sweep in the second round rather than a Game Seven Stanley Cup Finals loss. Especially if it’s by a goal.

Jesus. Those games, and others similar to it in other sports, are the absolute worst. You spend the whole off-season and more thinking if just one play went the other way, things would have been different.

A sweep or a blowout, that’s just a bad series or bad game. Teams have those all the time and I feel are easier to wrap my head around. A close playoff loss? That drives a person to drink.

 

[Shaky Walton]

I’d almost rather them lose in a four game sweep in the second round rather than a Game Seven Stanley Cup Finals loss. Especially if it’s by a goal.

Jesus. Those games, and others similar to it in other sports, are the absolute worst. You spend the whole off-season and more thinking if just one play went the other way, things would have been different.

A sweep or a blowout, that’s just a bad series or bad game. Teams have those all the time and I feel are easier to wrap my head around. A close playoff loss? That drives a person to drink.

I will never fully get over the SB losses to the Giants. The three subsequent SBs helped. But those close losses to a NY team...never gonna heal.

It took the absurd, miraculous 2004 ALCS to wipe away the Grady Boner Game. I did get over that one. But 2004 was a once in a million immediate and total turnabout.

So...your point is well taken.

 

[Patriot_Reign]

Shank and Carrabis had a little twitter beef:

View: https://twitter.com/Dan_Shaughnessy/status/1632875735382732800


View: https://twitter.com/Jared_Carrabis/status/1633471479391158272

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I don't mind either Carrabis or Shaughnessy, but I have to side with CHB here. It's ten games into Spring Training, and I get Carrabis' schtick, let's slow our roll about this outfield a bit.

And as much of a crank Shaughnessy is about everything, which is why I take whatever he says with a gigantic grain of salt, I don't think he's exactly wrong about Carrabis' credibility, considering he was given a spot on a Duck Boat during the last parade. Dude is a (self admitted) super fan and I take everything he says with the same grain size of salt.

 

[Kliq]

Out of the teams I've watched in my life, I have more fond memories and appreciation of the 2007 Pats more than almost any other team. The first three title teams and the last three titles teams sort of blend together, I can't necessarily remember what game happened in what season outside of the SBs and some of the other playoff games. The 2018 Sox are close because they also demolished the competition and also won the title, and the 2008 Celtics are right up there as well (although they were more of an era than just a team) but the 2007 Pats, man I can almost remember every game. The destruction of the the Jets in Week 1 with Moss' debut. The Monday night beatdown of Cincinnati. The showdown with Dallas that was hyped up as a battle of the two best teams, only for the Pats to score 48 points. The 52-7 win over Washington. The close calls against the Ravens and Giants.

Part of it is that incarnation of the team didn't play forever together; there was the glorious Moss season, then Brady gets hurt the next year, and the following year Moss wasn't the same guy and the offense had to change. It sucked that they lost the SB, but I also know no other NFL fan ever got to watch THAT kind of team, week in and week out, for a 16 game season.

 

[54thMA]

I don't mind either Carrabis or Shaughnessy, but I have to side with CHB here. It's ten games into Spring Training, and I get Carrabis' schtick, let's slow our roll about this outfield a bit.

And as much of a crank Shaughnessy is about everything, which is why I take whatever he says with a gigantic grain of salt, I don't think he's exactly wrong about Carrabis' credibility, considering he was given a spot on a Duck Boat during the last parade. Dude is a (self admitted) super fan and I take everything he says with the same grain size of salt.

I agree with all of this.

I'm definitely in the minority here, but I don't mind Shaughnessy at all.

It's a very minor point, but I always go back to his reaction in the "Reverse the curse of the Bambino" HBO special towards the end.........he and basically everyone else was speechless over what happened, his reaction to me was genuine and real, it really humanized him in my eyes.

And sorry, that was a great shot at a super fan being a honk.

Reminds me of "What would we do with Willie McGee?"

 

[runnels3]

[

Shank and Carrabis had a little twitter beef:

View: https://twitter.com/Dan_Shaughnessy/status/1632875735382732800


View: https://twitter.com/Jared_Carrabis/status/1633471479391158272

Sorry, I couldn't help but retrieve this. It actually happened. The aforementioned 4 outfielders in one all star game.
Here's how it played out in the 10th inning in '61, Candlestick.

The NL down by 1 in bottom 10th, up they come. A pinch hit (Aaron), passed ball, double (Mays), hbp (Robinson), and Clemente walks
it off with a single to right. No outs - The AL never had a chance!

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[chrisfont9]

Things for overwrought Boston sports fans to be afraid of, and other thoughts. Is he still actually writing or is this just AI generated now?

 

[Bertha]

Things for overwrought Boston sports fans to be afraid of, and other thoughts. Is he still actually writing or is this just AI generated now?

wouldn’t that be called A(un)I?

 

[Cotillion]

You know he already has several articles pre-written for the chance the Bruins don’t win the Stanley cup. He probably looks at them everyday, tweaking here and there, trying out different drop-ins for the villain/goat.

 

[chrisfont9]

You know he already has several articles pre-written for the chance the Bruins don’t win the Stanley cup. He probably looks at them everyday, tweaking here and there, trying out different drop-ins for the villain/goat.

"Hm, needs a bit more asshole..."

 

[Humphrey]

You know he already has several articles pre-written for the chance the Bruins don’t win the Stanley cup. He probably looks at them everyday, tweaking here and there, trying out different drop-ins for the villain/goat.

Most of which will contain some reference to Marchand's mistake in Game 7. He's hell-bent on putting that on the same level as Buckner's error.

 

[Van Everyman]

Dan took most of this dump in your mouth before the game even started: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/30/sports/not-surprisingly-red-sox-already-are-back-last-place/

 

[soxhop411]

Dan took most of this dump in your mouth before the game even started: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/30/sports/not-surprisingly-red-sox-already-are-back-last-place/

This is what the Red Sox have become. For the first time in a long time, they are the fourth-most-popular team in our sports-crazed region, and they rely on past glory, an idiotic song, and pink-hat fans to bolster past days when they were a serious baseball organization spending money and trying to win championships for a loyal, long-suffering fan base.

Now they are a nerd-larded operation (33 folks in the analytics department) intent on not overspending, selling the illusion of contention in a watered-down playoff format that promotes “all are welcome” every October.

There was some nice nostalgia on First Thursday. Keeper of the Sox flame Peter Gammons was on hand as he has been every year since the late 1950s, and Joe Castiglione was in the booth for his 41st Sox home opener. WBZ legend Jonny Miller was here for his 65th consecutive Fenway open

what the fuck is this?

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

what the fuck is this?

Even if this wasn't posted in the Shaughnessy thread, I'd still know it was Shaughnessy who wrote that. He's the old guy shaking his fist at the clouds. Best to ignore him.