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

Shaky Walton

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The CHB has called me at least 5 times and we argued for quite a long time twice. Strange fellow, to say the least.

I don't know if he's a racist but I've always wondered about his hatred of the Krafts. Jew hatred? Rich guy hatred? Krafts slighted him? I don't know, but the mocking about Bob sitting on high chairs was juvenile and I called him on it several times.
 

hube

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The list of people Dan’s called/emailed over the years is endless. He was a talented writer at one point but got complacent. Arrogant and thin-skinned, he thrives on misery and pathos and couldn’t (wouldn’t?) adapt when his main meal ticket was taken away. He’s not a fan and he’ll be the first to let you know that.

The Kraft hate is in part because of his relationship with Parcells.
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

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Wait... wait... wait...

It's still in question that he's a racist? I thought that was settled a long time ago when he went after every Hispanic player with baggy pants, dreads, and flair for getting too excited about doing something well in the game. Or whose caps were tilted to one side. Or didn't run out ground balls and play the game the Right (rhymes with...) Way.

He is what he is. And that's racist.
 

Hank Scorpio

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When I returned from my honeymoon in 1994, there was a message on my answering machine from Shaughnessy taking umbrage at a letter to the editor I'd sent in 3 weeks earlier. That was the first of 3 times he called me at home to take issue with a LtE.
Amazing. I wonder how many of these stories are out there.
 

Hank Scorpio

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Wait... wait... wait...

It's still in question that he's a racist? I thought that was settled a long time ago when he went after every Hispanic player with baggy pants, dreads, and flair for getting too excited about doing something well in the game. Or whose caps were tilted to one side. Or didn't run out ground balls and play the game the Right (rhymes with...) Way.

He is what he is. And that's racist.
I mean sure, Mookie Betts was flashy and toolsy, but give me JD Drew every day of the week. That guy was a hard-nosed grinder who wasn’t afraid to get his uniform dirty. A real dirt dog. And he played the game the right way.
 

Harry Hooper

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He killed my sister's dog with his bare hands

He once killed a man just for snoring.

I believe Shag's daughter - maybe that should be in quotation marks - got into a row on Amazon and/or other book review sites over negative reviews of one of his books.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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I mean sure, Mookie Betts was flashy and toolsy, but give me JD Drew every day of the week. That guy was a hard-nosed grinder who wasn’t afraid to get his uniform dirty. A real dirt dog. And he played the game the right way.
I get what you’re saying but he hated JD Drew. I think Shaughnessy pretty much hates anyone born after 1965.
 

luckiestman

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What was that studio show, I think it was Sundays with Shank, Ryan and other locals. They would be on a dark set around a wood table just commiserating. I loved that show. Sad to see CHB going out like this.
 

nattysez

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What was that studio show, I think it was Sundays with Shank, Ryan and other locals. They would be on a dark set around a wood table just commiserating. I loved that show. Sad to see CHB going out like this.
Total aside, but for about 10 years in the late 80s/early 90s (maybe longer?), I think a number of big cities had one of these shows. I remember Billy Corgan was once on the Chicago version and I was shocked how knowledgeable he was.
 

Vinho Tinto

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Total aside, but for about 10 years in the late 80s/early 90s (maybe longer?), I think a number of big cities had one of these shows. I remember Billy Corgan was once on the Chicago version and I was shocked how knowledgeable he was.
The Chicago show aired on SportsChannel New England (Which is now NBC Sports Boston). I remember them doing a live show at the old Comisky before the final game there.

The Sportswriters on TV
 
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Hank Scorpio

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He once killed a man just for snoring.

I believe Shag's daughter - maybe that should be in quotation marks - got into a row on Amazon and/or other book review sites over negative reviews of one of his books.
Seriously? So this is a recurring theme with either his daughter having to defend him online, or more likely, him posing as his daughter to fight his own battles behind a mask.
 

onthereg527

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I used to work with a guy that reminds me of CHB so much. He's the biggest troll I've ever met in my entire life, he lives and feeds off negativity. I had never read CHB's column about Serena before, but his thinly-veiled racism always bothered me. The guy I worked with absolutely HATED Serena Williams and Tiger Woods and it never made sense to me. I mean he really was offended by both of their success. But looking at some of the ways he would describe them, calling Serena a 'thug' - it really dawned on me that this guy is racist in the same way CHB is.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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I used to work with a guy that reminds me of CHB so much. He's the biggest troll I've ever met in my entire life, he lives and feeds off negativity. I had never read CHB's column about Serena before, but his thinly-veiled racism always bothered me. The guy I worked with absolutely HATED Serena Williams and Tiger Woods and it never made sense to me. I mean he really was offended by both of their success. But looking at some of the ways he would describe them, calling Serena a 'thug' - it really dawned on me that this guy is racist in the same way CHB is.
I don't know if Shaughnessy is a KKK sheet wearing racist--I mean, I won't fight anyone on this because he does have some racist tendencies--but I think he's a typical Boomer who thinks that pop and sports culture begins and ends in the 1960s. He's just an old dude who was born old and has never changed. Ever. No hitter will ever be better than Yaz. No winner will ever win more than Russell or Red. Bobby Orr and Bob Cousy are the greatest. And anyone who tries to usurp his heroes are punks or too flashy or there's something wrong with them. He comes to sports with the POV of a 12-year-old from 1965 and he's kept that POV for 55+ years.

Whether that makes him a racist or not is debatable, I've read a ton of his stuff and I agree that he treats athletes of color in a different way than others. But then I've read columns that he's written on Brady, Clemens, Belichick, the Krafts and more where he's ripped them too. He's really inconsistent on which modern athletes get his poison and pen and why.

The only consistency that he seems to have is that anyone born after 1965 is a shithead until they unequivocally prove to him, through on-field production and a shifting moral labyrinth, that they're "worthy" of being praised. It's bizarre. And sad.
 

jose melendez

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I think part of the problem is that, in the age of money, a really high percentage of athletes are entitled shitheads.

Doesn't explain him going after minority athletes more vigorously though.
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

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This may start to stray into V&N territory a bit, but I work with a guy who has very similar "Boomer" views. He's not a rabid sports fan, but he does follow them a little. He rarely says anything about what athletes do or say or wear, but he will frequently do the false equivalency dance whenever he brings up the negativity towards whites and the notion of people being taught to hate America or feel guilty about being born a certain race. He's not racist, but he has the old way of thinking that is just impossible to shake, the kind where everything was great when everybody knew their place, even if he doesn't realize what relegating people to those places means.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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This may start to stray into V&N territory a bit, but I work with a guy who has very similar "Boomer" views. He's not a rabid sports fan, but he does follow them a little. He rarely says anything about what athletes do or say or wear, but he will frequently do the false equivalency dance whenever he brings up the negativity towards whites and the notion of people being taught to hate America or feel guilty about being born a certain race. He's not racist, but he has the old way of thinking that is just impossible to shake, the kind where everything was great when everybody knew their place, even if he doesn't realize what relegating people to those places means.
I think that this is a good description of Shaughnessy. The CHB is like a lot of Boomers where they view their experiences and their history as sacrosanct and get really angry when other generations don't give a shit about them. It happened in the 90s when younger sportswriters like Felger or Simmons were making their way up the ranks and didn't use Woodstock or the Who or "Father Knows Best" as touchstones. Now there's a generation who's beyond Gen X who gives less of a shit what happened in the 60s and pretty much rejects everything that came from that era. And I am certain that it eats people like Shaughnessy up inside.

Does this result in "light" racism? Yeah. Half the things Shank writes about athletes of color make me shake my head. But I don't think that he's doing it because he specifically hates Blacks or Latinos or Asians or whomever and wants to return athletics to pre-1947 days. But, I'm not a POC, so my opinion probably shouldn't matter on this.
 

Kliq

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I think that this is a good description of Shaughnessy. The CHB is like a lot of Boomers where they view their experiences and their history as sacrosanct and get really angry when other generations don't give a shit about them. It happened in the 90s when younger sportswriters like Felger or Simmons were making their way up the ranks and didn't use Woodstock or the Who or "Father Knows Best" as touchstones. Now there's a generation who's beyond Gen X who gives less of a shit what happened in the 60s and pretty much rejects everything that came from that era. And I am certain that it eats people like Shaughnessy up inside.

Does this result in "light" racism? Yeah. Half the things Shank writes about athletes of color make me shake my head. But I don't think that he's doing it because he specifically hates Blacks or Latinos or Asians or whomever and wants to return athletics to pre-1947 days. But, I'm not a POC, so my opinion probably shouldn't matter on this.
It's pretty typical for people of a certain generation to have some disdain for subsequent generations who won't have the same appreciation for the pop culture that they grew up with. Gen Xers can be the same way, and I'm sure I will be like that to the Zennials and whoever comes after that. It's also common for people's tastes and interests to stop evolving once they reach a certain point; and they lack the curiosity to explore what is new and exciting and instead revert back to the things they are familiar with and lament the loss of how things be created today are so different from the things being created back then.

The issue with Shaughnessy is that he is still the most prominent columnist for the largest newspaper in the region, and he is still forced to write about current events and topics when he clearly has no interest in them and even has massive disdain for a lot of current trends in sports. When Shaughnessy writes about stuff from the period where he still liked sports, the 80s Celtics or Yaz or Luis Tiant, it's like he is a completely different writer; he has clear passion and interest and it comes out in his prose.
 

JShams

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He’s on my flight Phoenix. If I’m sitting next to him I’m going to read this thread aloud for the entirety of the flight.
 

PedroKsBambino

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He’s on my flight Phoenix. If I’m sitting next to him I’m going to read this thread aloud for the entirety of the flight.
This would be an all-time SoSH moment. Ask if he'll do a AMA with your Red Sox board while you're on the flight!
 

Dummy Hoy

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It's pretty typical for people of a certain generation to have some disdain for subsequent generations who won't have the same appreciation for the pop culture that they grew up with. Gen Xers can be the same way, and I'm sure I will be like that to the Zennials and whoever comes after that. It's also common for people's tastes and interests to stop evolving once they reach a certain point; and they lack the curiosity to explore what is new and exciting and instead revert back to the things they are familiar with and lament the loss of how things be created today are so different from the things being created back then.

The issue with Shaughnessy is that he is still the most prominent columnist for the largest newspaper in the region, and he is still forced to write about current events and topics when he clearly has no interest in them and even has massive disdain for a lot of current trends in sports. When Shaughnessy writes about stuff from the period where he still liked sports, the 80s Celtics or Yaz or Luis Tiant, it's like he is a completely different writer; he has clear passion and interest and it comes out in his prose.
No quite accurate- we have mild disdain for everything, including our own generational culture if we can be bothered to care.

I'm sure I've said it here before but my theory is Shank was a fanboy who naively thought it would be awesome to meet his heroes; when one (or many) of them was rude to him he grew overly cynical and spiteful. But that's just an armchair diagnosis from afar.
 

Humphrey

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He’s on my flight Phoenix. If I’m sitting next to him I’m going to read this thread aloud for the entirety of the flight.
For Shank, a combination vacation and a chance at the end of it to help pound the final nail in the Patriots' coffin? Something else in between that could be construed as work-related?
 

E5 Yaz

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He’s on my flight Phoenix. If I’m sitting next to him I’m going to read this thread aloud for the entirety of the flight.
This needs to be game-threaded if it happens.
OMG that might be one of the best moments in SOSH history if you actually do this.
I know/think/hope everyone's kidding here, but breaking the fourth wall with people discussed on SoSH would be, in general, one of the worst things we could do.
Besides, there's every chance that CHB is already aware of this thread and might have skimmed it already.
 

JShams

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This would be an all-time SoSH moment. Ask if he'll do a AMA with your Red Sox board while you're on the flight!
Sadly he was about 15 rows away.

Edit: I think he would revel in a thread dedicated to him, so ignoring him and walking right past him without a glance was the route I took.

No he didn’t spring for first class or even an extra leg room seat.
 

Archer1979

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I know/think/hope everyone's kidding here, but breaking the fourth wall with people discussed on SoSH would be, in general, one of the worst things we could do.
Besides, there's every chance that CHB is already aware of this thread and might have skimmed it already.
Fine. Be the adult in the room.
 

The Gray Eagle

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I never click on his garbage, but the 108 Stitches email included a blurb from his article where he calls the fans "an abused and enraged Red Sox Nation" because Bogaerts left. "Abused"? Even for this troll, that's ridiculous.
It feeds into the attitudes of a big section of the fanbase though, who feel entitled to championship teams in all sports every year, and if they don't get them (or if part way through an offseason or trading deadline it looks like they might not get them) then they are victims of "abuse."
Shag does know his audience, who are just as pathetic as he is.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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I never click on his garbage, but the 108 Stitches email included a blurb from his article where he calls the fans "an abused and enraged Red Sox Nation" because Bogaerts left. "Abused"? Even for this troll, that's ridiculous.
It feeds into the attitudes of a big section of the fanbase though, who feel entitled to championship teams in all sports every year, and if they don't get them (or if part way through an offseason or trading deadline it looks like they might not get them) then they are victims of "abuse."
Shag does know his audience, who are just as pathetic as he is.
I hope you're sitting down because I have to tell you about the main board and some of the posts in that thread.
 

The Gray Eagle

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Yeah no kidding, there is a big section of the fanbase who think they are being abused and victimized by the Red Sox. Shaughnessy knows that and is smashing their buttons. He and they are all pathetic.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Yeah no kidding, there is a big section of the fanbase who think they are being abused and victimized by the Red Sox. Shaughnessy knows that and is smashing their buttons. He and they are all pathetic.
Well, this wasn't a banner week for the Olde Towne Team, was it? To suggest otherwise might be a bit disingenuous, no?
 

joe dokes

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I never click on his garbage, but the 108 Stitches email included a blurb from his article where he calls the fans "an abused and enraged Red Sox Nation" because Bogaerts left. "Abused"? Even for this troll, that's ridiculous.
It feeds into the attitudes of a big section of the fanbase though, who feel entitled to championship teams in all sports every year, and if they don't get them (or if part way through an offseason or trading deadline it looks like they might not get them) then they are victims of "abuse."
Shag does know his audience, who are just as pathetic as he is.
Given that fans can walk away - figuratively and literally -- he should not use the word "abused."
 

RedOctober3829

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I never click on his garbage, but the 108 Stitches email included a blurb from his article where he calls the fans "an abused and enraged Red Sox Nation" because Bogaerts left. "Abused"? Even for this troll, that's ridiculous.
It feeds into the attitudes of a big section of the fanbase though, who feel entitled to championship teams in all sports every year, and if they don't get them (or if part way through an offseason or trading deadline it looks like they might not get them) then they are victims of "abuse."
Shag does know his audience, who are just as pathetic as he is.
Shaugnessy embellished his point as he usually does. But, is the section of the fanbase out of line to criticize what Bloom and ownership is doing? If criticism of the teams we follow is not allowed, then what are we doing here?
 

joe dokes

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Shaugnessy embellished his point as he usually does. But, is the section of the fanbase out of line to criticize what Bloom and ownership is doing? If criticism of the teams we follow is not allowed, then what are we doing here?
It is not out of line. But *his* opinion is without value, IMO, since he has demonstrated that he really doesn't have one. The one he spouts is not borne of good faith. It is simply the one that will generate heat, not light, on the day he spouts it.
 

crystalline

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When I returned from my honeymoon in 1994, there was a message on my answering machine from Shaughnessy taking umbrage at a letter to the editor I'd sent in 3 weeks earlier. That was the first of 3 times he called me at home to take issue with a LtE.
This is awesome.

CHB has figured out that trolling people makes him money. It gets attention and clicks. He’s trying to create outrage. And has been for years and years.

I am not sure it’s more complicated than that.
 

Humphrey

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Sure enough, his time in Phoenix included tonight's game; and there was an article posted shitting all over the Pats.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Shaughnessy is such a strange dude. In that piece, he talks about how his eight-year-old kid battled leukemia, you think that would kinda soften him a little bit. Make him realize that not everything is black-and-white and that there are bigger things than sports. I would think that a person who has gone through that ordeal might change, might find the good in others. But he's still the same asshole, ripping everybody every chance he gets*.

It's kinda sad.

* BTW, his piece on Sunday ripping Paul Giamatti (and David Ortiz) for taking money to play a roll is real rich coming from him. From 1990 until 2010, there wasn't a radio or TV show that Shaughnessy wouldn't show up on. Every time ESPN needed a talking head about Boston, the CHB was right there. And it wasn't out of the goodness of his heart, dude was getting paid. Oftentimes doing the absolute minimal (on Ordway's old show they used to joke about Shaughnessy balancing his checkbook while the show was on the air) or telling the exact same bullshit stories for the millionth time.

A few weeks ago he was also bitching about the NCAA transfer system and how it was "unfair" for athletes to have this sort of power. Won't someone please think about the coaches and the colleges??
 

Humphrey

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Shaughnessy is such a strange dude. In that piece, he talks about how his eight-year-old kid battled leukemia, you think that would kinda soften him a little bit. Make him realize that not everything is black-and-white and that there are bigger things than sports. I would think that a person who has gone through that ordeal might change, might find the good in others. But he's still the same asshole, ripping everybody every chance he gets*.

It's kinda sad.

* BTW, his piece on Sunday ripping Paul Giamatti (and David Ortiz) for taking money to play a roll is real rich coming from him. From 1990 until 2010, there wasn't a radio or TV show that Shaughnessy wouldn't show up on. Every time ESPN needed a talking head about Boston, the CHB was right there. And it wasn't out of the goodness of his heart, dude was getting paid. Oftentimes doing the absolute minimal (on Ordway's old show they used to joke about Shaughnessy balancing his checkbook while the show was on the air) or telling the exact same bullshit stories for the millionth time.

A few weeks ago he was also bitching about the NCAA transfer system and how it was "unfair" for athletes to have this sort of power. Won't someone please think about the coaches and the colleges??
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).