Boston Magazine – Dunkin’ Donuts is launching an “unprecedented” overhaul of its Boston locations, rebranding dozens of them as “Dunkin,‘” and there is absolutely nothing you or I or anyone else can do about it.
The coffee chain, which got its start in Massachusetts, is announcing the spread of its new modern concept at a Dunkin’-themed extravaganza today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the newly remodeled Dunkin’ near City Hall…According to a release ahead of the celebration, Dunkin’ Donuts will be bringing its modern new design and truncated logo to 30 of its Boston locations. It says it’s re-imagining its coffee shops with “a modern in-store experience and new technology to make running on Dunkin’ faster and more convenient than ever before.”
I don’t know one single fucking person that calls Dunkin Donuts “Dunkin” and neither do you. If you tell me that you call this beacon of Boston by the nickname “Dunkin” then you are lying. It’s “Dunkies.” Always has been always will be, regardless of what the silly orange and pink sign says. Dunkies corporate offices really missed the mark on this one.
You want proof you say? Look no further than this Casey Affleck SNL skit. Hilarious, but inaccurate. “I love Dunkin, guy” is a line only a shoobie would write.
WORCESTER – It’s official. In just a few years, the Pawtucket Red Sox will relocated to Worcester and play in a newly constructed stadium in the city’s Canal District. According to multiple sources, the City will make an official announcement tomorrow. Members of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce will be present at the announcement. The Worcester Red Sox will begin play in 2021.
Specifically, the source told TWIW that Worcester’s offer will save the Pawtucket Red Sox owners “tens of millions” if they move to Worcester and build a stadium in the city’s Canal District. Another source told TWIW that it will save PawSox ownership around $23 million to move out of Pawtucket and into Worcester.
On one hand this is kind of sad to see as the PawSox have been in Pawtucket since the early 1970s, depending on how technical you want to get. We all grew up going to those games as it was just an hour down 95 and SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than my parents taking us to a game at Fenway.
The main reason for the move is a new stadium deal, which the state of Rhode Island had been negotiating, but ultimately were reluctant to foot the bill. A minor league team that charges $5 for tickets is piking for a new stadium? How? Why?
THATS LARRY LUCCHINO’S MUSIC!
Thats right, the guy most famous for driving the greatest baseball mind of our generation out of town over a pissing contest.
He’s why.
He’s also well known for being the driving force behind ballpark projects like the Orioles’ Camden Yards. Lucchino makes me laugh because when people don’t respect his ballpark building game I just imagine him flipping his shit like Mugatu. I INVENTED CAMDEN YARDS!
I have to admit though, all kidding aside, I am starting to soften on Lucchino over the years, but I think that has more to do with the fact that he looks like Jim Leahy than anything else.
Now I can’t blame Pawtucket for balking at building a new stadium for a minor league team that had to let me bring my dog to the game to actually get me to buy a ticket (and meet the legend that is Rusney Castillo).
Even more so when you see some of the details of how much this thing might have actually cost.
“Rhode Island approved an $83 million proposal to build a new Pawtucket riverfront stadium in June. As recently as last week, Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien told the Providence Journal he believed his city had a 50 percent chance to retain the PawSox.”
Not to mention, Rhode Island has a bad history with financing the passion projects of the Red Sox.
But the real question here is what do we call them? The PawSox is obviously out. WoSox? WoostahSox? The one I’ve seen in actual print I cannot get on board with; the Woo Sox is a TERRIBLE name. Might as well call them Woo Girls.
So long PawSox, we hardly knew ye. I can’t promise I will visit you often, but it is my moral obligation to film The 300s Reviews: The Worcester Red Sox whenever you do open up shop.
Yahoo – Robert Williams’ NBA career did not get off to the best start. The day after he was selected by the Celtics with the 27th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Williams did not wake up on time for his conference call with the Celtics’ beat reporters.
After that, he missed a flight and was was absent for his first practice with the Celtics’ Summer League team. For a player with lottery-level talent who fell due to reported concerns with his maturity, he certainly confirmed those concerns early.
Now it seems he has taken a step in the right direction. During the rookie photoshoot Sunday, Williams said he bought an apartment right next to the Celtics’ brand new practice facility.
Robert Williams said he just got a place right next to the Celtics new practice facility. “Two-minute walk, said Williams who laughed and added, “Can’t be late!”
Welcome to Brighton, Bob! Can’t wait to get steaks with ya at the Stockyard, go on Dunkin’ runs down the street, maybe shop for some fresh New Balances, and if you’re interested my softball team plays across the street and could use a power hitting first baseman.
This is a smart move, whether it was self imposed or not who knows. Perhaps Danny Ainge gave him an ultimatum; either move to Brighton or move to Portland, ME and play for the Red Claws. You’re choice, Bob. Either way it’s a great idea as Williams will now be 100 yards from everything he needs, whether its getting in some extra shots, treatment, film etc. It has the fingerprints of the Bruins all over it too as they famously had top rookies move in with veterans right by the Garden rather than live on their own in booze fueled bachelor pads.
Yahoo – Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown says there is “no question” that his team will be the Eastern Conference representatives in the NBA Finals next season. Brown made his feelings known on CJ McCollum’s “Pull Up” podcast, when asked about Boston’s championship chances.
“Oh, we’re getting to the Finals. No question about it,” Brown said.
The Celtics are the odds-on favorite in the East to reach their first finals since 2010 now that LeBron James has headed out west to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Cockyyyyy. I normally wouldn’t love a dude from my team going into his third year proclaiming we’re going to the Finals. But this guy is Jaylen Brown and Jaylen Brown sounds pretty pissed that his toughest competition just skipped town.
“I hate how everybody is like, ‘Oh, LeBron’s gone in the East,'” Brown said. “I know he did have a strong hold on the East for the last seven years, but he barely got us out of there this year. And our mindset was like, ‘Man, he’s not beating us again.'”
Thats the sound of a guy who wants to destroy the competition not just survive the war of attrition that is the NBA playoffs. Thats a young guy brimming with confidence in not only his team but his own game, which only continues to improve. From his rookie to his sophomore season Brown improved his FG %, 3 Point %, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, and Blocks per game all while more than doubling his Points per Game from 6.6 and 14.5.
He probably won’t see the same 30 minutes per game he saw last year with Gordon Hayward out for the whole year, but that was a blessing in disguise for the Celtics. Brown was able to play a ton of minutes and develop his game, not to mention get some quality playoff experience, more than he ever would have been able to had Hayward played all year. So in theory his game should be a lot more efficient while now possessing the ability to put up 15-20 points on any given night when given the opportunity.
MLB.com – The Red Sox are red hot. And they just might make a run at history…
The Red Sox begin a nine-game road trip on Tuesday night in Toronto enjoying some rare air in the context of MLB history. And with 49 games and a little less than two months remaining in the regular season, they have at least an outside shot at chasing down the 2001 Mariners, who set a modern single-season record with 116 victories (The 1906 Cubs are the only other team to get to 116 wins).
As of today the Red Sox winning percentage stands at .702 and they are on pace to win 114 games. If the Red Sox do win 114 games, they would shatter the franchise record for wins in season, 105 wins in 1912.
With 80 wins and still 48 games to go, as a fan I’d be downright disappointed if the Sox didn’t win 100 games. I’d love to see them set the franchise record for wins in a season, too. To grab the franchise record they would only need to go 26-22 the rest of the way. And as Andrew Simon wrote on MLB.com, this year’s Sox have an outside shot to set the big league wins record. That’s a record I want no part of, though.
What do the 2001 Seattle Mariners, 2016 Golden State Warriors, 1996 Detroit Red Wings and 2007 New England Patriots all have in common? Besides their respective league’s regular season wins record…
Oh, that’s right. NONE OF THEM GOT THE JOB DONE IN THE PLAYOFFS!
And it’s kind of easy to understand why. Going for the regular season wins record can be exhausting, and not leave enough in the tank for a long playoff run. Watching the Patriots lose to the Giants in Super Bowl 42, it was hard not to think that the Patriots had just run out of gas.
So once the Red Sox lock up the division, call up the Paw Sox and let them play at Fenway this September. If the big league squad isn’t ready for October for the third straight year, good luck getting people to pay attention to this team until next October.
WCVB 5 – Dunkin’ Donuts is bringing an updated menu of $2 snack items nationwide, after what the company called “a successful test” earlier this year.
The Dunkin’ Run menu includes the company’s first gluten-free product: an individually wrapped fudge brownie… The menu also includes the company’s Donut Fries, which began being offered in its stores nationwide in July. They are described as warm croissant-style donut sticks tossed in cinnamon sugar.
Other items on the new menu are ham and cheese roll-ups, pretzel bites with mustard and waffle-breaded chicken tenders.
I’m all in favor of fast food restaurants taking chances and I have no problem with fast food restaurants trying to branch out beyond their category. I love Taco Bell breakfast and their nacho fries are great. I’m not saying Dunkin’ should be restricted to selling just coffee and donuts (as Denis Leary once said), but can we hold off on throwing a parade just because they added supermarket checkout lane fudge brownies to their menu?
I’m also firmly in favor of value menus (as opposed to “value” meals.) I appreciate Dunkin’s strategy here, but I question their execution. These chicken tenders look like something from a bag at the bottom of my freezer…
Why would I spend two bucks on microwaved chicken patties when I could get 10 chicken nuggets or nine chicken fries at Burger King for $1.69? Sorry Dunkin’. I’m not mad. Just a little disappointed.
PS – This post does not apply to Donut Fries. Those look delicious.
In the midst of walking off with their 75th win of the season, the Red Sox and Dave Dombrowksi were working the phones and acquired second baseman Ian Kinsler from the Angels while most of us were sleeping.
The Sox PR team wasted no time in announcing the trade as I got this email at 1:02 AM.
Now I know what you’re thinking, no, Ian Kinsler is not a relief pitcher. The Indians, Astros, and Yankees continue to load up on bullpen arms while the Sox are doubling down on whats gotten them this far; hitting the shit out of the ball. So while I would like to see the Sox acquire some arms for the pen, barring any deadline day deals it doesn’t seem to be a top priority for them.
Dombrowski: “I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the last move we make. A lot of people talk about our bullpen but we like our bullpen.”
I guess the thinking is you can just take whoever doesn’t make the playoff rotation and throw them in the pen with the rest of that motley crew. So take Nathan Eovaldi, Drew Pomeranz, and Hector Velazquez and have them handle some innings in the playoffs. It worked with David Price last year, but I’m also not crazy about throwing starting pitchers into high leverage relief situations in October and hoping for the best.
Anyways, Kinsler is a big name and a 4-time All-Star with more pop than your typical second baseman. Similar to my old favorite Dan Uggla, except Kinsler is actually a pretty slick fielder having won a Gold Glove in 2016. He’s not the same guy he used to be as he’s now 36-years-old, but I like the addition.
Ian Kinsler to the Red Sox first reported by @Ken_Rosenthal. Kinsler’s offensive numbers are down, but still a higher WAR this season than every Sox position player except Betts, Benintendi, Martinez and Bogaerts. And he has an .859 OPS since May 28.
He’s batting a weak .239 on the year, but if you factor out a slow start to the season he’s been pretty good the past 2 months.
“In 51 games since May 29, the right-handed batter has hit .286 (57-for-199) with an .866 OPS, including .417 (20-for-48) with a 1.137 OPS in his last 13 games.”
Incredible irony in the move though as Kinsler is taking over for the injured Dustin Pedroia at second base, years after Pedroia took Kinsler’s job.
“Pedroia and Kinsler were teammates in college at Arizona State, where Pedroia took over Kinsler’s starting shortstop spot in 2002. Kinsler then transferred to Missouri the following year.”
For all the hype “Dealer Dave” gets he sure does love trading for the same players over and over again, having traded for Kinsler when he was with the Tigers in 2013.
Unfortunately this probably takes the Sox out of the running for old friend Adrian Beltre as the Kinsler move frees up Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez to platoon at third in Rafael Devers’ absence.
We’ve got just a few hours before the Trade Deadline so we’ll keep our eyes peeled for any additional moves the Red Sox make today.
So I saw an article the other day about how former Celtics first round pick Jared Sullinger is playing overseas in the hopes of making an NBA comeback. We all remember Sullinger as the guy who was always a little too large, especially for a dude with foot and back issues. Basically the definition of unfulfilled potential, and he readily admits it in the article.
But I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that the former C’s big man is absolutely DOMINATING over in China for the Shenzhen Leopards. I feel like this is something people need to be made aware of. Last year Sullinger AVERAGED 30.1 points per game. That is absurd. He is basically as effective in China as Michael Jordan was over the course of his career in the NBA. Not to mention Sullinger is also grabbing 16.6 boards per game.
The guy seems to have finally found his place in the basketball world, albeit backing down former NBA scrubs and Chinese guys he probably towers over, but still good to see. Sullinger went off in a few games specifically too, dropping 41, 46, and 55 in three individual games.
Whats more absurd is that Sullinger’s 30 PPG was only good for ninth in the league. The Chinese Basketball Association is like some wet dream envisioned by Mike “Seven Seconds or Less” D’Antoni with absolutely zero defense allowed.
Now China obviously isn’t the NBA, but it is where a lot of former NBA players go to rebuild their value, collect a paycheck, or in the case of Stephon Marbury build a fanatical following and a Chinese shoe empire.
If nothing else, China represents an opportunity to watch read about on Twitter how former big name flameouts in the NBA are finding their way to success overseas.
I’ve now spent the better part of my afternoon scrolling through Chinese Basketball Association stats just to find gems like this: former No. 6 overall pick Yi Jianlian, better known as “The Chairman” as coined by Bill Simmons way back in the day, is even putting up 27 points a game. Soo I can feel your enthusiasm for Sullinger’s stats waning the longer you read this blog…Well, former Celtic Brandon Bass averages 21 points per game…..Tyler Hansborough averages 20.8…..even Starbury is putting up 14.9 at 41 years old…
The Atlantic – Nothing has been straightforward for Terry Rozier early in his career. He’s only three years into the league, but he has already become a cultural icon in the NBA and sneakerhead community. Now he is embarking on a new phase of his journey, announcing Thursday that he is signing a sneaker deal with Puma….
I mean this is the biggest news of the offseason right? Terry Rozier aka Scary Terry aka TRozzay has become the latest NBA name to sign with Puma’s upstart hoops line. America’s 2nd Unit Point Guard is going to be sweating unwavering, sometimes bordering on delusional confidence through the official brand of Euro trash and, formerly, punk pop bands and their fans.
In all serious this kind of is a pretty big get for Puma. More and more folks are looking for the cool, cult of personality to imitate and get fashion/pop culture inspiration from rather than the outrageously ubiquitous superstar. Think how much niche blogs ( 😉 ) and podcasts now influence consumer markets. The legend of Terry Rozier fills that role to a T. He lends, quite plainly, the cred to the market-befuddling Puma basketball launch that the draft talent that announced their sneaker-deal allegiance to the Cat couldn’t.
So while I formerly laughed off Puma for this venture as misguided at best, if they continue to sign the Terry Rozier’s of the world I can see this possibly working. Stay in the Scary Terry, Lance Stephenson, Peach Lowry at MOST lane and I could actually see this doing well.
…..But I didn’t mean for this to become a business blog. We are a pro-#12 blog here, be it Oates, Brady, or now Rozier. To that end, our shot chuckin back-up 1 is the talk of the town right now, the cock of the walk. Women want to be with him and men want to be him. So I want to end this by offering a hearty “Congrats On Those Euro Dollars, Young Man”. You’ve earned it…
The 300s 