Remember Theo Epstein, the Guy the Red Sox Forced Out? Yea, He Was Just Named the World’s Greatest Leader

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ESPN – Theo Epstein is the world’s greatest leader. So said Fortune magazine, which published its annual list on Thursday morning. The Chicago Cubs’ president of baseball operations finished in the top spot, ahead of Alibaba founder Jack Ma. Pope Francis at No. 3, Melinda Gates at No. 4 and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos rounded out the top five.

Thank GOD the Red Sox won the World Series in 2013 because otherwise this shit would be straight up demoralizing. Not only has Theo Epstein taken a perennial dumpster fire of a team that used to routinely top 100 losses a season and turned them into the BEST team in baseball, but now he’s been crowned the World’s Greatest Leader by Fortune.

Dude beat out Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and the Pope. Theo Epstein beat out the motherfucking Pope. The Red Sox forced that guy out. All because Larry Lucchino, who has since been put out to pasture, wanted to have a dick measuring contest with the young blood. Because the guy who doesn’t even work here anymore wanted to feel important, we let legitimately the best baseball executive of our generation slip through our fingers.

Larry Lucchino calling all the shots because he helped build a cool ballpark down in Baltimore. Lucchino was a straight up real life version of Mugatu. “I INVENTED CAMDEN YARDS.”

Theo, a guy who grew up in BROOKLINE, who dreamed of working for the Red Sox did just that, then helped construct 2(!) championship teams and then was shown the door. How does that happen?

And now he’s the World’s. Greatest. Leader. Good. I hope that makes John Henry puke on his 50 fucking foot yacht.

The Red Sox did not immediately respond when asked to comment.

Holy shit imagine if the Sox did not have that miracle run to win the World Series in 2013? There was the absolutely epic collapse of 2011, the chicken and beer fiasco, the downright shameful smear campaign of Terry Francona, the Bobby Valentine abortion of an experiment, followed by 3 last place finishes in 4 years. That is a dark, dark period if not for that title they somehow shoehorned in there. And Theo is probably laughing like a bastard right now out in Wrigleyville counting his $10 million a year salary.

If one of the highest spending teams in baseball could only somehow get their hands on a young stud executive the Sox would be set for a generation.

God damnit.

 

New England Patriots Were Nearly the Bay State Patriots Which Reminds Me of AJ Wright

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ESPN – Forty-six years ago today, the Boston Patriots officially became the New England Patriots. Not a bad day for a history lesson of sorts. Initially, the Bay State Patriots was the choice of some involved in the process. But according to McDonough, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle didn’t like that name, and felt if there was going to be a change, the name should be reflective of the entire New England region.“It was mixed. Some people thought it was a good deal, and then others thought we were the Boston Patriots and that should be it,” recalled Gino Cappelletti, who played for the franchise from 1960-70 and is in the team’s Hall of Fame.

With yesterday marking 46 years since the Boston Patriots were renamed the New England Patriots, it only made sense to discuss what could have been. Apparently the Bay State Patriots was a favorite, according to Mike Reiss’ article. I’m pretty sure the only organizations that refer to themselves as the Bay State anything are high school sports leagues so its probably for the best the Pats went in another direction.

But man that would be some choice throwback/irrelevant swag. Makes me miss the good old days of AJ Wright, may she rest in peace. If you aren’t familiar with AJ Wright, its basically Marshalls and TJ Maxx on steroids. Along with that came some of the most outrageous purchases of my life. Some Starbury’s for $10 bucks, an $8 Randy Moss jersey and of course the greatest one of them all…Larry Legend with the stache:

Fashions fade, style is eternal.

 

 

Dunkies Making A+ Moves

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Boston Herald – Dunkin’ Donuts will say goodbye to its frozen coffee Coolatta, add a new frozen coffee to its menu and debut an amped-up drink in partnership with Monster Energy as part of an expanded product lineup.

I can’t say that I’ll miss the Coffee Coolatta. I never figured there was a big market for 600+ calorie coffee-flavored frozen beverages that didn’t even deliver the caffeine content of a Diet Coke. No one drinks coffee for its flavor.If I could get as much caffeine from a 20 oz. Diet Coke that I do from a large Dunkin’ iced coffee, I’d be putting back tall DC’s every morning. Dunkin’ has a pretty good grip on the caffeine market. That’s what they should double down on.

The new Monster drink combines a can of Monster Energy with Dunkin’ blue raspberry or strawberry fruit Coolatta flavors, served over ice. The drink is expected to appeal to younger males as a coffee alternative for a morning “pick-me-up” or afternoon “get-me-going,” according to Chris Fuqua, Dunkin’s senior vice president of marketing, global insights and innovation.

“This is something different than we’ve done in the past,” he said. “We think it goes after a whole new consumer.”

The new, younger, male consumer he should be referring to is the 23-year-old who strolls in at 9:30 for the evening “keep-me-going” pregame beverage. I just hope they tested this one thoroughly during research and development. One OJ coolatta was enough for me to realize I didn’t like the taste of battery acid. Hopefully this one goes down a little easier. Hopefully it’s more, um, able to be mixed with, um, other beverages let’s say.

I see what you’re doing Dunkin’ and I like it.

Evan Drellich Says Chris Sale May Be Red Sox Most Electrifying Pitcher Since Pedro

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CSNNE – The newest lefty ace can succeed where David Price did not. Chris Sale might be the most electrifying pitcher the Red Sox have had since Pedro Martinez. Josh Beckett had his moments. Jon Lester was steadily excellent. But the stuff Sale brings is a step above.

I am HYPED for this season. Cannot wait to get it going. Despite my very real fear of 2/5 of the starters in our rotation going down with arm injuries, Chris Sale is gonna bring the juice. This guy is an incredibly talented pitcher and is hyper competitive, but he’s also a complete psycho. That is the full package for what it takes to be a legend in a town like Boston. You need a guy thats a little crazy to thrive in a pressure packed, often cynical market like this.  That was Pedro.

With Sale striking out 10 Yankees in a Spring Training game last night, it provided a glimpse into hopefully years of dominant performances against the Bombers. There was nothing better than the days where Pedro was so good he could legit toy with dudes or reach back and blow em away with his fastball.

David Price can be great, but he can also implode like he did in the playoffs last year. But either way, he’s a pretty laid back quiet guy. It’s hard to get fired up about a David Price start. Chris Sale seems to have that fire. He seems to be the guy who will bean a dude without hesitation. Sox haven’t had a guy like that really since Beckett and even Lackey, as short lived as that one was. But to describe a guy as the most anything since Pedro has me sweating for the season to start.

LaVar Ball is Going to Get His Son Lonzo Killed in the NBA

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ESPN – LeBron James directed a cease-and-desist order of sorts on Tuesday to LaVar Ball, the outspoken father of three — including star UCLA freshman Lonzo Ball — who said earlier this month that his children are set up better for future success than those of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ star. “Keep my kids’ name out of your mouth. Keep my family out of your mouth,” James said of LaVar Ball to ESPN on Tuesday

“Seriously Dad, stop. LeBron is going to make a point out of posterizing me when they play the Celtics next year.” Something like that is how I imagine the Ball household right now with LaVar talking shit non-stop. Lonzo must be loving this. Your father just chirping the two guys who have won 6 of the last 8 MVPs in LeBron and Steph Curry. Because I’m sure next fall when they see the rookie on the court they’re not going to make it a point to try and stuff Lonzo in a locker just to spite his loudmouth father.

LaMar basically said LeBron’s kids are gonna be bums because their father was too good. And LeBron rightfully so told LaMar to shut the fuck up. I mean, I get riled up when someone says something about my dog so LeBron and I are basically on the same page here. Godspeed Lonzo. Do not be surprised when LeBron is targeting you with off the backboard slams because of some shit your dad said.

Rex Ryan Working for “Free” at ESPN

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PFT – So how much will former Jets and Bills coach Rex Ryan make over the next three years as an employee of ESPN? Probably not a dime. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Ryan’s contract with the Bills has offset language that applies not only to other coaching jobs but also to broadcasting jobs. Thus, with $5.5 million due to Ryan for each of the next three years, the biggest winners in light of Ryan’s employment at ESPN are owners Terry and Kim Pegula, who will be getting credit for every dollar Ryan earns at ESPN, up to $5.5 million per year.

Well that’s not entirely true. He’s not working for free, but because of a clause in his contract that covers broadcasting jobs as well as other coaching jobs, any money he gets paid over the next couple of years will split the difference with what the Bills owe him.

How about the Pagula’s with the big brain thinking? “Yea, if we shit can you we are 100% more worried about having to still pay you to bullshit on Sunday NFL Countdown than actually landing another coaching job.” Good for Rex though, either way the guy gets paid $5.5 million a year. As a head coach? Meh. As a guy with a mic in his face?

At least this way he can literally say whatever he wants. We gotta get back to the days of “Lets go eat a goddamn snack” Rex. This fat bastard was built to be a TV personality.

Four Thoughts After Four Days of the Tournament

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It’s Hard to Repeat

Only two schools have won back-to-back titles since the end of the John Wooden UCLA dynasty in 1975. Duke won consecutive titles in 1991 and 1992, and Florida cut down the nets in 2006 and 2007. Here’s a quick look at how every champion has fared in defense of its title over the last ten seasons:

Season Champion Following Season
2007 Florida NIT
2008 Kansas Lost, Sweet 16
2009 North Carolina NIT
2010 Duke Lost, Sweet 16
2011 Connecticut Lost, First Round
2012 Kentucky NIT
2013 Louisville Lost, Sweet 16
2014 Connecticut NIT
2015 Duke Lost, Sweet 16
2016 Villanova Lost, Second Round

Villanova is the latest school to fall short in its bid to repeat. Four of the last five defending champions to make it back to the NCAA tournament made it to the Sweet 16, though, making Villanova’s defeat in the second round sting a little more. Many bracketologists had them going a lot further.

Conference Champions are Overrated

The 2017 NCAA Tournament field consisted of 23 teams from one-bid conferences and 45 teams from nine multi-bid conferences. With all due respect to Wichita State and Middle Tennessee, let’s take a look at how the conference champions of the nine multi-bid conferences have done so far:

American SMU Lost, First Round
Atlantic 10 Rhode Island Lost, Second Round
ACC Duke Lost, Second Round
Big 12 Iowa State Lost, Second Round
Big East Villanova Lost, Second Round
Big Ten Michigan On to Sweet 16
Pac-12 Arizona On to Sweet 16
SEC Kentucky On to Sweet 16
WCC Gonzaga On to Sweet 16

Five out of the nine multi-bid conference champions didn’t survive the first weekend. The last conference champion to win a national championship was Louisville in 2013.

Including the 23 one-bid conference champions, the 32 conference champions in the tournament have gone 15-28 and only four remain in the tournament heading into the Sweet 16.

The ACC Disappointed B1G Time

The ACC had nine teams make the tournament, and only one remains (North Carolina). The West Coast Conference also has just one team in the Sweet 16, but only two teams from that conference made the tournament. The Big East has two out of seven teams still alive, the Pac-12 three out of four, the Big 12 three out of six, the SEC three out of five and the Big Ten three out of seven.

While the Pac-12 boasts a higher percentage of its teams still alive, the Big Ten could easily say it had the best weekend of any conference. Arizona is a popular choice for national champion and UCLA has been hot, but it was supposed to be a down year for the Big Ten. It had no teams in the tournament higher than a #4 seed.

I don’t anyone who picked a Big Ten team to win the whole thing but Wisconsin knocked off overall #1 Villanova, Michigan defeated #2 Lousiville and Purdue sent home Big 12 champion Iowa State.

Don’t Sleep on Michigan

Michigan won four games in four days (and defeated three eventual NCAA Tournament teams) to capture the Big Ten tournament crown after almost not making it to DC for the conference tournament. That can’t help but bring back memories from Connecticut’s improbable run in 2011.

While Connecticut didn’t have the same scare Michigan had earlier this month, they did have to defeat five teams in five days to win the Big East championship. That Connecticut team went into its conference tournament 21-9, 9-9 in Big East play while this year’s Michigan team entered its conference tournament at 20-11 and 10-8 in Big Ten play.

The 2011 Connecticut team beat San Diego State and Arizona in Anaheim to advance to the Final Four, and beat Kentucky and Butler in Houston to complete its run. Michigan could face a similar challenge if it defeats Oregon on Thursday. Michigan could potentially face Kansas in Kansas City on Saturday night with a berth to the Final Four on the line.

 

GRUDGE ALERT: Rondo, Pierce and Garnett are Planning to Celebrate the 2008 Championship. Without Ray Allen

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The Undefeated – “Just like Rajon Rondo used to set up the fast break for the Boston Celtics, he is setting up a vacation with his former Celtics teammates from the 2008 NBA championship team to celebrate the nearing of the 10-year anniversary of their title. This party, however, doesn’t include an invite to ex-Celtics star guard Ray Allen. “I asked a couple of the guys. I got a no, a no head shake,” said Rondo to The Undefeated when asked why Allen wasn’t invited.”

If there’s anyone that can hold a grudge it’s Rajon fucking Rondo. It’s been five years since Ray Allen ditched the Celtics to chase a ring with blood rival Miami. And Rajon still wants Ray dead.

“It will be a long story about that, but it is what it is,” Rondo, who plays for the Chicago Bulls, told The Undefeated. “I don’t know a good analogy to put this in. It just wasn’t the greatest separation. It wasn’t the greatest thing that could’ve happened to us as a team, a bond. We were at war with those guys [Miami]. To go with the enemy, that’s unheard-of in sports. Well, it’s not so unheard of. It’s damn near common now.”

I actually find it refreshing. Everyone is friends in the NBA now. It’s the AAU generation, all these guys grew up playing on teams together and then once they’re playing against each other in the NBA they just publicly opine about how they wanna play together or in Miami’s case massively collude to get it done. We need more venom in this league.

Now I’m sure all those stories over the years of how Rajon and Ray just didn’t ever get along contribute to this. For whatever reason they just always kind hated each other. Kinda like Jesus Shuttlesworth and his dad really, but I digress…

It’s not only Rondo though. Garnett and Pierce are like old college roommates, they’re still boys. But Ray never seems to be included in that circle of trust. It sounds like he always kind of kept his teammates at arms length, even in the good old days. I remember a story of how Ray was the only guy not to show up for teammates’ charity events like a total asshole. This isn’t football where theres like 50+ guys on the roster. This is basketball where you only have to deal with 10-12 guys.

Even Pierce let some venom slip in an old interview. This seems more like someone who got dumped w/o explanation and harbors resentment for the way it ended.

“That was a tough situation because we thought it was betrayal,” Pierce said. “That’s why the whole thing evolved like it did with us not talking to him. Ray didn’t really have the best relationship with Rondo anyway. That was nothing. [Rondo], me and Kevin, he didn’t have any talk with us [before his Miami decision].”

And don’t forget when KG basically told Ray to go piss up a rope when he came back as a member of the Heat and tried to dap him up. Denied.

It’s a shame the Celtics didn’t win another title when Garnett, Pierce and Allen were all here. Seems like they definitely should’ve won 2 if not 3 rings together. Ray did exactly what he set out to do though. He jumped ship and singlehandedly saved LeBron’s ass and pretty much delivered him a ring with that corner 3 in Game 6 of the 2013 Finals, which is probably what hurts his former teammates the most.

Red Sox Rotation Hanging by a Thread and Its Not Even April

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With injury scares already to David Price and now Drew Pomeranz I ask: Can the Red Sox trade a pitcher from their rotation without it blowing up in their face just once?

The last time the Sox traded a prominent starter due to overflowing depth was when they dealt Bronson Arroyo for Willy Mo Pena right before the 2006 season. And almost immediately there were injuries to the pitching staff that ended up screwing them. The Red Sox had FOURTEEN guys make starts that year including the immortal David Pauley. Remember him? How about Team Italy’s very own Lenny DiNardo? Yea he made 6 fucking starts that year. If you recall David Wells battled injuries that season, starting the year on the DL, before ultimately getting dealt to the Padres in August after the Sox were all but out of the playoff hunt. Only 2 guys topped 140 innings that season (Schilling and Beckett) as the Sox failed to make the playoffs.

But hey at least we had a 4th outfielder who couldn’t hit a curveball! So back to present day; after the Sox dealt Clay Buchholz we get a currently (read: publicly) minor, but possibly major injury to the $30 million dollar man David Price and now the same with Pomeranz. Price allegedly has no structural damage to his elbow because apparently he is the Donald of MLB:

Pomeranz has me even more concerned. This is the same guy that got a stem-cell injection just last winter for elbow/forearm stiffness. And now he’s got tricep stiffness a couple of months later? That doesn’t just happen to totally healthy guys.

And just so no one forgets, the Padres essentially tried to hose the Sox by not properly disclosing medical records. So much so that MLB stepped in and offered to RESCIND THE TRADE. That is bananas. Not to mention the guy has SUCKED. And what does Dave Dombrowski do? Politely declines. Top prospect shown the door for a guy who has essentially been reduced to a 5th starter/bullpen guy with injury issues. Fucking great. I swear to god Dave, if you turned down that Get Out of Jail Free card out of pride…

This season is starting to very much feel like one hanging by a thread and its not even goddamn April yet. One starter going down for an extended period of time would be bad. Two would be disastrous.

Where art thou Bronson Arroyo?

PS – Every single time Bronson Arroyo is brought up, it is required by law for any Red Sox fan to mention the time he beaned A-Rod and set off one of the greatest baseball fights of all time. Legend says as A-Rod is bitching to Arroyo for hitting him Varitek simply goes, “We don’t throw at .260 players.”

Former Red Sox Reliever Manny Delcarmen Making a Comeback Attempt with the Sox

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12Up– Manny Delcarmen, 35, is looking to earn a chance with the Boston Red Sox, mentioning that he is willing to pitch in the minor leagues in order to work his way back to the majors. And he better be. Delcarmen worked out with the Red Sox earlier Tuesday, hoping to earn that second chance.

Nostalgia Alert! Former Red Sox reliever Manny Delcarmen is making a comeback attempt with none other than the Red Sox themselves. The pride of Jamaica Plain. What a throwback. I think the reason I love Delcarmen so much is because he was one of the first top Sox prospects to come along and flourish (and flame out) right when the team was at its best in the mid 2000’s alongside Pedroia, Papelbon, Lester etc. In 2007 when the Sox won it all Delcarmen had a 2.05 ERA in 44 IP with 8.4 K/9. And in 08 when they got to Game 7 of the ALCS (god damnit) he had a 3.27 ERA in 74.1 IP with an 8.7 K/9. Not too shabby.

Obviously Delcarmen didn’t have quite the same staying power as those other guys. But he was at one time the setup-man of the future to the Red Sox closer of the future in Craig Hansen. REMEMBER HIM?!

But hey scouts say he’s hitting 92 mph on the gun and he still lives a half hour away from Pawtucket so why not. This is also great for me because my go-to awkward silence icebreaker at parties is “Hey, whatever happened to Manny Delcarmen?” Now we shall see.

PS – I’ll never forget being at the McDonalds in Kenmore Square before a game and seeing a guy rocking a *stitched* Craig Hansen jersey A WEEK after the kid got called up. He was supposed to be can’t miss. Well guess what, he did miss. A friend of mine from high school swears to this day it’s because the seams are lower on MLB baseballs than in college…