ATLANTA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – All Ohio State quarterback Will Howard ever wanted was a chance to show off his talents.

The spotlight was all his on Monday night.

Embed from Getty Images

Howard built off a record-breaking first half to complete 17 of 21 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns, lifting the Buckeyes to a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff title game at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

It was after a 56-yard completion to Jeremiah Smith with 2:38 left in the game that reality seemed to set in for Howard, who took some time to showboat a bit by throwing his arms up while running downfield while Ohio State coach Ryan Day jumped for joy on the sideline and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James celebrated from box seats.

Such a moment was always the goal for Howard, a Kansas State transfer who had always dreamed of performing on college football’s biggest stage.

“If you were to ask a 19-year-old or 18-year-old Will Howard if he’d be at Ohio State playing in the national championship, I think he’d probably say, ‘You’re crazy, man,’” Howard said earlier this week.

Now, Howard is a champion, and teammates think that this is just the beginning for the 23-year-old.

“Just the type of quarterback he is, in my eyes he’s a first-round draft pick,” Smith said. “Will’s just a great leader — on and off the field.”

Howard made CFP championship game history by completing his first 13 passes on Monday, and he was 14-for-15 passing for 144 yards and two TDs before the break. Ohio State scored a touchdown on all three of its drives in the first 30 minutes of action to build a commanding 21-7 lead by intermission.

The Fighting Irish rallied but couldn’t find a way to get past Howard and the Buckeyes, with the Ohio State signal-caller being named Offensive MVP following the game.

“They’ve changed my life in more ways than I can say, man,” Howard told ESPN, referring to the impact that Day and his new teammates have had on him. “Coach Day and these guys here have completely, completely changed my life. … I can’t believe God gave me the chance to be a Buckeye.”

–Field Level Media

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SAN FRANCISCO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jayson Tatum led six Boston players in double figures with a game-high 22 points on Monday as the Celtics steamrolled the Golden State Warriors 125-85 as part of the NBA’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day slate.

Kristaps Porzingis chipped in 18 points and Jaylen Brown scored 17 for Boston, which for the fourth straight season dropped the season-series opener to Golden State before getting even – and then some – in the rematch.

Golden State had not lost by 40 at home since Jan. 15, 1985.

The post Celtics Deal GS Worst Loss in 40 Years appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Way back in 2008, then-President Barack Obama – half-kidding – told a 60 Minutes TV audience, “I’m gonna throw my weight around a little bit. I think it’s the right thing to do,” he said, speaking about the collegiate football season. “I think any sensible person would say that if you’ve got a bunch of teams who play throughout the season, and many of them have one loss or two losses, there’s no clear decisive winner that we should be creating a playoff system.”

By the time the 2015 College Football championship game rolled around, the Ohio State Buckeyes made a trip to The White House as national champions after defeating Oregon in the first full-scale playoff victory. “I will say, it was about time,” the president joked. “I cannot claim full credit. I will point out that I pushed for a playoff system in 2008.

“You’re welcome, America,” he added. “It was a great playoffs.”

The BCS had fiddled with the system, the rankings (AP, New York Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and others but never really got the job done. This year? It was a 12-team playoff with the first round on campuses spread across the nation. Then, on New Year’s eve and New Year’s day, the quarterfinal teams played off – super-charging the annual Fiesta Bowl (Arizona), Peach Bowl (Georgia), Rose Bowl (Pasadena) and Sugar Bowl (New Orleans).

The semifinals were even better games as Notre Dame defeated Penn State (27-24) at the Orange Bowl (Miami) and Ohio State beat Texas (28-14) in Arlington (Dallas area).

Tomorrow night, at 7:30pm (ET), it’ll be Notre Dame against Ohio State at the Mercedes-Benz Dome in Atlanta for the national championship to define all national championships.

But, it’s been a lot of football since the week before Labor Day and a long postseason.

“To lead the country in plays snapped wasn’t our goal,” said Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, the former Oregon head coach. “Our goal was to get to the national championship game.

“The fact that we have two running backs that can rotate all the time, We’ve rotated our receivers and, we have a bunch of receivers that can play. We have a bunch of tight ends that can play.

“A part of it was the length of the season has changed. Before, back when I was at Oregon, you were in the regular season and then you go to a bowl game. We had 37 days off between the final regular season game against Oregon State and then our bowl game against Auburn.

“That’s an entirely different thing. You play your last game in the regular season. Two weeks later you’re playing Tennessee. If you beat Tennessee you go to the Rose Bowl. If you win the Rose Bowl, you go to the Cotton Bowl. If you win the Cotton Bowl, you go to the national championship. The whole landscape of the schedule has really impacted what we did on both sides of the ball,” said Kelly in a Thursday media day session.

Kelly notes that OSU head coach Ryan Day talked to our entire staff about the marathon season Ohio State was planning for all the way back to the summer.

“That’s been on the forefront of our strength and conditioning program, our nutrition program, how our offense plays, how our defense plays, how our special teams play.

That was an overall program decision from the head coach down of how do you handle this length of a season, because it hadn’t been done before. It wasn’t, like, hey, let’s go call this guy because he did it. At this level it hadn’t been done.”

Day recognized the challenge of the season and the opportunity ahead: “I think in life — that’s why they call them “growing pains,” because in life you only grow when you go through difficult times,” said Day.

“I say all the time to our players, ‘the first time you got on a bike you didn’t just ride the bike, you fell down, and how quickly did you learn from falling down to get back on the bike to learn to ride a bike? Well, it’s like that in life.’

“You learn from going through difficult times like that. I think our team has done that, but now we have to go finish what we started. There are great stories on this team individually. There’s great stories on this team collectively. But I’ve said this before, the only way those stories get told is if we win, and we have an opportunity to become the ninth team in Ohio State history to win a national championship and the third team in over 50 years, and there’s been a lot of really good football teams in Ohio State history.

“We talked about that, looking up at the banners of those years, and to see just a couple of them over 50 years of great teams. We have an opportunity to separate ourselves, so that’s it. That’s the only thing right now that matters, and how do we do that? By being in the moment, preparing ourselves.”

On the Notre Dame side of the field (which is the opposite side than when ND defeated Georgia Tach back on October 19), there are no secrets to be shared from head coach Marcus Freeman.

“Yeah, I think more than anything, each team has a plan to do what they do well,” said Freeman on Saturday. “Again, we know we’ve got to be able to run the ball and we’ve got to be able to stop the run, or it’s going to be a long day.

“That’s the reality of when you talk about playing in this game, you have to do what you do well and do the things that have given your program a chance to be in this situation. That’s we’re going to do.

“You have to be able to make adjustments. If your plan going into the game isn’t having success, then you’re insane not to make adjustments to try to give your program a better chance to succeed. This game will be about, hey, who has the best plan going in, but how you make adjustments in terms of having success on offense and being able to stop them defensively.”

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: “For more than 50 years, George (Kalinsky) was synonymous with Madison Square Garden,” the MSG family of companies said in a statement announcing the death of The Garden’s official photographer. “There wasn’t a single important moment at The World’s Most Famous Arena that George didn’t capture. From Willis Reed‘s inspiring walk onto the court for Game 7 of 1970 NBA Finals to ‘The Fight of the Century’ between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, George and his lens were there.”

MSG Networks announcer Mike Breen told Newsday, “First off, he just was so kind, and whenever you ran into him, he made you feel that he was so happy to see you. There’s nobody that’s that happy to see me. But George was like that. He did really make you feel good.”

Other tributes came in after news of Kalinsky’s death spread throughout the Garden’s longtime dwellers. “The kindest guy,” said Walt “Clyde” Frazier during Friday night’s Knicks telecast on MSG Net. “He took my first ‘Clyde’ pictures. [It was] his ingenuity, folks. The Garden has been able to find a facsimile for Clyde, for Reed, for Ewing. No one has come close to replacing George Kalinsky.”

In 1979, Pope John Paul II visited the Garden, and Kalinsky spoke to him briefly backstage. Later, Kalinsky captured the Pope singling out 6-year-old Geralyn Smith in the crowd and lifting her up by her lower legs onto his “popemobile.”

The Pope liked the image so much he asked for a copy and put it on his desk at the Vatican.

Kalinsky was awarded numerous high honors during his career, including the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Curt Gowdy Media Award in 2021, the highest tribute for writers, broadcasters and photographers in the world of basketball.

Kalinsky is survived by his daughter Rachelle Kalinsky, his son Lee Kalinsky and grandchildren Emily Birnbaum, Jason Birnbaum, Josh Kalinsky and Jackie Clarke, his sister Marilyn Kalinsky and brother Howard Kalinsky, according to Newsday.

TIDBITS: The International Basketball Federation announced its 2025 Hall of Fame Class. The group is headlined by Spain’s Pau Gasol, South Carolina and USA Women’s national team head coach Dawn Staley and former Duke and USA Basketball senior national team coach Mike Krzyzewski. Staley was named as a player.

Pau Gasol was a “colossus on the floor for Spain,” said the FIBA statement, “inspiring unprecedented success with his towering performances and leadership. He achieved superstardom status at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2006 in Japan when he earned MVP honors alongside winning Spain’s first-ever major trophy.” A five-time Olympian, the center was Spain’s flag bearer at London 2012 and led his nation to three medals at the Olympic Games. These accomplishments also came alongside three titles at the FIBA EuroBasket, as well as two NBA Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Said the statement of Staley: “Dawn Staley, a floor general for the USA during her playing days, lifted the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup titles in 1998, in Germany, and in 2002 in China. The point guard played at three Olympic Games and conquered the gold medal on each occasion. She stepped out in 1996, 2000, and in Athens in 2004, when she was the flagbearer for her country. Staley won a total of 10 gold medals as an athlete, before transitioning to the sidelines. As the head coach, Staley steered the USA to gold at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2018 and at the 2020 Olympic Games.”

Mike Krzyzewski masterminded USA’s effort to return to the summit following a blistering defeat in the Semi-Finals of the 2006 World Cup. He was at the helm of the star-laden Team USA that was nicknamed Redeem Team and conquered the Gold Medal at the 2008 Olympics and followed up by steering a Kevin Durant-led USA to World Cup glory in 2010, in Turkey. … ‘Coach K’, as he is affectionately known, led USA to one World Cup title and two more Olympic gold medals before stepping down as his nation’s head coach in 2016 to focus exclusively on his illustrious NCAA career, where he has no fewer than five championships.

Here is the full list of inductees that make up the 2025 Class of the FIBA Hall of Fame:

Players

– Alphonse Bilé (Côte d’Ivoire)

– Andrew Bogut (Australia)

– Leonor Borrell (Cuba)

– Pau Gasol (Spain)

– El Khatib (Lebanon)

– Ticha Penicheiro (Portugal)

– Ratko Radovanovic (Serbia)

– Dawn Staley (USA)

Coach

– Mike Krzyzewski (USA)

The members of the Class of 2025 will be honored at an enshrinement ceremony on May 17 that will take place alongside the FIBA Mid-Term Congress in Bahrain. A total of eight players and one coach are being recognized for their stellar individual contributions to the sport.

On Friday, the University of South Carolina’s board of trustees approved a contract extension for women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley that will make her the highest-paid coach in women’s college basketball. … The extension keeps Staley in Columbia through the 2029-30 season with an annual base salary of $4 million per year. Previously, she was the third-highest-paid coach in the country — behind LSU’s Kim Mulkey and UConn’s Geno Auriemma — at $3.1 million per year in base. With a signing bonus and annual increases, the total contract is worth more than $25 million

THIS JEST IN: The January 5th WWYI prediction, among many for the calendar year 2025, was as follows:

• Free agent pitcher Roki Sasaki will sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Check marks the spot.

On Friday night, news broke that the San Diego Padres, one of three MLB team finalists in the Sasaki-Derby, had folded the tent and offered their international free agent pool money to other prospects based in the Dominican Republic. Team 2, the Toronto Blue Jays, tried to sweeten their pot of signing bonus gold but to no avail. That left the door open for the Los Angeles Dodgers to sign Sasaki, pay the international player signing bonus, but then recoup the benefits, equivalent to securing a rookie and having him sign a minor league contract. The reigning MLB champion Dodgers secured the best 23-year old free agent starting pitcher for the duration.

SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE: Again, stealing a title from Sports Illustrated in its glory years, Bill McCartney, a football coach who in the 1980s took the University of Colorado from perennial losers to national champions, but who later left behind his $350,000 annual salary to refashion his locker-room message about prayer and sacrifice into a sprawling men’s evangelical movement, died on Friday in Boulder. He was 84 and the cause of death was complications of dementia, his family announced in a statement released by the university. … According to The New York Times, “As the founder of the Promise Keepers, a men-only Christian group based in Denver, Mr. McCartney reached his greatest influence in 1997, when an event he staged in Washington drew an estimated half-million men to the National Mall. … Historians described the movement as “one of the fastest-growing religious revivals in American history,” The New York Times reported afterward on its front page. The group then lost momentum — but regained it in recent years, when new leaders relaunched it as a vehicle for support of Donald J. Trump to express a newly assertive Christian masculinity, wrote the Times. … The Promise Keepers are not to be confused with the Oath Keepers who played a major role in the January 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol. More than 500 Oath Keepers either pleaded guilty or were convicted for their role in the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. More than 1,000 cases stemmed from January 6, with sentences of 18 years for seditious conspiracy. The Promise Keepers have distanced themselves from those of the Oath Keepers, but with little to no comment.

YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: A gold medal awarded at the 1904 Olympics, the first Olympic Games hosted by the United States, was sold at auction for over half a million dollars, part of hundreds of lots of memorabilia from the Games gone by.

The 1904 St. Louis Olympics medal sold for $545,371. It bears the inscription “Olympiad, 1904” and shows a victorious athlete holding a wreath on the front. On the other side, Nike, the goddess of victory in ancient Greek mythology, is shown alongside Zeus, the pantheon’s king of gods, and the words for the 110-meter hurdles. The medal, awarded to American Fred Schule, included the original ribbon and leather case.

Similarly, an “extraordinarily rare gold winner’s medal from the St. Louis 1904 Olympics, issued by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) to American gymnast George Eyser for placing first in the rope climbing competition,” was auctioned for a cool but more affordable $80,163.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes is brought to you by Digital Sports Desk.

The post TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Jan 19 appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – When the Boston Celtics raised Banner 18 to the rafters of the TD Garden this past Fall, it marked the 12th title for New England area pro teams in 24 years, or since the year 2000. Since the New England Patriots drafted Tom Brady with the 199th overall selection in the 2000 NFL Draft, the Patriots led the way for titles with six since 2001. Banner 18 was the second NBA title for the Celtics in that span and MLB’s Boston Red Sox managed four championships after breaking the “Curse of the Bambino” way back in 2004.

The question at the dawn of 2025?

What happened?

First, let’s look at the Patriots:

Tom Brady, a legit VVIP in the Greatest of All-Time discussion amongst NFL quarterbacks, departed from Foxborough on St. Patrick’s Day of 2020 with six championship rings in his bag of tricks. Three days later, the fate of the Patriots was sealed when Brady (and eventually TE Rob Gronkowski) signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The two year deal lined Brady’s pockets with an additional $50m (and he added incentives, too) and put a seventh NFL championship ring on his finger in 2021.

Just preceding the development of Brady as the Patriots’ starting QB, head coach (and defacto GM) Bill Belichick took the reigns of New England and created an NFL dynasty like none other. From 2000 to his departure on January 11, 2024, the Patriots compiled a regular-season record of 266–121–0 over 24 seasons. Belichick is the most successful coach in Patriots history, by far, as his 266 wins with the franchise are more than quadruple those of runner-up Mike Holovak. Belichick compiled a 30–12 record in the playoffs with the Pats, including a 6–3 record in Super Bowls. He led the Patriots to 17 divisional titles, including five consecutive titles from 2003 to 2007 and eleven consecutive titles from 2009 to 2019. This streak of 11 consecutive playoff appearances is the most in NFL history for any team.

As most NFL fans know, when Belichick’s exit was combined with Brady’s departure, it sealed the Patriots’ fate.

Fast forward to the regular season just completed and an autopsy on the 2024 New England Patriots results in a (4-13) record with the only quality win coming in the final weekend of the season with a 23-16 win over Buffalo coming a week after the Bills had locked-in as the AFC’s No. 2 seed.

The season was a complete disaster, resulting in the one-and-done firing of coach Jerod Mayo, one of the most popular former players in New England history.

Aside from the drafting of QB prospect Drake Maye, the Patriots are depleted in talent department at nearly every position, aside from cornerback Christian Gonzalez and special teams ace Brenden Schooler. There’s no quick solution, although the Pats have more cap room than any other NFL team.

Of course, the Patriots didn’t help themselves when they won their final game of the season and went from NFL Draft first round pick No. 1 to pick No. 4. The only saving grace? The New England Patriots’ schedule for 2025 will include (Dates TBA):

Home @ Foxborough

*Buffalo Bills

*Miami Dolphins

*New York Jets

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Pittsburgh Steelers

New York Giants

Las Vegas Raiders

Road Games

*Buffalo Bills

*Miami Dolphins

*New York Jets

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

*AFC East divisional opponents

Maybe the expected signing of former Patriots outside (and eventually inside) linebacker Mike Vrabel, will provide an added edge in training and execution next season. Vrabel, an accomplished NFL head coach and most recently a consultant with the Cleveland Browns, has been interviewing for head coaching jobs throughout the NFL. In addition to a key hire for head coach, the Patriots’ front office must draft very well over the next two seasons while improving via trades and free agency.

Now? A look at the Boston Red Sox:

Offseason moves include: The Sox’ moved for an ace in starting LH pitcher Garrett Crochet, acquired in a trade with the Chicago White Sox while shoring up the (possible six man) rotation and bullpen with free agent signing of reliever/closer Aroldis Chapman (age 36, 335 saves); signing of former LA Angels pitcher Patrick Sandoval and a stab at another ace in acquiring former Dodgers ace Walker Buehler could call for the 6th Man award!

Buehler, 30, went 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA during the 2024 regular season after missing the previous year recovering from Tommy John surgery. But in the 2024 postseason, he went 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA and added a save. Not bad.

The Red Sox lost free agent OF Tyler O’Neill who came out smoking in the spring of 2024 only to falter and fall to injury later in the summer. But, prospect Kristian Campbell will join OF Jarren Duran, INF Triston Casas and the Sox lone superstar in 3B Rafael Devers in a make-it-or-break-it offensive line-up.

Stiff competition in the AL East places the Red Sox solidly behind the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles, so a postseason berth is not likely in 2025.

Next up? The NHL Boston Bruins snapped a six-game losing streak with a big win at Florida on Saturday afternoon. The Bs (21-19-5) – went (8-9-3) early on to cause the dismissal of coach Jim Montgomery on November 19th after the club lost four of five.

Looking back, in his first season as Boston’s head coach (2022-23), Montgomery led the team to a historic season with the best single-season record in league history (65-12-5). The Bruins logged 135 regular season points and an .823 points percentage, also NHL bests. Montgomery won the Jack Adams Award that season as the League’s top coach. But, the Bruins lost to the Florida Panthers in seven games in the 2023 Eastern Conference First Round, and it was the Panthers – not the favored Bruins – who went on to the Stanley Cup Final.

It’s been downhill ever since with the retirement of Patrice Bergeron, the Bs highly respected captain and soul, leaving the club with quite a void. Can interim head coach Joe Sacco shed that preliminary title with a second half seson run to the Cup Playoffs?

And that brings us to the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics.

Without a doubt, the Celtics remain a solid contender for the 2025 NBA title, but they find themselves a distant third – behind the East’s Cleveland Cavaliers and the West’s Oklahoma City Thunder – when a look at the standings bring a realistic look of the ‘25 Finals.

The Celtics are a mediocre (8-7) over their last 15 games going into Sunday’s game against a struggling New Orleans Pelicans (8-31) team. Truth be told, the Cs have been battling a variety of injuries all season long. Bigman Kristaps Porzingis return brought hope, but he’s been slow in acclimating back into the regular rotation. Others – from PG Jrue Holiday to all-star swingman and Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum to sharpshooter Sam Hauser to bigman Al Horford to reserve Luke Kornet to starting off guard Derrick White, have been in and out more often than teens at a Souther California burger joint. Boston coach Joe Mazzula has juggled 17 starting lineups during a first half-season timespan.

This week, a Friday/Saturday back-to-back against Orlando and Atlanta will provide another test. Will the Celtics regain that laser focus or will the likes of Tatum turn the ball over eight times, like he did this past Friday night in a 114-97 loss to the visiting Sacramento Kings?

In each round-up, there are far too many questions and not nearly enough definitive answers to the woes facing the New England clubs, the Celtics included.

It might be time for some major shake-ups at each and every club. The NBA Trade Deadline is February 6 (3:00pm ET).

And, how ‘bout dem Revs?

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HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The NBA is investing in a biomechanics program, according to reports from Sports Business Journal, the sports business trade magazine that reported on of a league-wide memo to all 30 NBA teams. According to SBJ, the league established two biomechanics committees, studying “a number of factors — the size of players, the nature of the game, the number of games in the season, the hardcourt surface — (all indications) that there’s reason to think about biomechanics that could be as helpful in basketball as almost any sport,”

BANNED FROM BASEBALL: You think Pete Rose had issues? The two fans who interfered with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts during Game 4 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium have been indefinitely banned from all MLB stadiums and facilities. … The letter read: “On October 29, 2024, during Game 4 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, you interfered with play by intentionally and forcefully grabbing a player. Your conduct posed a serious risk to the health and safety of the player and went far over the line of acceptable fan behavior.

“Based on your conduct, Major League Baseball is banning you indefinitely from all MLB stadiums, offices, and other facilities. You are also hereby banned indefinitely from attending any events sponsored by or associated with MLB. Please be advised that if you are discovered at any MLB property or event, you will be removed from the premises and subject to arrest for trespass.”

TIDBITS: The need to cancel a few games in Los Angeles doesn’t come close when comparing the toil of the all-out devastation on-going in the LA area as wild fires burn as much land, homes, businesses in spaces equal to the size of the City of Minneapolis or the island of Manhattan. The League and teams also had concerns as the support to the games and arenas would take away first responder personnel fighting the wild fires. … Said the league in a statement cancelling two additional games, “The NBA and the Clippers and Lakers organizations have been in communication with local officials in Los Angeles and Inglewood about the ongoing situation in the Los Angeles area and the game postponements ensure no resources will be diverted from the wildfire response efforts. … The league and its players put their money where their mouth is with a cool $1m donation. … “The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association are donating one million dollars for immediate relief to the American Red Cross, World Central Kitchen and other organizations to support those affected by this disaster and are working with the Lakers and Clippers on ways to support longer term assistance and rebuilding efforts.” … The NFL was forced to move its Monday Night Playoff games between the Minnesota Vikings and the LA Rams to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. … The LA Chargers changed their practice schedules to minimize their players’ outdoor time in coastal El Segundo. The Chargers are on the road Saturday against the Houston Texans in the wild-card round. … The LA Kings of the NHL were the first to postpone a regular season game, cancelling their Wednesday home game against Calgary at Crypto.com Arena. The Kings are now in the midst of a five-game road trip and play their next game January 20th against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins. … The PGA Tour has not yet decided whether to play the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in LA, scheduled for Feb. 13-16. … There are several wild fires spread out across the neighboring towns of Los Angeles, including Pacific Palisades. At Santa Anita, the horse racing track is being used to stage fire fighting and relief equipment. The track, located in Arcadia, is near the smoldering Eaton fire that decimated Altadena. … The Palisades Fire is already the most destructive in Los Angeles history.

The Philadelphia 76ers are (4-17) against NBA clubs playing .500 or better basketball and that fact contributes to the Sixers’ (15-21) record overall. … If the NBA Playoffs began today, the once mighty 76ers would not qualify to play, nor attempt to play in.

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ADIEU VENU: That was quick. What was proclaimed to be the greatest viewing destination in the history of sports broadcasting has been scrapped. Gone. Left of the editing room floor. Kaput. Said Disney in a statement on the venture which would’ve been the mother of all ESPN, “After careful consideration, we have collectively agreed to discontinue the Venu Sports joint venture and not launch the streaming service. In an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels. We are proud of the work that has been done on Venu to date and grateful to the Venu staff, whom we will support through this transition period,” the statement read.

Disney was supposed to join forces with FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery and package ESPN, ESPN2, ABC (Sports), Fox, Fox Sports 1, TNT, TBS and others for a whopping $42.99 per month.

Fubo-TV jumped into the fray and filed an anti-trust lawsuit to stop the venture. As of this week, Fubo has settled its lawsuit and will merge efforts with the Walt Disney Co. and its Hulu + Live TV streaming service and join together to create the second-biggest digital pay-TV provider.

IN OTHER SPORTS BUSINESS NEWS: Former NBA China CEO Derek Chang was named President and CEO of Liberty Media. In a January 8th announcement by Liberty Chairman John Malone, Chang’s work with leading the NBA China efforts from 2018 to 2020 when the league expanded its efforts and created a stand-alone entity with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei. Greg Maffei stepped down from his CEO rile in November (2024). Maffei was a driving force behind Liberty’s acquisition of Formula 1 in 2017. After his stint with the NBA, Chang worked in executive roles with EverPass Media, DIRECTV, Scripps, Charter and TCI. EverPass Media was a 2023 effort between the NFL and RedBird Capital Partners to market the NFL League Pass and other sports offerings (Peacock, Thursday Night Football) to commercial customers.

XFINITY AND BEYOND: Here in Boston, Comcast’s Xfinity service has made a move that might take the NBA’s Celtics and NHL’s Bruins right off your remote come this Tuesday, unless customers are ready to anti-up and extra $20 a month for a premium sports package. Come springtime, the same goes for fans looking to watch the Red Sox on NESN. Comcast – Xfinity’s parent company – reached agreements with NESN and NBC Sports Boston to move the channels from its Popular TV (or basic cable package) to its Ultimate TV (premium) level of service. The midseason timing is a killer for Cs and Bs fans who are looking to save some money on their monthly bills.

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PARTING WORDS AND MUSIC (from the The Appalachian lap dulcimer): Here’s a treat and something completely different from the usual weekly music clip. This week, a loyal reader sent along a very short clip – highlighting the great movie line, “It ain’t a fit night out for man or beast.” … The famous line comes from the 1933 W.C. Fields motion picture, “The Fatal Glass of Beer,” set in the Yukon. (By the way, a common mistake when quoting the epic is to use the word (nor) instead of the proper (or) when delivering the goods – which comes at the 4:55 mark or so. Enjoy.

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While We’re Young (Ideas) is a weekly (every weekend) collection of Sports Notes and News written by Terry Lyons. The posting of each notebook harkens back to the days when you’d walk over to the city newsstand on Saturday night around 10pm to pick-up a copy of the Sunday papers. Inside, just waiting, was a sports-filled compilation of interesting notes, quotes and quips in a column that always sold a few newspapers.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes is brought to you by Digital Sports Desk.

-TL-

The post TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Jan 12 appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

OKLAHOMA CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – OKC’s MVP in waiting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points to lead the hometown Thunder to a 105-92 home win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday.

The Thunder extended their winning streak to a franchise-record 15. Oklahoma City’s winning streak is tied for the longest this season with Cleveland, which won 15 consecutive games to start the season.

Aaron Wiggins, the star of Oklahoma City’s fourth-quarter comeback against the Knicks on Friday, scored 15 points off the bench. Luguentz Dort had 14, Cason Wallace added 13 and Jalen Williams put up 10.

The Thunder tightened things up defensively after giving up 65 first-half points, holding the defending champions to just 27 points in the second half. Boston hadn’t scored fewer than 44 points in a half this season.

The Celtics were just 8 of 40 (20 percent) from the field in the second half.

Jayson Tatum had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Boston, whose three-game winning streak was snapped. Brown added 21 points — all in the first half. Brown was 0 for 7 from the floor after halftime. Kristaps Porzingis added 19 points and nine boards.

Oklahoma City improved to 11-0 against the Eastern Conference this season.

The Thunder trailed by as many as 13 in the game and 11 in the second half before they fought their way back. Gilgeous-Alexander, who also finished with 11 rebounds and six assists, had his hands all over a 9-0 Thunder run in the fourth quarter that turned the tide.

The Thunder took the lead on a pair of Gilgeous-Alexander free throws, before Dort’s steal and dunk put them up 89-85.

After a Boston miss, Gilgeous-Alexander drained a step-back 3-pointer over Jrue Holliday to stretch the lead to seven. Two possessions later, he blocked Tatum’s shot at the rim, then found Isaiah Hartenstein for an alley-oop dunk in traffic.

The post Thunder Road Kill appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

BOSTON – Let’s start the Year 2025 with some bold predictions for the sports world in the year to come.

• Ohio State will win the College Football National Championship.
• Free agent pitcher Roki Sasaki will sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Canada will win the 4 Nations Face-Off.
• The Detroit Lions will win the Super Bowl. Jared Goff will be MVP.
• Kansas will win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship with Tennessee, Duke and Florida falling short in the 2025 Final Four.
• Citizen Bull will win the Kentucky Derby but not the Triple Crown.
• The Vegas Golden Knights will win the Stanley Cup, defeating the Washington Capitals.
• The Oklahoma City Thunder will win the NBA title, defeating the Boston Celtics with OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander winning a double MVP for the regular season and NBA Finals.
• Scottie Scheffler will repeat as the winner of the TOUR Championship, the FedEx Cup and the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year. He will not get arrested this season.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers will be World Series champions once again.

Admittedly, there are no wild and crazy predictions included in the bunch. Every team, player and horse has a legitimate chance if you were to poll the oddsmakers of Las Vegas.

It’ll be evident in the results of MLB that the rich will continue to get richer (Dodgers, Yankees, Mets), largely because the rules of baseball allow for it without much regard to league-wide parity.

For instance, the Dodgers agreed to a deal with star Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim, the team announced this weekend. The deal is for three years and a guaranteed $12.5 million with an option for 2028-29 that could increase the value of the deal to $22 million. … Kim batted .304 and logged a .364 on-base percentage over eight seasons with the Kiwoom Heroes. He also stole at least 20 bases in each of the past seven seasons, reaching as high as 46 in 2021. A left-handed hitter, Kim slashed .326/.383/.458 with 11 home runs and 30 steals for Kiwoom in ’24.

In the NBA and NHL, where teams play from the same proverbial deck of cards with various salary cap restrictions, repeating as champion is a difficult task.

Photo by Thomas Bormans on Unsplash

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Many of us fell asleep after midnight as December 31st turned to January 1st and the year 2025 began in the quiet peace of the night. In New Orleans, it wasn’t quiet nor peaceful in the French Quarter and by 3:15am, horror brought 2025 in with death and destruction. If you’ve been paying attention to the news, they (terrorists) ruined the celebratory atmosphere of fun and revelry in one of America’s great cities. In doing so, they put a damper over the Sugar Bowl (quarterfinal of the CFP) and the Bowl season, in general. More importantly, 15 souls were lost in a random, senseless attack which injured 36 others and left the entire city of New Orleans on edge, fearful of what might be next.

We’ve seen it before, right here in Boston, when two morons decided to place deadly homemade bombs in two backpacks and dropped the bags along the sidewalks of the finish line route of the Boston Marathon in 2013. The initial bombing caused the deaths of three and injured more than 260 others, not counting the emotional scars of friends and families of the victims and casualties. In addition, in the ensuing police action, a police officer was shot and killed.

The terrorism didn’t start in Boston, as there’s been countless strikes, including the 9/11 attacks, an open shooter at a Las Vegas outdoor concert, bombings at clubs in cities dotting the USA, Europe and throughout the world.

The unbelievable thing is the fact film producers turn the acts of terrorism into motion pictures and documentaries. Director and screenwriter Peter Berg, along with co-writers Matt Cook, and Joshua Zetumer, made a the film based on the book – “Boston Strong” – by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge. Boston-based actor Mark Wahlberg became the face of the film, “Patriots’” Day, all with good intention but still glorifying the act.

In theaters now is director Tim Fehlbaum‘s Golden Globe-nominated film “September 5.” The film is set almost entirely in the ABC Sports control room and focuses on the real-time challenges faced by the broadcasters in covering the terrorist plot at the 1972 Munich Olympics. September 5 wasn’t the first to chronicle that horrendous attack, as “Munich” and “One Day in September” predate the current film.

ABC Sports anchor Jim McCay summed it up that bleak September day, stating: “Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said that there were 11 hostages. Two were killed in their rooms, yesterday morning. Nine were killed at the airport, tonight. They’re all gone.”

Yes, the victims of the ‘72 Olympics are all gone, but the terrorists – and the motion pictures – keep coming back.

TIDBITS: The things I think about include the fact that 8 o’clock coffee is just as good at 6:30 or 7 o’clock. … When I ordered my coffee, the counterperson seemed quite confused when I asked for No Sugar but Half and 1/4 … Wind breakers don’t really break the wind, and, in fact, the wind breaks the jacket more often than not. … Aside from their size, there’s not much difference between softballs and hardballs in baseball. If you get hit with either one, they’re both pretty hard. … You’ve heard of Manute Bol’s son Bol Bol, right? Pretty good player. Maybe he should sponsor a bowl game and it could be the Bol Bol Bowl.

Random Notes: In case anyone hasn’t noticed, UConn has reeled off seven straight “Ws” since the shakedown start in Maui. … the Big Ten basketball matchup of the week was UCLA at Nebraska. … Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama thinks the object of the game of golf is to shoot 65 or better … BC’s Zay Flowers, now known as Lamar Jackson’s favorite Baltimore Ravens wide receivers left Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Browns with an injured right knee. He walked off the field under his own power but further examination(s) will be necessary. Some might criticize Ravens head coach John Harbaugh for playing his starters, but Baltimore needed the win to earn the AFC North title, a game ahead of Pittsburgh. … TGL Golf will tee-off Tuesday, January 7 at 9:00pm ET on ESPN. The inaugural match will pit the New York Golf Club taking on The Bay Golf Club. Three players from each team will go head-to-head in a 15-hole match featuring two different formats – nine holes of Triples and six holes of Singles.

The column is happy to note a new indoor record for “Open Rate,” the key indicator of growth and acceptance for this publication each weekend. The new high mark is 78%. By comparison, a good open rate ranges from 17-28% and 21.33% is the industry average. With subscription offerings, the rate gets higher, of course.

“Hello Old Friend” – Need a new Spotify classic rock playlist? How about 4 hours and 57 minutes of serious rock, all compiled in one place for WWYI readers – right HERE. Eric Clapton and Yvonne Elliman are a reason to tune in right away.

LEGENDS OF SPORT: Here’s one of Andrew D. Bernstein’s tremendous podcasts, recorded at the Basketball Hall of Fame.

KEY DATES IN 2025: Everyone needs to circle these dates on their sports calendar:

January 2025:

9 – Orange Bowl (CFP Semis)

10 – Cotton Bowl (CFP Semis)

11-12 – NFL Wild Card Weekend

18-19 – NFL Divisional Playoffs

20 – College Football Championship (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta)

NBA – King Holiday Full NBA Schedule

26 – AFC/NFC Championship Sunday

February 2025:

2 – NFL Pro Bowl (Orlando)

6 – NBA Trade Deadline

9 – Super Bowl (New Orleans)

12 – MLB Pitchers & Catchers Report to Spring Training

12-15 – 4 Nations Face-Off (NHL) (Montreal)

14-16 – NBA All-Star Weekend (San Fran)

17 – 4 Nations Face-Off – Semis (Boston)

20 – 4 Nations Face-Off – Championship (Boston)

March 2025

8 – Final Regular Season Games in College Basketball

12-15 – BIG EAST Championship (The Garden, NYC)

16 – NCAA Men’s Selection Sunday

18-19 – MLB Tokyo Series (Cubs v. Dodgers) – Tokyo, Japan

18-19 – NCAA Men’s First Four (Dayton)

20-23 – NCAA First and Second Rounds

27 – MLB Opening Day

27-30 – Sweet 16/Elite 8 – NCAA Basketball – (ATL, NJ, INDY, SF)

April 2025:

4 – Boston Red Sox home opener (vs St. Louis)

5-7 – NCAA Men’s Final Four (San Antonio)

21 – Patriots’ Day/Boston Marathon

DIGITAL SPORTS DESK’S ALL NFL FANTASY TEAM: Here are the best players in NFL Fantasy Football for the 2024-25 season:

• QB – Josh Allen
• QB – Lamar Jackson
• QB – Joe Burrow
• RB – Saquon Barkley
• RB – Derrick Henry
• WR – Ja’Marr Chase
• WR – Justin Jefferson
• WR – Amon-Ra St. Brown
• TE – Brock Bowers
• TE – George Kittle
• PK – Chris Boswell
• PK – Brandon Aubrey
• DT – Broncos
• DT – Vikings

The post TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Jan 5 appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

Bruins 4, Blue Jackets 0

Justin Brazeau scored 2:29 into the first period, and Boston never looked back in blanking visiting Columbus Blue Jackets in the latter game of the teams’ home-and-home series.

Morgan Geekie had one goal and one assist, while David Pastrnak and Cole Koepke also lit the lamp for Boston, which bounced back from a 6-2 loss in Columbus on Friday and improved to 5-1-1 in its last seven games. Jeremy Swayman stopped all 18 shots he faced en route to his second shutout this season.

Bruins forward Fabian Lysell made his NHL debut. The 21-year-old former first-round draft pick had a plus-1 rating in 11:32 of ice time. Daniil Tarasov (24 saves) took the loss in his first start since Dec. 5 for the Blue Jackets, who were shut out for only the second time this season and had a four-game point streak (3-0-1) snapped.

Canadiens 4, Panthers 0

Jakub Dobes made 34 saves in his NHL debut, leading the visiting Montreal Canadiens to a 4-0 win against the Florida Panthers on Saturday afternoon in Sunrise, Fla.

The 23-year-old Czech, who was selected by the Canadiens in the fifth round of 2020 NHL Draft, is the first Montreal goalie with a shutout in his first NHL game since Yann Danis in a 2-0 victory against Atlanta Thrashers in October 2005.

Kirby Dach scored two goals, Jake Evans and Cole Caufield also scored and Alex Newhook had two assists for the Canadiens, who have won four of five.

Spencer Knight made 20 saves for Florida. The Panthers were shut out in back-to-back games for the second time this month.

Kraken 5, Canucks 4 (OT)

Vince Dunn scored twice, including the winner on a breakaway at 2:15 of overtime, as Seattle rallied from three goals down to beat host Vancouver.

Jaden Schwartz also tallied twice for the Kraken, who trailed 4-1 with five minutes remaining in regulation. Matty Beniers also scored, and goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 18 saves as Seattle snapped a five-game losing streak.

Brock Boeser scored twice, Jake DeBrusk had a goal and assist, Conor Garland also tallied, and J.T. Miller and Carson Soucy had two assists apiece for the Canucks. Thatcher Demko made 24 saves.

Capitals 5, Maple Leafs 2

Alex Ovechkin scored into an empty net in his return from a broken fibula and visiting Washington defeated Toronto.

It was Ovechkin’s 869th goal, leaving him just 26 shy of surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894. The Russian superstar missed 16 games with the injury. Andrew Mangiapane and Jakob Chychrun each added a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who have won three of four. Nic Dowd and Tom Wilson also scored and Logan Thompson made 35 saves.

John Tavares and Bobby McMann scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost three of four. Matt Murray stopped 27 shots.

Kings 4, Oilers 3 (OT)

Quinton Byfield scored twice, including the overtime winner, and had an assist in a win for Los Angeles against visiting Edmonton.

Warren Foegele had a goal and two assists, Jordan Spence had two assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves for the Kings, who improved to 11-2-1 at home.

Kasperi Kapanen, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Viktor Arvidsson scored for the Oilers, who lost for just the fourth time in their past 16 games (12-3-1). Stuart Skinner made 25 saves.

Lightning 6, Rangers 2

Brayden Point scored one goal in a three-point night and host Tampa Bay scored four times on special teams en route to pounding reeling New York.

Nikita Kucherov had a power-play goal and two assists, and Anthony Cirelli and Ryan McDonagh recorded short-handed tallies. Nick Paul notched the final tally, and Cirelli added an assist.

Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made a season-high 42 saves as the Lightning improved to 8-2-0 in December. New York’s Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck hit the net, but the Rangers lost for the 14th time in their past 18 matches (4-14-0).

Flyers 3, Ducks 1

Samuel Ersson put his recent struggles aside and made 32 saves to propel Philadelphia past host Anaheim.

Noah Cates, Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee scored for Philadelphia, which improved to 1-1-0 to start its six-game road trip. Ersson had allowed at least three goals in each of his previous eight appearances.

Troy Terry scored the lone goal for Anaheim, which has lost eight of its last 11 games. Lukas Dostal made 22 saves.

Jets 4, Senators 2

Gabriel Vilardi and Nikolaj Ehlers scored third-period goals in rapid succession after Winnipeg erased a two-goal deficit and went on to a home victory over Ottawa.

Ehlers finished with a goal and two assists, while teammates Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist. Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for the Jets, who have won three in a row.

Mads Sogaard turned back 19 shots and Tim Stutzle and Ridly Greig found the back of the net, with the latter’s goal a short-handed tally for a 2-0 Ottawa lead.

Islanders 6, Penguins 3

Casey Cizikas posted his first two-goal game in more than three years, leading New York to a win over Pittsburgh in the opener of a back-to-back, home-and-home which started in Elmont, Long Island.

Anders Lee also scored twice for the Islanders, who won for the fifth time in 11 games this month (5-5-1). Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anthony Duclair also scored, and goalie Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.

Michael Bunting, Noel Acciari and Richard Rakell scored for the Penguins, who fell to 9-4-1 since late November. Goalie Tristan Jarry recorded 28 saves.

Hurricanes 5, Devils 2

Carolina scored twice in less than 90 seconds in the third period to break a tie and defeated New Jersey in Raleigh, N.C.

Jack Roslovic had two goals and an assist, Sebastian Aho a goal and an assist and Dmitri Orlov and Jackson Blake also scored for Carolina. Seth Jarvis had three assists, Sean Walker added two and Dustin Tokarski stopped 21 shots as the Hurricanes avenged a 4-2 loss to the Devils on Friday night in Newark, N.J.

Paul Cotter and Ondrej Palat scored for New Jersey, which had its three-game winning streak halted. Jake Allen made 36 saves.

Flames 3, Sharks 1

Jonathan Huberdau scored twice to lead visiting Calgary to a victory over struggling San Jose.

Goaltender Dustin Wolf made 21 saves in the win, including a handful late in regulation when the hosts made a frantic push for the equalizer. Mikael Backlund also scored and Nazem Kadri collected three assists for Calgary.

Macklin Celebrini replied for the Sharks, who are winless in seven games (0-6-1). Goalie Yaroslav Askarov stopped 30 shots in an outstanding performance.

–Field Level Media

The post Bruins Win; NHL Round-Up appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things.” – Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – There’s no clear reason, but quite often the great song, “My Favorite Things,” (by Rodgers and Hammerstein, 1959) is tagged as a Christmas song. No argument, here, but I look at “My Favorite Things” as a year ’round song of joy and optimism. The tune was made famous by Julie Andrews’ phenomenal performance in “The Sound of Music” and it was springtime in the Alps.

After years and years on the shelf, I picked up the tune once again when Derek Trucks played it on his Gibson SG in concert with The Derek Trucks Band at Boston’s House of Blues (see performance archived above, which was on the same tour).

With that in mind, this column marks the second consecutive year the TL Sunday Sports Notes/While We’re Young (Ideas) column will bring in the New Year with a hodgepodge of favorite things.

In the immortal words of Scottish poet Robert Burns, “Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? In other words, “Time is ticking, Let’s Get to It.”

“These are a few of TL’s Favorite Things”

Perfectly former snowflakes falling gently to the earth on Christmas Eve … Eric Clapton picking on his guitar while singing “Change the World,” … Vivid memories of the New York Metropolitans and WOR-TV 9‘s postgame show, Kiner’s Korner … Perfectly chopped, dry kindling wood to start a holiday season blaze in our fireplace … The guitar playing by Chicago’s Terry Kath … Add the fact his daughter, Michelle Kath Sinclair, directed The Terry Kath Experience, a wonderful tribute documentary … Portland, Maine and Portland Oregon … Portsmouth, New Hampshire … Chatham, Massachusetts … Montauk, Long Island, New York … Orient Point, Long Island, New York … and, on the other end of the LIRR line, Madison Square Garden for the BIG EAST basketball tournament.

Mowing thick green grass of my imagination in our weed-eaten front and back lawn … the smell of that cut grass as the mower is turned off and its operator earned an ice cold glass of 50/50 Lemonade/Iced Tea – known as an Arnold Palmer for those in the business … central air conditioning … finding a great juke box in a dive bar in Anywhere, USA … playing the very first song of the night on that juke box. (Be sure to read: HERE).

A brand new 59Fifty baseball cap … Peter Frampton strumming the first chords of “All I Want to Be (Is By Your Side) … A Nathan’s Hot Dog … The sound of the Sunday papers hitting the front walk, delivered from a speeding Toyota Camry … The memories of delivering Sunday Newsday and heading to my brother Tim’s softball doubleheader at Dutch Lane fields … chasing down the Ice Cream Man … Printers Boxes, filled with sentimental knick-knacks … chipping in for par and putting for birdie on the 18th.

Christmas dinnerware by Spode and setting the table for a holiday meal … the corner wine bar in Rye, NY … the Corner Bistro in the West Village … the Four Tops … great black & white photography … the best of the best from the Associate Press Year in Pictures, always published at this time of year … Primetime PGA Tour golf in January … a weekly victory in Fantasy Golf … an “Inside the Ropes” pass to walk 18 with the final group on Sunday … the roar of the crowd from another hole … Grandfather clocks … “Old Days” by Chicago … the NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.

Perfectly cooked, semi-well done, crispy, homemade waffles with Vermont maple syrup on a winter weekend morning … Tropicana Orange Juice … Special Saturday and Sunday morning playlists, created/assembled on (commercial free) Spotify … Scallion pancakes from CK Shanghai in Wellesley … Thin New York style pizza at Patsy’s (West 74th Street, NYC) … Nick’s on Second Avenue … Big Nick’s (70 West 71st, NYC, closes at 4:30am).

A bicycle ride on newly paved, smooth city streets … the hidden pleasure of seeing the car that whizzed by doing 95 mph pulled over by a police cruiser a mile or so down the highway … George Harrison recordings … Fenway Park … the laughter of kids playing in the schoolyard … the sound of Charlie Watts hitting a single note on the cymbal in “Angie” … Rock Bands taking the stage … Trains running on time.

Baseball cards … a great horn section in a tight band … San Diego, California … an upgrade to First Class … drinking straws with the accordion bend … Monday Night Football … a well-written, informative Facebook post … Robert Plant’s voice … Hourglasses … Old globes, trimmed in wood with an old world layout and textured mountains …. the Day after adjusting clocks for “Spring ahead” Daylight Savings Time … turntables … our dog, (Mighty) Max, shaking his toys for his very own entertainment, tail wagging … my dog, Penny (Lane), sleeping soundly next to me with all the trust in the world and knowing its safe.

ELO at TD Garden (Photo by T. Peter Lyons)

A stereo pulsing deep bass and striking high treble from a manual equalizer … The Electric Light Orchestra (Live, in concert) … Emerson, Lake and Palmer (Recorded to allow for takes the Moog Synthesizer) … Smokey Robinson and the Miracles … “Carry On” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young … Jeff Kazee on the keyboard … Rich Pagano on the drums, and Richie’s incredible voice doing John Lennon as best can be done in “I Am the Walrus” … Goose covering The Who’s “Eminence Front” … Blind Faith doing, “Can’t Find My Way Home” … Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) from Hamilton The Musical … the presence of Chris Jackson on stage, portraying the USA’s first President George Washington … the imaginative thought of picturing Jackson’s face as George Washington, rather than the guy on the dollar bill … great companies/ensembles on Broadway … the thrill and anticipation as the curtain goes up … the lump in your throat joyous appreciation as the actors take their bows.

Tailgating … the sight of the Street Cleaner and no random neighbor’s car parked in front of the house … a glass of cold water … not shaving … Lighthouses … freshly pressed pants … a newly laundered white shirt, lightly starched … the billowing of that clean shirt as you shake it and place it over the shoulder, cool to the touch … Aristophanes … Ridiculous.

Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket … Paris … sitting on the Champs Elysées and sipping a cup of jet fuel strength, European coffee on a vacation morning, not a care in the world … the look and smell of a brand new USA Passport … my iPhone … Sting’s impeccable voice … Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics singing so clearly and perfectly on a stage on the West Side piers of NYC that you could hear her in New Jersey … Standing in a doorway, Just Waiting on a Friend … Bell Bottom Blues.

Turning on the Christmas lights … a brand new Nokona baseball glove made and mailed from Nocona, Texas …. a Padron Anniversary ‘64 cigar … my dog’s gorgeous, fluffy, curly coat … Adirondack Chairs … Shea Stadium …. Thomas Hagen in The Godfather … the eery sounds of an Irish Tin Whistle … Fire fighters washing the Engine, Hook & Ladder trucks on the front drive of the fire house … the harmonica … the use of said harmonica in “Thunder Road” … A Stairway to Heaven or Kashmir and a Black Dog or a Misty Mountain Hop … Blue Sky and Dreams, Jessica and Melissa, all In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.

Bruce Hornsby on the piano … Will Lee on bass guitar … the marvels of modern medicine … the trust placed in medical doctors by the survivors of a heart transplant … the CVS Minute Clinic … Our Vet … the happiness of our dogs upon departing The Vet … the shiny side Reynolds Wrap … Crab Cakes … Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach … The Grill (201 E 49th St, New York City, NY 10017) … The 10022 zip code … our 02468 zip code … Robert Moon, the father of the zip code … Upon the announcement of their retirement, the comfortable realization that there’s not an R.E.O. Speedwagon album in the collection, nor was a quarter ever dropped in a juke box to play a song by the band, nor for Chris de Burgh … Sorry Chris … the Tovala oven … Sabrina Ionescu’s “J” … News reels from the ‘70s and ‘80s depicting the late, great coach Lou Carnesecca bouncing around at courtside … Caitlin and Ohtani … The annual IIHF World Junior Championship, always on at Christmas time … Live racing of the trotters and pacers from Monticello, NY on December 30, and 31st.

The sound and smell of freshly ground coffee, brewing in the morning … Christmas coasters … Heavy, bottom-weighted, slightly chilled cocktail glasses with a giant sphere ice cube as the base for two ounces of Oban … Any and all Derek Trucks solos (like the one paying tribute to the Grateful Dead at the Kennedy Center honors) … recordings of Gregg Allman and Jackson Browne performing “These Days” … Mondays with the Daily Show … Cometeer Coffee … “Sweet Dreams” and “Money Can’t Buy It” by the Eurythmics, the group made up by the previously mentioned Annie Lennox and the talented Dave Stewart … a September in Santa Cruz … walking the streets in London, Paris, Rome, Prague, Istanbul, Barcelona, Milan, Leverkusen, Monte Carlo, Athens, Madrid, and … Boston.

A game of hoops at the Stan Sheriff Center or the Lahaina Civic Center … the Fine Young Cannibals covering Suspicious Minds, second only to Elvis singing that wonderful hit … the Felt Forum and The Rotunda (forerunners to the Theatre and Expo Center) … Golden Gloves Boxing … Pat LaFontaine and J.J. … Cosmo The City Dog … Chloe … Penny (Lane) … and Mighty Max.

Seeing a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand … Huh? … I’d like to meet his tailor … the Army v. Navy game (in Philly) … a bic pen … Houses of the Holy … “Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face, And stars fill my dream, I’m a traveler of both time and space, To be where I have been,” stated by Matt Damon so perfectly in Ocean’s 12

“Take two and hit to right” … “Batter, Batter, Batter” … “He’s No Batter” … “Can of Corn” … “Ducks on a Pond” … “Swing and a Miss” … “Touch ‘em All” … “Keep Your Eye on the Ball” … “Pitchers & Catchers Report” (Feb. 12, 2025 or 44 more days).

No static at all with “The Royal Scam and Aja” … “Angular banjos” and “Deacon Blues” … “They call Alabama the Crimson Tide” … “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” … “Who’s Next” … “Hotel California” … “Dark Side of the Moon” … “Bat Out of Hell and Phil Rizzuto’s call.”

Casablanca … The Sting … The Last Waltz … Almost Famous … The Maltese Falcon … Spotlight … Goldfinger … The Purple Rose of Cairo … Cinema Paradiso … The Original Star Wars Trilogy (Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi) … Rocky and Rocky II … Seabiscuit … Patton.

Hamilton the Musical … Stereophonic … Pippin … A Chorus Line.

Missing “Little Louie,” already, and Clark Gillies … Mike Bossy … Al Arbour … David Stern … and, this year, we lost Bill Walton … Al Attles … and “The Logo,” Jerry West” … Ed Kranepool, Buddy Harrelson and Jerry Grote of the Mets … hockey’s Johnny Gaudreau and his brother … OJ … Joe “Jellybean” Bryant … Earl Cureton and Robert Reid … Pete Rose and Fernando Valenzuela … Dejan Milojevic … the great Dikembe Mutombo and the greatest baseball player of our lives, Willie Mays.

Blue denim jeans … Terry cloth … L.L. Bean slippers … Flannel shirts … log cabins … a new furnace … and, that wraps it up … “The Song is Over.”

DIGITAL SPORTS DESK’s PLAYER of the YEAR: Is … Caitlin Clark of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. The TEAM of the YEAR: Is … USA Basketball’s gold medal senior men’s Olympic Team, featuring Steph Curry.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: As promised last weekend, here’s your look-back at the Year in Sports 2024 – Part II. This is what WWYI wrote about during the second half of 2024:

Part Two (July to December, 2024)

July 2024

July 7th: Breakfast at Wimbledon; USA Basketball convenes for Olympics; James Wood

July 14th: Baseball’s Home Run Derby; American Association of Professional Baseball; Cape Cod Baseball

July 21st: Hoops without Borders; Deaths of Bill Walton, Jerry West and Pat Williams

July 27th: We declare OPEN the Games of the XXXIII Olympics; Paris Shines

August 2024

August 4th: Golf at Paris Olympics; Hoops du Jour; Andy Jasner RIP

August 11th: Steph Curry to the Rescue; France’s Victor Wembanyama Break-out Party

August 18th: LA’s Got Next; What USA Basketball will Look Like in 2028

August 25th: Champions League vs College Football Playoffs ‘24-25; Good-bye Linus Ullmark

September 2024

September 1st: Pro Golf in Greater Boston; the death of the NHL’s Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew

September 8th: The ‘24 Paralympics and Ali Truwit; US Open Tennis

September 15th: A Day in the History of 9/15; Ronnie Nunn NYC Hoop Hall

September 22nd: A Day for the Good Old Days in Chicago; the WNBA in 2024

September 29th: Motivation for the defending NBA Champion Celtics

October 2024

October 6th: RIP Dikembe; The Tedeschi Trucks Band – I Am the Moon

October 8th: KC Special

October 13th Adam Silver at Columbia U; Plug for “A Complete Unknown”

October 20th: Rock-Tober; UVa coach Tony Bennett Quits; Same ‘ole J-E-T-S

October 27th: Hornsby: The Old Playground; 2024 World Series; Chicken Partner

November 2024:

November 3rd: Breeders’ Cup; Mookie Betts and the Dodgers; Costas Retires

November 10th: Sports as a Distraction in Life; Kirk Herbstreit’s “Ben”

November 17th: NBA Cup ‘24; TGL Golf; Boston Common Golf

November 24th: Thanksgiving Appreciation; SNL Memories

December 2024

December 1st: How Many Pro Leagues Can We Support?

December 8th: Tribute to St. John’s Coach Lou Carnesecca

December 15th: Bill Belichick to Coach at North Carolina; ARMY vs. NAVY

December 24th: A Look Back at 2024; Part One

December 29th: Favorite Things ‘24; A Look Back at 2024; Part Two

GREAT NEW YEAR 2025 GIFT  for a FRIEND OF PGA Tour GOLF: For readers who love to follow the PGA Tour or if you have friends/family members who live and die by the Tour, each and every week, this is a special offer just for you for the Holidays. … PGA Tour Brunch is offering a Holiday Special from today through January 10, 2025. … That also coincides with PGA Tour Brunch beginning its season-long coverage – starting with The Sentry – January 2-5, 2025. … PGA Tour Brunch publishes six days a week (Tuesday is off day) and includes a Wednesday Preview with odds listed. To get your discounted offer, visit HERE.

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PITTSBURGH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns and the Chiefs clinched home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with a 29-10 victory over the host Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday.

KC’s Travis Kelce became the third tight end in NFL history to reach 1,000 career receptions and also took over the franchise lead with his 77th career touchdown catch. Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson also caught scoring passes and Kareem Hunt rushed for a touchdown for the Chiefs (15-1) during the Christmas Day affair.

Pittsburgh’s Russell Wilson completed 23 of 37 passes for 205 yards and one interception as Pittsburgh (10-6) failed to clinch the AFC North for the second straight game. The Steelers have lost three consecutive games.

Mahomes was 29-of-38 passing while helping the Chiefs win their sixth straight game. Kansas City also set a franchise record with its 15th victory.

Kelce had eight catches for 84 yards to raise his career receptions total to 1,004. Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez (1,325) and Jason Witten (1,228) are the only two tight ends with more catches.

Ironically, it was Gonzalez’s franchise record for receiving scores that Kelce broke. He celebrated by doing Gonzalez’s signature dunking of the football through the uprights. Gonzalez was a college basketball player in addition to being a star football player.

The Chiefs racked up five sacks and thrived defensively without star tackle Chris Jones (calf).

Kansas City led by six at halftime and increased the lead to 16-7 on Harrison Butker’s 32-yard field goal with 12:21 left in the third quarter.

The Steelers responded with Chris Boswell’s 36-yard field goal to move back within six with 5:45 left in the quarter.

Kelce’s 1,000th grab was a 19-yard gain late in the third quarter and helped set up Hunt’s 2-yard touchdown run to start the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion pass failed and the Chiefs settled for a 22-10 advantage.

On the next possession, Kelce caught a 12-yard scoring pass with 12:38 remaining in the game to increase the margin to 19.

Mahomes threw two first-half touchdown passes as Kansas City held a 13-7 halftime lead.

On the first one, Worthy lined up in the backfield and flared into the left flat to catch a 7-yard scoring pass. His celebration drew a 15-yard penalty, and Butker’s ensuing 48-yard extra point was wide right.

Later, Mahomes tossed a 11-yard touchdown pass to Watson with four minutes left in the opening quarter. Mahomes also teamed up with Watson on a 49-yard play earlier in the drive.

The Steelers got on the board with 10:28 left in the half when Wilson scored from the 1 by barely getting the ball across the goal line at the left pylon.

–Field Level Media

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

Merry Christmas ‘24 to all who celebrate the day. To others, this columnist wishes you sincere best wishes and joy for 2025 with peace during the holiday(s) you celebrate.

A sincere wish for Peace on Earth for all of us while we live our lives conveying Goodwill Towards Men (and women)!

As in years past, this Christmas-themed column carries the torch of the legendary writings of the late, great Shelby Strother. Later in the column, we’ll take a look back at 2024 with a week-by-week listing of what was covered by While We’re Young (Ideas).

I hope you enjoy this tradition.

Let’s get to it.

Each Christmas Day Contains the Past, Present and Future

By SHELBY STROTHER

It did not matter that the wind-chill was life threatening. It was Christmas morning, and a bright sun stabbed the frozen land. And children were playing.

The decision over which to play with – the official World Cup soccer ball or the Turbo Football – never materialized. With all the snow, a soccer match was out of the question. So spirals of pink and black performed in the most sincere imitations of Rodney Peete and Joe Montana floated back and forth in the yard.

What a nice sight.

The Annual Second Chance is near – it’s called New Year’s Eve. It is the window of opportunity where the hopes and fears of all the year (not to mention the mistakes) can be erased.

But Christmas Day is a time of reinforcement and the essence of tomorrow. And children playing with toys are the finest examples of what that tomorrow looks like.

I look out the window. I’ve been in that yard. All young boys have. Sports become such a part of childhood. Santa is aware of all of this, naturally.

This particular day is exquisite, I think to myself. I take personal inventory, not only of blessings and personal satisfaction, but of the presents of Christmas past. Still the kid, I suppose.

I got my first basketball when I was six. I made my first basket a year later. There was a tetherball set; I must have been eight. And a football helmet when I was ten. A Carl Furillo model baseball mitt at eleven. There were tennis rackets and fishing poles and boxing gloves and shrimp nets and a Mickey Mantle 32-inch Little League bat and one time, even a badminton set.

Every Christmas, I’d play out my dreams and my mind would fly over the rainbow, imagining my propulsion. Of course, I would become a major-leaguer, an All-Star, an all-time great, a Hall of Famer. We all would. My vision extended well beyond the day.

My athletic ability, alas, never kept stride. It was not the worst realization I would ever make.

But I have noticed a direct correlation between Christmas gifts and sporting dreams. The dreams are for the young. So are the gifts. Usually, the two disappear in unison. The rare few who project into greatness discover they do not need imagination to make those lofty flights of fantasy. Hope is not the co-pilot. Expectation is.

It must be a wonderful view.

I was thinking about all of this when another memory nudged me. My 17th Christmas I got a typewriter.

It was about the same time that I’d maneuvered my fantasy a few extra miles. I’d received a baseball scholarship to pitch at a small school in Florida. There were other opportunities, other colleges available. But none that would allow my athletic vision to continue.

I had expected a Christmas of more games in the yard. More dreams to celebrate. I got a typewriter instead.

“What am I going to do with a typewriter?” I asked.

My mother said I’d need it for college. But she also said, “Sometimes you get too old to play games. But you never get too old that you can’t use your imagination.”

Sometimes Christmas is taken for granted. Almost always, in fact. I think Christmas music, and I hear bells. I turn on the radio and I hear someone named Elmo and Patsy lamenting their grandmother’s head-on collision with a reindeer. I think of the meaning of Christmas, and I think of the most special birthday in the history of the world. But I turn on the TV and there are all these Claymation raisins doing Doo-Wop homages to the joys of buying machines wherein a microchip can seize command of entire generations.

Christmas (will soon) be gone, 364 days to go. But children still play. They chase the wonderful image of themselves as they would like to be seen. Christmas is their favorite arena. But they settle for lesser stadia.

But remember this – the present is sometimes confused with the package it comes wrapped in. Sometimes the gift is simply the freedom to imagine. There may be no greater one.

It was a great typewriter. I still play with it.

– A column by Shelby Strother

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Let’s take a look back at 2024 with Part One to follow starting today, and Part Two to come in next week’s missive. Here’s January to June 2024:

Part One – January 2024

Jan. 7th:

The PWHL Begins; The politics of Pro golf; PGA Tour Top 20 Players; NCAA TV Deal

Jan. 13th:

Bill Belichick saga; Jerod Mayo named Patriots head coach

Jan. 21st:

Celtics (20-1) at home; RIP Bud Harrelson; Sports Illustrated ^ sold (again)

Jan. 28th:

AFC/NFC Champ Sunday; BC vs. BU (ice hockey); Red Sox Truck Departs Fenway

February 2024

Feb. 4th

BIG EAST Update; 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend; Connor McDavid

Feb. 11th

Super Sunday (KC); NFL Honors (MVP Lamar Jackson); Super Menu; Clipped

Feb. 18th

NBA All-Star Weekend and Mac McClung; NBA All-Star ‘92 with Magic Johnson

Feb. 25th

Summer of ‘69 … From the Earth to the Moon; St. John’s Rick Pitino Meltdown

March 2024

March 3rd

March Madness; MIT Sloan Sports Conference; Hockey East; UConn Hoops

March 10th

MLB Spring Training & Seoul Game; The PLAYERS; Hockeyville, USA

March 17th

St. Patrick’s Day ‘24; BIG EAST at MSG; NYK St. Patrick’s Day tease

March 24th:

BC v. BU in Ice Hockey; National PUPPY Day ‘24; Irish Hurling

March 31st

MLB Regular Season; Predictions; UConn Dominating

April 2024

April 7th

Fenway Park; Basketball Hall of Fame Class; Caitlin Clark

April 14th

Boston Marathon/Patriots’ Day; Macklin Celebrini/Hobey Baker; Masters

April 21st

WNBA; Comparisons Miss the Facts; Scottie Scheffler Making History

April 28th

RIP St. John’s & ESPN’s Howie Schwab | The Who for Howie

May 2024

May 5th

FIBA Hall of Fame; The UFL; NBA’s Best Scorers Exit the Playoffs

May 12th

The NBA Draft Lottery; Thank you Mike Gorman; MLB Prospects

May 19th

Ice Hockey World Championship; ‘24 PGA Championship/Scheffler Arrested

May 25th/Memorial Day

The Sky is Falling at TNT; NLL Finals; 2024 Sports Emmy Awards

June 2024

June 2nd

Rest in Peace – Bill Walton (1952 – 2024) – Grateful Dead Tribute at The Sphere

June 9th

NBA Finals in Boston; Hockey’s Four Nations tournament

June 16th

Memorial tribute to Jerry West (1938 – 2024); Most Impactful in NBA History

June 23rd

The 2024 Travellers Championship; PGA Tour Update; Future CFB Playoffs

June 30th

The Greatest Things of Summer; BC Swimming/Dara Torres Hired to coach

TIDBITS: As the year comes to a close, it’s always fun to look at some sports business facts and figures, complete with a peek at the NBA team valuations provided by dear friends at Sportico. Each year, Sportico does a great job with the valuations of the major North American sports leagues. To see the full listing and the archives of others, you’ll need to subscribe (it’s a great value). Here? We’ll look at the Top 10:

1. Golden State Warriors … $9.14b
2. New York Knicks … $8.3b
3. Los Angeles Lakers … $8.07b
4. Brooklyn Nets … $5.7b
5. Los Angeles Clippers … $5.68b
6. Boston Celtics … $5.66b (team is for sale)
7. Chicago Bulls … $5.56b
8. Miami Heat … $5b
9. Houston Rockets … $4.77b
10. Toronto Raptors … $4.66b (US)

You’ll note, the Golden State Warriors took over the No. 1 slot previously held by the New York Knicks.

Also of note, the valuations were issued the week before the Dallas Mavericks hired longtime NBA Executive and Hall of Famer Rick Welts as its CEO. With that in mind, Digital Sports Desk estimates the Mavericks valuation improved mightily.

• Dallas Mavericks (as of December 10, 2024) … $4.46b
• Dallas Mavericks (as of this Thursday, December 19, 2024) … $5.46b

BOSTON PLAYER SALARIES: Here’s a look at the TOP 10 list of pro players cashing the loot during the 2024 season here in the Boston area:

1. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics … $49,205,800
2. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics … $34,845,340
3. Jrue Holiday, Boston Celtics … $30,000,000
4. Kristaps Porzingis, Boston Celtics … $29,268,293
5. Mike Onwenu, New England Patriots … $26,000,000
6. Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox … $25,000,000
7. Drake Maye, New England Patriots … $24,262,100
8. Trevor Story, Boston Red Sox … $22,500,000
9. Kyle Dugger, New England Patriots … $21,000,000
10. Derrick White, Boston Celtics … $18,821,429

THIS JEST IN: Harvard announced its first foray into the land of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). The press announcement read, “We are excited to announce the launch of Harvard’s One Crimson NIL Exchange platform, designed to connect businesses with our talented student-athletes for Name, Image and Likeness opportunities.

“This platform, powered by INFLCR, offers a streamlined process for businesses to engage directly with Harvard student athletes, facilitating collaborations that can enhance your brand’s visibility while providing our athletes with valuable partnerships.”

YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: The FBI arrested and charged Atlanta-based Eugene Toriko travel agency’s CEO Maurice Eugene Smith in connection to the failed George Mason men’s basketball trip to the Bahamas this year. Again, credit to Sportico along with the D-1 Ticker, both reporting that $159,756 designated for accomodations and flights for George Mason’s team were allegedly utilized for private trips to Mexico and Panama. There is a possible 20-year sentence awaiting if convicted of wire fraud.

The complaint was filed this week in U.S. District Court in Virginia. Apparently, none of the money was returned to the school or its athletic department.

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