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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Dec 28

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The lads welcome in the New Year (file photo)

 

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – The year twenty-twenty-five was a difficult year. The news was grim. We lost too many favorite people, actors and rock stars but the sports scene was a constant source of entertainment and solace.

January 2025 brought terrible wild fires in California with the Palisades fire destroying a legendary neighborhood near Los Angeles. It worsened with the inauguration – but that’s a column for another day.

We lost the lovable, boxing great and entrepreneur/grill salesman George Foreman. Midyear, we lost rock legends in Beach Boys leader and songwriter Brian Wilson and Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne.

We lost President Jimmy Carter and every living POTUS attended his funeral to pay proper respects to a wonderful man who set the standard for life after a Presidency.

Astronaut Jim Lovell, the captain of the ill-fated yet miraculous Apollo 13, passed away at the age of 97. In September, we lost one of Hollywood’s most admired legends with the death of Robert Redford and not too much later, we lost actors Diane Keaton and a personal fave – Val Kilmer (Top Gun (1986), The Doors (1991), Tombstone (1993) and Heat (1995). We lost the great Gene Hackman and then heard of the terrible death of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner.

After the death of beloved Pope Francis, 88, Pope Leo XIV, the first United States-born Pope, brightened spirits for a new generation of Roman Catholics, never mind lifting the hopes for championships in his native Chicagoland and at Villanova University, near Philadelphia, where the Pontiff attended college as “just a guy” named Robert Francis Prevost.

The war in Ukraine/Russia rages on and National Guard hit the streets in five US cities, with two guardsman shot and killed in an ambush in Washington DC in November. On a dark December New England Saturday, two students at Brown University were shot and killed while nine others were wounded by bullets and an entire region was wounded without scars – but mentally. A day later, the same gunman shot at MIT Professor and the mass shooting numbers for the United States, alone, swelled to 470 for 2025. The same weekend, crazed gunmen in Bondi Beach, (near Sydney) Australia, killed 16 and wounded at least 40 others in an attack on a gathering of people of the Jewish faith celebrating the first night of Hanukkah.

There were jewel heists and constant bickering over the release of the Trump-dreaded Epstein files which were ruled to be made public by Congressional decree.

As noted the world of sports provided some incredible moments and entire seasons. The Philadelphia Eagles upended the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl and Baseball had an amazing 2025 season and postseason. The current NFL season is primed to provide an unpredictable playoffs to culminate at the Super Bowl (Santa Clara) in February 2026.

My beloved St. John’s won the BIG EAST (regular season and conference title) to enjoy their best season in 30 years. The Johnnies had The Garden rocking as they went undefeated on their home court, but lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament (to Arkansas), putting a quick end to March Madness in Jamaica Estates.

Rory McIlroy won The Masters and, in doing so, clinched a Career Grand Slam of wins at golf’s four major championships.

The Florida Gators took the NCAA men’s tournament while the UConn Huskies won their 12th NCAA women’s tourney in grand fashion with a statement victory over the tough South Carolina Gamecocks, 82-59. In the NBA, regular season and NBA Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the OKC Thunder to the 2025 NBA title.

NBA Basketball School opened its doors on Dec. 26, 2025 (file photo)

Lastly, on another personal adventure, the NBA played a pair of exhibitions in Abu Dhabi and – together with longtime basketball friends – we were able to attend one of the games while we launched the NBA Basketball School of Turkiye and managed to win the U-17 young men’s tournament in the UAE. Remember, Gold Medals are a good thing.

Twenty-twenty-five is almost over and that’s a good thing. Let’s be sure there are much better days ahead.

2026 year represented by numbered cubes on metallic surface.
Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash

HERE NOW, THE NOTES – Picking up from last weekend’s January-to-June 2025 Part I of the list, here’s what was written in WWYI from July-to-December:

July 6:

  • The Kaitlin Clark Effect
  • PGA TOUR adjusts tourney purses upward

July 13:

  • Savannah Bananas Invade Fenway and it was fun
  • Fred VanFleet Named NBA Players’ Assn. President

July 20:

  • STAND UP to Cancer
  • WNBA: “Failing to prepare, is preparing to fail.”

July 27:

  • House of Reps Order = Real March Madness; Govt. should stay out
  • Gotham City

August 3:

  • FedEx Cup Playoff Preview
  • WNBA in Boston? Not So Fast

August 10:

  • Seasons Change: A Look at Fall Sports
  • JIMMY Fund Radio/Telethon

August 17:

  • HARD KNOCKS is Back
  • BU vs. BU

August 24:

  • The New ESPN App
  • Whole Lotta Streaming and $

August 31:

  • Ryder Cup Preview | Bradley Family
  • College Football Preview

September 7:

  • Basketball Hall of Fame | Jeff Twiss
  • NFL Preview

September 14:

  • U.S. Open Tennis
  • What it Takes to Watch Sports on TV

September 21:

  • What Happened to Penn State?
  • Ryder Cup Preview at Bethpage Park (Black Course)

September 28:

  • USA Ryder Cup Blues
  • College Football Report
  • WNBA Uprising vs League, Officiating

October 5 (Special Edition):

  • Dateline: Abu Dhabi
  • NBA Basketball School Tournament

October 12:

  • Thoughts from Abu Dhabi – Post Trip
  • The Story of “I Love This Game”
  • NBA and NHL Look-Aheads

October 19:

  • College Basketball 2025-26
  • St. John’s with High Ranking, Higher Expectations
  • MLB Gold Gloves

October 26:

  • Federal Gambling Investigation Involving Basketball
  • Paul Newman and The Sting tribute

November 2:

  • Load Management Issues Examined
  • BC vs. ND
  • CFP Schedule and Look-Ahead

November 9:

  • Thank You to Baseball for an Incredible Season of ‘25
  • Penn Gaming Flops
  • NBA on NBC (Peacock Network) Plays it Straight

November 16:

  • NBA in “Good Trouble” with dominant International Team Set for All-Star ‘26
  • MLS Calendar Change Upcoming

November 22 (Thanksgiving Day Preview):

  • TL Thank-You Column
  • Great TV

November 30:

  • The American Revolution Documentary
  • The Voices: Including Peter Coyote (Ken Burns’ narrator)

December 7:

  • The DIGGIES ‘25 – Great Rock Lyrics
  • Missing NYC

December 14:

  • Stuart Scott Remembered
  • FIFA World Cup Draw

December 21:

  • Fenway Sports Sold the Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Year in Review: Part I

BIG EAST HEADS-UP: The Villanova Wildcats are now 10-2, and the Seton Hall Pirates are a solid 11-2. The Butler Bulldogs are 10-3 and the UConn Huskies are 12-1 with their lone loss inflicted by Arizona back on November 20th. Only Marquette is playing sub-.500 ball. BIG East play begins in earnest on December 30th and it will be a challenge to wind up in the top four as of March 7, 2026 when the regular season concludes with a Providence at Georgetown game at 8:00pm at the Cap One Arena. Playing on BIG East Friday might determine NCAA bids (unless UConn gets upset on Thursday – as they’ll be “in” for sure. How will St. John’s fare? Your guess is as good as mine. As of Dec 24th, the Johnnies had some coal placed in their stockings and fell out of the Top 25.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: After some calculations, Major League Baseball handed out its postseason cash awards for the teams participating in Baseball’s Playoffs. The Red Sox divided their bonus into 91 shares. Here’s the breakdown for the teams nice, rather than naughty. Note: Amounts are distributions per full share, rounded to the nearest dollar, with the number of full shares in parentheses:

  • Los Angeles Dodgers: $484,748 (82)
  • Toronto Blue Jays: $354,118 (70)
  • Milwaukee Brewers: $168,853 (70)
  • Seattle Mariners: $182,376 (69)
  • New York Yankees: $47,318 (71)
  • Detroit Tigers: $46,865 (75)
  • Philadelphia Phillies: $52,043 (64)
  • Chicago Cubs: $48,741 (70)
  • Boston Red Sox: $9,346 (91)
  • Cleveland Guardians: $11,056 (71)
  • San Diego Padres: $10,711 (68)
  • Cincinnati Reds: $11,528 (69)

ANOTHER SHAMELESS PGA TOUR BRUNCH PLUG: Say Happy New Year to your favorite golf fan with A GIFT SUBSCRIPTION to PGA Tour Brunch. Posted to in-boxes six days a week (not Tuesdays) for lunch or brunch-time reading, PGA Tour Brunch provides fans of the PGA Tour (and its growing list of Fantasy, gambling and DFS players, too) with a one-stop, mobile friendly e-news to help navigate the hundreds of golf news sites available. PGA Tour Brunch is short and sweet, a couple mobile page scrolls and it provides all the basic information, like tee times, the field, odds, player notes, leaderboards, and even some breaking news. It’s designed by @terrylyons with a blessing from the popular @SoxLunch creators. Discount for 2026 is HERE.

PREMIER LEAGUE PREDICTIONS: In Major League Baseball, fans circle the standings on the 4th of July as foresight to the eventual pennant race winners and post season participants. In the English Premier League championship, Christmas Day or Boxing Day is a time to look at the ladder and to put a tuppence or more down for a bet on the EPL champ. As of December 25, 2025, here’s a look at the odds to win the title in 2026:

  1. Arsenal – (-140)
  2. Manchester City – (+140)
  3. Aston Villa – 22/1
  4. Liverpool – 28/1
  5. Chelsea – 40/1
  6. Manchester United – 80/1

However, as USA Network’s Premier League tv coverage and The Athletic pointed out Saturday morning, “In the Premier League era, leading at Christmas has not always meant getting the job done in May. Those that have topped the table on December 25 have gone on to be crowned champions in 17 of the past 33 seasons, meaning just under half of the league leaders at this stage have been pipped to the post.”

So, This is Christmas

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A Collection of Memorable Christmas Columns

By TERRY LYONS , (With a Little Help from My Friends)

BOSTON – Merry Christmas ‘25 to all who celebrate the day. To others, this columnist wishes you sincere best wishes and joy for 2026 with peace during the holiday(s) you celebrate and for the entire year ahead.

In what has now been classified as a full-fledged tradition, here’s my annual salute to Christmas morning and the twinkle of a young boy’s eyes written by my great friend, Shelby Strother:

Longtime readers of my column and previous TL Blog will remember the reprint of this column by Shelby Strother of the Detroit News. It’s a keeper and really hits home as I remember trading the basketballs, baseballs and footballs in for a typewriter and a Mylec Air Flow hockey stick. The column, along with dozens of others, is included in Saddlebags, a collection of Shelby’s favorites and his best from a career that spanned from Satellite Beach, Florida / Florida Today to the Denver Post to the Detroit News.

I’ve read this column at least a thousand times and enjoy it the same each and every time I read it. Here’s hoping you do too.

After all, “Sometimes the gift is simply the freedom to imagine. There may be no greater one.”

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 youngsters 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

*This column is, by far, my favorite column of all-time. Here’s to the late Shelby Strother, his great wife, Kim, and a Merry Christmas to all.

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Background and Editorial Note: For those of you who did not know Shelby Strother, I pass these little tidbits along:

He was a very good friend. I’ve lost a mother, a father and an older brother. I’ve agonized and felt helpless as we’ve all watched close relatives and friends of the family pass away, but Shelby was the first good friend in my life who went and got cancer and then died. Sadly, as the years pass, many others have fallen to cancer and now to this terrible COVID-19 disease. One of my best friends in life, my goalkeeper, Bob Rose, passed away from Prostate cancer few years ago and our dear friend, Mike Shalin, fellow transplanted New Yorker in Boston, sportswriter and official MLB scorekeeper at Fenway Park,passed away from brain cancer just five years ago. The bottom line – CANCER SUCKS.

Back to Shelby… I can remember when we attended the 1991 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte, NC. That Sunday night, he said that he didn’t feel well and was going to bed early. Shelby and I always got together on the Sunday night of the NBA All-Star Weekend, as the event was finally in the rearview mirror and we could relax. That was Feb. 10, 1991. The next month was a bad dream, each minute of every day for a solid month. Shelby died in the suburbs of Detroit on March 3, 1991, leaving his wife, Kim and two great little guys, Tommy and Kenny (the latter joined Shelby in heaven a few years back but that is a terrible fact of life to be told another day). Shelby grew up in the great State of Florida and loved it. I met him when he was a writer for the Denver Post. He went on to be a sports columnist for the Detroit News, but when big news – not sporting – was breaking and the News needed a writer, they sent Shelby. When the Berlin Wall was coming down, off went Shelby. … I could go on.

Then, there’s Boston’s Joe Fitzgerald, a columnist I knew from the Celtics’ glory days but did not know very well which is my loss. Joe wrote for the Boston Herald which was the Herald-American at one point and probably a multi-merger publication over the years, going up against the mighty Boston Globe.

Joe could crank a column with the best of them, and was well-liked in New England as he was an old school newspaperman and wrote like it.

Here’s a couple examples, the first a favorite of my friend and business partner, John Caron, he of West End Johnnies.

By JOE FITZGERALD, Boston Herald

Larry Bird, out of a Celtics uniform since 1992, left a ton of memories at this address, but none more poignant than a Christmas memory he shared with several hundred Boston school kids, repeated here this morning because, quite frankly, sports could use a dose of reality.

“What kills me about Christmas,” he said, “is that while it’s a time of excitement for some people, it’s a time that makes other people sad, like kids who just can’t have the things they see their friends getting. A lot of people – and I know people like this – can’t wait for Christmas to be gone.

“You know how they say it was the Grinch who stole Christmas? It wasn’t the Grinch at all. It was the rich people. They’re the ones who’ve stolen it, buying everything they can for their kids and not worrying about other kids who are going to end up feeling left out. They’ve taken Christmas the wrong way. I mean, it’s supposed to be a time for letting people know how you feel about them, isn’t it?

“That’s why, next to family, the most important thing in my life today are the old friends I have back home, the guys I went to school with, the guys who look at me and don’t see money, or the cars, or even the Celtics. They couldn’t care less about all of that. They live in a different world, the world I came from, where old buddies are still buddies ‘cuz they know what’s important, and it sure ain’t money.

“I look at my little brother today, and when I see him wanting Reeboks, or Champion shirts, it bothers me because kids don’t realize fads and fashions aren’t what determine how good you are, or how important you are.

“Whenever I’m out speaking to a bunch of kids, maybe doing a playground clinic, I always look for that one who stands off by himself, whose clothes don’t look too good. I’ll go out of my way to make a big deal over him because I used to be that kid.

“We got mostly clothes at our house every Christmas, ‘cuz that’s what we needed. I can remember my friends getting bicycles, and thinking how I’d buy the best bike in town if only I had the money. But that just wasn’t possible. Still, my Mom did a good job. Christmas was a big thing around our house. There was always a pile of five or six gifts for all of us; as soon as you opened one, you went right to the next one. It was chaos, and even though we knew it wasn’t going to be a lot, we appreciated how tough it was for our folks to get us what they did.

“So I’ll tell you what we did one year. We knew there’d be no toys that year because the funds just weren’t there. My older brother got the rest of us together and said, ‘Let’s do something special for Mom and Dad before we open our presents. Let’s just tell ’em we love ’em and see how they react, OK? I’ll do the speaking.’

“You’ve got to understand, ‘love’ wasn’t a word we threw around much in our family, so just hearing it said that way was new to me.

“Anyway, we’re all sitting around the tree and my brother stands up. He says, ‘Mom, Dad;  We want to say something to you tonight. We want to tell you we appreciate all you do for us, giving us things we know you had to work overtime to get. And, we just want to tell you we love you.’

“Well, I’m sitting there thinking, ‘Gee, that’s a pretty strong statement,’ when I saw tears coming from my mother’s eyes – and my Dad, he just sat there so proud. You could tell it really hit a chord.

“So look, if you guys want to do something really special this Christmas, tell your parents you love ’em, OK? Tell ’em thanks for all their hard work.

“That’s all I really came here to tell you. Thanks for listening. Good luck to every one of you, and Merry Christmas.”

– Larry Bird

Then, there’s this 2017 column a story I read for the first time this Christmas Eve ’25:

By JOE FITZGERALD

BOSTON – (Boston Herald | December 23, 2017) – If you’ve ever wondered whether God has a sense of humor, especially in these stridently secular times, consider the ever-present Christmas wreath which continues to be welcomed in places — condos, public classrooms, municipal properties — where most other symbols of Christ’s birth have been regrettably banned by neurotic secularists.

But wreaths, they tell us, are OK.

Why? Because they bear no bothersome reminders of what the holiday is all about. They’re pretty ornaments, that’s all.

You might even say they’re politically correct, if you’re that desperate for attention.

Though truth be told, there was never much thought given to it here until a column fell into this writer’s lap in 1999, three weeks before Christmas, the morning after six Worcester firefighters perished while trying to knock down a warehouse inferno.

Sometimes, in a job like this, you simply get to hold the pen, which is exactly what happened when a call was made to Our Lady of the Rosary, the church where weary firefighters had gathered for breaks throughout the night.

Father Bill Sanders happened to pick up the phone and said he was sorry not to have the information the caller was seeking.

“Father, while I have you,” the caller went on, “perhaps you can help me figure out something I saw this morning. I watched a firefighter draping black bunting over wreaths that adorned his station’s three bays. I know there was a column in that poignant scene, but I can’t find it. Can you?”

Sanders paused a moment, then asked, “Do you know why we use wreaths at Christmas?”

The writer had to admit he’d never given it much thought.

“Well, they’re in the form of a circle,” Sanders noted. “No beginning. No end. And we make them out of evergreens: ever green, always alive. When you put it all together, isn’t that the message of Christmas, that God sent His only son so that we would not perish but have everlasting life?”

But this insightful priest was far from done.

“Tell me,” he went on, “did that firefighter remove the wreaths before hanging the bunting, or did he cover those wreaths with the bunting?”

He was told the wreaths were not removed.

“Then here’s what I think your column might be,” he continued. “Behind all the sorrow and grief this world may throw at us, and behind all the heartache represented by that bunting, the hope and promise of Christmas remains. I think that’s your column, Joe.”

Indeed it was, and it continues to be shared.

So the next time you see a festive wreath, think of what it represents and remember what it has to say.

Who knows, you might even hear it whisper, “Merry Christmas!”

Wouldn’t that be something?

Parting Words & Music

A tribute to John Lennon:

“So this is Christmas and what have you done?
Another year over, a new one just begun.

And so this is Christmas, I hope you have fun,
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy new year,
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong,
(War is over if you want it)
For the rich and the poor ones,
The road is so long.
(War is over now)

And so happy Christmas for black and for whites,
(War is over if you want it)
For the yellow and red ones,
Let’s stop all the fight.
(War is over now)

A very merry Christmas
And a happy new year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done?
(War is over if you want it)
Another year over,
A new one just begun.
(War is over if you want it)

And so this is Christmas,
We hope you have fun
(War is over if you want it)
The near and the dear one,
The old and the young
(War is over now)

A very merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year,
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear

War is over
If you want it
War is over now”

Happy Christmas!

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. Here, I make an attempt at continuing that tradition – via the magic of e-mail.

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

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Year End #1

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Fenway Sports Group unloaded the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins franchise this weekend at a hefty $1.7-to-$1.8 billion, an increase over the $900m the Boston-based agency paid for the ice hockey franchise in 2021.

Crosstown from Fenway and up at North Station, financier and entrepreneur Bill Chisholm, a lifelong Boston Celtics NBA basketball fan, dropped a cool $6.1 billion in order to purchase a controlling chunk of the C’s.

Is it possible that an NBA franchise is worth $4.3 billion more than an iconic NHL team? Or, if you count the exorbitant $10 billion valuation of the Los Angeles Lakers – recently purchased by Mark Waller (from the family of Dr. Jerry Buss), you’ve got a ridiculous 8.3 billion difference.

To level the playing field, hardwood and ice, you must consider the fact the Celtics and the Lakers, respectively, are the two most decorated franchises in the NBA and only the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors can be held in the lofty rare-air of value. In the NHL, the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks can be compared. Pittsburgh would be in the second tier of NHL franchise valuations. The global allure and the recent TV/media deal struck by the NBA make it a very steady investment for the ultra-rich who might be seeking a vehicle to balance their bank books.

Fenway has been seeking a buyer for the ice hockey franchise for a while. The Penguins were never a good fit for the agency, as its Boston-based sister clubs (Boston Red Sox and NHL Bruins) co-own cash cow regional sports network NESN. FSG also owns Liverpool of the English Premier League, and the (Worcester, Mass) Woo-Sox and the minor league teams which support the Red Sox. Fenway also has its investments in, RFK (Roush Racing venture with driver Brad Keselowski), the PGA Tour, and TGL Golf via the Boston Common GC of indoor golf.

Fenway Sports Group and Hoffmann Family of Companies announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for the Hoffmanns to acquire a controlling interest in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Headquartered in Chicago, the Hoffmann family have built a diverse portfolio of operating businesses and commercial real estate holdings and are also owners of the Florida Everblades of the ECHL. The close of the transaction is subject to approval by the National Hockey League Board of Governors.

“During a formal process to explore investor interest in the Pittsburgh Penguins, we were approached by the Hoffmann family with an offer that warranted serious consideration,” said Sam Kennedy, CEO of Fenway Sports Group. “From our earliest conversations, their love of the sport and their commitment to doing things the right way made it clear they would be thoughtful stewards of the franchise, which is why we chose to seriously consider their interest. We plan to work closely with them to ensure a smooth transition and to carry forward the momentum that’s been built. It has been an honor to be part of the Penguins’ story, working alongside a world-class leadership team, passionate fans, and a dedicated community.”

Hoffmann Family of Companies is a rapidly expanding, family-owned private equity enterprise of over 125 global brands led by brothers Geoff and Greg Hoffmann. Geoff oversees the family’s private equity investments with Greg managing its real estate holdings. In addition to their business ventures, the Hoffmann’s acquired the Florida Everblades of the ECHL in 2019 and are deeply committed to community impact, contributing millions annually to nonprofits across the country.

Their philanthropic efforts include the creation of Type 1 Timer Hockey in 2022 by Geoff Hoffmann and his wife, the only nonprofit hockey camp in North America dedicated to supporting young athletes with type 1 diabetes.

“Hockey has always been a meaningful part of our family’s story, which makes this an incredibly special opportunity,” said Geoff Hoffmann, CEO of Hoffmann Family of Companies. “We’ve long admired the Pittsburgh Penguins – not just for their championship legacy and history, but for the culture, passion, and loyalty that define the organization. From our earliest conversations, we saw how deeply the Penguins are woven into the fabric of Pittsburgh. We are honored to join that tradition and excited to become an active part of the community.

“Our goal is to support Kyle Dubas with everything he needs to bring the Penguins back to the pinnacle of the NHL. We look forward to working alongside the exceptional leadership team already in place, strengthening our connection with Penguins fans, and ensuring the franchise remains a source of pride for the city for generations to come.”

That all equates to a press announcement filled with back-patting along with a stated commitment to the city of Pittsburgh, the home to the Penguins since the NHL expansion of 1967.

The Penguins lifted the Stanley Cup five times, in 1991,1992, 2009, 2016, and 2017, a tremendous run with much of it due to the talents of the great Mario Lemieux. The success noted, it was Lemieux who bailed the franchise out after they were forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 1998.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: St. John’s University basketball entered the 2025-26 season with a lofty No. 5 ranking, the highest since the Chris Mullin era in the mid-1980s. Coming off the (31-5) 2024-25 season, a BIG EAST Championship and the magic of Rick Pitino’s off-season recruiting efforts, St. John’s was destined for greatness this season … Not so fast, as Saturday’s 78-66 loss to Kentucky set the Johnnies back to (7-4) on the season, including losses to Alabama, Iowa State, Auburn, and the Wildcats – not to mention an exhibition loss at the hands of Michigan at Madison Square Garden. While St. John’s improved defensively over the first three weeks of the young season, and won three games during that timespan, their half-court offense was non-existent in the loss to the (8-4) Wildcats. St. John’s is (0-3) against ranked teams. After one last non-conference game (home vs Harvard), for St. John’s, the tough, full BIG EAST schedule awaits. … A one-of-a-kind baseball card featuring a gold logo patch commemorating Shohei Ohtani’s 2024 NL MVP Award fetched $3 million during an auction this week. The card was autographed by Ohtani. … Long before the advent of breaking news “Woj Bombs” and “Shams Scoops” on Twitter/X, Peter Vecsey, was writing NBA basketball only sports columns in New York and he fast became an influential NBA insider who helped define modern sports journalism. Author Pete Croatto profiled Vecsey for Poynter.

PGA SCHEDULE: The PGA TOUR usually begins its season with a Tournament of Champions on the Hawaiian Island of Maui. Each year, roughly 30 pro golfers, who won on the circuit last season, get a one week head start on the rest of the tour. The SONY Open – which was the second event on the tour in year’s past – will now act as the No. 1 tournament for 2026, playing in Honolulu from January 15-18.

A SHAMELESS PGA TOUR BRUNCH PLUG: Say Happy New Year to your favorite golf fan with PGA Tour Brunch. Posted to in-boxes six days a week (not Tuesdays) for lunch or brunch-time reading, PGA Tour Brunch provides fans of the PGA Tour (and its growing list of Fantasy, gambling and DFS players, too) with a one-stop, mobile friendly e-news to help navigate the hundreds of golf news sites available. PGA Tour Brunch is short and sweet, a couple mobile page scrolls and it provides all the basic information, like tee times, the field, odds, player notes, leaderboards, and even some breaking news. It’s designed by @terrylyons with a blessing from the popular @SoxLunch creators.

What Was Written by WWYI in the First Half of ‘25

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: As the Year of 2025 comes to a close, your favorite column does a customary look-back at the stories we looked at each week of the year. It works best when split into two parts. One part this week, then Part 2 next weekend. Here’s January to June 2025:

Part One – January 2025 to June ‘25 (Tune in Next Week for July to December)

Jan. 5:

Bold Predications – Actually chalk – Ohio State will win the College Football Playoffs

I made 10 predictions. Plain text = Incorrect but Bold Text = Correct

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. (2 of 4, and Florida won)

Citizen Bull will win the Kentucky Derby but not the Triple Crown. (Sovereignty won and Citizen Bull came in a lowly 15th).

The Vegas Golden Knights will win the Stanley Cup, defeating the Washington Capitals. (Florida Panthers won, but Vegas was 1st in Pacific but lost to Edmonton in the Second Round).

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. (Scheffler fell short and Tommy Fleetwood won)

The Los Angeles Dodgers will be World Series champions once again.

*****I went five for 10 (.500) with partials at the NCAA Final 4 (Duke and Florida). Roki Sasaki signed with the LA Dodgers in March but was oft-injured and placed on the 60-day IL with right shoulder impingement.

Jan. 12:

  • What happened to the Boston “Title Town” teams?
  • LA Wild Fires
  • Venu is Kaput (ESPN changes direction, never launches site/channel)

Jan. 19:

  • CFP 2025 – Good Job
  • MSG photographer George Kalinsky – RIP
  • FIBA ‘25 – Hall of Fame Inductees

Jan. 26:

  • AFC/NFC Championship – Great Day

Feb 2:

  • Ground Hog Day Meets Red Sox Truck Day
  • MLB Spring Training on the Horizon

Feb. 9:

  • The Doncic Trade
  • All-Time Fictional Character Hoops Team

Feb. 16:

  • Ups & Downs of NBA All-Star
  • Jeff Twiss Named BHofF Bunn Award Winner

Feb. 23:

  • 4 Nations Ice Hockey Scores!

March 2:

  • MLB Spring Training/Little Fenway
  • Diana Taurasi

March 9:

  • On-site at MIT Sloan Sports Conference

March 16:

  • On-site at the BIG EAST Tournament at The Garden
  • MLB Opener in Japan

March | Special:

  • St. John’s Wins Big East Championship

March Madness | Special – March 20:

  • Brackets!

March 22:

  • St. John’s Bows-Out Early (On-site in Providence)
  • Celtics Sale

March 30:

  • Frozen Four
  • College Basketball Crown

April 4 | Special | Fenway Home Opener

  • Digital Sports Desk Opens MLB Season at Fenway

April 6:

  • Boston Red Sox Review of Home Opener | Timeline
  • Torpedo Bats

April 13:

  • The Masters
  • Ch, ch, ch, CHANGES in Sports

April 20:

  • Jackie Robinson Day in MLB (April 15)

April 27:

  • Relegation in the Premier League/European Futbol
  • Relegation: Not So Fast in North American-based Pro Sports
  • Relegation in LARGE College Conferences

May 4:

  • San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich Tribute

May 11:

  • The Cooper Flagg NBA Draft Lottery
  • Devers Airs his Grievances with Red Sox

May 18:

  • Seasons Change and So Does Boston
  • PGA Championship | Quail Hollow

May 25:

  • The Memorial
  • The Ultimate Memorial: Carl Richard “Dick” Gumina

June 1:

  • The Belmont at Saratoga

June 8:

  • NBA Finals
  • NBA Photos
  • Look Out for the Florida Panthers

June 15:

  • Great Sports Promos – the NHL
  • Stanley Cup Final | Game 5

June 22:

  • NBA Finals – Game 7s
  • On-site for the PGA Tour | The Travelers
  • Cal Raleigh | Record-breaking Pace

June 29:

  • The “New” Texas Triangle

PARTING WORDS & MUSIC: Without pushing it too far or making one of my patented lists, one could easily say the most impactful musical voices of the 20th Century were:

  • The Beatles
  • Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones
  • Elvis
  • Frank Sinatra

Here’s a collection of Sinatra Christmas music for your yuletide enjoyment:

TL’s Sunday Notes | December 14

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

PROVIDENCE – The date was October 12, 1989 and the assignment was to be a one-man, one day advance team for the NBA as the Orlando Magic were to play their first game ever the following day. NBA Commissioner David Stern was in route to attend the game and, as always, Stern was willing and very able to do as many interviews as possible, TV one-on-ones, small group gatherings with the local assembled print media in the pressroom – you name it, he’d do it.

David was “an ace in the hole” for his “crack” PR staff and I was ready to run him through the gauntlet at Orlando’s brand-spanking new O-Rena. It was great.

With a bit of local intel from the Magic’s terrific PR staff (Alex Martins), a schedule was drawn up to catch as many of the local TV broadcasts as time would allow. The stations worked together – a bit – to slide live drop-ins and share in the wealth.

I don’t think Stuart Scott knew all of that as he was working at WRAL-TV in Raleigh at the time. But, he was soon to be on our radar.

Stern did his duty and the Orlando Magic won the game. A terrific start for the NBA expansion team – one of four that came into the league – alphabetically – in 1988 and 1989. Charlotte and Miami in 1988 and Minnesota and Orlando in 1989. We made the rounds for all four cities, a two-man NBA traveling band over many of the years as the NBA began to stretch its legs in terms of media coverage and worldwide popularity.

Just a few years later, it was Earvin “Magic” Johnson on center stage as the 1992 NBA All-Star Weekend was scheduled to be played in Orlando and for the second year, I was named to run point for our growing PR department by NBA PR guru Brian McIntyre, the guy with Bunn Award Hall of Fame skills. In an attempt to set a huge stage for Magic and the Magic organization, we all combined with the NBA events and attractions group to stage an incredible weekend.

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There were countless planning trips down to Orlando – all with flights packed with kids, sometimes tots, all anxious and excited to visit Disney World. For those flights, the Bose (noise-cancelling) headphones and plenty of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd were packed to counter the crying and carrying on for little ones with altitude adjustment issues and painful ears. I felt for them, but there’s no child who can out-scream “Kashmir” or “When the Levee Breaks.”

The more trips, the more I noticed a WESH-TV 2’s sports reporter. Yes, Stuart Scott had moved to Orlando for a better gig on the WESH-TV news team, and he was good. He stood out amongst the relatively small media mass of Orlando, one where a guy named Christopher Russo had yet to go canine.

Leading up to the All-Star Weekend, I asked Stuart if he needed anything “special,” and more or less opened the door for any request. Earvin could only do the main podium interviews, and he was his usual amazing self, but I had the keys to Commissioner Stern’s busy schedule, and, aside from the obvious NBC Sports requests, in my eyes after observing Stuart over months of reports, the young reporter out of North Carolina had earned a little extra – call it, ‘treat him like family,’ love and an audience with Stern. That was a considerable “get” for a local broadcaster.

There’s no great punchline to this intro. Stuart Scott had earned the respect of all of the Magic players and their opponents, and his talent was noticeable to anyone who watched him work. He had yet to coin the phrase, “Cool as the other side of the pillow,” but that’s what he was – every single night. He was just a pleasure to work with and he generally appreciated the give-and-take. And, that’s the way we rolled for quite a long time. We worked at many an NBA game, and even in London where the Magic played the Atlanta Hawks at the very first NBA London Games (1993). Stuart and Shaquille O’Neal – the NBA Rookie of the Year in ‘92-93 – had developed quite a nice relationship. Shaq seemed to enjoy his time with Stuart, rather than think of it as work.

Stuart eventually became, “Stu,” to most of us, and he advanced his career by accepting a job with ESPN where he was among the opening night newscasters on ESPN2, the mothership’s attempt to be “cool.” It quickly became obvious, with Keith Olbermann on-set and on-air in a goofy leather jacket, and at that point in time, “Stu” was the only thing “cool” about ESPN2.

Scott was eventually promoted to the “A” team at ESPN and there he was hosting the main newscast at the NBA Finals. He had developed a rapport with so many of the rank and file NBA players, it was never difficult to coordinate an interview as the players liked him and enjoyed his rock solid style of conducting business. It was a joy to be a small part of as Stuart truly commanded the NBA airwaves. It seemed like Stuart Scott was growing up with the NBA, with pro basketball in Central Florida and, then, with a national following of sports fans.

To take a rather corny line from Forrest Gump, Stu and the NBA were like peas and carrots. Then – just like Forrest’s Jenny – the roof caved in and we heard the news of Stu’s battle vs. cancer.

It was a body-check in the gut, and it knocked the air right out of our bodies, minds and spirits. It wasn’t fair.

It never is.

Time moved along, just as it did for our other NBA Family insider – TNT’s Craig Sager – and both Stu and Sager courageously battled cancer and are now etched in our psyche with their mind-blowing, tremendous, courageous speeches at the ESPYs.

That brings us to the “Boo-yah,” A Portrait of Stuart Scott – a must watch documentary available on the ESPN app. In addition to extensive interviews with Stuart’s surviving family and his pillars – his daughters – there is quite a bit of entertaining original footage coming in the “never seen before” fashion.

Film producer Andre Gaines told The Hollywood Reporter he had “easily” 400 to 500 hours of footage to use for his ESPN 30 for 30 installment, much of which Scott shot himself … of himself.

That includes what became Gaines’ poetic documentary ending scene, first dug out of the archives by the documentary’s producer Ryan Lohuis. I will not spoil its impact.

Boston Bruins’ Winter Classic team sweater (Courtesy Boston Bruins)

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Who needs another retro/alternate team uniform? Raise your hands. Anyone?

“Through multiple Winter Classics and of course our club’s 100th anniversary, we’ve done a lot of retro and vintage style jerseys, but Stadium Series presented an opportunity to do something really unique,” said Boston Bruins President Cam Neely. “We’re introducing a new team uniform that combines Bruins toughness and snarl with some really dialed up components and coloring. These sweaters are going to look great under the Sunday night lights.”

The Bruins’ Winter Classic jerseys feature a variety of new brand marks and design elements:

Sunshine Motif: In addition to the primary gold color, the jersey features debossed sun rays on the sleeves and on the hem loop label, which also features “BOS” – Boston’s airport code – a nod to the road warriors. (Who knew #1)?

Football-Inspired: The main “Boston” wordmark on the front of the jersey is akin to the New England Patriots styling, an intentional nod to the game being hosted in an NFL football stadium, and features a lock-up treatment with the Bruins’ crawling bear logo. The crawling bear – traditionally a secondary brand asset – is bigger and more prominent for the Stadium Series. (Who knew #2)?

Bear Claw Slash: One side shoulder features a new secondary mark, an iconic varsity B with a bear claw slash to signifying the grit and toughness that have been synonymous with Bruins hockey for more than 100 years. The slash graphic element appears throughout the uniform, including on the jersey, helmet, and pants. (Who knew #3)?

Love For New England: The inside neck collar features the abbreviations of the six New England states as a reminder that the Bruins are proud to represent their region no matter where they play. (Who Knew #4)?

That’s four “Who Knews,” a new Winter Classic record.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: The FIFA World Cup draw took place a couple of weeks ago and, as the ping-pong balls fell, it brought New England one of the highly anticipated matches with Norway vs. France. Norway’s team is an up and coming world competitor with striker Erling Haaland leading the Norwegian football team. Haaland is considered one of the top players in the world. He plays for Manchester City in the English Premier League and is celebrated for his exceptional goal-scoring ability to allow Norway to make their first major tournament appearance since 2000.

They’ll face France, considered to be one of the favorites to lift the coveted World Cup trophy, especially after their strong performance in the preceding tournaments. They exhibit a powerful blend of experienced players and exciting young talent, making them a formidable contender.

France won in 2018 and finished as a 2022 finalist. Les Bleus will be a serious contender yet again with its treasure trove of talent. Superstar forward Kylian Mbappe is entering his prime and Ousmane Dembele just won the Ballon d’Or. Other star options in attack are Desire Doue, Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola and Rayan Cherki.

Now, the bad news: An early inquiry into purchasing tickets for the big FRA vs NOR game resulted in some astronomical prices. A single ticket was listed at $2,158 (by tournament sponsor VISA) in a promotion which included a few bells and whistles (VIP stuff). A pair for the FRA vs NOR game? $6,700 bucks, and I’m not sure that includes parking fees at “Boston Stadium,” as they scrubbed Gillette right off the marquee.

Somehow, the tickets will sell. But, who can afford them?

THIS JEST IN: You might celebrate Christmas. Then there’s Festivus – the George Costanza/Seinfeld publicized “Festivus for the Rest of Us.” And, now for the Rock ‘n Rollers. there’s “Goosemas.”

Goose the Band (Google it, if you haven’t heard of them) plays back-to-back concerts on an annual basis and has tagged them as “Goosemas.” It’s a bit of a goof for a band that prides itself on not taking themselves too seriously but over the past for or five years has established themselves at the No. 1 Jam Band on the circuit.

While Jam Band sort of catches all aspects of the music, Goose is very hard to categorize. They were originally tagged as Indie Rock and they self-describe the band as “Indie Groove,” they’ve evolved into pure musical and theatrical mastery. The band hails from Wilton, Connecticut, and they formed in 2014. Theyve had some line-up changes over the years but solidified under the three original members in guitarist and vocalist superb, Rick Mitarotonda, while keyboardist and vocalist Peter Anspach keeps up the rapport with the growing fan base (sometimes referred to as “Creatures.” Bass player Trevor Weekz (often spelled Weeks and he went with a WEEKS New York Rangers jersey when at The Garden) holds down the sound nearly as well as The Who’s late bass man John Entwistle who is sometimes considered the all-time best. Like Entwisle, Weekz plants himself on stage and barely moves any part of his lower body while working magic with his hands and bass guitar, usually a Elrick Gold Series bolt-on 5-string or his Modulus Quantum 5-string; Godin A5 fretless 5-string; ’70s Fender Jazz Bass; or maybe an Elrick Master Series 35”- scale, single cutaway 5-string; or the patented and go-to Fender Tony Franklin Fretless Precision Bass after graduating from his first bass guitar – a used, Japanese-made Fender Jazz Bass with EMG pickups. Drummer Cotter Ellis plays a non-stop back beat making everyone wonder how he doesn’t simply tire out. Mitarotonda and Anspach handle most of the song-writing.

Goosemas 2025 at Providence (Photo by T. Peter Lyons)

While Goose has now played sellout shows at Radio City Music Hall, Red Rocks in Colorado and Madison Square Garden in New York amongst all the other great venues, this veteran Goose fan (tipped off years ago by my Phish-loving neighbor) sees a band constantly evolving, constantly creating, constantly improving and finding a new niche that attracts fans of all genres and all ages.

Mitarotonda’s guitar playing has mesmerized all of his fans, while his voice remains so rock solid. It’s hard not to go too far with comparisons, so I won’t, but Mitarotonda has the whole package of guitar chops, the solid voice and exquisite song writing skills. He stands center stage and commands his audience in a smooth, natural way – simply being his cool self – nothing more, nothing less. Mitarotonda is the superstar of this band and he was born to be a musical legend.

Goosemas 2025 (night one) was incredible, almost indescribable, but I’ll try. Tagged as “Barnaby Glimpse’s Show Upon Time: A Phantom Menagerie” which was fictionally staged in the year 1734, the theatrics conjured up the craziest nights of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras mixed with a real menagerie of dancing creatures, hundreds of balloons and inflatable objects, all bouncing around a Providence venue (Amica Mutual Pavillion … the AMP) that must have a new high for an electric/power bill today. All the theatrics were backed by incredible guitar, bass and drum-driven “grooves” that made the buildings’ floor look like it was a giant waterbed moving up and down with two or three thousand fans packed together for one giant dance-off in one giant dance hall. Goose was fabulous.

During the early stages of Friday night’s show, Goose debuted Pink Floyd’s “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” as a first-time cover, featuring Ellis on lead vocals and adding Stuart Bogie on woodwinds during their first set. Bogie’s sax playing was a wonderful addition to the band.

The show closed as Ellis subtly exited the stage, soon to be followed by Weekz which allowed Mitarotonda and Anspach a finely lit stage to deliver their debut cover version of Neil Young’s “Sugar Mountain.”

Anspach exited, leaving only a lone vocalist and guitarist in Mitarotonda who upon hitting the last note, slowly walked over to the Ghostlight on stage and turned it off.

What a finish.

Stunning.

EDITOR’S NOTE: At approximately 4:13pm on Saturday, there was a mass shooting on the campus of Brown University in Providence, where this column originated from on Friday. Police and authorities are reporting two fatalities and multiple people (at least eight) injured and in critical condition.

In hindsight, and looking back about 24 hours, the joy of life during a peaceful weekend and attending an entertaining rock show turns to helpless feelings of sympathy for the families of the victims, some possibly not even notified as of this writing from nearby Boston on Saturday evening.

Brown is such a wonderful school and the City of Providence a gem amongst East Coast small towns. May God Bless the victims of this senseless crime with hope police, FBI and first responders quickly apprehend the perpetrator of this crime.

TL’s Sunday Notes | DIGGIES ’25

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The Lyrics Edition:

While We’re Young (Ideas) Offers Up Some Great Lyrics in Rock History

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – Quoting the Monty Python TV show, “now for something completely different.”

Warning Sports Fans: The start of this column is 100% music – not sports – and, it also needs a qualifier – one used frequently while making lists of favorite this or favorite that. The qualifier is that if I were asked to list my favorite lyrics in rock history for 365 consecutive days, you’d get 365 different versions, some with repeats, but many without a single repeating entry.

So, my obvious qualifier: On December 7, 2025, these are the “TL-Top 40” lyrics in my personal catalogue of musicology. That catalogue runs pretty deep, especially from my formative years of the late 1960s to early 1970s. Many of my entries reflect memorable rock ‘n roll songs burned into my memory while many a stylus burned grooves into vinyl albums, an amazing number of them from 1971.

Figuring you get the picture, here are the TL DIGGIES of Rock Lyrics – 2025 edition.

The listing is a TL Top 40 award listing for some of the great and meaningful lyrics in my personal history of listening to great Rock n Roll songs (they are listed in the random order of identifying the songs I wanted to highlight, not great to greatest nor anything else. Only the final listing of the group comes with a deep explanation of it being my all-time fave and the column cover photo might give you a hint:

(1) – “We learned more from a three-minute record, baby Than we ever learned in school.” Bruce Springsteen, “No Surrender,” 1984 (Submitted by column contributor Natly, and it matched yours truly, Tee Els, exactly – so this the listing placed at #1)

(2) – “Sunday’s on the phone to Monday, Tuesday’s on the phone to me” The Beatles, “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window,” 1969

(3) – “You got rats on the west side, bed bugs uptown, what a mess, this town’s in tatters,” Rolling Stones, “Shattered,” 1978

(4) – “You know the day destroys the night, Night divides the day, Tried to run, tried to hide, Break on through to the other side.” The Doors, “Break On Through (To the Other Side), 1967

(5)- “I’ve been waiting so long, to be where I’m going, In the sunshine of your love.” Cream, “Sunshine of your Love,” 1967 (Jack Bruce)

(6) – “I watched with glee, while your kings and queens, Fought for ten decades, For the gods they made … I shouted out, ‘Who killed the Kennedys?’ When after all It was you and me.” Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil,” 1968

(7) – “And as we wind on down the road, Our shadows taller than our soul, There walks a lady we all know, Who shines white light and wants to show, How everything still turns to gold, And if you listen very hard, The tune will come to you at last, When all are one and one is all. To be a rock and not to roll.” Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven,” 1971

(8) – “I’ve been walkin’ Central Park, singing after dark, People think I’m crazy! Stumbling on my feet, shuffling through the street, Asking people, “What’s the matter with you, boy?” Rolling Stones, “Miss You,” 1978

(9) – “Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face, With stars to fill my dreams, I am a traveler of both time and space, To be where I have been.” Led Zeppelin, “Kashmir,” 1975

(10) – “Why don’t you come with me little girl, On a magic carpet ride? Well, you don’t know what we can see, Why don’t you tell your dreams to me, Fantasy will set you free, Close your eyes girl, Look inside girl, Let the sound take you away” Steppenwolf, “Magic Carpet Ride,” 1968

(11) – “This is our last dance, This is our last dance, This is ourselves. Under pressure, Under pressure. Pressure.” Queen and David Bowie, written by Freddie Mercury and Bowie, “Under Pressure,” 1981

(12) – “I had a job, I had a girl, I had something going, mister, in this world, I got laid off, down at the lumberyard, Our love went bad, times got hard, Now I work down at the car wash – Where all it ever does is rain – Don’t you feel like you’re a rider, On a downbound train?” Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, “Downbound Train,” 1984

(13)- “Excuse me, while I kiss the sky.” Jimi Hendrix, “Purple Haze,” 1967

(14) – “I know a man ain’t supposed to cry, But these tears, I can’t hold inside. Losin’ you would end my life, you see, ‘Cause you mean that much to me, You could have told me yourself, That you loved someone else, instead, I heard it through the grapevine, Not much longer would you be mine, Oh, I heard it through the grapevine, And I’m just about to lose my mind, Honey, honey, well.” Marvin Gaye, “Heard It Through the Grapevine,” 1969

(15) – “Oye como va, mi ritmo / Bueno pa’ gozar, mulata” Tito Puente, “Oye como va,” 1962 (covered by Santana, 1971)

(16) – “No one knows what it’s like, To be the bad man, To be the sad man, Behind blue eyes” The Who, “Behind Blue Eyes,” 1971 (written by Pete Townshend)

(17) “All you need is love, love, Love is all you need” The Beatles, “All You Need is Love,” 1967 (Lennon-McCartney)

(18) – “Sing us a song, you’re the piano man, Sing us a song tonight, Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody, And you’ve got us feeling alright” Billy Joel, Piano Man,” 1973

(19) – “So goodbye yellow brick road, Where the dogs of society howl” Elton John, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” 1973

(20) – “A boy is born, In hard time Mississippi, Surrounded by four walls, That ain’t so pretty” Stevie Wonder, “Living for the City,” 1973

(21) – “Hold me closer, tiny dancer. Count the headlights on the highway, Lay me down in sheets of linen, You had a busy day today” Elton John, “Tiny Dancer,” 1971

(22) – “The song is over, It’s all behind me” The Who, “Song is Over,” 1971 (lyrics by Pete Townshend)

(23) – “Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter, Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here, Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo, here comes the sun” The Beatles, “Here Comes the Sun,” 1969 (lyrics by George Harrison)

(24) – “She’s a good girl, loves her mama, Loves Jesus and America too, She’s a good girl, who’s crazy ‘bout Elvis, Loves horses and her boyfriend too” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “Free Fallin,’” 1989

(25) – “To everything turn, turn, turn. There is a season turn, turn, turn, And a time to every purpose under Heaven” The Byrds, 1965 (Cover of song written by Pete Seeger, with words from the Book of Ecclesiastes)

(26) – “So far away, Doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore, It would be so fine to see your face at my door, Doesn’t help to know you’re just time away” Carole King, “So Far Away,” 1971

(27) – “Ran into the devil, babe, he loaned me twenty bills, Spent the night in Utah in a cave up in the hills. Set out runnin’ but I take my time, A friend of the devil is a friend of mine, If I get home before daylight, Just might get some sleep tonight” Grateful Dead, 1970 (Written by Robert Hunter, Jerome Garcia, John C Dawson)

(28) – “Can you hear me calling out your name? You know that I’m falling And I don’t know what to say” Fleetwood Mac, “Everywhere,” 1987 (Lyrics by Christine McVie)

(29) – “South City midnight lady, I’m much obliged, indeed, You sure have saved this man whose soul was in need” Doobie Brothers, “South City Midnight Lady,” 1973

(30) – “Gotta keep those lovin’ good vibrations a’happenin’ with her” Beach Boys, “Good Vibrations,” 1966 (Composed by Brian Wilson, with Mike Love)

(31) – “Father, father, We don’t need to escalate You see, war is not the answer For only love can conquer hate, You know we’ve got to find a way, To bring some lovin’ here today, oh (Oh)” Marvin Gaye, “What’s Goin’ On,” 1971

(32) “When the night has come, And the land is dark, And the moon is the only light we’ll see, No, I won’t be afraid, Oh, I won’t be afraid, Just as long as you stand, Stand by me” Ben E. King, with credit to Sam Cooke, “Stand By Me,” 1961, (Lyrics by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller)

(33) – “Do I have to tell the story, Of a thousand rainy days since we first met, It’s a big enough umbrella, But it’s always me that ends up getting wet, Every little thing she does is magic, Everything she does just turns me on, Even though my life before was tragic, Now I know my love for her goes on” The Police, “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic,” 1981 (lyrics by Sting – Gordon Sumner)

(34) – “Wake up, Maggie, I think I got something to say to you, It’s late September and I really should be back at school” – Rod Stewart, “Magiie May,” 1971

(35) – “Sometimes I’m right and I can be wrong, My own beliefs are in my song, The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then, Makes no difference what group I’m in I am everyday people, yeah, yeah” Sly and the Family Stone, “Everyday People,” 1968

(36) – With or without you, With or without you, ah-ah. I can’t live with or without you” U2, With or Without You,” 1987

(37) – “These days, These days I sit on corner stones, And count the time in quarter tones to ten, my friend. Don’t confront me with my failures, I had not forgotten them” Gregg Allman, “These Days,” 1973 (Lyrics by Jackson Browne, originally for Nico, 1967)

(38) – “Early morning, April 4, Shot rings out in the Memphis sky, Free at last, they took your life, They could not take your pride” U2, Pride (In the Name of Love), 1984

(39) – “Well, I sat there at the table, And I acted real naive, For I knew that topless lady Had something up her sleeve.” John Prine, “Spanish Pipedream,” 1971 (Submitted by column contributor “The Invincible Claude”)

(40) – “Crossroads, seem to come and go, yeah.” Allman Brothers, “Melissa,” 1967 (Words and Music by Gregg Allman)

**** And, “The End,” possibly the greatest of the great finishing lyrics in the history of recorded music of any genre, “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make” by The Beatles on the amazing Side B of Abbey Road. The album side concludes with such amazing features. Following “Here Comes the Sun” and “Because,” The Beatles recorded and mixed a series of songs, mostly known as The Medley.

“You Never Give Me Your Money” opens the medley and it is brilliantly followed by “Sun King” and “Mean Mr. Mustard,” then “Polythene Pam,” an incredible John Lennon song, sung with his Scouse/Merseyside accent – all Liverpool. “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” comes next, a song about crazy fans finding their way into Paul McCartney’s house, followed by “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and the previously noted, “The End.”

The album takes a silent break before “Her Majesty” finishes off the epic side of The Beatles’ very best and – thus – my A-#1 lyric.

Apologies to: Yesterday, (Paul McCartney); The Way It Is and Look Out Every Window, (Bruce Hornsby); My Girl, The Temptations, Reach Out, The Four Tops (Lyrics by H-D-H – Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland; Songs by The Mamas and The Papas; If You Leave Me Now and 24 or 6 to 4, (Chicago) (Lyrics by Peter Cetera for the former and Robert Lamm for the latter); and a zillion others.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: It’s tough to follow-up that collection of Rock Hall of Fame lyrics with some sports notes, but let’s cover some business, first.

PGA TOUR Brunch – You’ve read about the special – Cover Everything – PGA Tour missive a few times in this column. It’s a six days a week e-News sent directly to your Inbox and it’s designed to give PGA Tour fans mobile-first, mobile-friendly tournament previews, betting odds, news updates and the most important URL links to content to save time and help you navigate the world of pro golf right from your device over lunch, brunch or whenever. Compiled and written by this reporter (Terry Lyons) who enjoys weekly competition in a couple Fantasy Golf leagues, too. Sign-Up or gift PGA TOUR Brunch to your favorite golfer or PGA TOUR fan and receive a special 2026 discount by visiting HERE. (Notification: PGA Tour Brunch is not affiliated with the Tour and is a publication by Digital Sports Desk and Terry Lyons).

NETFLIX: This week, it was announced that Netflix will acquire Warner Bros., including its film and television studios, HBO Max, HBO and archives. United is the leading streaming entertainment service with Warner Bros.’ iconic stories, bringing some of the world’s popular titles and properties, like Harry Potter, Friends, The Big Bang Theory, films like Casablanca, series like Game of Thrones and the DC Universe, all together with a bundle of other programs. What the potential merger (if approved by USA and other world regulatory authorities) will not sell are the cable TV stations like CNN, TNT, TBS and others. They will be re-packed into a publicly sold company. The deal has an enterprise value (including debt) of approximately $82.7 billion, with an equity value of $72 billion, the companies said. Who knew that the one-time – mail a DVD of a movie to customers offering – would become the kingpin in an $82 billion dollar take-over? But, Netflix said it expects to see $2-to-$3 billion in cost savings annually by the third year after the WB deal closes. Raise your hand if you saw this coming.

MISSING NYC: A e-newsletter by Will Leitch, stating the things he missed about New York City after moving away 12 years ago prompted me to think of a short list of things that I miss, too.

First, Will’s list:

  1. Good Sushi
  2. Seeing first-run movies a week before the rest of the country
  3. Walking everywhere
  4. Walking everywhere
  5. Walking everywhere

A very worthy list.

Cosmo (photo by Andrea P. Martin)

Now, my list, not including the important stuff like friends, family, people and Cosmo:

  1. Christmas in New York and Rockefeller Center (NBA office was at 51st & 5th)
  2. The Tree
  3. Madison Square Garden
  4. The Beek – a.k.a. The Beacon Theatre for rock shows
  5. The West Village; Corner Bistro, Bar & Books, etc.
  6. Restaurants where you can get whatever you want, anytime you’d like to eat
  7. St. John’s games at The Garden or a trip out to campus and Carnesecca Arena
  8. St. Patrick’s Cathedral (I saw it everyday for 26+ years)
  9. Inside Park at St. Bart’s (my favorite indoor/outdoor place to meet for a beer)
  10. The 7 Train to CitiField and the Mets

And, Will is correct, it was great to not own a car, not pay for car insurance and gasoline and everything else and walk everywhere you needed to go, or grab a quick subway ride.

TL Thanksgiving Notebook | 2025

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief of Digital Sports Desk

RYE, NY – It is wise to give “Thanks and Eat Pie” while giving special thanks and praise to others on this Thanksgiving Week of 2025. Let us first salute the two most important groups for every sports fan on Thanksgiving Day – the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys. A special thank-you to all the people who work behind the scenes every Thanksgiving Day since time can be told, no matter if they’re the chain gang for the Lions-Cowboys, the “guys” in the trucks, the talented women – corporate-remote production-sideline reporters-statisticians-graphics-play-by-play and anchors – thank you all.

This season, the Green Bay Packers travel to nearby Detroit to face the divisional rival Lions in the early game (1:00pm EST) while the Kansas City Chiefs will have a relatively short flight to Dallas to play the vaunted Cowboys at AT & T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Post Thanksgiving Day dinner, this year’s night game will feature the Cincinnati Bengals vs. the Baltimore Ravens in a game that looked great on the schedule before Cincy QB Joe Burrow had surgery to aide his turf toe injury. Burrow will not be back for Thanksgiving.

We’ll watch anyway and snacks await.

HERE NOW, THE THANKS: First, let’s give thanks to the NFL Red Zone, and its seven hours of uninterrupted coverage of the NFL, it’s Oct-o-Box, its “witching hour(s), “ “when wins become losses and losses become wins.” … Let’s also give thanks to NFL RedZone play-by-play man Scott Hanson, a gift from heaven. … While we’re at it, thanks go out to Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan, Jim Nantz & Tony Romo, Kenny Albert and an RIP to the“Goose,“ as in Tony Siragusa who was taken in 2022, far too soon and too young (age 55). (Thanks to Goose-the-band, too, with a reminder December 12th is Goosemas in Providence, Rhode Island).

Thanks for Penny (Lane) and (Mighty) Max, our two pups. There’s nothing like an hour of toy chasing and scampering around the house with two pups playing tug-of-war and chase the ball.
Mighty Max (left) and Penny (Lane) (right), exhausted after play time

Thanks for the Road Not Taken.

Thanks for all of New England. Great place. Chatham, Mass wins. Osterville gets the Silver. Head south to New York/Long Island’s Montauk Point for the Bronze.

See if you can enjoy Horse Racing at Saratoga Race Course next summer.Belmont Park is great and is under construction for total renovation. It’s tough to top Del Mar.

Brand new Blue Jeans are nice.

I love a good segue. Layla to Behind Blue Eyes is the best I’ve ever connected. Try it. Crossfade at about nine seconds.

Do you know Jack Straw from Wichita? We can share what we got of yours ‘cause we done shared all of mine. Bruce Hornsby says: “Runnin’ down by the Lakeshore, She did love the sound of a summer storm. It played on the lake like a Mandolin.”

Thanks to Stevie, Elton, Billy, Bruce Hornsby and The Professor.

Madison Square Garden and Fenway Park are still my favorite places to be, and my home – a place where I truly know my soul has a place to rest.

I love the smell of freshly cut green grass. They smell like … Victory.

I can’t stand when my nice, fresh, green grass turns to brown dust in August, only to return again in late September. With that fact, there is hope for the Spring of 2026. “Green grass and high tides forever,” said the Outlaws, “Castles of stone, souls and glory.”

Let’s step back towards NYC and The Garden (and Felt Forum); I liked Golden Gloves Boxing and hope we can return it to its glory days.

I‘m really liking the NBA Basketball School concept and we’ve bought in for NBA Basketball School – Türkiye, starting in Istanbul in January.

How about “raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens or bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens?”

Is thanks in order as “67” is all the rage? – (Including, Dictionary.com Word of the Year) – Maybe so, but did you know that in all of the NFL’S retired uniform numbers, there’s not one “67,” in the bunch, so it’s not a favorite. Meanwhile, “27” is a fave and thank you Darryl Sittler, the Toronto Maple Leafs great.

For those who have HBO Max and tuned into The Pitt for its first season, you’re good. For those who did not, there will be a re-launch of the acclaimed television series when The Pitt airs on TNT. The Emmy-award winning medical drama will air on TNT starting December 1, 2025, at 9 PM ET. The first season will be re-broadcast uncensored, with three back-to-back episodes airing each Monday through December 29. This TNT version leads up to the premiere of Season 2 of the series to be broadcast on HBO this January.

The Pitt lead actor Noah Wyle won his first Emmy for Best Lead Actor in a Drama for his role as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch on the HBO Max medical drama and it came 26 years after his last nomination for his work on the medical drama, ER. Here’s my personal list of the best 10pm dramas on TV:

  • The West Wing
  • The Wire
  • Homeland
  • The Sopranos
  • House of Cards (which got far too ridiculous as it evolved)

Honorable Mention: Goes to: M*A*S*H, Breaking Bad, Cheers, Seinfeld, Murder One, Law & Order:Take Your Pick, but Mariska Hargitay gets the nod for the Special Victims episodes.

Sorry, I Missed: Mad Men, Succession, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office.

I’m thankful for Ken Burns and his documentary currently airing on PBS. Burns’ latest documentary, The American Revolution, is a monumental six-part, 12-hour miniseries that premiered on PBS (WGBH- TV in Boston) on November 16, 2025 and has been running nightly.

Burns and his team spent nearly a decade on this series drawing from first-person accounts, scholarly interviews, and innovative visuals – many debunking or delving deeper beneath the surface of recognized and accepted teachings of the ultra-complicated war.

There is no better narrator for a documentary than Peter Coyote. He has been the anchor for the best of the best Burns docs.

The series begins in the 1760s, with the French and Indian War’s fallout sparking colonial resentment toward British taxes and policies. It traces the escalation through key flashpoints like the Boston Massacre, the Declaration of Independence, Valley Forge’s horrors, and Yorktown’s triumph, ending with the fragile birth of a republic. The depth of involvement by the French and Spanish, along with the all-fronts wars on-going in Europe (at the same time) paint the picture of England’s place in world history, nevermind the domestic in-fighting between patriots, loyalists, Native Americans and slaves.

It proves to be far more complicated that Lin Manuel-Miranda’s quick and clean version depicted in Hamilton the Musical.

I think I liked the Broadway version the best.

Burns has produced 30 documentary series, including the current epic on the American Revolution. I’ll list a few of my personal favorites or recommendations (as the word favorite doesn’t fit many of the topics Burns explains):

  1. The Viet Nam War
  2. Baseball
  3. The Civil War
  4. The National Parks
  5. Congress
  6. Jackie Robinson
  7. Country Music

RECENT INVESTMENTS – MUST-GIVE THANKS FOR THE BUCKS: Back by popular demand are the amazing (but not profitable) investments made by Digital Sports Desk Enterprises this past year.

  • We sunk a cash investment into the next craze in Satellite Radio: Superficial XM
  • Things didn’t go well for our Fantasy Sports/Gambling app: Combine Kings
  • There’s a new sport for SPEED RACERS: Invest with us in NASBUGGY
  • Media is Hot, Hot, Hot! MSNBC is MSNow, so invest in MSFOX television
  • With the success of the Peacock Network and their work in sports, the competition is investing in a similar effort to delve into the action. Let us dig deep for:
    • Ostrich Network – Politicians appear with their heads in the sand
    • Ravens Network – No, not the Baltimore football team, but the second coming of Sesame Street, a la “Count” the Ravens, nevermore.
    • The Pelican Network – How about 24/7 NBA New Orleans Pelican basketball? With summers covered by a non-stop loop of The Pelican Brief. (That’s the John Grisham thriller novel starring Julia Roberts in the motion picture).

IMPRESSED or NOT: Since I’m honestly impressed, I will also give thanks to/for:

  • College basketball’s No. 1 ranked Houston Cougars and coach Kelvin Sampson
  • College basketball’s Purdue and Alabama teams, too. They’re both good.
  • Grown men in baseball uniforms jumping up and down on a November night after winning the World Series
  • Tears for Fears
  • Tailgating
  • The Boston Marathon and the 11:00am Red Sox game at Fenway
  • Dave Roberts, Dan Campbell, Mark Daigneault, Mike Vrabel and Paul Maurice
  • Al Arbour, Gil Hodges, Red Holzman and Weeb Ewbank
  • Lou Carnesseca, Kevin Loughery, Dickie McGuire and Joe Lapchick
  • John Kresse and Bob McKillop
  • Bob Lanier, Dikembe Mutombo, Darryl Dawkins and Bill Walton
  • Jerry West
  • Arnold Palmer and an ice cold Arnold Palmer (on a hot summer day)
  • Rory McIlroy, rolling in a 25-foot putt or driving the ball 325+
  • David Bowie, Duran Duran, Jerry Garcia and Simple Minds
  • Derek Trucks, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Brian May
  • Traeger Grills (Super Smoke), Grilled/Smoked/Roasted Chicken Breast
  • Well done BBQ Burgers and Grilled Corn, Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli
  • Pizza

LET’S GIVE THANKS FOR THE RIGHT TO VOTE: Important things?

  • The right to vote
  • Rights for women’s health issues
  • Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to peacefully assemble
  • The right for an American with a passport to travel the world while abiding by the laws of the country they chose to visit

THANKS AGAIN: To my guys, Brian McIntyre, Matt Winick – former NBA colleagues, now simply friends for life. Helen Wong, too. (It’s so great, as she’s teaching in the NYC public school system now).

Nowadays, I have a love/hate relationship with my old stomping grounds of New York City. I love and miss the West Village and the Upper West Side. Less so for Midtown and the UES. Even less for Queens.

The love is being there for the annual Big East basketball tournament at The Garden.

The hate is having to drive, so I often take the train (Amtrak) or drive to Westchester and take the Metro North into Manhattan. On Thanksgiving Day morning, I can do the drive in 2 hours, 45 minutes – three hours max. One day last month, it took nearly seven hours. Blah.

THANKS AGAIN: For my fireplace and a full cord of hardwood.

I really like my Bose Sound bar, Spotify play lists, my CDs, and some good, old vinyl.

I do sound tests with Steely Dan’s aja and Stevie Nicks’ Stand Back. There are others.

If you can get the drapes to move on the beats of the bass drum, you win.

Alan Parsons and Todd Rundgren get some airplay in the house. For those interested, Parsons hails from Willisden (Middlesex), a town five miles west/NW of Charing Cross (London) while Rundgren hails from Upper Darby, PA – not far from Philly.

ELO-Over and Out!
ELO at TD Garden (Photo by T. Peter Lyons)

We enjoyed fare-thee-well tours by The Who and ELO with Jeff Lynne’s “Over and Out” concerts (2024-25). I couldn’t believe Roger and Pete could pull it off one last time, but that they did on a great summer night at Fenway Park. as far as ELO, I was not surprised at all. They were note for note – fabulous.

The Who-The Song is Over!
Roger Daltrey of The Who at Fenway Park (photo by T. Peter Lyons)

Switching gears once again, I’m quite happy with Turner’s coverage of the Big East, but the jury’s still out on St. John’s for a run through the conference and into March Madness. They need to improve on the defensive end in a big way, and it would be great to see someone – anyone – start drilling a few 3s.

Purdue, (previously mentioned) Houston, UConn, Arizona and Alabama look pretty good. It’s a very long way to go until the various conference tournaments come around, but we’ll all rejoice in the Thanksgiving and Christmas college hoop tourneys (and one-offs) coming this week.

In college football, I’ll be shocked – SHOCKED – if any team in the land can give Ohio State a run. Single game playoffs can do that, though, I guess.

If you can’t sing a lick, a great Karaoke song to pick is “Lonely Days” by The Bee Gees. Look up the lyrics and you’ll get what I’m saying. Plus, it’s an all-time great sing-along.

A really bad choice would be “I’ve Seen All Good People” by YES and you should think twice before choosing “American Pie” by Don MacLean.

Let’s give thanks to Rolling Stones drummer, the late Charlie Watts, and his great hi-hat cymbals in the ballad, “Angie.” (which segues quite nicely into “No Sugar Tonight” by The Guess Who.

There’s always room for thanks for my special Williams-Sonomo Apple-Orange Cranberry Sauce for Thanksgiving Day (and sandwiches thereafter). You’ll never look at Cranberry Sauce the same way again, especially that old Ocean Spray – right out of the can – style that has the imprints of the tin can on the sides.

From the Vault:

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A Memory of an Old Friend

Note: Reprinted from a Digital Sports Desk column of November 18, 2019

By TERRY LYON(S)

There’s a very special bond shared with Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Bill Lyon that only the letter “s” could separate. He had a highly demanding job as lead sports columnist in a sports-loving city where the games frequently ended just as his deadline approached. In Philadelphia, no sportsman wore glass slippers, so … somehow, through sheer talent … Bill Lyon endured and excelled, an hour and a half before the clock struck midnight. Just as many a writer with a west coast, pacific time zone deadline would be sitting down to craft a game story or sidebar, Lyon would be packing up for the night, computer tucked away in his bag slung over his shoulder with his work already placed in a column, flush-left, adorning the front page of the sports section or maybe A-1 of the newspaper, if the game just concluded was as worthy as his prose.

Embed from Getty Images

Bill Lyon was a gentleman and a professional. He covered sports in Philadelphia and his job placed him in press boxes and locker rooms all across America. He wrote about the Phillies and baseball, the Eagles in football, the Flyers in ice hockey, but the bond shared revolved around the Philadelphia 76ers and NBA basketball. Bill rode shotgun alongside the Inquirer’s beat writers for 76ers basketball. From Hall of Famer Bill Livingston to the eccentric style of the late George Shirk to the solid reporting of Frank Lawlor or Joe Juliano, and nowadays Keith Pompey. Bill marched side-by-side at the broad sheet Inquirer with the great Bob Ford, as Lyon cranked out columns, on tight deadlines, with an upbeat approach and depth that few could even imagine, nevermind dream up and publish in 20 or 25 minutes.

During his tenure, he covered Julius “Dr. J” Erving and Moses Malone of the Sixers, although Lyon’s personality was undoubtedly more Maurice Cheeks than Darryl Dawkins. As the seasons changed, he covered Steve Carlton or Mike Schmidt of the Phillies, Randall Cunningham and Donovan McNabb of the Eagles, Rick Tocchet and Eric Lindros of the Flyers, prize fights, golf tournaments and maybe an Olympics or ten, but it was adjacent to NBA hardwood where we met and spoke quite often.

You see, long before the days of electronic mail, voicemail or iPhone 11s, Motorola Razors, Blackberries or any other type of mobile, voice-mail enabled devices, Bill Lyon was the recipient of hundreds upon hundreds of my hotel messages. Back in the day, they say with a degree of reminiscence and disdain at the same time, hotel phone operators took a pen and a pad of pink, pre-printed message slips and wrote down the name and phone number of a caller who used a telephone with a hard line and dialed the main number seeking out a guest. In our case, we frequently stayed at the same NBA media headquarters hotel and Lyon would appear on the operator’s screen before Lyons, and thus the problem.

Bill and I formed a bond in 1981 or so, and we made a pact, written in stone and not on a pink message slip. That pact was to diligently and without judgement, frustration or fatigue, with neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor first flights out, nor late nights at the hospitality room stay our bond to swiftly deliver the message or voice mail to one another during our appointed round. The ratio of Lyons to Lyon messages was probably, oh, roughly 100-3. Bill would either call, or sometimes it was easier to just walk them over. From the Los Angeles Airport Marriott to Boston’s Copley Place, the Lyon-to-Lyons message center was more reliable than a Maytag, more efficient than a GM factory and stronger than U.S. Steel. We traveled the land, undaunted by incompetent hotel operators and mixed up messages.

He marveled at the number of media credential requests, or later, of the sheer volume of international media seeking NBA information.

Likewise, his editors or occasionally his wife, Ethel, might cross telephone lines into the land of Lyons rather than Lyon. The mishaps were usually met with good-natured laughs and a promise to pass a message along or even better. As the Lyon-Lyons tandem learned over the years, we’d compare notes before a “Game 1” and then be able to say, oh no, he’s in Room 404, let me see if I can transfer your call.

It was a special bond.

Yesterday, Jim Nantz of CBS Sports informed me and the rest of the world of Bill Lyon’s passing and, at the same time, he reminded me a fantastic and wonderful bond had officially and irreversibly ended.

That made me quite sad.

Rest In Peace, old pal. You’ve got a smooth operator now.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Nov 16

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TL’s Sport Notebook | Nov. 9th

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2025 MLB Champion Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB)

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

CHESTNUT HILL – Here’s the text of a letter to be sent to Major League Baseball this week. It addresses the 2025 MLB season:

Commissioner Rob Manfred

The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball

1271 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

Dear Commissioner Manfred:

I trust you’ve had a modicum of rest since the grand finale of the 2025 World Series and I hope this letter finds you, your family and your talented staff in the best of health and spirits.

Each season, you probably receive thousands of letters, e-mails and other forms of communication broaching every known topic regarding Major League Baseball and I imagine most of them are filed under the vertical of complaints. Surely, team executives, club managers and fans write to you to address perceived problems in the game, poor umpiring, rising ticket prices or to address specific issues of poor fan behavior, suggestions or disagreements regarding rule changes or to share their opinions on everything from Baseball Hall of Fame inductions to Minor League (MiLB) baseball policies.

This letter comes under an area not related to any of the previously mentioned topics. It comes to you as a message of sincere thanks and congratulations on a job well done for the recently concluded season. I honestly wonder just how few letters you receive that simply say, “Thank You,” and point out a few of the things that made this season your best, your crowning jewel of accomplishment in your tenure as the Commissioner of Baseball.

The 2025 Baseball season can be compared to the finest things life has to offer. It might equate to the very best vintage of Opus One. The season enjoyed the best finishing stanza since Eric Clapton wrote the closing instrumental for “Layla.” This season was everything a professional sport strives for in its entire existence.

Surely, there were problems. There were some bench (and bullpen) clearing brawls, some bad calls, some rained-out games, and some untimely player injuries. There were unfortunate job losses to Managers and a few players waived into the abyss of eternal free agency. There were broken bats and Baltimore chops. There were some games played in freezing cold and unbearable heat, but that’s what Mother Nature had in store for some games that began way back on March 26 and concluded on November 2.

In 2025, we lost Hall of Famers like Dave Parker and Ryne Sandberg and even the great Bob Uecker who must be in the “front row” up in heaven’s Field of Dreams. Speaking of which, I understand that the Philadelphia Phillies and the Minnesota Twins will play in Iowa next summer. Nice move, sir.

But, all of the ups and downs are somewhat out of your control as the supreme leader for professional baseball played in the United States and in Canada. You must focus on the bigger picture and sometimes look five, ten or twenty years down the baseline. With that in mind, this letter is to underline and congratulate you for the finer things in Baseball.

First, was last. Yes, the last game of the 2025 World Series was an instant classic, as were the vast majority games of the Series and the MLB postseason. Together, we witnessed the very best in Baseball, some performances of the Century, to be sure.

World Series Most Valuable Player in Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto put forth a performance in Los Angeles’ 5-4 victory in Game 7 of the World Series which surely will go down as one of the greatest pitching performances in the annals of baseball history. Not to be overlooked was his complete game, one run outing in Game 2.

Yamamoto-san’s fellow Japanese teammate, Shohei Ohtani, had an equally impressive World Series and an MLB postseason for the ages. His .333 batting average included nine hits, three homers, five RBIs and six runs scored in the seven games of the 2025 World Series. Of course, he pitched quite well and started Game 7 with the weight of Los Angeles and an entire nation on his shoulders.

While the players from Japan have been recognized, how about an all-out salute to our neighbors to the north in the Toronto Blue Jays, American League pennant winners and another team for the ages. The Blue Jays had most of Canada rooting for them and rightfully so as Montreal-born and Dominican-bred Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. was magnificent. Historians of the game could close their eyes and see tiny, four-year old Vlad, Jr. tipping his little batting helmet as his father was given a standing ovation as he stood in his No. 27 Montreal Expos uniform – a picture worth ten thousand words.. Now, it’s Vlad, Jr’s turn to soak in the applause, and he was just a few outs shy of a World Series win at home.

There were others – far too many to mention in this missive to you, dearest Commissioner – but those others aren’t just from the two World Series teams. The MLB All-Star Game had two impressive rookies in pitcher Shane Smith and shortstop Jacob Wilson. And, that James Wood of Washington is something else, isn’t he?

The rule changes adopted a season or two ago have paid off with ten times their basic value, a gamble – yes- but one that made sense and reduced overall games times to make a night out at the ballpark quite enjoyable, especially in the shrines that are Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago.

As to those locales, Pete Crow-Armstrong is entertaining the fans at Wrigley while Garrett Crochet and Roman Anthony have rejuvenated the mighty Red Sox for sellout crowds at tiny Fenway. Paul Skenes looks great in Pittsburgh and Tarik Skubal is among the best pitchers the game has ever seen.

You might have some work to do out in Colorado with those Rockies, but that worry is for another day.

This is all about celebrating the present and your work during the 2025 big league season. It was magnificent.

So, on behalf of Baseball fans everywhere, from Sea (of Japan) to shining (Caribbean) Sea, and all those in between, it’s been a great 2025, crowned by a World Series that earned the tag, “Fall Classic.”. Congratulations go out to you, Commissioner, and to all your hard-working colleagues at the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, along with the MLB Network, MLB Advanced Media, MLB.com, the MiLB and the umpires, too. Thanks for a great year.

Fully knowing you have club owners’ and GMs’ meetings, the annual Winter Meetings and plenty of other things to attend to before Pitchers and Catchers report on or about February 11, 2026 and the World Baseball Classic will be staged once again next spring, I hope you can take a short break and relax. But, your planned retirement, circled for January 2029, will come around faster than you think, so enjoy – maybe treasure – the remaining days of your service to the game of baseball. Ride the high wave of 2025 to even greater heights in 2026 with the winds of appreciative fans breezing behind you until you choose to sail toward the sunset.

Sincerely,

A Fan

cc: Gary B. Bettman (NHL); Roger Goodell (NFL) and Adam Silver (NBA)

bcc: Mark Walter, Chairman of MLB club owners

a group of people sitting at a bar watching tv

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: After a total debacle with their partnership with Barstool Sports, PENN Gaming now has folded the deck in the midst of a $2 billion deal with ESPN. Earlier this week, PENN made two timed announcements before the markets opened Thursday morning.

First: PENN Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN) (“PENN”) and ESPN announced that they have mutually agreed upon the early termination of their exclusive U.S. online sports betting (“OSB”) agreement, effective December 1, 2025.

Under the terms of the original commercial agreement, announced in August 2023, ESPN agreed to provide PENN with media, marketing services and the exclusive right to the ESPN BET trademark for OSB in the United States in exchange for $150 million per year in cash payments to ESPN and warrants to purchase common stock of PENN. The agreement had an initial term of 10 years, with the right for either party to terminate the agreement after the third year if specific market share performance thresholds were not met.

“When we first announced our partnership with ESPN, both sides made it clear that we expected to compete for a podium position in the space,” said Jay Snowden, CEO and President of PENN Entertainment. “Although we made significant progress in improving our product offering and building a cohesive ecosystem with ESPN, we have mutually and amicably agreed to wind down our collaboration. We plan to refocus our digital strategy on our growing iCasino business, while continuing to capitalize on our omnichannel advantage as the nation’s leading regional retail casino operator.”

Snowden continued, “Looking ahead, we plan to rebrand our OSB offering in the U.S. to theScore Bet®, with a target date of December 1, 2025 to coincide with the expected launch of sports betting in Missouri, subject to regulatory approvals. We currently operate theScore Bet brand in Ontario, Canada.

The termination cut the losses to $450 million, according to reported terms of the deal.

Upon completion of PENN’s deal with Barstool, Snowden oversaw the sale of the Barstool deal back to Barstool head honcho Dave Portnoy for a grand total of $1.00 a few years after the $380 million PENN acquisition of Barstool in 2020. That’s $387,999,999 down the drain.

Secondly: ESPN PR issued this news release, stating: ESPN and Draft Kings Inc. (Nasdaq: DKNG) (“Draft Kings”) announced an agreement, naming Draft Kings the exclusive Official Sportsbook and odds provider of ESPN, effective December 1, 2025. This agreement, which unites two of the most iconic brands in sports, will deliver fans premium sports betting content and experiences.

Beginning in December 2025, Draft Kings entertainment products will be exclusively integrated across ESPN’s ecosystem with a full rollout expected in 2026. Fans will be able to enjoy betting features and access to offerings including DraftKings’ sportsbook, daily fantasy, and Draft Kings Pick 6 at launch.

Together, Draft Kings and ESPN will collaborate to advance their shared commitment to responsible gaming, by dedicating prominent assets to educate, raise customer awareness and promote responsible play through campaigns and integrations.

“Our betting approach has focused on offering an integrated experience within our products,” said Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman, ESPN. “Working with Draft Kings, a leader in the space, will allow us to build upon that foundation, continue to super-serve passionate sports fans and grow our ESPN direct-to-consumer business. We are excited about this new collaboration with Draft Kings.”

Draft Kings will also play a major role across ESPN’s digital platforms. Draft Kings will power the betting tab within the ESPN app and their customers will receive special promotions for ESPN Unlimited, ESPN’s newly launched direct-to-consumer product.

“ESPN’s unmatched visibility across the world of sports make this collaboration a natural fit,” said Jason Robins, CEO and Co-Founder of DraftKings. “As an innovative leader in digital sports entertainment, DraftKings is uniquely positioned to integrate our technology and products with ESPN’s iconic brand and storytelling power. Together, we’re delivering a seamless, engaging, and responsible experience that elevates how fans connect with live sports.”

Put together, ESPN will not skip a beat, or even a Bad Beat.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: A few random thoughts and items from the notebook … A strong opinion – besides the headline grabbing gambling scandal that rocked the start of the NBA regular season – the NBC Sports/Peacock broadcasts (and studio shows) have been terrific. What a novel idea: Focusing on the game at hand and the league/basketball news. Amazing how that works so well. It’s certainly better than Stephen A. Smith and Ben Stiller’s blabber/non-X and O/fan/rah, rah approach witnessed last year from Madison Square Garden. … I’d love to see Stephen A. come back down to eaarth and play it straight alongside an accomplished coach. … Amazon Prime doing quite well, but admittedly, I find my viewing habits much more on the FIOS cable side, rather than switching over to the streaming side of the screen. … It was great to see Ernie, Chuck, Kenny and Shaq back in action. … Underdog, too. … On the music side, circle December 12-13 in Providence, Rhode Island for Goosemas 2025.

On Friday, the NCAA announced xix former men’s college basketball players at three schools — New Orleans, Mississippi Valley State and Arizona State — participated in gambling schemes that included game manipulation or sharing information with known bettors, according to informed sources. … Two cents? Beware of the Mid-Majors with this issue.

Aryna Sabalenka, the top-ranked women’s tennis player in the world will play and exhibition against former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios in a “Battle of the Sexes” match in Dubai on December 28th. It’s not exactly Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs, but it should be fun. The match will be staged at the 17,000-seat Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai (UAE). Both Sabalenka and Kyrgios will be featured in an exhibition at New York’s Madison Square Garden on December 8 but not against each other: Sabalenka will play Naomi Osaka and Kyrgios will face Tommy Paul.

WHEELS UP: The Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators will depart their respective cities for a pair of regular-season games at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, scheduled on November 14 and November 16. The clubs will begin practices on Tuesday, November 11th. The 2025 NHL Global Series will mark the 15th NHL season to include regular-season games outside North America. The event marks the league’s return to Sweden and is a pillar of the NHL’s continued international focus, following the success of the 4 Nations Face-Off. The two games featuring the Penguins and Predators will mark the 17th and 18th games played in Stockholm, which has hosted more NHL regular-season games than any other city outside of North America. The games will be covered for TV locally and via the NHL Network.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: In preparation for a special THANKSGIVING column, I encourage our legions of readers to post a comment/note or to Direct Message your roving reporter with a “Favorite Thing” or something you are especially Thankful for this year. Indicate if you’d like your name used or not. The Sunday Notes of November 23rd will be dedicated to Thanksgiving while the November 30th column will be a hodgepodge of notes and observations from my personal Thanksgiving Week (Nov. 24-29th). We’ll see if it is just a few notes or if it merits timeline. One note on that: The apple wood chips have already been purchased for the all day smoking of two birds.

More to come on Thanksgiving, so send in your faves.

THE BEATLES: Did you know that on this date (November 9) in 1961 Brian Epstein travelled to The Cavern Club in Hamburg, Germany to see The Beatles play for the very first time. It would take several more trips before Epstein and the lads would agree to have Epstein manage the band which he did until his death in 1967. Coincidentally, on November 9, 1966, Beatles great guitarist and song writer, the late John Lennon, met Yoko Ono for the first time. Lennon’s future wife was showing of her work at the Indica Art Gallery in London and she supposedly didn’t know who Lennon was at the time. The two wouldn’t “come together” until 1968.

THIS JUST IN a.k.a. the BUTT FUMBLE? Former New York J-E-T-S quarterback Mark Sanchez will not return to the Fox Sports analyst both as the former NFLer faces a trial stemming from his alleged attack on a truck driver last month. “We can confirm that Mark Sanchez is no longer with the network. There will be no further comment at this time,” a Fox Sports spokesperson said Friday.

Sanchez had been off the air since the October 4 dust-up at the Westin Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. Sanchez was in Indy for the NFL game between the Colts and Las Vegas Raiders when he confronted a truck delivery man before allegedly attacking and injuring him.

Sanchez was stabbed in the chest in the incident and he spent a week in an Indiana hospital. The trucker, who claimed self-defense and has not been charged, is suing Sanchez and Fox Sports for unspecified damages.

To replace Sanchez, Fox hired Super Bowl-winning quarterback Drew Brees.

TL’s Halloween 🎃 Sports Notes | Nov 2

by

The Reservoir near Boston College (Photo by Victoria Lyons)

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

CHESTNUT HILL – Today’s column begins with a simple question. Why is the NBA and its players singled out for the practice of “Load Management” while many other sports employ the same treatment but remain unscathed of criticism?

I think load management started with Track and Field and Boxing, to allow the athletes plenty of time to recover from prior races or bouts. I don;t think any of us have any issue with that practice, although I do remember former San Antonio Spurs and USA Basketball Dream Team center David Robinson quizzing USA champion hurdler Edwin Moses on his sparse schedule on a Dream Team bus ride returning to the Ambassador Hotel from the Barcelona ‘92 Opening Ceremonies.

The Admiral shook his head, hearing Moses didn’t compete between the Olympics and Worlds while the Spurs might face the Lakers (Shaquille O’Neal), the Rockets (Hakeem Olajuwon), the Knicks (Patrick Ewing) and the Celtics (Robert Parish) within a week or two.

Taking that exchange aside, Load Management is utilized in a number of other sports besides track or boxing. In fact, it’s used in the toughest of sports – ice hockey – where your starters only play 1/3rd of a game, and share time with 3 or often 4 lines, Defense has 6 guys splitting the time. Goalkeepers need two guys to carry the load.

In baseball, starting pitchers only play every four or five days, and their catchers never play in a day game after a night game. All baseball players frequently get a day off. In the bullpen, relievers and closers rarely pitch two days in a row and the prized closers can only throw for three outs, lasting one half an inning.

In American football, the lineup of players (11) are divided into two groups, so 22 guys play instead of 11. There are offensive units and defensive units and also special teams are entirely different players to manage the load and help avoid potential injury. The teams play one game a week.

Of course, in the NBA, the great Michael Jordan swore he HAD to play, as he didn’t want to disappoint a fan who saved a ton of money and bought a ticket months before the scheduled game. MJ set very worthy barometer and played all-out nearly every single night of his career with that fan/ticket buyer in the back of his mind for motivation.

Other examples?

Thoroughbred Race Horses are load-managed with the best of ’em, so much that even the three weeks off between the Preakness and Belmont seems far too short for a Triple Crown contender.

I’m just not sure why basketball gets singled out?

Do you know why?

BC vs. ND: Your roving reporter had the pleasure to attend the Boston College vs. Notre Dame college football game on Saturday. BC’s campus was glowing, and Alumni Stadium – the place Doug Flutie built – was sold out.

It was an absolutely gorgeous New England day with a pure, postcard blue sky. When the game began, Notre Dame was a 29.5 point favorite over the hometown Eagles, but at the half, BC trailed 12-7 and was very much in the game. Then, when Boston College’s Luca Lombardo kicked a 25 yard field goal late in the third quarter, the 10-1 Notre Dame over BC fan ratio was silenced as the scoreboard read ND 12-10.

Boston College had every opportunity to take the lead in the fourth quarter but failed to convert on two 4th Down and 1 yard plays. ND countered with another touchdown to make it, 18-10.

ND broke it open when Jeremiyah Love ran 94 yards with 11:07 remaining in the game. BC could do no more. It was the strongest effort of the season by the Eagles but that effort did nothing for the “win column,” as only an opening week of the season victory over Fordham has been the winning effort.

It was an incredibly exciting event.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: It’s getting late in the 2025 College Football season and both Indiana and Vanderbilt are legit Top 10 and College Football Playoff Bowl bound, for sure. The next thing you know, St. John’s will be ranked No. 5 or No. 6 in College Basketball. … This season, the college football playoffs feature a 12-team format where the five highest ranked Conference Champions and the next seven highest-ranked teams will qualify. The four highest-ranked teams overall receive a first-round bye and are seeded 1-4, while the teams seeded 5-12 play in the first round, with higher seeds hosting the games on campus. The quarterfinals and semifinals are played in the big time bowl games. Here’s the schedule so you can plan ahead.

  • First Round: December 19–20, 2025
  • Quarterfinals: December 31, 2025, and January 1, 2026
  • Semifinals: January 8–9, 2026
  • National Championship: January 19, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Florida

TIDBITS & NUGGETS:Does everyone have their complete set of NBA team #Hashtags for the 2025-26 season? If not, here they are:

If we’re going to rank a few, how about a Top 5:

  1. #TakeNote for the Utah Jazz
  2. #RepTheDistrict for the Wash DC Wizards
  3. #FearTheDeer for the Milwaukee Bucks (longtime fave)
  4. #WeTheNorth for the Toronto Raptors (Another longtime fave)
  5. #LakeShow for the LA Lakers (Third longtime fave)

NBA CUP: We are all about to be overtaken by the NBA Cup and its artistic dominance of basketball courts at every NBA arena. This season, many of the courts have the same overall design and differ only in colors and the names of the team cities emblazoned at center court. Here in Boston, we long for a simple design with some parquet flooring as the main play. Not this year. Elsewhere, the red tones are just too much and do not reflect well. In other locales, such as Los Angeles, the Lakers’ gold (call it yellow) glows in the dark. Many fans like the gray motif, and Brooklyn does it well, along with Chicago, Golden State, Memphis, OKC, Orlando, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio.

COSM: The late David Stern, NBA Commissioner from 1984 to 2014, had a dream of broadcasting NBA games to make every viewer in the world experience the game as though they were sitting in a courtside seat. That dream is a step closer to reality and the league announced its latest tech deal to take that small step, or giant leap – depending on how you see it.

The NBA and Cosm, an immersive technology, media, and entertainment company, announced a new long-term partnership to produce and distribute live NBA games in shared reality at Cosm’s immersive entertainment venues through 2030 and beyond. During the 2025-26 NBA season, Cosm will produce and present key national games across the league’s broadcast platforms via ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Prime Video as well as select games and events during NBA All-Star Weekend, NBA Playoffs and NBA Finals.

In February 2023, the NBA became the first-ever professional sports league to partner with Cosm ahead of the opening of the first immersive entertainment venue in Los Angeles’ Hollywood Park in July 2024. Cosm has since opened its second venue in Dallas at The Colony’s Grandscape and is slated to open three additional venues in Atlanta, Detroit, and Cleveland in 2026 and 2027. Other future locations are yet to be announced..

Last year, Cosm reimagined the way NBA fans can experience games, leveraging its innovative camera and production technology to capture and distribute live games back to its 87-foot-diameter, 12K+ LED domes. Cosm venues blend state-of-the-art visuals with the energy of the crowd to create an arena-like atmosphere that provides fans with a view of the game from a range of unique angles, including behind the bench and under the rim. In particular, the Los Angeles venue in Inglewood will be a marquee destination for fans during NBA All-Star activities in February 2026.

“The response from fans at Cosm domes last year demonstrated what an incredible way it is to experience an NBA game,” said Teddy Kaplan, Vice President, Head of New Media Partnerships at the NBA. “We couldn’t be more excited to extend our partnership and look forward to working in lockstep with Cosm to engage our fans as they expand their footprint to different markets across the country in the coming years.”

“The NBA took the leap to be our first league partner, and we are honored to extend the foundational partnership that started it all,” said Jeb Terry, President and CEO at Cosm. “With our shared spirit of innovation, passion for the fan experience, and belief in the power of Shared Reality, we will continue to super-serve NBA fans for many years to come, and in many more locations.”

WNBA LABOR AGREEMENT – TIMEOUT: With the expiration date of the WNBA’s current collective bargaining agreement upon them, the WNBA players association agreed to the extension with the league as previous talks had stalled in an attempt to strike a new deal. According to a news reports from ESPN and The Athletic, the WNBA and WNBPA reached a resolution on a 30-day extension after considering it for two days. The prior agreement expired on October 31.

Keep in mind, the W signed a new 11-year media deal with Versant in late September. The agreement potentially tips-off for the 2026 season and includes at least 50 WNBA games annually and portions of the WNBA Playoff and WNBA Finals games during select years. Versant, the parent company of cable networks and brands soon to be spun off from Comcast has been rapidly acquiring sports rights and diving deeper into women’s sports in particular. The latest agreement expands upon a previous broadcast package between the WNBA and Versant’s USA Network signed in 2024.

REDFORD TRIBUTE: Anyone sick of NFL football, yet? Probably not, but that’s why God invented the DVR (a.k.a. Tivo, Thank-you). Tune in or record, you’ll have a great time watching all the hits!

The Sting is a personal favorite, but The Way We Were is an amazing motion picture, often overlooked.

NOVEMBER 2 – TCM’S TRIBUTE TO ROBERT REDFORD

6:00 AM A Bridge Too Far (1977)

9:00 AM Barefoot in the Park (1967)

11:00 AM Downhill Racer (1969)

1:00 PM The Candidate (1972)

3:00 PM All the President’s Men (1976)

5:30 PM The Sting (1973)

8:00 PM Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

10:00 PM The Way We Were (1973)

12:15 AM A River Runs Through It (1992)

2:30 AM The Hot Rock (1972)

4:30 AM War Hunt (1962)

PARTING WORDS & MUSIC: This will mark two weeks in a row with movie clips, as last week was a clip of The Sting. If you’ve seen the motion picture featured today and you can make it through this clip without tearing up, you are NOT human. Here’s to Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand – two of the all-time greatest.

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 news stand on Saturday night around 10:00pm to pick-up a copy of the Sunday papers. Inside, just waiting, was a compilation of interesting sports notes, quotes and quips in a column that always sold a few newspapers. Wire Service reports are utilized within the column.