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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | May 25

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Not this weekend, but next, the PGA Tour will make its way to Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio to stage “The Memorial,” in honor of the greatest golfer of his time, Jack Nicklaus. The current World No. 1, Scottie Scheffler, will look to defend his title at the highly competitive event where Nicklaus, himself, presents the honors to the winner and is standing on the 18th green to shake hands and congratulate the PGA Tour pro who finishes atop the leaderboard.

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While you might think Nicklaus’ tournament is a tribute to the military, it is actually a tribute to the great golfers who’ve contributed to the game. The official tournament site puts it bluntly, “to honor the memory of individuals living and deceased who have distinguished themselves in the game of golf.”

That’s pretty good, as you don’t have to be dead to be honored. A novel idea.

But “The Memorial” golf tournament nicely marks the start of summer while the federal holiday is to honor and mourn the military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Recognizing the holiday began in 1868 and was known as “Decoration Day,” suggested by Commander John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic to honor the Union soldiers who had died in the American Civil War.

Memorial Day is not to be confused with Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) which is a federal holiday in the United States, observed annually on November 11th. Both days honor military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. Veteran’s Day coincides with holidays in several countries, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, which also occur on the anniversary of the end of World War I.

While Memorial Day most years brings somber thoughts of the brave soldiers who fought and made the ultimate sacrifice in conflicts and wars all over the world, this year, and in my mind, this Memorial Day 2025 will be dedicated to a selfless servant of his community who lost his life after a lengthy battle vs. illness.

But now, my customary zig-zag.

Carl Richard “Dick” Gumina passed away peacefully at his home, surrounded by his loving family, on April 5, 2025, at the age of 91. Mr. Gumina was predeceased by his wife of 61 years, Rosemary and his son, Carl “Rick” Gumina Jr.. His funeral Mass was celebrated at Holy Trinity Church in Upstate, New York on May 20th.

He is survived by a small army of sons, brothers, nephews, nieces and in-laws, and was the cherished “Poppi” to 12 grandchildren – Jamie (m Rob), Josh (m Jen), Ricky, Joey, Justin (m Emily), Tyler, Jack, Grace, Adriana, Christopher, James, and Katherine – and a proud “Great Poppi” to four great-grandchildren.

Christopher, James and Katherine are my nephews and niece, as I’m related to Mr. Gumina’s son, William (Buddy), through marriage.

Mr. Gumina grew up in Buffalo Bills territory – near Rochester, NY, and received degree from SUNY-Brockport and a master’s degree from Syracuse University. Professionally, Dick was a beloved guidance counselor at Pittsford Sutherland High School, (11 miles from his residence in Webster) where he spent nearly 40 years inspiring students.

The Rochester-area obituary notifying a legion of co-workers, students, neighbors and friends of his passing told a little more about a man who embodied the “Greatest Generation.”

“Dick was a masterful teacher in every sense of the word,” it read. “He shared his passions, including fishing, gardening, woodworking, and card-playing, with family and friends, though no one ever managed to beat him at euchre, his favorite card game. He listened with patience, loved unconditionally, and offered wisdom without judgment.

“Dick had a deep appreciation for the simple joys of life: classic movies and television (especially MeTV), loud laughter, and moments shared with those he loved. Though his presence will be profoundly missed, his legacy of love, laughter, and generosity will live on in the hearts of all who were lucky enough to know him.

And, a key item included that tells all of everything they’d want to remember:

“Showing the same selflessness in death as in life, Dick donated his body to the University of Rochester Medical School and, as a result, interment will be held at a later date.”

Yes, Mr. Gumina, the greatest of the Greatest Generation with 91 years living a life well done, as he served his important vocation , caring for his students and his family. And, in death, he is still teaching. And, while he can no longer enjoy everything life has to offer, he is doing what he can do and it’s saving lives.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Boston Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks allowed three runs on three hits in a Red Sox loss to the New York Mets on Wednesday. By Friday, he’d had enough. Social media accounts via Twitter (x), Instagram, TikTok and others were filled with hateful messages and even some death threats to Hendriks and his wife and family. “This is almost a daily occurrence for almost everyone in this clubhouse,” said Hendriks Friday morning, prior to a (rained out) doubleheader against the Orioles. “That’s the upsetting part, and it’s not being controlled in the right way.”

Hendriks decided that no one else in Major League Baseball, nor the various social media companies was acting, so he took it upon himself to call attention to the issue, gathering the assembled media around his clubhouse locker and inviting local radio station WEEI to broadcast the entire discussion and Q & A session. The Red Sox owned TV station, NESN, later televised news clips.

“With the rise of sports gambling, it’s gotten a lot worse,” said Hendriks. “Unfortunately, that tends to be what it ends up being – whether it be Venmo requests (for money, presumably to reimburse gamblers for their debts), whether it be people telling you in their comments that I was like, ‘Hey, you blew my parlay. Go [expletive] yourself.’ … And then it’s, ‘Go hang yourself. You should kill yourself. I wish you died from cancer.’ That one kind of hit a little too close to home for me with everything I’ve gone through,” said the reliever who was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in January 2023.

“This is something that is deplorable,” said Hendriks. “There needs to be some sort of punishment so that people can think twice before they start doing this stuff,” he said. “At some point, everyone just sucking it up and dealing with it isn’t accomplishing anything. We pass it along to MLB security. We pass it along to whoever we need to. But nothing ends up happening and it happens again the next night.”

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: Anyone want to buy former Celtics great Kevin Garnett’s Boston area (Concord, Mass) home? A pretty $5.9m will get the job done. Here’s the listing. Gotta love the plunge pool. … Washington Caps’ team captain and goal scoring machine Alex Ovechkin is the 2024-25 recipient of the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award, presented “to the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season and who plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey.” Messier solicits suggestions from team and League personnel to compile a list of potential candidates for the award. However, the selection of the winner is Messier’s alone.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit the longest home run of his career, a 496-foot shot at Yankee Stadium in 2017. This week, interestingly enough, Judge just hit his shortest homer at The Stadium (326 feet).

ALL-NBA: There was little doubt as to the five members of the All-NBA first team as four of the five received the maximum (unanimous selection) 500 voting points in the media balloting and the other was an overwhelming favorite.

The unanimous choices were:

  • Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee
  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City
  • Nikola Jokić, Denver
  • Jayson Tatum, Boston

Tatum’s selection makes him the fifth Celtics player to earn at least four First Team honors, joining Bob Cousy (10), Larry Bird (nine), John Havlicek (four), and Bill Sharman (four). Tatum is the first Celtic since Bird (1980-88) to earn at least four straight selections to the First Team.

Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell joined the four unanimous selectees by garnering 61 first team votes. The next in line was second team All-NBA member LeBron James with 17 first team votes. Alperen Sengun of Houston fell 10 points shy of making the third team All-NBA.

Gilgeous-Alexander was named Most Valuable Player in the NBA earlier in the week.

TL’s Sunday Notes | May 11

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2025: The Cooper Flagg NBA Draft Lottery

BOSTON – Just think of the excitement which would’ve surrounded the 1953 NBA Draft if there was a Lottery for the rights to select Ray Felix. Or, maybe, a better example would’ve been the nationwide hype in 1958, when the great Elgin Baylor – a sure fire NBA Top 10 talent – was available as the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.

Later, there were coin flips between the worst team in the East and the worst of the West to determine the team to gain the rights to the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. But the Houston Rockets changed everything when they somehow maneuvered to select College Player of the Year Ralph Sampson (1983) and the great Hakeem Olajuwon(1984) in consecutive drafts.

Starting a year later, the NBA Draft Lottery was introduced, and the prize was Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing, a franchise player, who went to the New York Knicks. There have been other franchise players – some call them generational talents and others call them transformational players. Let’s list just a few with the teams and years they were drafted:

  • 1985 – Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks
  • 1987 – David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs
  • 1992 – Shaquille O’Neal, Orlando Magic
  • 1996 – Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 76ers
  • 1997 – Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
  • 2002 – Yao Ming, Houston Rockets
  • 2003 – LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
  • 2023 – Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

Purposely left off the list above are the No. 1 picks in the NBA Draft Lottery era from Duke University:

  • 1999 – Elton Brand, Chicago Bulls
  • 2011 – Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers
  • 2019 – Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
  • 2022 – Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic

That’s not a bad list of No. 1 picks from Duke, but there’s another player on the line this year, and he might – just might – be destined for the transformational player category, a true franchise man and a player who will make everyone around him much better.

Cooper Flagg, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound 18-year-old with one collegiate basketball season under his belt, leading Duke and garnering every Player of the Year honor in the nation, is destined for greatness as the No. 1 pick of the 2025 NBA Draft.

Yes, the conspiracy theorists are already dreaming up reasons for Flagg to be channeled to some NBA franchise in need. Here are the odds for this year’s event:

1. Utah Jazz: 14%

2. Washington Wizards: 14%

3. Charlotte Hornets: 14%

4. New Orleans Pelicans: 12.5%

5. Philadelphia 76ers: 10.5% – The Sixers’ first-round pick is top-6 protected; if it falls between 7-14, it will go to Oklahoma City

6. Brooklyn Nets: 9%

7. Toronto Raptors: 7.5%

8. San Antonio Spurs: 6%

9. Phoenix Suns: 3.8% – The Suns’ first-round pick will go to Houston

10. Portland Trail Blazers: 3.7%

11. Dallas Mavericks: 1.8%

12. Chicago Bulls: 1.7%

13. Sacramento Kings: 0.8% – The Kings’ first-round pick is top-12 protected; if it falls out of that range, it goes to Atlanta

14. Atlanta Hawks: 0.7% – The Hawks’ first-round pick will go to San Antonio

*Take that 0.7% and add it to the Spurs’ 6%, and San Antonio has a 6.7% chance of drafting three consecutive NBA Rookies of the Year.

While we all hesitate to put the pressure on and place Cooper Flagg in the same sentence as Larry Bird, truth be told, Flagg is much more like Larry Bird than he is Uwe Blab. Flagg does not score the ball anywhere near as well as Bird did, nor is it expected he can turn a franchise around completely the way Bird transformed the Boston Celtics, and he was 23 years old as a rookie (compared to Flagg being 18).

Remember, the Celtics’ records before and after Bird joined the club?

  • 1978-79 – 29-53 (10th in East) – (Before Larry Bird)
  • 1979-80 – 61-21 (1st in East)
  • 1980-81 – 62-20 (NBA Champions)

Of course, Bird worked with a team and frontline reconstructed by GM Red Auerbachto add Bird to rookie power forward Kevin McHale and veteran center Robert Parish. And, as the great Charles Barkley famously quipped when questioning Bird’s ability to make ‘everyone around him better,’ – “Who’s it easier to make better? Kevin McHale or Shelton Jones?”

At 18 years of age, Flagg plays the game with an ease and ability to move and pass the ball on offense – almost in an Earvin “Magic” Johnson manner, rather than Bird. Flagg rebounds and defends at a rate higher than most collegiate senions, nevermind freshmen. At times, he’d create viral video highlights or posterize his opponent, but regularly, he’d score within the basic flow of the game, make big plays and passes while helping his teammates out on defense. Flagg’s game translates to the pro game but it will take two or three years for him to mature, grow and strengthen his body to compete at the highest level.

Flagg is joining an NBA with immensely talented players, many long/lengthy 6-8, 6-9 frames with the wingspan of a 747 and jumping ability of Darnell Hillman (look him up). Bird joined a much more physical, big man dominated league (think NY’s Marvin “The Human Eraser” Williams-Bill Cartwright or even Washington’s Elvin Hayes-Rick Mahorn-Jeff Ruland style players).

Neither era is better or worse, easier or harder to adjust to coming from the 30+ game college season to the 82+ playoff grind of the NBA. Time, coaching, maturity and a complementary teammate pool determines success in the NBA. But surely Flagg is destined for success, no matter which NBA team he ends up playing for in 2025-26.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday did a little double duty in the NBA Awards category this season. On May 1, Holiday was named the recipient of the 2024-25 NBA Sportsmanship Award and won the Joe Dumars Trophy. The veteran guard became the first member of the Boston Celtics to win the award since its inception in 1995-96. On Wednesday, the NBA announced Holiday was named the 2024-25 NBA Social Justice Champion and will receive the Kareem Abdul-JabbarTrophy. Holiday was selected from a group of five finalists for pursuing social justice and advancing Abdul-Jabbar’s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically disadvantaged. Finalists for the award were Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Harrison Barnes (San Antonio Spurs), Chris Boucher (Toronto Raptors) and CJ McCollum (New Orleans Pelicans).

WHATEVER YOU NEED: From the moments after Tristan Casas barreled down the first base line, clipped the leg of Minnesota Twins first baseman Ty France and tumbled down, rupturing his left patellar (knee) tendon, the Boston Red Sox were contemplating the best fix for the line-up. The immediate answer was to insert RomyGonzalez, a competent batsman who was already seeing time at 1B. A longer-range plan was to consider having 2025 designated hitter Rafael Devers take reps at first, thus allowing manager Alex Coro to fill the DH position depending on player availability and need.

When Spring Training began, the Red Sox asked Devers to “take one for the team” and shift from his usual third base position to DH, in order to place the golden glove fielding Alex Bregman at the hot corner. Undoubtedly, Bregman is a better fielder than Devers, but the elder mainstay of the Sox turned ornery upon hearing of the plans.

On Thursday afternoon, after the Red Sox blanked the Texas Rangers, 5-0, the topic of switching Devers to 1B surfaced yet again. And when Devers was asked if he was upset over the inquiry, he responded in Spanish, “Sí, claro.” – (Yes, of course).

Through Boston’s Spanish-language translator Daveson Perez to a group of reporters, Devers said, ““They’ve told me I’m a little hard-headed. [But] they already asked me to change once, and this time, I don’t think I can be as flexible. I don’t feel that they stayed true to their word. They told me that I was going to be playing this position, DH, and now they’re going back on that. So I just don’t think they stayed true to their word,” Devers repeated.

“I don’t understand some of the decisions that [Craig Breslow] makes. Next thing you know someone in the outfield gets hurt and they want me to play in the outfield. I think I know the kind of player that I am, and that’s just where I stand.”

THIS JEST IN: In addition to the locker drama created this past Thursday when Devers aired his point of view on a 2024-25 switch from 3B-to-DH-to-1B, the veteran said, “In Spring Training, they talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove and I wasn’t going to play any other position but DH.”

So much for the “Oh, put me in, coach, I’m ready to play today. Put me in, coach, I’m ready to play today, look at me (yeah), I can be centerfield” approach. (Apologies to John Fogerty).

To help resolve the situation, Red Sox principal team owner John Henry flew to Kansas City to join the team on its current road trip.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: As is customary in this space, the good people of SPORTICO have graced the sports industry with a fine list of the 50 most valuable soccer teams in the world. Here’s a Top 10 taste (All in billions of the US Dollar):

  1. Real Madrid – $6.53
  2. Manchester United – $6.09
  3. FC Barcelona – $5.71
  4. Liverpool – $5.59
  5. Bayern Munich – $5.21
  6. Manchester City – $5.16
  7. Arsenal – $4.49
  8. Paris Saint-Germain – $4.26
  9. Tottenham Hotspur – $3.68
  10. Chelsea – $3.57

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | May 4

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The 1999 NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs in Milan

By TERRY LYONS. Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Earlier this week, Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs announced Popovich will transition from head coach to president of basketball operations. In 29 seasons as the Spurs head coach, Popovich amassed 1,422 regular season wins, the most in NBA history. During his tenure, the Spurs captured five NBA championships.

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“While my love and passion for the game remain, I’ve decided it’s time to step away as head coach,” said Popovich. “I’m forever grateful to the wonderful players, coaches, staff and fans who allowed me to serve them as the Spurs head coach and am excited for the opportunity to continue to support the organization, community and city that are so meaningful to me.”

After joining the Spurs in the summer of 1988, as an assistant coach on Larry Brown’s staff, Popovich enjoyed a 37-year career in the NBA as a coach and executive. He spent two seasons, from 1992-94, as an assistant coach for Don Nelson with the Golden State Warriors. His other 35 NBA seasons have all been in San Antonio with the Spurs, making him the longest tenured professional coach among the four major North American leagues.

Popovich’s pre-NBA career is, perhaps, more amazing than his run in the league. As noted in Military dot com, Popovich was born in East Chicago in 1949, the first child of Raymond and Katherine. His father, a steel-mill pipefitter, had served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

As a youngster, Popovich did well in school academically, but “was the biggest wiseass you ever saw, and all I gave a damn about was playing ball,” he told the U.S. Army Installation Management Command in a 2012 interview. He enrolled in the Air Force Academy, and played basketball for the Air Force Academy in El Paso County, Colorado, just north of Colorado Springs.

Popovich majored in Soviet studies and graduated in 1970 after starting all four years for AF basketball where he was team captain and the leading scorer for the Falcons his senior season at the academy.

Then, it got very interesting.

Popovich served in the Air Force for the required five years of active duty, during which he toured Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union with the U.S. Armed Forces basketball team. After graduation, his first assignment put him with the 6594th Support Group at the Air Force Satellite Control Facility (AFSCF) in Sunnyvale, California. In those years of service, he operated spy satellites monitoring Soviet missile launches under the top-secret facility, under command of the Space and Missile Systems Center.

Popovich continued playing basketball while touring Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces Team. As a member of an all-star team Goodwill Tour from April to May 1972, he traveled to the then USSR capital of Moscow, the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, and the Estonian capital of Tallinn.

“The opportunities I got in the military to travel with basketball really made me understand how much basketball is played around the world, how many good players there are,” Popovich told The New York Times in 2005.

By 1973, he was transferred to Diyarbakir Air Station in Turkey, an American-Turkish military base that tracked Soviet launches.

After months of service in Turkey, Popovich returned to Colorado to coach high school at the Air Force preparatory school — for which he received an Air Force commendation medal — and then coached college-aged cadets at the Air Force Academy. He also was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon and Air Force Longevity Service Award Ribbon. He continued to serve in the Air Force Reserve until 1993, working his way up to the rank of major.

Popovich remained at the Air Force Academy for six years and served as an assistant for head coach Hank Egan, who later helped Popovich as an assistant coach with the Spurs.

In 1979, Popovich became the head coach of the Pomona-Pitzer men’s basketball team, but his biggest break came with his move in 1988 to the NBA as an assistant coach to Larry Brown with the Spurs.

Popovich became general manager of the Spurs in 1994, then head coach after Bob Hill was fired in 1996.

In 2015, Popovich was named head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team for the 2017-20 quadrennium, but the team suffered a tough loss to France in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Two years later, the USA men’s national team earned a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. (The 2020 Games were postponed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and staged in 2021).

While the biography remains stellar and Popovich’s work with the Spurs continues, his resume also includes a rather manipulative and cranky side. In many instances with his interactions with the media, he was an intimidating bully, one who was actually sending messages to the NBA league office and then-Commissioner David Stern.

Popovich detested doing in-game interviews and remained “old-school” throughout his coaching days, even as the NBA became more and more media savvy and the demands of TV partners mounted. Quite famously, Popovich gave the late Craig Sager of Turner Sports the hardest of times as Sager’s outside reporter duties called for him to interview Popovich on the basketball court at times when Popovich preferred to be with his club and not be bothered.

The one word answers – complete with a smirk or roll of the eyes – became legendary, the insults grew embarrassing and frequently Popovich crossed the line of sic human decency. But through it all, Popovich developed a sincere appreciation for Sager’s doggedness and tenacity, admiring Sager’s preparedness as well. Somehow, through it all – in years, not days or weeks – the two became solid friends.

When Sager was battling leukemia and the entire NBA and sports world were paying tribute to the broadcaster, Popovich led the way – often very subtly and behind the scenes and sometimes on camera – joking with Sager about his wildest sport coat, and breaking any tension that might’ve existed in the past.

That edge and manipulation factor were out-done by Popovich’s pure and honest humanity. The coach’s insights and generosity were seen more often and his commentary of current events, world politics and the state of the United States presidency remain legendary quotes and must-see TV.

So, in the TL take side of this column, I am not here to bury Gregg Popovich but to praise him. There were more than a few practical jokes he played on us, and we’d all get a laugh. And, he truly loves the game of basketball and – without a doubt – he’s the greatest NBA coach of all-time.

Do I wish there were fewer “cross the line” intervals with the NBA’s media contingent over the many years? Yes. Do I wish there were fewer (F-U) messages sent in code to the NBA league office and its Commissioner? Yes. Do I wonder what it was like for then rookie Tony Parker being crushed and degraded as a ballplayer to the point where longtime Spurs basketball GM R.C. Buford had to talk “Pop” off the ledge from cutting Parker? Yes.

But, like everything in his life, somehow Popovich would come full circle to see the results he envisioned, and thus the incredible rise of Parker to NBA Finals MVP level (2007).

The tail end of Popovich’s illustrious coaching career sadly will be remembered for the “mild stroke” he suffered on November 2, 2024 while at the Spurs facilities. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson was named the acting coach in Popovich’s absence and Johnson named the next full time head coach of the Spurs this week.

All-in-all and despite the abrupt end to Popovich’s on court coaching career, there have been too many wins, too many Hall of Famers coached to their highest potential, and too many NBA titles (5) to call his scope of work in the NBA anything other than fabulous – maybe even, FAN-tastic, a phrase to honor the coach and his contributions to San Antonio, the Spurs organization and the overall and worldwide game of basketball.

The Winningest Head Coaches in NBA History

  • Gregg Popovich – 1,388
  • Don Nelson – 1,335
  • Lenny Wilkens – 1,332
  • Jerry Sloan – 1,221
  • Pat Riley – 1,210

The other two coaches to be highlighted among the very best of all time were the two “Reds” – Red Auerbach of the Boston Celtics and Red Holzman of the New York Knickerbockers.

  • Red Auerbach – 938 (coached Washington Capitals and Tri-Cities Blackhawks, too)
  • Red Holzman – 696

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday was named by the NBA as the recipient of the Joe Dumars Trophy for winning the 2024-25 NBA Sportsmanship Award. This is the second NBA Sportsmanship Award for Holiday, who also earned the honor in the 2020-21 season with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Presented annually since the 1995-96 season, the NBA Sportsmanship Award honors a player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court. The trophy is named for Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and two-time NBA champion Joe Dumars, who won the inaugural NBA Sportsmanship Award and played his entire 14-year career with the Detroit Pistons.

Each NBA team nominated one of its players for the 2024-25 NBA Sportsmanship Award. From the list of 30 team nominees, a panel of league executives selected six finalists (one from each NBA division). Current NBA players selected the winner from the list of six finalists.

In addition to winning the NBA Sportsmanship Award twice, Holiday is a three-time recipient of the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award for his selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment and dedication to team. Holiday is also a finalist for the 2024-25 NBA Social Justice Champion Award, marking the third time he has been a finalist for the honor in its five-year history.

A 16-year NBA veteran, Holiday is a two-time NBA All-Star and six-time Kia NBA All-Defensive Team selection. He has won two NBA championships (one each with Boston and Milwaukee) and two Olympic gold medals with the USA Men’s National Team.

Sadly, the glut of the “do good” awards has forced the hand of the Pro Basketball Writers Association and they have discontinued the annual J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award that was given annually by the writers from 1975 until 2024. (James) Walter Kennedy was the NBA’s second Commissioner (1963-1975) and his title was league President. He passed away in 1977 at the young age of 65. A native of Stamford, Connecticut, Kennedy was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1981.

The NBA now recognizes:

  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Award
  • Jack Twyman-Maurice Stokes Teammate of the Year Award
  • Joe Dumars Sportsmanship Award
  • Lifetime Achievment Award

While the Basketball Hall of Fame recognizes:

  • John Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award (Highest basketball honor outside Induction/Enshrinement into the Basketball Hall of Fame itself).
  • Manny Jackson Human Spirit Awards (usually recognizing three players)
  • Ice Cube Impact Award (presented to Ice Cube himself in its inaugural year)

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: TPC Craig Ranch is hosting The CJ CUP Byron Nelson golf tournament for the fifth time, honoring the legacy of the tournament namesake, in the great Byron Nelson. It was the first PGA Tour event to be named in honor of a professional golfer. Nelson had 52 career PGA Tour wins including a record 18 event titles (11 straight) in 1945.

SOX: The Red Sox won 16 games during the month of April, trailing only the Detroit Tigers (18) for most in the American League … A streak of six straight quality starts by Boston pitchers ended Saturday when Sox RHP Hunter Dobbins missed earning a quality start by one batter. Dobbins did go 5.1 innings to extend Boston’s streak of 15 starting pitchers going at least 5 IP. That dates back to April 18.

For no reason at all, Boston broke out their yellow “Boston City Connect” (tribute to the Boston Marathon) uniforms on Saturday. Prior to Saturday’s afternoon game, delayed by rain, the Red Sox are 37-16 when they don the yellows. Boston is 22-12 in the uniforms since 2023.

Of late, the Red Sox have lost three of the last four games and six of their last 10. In MLB, the fans tend to do some scoreboard watching come September but sometimes the games of May or June determine the season.

When Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran faced Minnesota Twins closer Jhoan Duran in the 9th inning at Fenway Saturday, it was Duran-Duran. Although Boston’s lead-off hitter was “Hungry Like the Wolf,” he grounded out to shortstop and must’ve “Come Undone.”

On Sunday, May 4, the good folks at Strat-O-Matic will “take over” the Mets House NYC at Union Square, in Manhattan from 11:00am through mid-afternoon for open Strat-O-Matic play, prize giveaways, meet-and-greets with Strat-O-Matic founder Hal Richman and other staffers. The latest simulated games (series) was between the current 2025 Mets and the 1986 Mets, one of the best and most likable teams in NYM history. In the decisive Game 7, the ‘86 club’s Ray Knight hit .375 and his teammates, Mookie Wilson and Keith Hernandez, both hit .333 as the ‘86 squad won the simulated series in seven, rallying for two runs in the bottom of the 10th to win, 4-3.

If you’re wondering how Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and the ‘69 Mets would fare, the simulation boards had the current 2025 team winning four straight. Red hot NYM 1B Pete Alonso hit .353, with two HR, and four RBI while SS Francisco Lindor batted a blistering .412, scoring five runs. On the hill, closer Edwin Diaz, appeared in four games, and earned three saves to close down the series against those pesky ‘69 Mets.

THIS JEST IN: Roger Clemens stopped by the Fenway Park press box on Friday night, but it was Saturday afternoon when the Rocket watched his son, Kody, hit his first homer of 2025, a 398 foot blast to right field. It was Kody’s first time ever facing the Red Sox and he has only the Baltimore Orioles remaining for teams he hasn’t played against. Kody is a 28 year old, 6-1, 190 lb infielder.

Here’s one for the ages. On Tuesday, Netflix will premier Untold: Shooting Guards (emphasis on the shoot). The promo reads: “What really went down between GilbertArenas and Javaris Crittenton? It continues, “This exposé unpacks how a gambling dispute led to guns drawn in an NBA locker room.”

NBC Sports commentator Mike Tirico was forced to sit out for the 2025 Kentucky Derby broadcast after suffering a nut allergy exposure.

John Skipper, the former head of ESPN and once most powerful man in sports, stepped down from his post at Meadowlark Media, a production company he founded with former ESPN host Dan LaBatard. In between ESPN and Meadowlark, Skipper was executive chairman at DAZN.

RIP: Stan Love, a 6-foot-9 forward and father of NBA star Kevin Love, passed away last week at the age of 76. Stan Love was a top-notch player for the University of Oregon, and was selected ninth overall in the 1971 National Basketball Association draft by the Baltimore Bullets, the predecessors of the Washington Wizards. He averaged 6.6 points and 3.9 rebounds a game with modest playing time over four seasons with the Bullets and the Los Angeles Lakers of the N.B.A. and the San Antonio Spurs, then of the American Basketball Association. Stan was also the brother of the singer Mike Love of the Beach Boys and a onetime bodyguard and caretaker of the band’s brilliant but troubled leader, Brian Wilson

TL’s Sunday Notebook | April 20

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CLEVELAND, OH – APRIL 16: Members of the Boston Red Sox observe a moment of silence prior to the start against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field on April 16, 2013 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***

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

BOSTON – It started back in 1969. The Viet Nam war was boiling over, escalating in controversy after the tumultuous year of 1968. I was yet to turn ten years old, but was being schooled by the Huntley-Brinkley Report and the front pages of Newsday. It wasn’t pretty and even the youngsters of the ‘60s could sense it.

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969) was the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) case that determined the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, as applied through the Fourteenth, did not permit a public school to punish a student for wearing a black armband as an anti-war protest, absent any evidence that the rule was necessary to avoid substantial interference with school discipline or the rights of others.

The case stemmed from a seemingly peaceful and non-controversial event of December 16, 1965 when five students in Des Moines, Iowa, decided to wear black armbands to school in protest of the USA’s involvement in the Vietnam War as they were supporting the Christmas truce that was called for by New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

By the time the case made its way all the way to the SCOTUS, Kennedy was dead, felled by an assassin’s bullet on June 6, 1968. The case was argued that Fall, on November 12, 1968. The student, John F. Tinker, was 15 years old. The case was decided February 24, 1969, and the court’s 7–2 decision in favor of the students held that the First Amendment applied to public schools, and that administrators would have to demonstrate constitutionally valid reasons for any specific regulation of speech in the classroom.

That became precedent in Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853 (1982). Island Trees happened to be my home school district although I only attended “IT” in Kindergarten. The rest of my schooling was at St. Ignatius Loyola grammar school and Holy Trinity for high school. In the Island Trees case, which dated back to September of 1975, the Island Trees Board of Education received a list of books deemed inappropriate by Parents of New York United. Island Trees is one of four major school districts in Levittown, New York. The board temporarily removed the books from school libraries and formed a committee to review the list. The committee found that five of the nine books should be returned, but the board overruled the decision and returned only two of the books.

A group of five Island Trees high school students (including one junior high school student) who, according to oral argument, were 17, 16, 15, 14, and 13 years old at the time of the removal of the books, led by Steven Pico, filed a lawsuit against the school board by claiming a violation of First Amendment rights.

The list of nine books eventually grew to eleven books that were the subject of the case. The books were:

  • Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
  • The Naked Ape, by Desmond Morris
  • Down These Mean Streets, by Piri Thomas
  • Best Short Stories of Negro Writers, edited by Langston Hughes
  • Go Ask Alice, of anonymous authorship
  • Laughing Boy, by Oliver LaFarge
  • Black Boy, by Richard Wright
  • A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich, by Alice Childress
  • Soul on Ice, by Eldridge Cleaver
  • A Reader for Writers, edited by Jerome Archer*
  • The Fixer, by Bernard Malamud*
  • – added to list

The case moved from Long Island to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, where the court granted summary judgment in favor of the school board, citing the discretion given to a school board’s authority in terms of its political philosophy.

From there, it moved along to the Court of Appeals for Federal District Courts where the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case for a trial on the merits of respondents’ allegations. It was on to the Supreme Court.

The United States Supreme Court split on the First Amendment issue of local school boards removing library books from junior high schools and high schools. Four justices ruled that it was unconstitutional, four concluded the contrary. One Justice concluded that the Court need not decide the question.

This all brings us to Jackie Robinson, as this week we celebrated the life of the great Dodgers player who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball on April 15, 1947. His No. 42 was worn by every MLB player this past Tuesday.

And thinking of the great No. 42, a uniform number retired by every club in Major League Baseball, and this being 42 years since the Island Trees District No. 26 v. Pico case, we find ourselves right back where we started from as the Naval Academy – via its Nimitz Library – was instructed to strip 381 books off the shelves.

Yes, this happened in 2025 and one of the books was a Jackie Robinson biography, as first reported by The New York Times and ESPN, while sports site, Awful Announcing, stayed on the story, too.

“As Secretary Hegseth has said, DEI is dead at the Defense Department. Discriminatory Equity Ideology is a form of Woke cultural Marxism that has no place in our military. It Divides the force, Erodes unit cohesion and Interferes with the services’ core warfighting mission. We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms. In the rare cases that content is removed – – either deliberately or by mistake – – that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content accordingly,” was the Department of Defense statement provided to ESPN’s Jeff Passen, a very solid reporter.

Let’s get this straight. The story of the great Jackie Robinson has “no place” in “our” military? A decorated World War II veteran and model for every baseball player everywhere, every sportsman everywhere – no matter of race, creed or color – “divides the force?”

In Los Angeles this week, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the legendary NBA star was speaking at Dodgers Stadium in celebration of the day: “Jackie Robinson’s legacy is as important now as it has ever been,” he said as he made the reason for the swipe at Robinson he believes is so abundantly clear.

“(President) Trump wants to get rid of DEI, and I think it’s just a ruse to discriminate,” Abdul-Jabbar said to a scrum of reporters, while sitting at the base of Robinson’s statue in the center field plaza of Chavez Ravine..

“You have to take that into consideration,” he added, “when we think about what’s going on today.”

The Navy doubled-down:

“The U.S. Naval Academy is fully committed to executing and implementing all directives outlined in executive orders issued by the president and is currently reviewing the Nimitz Library collection to ensure compliance,” said Commander Tim Hawkins, a Navy spokesman. “The Navy is carrying out these actions with utmost professionalism, efficiency, and in alignment with national security objectives.”

It might be time for the Supreme Court to reconvene, as they did in 1982, but in this day and age, we all know where that would go.

Banning a Jackie Robinson biography in the Year 2025?

Shame on all of us for allowing this to happen, once again.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, known to NBAers as PIT, has been on-going this week in beautiful Portsmouth, Virginia. The tournament is run in “old-skool” fashion with no frills, no TV, some online streaming and 100% solid basketball under NBA rules.

The PIT allows the “bubble” level players the ability to play in front of NBA team scouts in a live setting to separate the top two round players from the possible free agent invite players to the two-way signees to the “c’ya” in Europe prospects.

TIDBITS: The 2025 NBA Draft pool is coming together, and deepening. Three more Lottery-worthy players entered the NBA Draft this past Wednesday. Duke’s Kon Knueppel, Florida’s Alex Condon and Michigan’s Danny Wolf all officially declared.

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson received the Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year Award, the National Basketball Coaches Association announced. The award recognizes the dedication, commitment, and hard work of NBA head coaches and is presented annually to a head coach who helped guide his players to a higher level of performance on-the-court and showed outstanding service and dedication to the community off-the-court. It honors the spirit of Mr. Goldberg, the esteemed long-time Executive Director of the NBCA, who set the standard for loyalty, integrity, love of the game, passionate representation, and tireless promotion of NBA coaching. The award is unique in that it is voted upon by the winners’ peers, the head coaches of all 30 NBA teams.

In total, five coaches received votes, reflecting the depth of coaching excellence in the NBA. In addition to Atkinson, the following head coaches also received votes [listed alphabetically]: J.B. Bickerstaff, Detroit Pistons; Mark Daigneault, Oklahoma City Thunder; Michael Malone, Denver Nuggets; and Ime Udoka, Houston Rockets.

“Kenny Atkinson has long been respected by his peers as an innovative and humble servant to the game,” said Indiana Pacers Coach and NBCA President Rick Carlisle. “Congratulations to Kenny on a historic season along with this prestigious recognition by his peers.”

The great Lee Corso, legend of College Game Day for ESPN and a respected football man for four decades, will retire this August, just as the college season is about to start. Corso’s final broadcast will be Aug. 30, ESPN announced, saying additional programming to celebrate Corso’s great career is planned in the days leading up to that weekend. “He was really a trailblazer for the way the sport was covered. It was OK to laugh, it was OK to poke a little fun, it was OK to show your personality. What Lee did really set the trend for the generations that have followed and continue to follow in covering college football,” said College Game Day hist Rece Davis of ESPN.

The Boston Ruins, errr, Bruins started the season with the usual playoff contender hope but finished with players such as Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo, and Trent Frederic nowhere in sight. Dumping Marchand, the team captain and backbone of the team, was a sure indication that it’s time to strip down and rebuild. While it’s much easier to revamp a team roster in the NHL than NBA or NFL, the Bruins braintrust will have their work cut out over the Summer of ‘25.

Fire Sale on those No. 13 Phoenix Suns jerseys, eh?

MARATHON MAN: Seventy-eight year old Amby Burfoot, the winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon when he was a student at Wesleyan (same school as Bill Belichick), will run in Monday’s 129th running of the Boston Marathon. Of course on Monday, the 250th celebration of Patriots’ Day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Marathon will begin in the morning and the Boston Red Sox toss the first pitch against the Chicago White Sox at 11:10am.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | March 30

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While We’re Young (Ideas) | On NCAA Madness to Come

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – There are two (somewhat) hidden gems in the annual NCAA championship calendar. One is underway, and the other is Memorial Day Weekend – this year at nearly Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. Sometimes, they are overlooked with all of the hullabaloo of March Madness, the GranDaddy of them all. The two best?

  1. The NCAA Frozen Four
  2. The NCAA Lacrosse Championship

Here’s the bracket for the on-going men’s ice hockey tournament, noting local favorite Boston College was a 3-1 winner over nearby Bentley on Friday afternoon in a very hard-fought game. BC improved to 27-7-2 overall. UConn, Penn State and Denver advanced as well, all three knocking out New England-area schools. Denver will play Boston College on Sunday night at 7:00pm with the winner advancing to the Frozen Four. Boston University played Saturday afternoon and defeated Cornell, 3-2, in overtime, to advance to the national semifinals in St. Louis … You can see all the results by visiting HERE.

When all is settled to four hockey teams, the Frozen Four will convene in St. Louis, Missouri – the hockey capital of the Mississippi River – although the river that runs through it never freezes.

The Frozen Four usually pits schools from New England (and occasional New York State) against schools from the west (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Michigan, Denver). This year, Penn State is representing the top notch Big Ten schools.

Going into the tournament, the four schools ranked in the Top Four were the same to be assigned No. 1 seeds. They were:

  1. Boston College
  2. Michigan State (was ranked as No. 1, while BC was No. 2)
  3. Maine
  4. Western Michigan

No. 3 Maine was ousted by Penn State, 5-1, on Friday while No. 2 Michigan State was eliminated by Cornell, the lone Ivy League representative.

While the men’s Final Four basketball tournament is April 5 & 7, the Frozen Four is scheduled for April 10 & 12.

LAX: Come Memorial Day Weekend, May 24 & 26, with ancillary (Women’s semis/finals and Division II and III men’s championships all weekend, one of the great American events will be staged in nearby Foxborough, Mass., at the home of the New England Patriots (NFL) and Revolution (MLS). Tickets range between $33 and $100 and are available on Ticketmaster. The top schools currently ranked include:

  1. Cornell
  2. Maryland
  3. Ohio State
  4. Princeton

That’s two Ivy League schools and two Big Ten schools at the top but plenty of others knocking at the door, and there’s two months of action and tournament games to come.

One important thing of note, the women’s basketball Finals Four, women’s Frozen Four and the women’s lacrosse championship are tremendous events with outstanding student-athletes, competing at a very high level. I do not want to take one thing away by listing the men’s tournaments without mentioning the women, especially in lacrosse as we’ll see them play in Foxborough this May.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: As long as the topic is tournament time, let’s look at the newest college tournament on the block. The College Basketball Crown is a new 16-team, single-elimination postseason men’s basketball tourney, featuring teams from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East conferences, along with additional at-large participants. It’s scheduled from March 31 to April 6, 2025, and will be played at two Las Vegas venues – the MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena. All games will be broadcast on FOX and FS1.

Look for the likes of Boise State, Georgetown, Oregon State and Villanova competing for NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) money. According to reports, the champion team will receive a $300,000 in NIL money, the runner-up will earn $100,000, and the semifinalists will each take home $50,000 in NIL.

Utah vs. Butler will tip off the event on Monday, March 31, at 3 p.m. EDT.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | March 9

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While We’re Young (Ideas) | On Site at the MIT Sloan Sports Conference

TGL’s Mike McCarley (2nd left) at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (Photo by T. Peter Lyons/Digital Sports Desk)

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – The sports world descended upon the Hynes Convention Center in downtown Boston this weekend to probe, ponder and pontificate on nearly every aspect of the major sports – and some others. The annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (#SSAC25), also known as #AnalyticsInMotion, played to a sold out crowd for two full days of seminars, presentations and start-up fund-raising.

Yours truly, representing a combination of Digital Sports Desk, Pivottv Media and Boston VC Sports, was in attendance for the full conference and enjoyed panels on “Sports in 2045,” featuring New England Patriots team president Jonathan Kraft and former head of ESPN and current President and Chief Operating Officer of Endeavor (NYSE: EDR) and TKO Group Holdings Mark Shapiro, along with “Building Sports Empires with an Entrepreneurial Edge, featuring Michele Kang (Washington Spirits – NWSL) and Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital Partners.

Cardinale was particularly interesting because of his wide-ranging and incredibly successful career, not only in the sports world, but at Goldman Sachs prior to his founding of RedBird.

RedBird’s most recent investments include European football’s AC Milan; Everpass Media (the NFL); Skydance Media (Larry and David Ellison); Artists Equity (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon); All3Media (largest content creator in the UK); Fenway Sports Group (Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC, Pittsburgh Penguins, New England Sports Network); the Yankees Entertainment & Sports (“YES”) Network (New York Yankees and Amazon); The Springhill Company (LeBron James and Maverick Carter); the United Football League (UFL) (Disney/ESPN, Fox and Dwayne Johnson); the Indian Premier League’s Rajasthan Royals; and Formula One’s Alpine Racing team.

Carter appeared on another panel with Draft Kings head Jason Robins on Saturday and spoke of “Re-writing the Playbook” and the fact the RedBird-Springhill venture, headed up by Carter and James with their distinguished brands, including UNINTERRUPTED, The Shop, and The Robot Company, recently merged with Fulwell 73 Productions (London) to form a new global entertainment company, Fulwell Entertainment.

The conference – light in the sport of baseball because of the fact nearly all front office and analytics teams are quite busy at Spring Training camps – delved into “The New Age NFL Office,” the “Next Generation of Sports Venues” and the “Globalization of Sports,” a panel that featured NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum.

Tatum spoke of the NBA’s plans to return to China and play a pair of games in Macau this October, the first since the controversial 2019 dust-up caused by (then Houston Rockets GM< now Philadelphia 76ers GM) Daryl Morey’s tweet to “Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong.” Tatum fully explained that after the NBA put out a statement defending Morey’s rights to express his opinion, that China’s CCTV removed NBA programming from its airwaves but later returned things to normal operating, all the while the league’s primary broadcast outlet – “Tencent” continued to air games and highlights. The Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns were tapped to play October 10 and 12 at the Venetian Arena, which is controlled by the Adelson family — by way of the Las Vegas Sands conglomerate — now the majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

Tatum also reiterated the NBA is doubling down on efforts to expand growth in the game on the continent of Africa and in India, where a cool billion people are available to say, “I Love This Game.”

Early on Friday, Mike McCarley of the new (indoor) TGL pro golf league was amongst the panelists on Emerging Sports and he was presented with the MIT Sloan “Alpha” award for excellence as a start-up sport, recognized for the incredible use of data, technology, social media and broadcast excellence.

While the panelists previously mentioned filled the “Bill James Room” and the “Sue Bird Room” – the two largest ballrooms in the convention center, there were dozens of break-out rooms for smaller presentations, research paper workshops and even some player participation displays of golf swings being “closest to the pin” or batting cages and a hitters’ “exit velocity.” There was even a new name for one of the break-out rooms, dubbed the “Shane Battier Room.”

MIT Sloan panel: “Have the Nerds Ruined Basketball?’

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Ready for your first look at the BIG EAST brackets?

BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Tournament, Presented by JEEP

First Round, March 12 (Peacock)

No. 9 Butler vs. No. 8 Providence 4:00

No. 10 DePaul vs. No. 7 Georgetown 6:30

No. 11 Seton Hall vs. No. 6 Villanova 9:00

Quarterfinal, March 13 (Peacock/FS1)

Butler/Providence vs. No. 1 St. John’s 12:00

No. 5 Marquette vs. No. 4 Xavier 2:30

DePaul/Georgetown vs. No. 2 Creighton 7:00

Seton Hall/Villanova vs. No. 3 UConn 9:30

Semifinal, March 14 (FOX)

Quarterfinal Winners 6:30

Quarterfinal Winners 9:00

Championship, March 15 (FOX)

Semifinal Winners 6:30

TIDBITS: Much was said and written about Nikola Jokic’s 31 points, 21 rebounds and a career-high 22 assists stat line as the Denver Nuggets outlasted the Phoenix Suns, 149-141, in overtime Friday night. Jokic became the first NBA player with a triple-double of at least 30 points, 20 rebounds and 20 assists and he tied his team record with his 29th triple-double of the season, stretching his career total to 149. That’s pretty good. … Old school NBA stat geeks had to wonder what some of Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain’s best stat lines were when the “Stilt” played back in the ‘60s and ‘70s. … Here’s one, picked at random, from Wilt’s 1967-68 season – the year he had his highest assist totals of 8.6 per game. On March 4, 1968, Wilt played all 48 minutes, scored 58 points, grabbed 35 rebounds and had four assists. … Of course, on March 2, 1962, Chamberlain scored 100 points, added 25 rebounds but had only two assists. … On February 28, 1962, Chamberlain played all 48 minutes, scored 61 points, added 28 rebounds and six assists. … Obviously, none of those were triple-doubles, but there’s one key statistical anomaly. There’s a distinct possibility Chamberlain might’ve had a triple-double if the NBA charted blocked shots and/or steals at the time. With that in mind, statisticians recreated a March 18, 1968 stat line which clocked Chamberlain’s single game output at 53 points, 32 rebounds, 24 blocks, 14 assists and 11 steals with the blocks and steals “unofficial.” … The great Nate Thurmond once had 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 rebounds, and 12 blocks when he led the Chicago Bulls to a victory against the Atlanta Hawks while San Antonio’s David Robinson clocked 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 blocked shots in a February 2, 1994 Spurs win over Detroit. … There have been other quadruple doubles since that great game but one game, in particular, stands out as one of the all-time greatest performances. In a Game 7 of the 1962 NBA Finals, Boston center Bill Russell scored 30 points and added 40 rebounds with four assists in the Celtics’ 110-107 series clincher over the LA Lakers. Elgin Baylor of the Lakers had 41 points and 22 rebounds in the losing effort.

The Red Sox front office went to work and agreed to terms with 23 players on one-year contracts for the 2025 season. Signing one-season deals were: Wilyer Abreu, Brennan Bernardino, Triston Casas, Cooper Criswell, Hunter Dobbins, Richard Fitts, Jhostynxon Garcia, Romy Gonzalez, Vaughn Grissom, Luis Guerrero, David Hamilton, Zack Kelly, Chris Murphy, Carlos Narváez, Zach Penrod, Luis Perales, Quinn Priester, Blake Sabol, Justin Slaten, Nick Sogard, Greg Weissert, Josh Winckowski, and Connor Wong.

THIS JEST IN: On Saturday, forward Zuby Ejiofor hit a buzzer-beater to send the St. John’s men’s basketball team (27-4, 18-2 BIG EAST) back home from Marquette (Milwaukee) with a men’s basketball program record 27th regular season victory. Ejiofor, a junior forward for the Johnnies, buried a luck-out toss at the buzzer to upend Marquette (22-9, 13-7 BIG EAST), 86-84, in overtime. On the final day of the regular season, St John’s managed a tough road win behind clutch performances from RJ Luis Jr. and Kadary Richmond. Luis led St. John’s with 28 points, shooting 10-for-19 from floor with a trio of 3-pointers, to go with 11 rebounds marking his ninth double-double of the season. Meanwhile, Richmond recorded the first St. John’s triple-double in since Metta Sandiford-Artest (formerly Ron Artest), reached the milestone on Jan. 9, 1999. Richmond’s clutch performance included 10 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and four steals. … Ejiofor, who also sank a game winner at the buzzer in the team’s first BIG EAST road game of this season, at Providence on Dec. 20, finished with 17 points and 12 boards.

St. John’s captured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming BIG EAST tournament to be held at Madison Square Garden this coming Wednesday through Saturday. Digital Sports Desk will be on-site at The Garden for the tournament.

YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: There’s a whole new meaning to the the word SNOWboard. According to the AP, there’s a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder who is wanted for allegedly running a multinational drug trafficking network and orchestrating multiple murders related to his drug ring. The FBI added Ryan Wedding, 43, to its 10 Most Wanted list, while announcing the U.S. State Department’s $10 million offer. … “Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.S. cities and in his native Canada,” said Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. “The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man.” … Seems that the drugs were flowing from South America to Mexico to Southern California and then to Canada, calling into question the USA’s claims that drugs were flowing north to south. … Authorities alledge that Wedding’s group killed two members of a family in Canada in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment in what officials there said was a case of mistaken identity, then two other people, associated with the ring.

TL’s Sports Notebook | March 2

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – The Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox share Fort Myers as their MLB Spring Training hometown. The Twins call Lee Health Sports Complex home and play their games at Hammond Stadium. There are five additional playing fields and the year-round Twins Player Development Academy. It is also home to two Twins minor league affiliates, the Low-A Fort Myers Mighty Mussels and the rookie-level Florida Complex League Twins.

Of course, the Red Sox have JetBlue Park at Fenway South, sometimes referred to as “Little Fenway,” situated at 11500 Fenway South Drive in Fort Myers. Because of the close proximity, the townspeople created a way for the two clubs to battle for one of the most obscure trophies in all of sports.

The Twins once played against the Texas Rangers for the Senators’ Cup, but with the Twins move to Lee County in 1991 and the Red Sox soon following in 1993 to share tiny Fort Meyers, there had to be a new deal. Knowing the history, the local fans called for a special springtime competition between the two Fort Myers ball clubs. The local newspaper, the News-Press, held a naming contest for the competition(s) and the award itself.

The Senators’ Cup became the Crosstown Cup but that only lasted a while until it was re-named, the Mayor’s Cup. The team’s battled for the Mayor’s Cup for decades but then someone realized that JetBlue Park was technically outside the Lee County line, so there was yet another name change.

Saturday (March 1) began the competition for The 2025 Chairman’s Cup between the Red Sox and Twins, with Boston taking the first of the six Grapefruit League matchups, 8-4. The “Battle for the Cup” will continue on March 12 and 23 at Little Fenway. They’ll meet at Hammond Stadium on March 8, 16 and 20. The clubs split the 2024 Chairman’s Cup, but, most importantly, the Twins lead in the all-time series, 15-14-3 in Cup wins and Minny holds a 93-84-2 edge in games.

This is the 33rd season the Sox have called Fort Myers their Spring Training home (1993-2025), their most years spent at any Spring Training city. The Red Sox are in their 14th season at the Fenway South Spring Training and Player Development Complex, which opened in 2012.

Now, how about that for a notebook full of interesting but useless information?

That said, long before MLB interleague play between the American League clubs and National League clubs, in the decade of ‘60s when this columnist was growing up a few miles east of then, brand new Shea Stadium, there was an annual, one day break in the schedule in order to schedule the Mayor’s Trophy game between the New York Mets and New York Yankees. Mayor John Lindsay – NYC’s, call it, “Fun City” was Mayor between January 1966 to December 1973 – the glory years of the Mayor’s Trophy game which alternated between Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium every other year.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said he doesn’t know if the recently completed and quite popular 4 Nations Face-Off tournament is here to stay, and he called it a “quick appetizer” as the league turns its focus to other international ice hockey events. Bettman, appeared on “The Rich Eisen Show,” noting the success of the tournament “has been so quick and overwhelming, we’ve got a lot of things to consider and sort out, including what our own All-Star Game looks like going forward.” … On international plans for the future, Bettman said, “What we’re going to do is Olympics (Milan/Cortino ‘26), two years later the World Cup, two years later Olympics (French Alps ‘2030), two years later World Cup. And the World Cup will have at least eight countries participating, and that’s something we’re in the process of finalizing. The World status may have something to do with exactly how we pull that all together.” Bettman said the NHL is aiming for a full World Cup “like you see in soccer,” with host sites in North America as well as Europe. The odd country out, as Bettman noted with the vague “world status,” is the Russian Federation.

IN OTHER NHL OFF-ICE NEWS: The Woods College of Advancing Studies at Boston College and the National Hockey League Players’ Association have reached an agreement that will open the door to current and former members of the NHLPA to complete their education at Boston College through NHLPA UNLMT, providing an invaluable resource for professional hockey players looking to earn college degrees. The agreement was signed by Woods College Dean David Goodman and NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh, a BC Woods College graduate.

STOP the RACE: Do you believe in miracles? Yes. On Saturday afternoon, St. John’s clinched the Big East regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York.

SPORTS BIZ BOSTON: The Boston Celtics extended their deal with TD Bank through the 2044-45 season. This sponsorship will continue the bank’s role as the retail and online banking provider for the NBA’s Boston franchise and the Maine Celtics of the G-League. “We’re elated to extend our partnership with TD Bank, and build on our shared commitment to community engagement and connection with our fans,” Boston Celtics president Rich Gotham said in a statement. “TD Bank’s continued investment in our initiatives makes a significant impact, and their ongoing support ensures we can continue providing unique experiences for fans while contributing to meaningful causes that benefit the Greater Boston area.”

Included in the terms of the extension, the bank will launch a Celtics season ticket wait list that will enhance “engagement with this dedicated Celtics fanbase.” With the Maine Celtics, TD Bank will add sponsored promotional games, such as ‘EmpowHER Night’ and ‘Fan Appreciation Game.’ They will also hold CommUNITY Crew events in Maine to support its local communities.

The naming rights to the arena for the Celtics and NHL’s Boston Bruins is controlled by the Bruins and their parent company, Delaware North.

TIDBITS: Is there better use of a nickname in sports other than CBS Sports’ Bill Raftery calling his college basketball play-by-play man, Ian Eagle, by the name, “Bird?” … Our local dog grooming store is activating a big promotion for the month ahead. They are calling it “Bark Madness,” with discounts on all kinds of baths, nail brushing and every other thing you can think of to cater to your furry friends. … If you picked Adam Svensson as your one and done fantasy PGA TOUR player this week, you had the wrong Svensson. Jesper Svensson was high on the leaderboard on Saturday and in contention for the Cognizant Classic title in the Palm Beaches.

Diana Taurasi (2nd from left) and the 2004 USA gold medal women’s team (Getty)

TAURASI: When Phoenix Mercury and UConn great Diana Taurasi decided to retire from the WNBA, she didn’t mess around. A very well-planned announcement was made via Time and the magazine’s longtime sports business reporter Sean Gregory. Taurasi explained that January 1 is her usual date to begin training for the next season and “I just didn’t have it in me,” Taurasi, 42, told TIME from her home in Phoenix. “That was pretty much when I knew it was time to walk away.” … Taurasi has accomplished all there is to accomplish in women’s basketball. She’s scored 10,646 points in the regular season, she’s won three WNBA Championships (2007, 2009, and 2014), six Euroleague titles during her 12-year career playing in Russia and Turkey during the WNBA off-season, She was the 2009 WNBA MVP, a two-time WNBA Finals MVP, a three-time Euroleague MVP, and a three-time Russian League Player of the Year. All that written in stone, Taurasi also has won six Olympic gold medals with USA Basketball, an all-time record. With all due respect to Cynthia Cooper, Lisa Leslies, Sheryl Swoopes, Maya Moore or Candace Parker and all the other top notch women’s basketball players, but without a doubt, Taurasi was the very best. … She knows that someday, someone will come along to challenge her status as “the GOAT of women’s basketball.” … She said to TIME, “My scoring record, or the six gold medals, someone’s going to come around that has the same hunger, the same addiction to basketball, and put those records in a different way, a different name,” said Taurasi. “That’s what sports is all about. That’s going to be fun to watch. Hopefully not soon.”

THIS JEST IN: According to D-1 ticker via Online Athens (GA), the University of Georgia will not be fined for this past Tuesday’s court-storming after its men’s basketball team upset Florida, “since they held the fans back until the court was clear,” according to SEC Director of Communications Craig Pinkerton. Bulldogs AD Josh Brooks was proud of the student body and their ‘polite court storming,” noting, “Last night proved once again why we have the best students in the country, and I want to personally thank them for waiting to rush the floor. Our students have bought in and helped create a tremendous home court advantage. They have been with us all year long and have made the difference in so many of our big home wins.”

YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: It’s quite logical to place the legendary Tiger Woods as the sure-fire No. 1 earner on the PGA Tour, but who might you rank as No. 2?

If you guessed four-time Major winner and 26-time Tour title winner Rory McIlroy at the two spot, you’d be wrong. Try Maverick McNealy – who regularly arrives at the golf course in his own private jet – is already richer than any golfer in the world not named Woods, including the likes of McIlroy, (Jon) Rahm, DJ, or Bryson DeChambeau. That’s because McNealy is the heir to a $1 billion empire.

McNealy’s father, Scott, co-founded technology giant Sun Microsystems back in 1982. Sun was later acquired by Oracle Corporation in 2010 for an eye-watering $7.4 billion, securing generational wealth for the McNealy family for many, many years to come.

Maverick is the heir to McNealy senior’s astonishing fortune, having grown up in a 28,000 square-foot mansion in Palo Alto, California. To put his wealth into perspective, McNealy stands to inherit six-times the net worth of four-time major winner McIlroy.

Tears for Fears’ Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, 1985

1985: “No one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty-five will ever do,” wrote Paul McCartney to begin his hit song for The Wings in 1973. McCartney later noted, he’d build his songs when he’d established the first line of the lyrics, citing the words to The Beatles’ classic Eleanor Rigby, “picks up the rice in the church where the wedding has been.” Said McCartney, “That was the one big line that started me off on it. With this one (1985) it was “No one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty-five.” … “That’s all I had of that song for months. ”No one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty… six?” … It wouldn’t have worked.” … Those thoughts lead us to the fact that 1985 was 40 years ago, and a number of 40-year anniversaries will be celebrated this year. There was one that caught this reporter’s eye this past Tuesday when one of my all-time favorite bands, Tears for Fears, celebrated the 40-year anniversary of their ground-breaking album, Songs From the Big Chair. which along with 1989’s The Seeds of Love marked the band’s worldwide appeal and became a “cultural touchstone for Gen Xers who grew up on MTV,” wrote conservative culture platform, Twitchy. … In the summer of 2023, bandmates Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith took their Tears for Fears’ Tipping Point Part II tour through North America with a stop at The Mohegan Sun two days before playing to a full house at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The June 24 show came just as the PGA Tour stop for The Travelers rode through Crowmell, Connecticut, and yes, it was a short and easy ride to anchor an amazing weekend. … It all melds together to underline a great year of music, history-making and great sports. Remember, 1985 was the year of Live Aid, the all-day rock show on two continents (London, England, Europe and Philadelphia, USA North America) which raised millions for famine relief in Ethiopia. … The year began with the establishment of the “Domain Name” system as a framework for the World Wide Web and the common man’s use of the Internet. … “We Are the World” began the USA for Africa relief efforts … Joe Montana won MVP honors in Super Bowl XIX when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins, 38-16. … Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and de facto leader of the (then) Soviet Union. … Amadeus won the Academy Award for Best Picture … Villanova defeated Georgetown, 66-64, at the Final Four in Lexington, Kentucky to cap the biggest upset in college basketball history … In one, if not the biggest blunders in marketing history, the Coca-Cola Company changed its formula and released New Coke. The public response made Coke execs re-think that one. … The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics 4-games-to-2, winning the NBA title at the famed Boston Garden. It marked the first time an opponent clinched an NBA title on the famed parquet floor. (Note: In 2022, the Golden State Warriors duplicated the feat, defeating the Celtics in six games with the clincher at TD Garden). … Eighteen year old Boris Becker became the first German and the first unseeded player to win the men’s championship at Wimbledon, defeating Kevin Curren in four sets, 6–3, 6–7 (4–7), 7–6 (7–3), 6–4. … The Kansas City Royals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4-games-to-3, to become the first team to win the World Series after losing the first two games at home. … And, another reminder of just how long ago it was, the Microsoft Corporation released the first version of Windows software.

Tears for Fears’ Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, 2025

Super Sunday Sports Notes | Feb 9

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It’s Super Bowl Sunday – LIX (59)

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

BOSTON – The Dallas Mavericks came through Boston this week, riding into town from Philadelphia after a two point loss to the 76ers. The Mavs’ 757 aircraft carried a team with enough baggage to fill Logan Airport’s entire baggage claim system, and they landed with contrails from the team jet spread out across the entire NBA basketball world.

The Mavericks traded superstar Luka Dončić’to the Los Angeles Lakers and the reaction was as if the Mavs orchestrated a move for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys to Santa Monica. The full trade went down as follows:

Dallas sent Dončić’ and forwards Maxi Kleber and journeyman Markieff Morris to Los Angles for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first round NBA Draft pick. Utah was the “third man in,” as the Jazz acquired Jalen Hood-Schifino from the Lakers, the 2025 Clippers’ second-round pick, and the 2025 Mavericks’ second-round pick in the trade while giving up nothing except having to waive recently acquired Mo Bamba.

The reaction to the trade can only be categorized as “legendary,” as the Elias Sports Bureau confirmed that a trade involving a reigning All-NBA guard for an All-NBA center in midseason. “Shocking” was the most frequently used word to describe the trade, noting there was no indication the trade was coming down. ESPN’s newsmaker Shams Charania broke the news a little after midnight on February 2.

LA’s Lebron James thought it was “a hoax,” while longtime NBA reporter and current editor and columnist for The Athletic David Aldridge called it a “Holy Shit” trade, utilizing a phrase that legendary Washington Post editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee used for only the greatest of the greatest stories. The Lakers were overwhelmingly considered the winners of the trade. Many gave the Lakers an “A+” grade while criticizing the Mavericks by dumping and “F” grade on the team for not acquiring more.

That wasn’t the sentiment for the young, upcoming and highly competent Dallas GM, Nico Harrison, who targeted and picked Davis as the player he coveted if he planned to trade his franchise favorite. In fact, both the Lakers’ GM, Rob Pelinka, and Harrison said they began trade talks in January facing the February 6 NBA trade deadline. The fact there wasn’t a single leak proved the two GMs kept their negotiations secret.

NBA executives – all around the league – expressed shock at the fact that the Mavericks negotiated exclusively with the Lakers, and argued that Dallas could have obtained a much larger return for Dončić in an open auction. “It probably would have been the biggest haul in NBA history,” said one team executive in an off-the-record interview while another claimed, “every team in the league would have offered everything they could.” Lost in the ‘what-ifs’ is the fact Dončić and his agent would’ve tried to dictate the terms and destination of the deal if they’d been informed and involved.

Here’s TL’s Take: First and foremost, Dallas GM Nico Harrison knew what had to be done and he deserves enormous credit for having the guts to move on it before there was a major hurdle in front of him and time working against the Mavericks in a big way. Dončić was due for a new contract and his All-NBA status qualified him for a “supermax” deal that would’ve included terms above Boston’s five-year, $314 million deal to keep Jayson Tatum.

Dončić would’ve signed a $325m-plus contract but would’ve built-in a one year opt-out to increase his personal salary haul the next year (2026-27) when the new NBA TV deal kicks in and the team salary cap will increase significantly. With that opt-out in one hand but a longterm contract in place in case of injury, Dončić could’ve easily walked from the Mavericks to any team he wanted to play for, as he would be an unrestricted free agent. The Mavericks would be left empty-handed.

Dončić hasn’t played since he left a Christmas Day (Dec. 25, 2024) after 16 minutes and hasn’t set foot on the court ever since. His calf strain has sidelined him indefinitely and reports of his 230-pound playing weight might now be topping 250-260-pounds with a long road of conditioning ahead before he can be effective in the high speed NBA pace of play. To his credit, Dončić played through injury and led the Mavericks to a surprise appearance in the 2024 NBA Finals where they lost to Boston.

Harrison had to wonder if Dončić would be healthy and would he choose to stay in Dallas when every NBA team coffer would open filled with the loot from and 11-year, $76 billion ABC/ESPN, Amazon, NBC Sports and rising global TV deals flooding the league from platforms anxious to air the league’s daily reality show.

In Davis, Dallas has another “big” and a highly skilled two-way player. Harrison stated the old cliche that ‘defense wins championships’ and that fact was his motivation in trading for Davis who is 32 years old. Looking ahead, AD is in his prime holding a contract that is valid through – at least – the ’26-27 season, with his (player option for ’27-28), an option which he’s likely to accept at $66,821,676. for the season. Davis must stay healthy for the trade to work out for Dallas.

Additionally, Max Christie is a very nice piece in this blockbuster puzzle and he is likely to see major minutes for Dallas,

Although Dončić is only 25 years old and has been an All-NBA first team selection five times, joining only Larry Bird, George Gervin, and Tim Duncan as players earning five All-NBA First Team selections in their first six seasons in the league (since the ABA teams were absorbed into the NBA in ‘75-76).

Taking it all in, While We’re Young (Ideas) bucks the trend, and confidently states, “Advantage Dallas.”

LOST IN THE SHUFFLE: With all the attention on the Dallas and LA Lakers, many overlooked a huge acquisition by the San Antonio Spurs when they acquired De’Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings.

The Kings, Spurs and Chicago Bulls completed a seven-player, seven draft pick trade which went down in the shadows of the Davis/Dončić deal:

San Antonio Spurs acquire:

  • De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin

Sacramento Kings acquire:

Zach LaVine and Sidy Cissoko

  • 2025 first-round pick (via Hornets)
  • 2027 first-round pick (via Spurs)
  • 2031 first-round pick (via Timberwolves)
  • 2025 second-round pick (via Bulls)
  • 2028 second-round pick (via Nuggets)
  • 2028 second-round pick (via Bulls)

Chicago Bulls acquire:

  • Zach Collins, Tre Jones and Kevin Huerter
  • And the Bulls re-acquired their own 2025 1st-round pick (via Spurs)

Advantage Spurs who can now combine Fox with (possible) Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle (UConn) all backing the dynamic ‘24 NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama. When they spread the floor – Look out!

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: One other big NBA trade was tucked in on Trading Deadline Eve.

  • The Golden State Warriors will send forwards Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Anderson plus a top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick to the Heat. Also, recently acquired guard Dennis Schroder, will be shipped-out to the Utah Jazz.
  • Utah will send forward P.J. Tucker, who previously played with the Heat in 2021-22, to Miami.
  • Guard Lindy Waters III will go from Golden State to the Detroit Pistons, and Josh Richardson will go from Miami to Detroit.
  • And, the highlight – Miami’s suspended bucket-man, Jimmy Butler, will join the Warriors.

TIDBITS: This weekend is ESPN commentator and Basketball Hall of Famer Dick Vitale’s “Super Bowl Weekend, Baby,” as the popular icon of college basketball returns to the ESPN airwaves after fighting back four bouts of cancer. Vitale called the Duke at Clemson game on Saturday night. … In addition, Hubie Brown, one of the most revered and beloved coaches and broadcasters in basketball history, will call his final NBA game (this weekend), Sunday, February 9, at 2:00pm ET on ABC. Brown will join fellow Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Mike Breen on the call with Lisa Salters reporting. The trio, along with the late Stuart Scott, served as the broadcast team for the 2006 NBA Finals on ABC. Brown will call the Philadelphia 76ers at Milwaukee Bucks game. The legendary coach made his NBA coaching debut in Milwaukee as an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks in 1972 under the great Larry Costello.

ALL-TIME FICTIONAL CHARACTER HOOPS TEAM: “You can’t teach height,” was the old adage for fielding a competitive basketball team so our Fictional Five and bench players will all stand as the tallest of the tall, rather than the most talented crew. wait no longer, here’s the club:

C: Rubeus Hagrid – Standing 12-foot, Hagrid of Hogwarts has to be our “five,” although there’s going to be plenty of height and length to our line-up, good guy Hagrid will lead this squad. Certainly, all opponents will find it difficult to match-up with Hagrid anchoring a 12-foot, 7-foot-6, 6-foot-9 frontline.

PF: Herman Munster – Straight out of Transylvania (Romania), Munster holds down the power forward spot on the Fictional Five club. He’s tough, quick, defensive minded and stands a lengthy 7-foot-6, according to most accounts.

SF: Lurch – The Addams Family butler stood a legit 6-foot-9 and can man the “three” with the best of ‘em. His abilities as an intimidator and enforcer should not be overlooked, as he can help on weak-side defense. Lurch has a nice stroke, too.

Lurch

SG: Gomez Adams – Castilian-born and surely a fan of León, Gomez Adams stood tall in all photos with his longtime sidekick, Lurch. For the home team, he starts at shooting guard and he’s fine unless he picks up early fouls because of the visiting cheerleaders speaking French.

PG: Bullwinkle J. Moose mans the point. While some might’ve thought Rocket “Rocky” J. Squirrel would’ve been our starter at PG, Moose got the nod over Squirrel, although – at times – they are paired together. Rocky lacked the height to start and match-up vs. taller squads.

The Bench:

The Sixth and Seventh Men come to the club directly from the Bundeslega and they are versatile players who can guard any position. In fact, in their fictional roles, they often had to guard the guard house.

Sergeant Hans Schultz is first man off the bench. The right hand man to Colonel Wilhelm Klink in Hogan’s Heroes, Schultz never melts under opposition pressure. He sees nothing, knows nothing, says nothing when questioned by scouts and media.

Schultz’s cohort from Stanisławów (occupied Austria, back in war-time (American Civil war), was Trooper Hoffenmueller and he joined our club after appearing in 11 episodes of F-Troop. Hoffenmueller had one huge claim to fame, in case you didn’t know, the actor, John Mitchum, had a slightly more famous brother, Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award winner, Robert Mitchum.

The back-up center for our club was the inspiration behind the great nickname given to Celtics star center Robert Parish. “The Chief” gained his nickname from Chief Bromden of the 1975 film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” With the great Randle McMurphy (LA Lakers fan Jack Nicholson) egging him on, Chief strides up and down the court and scores at will. He does the same thing off the bench for this club.

And, as long as McMurphy came up, he happens to be the first guard off the bench.

Rounding out the team, it would be very easy to go with three characters out of “Space Jam,” and maybe include that “bigger than life” Michael Jordan guy, but not here.

James Bond fans know our reserve power forward, Jaws, from “The Spy Who Loved Me.” The 7-foot-2 bruiser has medical clearance from our team dentist who recently replaced Jaws’ metal teeth with game-friendly plastic.

Jackie Moon is a key reserve on the club. A singer who used the profits from his one-hit wonder, “Love Me Sexy”, to buy his own basketball team, the Flint Tropics, Moon eventually moves to a role player slot on the Tropics which was enough to prove his worth to our club.

The 12th man is a two-way player shared with the Minnesota North Poles. The Abominable Snowman hails from The Island of Misfit Toys, and stands 8-feet tall by most accounts. In basketball season, he needs to take a month-long break in December and report back home.

Our coach from the motion picture BLUE Chips is the great Pete Bell of the Western University Dolphins (played by Nick Nolte). Bell is assisted by David Greene (Gabe Kaplan) of Fastbreak, Ken Reeves (Ken Howard) from The White Shadow and grad assistant Jack Cunningham (played by Ben Affleck in The Way Back (2020). Cunningham comes from the Pete Bell coaching tree and Affleck admired the work of Nolte, as well.

SUPER BOWL MENU: The continuation of a popular column tradition, to be shared today with all readers. Here’s what’s being served at ‘the ranch’ on Super Bowl LIX Sunday.

Breakfast

  • Homemade Belgian Waffles, with Vermont Maple Syrup, served with Fresh Strawberries.
  • Everything Bagel (toasted) with Vegetable or Plain Cream Cheese
  • Fresh squeezed Orange Juice
  • Pot of home-brewed “Kick Ass” coffee, with Half & Half

Lunch and Snacks, in honor of Max “Snax” Lyons, our English Springer Doodle

For the Dogs (yes, we spoil them a bit):

  • Homemade Dog Biscuits cooked with Apple Sauce, PBJ and Assorted treats

For the People:

  • Utz Special Dark Sourdough Pretzels
  • Cape Cod Air Fried Chips with Sea Salt
  • Assorted Greek Olives, freshly shipped from Greece
  • Vegetable Crudite with side of Ranch or Thousand Island Dressing
  • Assorted Cheese & Black Pepper Flavored Crackers

Pre-Game and Halftime | Dinner Offerings:

  • Special Meatballs, slow-cooked in Crock Pot, served with Bulky Rolls
  • Salisbury Steak Style Meatballs, with noodles
  • Pistachio Crusted Boneless Chicken Breast, with Grilled, Crispy Brussels Sprouts
  • Mediterranean spices on Boneless Chicken Breast, Grilled with Broccoli side
  • Chips, Salsa with Simple Guacamole

Beverages:

  • Ice Cold Diet Coke
  • Jack’s Abby, Banner City Lager Beer
  • Wine Coolers
  • Home brewed Cold Seltzer with Orange, Peach, Mango Juice over Ice
  • Fresh Lemonade
  • Coffee and Tea

Dessert:

  • Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Feb 2

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – In the depths of a freezing cold winter, there are two things New Englanders can count on to brighten their spirits. Groundhog Day and Fenway Truck Day. No matter what forecast that damn rodent, Pennsylvania Phil, has in store, when the Boston Red Sox equipment truck is loaded up on Van Ness Street and begins its 1,480 mile trip to Jet Blue Park in Fort Myers, Florida.

Groundhog Day is (today) Sunday, February 2 while Fenway Park Truck Day is (tomorrow) Monday, February 3. The truck will be loaded starting at 7:00am and is scheduled to leave around 1:00pm. This will be the 28th straight year that Milford native Al Hartz will drive the 53-foot truck, which will carry an assortment of baseball equipment and supplies, including:

  • 20,400 baseballs
  • 1,100 bats
  • 200 batting gloves
  • 200 batting helmets
  • 320 batting practice tops
  • 160 white game jerseys
  • 300 pairs of pants
  • 400 t-shirts
  • 400 pairs of socks
  • 20 cases of bubble gum
  • 60 cases of sunflower seeds

The celebration of Truck Day has been a Red Sox tradition since 2003, signaling the unofficial start of Spring Training. Boston’s Pitchers & Catchers report on Wednesday, February 12 while other Major League clubs report anywhere from February 9 (Chicago Cubs – traveling to Tokyo for games against the LA Dodgers – March 18/19) through February 13. For the most part, full squad workouts begin Monday, February 17. The Dodgers have scheduled their first spring training dates for February 11/15).

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Boston is a tough town, known very much as a “Hockey Town,” but it’s also a large community of figure skating families as nearly every single New England Mom or Dad has memories of taking the youngsters to the local rink (outdoor or indoor) with the kids dreaming of skating for Olympic gold. New England, along with the rest of the Figure Skating world community – a very tight knit group – are all mourning the loss of legends, friends and family in the freak airplane accident. American Airlines Flight 5342 and a Blackhawk military helicopter collided less than a mile from the runway at Washington DC’s Reagan National Airport where the Wichita to DC flight was within seconds of landing safely. Instead, all souls aboard both the jet and helicopter experienced true horror and immediate death. Then, another air catastrophe in the same week as a Medivac transport jet crashed in North Philadelphia, killing all six aboard the Learjet 55. They were all Mexican nationals returning home after a child was treated in Philly.

The American Airlines regional air flight originated in Wichita, Kansas just a few days after the U.S. Figure Skating Championship and subsequent Development Camp, held for the most promising young skaters in the country.

Two Boston area teenage skaters, two coaches and two parents from The Skating Club of Boston (Norwood, MA) were on the flight that crashed Wednesday into the Potomac River in DC after a midair crash with an Army helicopter, the club confirmed. A total of 14 members of the US skating community were aboard among the 67 passengers and crew.

Ice skating coaches and former world champions Evgenia Shishkova and VadimNaumov were aboard the flight from Wichita, coming home from the camp that followed the national championships, which ended last Sunday. Shishkova and Naumov were both coaches at The Skating Club of Boston, and had been with the club since 2017, according to Doug Zeghibe, the club’s executive director.

Shishkova and Naumov were a married couple, settled in Boston, who competed for Russia in pairs skating in the 1994 Winter Olympics and placed fourth. Later, they won their gold medals ‘94 World Championship.

The young skaters were identified by the club as Spencer Lane and Jinna Han and they were accompanied by their mothers, Christine Lane and Jin Han. All six were a constant presence at the skaking club, often 10-plus hours at a time, six days a week.

The Skating Club of Boston is the third-oldest club in the country and is a founding member of U.S. Figure Skating. In 2020, the club closed its Soldiers Field Road facility it had occupied since 1938 and moved to a fabulous three-rink headquarters in suburban Norwood, Massachusetts. Unlike most New England ice rinks, the Skating Club is dedicated 100% to figure skating, as opposed to sharing the ice time with men’s and women’s hockey.

The club has a rich history as home of Tenley E. Albright, the first American woman to win gold medals at the Worlds (1953) and Winter Olympics (1956). After her skating career, Dr. Albright went on to study medicine at Harvard Medical School where she held a faculty appointment as Lecturer in the Program of Surgery.

The great Dick Button also skated at Boston when he was enrolled at Harvard. A native of Englewood, New Jersey, Button, a five-time World Champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Button, who later became a fixture of American figure skating coverage as a TV network color commentator, was the only male skater to simultaneously hold the Olympic, World, North American, European and US National Championship titles.

Button passed away this week at the age of 95, providing the figure skating community another kick in the teeth as they mourn some 20 deceased colleagues, six from the Boston area.

BAD MEMORIES: The horrific Wichita to DC plane crash reminded some of the February 15, 1961 crash that killed 18 members of the U.S.A. world figure skating team, along with sixteen coaches and relatives of the skaters. Those dear souls were lost when Sabena Flight 548, traveling from New York’s Idlewild Airport to Brussels, crashed on approach to Brussels.

TIDBITS: The NHL, according to ESPN, is expected to significantly raise its team salary cap over the next three seasons, according to a memo the League and the NHL Players’ Association sent to teams. … According to the memo, obtained by ESPN, the salary cap for 2025-26 will rise to $95.5 million, with a floor of $70.6 million. In 2026-27, it is projected to increase to $104 million with a floor of $76.9 million, and in 2027-28, it will again go up to $113.5 million with a floor of $83.9 million. … The NHL’s current salary cap is $88 million with a floor of $65 million. … The minimum team salary or ‘floor’ is important to keep teams from operating at an incredible low salary in years when they feel they can not be competitive.

The Washington Wizards are experiencing their second 16 consecutive loss streak of the 2024-25 season. The first was November 2 through December 5 and the current losing streak began January 3. (The Wizards faced the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis as press time was calling).

Super Bowl LIX commercial spots on FOX Sports are going for $8m. Just think of the good one could do with $8m bucks.

TOP NBA COACHES, RANKED by TL: There’s been a list of the “best” NBA coaches floating around. It’s pretty good, but here’s a TL Sunday Notes version to ponder. The thoughts are for the whole body of work, over their careers, for the Top 6 and a tip of the hat to the younger generation in the second half dozen:

  1. Erik Spoelstra, Miami
  2. Gregg Popovich, San Antonio (heavy on the body of work side, and a get well soon)
  3. Steve Kerr, Golden State
  4. Nick Nurse, Philadelphia
  5. Rick Carlisle, Indiana
  6. Tom Thibodeau, NY Knicks

THE NEXT GREAT CROP of NBA COACHES:

  1. Ime Udoka, Houston
  2. Joe Mazzulla, Boston
  3. Mark Daigneault, Oklahoma City
  4. Ty Lue (he’s actually been terrific for a while), LA Clippers
  5. Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland
  6. Mike Malone, Denver

THIS JEST IN: The National Hockey League just announced that Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak was named the NHL First Star of the Month for January. Pastrnak led the NHL in scoring in January, totaling 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points. The 27-year-old recorded points in 12 of the team’s 14 contests, with four three-point games. Pastrnak started February even hotter than January as he registered his first hat trick of the season and an assist to lead the Bruins to a 6-3 win over the visiting New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon.

The 6-foot, 200-pound winger has played in all 53 games with the Bruins this season, notching 24 goals and 37 assists for 61 points overall. He leads the team in goals, assists, points, points per game (1.15) even strength goals (18), even strength points (47), power play goals (6) and power play points (14) this season.

Currently in his 11th season with the Bruins, Pastrnak has skated in 727 career NHL games, totaling 372 goals and 416 assists for 788 points with a plus-135 rating. The Havirov, Czech Republic native was originally drafted by Boston in the first round (25th overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver asked by radio mogul Dan Patrick for “the wildest ideas” about the game cited discussions on awarding only two free throws for fouls on three-point field goal attempts. Then, Silver noted that he was in the minority on another idea. That being reducing the NBA game to a 40-minute game, with four 10-minute quarters. Silver cited the fact international basketball (FIBA) rules call for 40 minutes. … Repercussions from a change to a 40-minute NBA game is the fact every NBA record, dating back to 1946, would be signed, sealed and engraved into the books. Team game records, scoring records, most or fewest points scored, rebounds, assists and everything in between would be enshrined. The NBA would need to begin a new record book as Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game mark would be chiseled into stone.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Jan 19

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pope John Paul II at The Garden, quite possibly George Kalinsky’s greatest photo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Players

– Alphonse Bilé (Côte d’Ivoire)

– Andrew Bogut (Australia)

– Leonor Borrell (Cuba)

– Pau Gasol (Spain)

– El Khatib (Lebanon)

– Ticha Penicheiro (Portugal)

– Ratko Radovanovic (Serbia)

– Dawn Staley (USA)

Coach

– Mike Krzyzewski (USA)

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

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

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

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

Check ✅ marks the spot.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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