boston Page 21 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Hall of Fame voters dig the nice guy cheats
We’ve known for several years now that 2022 was going to be a landmark year which would set the standard for Major League Baseball Hall of Fame voting for years to come. Baseball progressives had been pleading their case for years for people like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens to make the Hall of Fam...

Why, God?! WHYYYYY?!?!
I fear to guess the main question on the minds of Bills’ fans heading into Saturday night’s playoff game against the Patriots, but one of the recurring queries has to be, “Are you kidding me?” Not only do they have to face New England, the longtime rival who has owned them for the past couple of dec...

The Celtics need to wake up and move on from either Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown
The Boston Celtics have one of the richest legacies in North American sports, but as of late, they have not been able to get over that hump to capture another NBA championship. In recent years, their two young stars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have led them to multiple Eastern Conference Finals a...

Can Tuukka Rask play center?
It is cute, if not delicious, that Tuukka Rask’s imminent return to the Boston Bruins is being greeted as something of the cavalry arriving. Because Bruins fans (and media) have never hesitated to throw whatever available cutlery was around at Tuke Nuke ‘Em every spring because he wasn’t Tim Thomas,...

The Cooperstown case for Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, once and for all
Call me naive, an optimist....

The case for every player on the 2022 MLB Hall of Fame ballot
The 2022 MLB Hall of Fame class will be announced on January 25, 2022, and this year’s ballot is like a potato skin at T.G.I. Friday’s...loaded to all hell. We got storylines galore with all-time greats like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens; legendary newcomers with people like David Ortiz and Alex Rod...

Out of shape? James Harden says absolutely not after returning home for Christmas to pound on the Lakers and Clippers
Christmas at home might be the turning point in James Harden’s 2021-22 season. The Brooklyn Nets played at Crypto.com arena against the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day, against the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 27, and in between those two games, Harden’s high school in Lakewood, Calif., retired ...

IDIOT OF THE YEAR #8: Rob Manfred, who got everything wrong
Welcome to Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE YEAR festivities! Nos. 50 through 11 are available for your enjoyment here. And our top 10 thus far:...

After three years and two seasons of BIG3 dominance, Iso Joe is back in the NBA
It’s been kind of a drag watching the NBA for the past two weeks. In the last nine days, seven games have been cancelled. For the teams that have been able to play some have been forced to get through games with less than optimal lineups. The Brooklyn Nets haven’t played since Saturday and in that g...

Avalanche, Panthers and Flames done until Christmas
The NHL has multiple rosters’ worth of players in COVID protocols, with the number growing seemingly by the hour. The obvious thing to do, the thing that we would have expected in the era of “an abundance of caution” (remember that?) would be for the league to shut things down for a couple of weeks,...

Here’s a dumb baseball argument
Before we get into this at all, it has to be stated that Dan Szymborski, and his ZiPS computer projections, have changed the way most people watch and evaluate baseball. They are revolutionary, so to call him to the mat isn’t really fair. It’s what ESPN asked, he did his job. But this latest piece, ...

Phillip Adams suffered from CTE and desperately sought help from the NFL before shooting spree
A recent autopsy from Boston University revealed that ex-NFLer Phillip Adams, who shot six people to death before killing himself in April, had an unusually severe form of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, better known as CTE, at the time of his death. A degenerative brain disease caused by repeated...

You’re a fool if you think Belichick doesn’t trust Mac Jones
Monday night, we saw a familiar outcome in the NFL: the New England Patriots beating the Buffalo Bills. Despite horrid weather conditions and having to play on the road, the Patriots continued their dominant play as of late, thus lengthening their lead in the AFC East and doing so while having their...

Michael Wacha now playing at the park that saw his star-turn, twice
Michael Wacha is trending toward journeyman status as the starting pitcher is now on his fourth team in as many seasons, inking a one-year deal with the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. The interesting aspect isn’t his effect on Boston’s starting rotation, but rather that he’s playing in the park where h...

Don’t pull a muscle patting the Rays on the back
There’s obviously been a rush in the aftermath of the Tampa Bay Rays signing Wander Franco to a deal that could be worth as much as $223 million and keep him in Tampa for 12 years, according to reports. The 20-year-old star will get a serious upgrade on what he would have made the next three years w...

Enes Kanter's intentions are good — his execution is bad
The messenger is just as important as the message. And in the case of Enes Kanter, a very important message isn’t being listened to because the messenger would rather make impulsive noises....

LaMonte Wade Jr. got an MVP vote? Explain yourself
Come here. Sit down. Let’s have a talk. I’m not angry, just disappointed....

Is Enes Kanter being punished?
Ime Udoka’s rookie season as head coach of the Boston Celtics hasn’t been a smooth one. A couple of weeks ago, one of his role players felt the need to publicly call out the team’s stars following a bad 128-114 loss to the Chicago Bulls. Now Udoka finds himself the focal point of a Twitter rant comp...

The Rays keep on winning due to their financial situation, not despite it
The most fascinating aspect about the Tampa Bay Rays competing and winning in the AL East — Kevin Cash repeated as AL manager of the year, and Randy Arozarena took home rookie of the year honors this week — is how they do it not despite their financial shortfalls but almost with the help of them....

Cam Newton was present on the field Sunday, but Panthers need the 'old Cam' back to lead them
It has been all smiles in Charlotte since Cam Newton signed with the team that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2011. Last week, the Carolina Panthers went on the road and defeated the Arizona Cardinals — who were playing without two of their best, Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins — who have the best re...