Anatomy of an Uncreative Column

Bruins lose game one to the Blackhawks in triple OT.

Conversation in the Globe sports department:

Joe Sullivan: Hey Dan, did you know that 23 years ago, when the Bruins played the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Finals, they lost the first game in triple OT?  They never recovered and went on to lose the series.

Dan Shaughnessy: Wow. I had no idea. That’s my column. I’ll just pad an extra 900 words onto it, the Globe can run headlines like Bruins’ loss evokes memories of 1990 and Drawn-out loss drags us back to 1990.  Phew, I thought I was going to have to write something about a Boston team not opening a championship series in Chicago since 1918 when Babe Ruth beat the Cubs.

Sullivan: Great. That would be really brave of you to bring up such a sore topic. It’s so timely, too. Hey, let’s play this up big on that Twitter thing! The web geeks can make a Tweet about it from the @BostonGlobe account.

Shaughnessy: Make sure they include the word “devastating.” Then I’ll even retweet it. Or rather, you can tell whomever runs my account do it. Is it Silva still?

Sullivan: Wow, Dan, that’s great. Tell you what, I’ll retweet your retweet of the tweet about about your column. I’ll be the only person on the entire planet to do it. This is gonna be huge.

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Patriots to add talk format to preseason TV booth – Chad Finn reports that the preseason duo of Don Criqui and Randy Cross is no longer. Instead, the plan is to go non-traditional and have a “host” (probably Dan Roche) and an analyst (Christian Fauria) along with another former Patriots player on the team sideline.

Rather than doing play-by-play, it will be more of a discussion. This should be an improvement, especially during the second half of games when many of the participants on the field are not likely to be big contributors, or even make the team. It’s an idea I think that has been considered by other networks as they question the traditional setup of play-by-play and analyst in the booth, but the Patriots are the first to do it.

I think it’s safe to say though, that the broadcast team will still wear Patriots polo shirts, which has been an annual topic of rage among certain columnists in town.

Bruins, Blackhawks goalies on two paths to greatness – Bill Doyle has thoughts from Eddie Olczyk on the two goaltenders in the series, and thoughts from other NBC personnel on the series.

A few other links of note:

Clippers, Doc Rivers show mutual interest – Baxter Holmes has the Celtics coach reportedly interested in the potential of the LA Clippers, and of leaving the Celtics to coach them.

I have to think that if things have gotten to this stage, it’s going to be very hard for Rivers to come back here and coach this team, no matter what it looks like. It’s fair to say I’m disappointed in Doc, but it’s also his life and happiness, and if he doesn’t think he’d be satisfied working through a rebuild here, then it’s probably best for all to move on. (Aside: Vinnie Del Negro? Ugh.)

Coming of (young) age: Understanding Xander Bogaerts’ superstar potential – Alex Speier has a look at the youngest player in Triple A and how the Red Sox are managing his progress through the system.

All Hail The Hoodie – Peter Richmond isn’t a fan of the Patriots (He’s loyal to the Giants) but the Sports on Earth writer can’t imagine the NFL without Bill Belichick, whom he does root for.