A is for Andy Dalton. The Red Rocket threw for 366 yards and 4 touchdown passes as the Cincinnati Bengals routed the Minnesota Vikings 42-14 today. The win clinched a playoff berth for Cincinnati and marked the first time in Bengals history that they've clinched a playoff berth in three consecutive seasons.
B is for Bowl Games. The Bowl Season kicked off on Saturday with four games. Colorado State scored 18 unanswered points in the final 3 minutes of the Gildan New Mexico Bowl as the Rams rallied to shock Washington State 48-45. Sophomore running back Kapri Bibbs ran for 169 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win, while Washington State's Connor Halliday threw for 410 yards and 6 touchdown passes in a losing effort... 25th ranked USC jumped out to a 35-6 halftime lead over Fresno State and cruised to a 45-20 win in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl. Quarterback Cody Kessler threw for 344 yards and 4 scores to lead the Trojans... The San Diego State Aztecs routed Buffalo 49-24 behind 229 yards and 3 touchdowns from junior running back Adam Muema in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl... Finally, in an interstate showdown at the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, a missed 48 yard field goal with 9 seconds left allowed the University of Louisiana-Lafayette to hang on for a 24-21 win over Tulane. Tulane Senior running back Orleans Darkwa tied a career high with 3 rushing touchdowns in a losing effort.
Photo Credit: http://campusinsiders.com
C is for Champions League Draw. The Champions League draw for the Round of 16 is set with some big-time match-ups now on the slate. Here's a rundown of the eight pairings: Manchester City (England) vs Barcelona (Spain), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) vs Paris Saint-Germain (France), AC Milan (Italy) vs Atletico Madrid (Spain), Arsenal (England) vs Bayern Munich (Germany), Zenit St Petersburg (Russia) vs Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Galatasaray (Turkey) vs Chelsea (England), Olympiakos (Greece) vs Manchester United (England), and Schalke 04 (Germany) vs Real Madrid (Spain). Some of the highlights involve Didier Drogba (Galatasaray) taking on his former club Chelsea and German star Mesut Özil (Arsenal) getting matched up with the German Champions Bayern Munich. Bayern Munich knocked out Arsenal in the first round of last year's tournament en route to the title.
The recent birth of my first child, Lily, has gotten me thinking the important questions that fathers think: when can we start practice (age)? What sports should she play (or should I force her to play!)? Right-handed, left-handed, or ambidextrous? I did a little bit of google searching and found that of the top 10 highest paid female athletes, five play tennis, three play golf, one is a race car driver, and one is a figure skater. I want to go with tennis or golf, especially since I prefer her NOT to be a "go-daddy-girl". I'm not suggesting that I intend to exploit her, but hey, I love her, and I also love sports. I'll ease off the pressure when she gets a brother! - Big Daddy, Parts Unknown
First off, congratulations on the birth of your first child, that's awesome. Now, as far as her future in sports goes... I think when you start her depends on what's available to you guys. You can get kids involved in swimming lessons pretty early, some gymnastics programs start really young, and I know they make ice skates for little kids... Beyond that, unless you're in China or the former Soviet Union you can probably hold off on really pushing sports until they're in school. I mean by all means expose them to stuff when they're little; baseball glove, golf clubs, basketball, soccer ball, tennis racket, etc. But you're probably wasting your time trying to coach the intricacies of a 3-2 zone to a 4 year old.
Photo Credit: soccer-answers.com
Anyhow, once they're in school I think you let get them into everything: t-ball, soccer, tennis lessons, swim team... Let them play and participate in as much as possible and figure out what they like to do and what they're good at. And most importantly, make sure she's having fun. You can live vicariously through her all you want, but she needs to be doing what she enjoys, and not just what you want her to enjoy.
As far as left-handed/right-handed goes, I think baseball's really the only sport that truly favors left-handers. So unless lefty relievers become all the rage in softball someday, I'd say go with whatever's natural. However, if she does end up leaning towards a sport like soccer or basketball, I'd say get her using that off-hand or off-foot early, because that'll pay big dividends down the road.
Ultimately, as long as you have her active and involved, you never know what doors will open up. One of my sisters played soccer all through high school, and then went on to become a Second-Team All American rugby player in college with two National Championships. True story.
Which sport/sports produce the BEST athletes? - Garrett M., Boston, MA
Hahah, oh good an easy one... I don't know that I can narrow this down to just one without opening myself up to a substantial amount of criticism, but I'll give you three that it would be worth having a debate on.
Basketball Players - Ok, so I ruled out baseball because of two words: David Wells. I ruled out hockey because just because you're amazing on skates doesn't mean you can do anything without them. Soccer players are tempting to put on here, but ultimately it's more a finesse game than a power game. I played 4 years of college soccer and never once lifted a weight. So it comes down to basketball and football. I'll grant that football requires a toughness that basketball doesn't, but when it comes down to pure athleticism, I give basketball the edge over football. A lot of that has to do with the emergence of the new-age tight end. Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham were all basically basketball washouts. Big, fast, strong, good hands, good footwork, great leapers... Nobody in football can cover these guys and they've changed the way the game is played. You've got these guys on the defensive side of the ball as well. Think Julius Peppers, formerly a basketball player at North Carolina. When you consider that there are bigger, faster, stronger players in the NBA who jump higher and are more athletically gifted than the guys who made it in the NFL (i.e. LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose etc.), I think you have to give the edge to basketball players.
Photo Credit: zimbio.com
Water Polo Players - Treading water is not easy. Now add in treading water while fighting off other swimmers while running basketball plays in a pool without drowning.
Photo Credit: zimbio.com
Wrestlers/Boxers/Ultimate Fighters - If you have never sparred with anybody for a 3 minute round, you have no idea how physically demanding these sports are.
Photo Credit: findfreegraphics.com
In the pros, when can a player enter the key during a free throw... I thought I knew the rule... - Garrett M., Boston, MA
Photo Credit: findfreegraphics.com
Ok, as far as I can tell here's the rule: "When a player attempts a free throw, none of the players lined up along
the free throw lane may enter the lane until the ball leaves the
shooter's hands. If a defensive player jumps into the lane early, the
shooter receives another shot if his shot misses. An offensive player
entering the lane too early nullifies the shot if it is made." So I don't know what we've got going on in the picture above. Those dudes are like halfway into the lane and the ball hasn't left the shooter's hands yet.
The Saints have yet to sign Drew Brees to a long term deal. What kind of numbers is it gonna take to make sure he doesn't test the free agency waters? - Cory L., Raceland, LA
Photo Credit: whodatdish.com
Bottom line? It sounds like it's going to take Peyton Manning-esque dollar figures to make this deal happen. From what I've heard, the two sides are about $5M apart with the Saints coming in at $18M/year with Brees looking to be in the ballpark of the $23M/year that Manning signed for. Now, throwing out the debate of whether or not ANY athlete deserves that kind of money, it's hard to justify not paying Brees. When you look at what he's done for the Saints franchise and the New Orleans community following Hurricane Katrina, and you see how his numbers stack up with his peers (his 28,394 passing yards since joining New Orleans in 2006 are the most in the NFL), how can you say he doesn't deserve to be among the highest paid players at his position? And now that the Saints were unable to reach a deal with Brees and were forced to franchise him they risk losing Marques Colston and Pro Bowl guard Carl Nicks to free agency. Add in Bounty-Gate and the Saints are not having a very good offseason so far.
Klinsmann seems to pick a lot of guys that play in the Bundesliga. Is that just his personal preference because he himself is German? Or is that just where the majority of Americans are playing overseas? - Cory L., Raceland, LA
Photo Credit: shop.sportsworldcards.com
I think it's a combination of things. Part of it is the fact that he's German, and because of that he has a lot of connections in Germany and I would imagine his scouting network over there is very extensive. As a result he's able to get detailed reports on these guys which he might not have access to for say Bryan Gerzicich over in Israel. But there's also a number of American field players (i.e. not just goalies) playing in Germany and playing very well: Timmy Chandler, Steve Cherundolo, Jermaine Jones, Terrence Boyd, Joe Gyau, Fabian Johnson, Danny Williams, Alfredo Morales... If you look around the other top European leagues we don't have an abundance of position players in any of them. Dempsey's the only superstar field player in the Premier League although Zak Whitbread and Tim Ream are worth mentioning, Bradley's the only name that comes to mind in Italy, there's no one in Spain, Altidore's the only one in the Netherlands and Charlie Davies is the biggest name in France. Then you start getting into your next tier of leagues (Scotland, Portugal, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, etc) where we have a little more of a presence. So while I'm sure Klinsmann's German heritage is part of it, as far as Europe's top leagues go, Germany is also where the bulk of our boys are.
We're entering the final stretch of the EPL season. Can Man U. catch Man City? - Cory L., Raceland, LA
Photo Credit: fanpop.com
Yes, City is only 2 points clear with 11 games to go so the title is far from being decided. Let's take a closer look at both club's schedules the rest of the way though:
As long as things stay the way they are, the season could come down to that April 30th derby. United needs to keep winning though because if they fall any farther behind they're in real trouble.
Chelsea just fired their manager(shocker, I know). Who do you see them going after to replace him and can all this manager- swapping possibly be good for a team that's supposed to be competing for titles every year? - Cory L., Raceland, LA
The firing of Andre Villas-Boas means that Chelsea is looking at their 8th manager in 9 years. Russian owner Roman Abramovich has made it clear that the Champions League is his top priority and he wants someone who can deliver success immediately. As far as who that might be? It's hard to say. Abramovich's quick hook with his past managers can't make him an ideal guy to work for so it'll be interesting to see who's up for the challenge of both bringing Chelsea back to prominence and dealing with the erratic Russian. In the meantime assistant coach Roberto Di Matteo, a former Chelsea player and West
Bromwich Albion manager, will take charge of the Blues until the end of
the season.
Photo Credit: dailymail.co.uk
That concludes this week's mailbag. As always a special thanks to those of you who wrote in. Couldn't have done it without your questions. Got a question for
the mailbag? Email us at smittysports.blogspot@hotmail.com.
Back with another issue of the Monday Mailbag where you guys, the readers,
get to ask the questions. So without further ado:
With Clint Dempsey’s outstanding form as of late and the
emergence of Brek Shea as a possible playmaker on the wing, do you see Jurgen
Klinsmann maybe utilizing Dempsey in a striker role when World Cup Qualifying
rolls around? Assuming of course that everything remains as it is. - Cory L., Raceland, LA
Photo Credit: dallastexans.com
A lot of Dempsey's role will be determined by what formation Klinsmann ends up using. So far we've seen him use a hybrid 4-3-3/4-5-1 setup with a lone central striker and the wing midfielders pushed heavily into the attack, as well as a more traditional 4-4-2. Dempsey's high work rate and ability to wreak havoc all over the field would seem to make him an ideal fit for one of the wings in a 4-3-3 opposite Landon Donovan while one of the more traditional strikers we have - Buddle, Altidore, Agudelo, Bunbury, Wondolowski, etc. - would be able to fill that high striker role. In a 4-4-2 however, I think Dempsey's a good fit for that second striker playing slightly behind whoever he's paired up with, almost as an attacking midfielder. Either way, we'll have him in an attacking position.
As for Brek Shea, there's no questioning his talent, but his biggest contribution to the National Team so far came as a substitute when he picked up an assist against Mexico. He's still only 21 with just 11 career appearances so he's got a lot of room to grow, but for right now his versatility and high energy would seem to make him a more ideal bench player for World Cup Qualifying in my opinion. A lot can change between now and then though so it's certainly something to keep an eye on.
How important is it that Tim Ream get himself as much time
as possible at Bolton to help shore up the problems the USMNT have on defense? - Cory L., Raceland, LA
Photo Credit: empireofsoccer.com
Any time a player goes to Europe, it's always a gamble. We've seen guys go over there are really break out and make a name for themselves like Clint Dempsey and Ream's Bolton teammate Stuart Holden, and we've seen guys go over there and kind of disappear like Freddy Adu. So obviously, as a U.S. fan, you want to see Ream get playing time. But to impact the National Team, he's going to have to do more than just see the field, he's going to have to get a lot better. Ream did not play well against Spain during the lead-in match to last summer's Gold Cup, and his ensuing performance in that tournament got him benched after two games. While it's true the back line is probably one of our most glaring weakness (although you could also make a pretty good case that it's our front line that's the problem), Ream right now is probably behind guys like Geoff Cameron, Michael Parkhurst, Zak Whitbread, Clarence Goodson, Eric Lichaj... So before we start worrying about Ream solving the USA's defensive problems, what we should really be more concerned about is Ream getting his confidence back and getting better. And playing in the English Premier League is certainly a great opportunity for him to improve his game.
To say that the USWNT are on a roll in Olympic Qualifying
would kinda be an understatement. Are they really that good? Or have the teams
we’ve been playing that bad? - Cory L., Raceland, LA
Photo Credit: washingtonpost.com
I think you can make a strong case that it's been a combination of both our women playing in top form, and their opponents not being very good. The Dominican Republic was outscored 27-0 in the Olympic Qualifying tournament including a 6-0 loss to Guatemala, a team that lost to Mexico 5-0. Guatemala and the Dominican Republic are ranked 85th and 88th in the world respectively which is not good at all. Then you have Costa Rica who, while ranked 41st in the world, has never qualified for a World Cup. And finally Mexico and Canada both failed to win a match at the last World Cup
combining for a record of 0-4-2 with neither side advancing out of the
first round. So it's not like we're mopping up the Swedens and the Japans and the Germanys and the Brazils... Those are the real tests. While it's good to see the U.S. Women take care of business like they were supposed to, and a +38 goal differential over 5 games is ridiculously good, I don't think you can read into this performance too much. Other than being able to determine that the Dominican Republic is not very good right now.
The USMNT are set to play Italy in a friendly here very
soon. What would a good showing, and by good showing I mean at the least a tie,
if not a win, say to the rest of the world about this team and its coach? - Cory L., Raceland, LA
Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com
Generally speaking when the international game is concerned, you want to draw on the road, and win when you're at home. But more important than the result in these friendly matches is how the team plays. If we go into Italy, get outshot 100-0 and win 1-0 thanks to an own goal, while it's a win, it doesn't really show progress, and it certainly doesn't show that we can hang with the top clubs in the world. The other factor that we'll have to consider when evaluating is who plays in the match. Beating Italy's 'B' side with our 'A' side isn't going to carry as much weight as if we were to go toe-to-toe with their first team. Ultimately, you can't ever put too much weight on a friendly match, but a strong showing should help our momentum as we get ready for World Cup Qualifying this summer.
Alex
Smith... I think he proved that he can play and win and not turn the ball over
and be pretty consistent (all good qualities of a QB), but when it comes down
to it, if you had one chance to make an 80-yard drive at the end of the game to
win, I wouldn't pick him if given the choice. Do you agree and if so, do you
cut your losses or do you become a clone of the Ravens with a great defense and
just enough offense to get stopped short in the conference championship? - Garrett M., Boston, MA
Photo Credit: washingtonpost.com
I can only think of one scenario where Alex Smith isn't the starting quarterback in San Francisco next season, and that's if a HEALTHY(strong emphasis on healthy) Peyton Manning was available. Otherwise, let's look at the facts:
*During the regular season, only 8 quarterbacks posted a higher QB Rating than Alex Smith's 90.7.
*36 quarterbacks threw more interceptions than he did during the regular season.
*Smith threw 5 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in the 49ers two postseason games.
*If not for two fumbled punt returns, the 49ers would probably be 15-3 and in the Super Bowl right now.
So I think to answer your question, you continue to do what's working for you. Smith is serviceable and he's cheap compared to what some quarterbacks are going for these days. The 49er defense is sensational, they can run the ball well, and they have a Pro Bowl caliber tight end in Vernon Davis. If they can get upgrades over Delanie Walker, Ted Ginn Jr., and Josh Morgan at wide receiver that can only help. If you consider that Smith made it farther in the postseason than Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees, I don't think you have a need to change directions.
Can
you weigh in on the breaking up of the big 3 here in Boston? Ray Allen would be
an awesome 6th man and could definitely pull some trade value closer to the
trade deadline. Garnett and Pierce are tougher pieces though... do you keep one
or both? Does a young team like the pacers or trailblazers or T-wolves make
sense? - Garrett M., Boston, MA
Photo Credit: boston.sportsthenandnow.com
Watching the Celtics this year, it seems pretty evident that their championship window is pretty much closed with the group of players they have now. And while trading them makes sense, it's not going to be easy to move those contracts. Garnett is owed $21.2M this season, Allen $10M and Pierce $15.3M. Pierce is under contract for another two years so I think he's the least likely to get moved. And barring some crazy ridiculous 9-team deal with all sorts of bad contracts involved, I think Garnett's stuck, so that leaves Allen as the only one who it seems might get moved, and even that's not going to be easy. You said it yourself, Allen would be an awesome 6th man. How much does an awesome sixth man fetch on the open market these days? Lamar Odom, for example, got traded for a non-lottery first round pick and a trade exception... We'll see what happens. There's already been a lot of injuries this season, and that could force a team to be a lot more willing to make a deal that Boston would be willing to pull the trigger on.
What happened to Phil Mickelson on Thursday?? - The Dude, Chesapeake, VA
Photo Credit:dogschasingcars.com
I suppose it's a little strange when Mickelson shoots 15 shots worse than Kyle Stanley in a round of golf. The 77 was his worst round since shooting a 77 in the third round at last year's U.S. Open. I'd chalk it up to just having a bad day. Golf can be pretty unforgiving sometimes. He bounced back the second day on the tourney and shot a 4 under 68 so it doesn't seem like it's a permanent problem.
What
events belong on "sports" networks? I suppose everyone deserves their
15 minutes, but sometimes I find myself asking what is ESPN thinking? So...what
is ESPN thinking? Here's my list:
Bowling
American Kennel Club Dog Show
Cross-Fit
A marathon
Poker
Fishing
Hunting
Body building
Monster truck rallies
World's Strongest Man (awesome, but not a sport; give it to Spike or FX; it can
precede UFC fights)
Spelling Bee
Cup stacking
Billiards
Scrabble tournaments
Checkers
Chess
Sailing
Cheerleading
Dominos
Dancing
Competitive eating, specifically hot dog contests (and how do I sign up?)
Car shows
Darts
To
be fair, I considered the difference between a sport and activity, defining the
above as activities. This sports fan considers a real sport to be a competition
that takes both skill and athleticism, such as football, baseball, anything in
the olympics, tennis, and golf. It's only a matter of time before they start broadcasting
text message competitions, bird
watching, and fashion shows. - Ben K., Slidell, LA
That's quite a list. Ok, let's take them one at a time.
Bowling - Are there people that actually watch this instead of football on Sunday afternoons?
American Kennel Club Dog Show - I choose to not comment on this one for fear of what my wife might do to me.
Cross-Fit - Kind of like World's Strongest Man. Amazing athletes, but not primetime television. A marathon - Watching a marathon is like watching the Tour de France. It works in the Olympics because they can keep cutting away to other sports and then every 15 minutes or so, yep the fast guy from Kenya is still winning. But to sit and watch a whole marathon? Pass.
Poker - Not a sport. I don't care what you say.
Fishing - Outdoor Channel.
Hunting - See Fishing.
Body building - Until these competitions culminate with one of these guys having to catch or throw or kick a ball of some sort, I'm not interested. Get as jacked as you want, but if you aren't coordinated, it's pretty much worthless.
Monster truck rallies - Is Grave Digger still around? Does anyone know?
World's Strongest Man (awesome, but not a sport; give it to Spike or FX; it can
precede UFC fights) - See Cross-Fit. Do they have new episodes of this any more?
Spelling Bee - Maybe PBS. It is educational. Kind of.
Cup stacking - Is this related to plate spinning?
Billiards - I think if you can play it in a bar, it doesn't count as a sport. I wouldn't watch a beer pong tournament on ESPN either.
Scrabble tournaments - I saw a scrabble tournament on ESPN2 once. Those guys are all kinds of intense. Trash talking and everything.
Checkers - Really?
Chess - No.
Sailing - It's not really a spectator sport, is it?
Cheerleading - Gymnastics is a sport. Cheerleading is not a sport.
Dominos - See Checkers.
Dancing - We already have Dancing with the Stars on network television. We don't need it on ESPN.
Competitive eating, specifically hot dog contests (and how do I sign up?) - I'm ok with this being on once a year.
Car shows - I have trouble watching cars racing.
Darts - Mountain top!
Photo Credit: engadget.com
The simple answer is we really need ESPN 8 - The Ocho to be a real thing. That way you have a network that handles all of the non-sport "sports". Look, I'm not saying that the stuff listed above doesn't take skill, but I don't want to watch the spelling bee or checkers or poker on ESPN. Anyhow, in summary:
This is why darts is not a sport:
This is how chess could become acceptable on ESPN:
This is taking the Spelling Bee way too seriously:
What's up with boxing? Is it still around, or have the WWE and UFC round-house kicked it into a figure-four-leg-lock? I vaguely remember something about Pac-Man and Meriweather, but that didn't happen because one of them wants a blood test and the other has to chase a bunch of ghosts around a maze, right? - Ben K., Slidell, LA
Photo Credit: cnn.com
Didn't you watch Real Steel? The fight game has changed! It's all about robots fighting other robots now. Or will be soon. At least that's what Wolverine said... I don't really know what happened with boxing. It's probably a bad thing when I can name more fictional boxers from the Rocky series than I can name actual active real boxers. It's funny because they keep coming out with boxing movies, and they always seem to do pretty well - The Fighter, Cinderella Man, Million Dollar Baby etc. And maybe that's the problem. You watch Rocky and then you watch a real boxing match, and they just don't compare. You don't see guys take 200 punches to the head in a round and keep fighting back. But Hollywood has convinced us that you could. For boxing to truly make a comeback, they're either going to need someone that fans can really get behind, or they're going to need someone the fans can really root against. Kind of like the Miami Heat captivated the interest of casual basketball fans in the NBA (the Heat are the villain, not the team you get behind just so we're clear). Otherwise, people are just going to continue to not pay attention.
Drew Brees was recently selected as the most powerful athlete in the world by a collection of marketing agencies. What year do you think he'll become President? - Ben K., Slidell, LA
Photo Credit: http://pigskinlovinglady.com
The guy's already been King of Bacchus. Why would he want to demean himself by taking a lower position like "President of the United States".
Special thanks to all those
who wrote in this week. Got a question for the mailbag? Email us at
smittysports.blogspot@hotmail.com.
Shane Victorino - Major League Outfielder, 2003-Present
"The Pineapple Express"
Photo Credit: content.usatoday.com
Javier Hernandez - Professional Soccer Player, 2006-Present
"Chicharito"
Photo Credit: redmanchester.com
Joe DiMaggio - Major League Outfielder, 1936-1951
"The Yankee Clipper"
Photo Credit: redsoxvyankees.com
Bernard Hopkins - Professional Boxer, 1988-Present
"The Executioner"
Photo Credit: granthestonfitness.com
Marco Etcheverry - Professional Soccer Player, 1986-2004
"El Diablo"
Photo Credit: o10legionnaire.blogspot.com
Billy Johnson - NFL Wide Receiver, 1974-1988
"White Shoes"
Photo Credit: sikids.com
Ed Jones - NFL Defensive End, 1974-1989
"Too Tall"
Photo Credit: bleacherreport.com
Gilbert Arenas - NBA Guard, 2001-Present
"Agent Zero"
Photo Credit: everyjoe.com
Tim Duncan - NBA Forward, 1997-Present
"The Big Fundamental"
Photo Credit: futureramblings.wordpress.com
Sam Perkins - NBA Forward/Center, 1984-2001
"Big Smooth"
Photo Credit: ultimatenba.com
Kobe Bryant - NBA Guard, 1996-Present
"The Black Mamba"
Photo Credit: celebritiess.tk
Carnell Williams - NFL Running Back, 2005-Present
"Cadillac"
Photo Credit: fantasyknuckleheads.com
And from our readers:
Trajan Langdon - NBA Guard, 1999-2002
"The Alaskan Assassin"
Photo Credit: bleacherreport.com
Ryan Braun - Major League Outfielder, 2007-Present
"The Hebrew Hammer"
Photo Credit: fantasyknuckleheads.com
Marvin Webster - ABA/NBA Center, 1975-1987
"The Human Eraser"
Photo Credit: dipity.com
Charles Barkley - NBA Forward, 1984-2000
"The Round Mound of Rebound"
Photo Credit: archivosnba.com
Ted Williams - Major League Outfielder, 1939-1960
"The Splendid Splinter"
Photo Credit: boston.com
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