Could fans soon be included, and even ask questions, in media sessions with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel?
Could fans soon be included, and even ask questions, in media sessions with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel?John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
Picked-up pieces while wondering why the head of the Tom Brady statue is so small . . .
⋅ How much would you pay to hang out with real sports reporters after a Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins or Celtics game?
Maybe we’ll soon find out. Boston’s teams seem to be missing out on a great opportunity for a new revenue stream.
This came to my attention this past week when the Associated Press reported that the Oklahoma Sooners football program is selling a “fan experience package” that includes access to postgame media interviews. For a mere $692.11, two Sooner fans can hang with handsome media types and observe Nixonian-level stonewalling as reporters try to uncover secrets of Cover-2 defenses and lower-body injuries.
Yikes. Hard to believe it’s come to this, but in the new world order of transfer portals and NIL money, big-time college programs are looking for new ways to generate cash.
Selling “Sooner Magic Memories,” Oklahoma’s ad reads, “Get exclusive postgame media access for you and one guest and see where real-time reactions unfold. Hear OU coaches and players address reporters moments after the final whistle.”
Unbelievable. For decades, I’ve been telling folks that the postgame interview process is just about the worst part of our cool job, and now the Sooners are dangling reporters’ workplace space like it’s a dinner for two with Taylor Swift, or a cameo in Martin Scorsese’s next film.
It got me to thinking about all those moments fans could have shared with us after big-time Boston games through the years.
Imagine. You could have been there when Patriots coach Bill Parcells didn’t like somebody’s question and snapped, “You know what? You’re a jerk.”
It certainly would have been the thrill of a lifetime to be in the interview room when Rick Pitino said, “The negativity in this town sucks. Larry Bird’s not walking through that door, fans.”
For a nominal fee you could have hung with the Globe’s Gordon Edes back in 2000, when Edes approached Carl Everett and the combustible Red Sox outfielder snapped, “Everybody from the Globe, get the [expletive] away from me. And that goes for your curly-haired boyfriend, too!”
Inquisitive fans willing to donate dollars can finally get a sense of what the athletes and coaches think of us.
Imagine being on the scene back in the 1960s, when Red Sox manager Pinky Higgins shoved Bud Collins’s face into a plate of beef stroganoff, or being in the Orioles’ clubhouse when first baseman Lee May dunked me into the whirlpool after they clinched the American League East, or watching Jim Rice rip the shirt off Hartford’s Steve Fainaru, or seeing Roger Clemens tossing hamburger buns at the Herald’s George Kimball.
Tender moments, one and all. A bargain at any price.
There’s nothing in Oklahoma’s ad indicating that fans will be allowed to ask questions in the media sessions, but what’s to stop a lubed-up Sooners fan from hollering, “Why didn’t you use more play-action?”
In this spirit, how much would a rabid Patriots fan have paid to stand in the back of the media room at Gillette during one of Bill Belichick’s skull-imploding postgamers and blurt, “Why didn’t you play Malcolm Butler in the Super Bowl against the Eagles?”
Revenue-stream possibilities for the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, and Celtics are infinite. It could be the ultimate fan experience. And surge pricing is on the table. The Sooners are fetching $692.11 for their Sept. 6 home game with Michigan, but only $576.86 for the Sept. 20 game against Auburn.
You could buy your way into a Joe Mazzulla vs. Gary Washburn postgame staredown and ask, “Joe, what’s up with all the 3-pointers?“
Pay cash to crash the Red Sox room and ask Alex Cora, “Why couldn’t Aroldis Chapman pitch Sunday after only throwing three pitches on Saturday?”
Take a crack at Cam Neely and ask, “What do you really think of Felger and Mazz?”
Or stand side-by-side with the hard-hitting, Channel 4 “All-Access” gang at Gillette and put Mike Vrabel on the spot with something like, “How great were those preseason wins over the Commanders and Vikings?”
Move over, Rochie and Gasper. You too, Zo. Teams have sold everything else and pretty soon fans will be coming for our cherished access and free food.
Oh, the humanity!
⋅ Quiz: 1. Name nine Red Sox who have won at least one batting title since Ted Williams retired in 1960; 2. Name five tight ends elected to the NFL’s 100th anniversary All-Time Team, as voted on in 2019 (answers below).
⋅ Shots Fired Dept.: You know the hatred is real when Belichick is asked about the North Carolina football experience and tells the Globe’s Ben Volin, “There’s no owner, there’s no owner’s son . . . ”
⋅ So many questions, so little time: Is Efton Chism III related to Thurston Howell III?; At what point, precisely, did the curveball turn into a “sweeper”?; Anybody else reminded of Neely when Vrabel takes questions at the podium?
⋅ One of Bill Chisholm’s new Celtics co-owners who’ll serve on the team’s managing board is Newton native Andrew Bialecki, who was a three-time Globe All-Scholastic tennis player and state doubles champ with Ross Lohr for Newton North in 2003. Bialecki graduated from Harvard and is co-founder and CEO of Boston-based marketing automation company Klaviyo.
Andrew Bialecki is a new co-owner of the Celtics — and a former Globe All-Scholastic.
Andrew Bialecki is a new co-owner of the Celtics — and a former Globe All-Scholastic.Boston Globe
⋅ The Hendersons Will Dance and Sing Dept.: Mark Henderson. Gerald Henderson. Dave Henderson. And now Patriots rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson. What is it about this last name and Boston sports? It all started late in a scoreless Patriots-Dolphins game, played in a snowstorm in Foxborough in 1982, when work release prisoner Mark Henderson was recruited by Patriots coach Ron Meyer to roll his John Deere onto the field to clear snow for a 33-yard field goal attempt by John Smith. Don Shula never quite recovered and took out his wrath on the Patriots until his dying day. In 1984, Celtics guard Gerald Henderson stole James Worthy’s lazy, crosscourt pass at the Old Garden, which proved to be the critical play in Bird’s only championship won at the expense of Magic Johnson. In 1986, outfielder Dave Henderson homered off Angels reliever Donnie Moore to keep the Red Sox alive and ultimately propel them into the World Series. Now we have New England’s electric rookie running back from Ohio State, who scored touchdowns in each of the Patriots’ first two preseason games.
Dave Henderson has a special place in Boston sports history.
Dave Henderson has a special place in Boston sports history.Tlumacki, John Globe Staff
⋅ Yes, Rafael Devers has tanked in San Francisco so far, and yes, the Giants have played worse since he got there. But the revisionist history and demonization of Devers is over the top. When Devers was traded, the Red Sox were 37-36, and since then they are 32-23 (going into Friday’s action). Swell. But when they dealt Devers, he was leading the team in virtually every offensive category. On the night of the trade, Devers ranked second in the AL in RBIs (58 in 73 games) and sixth in home runs with 15. He had a .401 on-base percentage and a .905 OPS. Fans might be better off suggesting that it was the arrival of Roman Anthony that turned the Sox’ season around. Boston was 32-35 when Anthony got here, 37-24 since.
Rafael Devers has disappointed in San Francisco, but he shouldn't be blamed for all the Red Sox' woes before he was traded.
Rafael Devers has disappointed in San Francisco, but he shouldn't be blamed for all the Red Sox' woes before he was traded.Godofredo A. Vásquez/Associated Press
Here’s Mike Yastrzemski on Devers (his teammate in San Francisco before Yastrzemski was trade to the Royals): “He was the best, man. Awesome teammate . . . I think he just got thrown into a weird circumstance . . . He works his tail off. He tries to help everybody. If you’re facing a guy that he’s faced and you haven’t faced him, full scouting report. He’s really smart and he cares about winning so much. So I don’t understand where all this came from.”
Devers misbehaved in Boston at the end. He should have done what the team asked him to do. But he hardly “poisoned” the clubhouse. The Sox hated the contract more than they hated the player. Devers’s bad behavior allowed the Sox to get fan support for a blatant salary dump.
⋅ Meanwhile, what are the Sox going to do with righthanded reliever Jordan Hicks, who was unloaded on Boston in the Devers deal? Hicks appears cursed by his top weapon. He regularly clocks 100 miles per hour on the gun, and in 2018 threw a pitch 105.8 m.p.h. (tied with Chapman for fastest of the Statcast era), but he is a pure thrower, not a pitcher. Even the vaunted Andrew Bailey can’t seem to harness Hicks’s golden arm. In a weird way, Hicks reminds me of Darryl Dawkins, a physical freak who had one of the great all-time NBA bodies but routinely disappointed on the court. Better known for shattering backboards than winning championships, Dawkins played 14 NBA seasons and died at the age of 58 in 2015.
Will the Red Sox be able to harness Jordan Hicks's golden arm?
Will the Red Sox be able to harness Jordan Hicks's golden arm?Heather Diehl/For The Boston Globe
⋅ Kudos to WEEI and NESN for raising a record $5.7 million Monday and Tuesday in their annual Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon.
⋅ The Knicks, Lakers, Warriors, and Thunder each have 34 national TV games this season. The Celtics have 25, and will not play on Christmas Day.
⋅ The Lakers will unveil a Pat Riley statue outside their home arena when the Celtics are in Los Angeles Feb. 22. Riley will join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, and Kobe Bryant in LA’s bronze pantheon.
⋅ On Jason and Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, Swift joked, “I think we all know that if there’s one thing that male sports fans want to see in their spaces and on their screens, it’s more of me.”
⋅ If the Connecticut Sun move to Hartford, will they become the Hartford Actuaries?
⋅ Yogi Berra’s granddaughter, Lindsey, is behind the “Yogi’s Big Catch Challenge,” an effort to get in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest game of catch ever recorded. It’ll be held Sept. 21 at Yogi Berra Stadium on the campus of Montclair State University in New Jersey.
⋅ According to the Gardner News’s Jay Gearan, Lunenburg’s Tony and Elaine Falcone, both 82 and married for 59 years, made holes-in-one in the same round at the Templewood Golf Course Aug. 11. Tony made his on the par-3, 115-yard fourth hole, then watched Elaine ace the par-3, 120-yard 14th hole. Yes, there were witnesses.
⋅ Cash-strapped FIFA is looking for volunteers for Boston World Cup 2026. Those interested can apply at fifaworldcup.com/volunteers. If you qualify as an interpreter, you could be the one to break the bad news when a competitor gets disqualified for failing a drug test.
⋅ Shout out to Paul Harrington, who will be honored at Grafton High School Sunday at 11 a.m. Harrington is a Jamaica Plain native who started the BABL adult baseball league that has 25 teams playing 26 games per season, all around the Route 128 belt.
⋅ Anagram of the week: Ably overbold = Bloody Vrabel.
⋅ Quiz answers: 1. Pete Runnels (1960, ’62), Carl Yastrzemski (1963, ’67, ’68), Fred Lynn (1979), Carney Lansford (1981), Wade Boggs (1983, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88), Nomar Garciaparra (1999, 2000), Manny Ramirez (2002), Bill Mueller (2003), Mookie Betts (2018); 2. Mike Ditka, John Mackey, Kellen Winslow, Tony Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.