Here’s proof:
The Bruins are done for this season, but like many of you, I still keep an eye on the playoffs, and I watched the Canadiens beat the starving Sabres in overtime in Game 7 Monday.
Tuesday morning at 9, I got this email from a random Globe reader:
“Long live the Adams Division!!! Montreal, Quebec, and Hartford still alive! Sound the Brass Bonanza!”
That was it. Fifteen little words of sports gold. It’s next-level hockey shorthand that only Harry Sinden and a few folks at Sullivan’s Tap understand. It reminded me of long-ago days at Holy Cross when esteemed English professor Edward Callahan would spend an entire hour or two dissecting and interpreting a single paragraph of “Ulysses” or “Hamlet.”
In this spirit, here’s the meaning behind my Bruin Bard’s puckish phrase:
From 1974-93, the Bruins played in the Adams Division, part of the Prince of Wales Conference. From 1981-92, they played alongside the Sabres, Canadiens, Quebec Nordiques, and Hartford Whalers. Red Auerbach would mock the Bruins whenever they put Adams Division championship banners in the Garden rafters. Eventually, the Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche and the Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes. The fact that hockey’s 2026 Final Four features Carolina vs. Montreal (East) and Colorado vs. Vegas (West) means that three of the last teams standing are reps of a long-gone division that the Bruins once ruled. Amplifying his brief, celebratory message, my emailer ended his missive with a call for “Brass Bonanza” — the Whalers’ cheesy theme song, a particular favorite of late sportscaster Bob Neumeier, a former Hartford play-by-play guy.
That’s a lot of Hub hockey history in 15 words, don’t you think?
It’s different here. And better.
In 1986, when I was allowed to follow legend Peter Gammons as steward of the Globe’s Sunday Baseball Notes, one of my first columns referenced a critical play in the 1967 “Impossible Dream” season when Red Sox right fielder José Tartabull made a great throw home to erase a White Sox base runner, preserving a critical victory. I incorrectly stated that the runner was Duane Josephson, when in fact it was Ken Berry (Josephson struck the fly ball to right). There was no email in those days, but this mistake was greeted with a sack of angry mail demanding Gammons be returned to his sacred space.
Loved it. Still love it. It’s been almost 60 years, but if you sit at a local bar where old-timers gather and say “Tartabull’s Throw,“ many will know what you mean. In 2001, a man named Henry Garfield wrote a book titled “Tartabull’s Throw.” Pretty sure it was a local bestseller on a par with David McCullough’s “John Adams.”
Our sports shorthand is indelible. Nothing ever goes away around here.
Try these on for size: Margo Adams. “Mercy.” Zip Rzeppa. “Pumped and Jacked.” Jurassic Carl. Daisy Buchanan’s. Game-Day Sims. Tech Tourney. Jesus Saves. Buffalo Heads. “The Bouncing Buckeye from Ohio State.” Butch from the Cape. Winter Haven Elks.
It’s got a “We Didn’t Start the Fire” feel to it, no?
Many of you know exactly what I’m talking about without further explanation.
If not? Ask a local sports fan who’s maybe a little older than yourself.
Or just send me an e-mail.
⋅ Quiz: Twelve pitchers have won back-to-back Cy Young Awards. How many can you name? (answer below)
⋅ When are the Red Sox going to correct, clarify, or retract their statement about Jason Varitek being “reassigned”? The ex-captain/catcher’s wife, Catherine, posted this on X Monday: “They have the ‘smartest man in baseball’ running the show . . . they’ll be OK without Jason, that’s what they wanted. It’s what’s best for the team.” (Craig Breslow’s official Red Sox bio includes, “He was named ‘Smartest Man in Baseball’ by the Wall Street Journal in 2009.”)
⋅ Despite their poor start, roster malpractice, and fallout from dumping a manager and six coaches, the Red Sox face no consequences at the gate. According to statman Bill Chuck, coming into this weekend, the Sox have drawn 48,431 more fans to Fenway than last season and have the 10th-best home attendance in MLB. So good, so good, so good.
⋅ Why was Trevor Story playing every day if he had a sports hernia?
⋅ It’s alarming when Brayan Bello’s catcher, Carlos Narváez, tells us that Bello surrendering a three-run homer in the first inning of last Sunday’s 8-1 loss “took him out of the game mentally.” Totally unprofessional and unacceptable.
⋅ James Harden is the NBA’s “Cooler.” A coach-killer, team-killer, Harden was in the middle of the Cavaliers’ epic collapse against the Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals Tuesday. Blowing a 22-point lead in the final eight minutes of regulation, Harden finished with more turnovers (six) than baskets (five) and made 1 of 6 shots in the fourth quarter.
⋅ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has won the last two NBA MVPs. The only players to win three in a row are Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Larry Bird.
⋅ According to Action Network’s probe of Google search data, Boston has the lowest overall soccer IQ among 11 North American World Cup host cities. The study reveals that the most searched soccer questions coming out of Massachusetts are, “What is offsides?”, “How does the World Cup work?”, and “Why is it called ‘football’?” Color me not surprised. I’ll be in Foxborough June 23 for England-Ghana to answer all of your questions. Wonder if King Charles will sit with Prince Jonathan Kraft, who’s still waiting to be crowned king of the Patriots?
⋅ Billie Jean King is a national treasure. The 82-year-old champ who revolutionized sports for American women dropped out of college in 1961 to pursue a career in professional tennis. That worked out pretty well, but King was motivated to go back and finish school, and Monday she delivered the commencement speech at Cal State LA after receiving her degree.
⋅ Boston College honored former defensive end/linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka (’05) with an honorary doctorate Tuesday at The Heights. Kiwanuka played nine seasons with the Giants, winning two Super Bowl rings at the expense of the Patriots. His grandfather was the first prime minister of Uganda, and Mathias has worked with Smile Train in Uganda and built bridges in Kampala.
⋅ What do Bill Bradley, Larry Lucchino, and Pete Hegseth have in common? All played varsity basketball at Princeton. Like Lucchino, Hegseth was primarily a bench guy, but in March 2003, “Pistol Pete” drained a pair of threes to help the Tigers defeat Armond Hill’s Columbia squad, 44-40, at Jadwin Gym.
⋅ It never stops with Deion Sanders. The Clown Prince of Dads wants an audience with Browns coach Todd Monken to explain how Cleveland can get the most out of quarterback Shedeur Sanders. “That wasn’t asked of me a year ago,” Deion told “The Barbershop” podcast. “I don’t understand it. Don’t you think you would want to talk to me to ask what gets him going, and what backs him off?” Brutal.
⋅ Why we love the NHL: One day after Golden Knights bombastic coach John Tortorella stiffed the media after a series-clinching win over the Ducks, the league fined Torts $100,000 and docked Vegas a second-round pick in the upcoming draft. Boffo! Here’s a league that understands the benefits of media coverage and shows little tolerance for idiots who forget its importance. Count this typist as one constantly amazed by fans who applaud all forms of media restrictions and media-bashing. Thousands of Patriots fans enjoyed seeing their Hoodie coach routinely stonewall the press for 25 seasons. Swell. Got it. Everybody hates the media. But it always struck me that folks applauding “We’re on to Cincinnati” are usually the same ones craving information about their team and listening to sports radio 16 hours a day. Trust me, people, the Globe’s Christopher Price, Nicole Yang, and Ben Volin aren’t in that room asking about the long snapper because they truly care about the answer. They’re doing it because they presume you care.
⋅ Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy will be enshrined in the WooSox Hall of Fame this summer, along with the late Mark Fidrych, Worcester civic leader Gene Zabinski, and WooSox president Dr. Charles Steinberg.
⋅ RIP Roxbury legend Roscoe Baker, one of the founders of the Boston Shootout and the Boston Neighborhood Basketball League, and a trusted leader and role model to thousands of youngsters for more than a half-century.
⋅ The Boston Globe is accepting submissions for the 22nd annual Will McDonough sportswriting contest. The contest is free to enter and open to all students in grades 9–12 throughout New England. The submission deadline is May 27, and winners will be announced June 9. For details or to enter, go to globe.com/mcdonough. For more information, email McDonoughcontest@globe.com.
⋅ Quiz answer: Sandy Koufax (1965-66), Denny McLain (1968-69), Jim Palmer (1975-76), Roger Clemens (1986-87 and 1997-98), Greg Maddux (1992-95, four straight), Pedro Martinez (1999-2000), Randy Johnson (1999-2002, four straight), Tim Lincecum (2008-09), Clayton Kershaw (2013-14), Max Scherzer (2016-17), Jacob deGrom (2018-19), Tarik Skubal (2024-25).
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.
