By David Scott
Boston Sports Media

6:04

• So it seems that Boba is a tapioca ball. I think I’m squirming with every swallow. The liquid is so good, but you gotta avoid tapioca balls, wouldn’t you think?
• Vermont coach, Tom Brennan was misused by CBS in its Jump Ball segment where he, Lorenzo Romar and Rick Barnes got 20 seconds each to answer various ball-related questions. Brennan needs to be given more time for his humor and insight to come across. The format didn’t allow for that. Hopefully Brennan will land at ESPN (as early as next season) and be groomed for the Dick Vitale seat.
• Let’s keep an eye on new hire, Fran McCaffery, at Siena (in the zany MAAC) for the next few seasons: he was a popular name for the UMass job, the last time it opened (and went to Lap Dog instead).
• Some great memories were rekindled with ESPN.com’s look back at their “launch” ten years ago. That was during the days of College Sports Magazine (Mag. No. 1, Shots helped put under) and for a few shekels, we were doing East notebooks for college hoops. Seeing that old red and yellow insiders’ ticket brought chills. The insider password they comped me for that gig worked for like eight full years. I always felt like it was the freelance assignment that kept on paying. Familiar names on some old front pages included: Adrian Wojnarowski and Nancy Marrapese (singular) in 1998; old Basketball Times friend, Art Spander (1996) and Bob Klapisch (1990). The evolution of the site (and the Web in general) is only shocking when you think how far they still have to go.
• There was no way Jim Calhoun (or his UConn handlers) could keep his Hall of Fame nod a secret for more than five minutes. This isn’t a bitter UMass thing, I swear, but that school will do anything to steal some of the spotlight whenever they can. Which probably means they’re good at their jobs. And just a little bit crass.
• Bonnie Bernstein gets me every time. Every. Time.
• Early prediction: Yankees 19, Sox, 18 in 86 innings, finishing up sometime next Saturday. Shaughnasty retires and decides to write a book on the Curse of Being the Pope. “You always die when you’re the Pope,” Danny Boy says at the retirement gathering held at McGurk’s in St. Louis (attended by three people). “Always is longer and more assured than 86 damn years.
• A great feature of the Lollicup tea (or coffee) drink is that they shrink wrap the top in this fancy gizmo and then provide a spear-shaped straw to stab at the plastic when you are ready to begin drinking. If you’re good, you get the sunflower smiley logo, right in the kisser.
• What? You don’t enjoy discovering new things?
• I think I’m looped on this Thai Iced tea thing. Stronger than Red Bull, I think. And Jack.
• Comcast’s Villanova retrospective that ran for a bit of the same time as CBS’s (Lesley Visser) ‘Nova look-back was far deeper and far better.

Bill Raftery’s voice over and narration didn’t hurt either. It was a pure Raf story to tell and Eddie Pinckney was outstanding during his interview snippets.
• We’re guessing Nephew Jake has full control of both the remote and the laptop for frequent blog updating at the Newton Shots Party. We’re further guessing Ricky Rochester has a salsa stain on his shirt.
• Dee Brown showed us how to mix oatmeal properly, something that we had been hoping he would do for quite some time now.
• Lou-do Henson is in the Ed Dome, and sadly, so is Billy Packer.