27 little things I miss about Boston sports

Between covering how teams and leagues are handling the pandemic, the restart efforts, features and updates on athletes whose careers are at a standstill, flashbacks and remember-when stories, assorted news, and even some personal accounts that we hope are relatable, writing about sports in a time of limited to no sports has been pleasantly hectic.

But it hasn’t been quite enough to prevent me from noticing how much I miss actual games, the events, and so much that surrounds them in our city.

I miss …

▪ The entire Marcus Smart experience, especially when it’s all encapsulated in one sequence, such as hitting a no-no-yes 3-pointer, then stealing the inbounds pass and teeing up another three, because why not?

▪ Kemba Walker’s near-Kyrie-level quality of play, but especially the anti-Kyrie-level joy he finds in his teammates’ success. Kevin Garnett was the best Celtic I ever saw at cheering for his teammates in a blowout win. Kemba is second.

▪ Watching Tacko Fall’s teammates go out of their way to feed him the ball during garbage time.

▪ Watching dunkmaster Javonte Green turn into the 2000 Vince Carter of garbage time. The Celtics might have the most interesting garbage-time team of all-time, now that you mention it.

▪ Jayson Tatum making three impossibly skilled dribble moves, then using his plastic-man arms to get an and-one layup rather than settling for a step-back 15-footer.

▪ Mike Gorman intoning, “Takes it … makes it!” when a Celtic hits a big shot.

I miss …

▪ Jerry Remy and Dennis Eckersley’s banter in the NESN Red Sox booth, whether offering their hitter vs. pitcher perspectives or sharing a hazy, humorous anecdote from a road trip in 1979.

▪ Joe Castiglione telling us between pitches that the boneless chicken breast is just $1.77 a pound for a limited time at Shaw’s.

▪ Watching triples go to die in Jackie Bradley Jr.’s glove.

Boston Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. robs Baltimore Orioles’ Trey Mancini of a home run in the 11th inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 8, 2019, in Baltimore. The Red Sox won 2-1 in 12 innings. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

▪  Watching JBJ’s batting average shoot from .214 to .267 with one hellacious three-week hot streak.

▪ Marveling as Rafael Devers flicks a 97 m.p.h. fastball at the knees on a line into the right-center gap, then remembers as he reaches second base that he’s younger than Michael Chavis.

▪ Mookie Betts in the carmine of the Red Sox. Miss him in Dodger blue, too. You miss watching a player like that no matter where he is and what jersey he wears.

▪ Xander Bogaerts’s grace on the field — what a player he has become — and in how he handles himself.

I miss …

▪ Torey Krug weaving deftly out of the defensive zone, turning a fresh possession into a scoring chance before anyone but he sees it coming.

▪ Gregarious, gifted David Pastrnak flashing that perfect imperfect smile after scoring his daily goal or two, or even three.

▪ Zdeno Chara holding an opposing troublemaker with one arm and threatening to pummel the poor fool with the other, Big Z being the hockey definition of the long arm of the law.

▪ Brad Marchand’s scoring, chirping, and agitating (but he’s matured beyond licking – we think).

I miss …

▪ Guessing at what point Robert and Jonathan Kraft will first be shown and lauded on a CBS broadcast of a Patriots game. The first Patriots possession of the second quarter is always a good bet.

▪ Julian Edelman holding up the football defiantly after taking a hellacious hit but getting 7 yards on third and 6 anyway.

▪ Trying to figure out which defensive coach is doing what on the Patriots sideline. Bill Belichick is the Jedi, but Jerod Mayo and Steve Belichick are two impressive Padawans.

▪ Stephon Gilmore baiting an unsuspecting young quarterback into throwing a mallard his way, and many veteran ones who should know better too.

▪ Seeing a Patriots punt sail through the air, plunge to the turf inside the 20-yard line, and realizing Matthew Slater is the first one on the scene yet again.

▪ Looking around the stands and trying to find the most random jersey. Much respect to those Patriots fans — and it’s always plural — who show up in a John Lynch gamer from 2008.

▪ Tom Brady. I miss Tom Brady. Though has he always been this weird? He has, hasn’t he?

I miss …

▪ Fenway, the Garden, and Gillette Stadium in the hours before a big game, when the buzz of the crowd is so palpable you can practically grab it, and I’m reminded how fortunate I am to do this for a living.

▪ Worrying about something as inconsequential as the score of a given night’s ballgame.

▪ How it was before the pandemic. I won’t forget to appreciate it when the scores have returned to that sports page and we have it back again.