Bagoon's Barrage

Jake Donnelly brings you his recap of the New England sports scene on the morning of December 2, 2021. Celtics beat Sixers 88-87 as Jason Tatum (26/16) led the way and the newly dubbed Enes Kanter Freedom chipped in with four points in his first game as an American citizen. Bruins take on the Predators in Nashville as Brad Marchand serves the second game of his three-game suspension... The Boston Red Sox signed Rich Hill for the seventh time and Jackie Bradley Jr. comes back to Fenway in exchange for Hunter Renfroe... While the rest of New England waits for Monday night against the Bills on primetime

Jake Donnelly presents a plea to LeBron James in light of his on-and-off court issues; cut the crap with China and stop accepting Chinese blood money. But don't do it for the Uighurs, don't do it for your followers, or even do it out of the goodness of your heart. Do it to accomplish the one thing you've always desired; to be better than Michael Jordan. The ball is in your court, and you're one-on-one against China. Do you dunk on China or let them dunk on you?

The saddest part about Americans' unwillingness to fight for freedom is how easy our fight is right now. Nobody is asking every civilian to pick up an M1, M4, or M16. All anybody needs is a simple two-word response, "no!" Say "no" and fight for freedom. If you don't do it now, you won't be able to do it later. Sorry for the lack of video, but too many people over this week so I lost my studio space (the downside of Florida). Please read the full article here: https://www.jakedonnelly.com/freedom-not-without-a-fight-ever/ Also, remember to support Jewish Conservatives (https://jewishconservatives.locals.com/), and see the full post here:

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Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") loses his cool over Serena Williams losing her cool and disrespecting the game of tennis as well as her opponent Naomi Osaka for his "Topic of the Day." He wraps things up by glossing over Brock Holt going yard after an interesting pinch hit conundrum correctly chosen by Alex Cora before ending the episode with his Week Two picks.

The Williams College Ephs, the 7th seed in the NESCAC tournament (2018), try to keep their season alive with an upset of the top-seeded Trinity College Bantams. The two teams split the season series with both teams winning their respective home games.

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") takes a shift away from what was going to be a rant about extra inning baseball, and instead hits the topic of the day (Intro-1:30). Jake buries the lede a bit while discussing Mike Sando's GOAT Index, which he loves because he outsourced it so the resulting list makes pretty good sense (1:30-3:40), even though Jake would change some things (3:40-4:50). Jake takes a break to call Tony Dungy an asshat and one of the saltiest coaches of all time when discussing Brady/Belichick (4:50-6:26) before delving into the article (6:26-8:50) and what has him so angry; Comeback Wins and how the stat doesn't tell you what happened in the first three quarters (8:50-13:00). Jake then gets heavy into the math and decides to figure out how to improve the stat by incorporating total wins and comeback wins (13:01-17:55) before showing why that version of the statistic doesn't quite work out because of the Aaron Rodgers outlier (17:56-20:25). Is there an answer though? Yes there is: Comeback Wins Percentage , which shows how Aaron Rodgers is one of the greatest front runners of all time (20:26-24:00) and Peyton Manning is really good in the comeback department (24:01-25:14), but Tom Brady is the GOAT in this stat too (25:15-28:35). Jake was about to sign off when he checked his phone and saw the Kyrie Irving trade desire and ranted about that for about five minutes before eventually, finally signing off (28:36-End).

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon) dishes on the subjects he will touch on in the July 4th, 2017 episode of Bagoon's Barrage: the Boston Red Sox are playing great, Dustin Pedroia is on fire, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were terrific in the first summer league game (Start-1:30) before diving into the Topic of the Day (1:30-3:00) , "the Drew Pomeranz/Anderson Espinoza Trade." Jake discusses the background of the trade and goes back in time to last year and why he pulled the trigger on the trade (3:00-6:02). He discusses the aftermath and the duplicitous medical staff of the San Diego Padres (6:03-9:12) and how after the 2016 trade it looked like the Red Sox clearly were the losers in that trade (9:12-9:56). Jake goes on to explain though how half a year later the Red Sox clearly look like the winners of the trade because Pomeranz has returned to his All-Star form (9:57-14:35), which is outstanding because it wasn't the only top prospect Dombrowski traded away in the offseason (14:36-16:40). Not only is Pomeranz back to his early 2016 form, but things aren't looking good for Espinoza (16:41-19:16) and if the Padres are pulling their best Frank Drebin (19:17-20:53). Jake says that people are right to rag on Dombrowski for bad moves like Travis Shaw/Pablo Sandoval (20:54-22:15), but that they should definitely give him credit when things work out (22:16-22:48). He finally hits on how well the Red Sox are playing (and wishes Canada a belated Happy Canada Day) and in particular Dustin Pedroia while giving a recap of the most recent game (22:49-28:18). He also relays how well the Boston Celtics young guns played in their first Summer League game of the season (28:19-32:42) before wrapping things up with the Gordon Hayward fiasco (32:43-End).

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") opens up the show by showing he has no idea how to count (Start-1:30) before getting into this Topic of the Day, which is "The Dumbest Article on the Internet." The Dumbest Article of the Year was penned yesterday by TheRinger.com's Michael Baumann and his "Nope, Max Scherzer isn't Better Than Clayton Kershaw." Jake dives into how Baumann sets up the premise and you know you are already in for a doozy (1:30-6:20) before getting into the only good argument Baumann makes in the entire article (6:21-9:33). Then though Baumann goes off the rails and so too does Jake while reacting to the article because Baumann says Scherzer has been more dominant in single games lately... and still picks Kershaw (9:34-12:41). Then Jake goes on with the article and what makes him want to take a tack hammer to his right temple, especially when all the advanced statistics point to Scherzer (12:42-16:33). Of course Baumann goes the intellectually dishonest route and creates the strawiest of straw man articles, which not surprisingly makes Jake flip out (16:34-21:00) before realizing the parameters of Baumann's article is entirely idiotic and why this article makes him lose faith in humanity (21:01-25:52). Jake of course hits his ranting stride and goes point by point as to why this is the dumbest article on the internet (25:53-31:20) and why he thinks so many baseball writers are falling into this Clayton Kershaw is the Greatest Pitcher Ever trap (31:21-34:22). Jake dishes on the hypocrisy of Serena Williams in her feud with John McEnroe (34:23-40:08) before ending with a quick analysis of his favorite player in the draft selected by the Celtics (40:09-End)

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon"), intros the latest episode with a quick analysis of the Boston Celtics draft (it was good) before hitting the Topic of the Day (Start-1:30). The Topic of the Day is the Breakup Slide and how it is on its deathbed, if not already dead (1:30-2:33). He first breaks down the Breakup Slide (2:34-3:25) and why it is so important (3:26-4:07). The takeoff point for the article is the Chase Utley slide and him breaking Ruben Tejada's leg (4:08-5:32) versus what is now a legal breakup slide (5:33-8:19). The problem though is the Breakup Slide is now dead; when a player like Xander Bogarts perfectly executes a Breakup Slide and it is still ruled interference EVEN AFTER REVIEW, there is nowhere to go from there (8:20-16:31). The worst part about the overregulation is that baseball plays are now being eradicated and cool moments are being stripped from the game (16:31-17:34). One of the biggest issues is that it gives runners two options; hurt the infielder because you will get called for interference (17:35-18:44) or make no attempt to help your team (18:45-19:17). Another issue is the proliferation of shifts, and how the shifting actually makes plays at second more dangerous for infielders (19:18-21:20). Jake wraps up his rant by explaining why baseball is really dying (21:21-25:20) and then finishes up the episode with some quick Red Sox talk (25:21-End)

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon"), hits the intro (Start-1:35) lamenting about the Red Sox blowing a two-run lead against the Kansas City Royals before heading into his "Topic of the Day," which is the Buster Posey Rule. Jake goes all Sarcastaball on the rule, first discussing the rule and what you can and cannot do when it comes to collisions at the plate (1:35-3:40). He then discusses what he hates most about the rule, including how it came about and why the rule is actually more dangerous for catchers than it used to be (3:40-5:10). Jake breaks down the collision between Anthony Rizzo and Austin Hedges and goes step-by-step on what Hedges did and what he did wrong (5:10-8:00). The discussion also breaks down why there are collisions at home and nowhere else (8:00-13:00). Jake doesn't just rant about what he did wrong though, he goes in-depth about the proper fundamentals for a catcher expecting a collision at home (13:00-26:25). There's still time for a rant about why collisions at the plate are good for baseball and scoring runs and why the entire "player safety" debate has gone too far and stripped baseball of some of its skill (26:26-35:01). He wraps up the episode wondering what John Farrell is doing with Drew Pomeranz and his 8th inning bullpen (35:02-End).

Ian Fels joins Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") to debate the LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan question.

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") quickly mentions the lack of anything happening sports-wise in New England so he is going to rant and rave about Buster Olney's last two articles for his "Topic of the Day" (Start-1:45). Jake goes on to discuss how this is weird because he normally likes Olney's writing unlike Samer Kalaf's (1:45-3:40). Buuuuuut, then the discussion turns on Olney's "Baseball Must End Its Beanball Legacy" article, which Jake finds intellectually dishonest. The rant stems on the Jim Palmer and Mike Mussina/Bill Hasselman anecdote (3:40-6:31) and how Olney ties it into how the basebrawl almost resulted on the loss of Cal Ripken Jr's Iron Man streak. Jake goes on to take Olney to task for using examples of injured batters that have nothing to do with beanballs and how that is intellectually dishonest (6:31-14:20). Olney also uses an example that literally disproves his point, which gets a normal crazed reaction from Jake (14:21-17:30). Jake continues raving about how the beanball can be used as a tool for effective pitching and how some of the best pitchers ever knew how to use it (17:31-20:09). There's a quick aside about the Bryce Harper/Hunter Strickland incident and how to throw a proper beanball (20:10-22:12). But Jake is not done with Olney because Jake trashes Olney's "The Case for Clayton Kershaw" article (22:13-23:33). Jake has two main points: Kershaw's career is way too short at the moment (23:34-29:15), but the worst part is Olney dismissing Kershaw's awful postseason stats as if the postseason doesn't matter (29:16-37:54). Jake ends it with a quick discussion predicting Penguins in five and a Warriors sweep (37:55-End)

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") discusses Kelly Olynyk pulling off the ultimate P.J. Brown Game in the Celtics Game Seven defeat of the Washington Wizards (Intro-6:25). Most of the conversation revolves around the Celtics bench and how well they responded after tallying just five point in the previous game (6:25-14:30/17:55-26:50). How John Wall hitting the game winning three in Game Six was actually the worst thing for the Wizards going forward (14:30- 17:55) and why the Celtics should never think about trading Marcus Smart (26:50-31:45). Bagoon ends the episode (31:45-End) by delivering his crazy theory on how the Celtics can beat the Cavaliers.

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") intros the 21st edition of the Barrage with Isaiah Thomas and the Celtics beating the Washington Wizards before going into the Topic of the Day (Start-1:28). The Topic of the Day is bean balls and Manny Machado and how bad blood is a great thing for the game of baseball. First how the entire situation came (1:30-6:35) about and why the Red Sox were still right to throw at Machado regardless of the slide and how throwing at a player is a lost art in baseball(6:35-12:58). The next topic on the docket is the Adam Jones situation and how the Red Sox and the "Fenway Fans" missed the mark with their completely fabricated standing ovation and how they looked like "drunken seals"(12:35-14:50). The real problems with the standing ovation talk is that Red Sox fans needed to be told to do something genuine, which minimizes the impact and shrouds the real problem (14:50-18:06). The discussion then dovetails into who is the actual leader on the Red Sox team (18:06-22:10) before segueing into the Celtics pulling off another win on the Wizards to go up 2-0 (22:11-28:59). The final segment is a rant about how the Red Sox and the Orioles are trying to save baseball with their rivalry and bad blood while pulling away from "Addison Russell Pokemon" interviews (29:00-32:15) before finishing with just exactly how Jake is planning on watching the game (32:16-35:16)

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") is back and discussing the statistics behind the Red Sox's offensive woes (Start-15:15) before delving into the Celtics and how they're fairing in the playoffs(15:15-25:50). Most of the Celtics talk revolves around the Thomas vs. John Wall matchup and how Thomas outplayed Wall in the regular season and did it again in Game One. Then the Celtics talks wraps up with the secondary scoring for the Celtics and how the Wizards stand no chance if guys like Jae Crowder and Al Horford play the way they did in the first game and Avery Bradley strips Wall four times. The episode wraps up with the New England Patriots and how they used their draft picks prior to the actual draft to end up with one of the best draft days of any team despite not having many actual picks (25:50-35:55).

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") chats with his good friend and Philadelphia Co-host Alex Brown about the best dirty players of all-time and whey Chase Utley deserves some serious mention. The intro is a long-winded one as usual (0:00-4:25) then Brownie calls in for the Call of the Day. The chit-chatting goes on for a minute or two before the pair delves into the best dirty players in hockey (4:25-6:00). Once they get going, the debate essentially boils down to Brad Marchand vs. Sidney Crosby (6:00-8:00). There is a detour as Brownie has to defend Philly for the Santa incident (8:00-10:15). The best dirty players in history discussion gets going in earnest at the 10:15 mark. First hockey where the consensus appears to be Crosby and also involves the role of the pest in the NHL (10:15-21:35). The two then discuss baseball's best dirty player where Brownie goes all-in on Chase Utley being the best dirty player of the current generation and how the Phillies tend to field some of the same players from one generation to the next plus a dive into the new rules in baseball this season (21:40-32:15). Brownie follows up by choosing Lance Armstrong as the best dirty athlete in non-traditional sports (32:30-36:00) before the two come to a consensus that Dennis Rodman is by far the best dirty player in NBA history (36:05-38:45). Bagoon and Brownie finish off the discussion by naming their best dirty players of all-time (38:50-End)

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") takes a look at the sports world and why nobody wants to believe the simplest answer is the right answer any longer. First and foremost on the mind is the Colin Kaepernick situation (0:00-10:45), which is followed by the Geno Auriemma debate (11:00-21:10) where in both situations Occam's Razor probably applies, but nobody wants to believe it. Then there's a quick trek into Bruins land (21:15-24:30) and Celtics county(24:30-27:35) before wrapping up with our first look at Red Sox Nation (27:35-End).

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") has guest Levi Chatinover on for the longest Bagoon's Barrage episode to date. The show starts off with some riffing about what makes country music enjoyable before the two delve into the "Three Biggest Manufactured Moments in Sports," as Levi takes umbrage with how the list is pretty much upside down from what he believes it should be. There are a bunch of twists and turns (and some adult language), but it is well worth the ride.

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") breaks reviews Disney's live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast" (grades it about a B) and why the villain totally sucks, but the rest of the movie is pretty good. After discussing the movie for way too long he rants about the Boston Bruins and how it is now definitely "Chicken Little" time in bean town while their co-tenant the Boston Celtics are going in the opposite direction for the home stretch.

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") takes on the Colin Kaepernick question by looking first at the quarterbacks actual on-field ability before tackling what he thinks is the true off-field issue that has teams not signing the University of Nevada product. Next up is the Bruins and their late season swoon before reveling in the Celtics win against the Washington Wizards.

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") discusses how sports is a zero sum game in relation to the NCAA D-III Quarterfinal game he broadcasted on Saturday ("sports are great for teaching you about life"). Also some chatting about just how bad the Celtics are without Isaiah Thomas and why he needs to be a top three MVP candidate. Next up the Bruins hopefully bouncing back after their poor showing against the Oilers as they have the Toronto Maple Leafs on deck. Jake ends the podcast with a book review (Erik Larson's "Dead Wake") and a movie review ("Lego Batman”).

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") gets way too excited about the Dont'a Hightower signing and double downs on his "Bill Belichick has Gone Full William Munny" statement and believes the Patriots are going 19-0 this season. At the 6:35 mark are when things get good though. Jake goes Super Saiyan on Deadspin for their post implying the Patriots are racist. The discussion (after he calms down at the 19:20 minute mark) then turns to Brad Marchand and his chances for the Hart Trophy before ending with Jake filling out his March Madness bracket (go Bulldogs).

Jake Donnelly (AKA "The Bagoon") pulls a Bill Simmons' when trying to explain the untraditional manner Bill Belichick has taken with his General Manager duties this offseason; Jake thinks Belichick has gone full William Money from Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven." The parallels make sense (at least in Jake's mind). From there he hits upon how the Bruins are winning games in ways they used to lose under Claude Julien before wrapping things up with some Celtics hot takes.

Jake Donnelly (AKA "The Bagoon") tears into Steph Curry for his trash talk against Jaylen Brown and how Curry disappeared after it, comparing Curry's lack of ability to back it up to Larry Bird's all-time trash talking ability. Next batter up is the Bruins and their dominance over the Detroit Red Wings before getting giddy over the New England Patriots opening up the pocket book during free agency. Bagoon wraps things up with a review of the new X-Men movie "Logan." (You should see it).

Jake Donnelly (AKA "The Bagoon") has special guest Jack Abbott on to chat about the New England Patriots and what they will (and probably won't) do in free agency. Plenty of time is spent dissecting what to do about linebacker Dont'a Hightower and how the Patriots might lean more on the defensive side than the offensive side. Also, make sure to pay attention for Jack's not so crazy conspiracy theory as to why the Patriots are looking to trade for Brandin Cooks.

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") opens up the show discussing the World Baseball Classic and the biggest underdog of the tournament, Team Israel, and their surprising start. After starting things on a good note, the podcast takes a sour turn because the Celtics decided to stop playing defense against the Clippers in the second half and the Bruins had their most inconsistent showing with Bruce Cassidy behind the bench. After hitting the sports talk subjects, Jake gives a review of J.R. Angelella's "Zombie: A Novel" (here's a preview: not good) before finally finding something positive by relaying a story of his train ride back from New York City after an MS Fundraiser.

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") goes #Hot Take when discussing Draymond Green and the Warriors' response to the acoustic night first half against the New York Knicks. There is some chatter about the Climb the Rock MS fundraising event in New York city and also a breakdown of the Boston Bruins 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils as well as a quick glance at the Boston Celtics brutal loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Jake Donnelly (AKA "Bagoon") starts out by thanking Matt Sullivan for his wonderful work producing and creating "JakeDonnelly.com" After getting that out of the way, most of the podcast is devoted to the Celtics win over the Cavs before quickly discussing why Colin Miller's hit on Alex Burmistrov should not have been a penalty and why the NHL should never take that kind of hit out of hockey.