Dan Shaughnessy

We are natural-born cynics here in New England. We have standards. We are not yahoos. So why does a 41-21 home-field beatdown at the hands of the Houston Texans feel so good?

October marks 20 years since the Boston Red Sox broke the curse and won the 2004 World Series. Read more of our coverage at Globe.com/sox2004.

The 2024-25 NBA season begins Tuesday when the Boston Celtics hoist Banner No. 18 to the TD Garden rafters and then host the New York Knicks.

As is so often the case with this fabled franchise, Tuesday's banner raising also was a night to honor the past. And the world champion Boston Celtics have more great past than any pro basketball team in the land.

LOS ANGELES — Picked-up pieces while worrying that Jerod Mayo is our new Butch Hobson … ▪ Dodgers-Yankees. Star Wars. Big Bucks.

The final blow of Friday’s fantastic battle was hardly the only memorable moment of Game 1, a scintillating start for a World Series that MLB hopes will restore some luster and gravitas to the Fall Classic.

NEW YORK — Wonder what Ted Williams would say to Aaron Judge? Ted was the greatest hitter who ever lived.

Perry, who died last Friday, was a prolific figure in basketball and baseball but also a man who influenced many young lives as a coach and teacher.

NEW YORK — The vaunted New York Yankees went into Game 4 of the World Series Tuesday facing the prospect of being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

NEW YORK — Picked-up pieces while concluding that the Mets, Phillies, and Padres also would have beaten the Yankees . . .