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Boston College Goes Winless Out West, Cal wins 82 – 71

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Boston College Goes Winless Out West, Cal wins 82 – 71


Boston College and Earl Grant once again played a sloppy first half of basketball tonight. Cal opened up the game quickly and jumped out to a 18 – 6 lead in the first 10 minutes. Elijah Strong hit a nice fade away jump shot on the baseline to score the Eagles 7th and 8th points of the game, and turned around to the Cal bench to say some choice words. He was given a technical foul. This is the type of sloppiness you don’t see from the best teams in the country. Slowly, the Eagles woke up. The scoring on the offensive end was led by Luka Toews, who entered the break with 12 points, and played the best half of his college career to date. Toews had only scored 21 points on the entire season before tonight. The first half was full of runs. After being down 16 – 4, Boston College went on an 11 to 3 run and cut the lead to just 3. Then, Cal answered with a 13 to 4 run of their own, heading into intermission leading Boston College, 42 – 31.

I wish Earl Grant could get his guys to start the game like they start the second half. The game of runs continued as BC came out of the break on a 15 to 3 run to take the lead for the first time at 46 – 45. From then on, the Bears and the Eagles traded blows. Every time the Golden Bears tried to pull away, Hand and the Eagles had an answer. Hand was on the bench for a majority of the first half with 2 fouls, so he came out of the locker room aggressive. He scored 19 points on just 4 of 12 from the field with all of his points coming in the second half. With about 7 minutes left, the Golden Bears led the Eagles 61 – 60, then Cal went on a 12 to 0 run which pretty much sealed the deal.

Luka Toews played the best game of his career tonight, and I’m not sure why he didnt play more in the second half. He didn’t see the floor until there were 10 minutes left in the game and finished with 14 points. He did a tremendous job using the pick and roll with Hastings or Strong and finding a shot for himself, the screener, or someone else on the perimeter. Hand kept the Eagles in the game again with a really nice second half performance. For Cal, they had a very balanced scoring attack with 5 players in double figures. They weathered the storm of BC’s comeback, and their guards, Javon Blacksher, Jr. and Jeremiah Wilkerson, controlled the game. They shot 50% from the field and handled business to clinch a spot in the ACC tournament in their first season in the conference.

This has been a really disappointing season for the Eagles, and this loss should all but guarantee that Earl Grant is not manning the sidelines next year. We see the direction the program is headed, and unfortunately, that is not anywhere that leads to NCAA tournament bids. The Eagles still have two games left this season against Clemson and Pittsburgh, but they will need to win both games, and get some help, in order to continue their season past March 8th. Boston College will take on the Clemson Tigers at Conte Forum this Wednesday at 6 pm EST.

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Boston, MA

Insider: Boston Bruins have interviewed ‘about 15 guys’ for coaching vacancy

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Insider: Boston Bruins have interviewed ‘about 15 guys’ for coaching vacancy


It sounds like Don Sweeney and Cam Neely are doing their diligence as they search for the next coach of the Bruins.

On SportsNet’s “32 Thoughts” podcast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said the buzz around the league is that just about everybody has been on Boston’s radar.

“I’ve heard they’ve interviewed about 15 guys,” Friedman said. “I asked someone, ‘Who do you think Boston has interviewed?’ The response was, ‘Who haven’t they interviewed?’”

Friedman then shared the names of some of the candidates.

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“(Marco) Strum,” Friedman said. “I assume (Jay) Leach. I think (Jeff) Halpern and (Jeff) Blashill. I think they’re also in on Mitch Love. Joe Sacco. But I think there’s more and more.”

Interim coach Sacco and Bruins assistant Leach are obvious interview candidates, while some of the other names are interesting, too.

Sturm, Boston’s hero in the 2010 Winter Classic, has been a Kings assistant since 2018. Halpern has won a pair of Stanley Cups as a Lightning assistant, while Blashill spent seven seasons coaching the Red Wings (2015-22) before his dismissal. Love is a Capitals assistant who is also rumored to be on Pittsburgh’s radar.

When Sweeney spoke after the NHL Draft lottery earlier this month, he was pleased with the feedback he’d been getting from candidates.

“This is an exciting opportunity for coaches to be interviewing for this position, and that’s the indication that they would be very excited about maybe being the head coach of the Boston Bruins,” Sweeney said. “That’s the first and foremost thing that’s come across, happy to be part of the selection of being interviewed, and more fortunate they are.

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“I think they’re starting to gather information on the roster and the players that we have in place. And, first question people ask in terms of how healthy we’re going to be and the return to that full health so that players, that they expect impact (from) will be back to do what they do. But the overriding excitement as we are to turn a page and come to the decision that we’ve got the right guy in place.”



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Receiver of troubled Boston nursing home defends hire of disgraced ex-senator Dianne Wilkerson

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Receiver of troubled Boston nursing home defends hire of disgraced ex-senator Dianne Wilkerson


A court-appointed receiver of a financially-strapped Boston nursing home defended his hire of disgraced ex-senator Dianne Wilkerson, after “allegations of nepotism and self-dealing” were lodged against her in Superior Court last month.

In a post-hearing order, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Christopher Belezos, who is overseeing hearings regarding the receivership of Roxbury’s Edgar P. Benjamin Healthcare Center, raised “significant concerns” about the considerable pay Wilkerson testified that she was making at a facility on the brink of bankruptcy.

“On April 16, the court heard testimony from several witnesses regarding allegations of nepotism and self-dealing by a member of the receivership’s team,” Belezos wrote in the April 22 order. “The subject of such allegations, Ms. Wilkerson offered, under pains of penalties of perjury, testimony that she is an employee of the EPBHC, receiving full benefits, being paid at a rate of $82 per hour, working an average of 90 hours per week.

“If such testimony is accurate, it raises significant concerns as to the rate of remuneration being paid to Ms. Wilkerson by an institution in receivership with a projected 2025 loss in the area of $4.4 million,” the judge added.

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Wilkerson, an ex-state senator whose political career ended after she was busted by the feds for taking a bribe, is executive assistant to Joseph Feaster, the court-appointed receiver of the troubled nursing home.

She was present for a hearing held Thursday in Superior Court, but didn’t take part in the day’s proceedings, and deferred comment to Feaster.

Speaking with reporters after a roughly half-hour hearing, Feaster defended his decision to hire Wilkerson and her compensation, in the wake of last month’s mismanagement allegations. He described Wilkerson as “talented” and said she was thoroughly vetted before being added to the facility’s receivership team.

“Donald Trump has a past, and he’s president of the United States,” Feaster said when asked about Wilkerson’s checkered past. “She served her time. She doesn’t have a CORI. She has nothing which would preclude her from working, and so that has to be the determinant.

“So that was looked at, because I certainly am not going to have any situation which would be problematic for the organization or for me,” he said. “She’s employable and she’s talented.”

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Wilkerson resigned from the state Senate in 2008 and spent more than two years in jail after agreeing to plead guilty to charges tied to a federal corruption bust. She was infamously shown stuffing $1,000 in cash bribes into her bra in a photo that was released by the feds.

Feaster said Wilkerson didn’t perjure herself on the stand last month, when she testified about her compensation. He said there was a “misinterpretation” about his assistant’s testimony, when she said she works 90 hours a week, when in fact, she gets paid on a bi-weekly basis for a total of 80 hours.

“I think that she was saying I work more hours than what I get paid for, and what we wanted to confirm is that … she only gets paid for bi-weekly, 80 hours,” Feaster said.

Wilkerson told the Herald last month that it’s true that she makes $82 an hour and works 90 hours a week, but “no one asked me a third question.”

“How many hours do I actually get paid for? And the answer to that question is 40. That’s all,” she said at the time.

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Feaster also said he saw Wilkerson’s hourly rate as reasonable, given that he makes $450 an hour as the facility’s receiver.

Benjamin Healthcare, which has roughly 80 patients, was placed into receivership last April to avoid the facility’s closure and allow it to begin a financial turnaround. Wilkerson was hired as Feaster’s executive assistant upon his appointment as receiver at that time.

This week’s hearing centered around the facility’s finances, whether receivership should be continued and what the court-appointed team’s contingency plan was if a buyer doesn’t materialize from the bid process.

In a May 14 court filing from Feaster, the “receiver informed the court” at the April 16 hearing “that the most viable path forward for the facility to continue operating would be through soliciting proposals for third party owner/operator.”

Belezos, the judge, pressed for a breakdown of the facility’s financial information from the receivership team, and set a deadline for May 29.

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A lawyer for Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office, which represents state agencies like the Department of Health, said the state wants to keep the Roxbury facility open, rather than move forward with a closure and transfer of patients.

To try to recover funds, Feaster is pursuing a civil lawsuit that has been filed against the facility’s former administrator, Tony Francis, who ran the Benjamin before he was appointed as receiver, Commonwealth Beacon reported.

The lawsuit alleges that Francis “siphoned” more than $3 million in funds from the facility, per a prior court filing from Feaster.

The matter returns to court on June 28.

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Defiant Knicks fans brush off Game 5 blowout, blast ‘cocky’ Celtics supporters in Boston: ‘Worst city in America’

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Defiant Knicks fans brush off Game 5 blowout, blast ‘cocky’ Celtics supporters in Boston: ‘Worst city in America’


Knicks fans brushed off their team’s blowout loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 — and still talked trash to their rival’s fanbase outside TD Garden Wednesday night.

“F–k Boston,” said Brooklyn resident Rick Haddad, 18, outside the Beantown venue. “It’s the worst city in America. Worst people, worst culture, worst sports team.”

His buddy Edward Dweck then took a shot at the Celtics’ home arena.

“This is a fake garden. This is a p—y-ass garden,” the 18-year-old Brooklynite yapped. “I’ve never heard of TD Garden, only Madison [Square] Garden and the Botanical [Garden].”

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Knicks fan Kevin Shah outside Boston’s TD Garden Wednesday night after New York’s loss. David McGlynn

The Brooklyn pals were among scores of fans who were still defiant after New York lost 127-102, which will stretch the series to at least six games.

The Knickerbockers are still up 3-2.

“You ain’t been paying attention,” Kevin Shah huffed.

“You don’t see patterns. Game f–king 6 at home. It’s gotta be.”

“The formula is you go all do your thing and you get cocky, and we punch you in the mouth without knowing it,” said Shah, a Bronxville native who now lives in Ohio.

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“The whole time it’s been the formula, dog,” he continued to rant. “Every time they got full of themselves, they got met with a reality check, bitch.”

Knicks supporters brushed off the crushing Game 5 loss. David McGlynn

Even Mayor Eric Adams got involved with a two-word response to the disappointing loss.

“BUCK FOSTON,” Hizzoner tweeted.

Another fan outside TD Garden, David G., shouted “Knicks in six” for several minutes as fans left the venue.

“It’s OK. We are good, buddy,” he said. “Knicks in six. We are good.”

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“I’m getting a lot of f–k yous, but I don’t care,” he added as a pair of Boston fans told him to pipe down.

“We just kicked your ass! Jesus. Shut the f–k up!” an angry Celtics fan shouted at him while another screamed, “You smell like s–t.”

A group of girls decked out in Knicks jerseys also felt the wrath of some insufferable Boston fans who shouted, “Keep walking! Go home! Go back to New York!”

Boston Celtics center Luke Kornet (40) dunks against New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) during the second half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Boston. AP

Back in the Empire State outside MSG, fans were clamoring for another shot at the Celtics.  

“Jaylen Brown thinks he’s all hot s–t. He f–king sucks, bro,” Nia Newkirk, 25, said of the Boston guard.

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“He is not the best driver in the NBA. He’s not the best driver on his team, bro. You needed [Boston forward] Jayson Tatum. Y’all got f–king lucky tonight. Knicks in six.”

The series heads back to the Big Apple for Game 6 Friday night, where the Knicks will have another shot to close out the Celtics and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

A Celtics fan shows off his team’s logo after Boston’s win in Game 5 Wednesday night. David McGlynn

“I don’t care about Boston. Boston’s a bitch,” said Bronx resident Damion Jones, 30. “They, they always be a bitch … Oh, man, f–k Boston. We lost because of us. Yes, we lost because of us.” 

Hoboken resident Liam Walker, who rooted for the Knicks inside the watch party inside the world’s most famous arena, predicted beldam if New York took Game 5 or wins Friday.  

“I mean, there’s like way more people here [inside the Garden on Friday], they’ll be like hundreds of people outside, like it would be people going like crazy,” he said.

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“It would just be like a riot in the streets. It would be awesome.”



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