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Charlie Brown’s Nice Pumpkin? Strive big pumpkin. Three of them, to be precise.
The eighth annual “Official Pumpkin of Boston” — which, this yr, is definitely a trio of pumpkins — arrived on the Boston Public Market Tuesday.
Two of the three pumpkins come from Artwork Kazenski of Erving, Mass.: the most important pumpkin is 1,773 kilos and the midsize pumpkin is 1,269 kilos. The smallest, at 773 kilos, is from Lou Chadwick of Swanzey, N.H. The pumpkins are donated by Boston Public Market vendor Purple Apple Farm of Phillipston, Mass.
Sometimes, there are solely two pumpkins, a “PumpKing” and “PumpQueen,” however this yr, three made the minimize. The midsize pumpkin is definitely technically a squash, and is now the state report holder for the heaviest squash ever.
John Rose of Purple Apple Farm assisted with the transferring of the pumpkins.
“We loaded them onto pallets after which into the mattress of a truck and drove the hour and a half right here,” he defined.
As soon as the truck arrived in Boston, the crew used a forklift to maneuver them one after the other. All three had been deposited on the sidewalk exterior earlier than being moved into an inside nook of the Boston Public Market.
“Is that actual?” one girl puzzled aloud as she walked by.
A small crowd gathered, with many taking photographs of the pumpkins and marveling at their dimension.
“I’m wondering how huge the seeds are in these issues,” one man stated.
“That’d make quite a lot of pumpkin pie!” stated one other.
The supply of the pumpkins to the Boston Public Market heralds the arrival of its fifth annual Harvest Celebration, the proceeds of which go to the Market’s Group Engagement Fund.
Boston Public Market is an indoor market the place the whole lot offered is produced or originated in New England. It is usually a nonprofit group, whose mission is to domesticate a various neighborhood round meals. It goals to assist and share the work of a various assortment of entrepreneurs by subsidizing hire in vendor stalls, creating instructional experiences, and enhancing neighborhood partnerships with like minded companions within the area.
The Harvest Pageant is on its fifth yr, its first for the reason that starting of the pandemic. The Boston Public Market opened in 2015, and in 2016 the concept to host the Harvest Celebration was born to assist their endeavors, stated Boston Public Market CEO Cheryl Cronin.
“Our first occasion in 2016 was fantastic, because it helped us to construct each neighborhood and fundraising,” stated Cronin.
After skipping the Harvest Celebration in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19, Cronin stated they’re excited to carry the occasion again. This yr, attendees can select from three ranges of tickets, all with completely different value factors and inclusions.
“Past constructing our Group Engagement Fund, this yr’s Harvest Pageant is to have a good time, frankly, survival. It was a tricky yr for the Boston Public Market and for our small enterprise distributors,” she stated.
The pumpkins will stay within the Boston Public Market till they rot, in keeping with Rose, which he stated will seemingly be a while in November.
“As soon as they’re rotten they’ll get smashed so the seeds might be pulled out and replanted,” he stated. “That’s one of the best probability of getting one other huge pumpkin subsequent yr.”
See the method of getting the Boston pumpkins arrange:
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The Celtics aren’t playing great basketball. Coincidence or not, this stretch has coincided with the return and reintegration of Kristaps Porzingis. In 23 games without the big man, Boston has a record of 19-4—with him in the lineup, that falls to a much less flattering 9-7 record.
This has put his value on trial, and opened the door to discussions about whether a move to the bench could be helpful for everyone involved. It’s not a crazy idea by any means, but it’s shortsighted and an oversimplification of why the team has struggled of late.
While Kristaps attempts to slide back into his role, there’s an adjustment period that the team naturally has to go through. That’s roughly 13 shots per game being taken from the collective and handed to one individual. It’s a shift that can impact that entire rotation, but it’s also not unfamiliar to the team—by now, they’re used to the cycle of Porzingis’ absence and return.
KP hasn’t been the same game-breaking player that we’ve come to know, but he’s not that far off. He isn’t hunting shots outside of the flow of the offense, and the coaching staff isn’t force-feeding him either.
This table shows a comparison in the volume and efficiency of Kristaps’ most used play types from the past two seasons. Across the board, the possessions per game have remained very similar, while the efficiency has taken a step back.
He’s shooting below the standard he established for himself during the championship run, but the accuracy should come around as he gets more comfortable and confident in his movements post-injury. Porzingis opened up about this after a win over the Nuggets, sharing his progress.
“80-85%. I still have a little bit to go.” Porzingis said. “I know that moment is coming when everything will start clicking, and I’ll play really high-level basketball.”
In theory, sending KP to the bench would allow him to face easier matchups and build his conditioning back up. On a similar note, he and the starters have a troubling -8.9 net rating. With that said, abandoning this unit so quickly is an overreaction and works against the purpose of the regular season.
It may require patience, but we’re talking about a starting lineup that had a +17.3 net rating over seven playoff games together. Long term, it’s more valuable to let them figure it out, rather than opt for a temporary fix.
It can’t be ignored that the Celtics are also getting hit by a wrecking ball of poor shooting luck in his minutes. Opponents are hitting 33.78% of their three-pointers with him on the bench, compared to a ridiculously efficient 41.78% when he’s on the court. To make matters worse, Boston is converting 37.21% of their own 3’s without KP, and just 32.95% with him.
Overall, there’s a -8.83% differential between team and opponent 3PT efficiency with Porzingis in the game. This is simply unsustainable, and it’s due for positive regression eventually.
Despite his individual offensive struggles, Porzingis has been elite as a rim protector. Among 255 players who have defended at least 75 shots within 6 feet of the basket, he has the best defensive field goal percentage in the NBA at 41.2%. Players are shooting 20.9% worse than expected when facing Kristaps at the rim.
Boston is intentional about which shooters they’re willing to leave open and when to funnel drives toward Porzingis. Teams are often avoiding these drives, and accepting open looks from mediocre shooters—recently, with great success. Both of these factors play into the stark difference in opponent 3PT%.
The numbers paint a disappointing picture, but from a glass-half-full perspective, there’s plenty of room for positive regression. Last season, the starting lineup shot 39.31% from beyond the arc and limited opponents to 36.75%. This year, they’ve struggled, shooting just 27.61% themselves, while opponents are converting at an absurd 46.55%.
Ultimately, the Celtics’ struggles seem more like a temporary blip, fueled by frustrating shooting luck and a slow return to form for Kristaps, rather than a reason to panic. The core of this team has already proven their ability to perform together at a high level, and sticking with the current configuration gives them the best chance to break out of the slump.
Allowing Porzingis to round into shape and cranking up the defensive intensity should help offset some of the shooting woes. As Porzingis eloquently put it, “with this kind of talent in this locker room, it’s impossible that we don’t start playing better basketball.” When water finds its level, the game will start to look easy again.
The wind is back. And no one is happy.
Well, at least it won’t be 10 days of it. Instead, you’ll have to settle for two, with occasional gusts to 35-40 mph. Not nearly as intense as the last go-round, but still enough to produce wind chills in the single digits and teens through Wednesday. Thursday the winds are much lighter, but even with a slight breeze, we may see wind chills near zero in the morning.
The pattern remains active, but we’ll have to wait a few days until our next batch of precipitation. And with temperatures warming, it looks like rain by Saturday afternoon. We’ll rise into the 40s through Sunday, then feel the full weight of the polar vortex early next week.
Yes, you read that right. The spin, the hype, and definitely the cold, are back. Much of the country will plunge into the deep freeze. The question remains whether we’ll spin up a storm early next week. Jury is still out on that, but we’re certain this will be the coldest airmass of the season.
Coming off back to back conference losses, the Eagles traveled to South Bend to try to earn their second conference win. Notre Dame has had a lack luster start to the year, as they also sit at 1-4 in conference play entering tonight’s matchup. Boston College defended much better in the first half tonight than they have in the past few games. More specifically, they guarded the 3 point line, holding Notre Dame to just 2 of 9 from beyond the arc. Boston College, in turn, shot 50% (5 of 10) from behind the 3 point line, which really kept them in the game. Donald Hand, Jr., in particular, had a nice first half with 11 points on 4 of 6 from the field. The one-two punch of Tae Davis and Markus Burton combined for 20 of Notre Dame’s 36 points in the first half. Notre Dame led at the break 36 to 33.
The second half was a different story for the Eagles. The Fighting Irish dominated the last 10 minutes of the game outscoring Boston College 22 to 10. Burton and Davis combined for 46 of the Irish’s 78 points. Davis had his way with BC scoring 26 points on 9 of 14 shooting. The Eagles just had no answer for him or his counterpart in the back court Markus Burton. Burton had 20 of his own on just 5 of 15 from the field. The Eagles did a great job of defending the 3 point line against the Irish as they shot 3 of 15 from beyond the arc, but they did a poor job defending everything else. The Eagles once again had trouble with consistency on the offensive side of the ball. The top performer was Hand, he finished with 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting. He seems to be one of the only Eagles’ who can create his own shot when the offense breaks down. Boston College fell to the Irish 78 to 60.
Overall, Boston College showed some glimpses tonight on the defensive end, especially in the first half. They did a great job of defending the three point line all night, but didn’t continue to defend after running the Irish off the line. The offense struggled again tonight despite shooting over 50% from the 3 point line.
Boston College has had a rough last two weeks, but it will only get tougher as Duke comes to town on Saturday. Cooper Flagg has seemingly hit his stride after dropping 42 on Notre Dame this weekend. After the performance from Tae Davis, BC and Earl Grant will need to scheme up some different defenses to try to slow down the Duke freshman. Duke and Boston College will tip off at 8 PM EST at Conte Forum.
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