By Ryan McGowan When the lights went out for the last time in Dillon, American television got a little darker. 

By Ryan McGowan “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” –Obi-Wan Kenobi, Revenge of the Sith. I hate when one of my teams makes a big trade.  If only because I’m pretty much guaranteed to want to poke my ears out after a few days of listening to the reactions on sports radio, especially when said [...]

By Ryan McGowan Bob Rafter was there at the beginning, and it wasn’t pretty. “I was at the first preseason game with Elvis,” Rafter, 28, of Phoenix, but a Franklin (Mass.) native, said, referring to the current Patriots logo, which debuted in 1993 to replace the original “Pat Patriot”, the beloved icon that adorned the [...]

By Ryan McGowan The AFC this year is quirky—so many teams, so few clear-cut favorites.  There isn’t even a clear-cut worst team in the conference, as the Raiders shouldn’t be quite as horrid as past years.  In fact, the conference title is wide open, pretty much for whichever team can conceal its flaws long enough [...]

[NOTE: Of course, everything in this column might be completely moot by 10:00 EDT tonight.  The author reserves the right to say "I told you so" but also to backtrack 100% in case of something completely unforeseen.] By Ryan McGowan There’s only one word to describe tonight’s “The Decision”—embarrassing. Freaking embarrassing.

By Ryan McGowan The last three years were more than I ever would have hoped for on May 22, 2007, when I sat down at my old Brighton house on Newton Street to watch the NBA draft lottery. At the time, we Celtics fans were hoping for the mathematical near-certainty of landing at least one [...]

By Ryan McGowan Dave Cowens, #18 himself, said it best on Friday night. “Go out there on behalf of the NBA and Red Auerbach and all Celtics present and past,” he said, as he presented the Eastern Conference championship trophy to Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, “and bring home No. 18.’’

By Ryan McGowan It’s almost May, and the Bruins are still alive in the playoffs, so you know what that means—I’m a hockey fan again.