Some teams have resorted to utilizing cardboard cutouts of fans. Expect an army of Teddy bears, mannequins and mask-clad puppets marching up the outfield ramp soon.

The stands look like those of a last-place team in September.

With no fans in the seats at major league baseball games, home run balls just clang around in the empty seats before disappearing underneath one. Actually, it looks like giant a pinball machine out there with no one commanding the flippers.

"Tommy can you hear me?"

What a lonely baseball.

The late Detroit Tigers Hall of Fame play-by-play radio announcer Ernie Harwell used to proclaim, "A man from Kalamazoo caught that one," after a foul ball lofted into the jam-packed stands. And it sounded believable to young listeners, whom scratched their heads and wondered, "How did he know that?"

Some teams have resorted to utilizing cardboard cutouts of fans in a stark attempt to create ballpark spirit while missing the aroma of hot dogs, peanuts and liquid libations aiding their cause. Expect an army of Teddy bears, mannequins and mask-clad puppets marching up the outfield ramp real soon.

Maybe franchises could glue gloves onto those cutouts. If the ball bounces or pops in, it belongs to the lucky fan who bank-rolled the knock-off.

Companies might consider purchasing corporate sponsorship boxes and send 20 fortunate employee cutouts clad with its company logo to the game.

How about some famous fans cutouts like Bill Murray, Drew Carey, Tom Selleck and Jerry Seinfeld? Or Eminen and some rock groups to liven up luxury boxes? An Erin Andrews cutout with piped in audio could ask them some baseball trivia during a pitching change.

We need something, because when a historic blast happens, someone or something needs to field it. The fans snag and story is just as intrinsic to the event as well.

Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols is just four home runs shy of catching Willie Mays with 660 and moving into fifth place on the all-time home run list. Barring injury or some COVID-crud, this is going down real soon.

So whos gonna catch it unless it leaves the park?

When Babe Ruth entered immortality with his 700th career blast at Navin Field in Detroit, at least 17-year-old Lenny Bielski ran it down and dove underneath a parked car to claim it. According to a 1973 Detroit Free Press interview, Bielski reminisced about the mob which immediately pursued.

"Then a lot of policemen and ushers all grabbed me. They put me on their shoulders and stopped the game and took me into the ballpark and put me in the dugout with Babe Ruth, Joe McCarthy the manager and Lou Gehrig. After the game Babe said, Im gonna give him $120. He didnt have his wallet, though, so he told Gehrig, Ill give that boy a $20 bill,'" said Bielski in the interview.

Did that moment and not-so-lonely ball mean something to him and Ruth? Well, he never spent the $20 even though it was during hub of the Great Depression.

Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera just passed Adrian Beltre with a home run Saturday and is 22 round-trippers shy of the exclusive 500 club. He may not have a legitimate shot at 22 on a 60-game schedule, but he needs just 15 more to catch Gehrig and Fred McGriff -- tied for 28th place on the all-time list with 493. Historically, Cabrera bashes one every 18.76 at-bats.

If Miggy hits it, someone has to fetch it, and Bielski doesnt live in the neighborhood anymore.

Maybe they could put a corporate-sponsored cardboard cutout of the Beatles out there dressed in Dr. Peppers Lonely Balls Club fans attire to get a glove on it.

Bill Kemp can be reached at Bill.Kemp@theledger.com; follow him on Twitter @BillKempSports

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Bill Kemp: Forget Whos on first, whos gonna catch it? - The Ledger

Its no stretch to say that a great deal of Tuukka Rasks ultimate legacy with the Bruins is tied up in the unprecedented 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs inside the bubble.

Sure, the 33-year-old is a Vezina Trophy finalist this season for the second time in his NHL career and is essentially in a two-man race with Winnipegs Connor Hellebuyck for the ultimate piece of goaltending hardware this season. The .929 save percentage and NHL-leading 2.25 goals against average speak for themselves about his dominance this year while largely splitting time with backup goalie Jaroslav Halak in a nearly equal split of playing time.

Truthfully, the regular season accolades go on and on for Rask as he continues to prove hes the best regular season goaltender in Bruins franchise history. Hes the all-time winningest goalie in Bruins history with 291 wins, and has the most games played (536), the most saves (13,711) and the best save percentage (.922) in the Bs nearly 100-year franchise history.

Get the latest news and analysis on all of your teams from NBC Sports Bostonby downloading the My Teams App

Even his playoff stats are excellent as Rask ranks seventh all-time in NHL history with a .9268 save percentage in the postseason and is the active leader among all NHL goalies with a .9218 career save percentage in the regular season over his 13-year career.

He ranks third all-time in career save percentage behindDominik Hasek and Johnny Bower, both Hall of Famers. Clearly, the reduced workload paired with Jaroslav Halak has been a big deal to Rask in the last couple of seasons as hes approaching his mid-thirties. The reduced workload led directly to playing at a Vezina Trophy level all season and allowed Rask to carry the Bruins with a .934 save percentage during last springs run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Rask is even beginning to push his way into the Hockey Hall of Fame conversation as the career numbers pile up for him.

But there is an unfinished business element to his decade-long legacy with the Black and Gold after falling short in some extremely big moments for the Bruins during the postseason.

You look at as a process and when youre a young guy, youre just looking to make a name for yourself, said Rask. And then as the years go by you kind of learn different things about your game and about yourself, and what you need to do and what not [to do].

In the years where I needed to play a lot of games I had to focus on keeping my mind sharp and my body rested, and years where I didnt have to play a lot of games then you have more practice time. I think over the years its a balance of keeping your mind and body in sync. And you try to improve your game every day and every year and then before you know it ten years have gone by. You say wow and its been a long time when it doesnt feel like its been that long.

Rask has won a Stanley Cup as a backup to Tim Thomas in 2011, but the Finnish netminder has not been able to carry the Bruins to hockey immortality as the franchise guy. He has yet to get the Bs over the top in two tries at the Stanley Cup Final in 2013 and 2019 and the Bruins enter this postseason as the favorites after winning the Presidents'Trophy during the regular season.

If you look at the way our team is built, were built for a long run into the playoffs, said Rask. Unfortunately, we were heading to a direction when the league, and the whole world, came to a stop. Now we have to go back to building that chemistry with the same group as when it stopped. Obviously, winning a Stanley Cup or any trophy in Boston is a big thing.

Thats something we need to try for and thats our goal. We just have to adapt and build that groove and chemistry back up. The way I look at it is that all bets are off because everybody has been off for the last four months and were starting from scratch.

The Bruins' core group isnt getting any younger and neither is Rask as he enters the final year of his contract with Boston next season, so this may be the last, best chance for all of them to win one more before the championship window begins to close.

If Rask once again falls short this postseason, fair or not, it will cement a legacy that he was never able to carry the Bruins over the Cup threshold as Tim Thomas did almost 10 years ago when he pitched shutouts in Game 7 of both the Eastern Conference Final and then again in the Stanley Cup Final against the Vancouver Canucks. If he's not ready to play after the long layoff and the Bruins exit the postseason quickly, it will be even worse for all parties involved.

If Rask is able to play as he did last postseason, when he would have won the Conn Smythe Trophy had the Bs won Game 7 against St. Louis, and finish it off by playing well when the Bruins need him most in a Game 7-type situation, then it will be the crowning achievement in whats already been an exceptional regular season career. It could mean entry to the Hockey Hall of Fame for Rask, and it certainly would clinch his status as the best goalie in the nearly 100-year history of the Bruins franchise.

But all of it comes down to how things go for the goaltender and the Bs hockey club that takes many of its cues from exactly how he is playing between the pipes.

So, yeah, theres quite a bit riding on how things go for Rask in his go-round for the Bruins in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

See original here:

Haggerty: Rask's legacy will very much be impacted by this playoff run - NBC Sports Boston

Liverpool sealed immortality in 2019/20, finally winning the Premier League title. But what was each players standout contribution to the season?

Last August, the Reds went into the new campaign as Champions League holders, but the holy grail of a league title had evaded them once more.

What we have witnessed in the 11 months since has been truly remarkable, with 99 points amassed and a worldwide pandemic halting Liverpools title charge for nearly three months.

Jurgen Klopp and his players have gained legendary status forever, with so many individuals coming up with the goods at different times.

Heres what we think was each Liverpool players best moment of 2019/20.

(NB: Excludes those to have made fewer than 10 appearances in all competitions, which rules out the likes of Harvey Elliott, Caoimhin Kelleher and Andy Lonergan.)

Alissons assist against Man United was a standout moment of the entire campaign, as he fired an inch-perfect pass to the onrushing Mohamed Salah.

The Brazilian then raced the full length of the pitch for good measure, producing a world-class knee slide as he celebrated with his team-mate.

Adrian has had an up-and-down first season at Liverpool, but he contributed greatly in the UEFA Super Cup.

The Spaniard saved Tammy Abrahams must-score penalty in the shootout win over Chelsea, sealing yet another trophy for the Reds.

Trent Alexander-Arnolds meteoric rise continued in 2019/20, as he cemented his reputation as one of world footballs most exciting young players.

His performance at Leicester on Boxing Day was arguably the best individual display of the season, with a goal, two assists and a clean sheet to his name.

Neco Williams has come of age this season and he now looks an able deputy to Alexander-Arnold.

The teenager made his Premier League debut against Crystal Palace in Junean immensely proud moment for a huge talent.

Joe Gomez is very much Virgil van Dijks junior partner at the heart of Liverpools defence, but he became the leader in the FA Cup clash with Everton.

He was magnificent in the 1-0 over the Blues, performing immaculately alongside the inexperienced Nat Phillips.

Van Dijk has repeated last seasons brilliance, becoming an ever-present in the Premier League for a second season in a row.

The Dutchmans header at home to United has to be his best moment, although his incredible headed control to himself against Brighton epitomised his class.

Injuries have again disrupted Joel Matips season, but he was in imperious form at the start of the campaign.

The centre-backs bullet header at home to Arsenal in August set Liverpool on their way to a resounding 3-1 victory.

Lovren leaves Anfield this summer and his season was often miss rather than hit.

Thats not to say there havent been key contributions, however, not least in the 3-1 win over Man City at Anfield, when he was a rock at the back.

His brilliant assist against Chelsea comes close, but Andy Robertsons equaliser at Aston Villa in November was a big moment in the season.

Without his header, and the Sadio Mane strike that followed, the title race could so easily have panned out differently on a day when City looked to have narrowed the gap to just four points.

The win over City was a day that highlighted Liverpools superiority over their rivals and Fabinho was a monster in the middle of the park.

The Brazilians stunning strike opened the scoring he would score a similar effort at home to Palace, too.

Theres only one winner here.

Jordan Henderson became the first-ever Liverpool captain to lift the Premier League trophy it is an image that he will be remembered for forever.

That Steven Gerrard-shaped shadow looming over him is no more.

It might not have been pretty, but Gini Wijnaldums winner at Sheffield United was priceless.

The 29-year-olds volley squeezed through the hands of Dean Henderson to send the away end wild, as Liverpool maintained their 100 percent record in gritty fashion.

When it comes to scoring a penalty, would you trust anyone more than James Milner?

The veterans last-gasp spot-kick against Leicester at Anfield was another enormous moment in the title race, as Liverpools relentless march to glory continued.

Naby Keita has been one of Liverpools star men after the restart, having blown hot and cold prior to it.

The Guineans thunderous strike against Chelsea was his best goal yet for the Reds and further suggests he is on the verge of becoming an increasingly key figure.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain chipped in with eight goals in 2019/20, including a beauty against former club Arsenal in the League Cup.

It was his gorgeous outside-of-the-foot finish away to Genk that was the pick of the bunch, though, with the shot hitting the underside of the crossbar for good measure.

Adam Lallana departs Liverpool as a hugely popular figure, with his impact off the pitch valued greatly by Klopp.

His late equaliser away to United was crucial in its own right, however, preserving the Reds unbeaten record at the time.

This is an obvious one, isnt it?

Scoring in the Premier League against Villa was a great moment for Curtis Jones, as was netting the winning penalty in front of the Kop against Arsenal in the League Cup.

But both pale into insignificance compared to bagging a brilliant winner at home to Everton in the FA Cup.

A dream moment for any boyhood Red.

Xherdan Shaqiris influence at Liverpool has steadily dwindled, but he has still chipped in sporadically.

The Swiss slid home a lovely finish against Everton in the league, on a night when he was at his unpredictable, entertaining best.

Takumi Minamino has yet to make a noticeable contribution for Liverpool, so we will go with his outstanding performance for Salzburg at Anfield.

It was one of the best displays by an opposition player in years, including a well-taken volley.

The 2-0 win over United felt like the day the title was clinched and Salahs aforementioned goal was the crowning moment of the match.

He latched onto Alissons long pass in supreme fashion, before finishing well past David De Gea in front of an ecstatic Kop.

The celebration wasnt too shabby, either.

Mane is a strong Player of the Year contender, producing so many major contributions along the way.

It is his stoppage-time winner at Villa that will arguably be remembered as Liverpools biggest goal of the season, however, with the Senegalese steering a header into the far corner.

It may not have been the most ruthless season of Roberto Firminos career, but he still scored the goal that clinched the Club World Cup back in December.

The 28-year-old finishing with aplomb in the 1-0 win over Flamengo, further etching his name into Liverpool folklore.

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From Alissons assist to Origi lobbing Pickford Every Liverpool players best moment of 2019/20 - This Is Anfield

The dismissible

When an event is unexplained, it cant be repeated. Cubas astonishing internationalism, the good news of the pandemic, is talked about (outside Cuba) as if a miracle, without cause. Support grows for the Nobel Prize nomination but the justification for the Henry Reeve Brigade, established in 2005, is left out. The explanation is ideas.

It is urgent according to Eddie Glaude in a new book on James Baldwin. Well, he doesnt exactly say that. But for Baldwin, what kind of human beings we aspire to be is most important and the explanation for Cubas success is precisely that. In Zona Roja, Enrique Ubieta Gmez says Cuban medical workers fighting Ebola in 2014 know about existence: We exist interdependently. Ubieta describes Cuban internationalism as an inescapable ethic. Once youve lived it, you cannot not live it. You know human connection a fact of science and you learn its energy.

Ubietas explanation is existential. Baldwin used similar language. In 1963, he wrote, Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we imprison ourselves to deny the fact of death, which is the only fact we have. Glaude supports Baldwins call to begin again, with the America idea, shedding its old ideas. He might look South. Latin American independistas raised precisely Baldwins question: how to resist the lie at the heart of the [imperialist] nation when it is about love, life and death, that is, everything.

Truth is not enough. If Galileo had just provided truths, he wouldnt have been condemned. Galileo became threatening when he made those truths plausible with a larger picture of cosmic humility, contradicting the establishments comforting identity. One thing we might learn from Galileo, according to astrophysicist Mario Livio in a new book, is that he didnt just observe truths and tell stories about them. His phenomenal capacity for abstraction let him see where those truths led.

Truths are easy when unexplained. Consider Olga Tokarczuks 'Flights'. It gives truth about people traveling everywhere escaping their own lives, and then being safely escorted right back to them. We see people running through airports with flushed red faces, their straw hats and souvenir drums and masks and shell necklaces. All this moving around in a chaotic fashion [to] increase their likelihood of being in the right place at the right time even has meaning. A travel psychologist explains that such chaos appears to call into question the existence of a self understood non-relationally.

It is funny to expect deeper meaning regarding people moving around in a chaotic fashion to increase their likelihood of being in the right place at the right time from a travel psychologist at an airport between flights. We laugh because we do in fact expect that, absurdly.

We get truth from 'Flights' but its dismissible. Annushka, for instance, escapes her unbearable life : to go, sway, walk, run, take flight. She finds happiness when she does not have a single thought in her head, a single care, a single expectation or hope. Shes happy, free of her identity, her life, her responsibilities. But she is also cold, hungry, dirty, alone, tired, and homeless. The image is silly.

In fact, the idea underlying it is silly, namely, that to have no thoughts, you should have no identity, no responsibilities. Its as pervasive as friction, from which Galileo abstracted to get truth about inertia. In fact, to be happy with no expectations or hope, as Annushka is, is not silly. But understanding how that is so requires a phenomenal capacity for abstraction from social expectations.

'Flights' doesnt do that. It responds to an expectation identified by Cuban philosopher and diplomat Raul Roa in 1953 as the worlds gravest crisis. It was indeed the America idea: Human beings imprisoned in discrete selves, defined by action and results. It is not humanist, as claimed, Roa argues, because it omits the fact of death, as Baldwin recognized. There were few dissenters to the man of action during the Renaissance, and Roa saw there would now be none because of US power.

Baldwin tried to escape that power by living outside the US. He struggled with what it had made of him. But American power follows one everywhere.

Emily Dickinson, the greatest poet in the English language, abstracts from expectations 'Flights' dignifies. According to biographer Martha Ackman, Dickinson lived as if busyness and travel is not progress. She never apologized for, nor defended, the priority she gave to silence and solitude. As result, we get truth from her poetry: about what it means to be human. For, she was in fact not detached from a world she never visited physically or had any desire to.

She lived as if isolation and detachment are not synonymous. But to know where this leads, you must abstract from the America idea that equates human worth and utility. Comfortably, though, Dickinson is odd Americas most enigmatic and mysterious poet and her way of life therefore dismissible.

'Lord of all the Dead', like 'Flights', leaves comforting old ideas in place. Javier Cercas tells the story of his great-uncle who fought a useless war for Franko. His memoire does give truth but doesnt explain it, so his story, which for him is just a story, cannot itself explain, and is dismissible.

Achilles in 'The Odyssey' is lord of all the dead because he died young and beautiful, and gained immortality. That his great uncle was politically mistaken, theres no doubt. But was he a human failure? Cercas answer is no. At one level, Cercas rejects the Greeks ideal of beautiful death because it denies the existential reality of decrepitude: There is no escaping it. But on the other hand, Cercas assumes the separation of mind and body that makes beautiful death worth speculating about: the idea that the body decays and that the mind somehow escapes natures universal laws of causation.

He ends the book speculating about immortality. Nobody dies, he writes. Were just transformed, physically. He himself, at the book's end, is in the eternal present. It doesnt explain what needs to be explained, given the real story of this book which is what Cercas calls the silent wake of hatred, resentment and violence left over by the war. The silent wake is explained by ignorance precisely of shared humanity Cercas names but doesnt explain. It is decrepitude: the fact of death.

It is known by every human being. Cercas tells a story about his great uncle but denies the significance of that story because he tells it with the old ideas in place, the ones Glaude says need to be shed, like swaddling clothes to begin again as Baldwin urged. Glaude is not sure it can happen. But it has happened. Thats the good news about the Henry Reeve Medical brigade, if it were explained.

On Friday, March 20, Cuban president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, speaking nationally, outlined new measures to slow the pandemic. The good news, he said, is that Cuban people supported the decision to accept the Braemar, a UK cruise ship refused docking elsewhere because of infected passengers. A century ago, another ship sought aid from Cuba. Its passengers were Jews. It was turned away.

That, Diaz-Canel said, was before the Revolution. The good news was the expectation that the Braemar should be helped. That expectation is the success of the Cuban revolution. It explains the Henry Reeve Brigade. Expectations come from practises, from what is lived. Diaz-Canel then said, one day the truth will be known. But what truth?

Excerpted from: 'Cubas Nobel Nomination and Baldwins Call to Begin Again'.

Courtesy: Counterpunch.org

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The dismissible - The News International

Classic works such as Odyssey by Homer, The Tempest by William Shakespeare and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe tell about mysterious distant islands. These islands are usually exotic and inaccessible homes to treasures, spirits and immortals - providing the heroes with many strange adventures. From at least the third century BC, the Chinese culture regarded islands as sacred homes to the elixir of immortality. All these enticements then inspired a trend of voyages in search of sacred islands.

The early history of the quests in search of the sacred islands to gain immortality came to dominate imperial Chinese folklore of islands and the ocean. The narrative style of these quests first developed in the Ancient Chinese Classic of Mountains and Seas , acompilation of Chinese mythology, mythical geographyand cultural account of pre-QinChina.As Chinas maritime activity increased, fictions about islands of adventure gained popularity. This trend, in turn, inspired another trend of constructing artificial islands in imperial palace gardens.

Mount Penglai (Mountain of Immortals) by Tomioka Tessai (1924) ( Public Domain )

An influential fourth century BC Chinesephilosopher, Zhuang Zhou, tells of the immortals. The immortals are perfect beings who dwell in faraway islands, celebrated in poetry and paintings for their beauty and bountiful nature.

These islands became a favorite subject of Chinese and Japanese landscape painting. They had neither winter nor misery. However, they had high mountains, lush vegetation, clear blue waters as well as beautiful flora and fauna. The plants in these islands had magical qualities such as restoring youth and offering immortality to those who consume them. Other magical richness included waters of life, life-prolonging trees and enchanted fruits that can heal any ailment, grant eternal youth and even raise the dead.

The three most famous islands in Qin and Han Dynasty literary works are Penglai, Fangzhang and Yingzhou. Reports of these three sacred islands first appear in the late second centuryBC Taishi Official Book , better known as Records of the Grand Historian in which King Wei, King Xuan of Qi State, and King Zhao of Yan State sent their officials to look for the three sacred islands - Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou.

Penglai (detail), depiction of one of the mythical islands by Yuan Yao (18th century) ( Public Domain )

Seen from afar, the islands are covered in clouds. When regular people approached these islands, a disastrous wind would hit and force the boat to leave

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Martini Fisher is a Mythographer and author of many books, including Time Maps: Gods, Kings and Prophets | Check out MartiniFisher.com

Top Image : A 19th century ukiyo-e by Kuniyoshi depicting the ships of the great sea expedition sent around 219 BC by the first Chinese Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, to find the legendary home of the immortals, the Mount Penglai, and retrieve the elixir of immortality. ( Public Domain)

ByMartini Fisher

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Sacred Islands Of Exotic Eastern Gods And Elixir Of The Immortals - Ancient Origins

Its no stretch to say that a great deal of Tuukka Rasks ultimate legacy with the Bruins is tied up in the unprecedented 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs inside the bubble.

Sure, the 33-year-old is a Vezina Trophy finalist this season for the second time in his NHL career and is essentially in a two-man race with Winnipegs Connor Hellebuyck for the ultimate piece of goaltending hardware this season. The .929 save percentage and NHL-leading 2.25 goals against average speak for themselves about his dominance this year while largely splitting time with backup goalie Jaroslav Halak in a nearly equal split of playing time.

Truthfully, the regular season accolades go on and on for Rask as he continues to prove hes the best regular season goaltender in Bruins franchise history. Hes the all-time winningest goalie in Bruins history with 291 wins, and has the most games played (536), the most saves (13,711) and the best save percentage (.922) in the Bs nearly 100-year franchise history.

Get the latest news and analysis on all of your teams from NBC Sports Bostonby downloading the My Teams App

Even his playoff stats are excellent as Rask ranks seventh all-time in NHL history with a .9268 save percentage in the postseason and is the active leader among all NHL goalies with a .9218 career save percentage in the regular season over his 13-year career.

He ranks third all-time in career save percentage behindDominik Hasek and Johnny Bower, both Hall of Famers. Clearly, the reduced workload paired with Jaroslav Halak has been a big deal to Rask in the last couple of seasons as hes approaching his mid-thirties. The reduced workload led directly to playing at a Vezina Trophy level all season and allowed Rask to carry the Bruins with a .934 save percentage during last springs run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Rask is even beginning to push his way into the Hockey Hall of Fame conversation as the career numbers pile up for him.

But there is an unfinished business element to his decade-long legacy with the Black and Gold after falling short in some extremely big moments for the Bruins during the postseason.

You look at as a process and when youre a young guy, youre just looking to make a name for yourself, said Rask. And then as the years go by you kind of learn different things about your game and about yourself, and what you need to do and what not [to do].

In the years where I needed to play a lot of games I had to focus on keeping my mind sharp and my body rested, and years where I didnt have to play a lot of games then you have more practice time. I think over the years its a balance of keeping your mind and body in sync. And you try to improve your game every day and every year and then before you know it ten years have gone by. You say wow and its been a long time when it doesnt feel like its been that long.

Rask has won a Stanley Cup as a backup to Tim Thomas in 2011, but the Finnish netminder has not been able to carry the Bruins to hockey immortality as the franchise guy. He has yet to get the Bs over the top in two tries at the Stanley Cup Final in 2013 and 2019 and the Bruins enter this postseason as the favorites after winning the Presidents'Trophy during the regular season.

If you look at the way our team is built, were built for a long run into the playoffs, said Rask. Unfortunately, we were heading to a direction when the league, and the whole world, came to a stop. Now we have to go back to building that chemistry with the same group as when it stopped. Obviously, winning a Stanley Cup or any trophy in Boston is a big thing.

Thats something we need to try for and thats our goal. We just have to adapt and build that groove and chemistry back up. The way I look at it is that all bets are off because everybody has been off for the last four months and were starting from scratch.

The Bruins' core group isnt getting any younger and neither is Rask as he enters the final year of his contract with Boston next season, so this may be the last, best chance for all of them to win one more before the championship window begins to close.

If Rask once again falls short this postseason, fair or not, it will cement a legacy that he was never able to carry the Bruins over the Cup threshold as Tim Thomas did almost 10 years ago when he pitched shutouts in Game 7 of both the Eastern Conference Final and then again in the Stanley Cup Final against the Vancouver Canucks. If he's not ready to play after the long layoff and the Bruins exit the postseason quickly, it will be even worse for all parties involved.

If Rask is able to play as he did last postseason, when he would have won the Conn Smythe Trophy had the Bs won Game 7 against St. Louis, and finish it off by playing well when the Bruins need him most in a Game 7-type situation, then it will be the crowning achievement in whats already been an exceptional regular season career. It could mean entry to the Hockey Hall of Fame for Rask, and it certainly would clinch his status as the best goalie in the nearly 100-year history of the Bruins franchise.

But all of it comes down to how things go for the goaltender and the Bs hockey club that takes many of its cues from exactly how he is playing between the pipes.

So, yeah, theres quite a bit riding on how things go for Rask in his go-round for the Bruins in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

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Hack job? What's the deal with David Pastrnak's latest tweet? - NBC Sports Boston

A ripe peach tender to the touch, floral and honeyed in the nose, slurpy on first bite is a sensory experience like few others. And that river of nectar flooding the tongue? For a few minutes, I am a hummingbird in flight, buzzing with unbridled joy.

If you can relate, then you know that the way to eat a peach in unadulterated bliss is over the sink just you and the peach having a moment with the juices running down your arms and the faucet at the ready for clean-up duty.

For many a peach lover, baking cobbler, churning ice cream and putting up jam are summertime traditions. Personally, I find the peach so teeth-tingling sweet in its natural state that I crave little adornment. Unless, of course, were going savory.

In fact, that inherent sweetness plays well with big and bold flavors typically reserved for the savory world including fresh basil and mint, chile peppers, onions and ginger root. Peaches like the smoke of charcoal and enjoy being grilled themselves or paired with grilled chicken, pork or shrimp.

Just days ago, I got to see for myself just how far savory I could take the sweet peach. Inspiration came while leafing through my dog-eared copy of Ripe, an ode to fruit by British food writer Nigel Slater.

In his essay on peaches, Slater shares, in his signature notebook style, a recipe for a peach-forward salad amped up with bold and beautiful basil and mint, sweet peppers and a kicky Viet-style dressing of fish sauce, limes and chile peppers.

Slater calls for shredded chicken, which is delightful, but if chicken is neither interesting nor available, the salad will still be a riot of color and flavor. Its that good.

As I built the salad, I added cucumber, a few cherry tomatoes and raw peanuts, along with some backyard romaine to line our plates. My husband envisions a side of rice or rice noodles for the next time. And as long as peaches are gracing farmstand shelves, there will definitely be a next time.

A salad of peaches and herbs (and maybe chicken) with a Viet-style dressing

Adapted from Ripe by Nigel Slater.

Makes 4 servings.

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Preheat the oven to 400 F.

In a small bowl, stir together the spices and oil, and rub all over the chicken. Place on a sheet pan or in a baking dish and roast until golden and cooked through, about 30 minutes. (This step can also be done on the grill and can be done in advance.) Remove the oven and let cool while you prep the rest of the salad.

Make the dressing: In a small bowl, stir together the fish sauce, lime and sugar with a fork until the sugar is dissolved. Add the chile pepper and scallions, stir and set aside under ready to serve. The flavors deepen as the dressing sits.

Slice the peaches in half, remove the pits and cut into 1/2-inch slices. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the pepper strips and the herbs. Resist the urge to stir.

Shred or thinly slice the chicken off the bone and add to the peach mixture. Add any of the optional add-ons and gently stir until evenly distributed.

When ready to serve, gradually add half of the dressing, stirring until well coated.

If using the lettuce, lay on a platter or on the bottom of a bowl, then place salad on top. Sprinkle with peanuts, if using, and bring the remaining dressing to the table.

The peach is an ancient Chinese relic, dating to fifth century B.C. when it was mentioned throughout a collection of poetry by Confucius. The peach was highly revered and continues to play an important role in the folklore of the Chinese people. Known as tao, the peach is the most

sacred plant of the Chinese Taoists, and is considered a magic fruit and a symbol of immortality, reflected in the Peach Blossom Spring, an essay by a Chinese poet during the fourth century B.C.

From China, the peach traveled to Persia and then onto Greece, and into the rest of Europe, thanks to peach lover Alexander the Great.

The peach came to Mexico in the early to mid-1500s via Spanish explorers. Throughout the 1600s, the peach traveled north from coastal Georgia and north Florida and was cultivated in the colonies of Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey.

First things first: Inhale (with social distancing in mind, of course). If you don't catch a whiff of that signature perfume, move on to the next peach. A ready-to-eat peach should be fragrant and invite you in.

For immediate consumption, choose fruit that has some tactile give, (similar to the fleshy part of your palm), but also that is free of bruises and boo-boos. On the other hand, if a peach is rock hard, it probably has been picked too early often the case for long-distance fruit and should be left behind.

Even for less-than-perfectly-ripe fruit, carefully transport your precious cargo home because it is highly perishable. I remember from my days working a fruit stand how wed have to pay special attention to the peaches on hot days to make sure they did not grow moldy beards.

Once home, keep peaches out of the refrigerator and out of direct sunlight. On the other hand, to buy some time for a ripe peach, stick it in the refrigerator, where it stops ripening. Caveat: Refrigeration invites moisture and shriveling.

Although tempting to place several almost-ripe peaches in a pretty bowl, keep in mind that they can mold even if rubbing up against each other.

Freeze for later

If peach season feels too short, consider freezing a bunch for later. Unlike berries, which can be frozen individually, peaches need a little more processing before the deep freeze. Drop the fruit into boiling water for about 45 seconds then into a bowl of ice water. This helps ease peeling, which is recommended. Once cool, slice in half and remove the pit. Cut each half into two or three pieces and place on a sheet pan to dry. Drizzle a small amount of fresh lemon juice on top and place in freezer until solid. Pack in freezer-safe containers or bags.

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Peaches are now in season; here's a recipe to enjoy the fruit with a savory salad - Fly Magazine

Kathryn Hahn is playing a "nosy neighbor" in WandaVision - could she be Agatha Harkness, a link to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?

Kathryn Hahnwill play an important role inWandaVision - and she could help link the upcoming Disney+ series toDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The future has never looked brighter for Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch; not only is she co-star of her own Disney+ limited series, but this will set her up for a major role inDoctor Strange 2 as well.

Ever secretive, Marvel is keeping their plans for Scarlet Witch under wraps. It's safe to assume the studio is imitating the comics by retconning Wanda as a sorceress, as hinted by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige himself. But will Wanda be an ally of the future Sorcerer Supreme, or will she be the cause of the "Multiverse of Madness," her powers wreaking havoc as they did in the comics? Whatever Scarlet Witch's arc may be,WandaVision will set it up, so all attention is focused on the Disney+ show.

Related:The MCU's Doctor Strange Totally Wasted The Time Stone

Particular attention has focused onKathryn Hahn, who joined the cast ofWandaVision in an undisclosed role. She's confirmed to be playing a "nosy neighbor," which sounds tame until you remember the kind of seriesWandaVision appears to be riffing on. Nosy neighbors are a crucial, frequently antagonistic force in sitcoms and soap operas. That's led to intense speculationHahn could actually be playing Agatha Harkness, a key ally of Scarlet Witch in the comics, who is frequently at odds with Wanda but ultimately became her mentor.

In the comics, Agatha Harkness was one of Marvel's most powerful witches. She claimed to be old enough to remember the fall of Atlantis over 10,000 years ago, and gained immortality through forbidden magic. In more modern times, the ruthless witch moved to America, and was involved in the slaughter of witches in New Salem. In fact, she turned several of her sisters over to the authorities, currying their favor and claiming she was culling the weak. Agatha Harkness became a governess after the Second World War, and was introduced when she was hired to look after Franklin Richards, the son of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. Since then, she's played a key role as a mentor for some of Marvel's most powerful young heroes, or for nascent witches like Wanda Maximoff. Her relationship with Wanda was frequently antagonistic, and in the end Scarlet Witch killed her. In a perfectly comic-book twist, Agatha's ghost currently haunts Wanda, serving as her advisor.

While her exact role is unconfirmed, set photos suggestHahn is indeed playing the MCU's Agatha Harkness, but if so she'll probably be switched up a little; Marvel is unlikely to make her a near-immortal, for example, having already explored that trope with the Ancient One inDoctor Strange. More to the point, it's reasonable to assume Agatha wouldn't just be some random mystic, but rather would have strong ties to the magical community - perhaps meaning she had been trained by the Ancient One at Kamar-Taj. This means she could potentially serve as the bridge betweenWandaVision andDoctor Strange 2; the series could end with Wanda's magical potential revealed, and Agatha deciding to take her to Kamar-Taj for training. That plot would be a simple, organic one, and it would explain why Marvel hired such a notable actress to play a "nosy neighbor."

More:Doctor Strange 2: Every Theory About What Starts The Multiverse of Madness

Key Release Dates

The Mandalorian: Where Han Solo Is During The Events Of The Show

Tom Bacon is one of Screen Rant's staff writers, and he's frankly amused that his childhood is back - and this time it's cool. Tom's focus tends to be on the various superhero franchises, as well as Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Star Trek; he's also an avid comic book reader. Over the years, Tom has built a strong relationship with aspects of the various fan communities, and is a Moderator on some of Facebook's largest MCU and X-Men groups. Previously, he's written entertainment news and articles for Movie Pilot.A graduate of Edge Hill University in the United Kingdom, Tom is still strongly connected with his alma mater; in fact, in his spare time he's a voluntary chaplain there. He's heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will quickly learn that he's interested in British politics as well.

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MCU Phase 4 Theory: Character Who Connects WandaVision To Doctor Strange 2 - Screen Rant

You know the old curse: May you live in interesting times.

As the pandemic rages, there seems to be an all-pervasive sense of sadness in the air. Americans are less happy than theyve been since happiness started to be measured, says New York Times columnistDavid Brooks.

It isnt just the one plague. Theres also a sense of dread about the political scene and the disorientation about how Americas overdue reckoning with racism and the legacy of slavery will play out. It seems almost impossible to live ones life outside of that troika of troubles these days.

Its not a cloud of doom, certainly, more a feeling of fraughtness. Is the trip to the grocery store a journey to COVID country? Will the 2020 election be a repeat of 2016 despite the polls? What is our proper response to the killing of George Floyd and the rise of Black Lives Matter?

But those are only the obvious sources of where we stand this summer. The existential grip on our senses and our place in the world is more pervasive and melancholy. On a personal level I feel it listening to Bob Dylans great new album, Rough and Rowdy Ways; reacting to deaths in my old Boston Globe family; reading the books on my nightstand, from Albert Camus The Plague to Ford Madox Fords The Good Soldier (which he wanted to call The Saddest Story); and, more obviously, watching the nightly news.

Yet none of this is crushing. In some way, its even inspiriting. Take "The Plague," speaking of existentialism and the pandemic. Although written in part as a post-war metaphor for the Nazis and their enablers in Vichy France, Camus always meant for it to speak to future generations.

Seems like he got his wish. There are the obvious parallels between the shutdown of the Algeriantown of Oran because of a rat-born virus and todays pandemic. Such as the line Stupidity has a knack of getting its way. Or the way Camus describes the war between the individualists and those who argue that the only way of defeating the plague is to realize that were all in this together, which President Trump acknowledgedafter months of denial.

Then theres Camus life-long rebellion against the silence of God. Just as prayer is useless in The Plague, religion is downright lethal against the amoral randomness of the pandemic. Gatherings for prayer, in fact, are among the most hard-hit in America and the world, regardless of religion.

The ineffectiveness of prayer could drive one to despair, particularly if one is a true believer, but the lessons for Camus are different. We have to forge our own meaning and morality rather than rely on puritanical religious bodies. Another lesson is that we need to recognize the front-line workers and scientists. Dr. Rieux in The Plague and Ed, a paramedic in the wrenching play "The Line" from the Public Theater, eschew the idea of heroism, but its Dr. Fauci, I mean Dr. Rieux, who proves to be the shaman of Oran. For all the sadness in the world, there is a resistance to plagues and self-aggrandizing politicians that is inspiring. You can say the same thing about how Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements have turned tragedy into galvanized political action today.

The pandemic also has those of us of a certain age thinking about our own mortality. Three friends from the Boston Globe died during the pandemic, though none from the plague. (A great guy, Ron Hutson, did die of COVID-19, but I unfortunately didnt know him well.) I worked at the paper from 1971 to 2006 and copy editorsLouis Bell, Al Rossi and writerBob Levey defined what a fun, extended family the paper was when it operated on Morrissey Boulevard. Normally, a Globe funeral or memorial celebration turns into a kind of alumni/alumnae party with remembrances galore, often fueled by adult beverages.

I can imagine the gales of laughter about Bell sending a smoke bomb down on what was called the bunwarmer to his antagonists in the composing room; Rossi thinking he was sending an email about a coworker farting to a friend only to discover he had sent it to the wind-passer; and Levey telling jokes with the panache of Mort Sahl.

Still, theres something almost holy about remembering them by myself. They kind of encapsulate my 35 years at the Globe Bell driving me and my roommates home in the 70s where hed get stoned and often pass out on the couch; Rossi and me having a wild weekend in Las Vegas in the 80s; telling Levey a joke that made him roar in the 90s when we both made career changes and became critics in the Living Arts section, he with food and me with television. These memories are somehow dearer to me for thinking about them in confinement they define me as well as them. Obviously Im sad that theyre gone, but the smile on my face when I think of them is different than those gales of laughter at the memorial services that weren't to be.

And, of course, their deaths presage my mortality as well. Its hard not to think about that while readingJohn Williams "Stoner" or Joseph O'Connors "Shadowplay" as protagonists (including Bram Stoker in "Shadowplay") reflect on what their lives have amounted to or come down to. (Talk about sad, Stoker was not a literary success. "Dracula" rose from the dead 10 years after he died.)

Bob Dylans Rough and Rowdy Ways has mortality writ large from the opening lines Today and tomorrow, and yesterday, too/ The flowers are dyin like all things do to the final 17-minute "Murder Most Foul," ostensibly about the assassination of John Kennedy.

Almost every song speaks in stoical terms of loneliness, bitterness, sad guitars, dark days, killing frost, the age of the Antichrist and approaching death. Yet the whole album is both consolation and celebration. It is, among other things, a celebration of the Anglo-American 20th-century songbook, with Beethoven, Chopin and Liberace thrown in for good measure. Name a musical strain worth celebrating and its in Rough and Rowdy Ways, the title nodding Dylans head to Jimmie Rodgers and continuing through Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Presley, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Etta James, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Oscar Peterson and countless great jazz pianists, Sun Records, gospel, Leonard Cohen, Rick Nelson, the Everly Brothers, Rodgers & Hammerstein, the Beatles and the Stones and countless others. (The 21st-century songbook is for others to write, Dylan implied in a recent New York Times interview with Douglas Brinkley.)

Are Dylans references just name-dropping? No. Its a look back at his life, his life in song, the life of America in the 20th and 21st centuries and what lives they were and are. Hes a man of many muses and many moods, as he says in I Contain Multitudes. The influence of Walt Whitmans Leaves of Grass is everywhere in Rough and Rowdy Ways.

And like Whitman hes also a man of contradictions. Some observers have said that the album sounds like a farewell, but as one critic observed in the 1970s, many of his songs are suitable for both funerals and weddings. Like Camus and his Dr. Rieux, Dylan has to embrace the sadness of his days in order to come out the other side in a search for meaning and a kind of immortality.

As he sings in I Contain Multitudes:

I go right to the edge, I go right to the endI go right to where all things lost are made good again.

So for all the sadness and intimations of mortality that he faces in Rough and Rowdy Ways, there is a full embrace of life in all its melancholy and all its merriment.

Robert F. Kennedy makes a cameo in Murder Most Foul. RFK has been cited as the person who popularized the "interesting times" quote, in a 1966 address in South Africa: There is a Chinese curse which says 'May he live in interesting times.' Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history.

Though South Africa was still in the grip of apartheid, Kennedy delivered the plea to end discrimination on what he called a Day of Affirmation. We, too, live in interesting times and its up to us, like Kennedy and Camus, to see it not as a curse but as a personal and political affirmation.

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From Camus' 'The Plague' To Dylan's 'Rough And Rowdy Days,' Sad Is The New Happy - WBUR