BSJ Daily Briefing 10.18.17: After the Gordon Hayward injury

Good morning ... actually, if you're a Celtics fan it's not that great of a morning after what happened early in that game.

A few random thoughts:

• Was watching the ALCS at the time of the Gordon Hayward injury, and didn't hit the play button for that long when you saw the reaction that everyone had. I'm sure there are more recent examples, but the first thing that came to my mind was the Joe Theismann injury I watched live on Monday Night Football when was I was 11 (1985). Obviously not the same seriousness, but the immediate reaction was similar.


• What a stomach punch for a team with such high hopes. I'm guessing for many fans it brought back memories of Tom Brady in 2008. You don't get much higher hopes than coming off an 18-1 season. Then, poof.


• I still have high hopes for this team. Best-case scenario: the kids, especially Jaylen Brown (who was awesome last night), grow up faster and Hayward can give them something in the postseason.


• The people who were down on the trade were worried about disrupting the intangibles of last year's team. To come back last night after what happened ... I think they'll be just fine in that regard, and they're more talented. I'll take the talent, thanks.


• Heard from a couple people (they were very much in the minority) that didn't like Dr. Jessica Flynn giving her opinion on the Hayward injury. I get it, but how is that all that different than an ex-football player (or me) giving his immediate opinion on a football play, even though they don't know the play call? Or a lawyer offering his opinion on a legal issue even if they don't know that the evidence is? Look, we're about providing informed analysis here. Dr. Flynn is expert in this field and the court will hear her opinion (sorry, I love quoting A Few Good Men, much to my wife's chagrin). People want to hear from an expert when a player gets injured, and I will provide that when I can. It's certainly better than the uninformed opinion you'd get from us journalists. What you do with the information is up to you. No one is pretending that what Dr. Flynn says is the Bible. It's just another piece of the puzzle for the fan to evaluate what's going on, as are their eyes and personal experiences. We're going to continue to use Dr. Flynn because she's knowledgeable, explains it a lot better than most doctors, is extremely accurate and uses just the right tact. I don't see the problem.


• Red Sox could have used/need a fabric guy like Todd Frazier. Not just because he's a Rutgers graduate, although that never, ever hurts #RURahRah


• How many more times are the Yankees going to bail out Joe Girardi?


• McKayla Maroney says she was one of the gymnasts molested by the team doctor ... and it happened before competing in the Olympics. Just sickening.

• Every Friday, Dr. Jessica Flynn will answer your injury questions about all four teams, or any other injury questions you have. You can submit those questions at any time via email (docflynn@bostonsportsjournal.com), or you can Tweet them to her here.


• Mr. PatsCap himself, Miguel Benzan, will also be doing a weekly mailbag with all your funky cap-related inquiries. Hit him up via email or Twitter.


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