Steve Buckley

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Steve Buckley

BOSTON - It wasn't just raucous cheering that was rattling around TD Garden Tuesday night. Listen closely, very closely, and you might have heard thousands of Boston Celtics fans breathing sighs of relief. Yes, the Celtics are on their way to the Eastern Conference semifinals against either the New York Knicks or Detroit Pistons, this after their series-clinching 120-89 victory over the Orlando Magic.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Steve Buckley

The first three-quarters of Bill Belichick's "CBS Mornings" interview hums along nicely. The first-year head coach of the University of North Carolina football team comes across as chatty and relaxed, just as any first-year college football coach would be if invited to sit down for some pleasant offseason national television exposure. It's the last couple of minutes of that interview that make even loyal "In Bill We Trust" fans wonder what's going on with Belichick.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Steve Buckley

You've probably already heard the chatter: The New England Patriots could be a playoff team in 2025. Woah. The Pats haven't been to the playoffs since the 2021 season. And that was a best-forgotten 47-17 wild-card loss to the Buffalo Bills, whose domination was such on that bone-chilling night at Highmark Stadium that they scored a touchdown on every one of their seven drives. In other words, if you're the type who likes to croon about the so-called Patriot Way, you have to go way back to Feb.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Steve Buckley

- Roger Goodell, NFL commissionerOK, so this is not 2015. It's 2025. And Goodell is no longer content with merely reading off the names and then otherwise staying out of the way. He now rides a bicycle around on the stage, as we saw in the run-up to the 2025 NFL Draft Thursday night in Green Bay, Wis.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Steve Buckley

For anyone driving along Cypress Street in West Monroe, La., a few weeks back, it was hard not to notice the giant billboard with Will Campbell's face on it. Of course. Civic displays of affection like this are not uncommon when a local football star is about to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. And make no mistake: The good people of Monroe, a city of some 46,000 located across the Ouachita River from West Monroe in northeast Louisiana, are popping their buttons over Campbell.