Shank stirs up sh*t because it is easier than trying to acertain the facts and analyze them before drawing a conclusion from them. His doucheyness is a convenience for his laziness.
A word about "ThanksMyra," responding to the previous posts. I think if you go back to that 1997 post-Parcells period, you will discover that it was Barnicle who started that with Kraft at the Globe, and that Shank, with his typical lack of originality, took it as his own for a while. I think it is correct that this was a play on "ThanksDad" applied to Paul Gaston, as someone else here mentioned, but "ThanksDad" was something that Barnicle had used himself previously in reference to others, and which he likely "borrowed" from Jimmy Breslin or Mike Royko, as was his tendency.
McDonough, for the record, was a native of Medford, not Southie. As with Mike Barnicle, Will was a Southie wannabe (Barnicle grew up in Lunenburg, if my memory is correct, it was somewhere out there and nowhere near the mean streets Mike ans Will so wanted their readers to think was their childhood home). It's not impossible that McDonough was friendly with serial killer and child molester Bulger, but it's more likely thst it was a put on; Will was a tough nut in the true sense of both words but loved to intimidate people and wasn't shy with the B.S. to do so. The Clayborn story is a good case; if it was true that Will kicked butt there, then why did he sue the Sullivan's for injuries he sustained (loom that one up, you won't find it in the Globe but it did happen).
