It has been very rare, as of late, to have a down year across the board in terms of Boston sports. 2013 saw the Red Sox defy all odds and win their third World Championship in ten years. The Bruins went to game six of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012, only to lose to a far superior Chicago Blackhawks team. That was by no means a failure. The year before that the Patriots were in the Super Bowl. Despite losing a game they should have won, it is difficult to call a Super Bowl appearance a disappointment. 2014, on the other hand, is an entirely different story. The Red Sox were on top of the world. Literally. They just won the World Series with their “new philosophy” and, as you may recall, “everything was awesome.” That did not last for long. After a rough start, the Sox went into panic mode and for some reason believed that bringing back light-hitting shortstop Stephen Drew would solve all their problems when, in fact, it only caused more problems, referring to the development of Xander Bogaerts. Once Drew failed as the savior and the Red Sox were at the bottom of the American League East, we saw a flurry of trades that sent four out of the five starters, including Jon Lester, to contending teams. The Red Sox season was over, and they had successfully gone worst-to-first-to-worst in a three year stretch. Next let’s take a look at the Bruins. Since their season runs from October to May/June, we can look at two separate seasons. The 2013-2014 season had the Bruins as the best team in hockey. The B’s had a league best 117 points and were the favorites to go to the Stanley Cup Finals in the Eastern Conference. However, a lack of finishing ability along with some questionable coaching decisions led to a second round elimination at the hands of the hated Montreal Canadiens. Yes, they won the Presidents Trophy, but that only further emphasizes the disappointment in losing in the second round. After a rough ending to the 2013-2014 season, the Bruins have not had the smoothest start to the new season. They lost their first line right-winger, Jarome Iginla, to the Colorado Avalanche on a contract that nobody expected them to match. However, they failed to replace him, and are now a team that has trouble scoring. They were also up against the cap, because general manager Peter Chiarelli likes to believe he is Oprah…you get a contact! You get a contract! Everybody gets a contract!!! It just so happens that those he is so willing to give contracts to are players like Chris Kelly. Fan favorite Johnny Boychuck, was not so lucky. Instead of trying to free up cap by unloading the contracts of Kelly, Adam McQuaid, and Gregory Campbell, fourth liners or fringe roster defensemen, he got rid of a second-pairing defenseman for a few second round picks. The Bruins, barring a move similar to the Tyler Seguin trade (but the other way around so the B’s would be getting the star), are not going anywhere this year. They will be middle of the pack: not good enough to win a championship, maybe even missing the playoffs, but also not bad enough to land one of the top two picks and acquire Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel. The Celtics, similar to the Bruins, have had parts of two separate seasons in 2014. 2013-2014 was dubbed “Tankapalooza” as the Celtics, along with many other NBA teams, attempted to get to the bottom of the standings and in position to acquire either Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker. Now you may think that the Celtics finishing low in the standings is the reason this was a failure of a season. Wrong! This was a failure because they did not lose enough! What was the point of beating the Miami Heat at the buzzer in November?? Ok, fair enough, we all wanted to see LeBron James lose; however, there were plenty of other games they could have lost to give themselves a better chance at the top pick. Instead, they ended up with the sixth overall pick where they selected Marcus Smart, who, we were told, is not here to replace Rajon Rondo and they believed they can play together. Finally, we have the New England Patriots. The Patriots’ season is tough to call a failure. They finished with the number one seed in the AFC and are atop many NFL power rankings. However, it is different for the Patriots now. It is not a success until they win another Super Bowl. The Patriots need to win a Super Bowl. If Tom Brady can get his fourth ring this season, it by all means would be a successful year. That is a given. We cannot dub it a success or a failure until it is over; however, it will be a failure if they lose the big game. So that wraps up a mediocre 2014. What will 2015 bring? The Red Sox will all but certain bounce back and be relevant in the American League. Despite their lack of an ace, they have a good enough roster to compete. The Bruins are the most up in the air out of all four of these teams. If Peter Chiarelli continues to overpay for his own guys, guys who cannot put the puck in the net, and does not go out and get an elite talent, then this is just the beginning of the end for this Bruins team. Zdeno Chara will be another year older and it is pretty clear that he has already lost a step or two.
The Celtics will continue to lose. There does not seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, they have some good young players; however, they do not have that superstar that you need in the NBA. They have enough talent to be a middle of the pack team: the worst thing to be in the NBA. The Patriots in 2015 will once again feature a team that wins 11+ games and gets a first round bye. However, if they are to be a true championship caliber team, they must bring shutdown cornerback Darrelle Revis back. Whether that means they actually take the $20 million cap hit on his current contract next year, or they resign him to a long-term deal and restructure, it does not matter; Revis must be back in Foxboro. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest sports talk and news
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SAMUEL PERICOLOSam is a graduate of Assumption College where he studied History, Marketing, and Political Science and was a Co-Producer on a weekly sports talk television show. Archives
March 2018
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