Is Boston Back!?

For the past 20 years Boston has been known as the city of champions. Pats, Sox, Bruins and Celtics all have one championships and it was looking like dark days were ahead of us. But as of April 18th while I am writing this I feel like we are back to our winning culture. Lets dive in to it.

The Patriots were the big spenders this off season picking up Hunter Henry (TE), Matthew Judon (LB), Kyle Van Noy (LB), James White (RB), Nelson Agholor (WR), Lawrence Guy (DT), Jonnu Smith (TE), David Andrews (C), Montravius Adams (DT), Nick Folk (K), Jalen Mills (S), Kendrick Bourne (WR), Davon Godchaux (DT), Deatrich Wise (DE), Ted Karras (C), Henry Anderson (DT), Cam Newton (QB), Carl Davis (DT), Justin Bethel (CB), Cody Davis (S), LaRoy Reynolds (LB). I wrote all these out because this is the most money Robert Kraft has spent in free agency since buying the team. A man that has brought this team to a hierarchy of the NFL. A 7-9 record left a bad taste in his and Bill’s mouth and they addressed key holes before the draft. That’s right, the draft is still 2 weeks out and we pretty much filled all the holes with guys that are pro bowlers. For the Patriots they are back, AFC East champs or bust this year, I think we will be playing for the AFC Championship this year after seeing Brady lift the Lombardi Trophy last year.

The 2021 Red Sox in my opinion had the least to prove this year, losing Mookie Betts to the Dodgers and your ace Chris Sale to Tommy John surgery I honestly thought this team would be fighting for 4th place in the AL East. Bill and Rich both thought this team would be a surprise this year and I chuckled, most of their off season moves were just average guys, nothing that moved the needle. The Red Sox dna is to spend on the biggest names in the game and they stood pat and just slowly added. Again, Bill and Rich said these bats would be big this year and boy were they both right. 1st place in the AL East at 10-4 the bats are hot, 136 hits 82 runs 17 home runs 73 RBI’s. Xander Bogaerts (21), JD Martinez (18) and KiKi Hernandez (15) leading the team in hits and that is what we need, our super stars to lead the way for this team. The pitching has also been a big surprise, the one thing the three of us thought would be the downfall of this team. A team ERA of 3.52 which is 4th in the AL these guys are rolling. Yes, it is April and we have 4 more months of games to go but this team looks like they want to win and are extremely fun to watch right now. Wildcard or fighting for an AL pennant is looking more and more realistic for this club right now.

The Bruins was the one team we agreed would be the next one to win a championship for Boston. While they started off sluggish and sit in 4th place in the East with only 4 games on the NY Rangers, they are the hottest team since the trade deadline. The three big moves they made were adding Taylor Hall, Mike Reilly, and Curtis Lazar. Each have filled in beautifully for this team. Hall all ready as many goals as he did in Buffalo with 2. Mike Reilly is filling in for Krug, that offensive minded defender that can rip it from the blue line and has had the 2nd most time on ice for defenders since coming over. But the biggest player that has been playing in Jeremy Swayman. The goalie of the future is now the goalie of the present. In 5 games he has 1 shut out, a 1.78 goals against average, 4-1 record, and a .938 save percentage. Coming up to the playoffs he is the hot hand we need protecting the net. Tuukka can’t be trusted, a bad back that can flare up at any time I think Swayman gives this team the best shot at winning Lord Stanley’s Cup. The way this team is playing we can all agree that the cup chances are still alive.

The one team that has given us a roller coaster ride all season is the Celtics. Last year we made it to the Eastern Conference Finals and thought the sky was the limit for this team. Starting off hot we were all getting giddy thinking, here we go this team has got it. But slump after slump we all turned on this team. They were playing with zero heart, zero emotion and we were all out. Well one of the biggest Celtics critics had enough, calling out the leader Jayson Tatum. Since April 9th and the call out by Perk, Tatum is averaging 34. 2 pts 8.8 reb and 3.8 assists. The man is playing with purpose making others around him better. He is also doing it without Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker, and Evan Fournier due to rest and covid. The season is almost over and we are now in 4th place in the East. They are getting hot at the right time and I am fully snip snapping and am all in with the Celtics. If they finish at 4 they would play the 76ers in the 2nd round and they have the biggest choke artists and coach and they will shit down their legs. Eastern Conference against the Nets is a reality for this team and Hey, why not pick them to go to the finals. We are back baby and I am so excited to be a Boston sports fan.