You should not take this for granted. Winning a championship in any professional sport isn’t easy. You need a combination of talent, coaching, and, yes, luck, which is sometimes defined as the other guy loses his best player and other times defined as the official makes the crucial call in your favor.
So when’s the next one, you ask? The truth is that no one is quite knocking on the door. The Celtics’ window closed quickly after 2024 because of a combination of the onerous provisions of the collective bargaining agreement and an injury to a great player. The Red Sox are a few players away from contention. The Bruins are, well, meh. The Patriots have certainly regained respectability, but don’t think this is going to be a repeat of 2001 (I will happily stand corrected if need be).
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
So, what do we have? The best I can say is that, for the most part, we have teams that are WW: Worth Watching (apologies to Phil Rizzuto. Messrs. Shaughnessy and Abraham will know what I’m referring to).
Here, therefore, is my annual State of the Teams analysis, presented, as always, in alphabetical order.
I feel badly for staunch Bruins fans because since their team won its last Stanley Cup in 2011, their team has too often been a tease. I certainly don’t qualify as one of those people, but I still have a hard time coping with the curious 2019 Game 7 vs. the Blues. I had really gotten invested with that squad and will never understand their No-Show of all No-Shows in the most important game of the year, and, in many cases, their lives. It also grates mightily that the 2022-23 team set records of 65 wins and 135 points, and then blew a 3-1 series lead to Florida.
OK, enough venting, Bob. What we have is a team that is, to be generous, inconsistent. The Bruins win often enough to look like a playoff team, but when they are bad, they are horrid. They are prone to power-play droughts. They have two big-time goal scorers in David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie, but they could use a little more offensive oomph. On the defensive side, losing Charlie McAvoy to a gruesome injury when a flying puck rearranged his face was devastating.
You can’t blame the goaltender. Jeremy Swayman has been just fine. And we continue to learn about Marco Sturm.
We’re still learning about Bruins coach Marco Sturm.Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe
It comes down to this: Simply making the playoffs will make this a highly successful season.
Imagine being Joe Mazzulla. On the one hand, entering the season without your best player means the bar is lower. Whew! On the other hand, people are now saying, “OK, Mr. 3-Point, let’s see what you can do now.”
We are one-third or so into the season and Joe & Co. are doing OK. This is in large measure due to the fact that Jaylen Brown has silenced his many skeptics by submitting a Jayson Tatum-esque season performance that answers the question as to whether he can be a true No. 1 team leader. After a rocky start, Payton Pritchard has slipped comfortably into a combo playmaker/shotmaker role. It’s also a given you never have to worry about Derrick White.
The pleasant development has been the spark often provided by 21-year-old Jordan Walsh and 19-year-old Hugo Gonzalez, whose relentless hustle is reminiscent of — and please don’t misinterpret this — the young Dave Cowens.
Hugo Gonzalez (28) has energized the Celtics.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
As aggravating as it is for fans of a certain age to digest, we might as well reconcile ourselves to the fact that Coach Mazzulla’s allegiance to the Mighty Three is everlasting. There will be exhilarating W’s and annoying L’s as a result.
It comes down to this: Simply making the playoffs will make this a highly successful season.
P.S. Mr. Tatum. Please wait till next year.
C’mon, be honest. No matter how sweet and cupcakey the schedule appeared to be, no one on earth thought we’d see what we’ve been seeing. Thanks, Coach. Thanks, Kid.
There’s not much I can tell you that you don’t already know. Whatever that “It” is that enables someone to be a successful coach, Mike Vrabel appears to have it. Meanwhile, Drake Maye continues to check all the boxes.
And let’s give executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and his staff some credit. Stefon Diggs? Milton Williams? Harold Landry? TreVeyon Henderson? Mack Hollins? You can throw Andy Borregales in there, too. None of them were here last year.
Let me say this about Robert Kraft: His quest to enter the Hall of Fame has taken on an embarrassing life of its own, but I truly believe no current NFL owner deserves it more.
There is decent Life After Bill, after all. Good to know.
To spend, or not to spend. That seems to be the issue.
It’s not necessarily that simple. Money needs to be accompanied by judgment. And luck. You think the Angels are happy they threw a seven-year, $245 million contract at Anthony Rendon, who has only played 257 games over six years?
Yes, the Red Sox needed some righthanded power (preferably a first baseman), but was a frighteningly declining Willson Contreras the answer? Pete Alonso, he ain’t.
But I digress. Count me among the many who came away from the 2025 season with a grin, if not necessarily a smile, on my face. I’ve carried Ceddanne Rafaela’s playoff-clinching walkoff triple in my thoughts for the last three months. And I can’t wait to see Roman Anthony again. Once again, I’ll make sure I’m not busy when Garrett Crochet starts. There are rays of hope on this squad, folks.
We look forward to hopefully a healthy 2026 for Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
However, Mr. Henry, your team needs Alex Bregman, on and off the field. Get out the wallet, boss. (In case you didn’t know, John Henry also owns the Globe.)
Bob Ryan can be reached at robert.ryan@globe.com.