For those of you who are certified, card-carrying, dues-paying, die-hard Boston sports fans, it\u2019s been quite a 21st century so far. Led by a banquet hall-sized cast of current and future Hall of Famers, from Tom Brady and David Ortiz to Kevin Garnett and Zdeno Chara, the New England Patriots (six), Boston Red Sox (four), Celtics (two) and Bruins (one) have combined to win 13 championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you hate all things Boston, this has to be gnawing. It\u2019s been 2 1\/2 decades of rolling rallies and gubernatorial proclamations. It\u2019s been nonstop Matt Damon, Donnie Wahlberg and the Affleck brothers telling the world how great it is to be from Greater Boston.<\/p>\n
(Personal observation: In terms of pure sports knowledge, Wahlberg is in a class by himself. And Casey Affleck does the best job of portraying the stereotypical obnoxious Boston sports fan, if his \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d Dunkin\u2019 Donuts parody commercial is any indication.)<\/p>\n
The past month has been rough. Wicked rough. To borrow a couple of lines from the 19th-century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, whose home on Brattle Street in Cambridge was just 3 miles from the future Fenway Park:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Into each life some rain must fall,<\/p>\n
Some days must be dark and dreary.<\/p>\n
In that spirit, Boston sports fans are getting drenched.<\/p>\n
But the news is not all bad. The Boston Fleet of the Professional Women\u2019s Hockey League are competing for a championship. They are tied 1-1 in the playoff semifinals against the Ottawa Charge and play Friday night. Considering the interest women\u2019s hockey is getting nationwide, particularly after Team USA\u2019s gold-medal victory at the Winter Olympics, the Fleet deserve to be in this conversation.<\/p>\n
As for the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins, let us count the dark and dreary days.<\/p>\n
Patriots \u2014 This was supposed to be a sunshiny springtime for the Pats. After back-to-back 4-13 seasons and a coaching carousel that went from the iconic Bill Belichick to one-and-done Jerod Mayo to former linebacker Mike Vrabel, the surprising 2025 Pats, led by second-year quarterback Drake Maye, went 14-3 and advanced all the way to Super Bowl LX before being shown the door in a 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.<\/p>\n
But then came reports of Vrabel\u2019s relationship with The Athletic reporter Dianna Russini, with things getting to the point where the coach announced he was stepping away from the NFL Draft for a day to spend time with his family and undergo counseling. Now, the Patriots are immersed in organizational damage control.<\/p>\n
Red Sox \u2014 Despite a somewhat promising 2025 season in which they went 89-73 and made it to the playoffs before being eliminated by the New York Yankees in the wild-card round, the Red Sox came into \u201926 with their fans on edge. The Sox didn\u2019t make a big-splash free-agent signing during the winter, and the Opening Day roster was a hodgepodge of too many outfielders and not enough right-handed punch. On April 25, with the Red Sox last in the American League East at 10-17, it was announced that manager Alex Cora and five of his coaches had been fired. Plus, longtime Red Sox fixture Jason Varitek, who was a catcher for Boston\u2019s 2004 and \u201907 championship teams, was reassigned from his position as game-planning coach.<\/p>\n
It remains unclear what, if any, role Varitek will take. Chad Tracy has been promoted from Triple-A Worcester to serve as interim manager. As for the front office, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, a former pitcher who logged 12 seasons in the big leagues but can\u2019t seem to find his way to the clubhouse, has been criticized by players who feel their counsel wasn\u2019t sought. As of Monday, the Red Sox are 3-4 under Tracy. Staff ace Garrett Crochet is on the injured list, as is starter Sonny Gray. Ranger Suarez is \u201cday to day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celtics \u2014 It was said this was going to be a \u201cgap season\u201d for the 2025-26 Celtics while superstar Jayson Tatum was recovering from the devastating Achilles injury he suffered last spring at Madison Square Garden. But the rebuilt-on-the-fly Celtics played surprisingly well for much of the season, with the bonus of Tatum\u2019s return to the floor in March. The Celtics were the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference going into the playoffs, and they promptly took a 3-1 lead in their opening-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. But the Sixers won three straight games to eliminate the Celtics, including a 109-100 victory in the finale while Tatum sat out with left leg tightness.<\/p>\n
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla rolled out a starting lineup for Game 7 that looked like something from out of the 1956-57 Fort Wayne Pistons \u2014 Ron Harper Jr., Luka Garza and Baylor Scheierman were making their first postseason starts \u2014 and the result was a quick 30-15 deficit. The Celtics did storm back and held a brief 1-point lead in the second quarter, but it all fell apart in the last four minutes of the fourth quarter. Mazzulla walked into the interview room after the game and put on his philosopher\u2019s derby: \u201cI think a lot of times in the world today, it\u2019s an either\/or society, but there\u2019s a duality to everything. And the year we won, I felt just as empty as we did when we lost. And the duality of going after something bigger than yourself with a group of people is you\u2019re always going to have \u2026 there\u2019s two sides to every coin, and when you go after greatness, you have to accept the other side of that. Too many times, it\u2019s all about winning, winning, winning, but you have to surrender to the idea of when you\u2019re going after that, you\u2019re going to fail. We\u2019ve failed by not winning, but we stick to the process of being able to do that. But I think that\u2019s just kind of the duality of how things work. It\u2019s not an either\/or thing. It\u2019s both, and you feel both of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the first time in franchise history the Celtics lost a best-of-seven series after taking a 3-1 lead.<\/p>\n
Bruins \u2014 Everything being equal, the Bruins shouldn\u2019t even be on this list. After not qualifying for the playoffs last season, they brought in Marco Sturm as coach and went 47-27-10 (100 points) to make it back to the postseason. That\u2019s a commendable one-year turnaround, but the Bruins went out in the first round against the Buffalo Sabres, the finale being a 4-1 Game 6 loss at TD Garden.<\/p>\n