The old motivational cliché is that it’s not how you start that matters, but how you finish.
But a new age spin that better fits Boston sports these days might be that it’s not how you start that matters, but rather how you turn your season around that really counts.
Last fall the Patriots opened Mac Jones’ first season as a starter with a 2-4 record through six games as a team that claimed moral victories more than scoreboard triumphs. The rallying cry among fans and even players was that New England was better than its record showed.
Soon enough came a seven-game winning streak that ignited excitement in Foxborough, Bill Belichick’s boys suddenly seen by some silly analysts as Super Bowl contenders! Sure the Patriots ended up fading down the stretch and were blown off the field by the Bills in the playoffs, but the point is they turned their season around, gave fans something to believe in and provided months of entertainment that seemed somewhat unlikely at the start of their season.
And just as the Patriots got bumped from the postseason, the reality of their roster flaws on full display matched up against an actual championship contender in Buffalo, it was the disappointing Celtics that transformed themselves from second-fiddles in the Boston sports landscape to lead singers.
We all recall that Jayson Tatum’s team stumbled out of the gate in Ime Udoka’s first season as coach. Like the Patriots, the Celtics won just two of their first four games. They got “punked” in ugly losses. They played uninspired basketball that was anything but entertaining in October, November and December, a time when thankfully we all had the misplaced faith in the Patriots playoff hopes to focus on.
Then just as we realized the error in our rooting ways with the local football 53, a funny thing happened at TD Garden. The Celtics got good. The New Year brought a new team with a new energy and, apparently, a new faith in what Udoka was selling.
A team destined for life in the play-in games or even what would have been an embarrassing spot in the Draft Lottery made a run up the standings, straight through the end of the regular season and into the No.
2 seed in the East. Despite a Murderers’ Row of competition in the Nets, Bucks and Heat, the Celtics playoff run in April, May and June ran right to the Finals.
Championship hopes were legitimate again in Boston. Parades weren’t just a thing of the past, but a possibility in the oh-so-near future right up until Steph Curry shot down those dreams to extend the Warriors dynasty.
Oh well, there’s always next year for Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Co.
For us, for us fans, the time is now to turn our attention to the Red Sox.
Boston is a four-season, four-sport town after all.
As the calendar turns to summer it’s time for the Red Sox to take over just the way the once-disappointing Celtics took the baton from the Patriots this past winter.
And like the Patriots and Celtics before them, the Sox are looking to overcome an ugly, disappointing start that lacked entertainment value in our competitive world of sports entertainment. Luckily for Alex Cora’s club, some of those struggles were masked and missed in the Celtics’ success.
Now though, now it’s all about baseball in Boston. Patriots training camp is still five weeks away. Debates about Jones’ Year 2 Jump at quarterback and concerns about the coaching he’ll get from ill-suited offensive assistants Joe Judge and Matt Patricia are problems for another talk-radio time.
Now, now it’s about baseball and the Sox squad that despite an ugly April is only a half game back of a Wild Card playoff spot. Now it’s time for Chris Sale’s return to create a little buzz.
Now it’s time for sports fans to turn their attention from the young franchise pillars Tatum and Brown to the young foundational leaders Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts.
The Sox are no longer on deck, waiting for the Celtics to take their spotlight stealing swings.
Nope, Fenway Park is new the focal point of the Boston sports scene for the next month or so.
The Sox are up to bat, having already turned their season around to some degree but with plenty of work left to be done.
Now, let’s all hope they can go on a run like the Patriots and Celtics before them, as all of Boston is now once again watching.
Hey Red Sox, your time in the Boston sports spotlight starts now!
