BRADY’S GOT EDGE IN TITLE ‘FIGHT’
Of course, C’s strong contenders too
The days are getting longer and warmer in New England. The Red Sox have the most wins in the majors. And there’s nothing left but baseball until football season.
Thus, it’s time for our annual spring query: “Which one of the four Boston/New England bigleague teams will be next to win a championship?”
The answer to “Who’s Next?” is as terse as it is obvious: Tom Brady.
The Brady answer holds as long as Brady holds. Or sticks around. Or is allowed to stick around. The other night, Brady was dropping dimes like J.D. Rockefeller over at Harvard Stadium during his annual Best Buddies fete. While we still await the Globe’s expose on the finances of the Red Sox Foundation (they’re free to copy the one I wrote here a year or so ago), Brady was doing his part to raise money and awareness for those kids so often forgotten in the real world.
Gisele Bundchen can rest easy knowing that her son can catch the damn ball. And her daughter did not do so badly, either.
It all sounds so easy. Brady stays pliable and hydrated until he places ring No. 6 or 7 into his locker at Shields MRI. Jayson Tatum leads the Celtics to three or four titles over the ensuing decade-plus, and sticks around long enough for the Patriots to draft Benjamin Brady out of Michigan.
And the cycle begins anew. Meanwhile, Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts hits his 500th career home run in 2033 during the final season of a 12-year, $375 million contract.
Even our dream scenarios are blunted by reality.
It’s so easy to believe the Red Sox could be “Next.” The calendar helps. So does J.D. Martinez. But the fact that the Red Sox do not have a starting pitcher in their current rotation who has won a playoff game as a starting pitcher remains an impediment to autumnal duck boats. At one point during Friday’s start against the World Series champion Astros (try saying that three times at any speed), Chris Sale had given up 13 runs in 12.1 innings to Houston going back to the 2017 ALDS. Until David Price, Rick Porcello and Sale can each start and win a playoff game for Boston, the Red Sox remain in postseason purgatory.
The Bruins, meanwhile, are light years behind the Lightning, who are at least a year or two behind the Capitals. Boston’s hockey team is far more concerned with licking face than saving it. Their core is simply not talented or quick enough to contend for the Cup. And we didn’t even get to Tuukka Rask.
What about those Celtics? J.R. Smith has given Boston a dribble and pass following its Game 7 gag.
His antics at the end of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and the angstladen reaction of LeBron James, have provided the lasting memory of this season. Whatever happens between Golden State and Cleveland on the court will be long forgotten by Labor Day.
The future remains luminescent on Legends Way. Millions await next season. Or even the start of this offseason, the NBA draft and free agency. Danny Ainge is already taunting State Run Media with quotes about how he wants to keep much of this roster intact one day, while we read about how the Celtics are looking to shake things up the next.
The long-term prognosis for the Celtics is as good as Amazon’s.
But it remains better to be the team with Tom Brady.
At least until he’s gone.