This past year – 2017- was so weak in Boston sports. We only had one damn parade!
Here’s hoping 2018 is a tad better. The Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics are legit contenders – so we very well could be dancing in the streets again in 2018.
Here are some predictions for Boston sports this year.
10. Julian Edelman will never be the same
Edelman will turn 32 in May and is coming off the worst injury a slot receiver can sustain. Wes Welker saw his numbers fall off a cliff after his 32nd birthday – expect Edelman to have similar difficulties.
9. Tom Brady wins NFL MVP
Because the national media still despises Brady and the Patriots, this one will be a little too close for comfort with Todd Gurley getting the late surge and Carson Wentz getting sympathy votes. But in the end, No. 12 will win his third league MVP award – given out the night before the Super Bowl.
8. The Celtics – Lakers rivalry will be back on
The last two incarnations of the Celtics – Lakers rivalry were a little too “kissy-kissy.” Magic and Bird ended up liking each other. Ditto for Kobe and Pierce/KG.
When LeBron takes his talents to SoCal this summer, there will finally be some genuine hatred on both sides as Kyrie and LeBron’s passive aggressive feud rages on.
7. The Bruins will trade Tuukka
After getting bounced in the playoffs by the Caps, the Bruins will finally feel the need to jettison Tuukka Rask. In return, the B’s will target an elite scoring forward as they currently don’t have one player who is in the top 30 in the NHL in points.
6. Gordon Hayward will return for Celtics in April
The Celtics will benefit greatly from the absurd length of the NBA season and their big signing from last summer will play in the 2018 postseason.
Hayward will play sparingly in the first two rounds of the playoffs as he finds his rhythm again, but he’ll come up with several huge 3’s in the Eastern Conference Finals series win over LeBron and the Cavs.
5. The Red Sox will lose in the ALCS to the Yankees
The Red Sox and Yankees will re-assume their spots as the two mighty cash cows in MLB and the “best rivalry in sports” will once again be deserving of that title.
All summer long we’ll hear about how the Red Sox have the better pitching (Chris Sale and David Price will both hover around 20 wins in 2018) but the Yankees have the better hitting (Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton will hit as advertised).
That New York offense will win out in seven games in a wild ALCS.
4. The Celtics will trade for Anthony Davis
This one won’t happen until the summertime, when New Orleans finally comes to the realization that DeMarcus Cousins is leaving town and that the Boogie – Brow pairing wasn’t all that great in the first place.
The Celtics, fresh off a loss in the NBA Finals to the Warriors, will want to have one final upgrade to their roster this summer. They’ll trade Al Horford, Jaylen Brown and the 2018 Lakers lottery pick they obtained from Philly to get Davis to Boston.
3. The Celtics will get to the NBA Finals but lose
It won’t be easy, but the Celtics will come out of the East this spring.
The C’s chief rival in the conference is Cleveland, and by the time the spring rolls around the noise about LeBron James potentially leaving in free agency again will climb to airport tarmac level.
Kyrie Irving will unleash a pair of 40-plus point games in the East Finals and LeBron will finally show his age while dealing with the non-stop questions about his pending free agency.
In the Finals, the Celtics will put up a fight against Golden State – but will be vanquished in five games.
2. The Patriots will get to the Super Bowl but lose
The Pats are winning the AFC.
There just isn’t a team in the field that scares you, and now with James Harrison in New England and the Steelers likely having to come to Foxboro for the AFC title game, this seems like a layup.
Beating whichever team comes out of the jumbled NFC in the Super Bowl will be a different story, however. The Eagles, Vikings and Panthers all have defenses that should scare any and all Pats fans.
Carolina – my preseason pick to win it all – already beat the Pats this year and could certainly do it again now that the Pats’ defense is weakened, particularly in the front seven.
1. Bill Belichick will leave the Patriots
When Belichick retires, it will come out of nowhere. We’re not going to get any year-long David Ortiz-like farewell out of BB. Hell, there might not even be a farewell press conference.
The fact that Josh McDaniels hasn’t left the Patriots yet is fascinating. He’s been everyone’s top candidate for a couple years now, there have been plush jobs open, and yet he’s still here.
Cranky old Bill doesn’t want to deal with the Alex Guerrero – Tom Brady crap anymore, so he’s willing to hand the keys over to the 41-year-old McDaniels now.
Of course, being a football junky – Belichick will not want to entirely get out of football. There is a certain GM job currently open with a franchise he adores that plays in New Jersey (hint: it’s not the Jets).
The Hooded One absolutely loves to hold grudges and is uber-competitive. He would love to see if he could win a ring without Brady at this stage in his football life.
