Happy New Years. Time for resolutions!
Eat less junk food? Maybe. Drink Less? Probably not. Watch less sports on TV? Oh heck no!
Allow me to make this easier for you. Below are all the New Year’s Resolutions you, as a Boston sports fan, need in 2012.
1. 1. Care about the Celtics a little less.
Seriously, we all would have been better off if the lockout canceled the season. The NBA is cramming 66 games into something like 80 days. The Celtics are old and won’t hold up the whole season. One day you will watch the A-Team demolish the Charlotte Bobcats then 2 days later The Big Ticket and The Truth will be sitting on the bench resting up for the next game. The problem I have with that is if I paid hundreds of dollars to take my family to a game I don’t care how sore these geezers are. They need to play. If I wanted to see Marquis Daniels and other schmucks play I’d go get D-League season tickets. Listen, The Celtics play in the Eastern Conference! They only need to be a .500 team. They will half-ass the season, make the playoffs, try and “turn it on” late, and then bomb against a younger, more talented squad.
Do yourself a favor in 2012. Boston fans should prepare for the inevitable. The Celtics are on the verge of returning to irrelevancy like we saw in the 90’s. Give up now. Save yourself!
2. 2. Care more about the Bruins!
This one is pretty basic, but people still have not hopped on the Bruins Bandwagon. The easy reason to love the Bruins was their unexpected, epic run to the Stanley Cup in 2011. Following a winner is simple, but it goes deeper than that.
The B’s did not just wake up in 2011 with the biggest, baddest team in the league. They didn’t go out and buy the Big 3 which all but assures them a trip to the finals. Tim Thomas was not always the “Golden Boy” of the league. In fact, a few years ago in Europe Timmy almost quit the game all together. Patrice Bergeron, who has been with the B’s since before he could drink, battled and struggled back from very severe concussions that knocked many players out of the sport completely. For that matter the Bruins had to cope with Mark Savard, one of their biggest stars, having his career ended by concussions. This wasn’t stars finally getting a ring. It was hard working men, playing like men, and really caring about the team, eachother, and more importantly the city of Boston!
Oh, and when they got back from the Championship summer did they rest on there laurels? Not so much. Sure they had a little Superbowl Monday hangover, just like all of us would, but then they worked harder than any other team and rattled off an insane win streak placing them in 1st place in the East.
This team may not win the Stanley Cup again this year, but you can bet your butt they will lay it on the ice every single game. It’s time we all care a little more.
3. 3. Trust Bill Belichick a little more.
The defense is terrible… but the Patriots are winning
They can’t establish a running game. But they won the AFC East.
We have a backup receiver and a third string running back starting in the secondary. Yet the New England Patriots are the #1 team in the entire AFC.
Either every other team in the league stinks, or Bill Belichick knows what he is doing. In 2012 Boston fans need to calm down and realize The Hooded One knows more that we do.
I’d love to explain this further, but only BB knows what is going on. In Bill I Trust.
4. 4. Give The Sox a second Chance.
In 2011 The Red Sox had what most thought was the best starting rotation in baseball. What’s changed? Lackey is sitting out, so that’s a plus. Maybe Bard is a stud starter. We have Lester, Becket, a finally healthy Bucholtz, a healthy Dice K, and maybe Bard as a #5. That’s not bad to my eyes. Plus Lester and Beckett are two embarrassed, motivated men who will go out in 2012 to prove they are still studs. Look for 20 wins out of both of them. Seriously.
Sox have a stud closer, Andrew Bailey, to replace the highly overrated Jonathan Papple-bomb, so even if Bard stays in the pen innings 8 and 9 are locked up. Color me optimistic.
Then finally look at the stars in the Red Sox lineup and try and say it isn’t top 5 in the league. Ellsbury, Pedroia, Youk, Gonzalez, Big Papi, and Carl Crawford. Oh yeah, I said it, Carl Crawford! With high expectations in 2011 he didn’t pan out. But give the kid a break. He went from working in a nursing home to being the star surgeon in the ER! But now pressure is off. There is a new manager in town with more of the spotlight. The pitchers are in trouble for chicken and beer. Crawford is story number 3 or 4. He can just go play baseball.
If there is one thing to fear in 2012 it will be the crash to Earth of Jacoby Ellsbury. But it’s not all bad. Is he going to hit 30+ Home Runs and 100+ RBIs again? No. Why not? Because before 2011 he hadn’t even hit 10 HR in a season and his high RBI total was 60. Don’t expect 2011 numbers again, but we will watch him go 15 HR, 75 RBI and get back to stealing bases like an All-Star. Ellsbury won’t be in the MVP conversation but he will help the Sox win games, and he will make everyone behind him in the lineup better.
I know we’ve all been scorned, but in 2012 we need to forget what is done and let the Sox win our hearts back, because you can be sure they will try.
So there you have it. 2012 resolutions all done. Wasn’t that easy.
Happy New Year!
