Dirty Water Sports
Breaking down the storylines of Boston’s beloved sports teams with brash commentary, pithy reporting, and smart – sometimes snarky – analysis of the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins.
Dirty Dozen: Mourning after a crushing ending to Celtics season
The No. 8 seed put a stop to Banner 18 as the Heat buried the Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Let's take a quick look back at 10 days in May in Boston.
Celtics need to make a move
The NBA trade deadline is hours away, and the Boston Celtics have some big decisions to make. Less than one year removed from the NBA Finals, the team most expected to return is at a critical juncture of their season and fans are wondering what if anything the team...
Will Bruins and Celtics Early Season Domination Last?
For fans who suffered through an agonizing Red Sox last place season in 2022 or are sad about the departure of star shortstop Xander Bogaerts, or New England Patriots supporters who currently watch their football team try and climb out of the AFC East basement,...
One in the Same: Growing Synergy between College Football and NFL
One in the Same: Growing Synergy between College Football and NFL In lock step. The year was 2014, and for the last time, college football’s elite competed in the “Bowl Championship Series” a slate of six bowl games including The Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and the...
Celtics Look to Overcome Adversity as New Season Begins
On the morning of June 10, 2022, the Boston Celtics woke up with a 2-1 series lead in the NBA Finals over the Golden State Warriors just two wins away from an NBA championship. Fans and players were feeling on top of the world. However, later that night they lost...
Rough Start in Fantasy Land
It’s early in the season, but I’m 0-3 and nothing has gone right. I lost the second game of the season by ½ a point. HALF. Last week the margin of defeat was 3. My team is very talented, and I believe in them. But I’ve let them down. I haven’t put my players in the...
With Gallinari out, a potential suitor is gaining traction
Upon first seeing the cringe-inducing injury to Celtics forward Danilo Gallinari while competing for Italy in a FIBA World Cup qualifier, it was hard to imagine him missing anything less than the entire upcoming regular season. Unfortunately, that seems it will be...
Ah – Playoffs? Don’t talk about… PLAYOFFS?!? You kidding me? Playoffs?
Getting to the playoffs is not going to be easy. In fact, it may be nearly impossible. The mountain is steep, and the New England Patriots are far removed from their dynasty years.
The most terrible time of the year
Perhaps it’s because Tom Brady is no longer a member of the Patriots, or maybe it’s that the team has no real superstars and their outlook for the upcoming season isn’t exactly titled “A road to a Championship”.
Major Celtics shakeup would be big mistake
There are verified reports that the Celtics organization still isn’t satisfied with their offseason moves. They want to shake things up in a major way and add one on the greatest players to every play. And it’s a mistake.
What can Brown do for you?
How much better is the team when you replace White, Marcus Smart, Brown, and others with Durant. This is a team that came within two wins of hosting the Larry O’Brien trophy. Is it truly time to completely shake the team's current buildup and potentially damage the long term potential of this young, yet battle tested team?
SOX AT CRITICAL JUNCTURE WHILE BLOOM DECISION LOOMS
The Red Sox are at a crossroads. With less than two weeks to go before the August 2 trade deadline, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has a monumental decision to make. Does he proceed as a contender and invest in his team, or act as a pretender, subtract, and...
MALCOLM BROGDON COULD BE CELTICS MISSING PIECE
Brogdon (AP Photo) The Celtics traded a top-12 protected first round pick, Aaron Nesmith, Daniel Theis and three other bench players for Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon. The Celtics reached Game 6 of the NBA Finals, but failed to secure the franchise’s 18th...
MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS FOR BRUINS
With a hot summer in full swing, Fourth of July barbecues in the past, and many finalizing their vacation plans, hockey fans in New England are wondering if this is going to be a cold offseason for the Boston Bruins. Saying there are a few question marks for the...
A turnaround for the ages
On the evening of January 6th on a cold winter night in New York, everything turned for the 2022 Boston Celtics. The Celtics were leading the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden by 24 points in the second quarter, and Jayson Tatum was on his way to a 36 point...
Celtics Core Takes the Next Step
The Celtics defeated the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, 100-96, to advance to their first NBA Finals since 2010. The Celtics, led by 24-year-old Jayson Tatum and 25-year-old Jaylen Brown, finally broke through after going to two previous...
Celtics are exorcising the ghosts of playoffs past
It started with the first round against the Brooklyn Nets, who they matched up with just a year earlier. In that series, the Celtics were handled pretty easily, losing to the superstar trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving in 5 games. There weren’t...
Can the Red Sox season be saved?
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. After getting close to the World Series in 2021, the 2022 Boston Red Sox look like just what they are. A last place team. What has gone wrong? Who’s responsible? Why have they fallen so hard, so fast? Where did the mistakes...
Celtics Firmly a Championship Contender
With the Celtics sweep of the Brooklyn Nets in round one, Boston firmly established themselves as championship contenders while showing signs they have what it takes to get themselves to the top of the NBA mountain. Entering the series, the Celtics had played...
Who wins the next championship?
For nearly two decades in New England, sports fans have seen parades, duckboats, victory cigars, celebrations, and countless tears of happiness. In what has felt like an almost annual tradition since 2001, either the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, or Patriots seem to...
Celtics-Nets Now a Real Rivalry
When’s the last time the Celtics have had a legit rival in the Eastern conference? A lot of people immediately think about the “Trust the process” 76ers, but it was never really a rivalry. Whenever those teams met in the playoffs, it was all Celtics. Boston was a...
More than a Sport: The Return of Baseball
With all due respect to Ted Lasso’s Danny Rojas, baseball is life. You never desire something so feverishly as when you don’t have that thing. The MLB’s recently ended lockout lasted for nearly 100 days. And during that time, fans and baseball insiders alike...
Celtics are now serious contenders
I was wrong about the Celtics. Back in January, I wrote that this team was hard to watch, and deservedly so. It looked like a Celtics team that was not playing up to their potential, the offense was stagnant, and the defense was terrible at times. Many...
Five pressing questions heading into Opening Day
Almost 100 days of lockout silence between baseball’s players and owners mercifully came to an end on March 10, 2022, the longest work stoppage in the history of the sport. Now that baseball is back, the real work has begun for Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer...
Hampus Lindholm Gives the Bruins Answers Now and in the Future
If not for the Red Sox signing Trevor Story on Sunday, the biggest move of the weekend would have been the Bruins trading for Anaheim Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm. Lindholm, 28, subsequently agreed to an 8-year contract extension worth $52 million dollars, a...
Red Sox Swing Big (And Smartly) With Story Signing
The Red Sox signed free agent Trevor Story to a 6-year, $140 million contract that includes an opt-out after the fourth season. Story has spent his career at shortstop for the Colorado Rockies, but will begin his tenure in Boston at second base. He could end up...
The Legend of Tom Brady and the Legends He Created
Can you easily define a legend? Well, if you want the easy answer, yes. Our legends in sports and pop culture go by one name: Montana, Favre, Woods, “Sweetness” … Brady. Hear one or more of these names uttered and you understand at least a context for the legacy...
Can the Bruins flip the switch like Celtics?
Frustration in 2022 can be defined in a four word phrase: Boston winter sports teams. The Bruins, much like the Celtics, are in an unenviable position. Neither team is considered elite in the NHL or NBA, yet both are having above average seasons. The problem? One...
Dollars and Sense: Stevens takes care of business at deadline
All signs pointed to Brad Stevens to staying silent during the trade deadline. After months of talk from fans about how the Celtics should blow up the roster, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been playing like the star duo they have been since the start of 2022....
Celtics at a crossroads at the deadline
The 2022 Boston Celtics are in a familiar position. They find themselves once again underachieving, currently teetering as the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference. Blessed with plenty of talent, frustrated fans have seen this movie before. They aren’t...
10 things the Patriots must do to regain dominance in the AFC
During the 2021 New England Patriots seven game winning streak, many fans felt the team was a legitimate Super Bowl contender. They were wrong. The Patriots lost three of the last four games of the regular season before getting embarrassed by the Buffalo Bills in...
Thanks for the memories, Papi
David Ortiz was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot this week, making him the newest Red Sox legend to be enshrined in Cooperstown. To make things sweeter for Ortiz, he will be the only inductee for this years class as he was the only player...
Varsity Blues: NIL and Opt Outs Fundamentally Shift College Football
Did you catch the CFP National Championship? If you didn’t, let me catch you up: Georgia conquered its conference rival Alabama, winning its first national title since 1980. Despite the breathless, thrilling competition college football offers, it is overshadowed...
Jon Lester’s postseason performances put him among the legends
Jon Lester announced his retirement on Wednesday, ending a 16-year career that included three World Series championships and five All-Star game appearances. Lester is also a cancer survivor and a legend in the cities of Boston and Chicago. Lester was drafted by the...
Top Heavy Bruins Need a Path to the Future
As we begin a new calendar year, the question remains the same. Are the Boston Bruins headed in the right direction? General Manager Don Sweeney has been on the job for six years. During his tenure, he’s led the team to one Stanley Cup Final in 2019. In his...
THE REALITY OF FANTASY FOOTBALL
Each Sunday from September to February, men and women alike sit on their couches and fill stadiums across the country to watch NFL games. And nearly 60 million Americans currently play fantasy sports, two-thirds of whom participate in fantasy football. Do the...
Four moves the Celtics should consider before the deadline
This season of Celtics basketball has been hard to watch. The Celtics are currently 17-19, good for ninth in the Eastern Conference. That record is frustrating in its own right, but when you look into the ways that the Celtics have lost makes it even more...
The reality of fantasy football
Each Sunday from September to February, men and women alike sit on their couches and fill stadiums across the country to watch NFL games. And nearly 60 million Americans currently play fantasy sports, two-thirds of whom participate in fantasy football. Do the...
Is this deja vu all over again?
In NFL history, no franchise has been to a Super Bowl with a rookie quarterback leading the way. The Patriots might just be the first to do it. New England went 7-9 last year, their first losing season in nearly two decades. Less than a year later, they are one of...
After Browns blowout, Patriots now in hunt for AFC East title
The Patriots demolished the Browns, 45-7, on Sunday for their best win of the season and to move their winning streak to four games. It was tough to find a negative in the performance, with the offense humming and the defense holding the Browns scoreless after...
Meet the new Celtics, same as the old Celtics
Even with a new coach, a new president of basketball operations, and a handful of new players, the 2021 Boston Celtics look surprisingly like the 2020 Boston Celtics. The future was shining brightly when the Celtics made it to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference...
Patriots defense is dominating
The Patriots defeated the Carolina Panthers, 24-6, on Sunday to continue their win streak at three games and give themselves a winning record for the first time in 2021. The biggest reason for victory was a dominant defense that only gave up two field goals. Both...
What’s wrong with the Celtics?
Celtics fans across New England are hitting the panic button, and it may be justified as the Celtics have come out extremely sluggish to start the season. Through seven games, the Celtics are currently 2-5 with bad home losses to both the Wizards and the Raptors....
Patriots Make a Statement
The Patriots had their best win of the season on Sunday, defeating the Chargers in Los Angeles, 27-24. New England’s defense and special teams carried the day, with Gunner Olszewski making several long punt returns and Adrian Phillips recording two interceptions,...
Revamped offensive line helps Patriots stomp Jets
The Patriots demolished the Jets, 54-13, on Sunday in their most complete game of the 2021 season. New England scored on its first drive thanks to a trick play in which Kendrick Bourne threw a touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor and never looked back from there. New...
Patriots can’t take advantage of Cowboys mistakes
The Patriots lost to the Dallas Cowboys in overtime on Sunday, 35-29, in a game in which Dallas gave them multiple opportunities to steal a victory. New England did not take advantage of these opportunities and as a result they sit at 2-4, with all four losses...
McAvoy extension good for player and team
News broke on Friday morning that the Bruins had signed defenseman Charlie McAvoy to an 8-year deal worth $9.5 million per season. This is a good deal for both McAvoy and the Bruins. McAvoy gets top of the market value and the Bruins lock up a perennial...
Mac Jones Belongs
The Tampa bay Buccaneers defeated the New England Patriots 19-17 on Sunday night in the Belichick vs Brady Bowl. The game featured a lot of great moments and matchups, but the player that gained the most was Patriots quarterback Mac Jones. Jones finished the game...
Key Matchup: Patriots OL vs. Bucs DL
Tom Brady will make his return to Foxborough on Sunday night to face the Patriots in the most anticipated regular season game in NFL history. Heck, it might be the most anticipated non-championship game in the history of sports. Brady vs Belichick is the biggest...
Patriots Beat Themselves in Loss to Saints
The New England Patriots suffered their worst loss of the young season on Sunday when the New Orleans Saints came to Gillette Stadium and won 28-13. The Saints controlled the game and the Patriots made numerous mistakes that prevented them from having any chance to...
