Story by
It’s going to be a long, ugly summer in Boston sports
- Story by
- It’s going to be a long, ugly summer in Boston sports
It’s going to be a long summer.
The month of May is just days old and Boston fans are already counting the days until the Patriots season.
The Bruins are out, the Celtics are out and the Red Sox are out of playoff contention. That would have seemed impossible not that long ago, but a rough eight days changed the reality for 2026. Spring went in like a lion and out on a stretcher.
Advertisement
Rewind to March 17, just over six weeks ago, and New England was excited and not just because it was St. Patrick’s Day. The Celtics were 45-23, just four games back of Detroit. Optimism was abundant because Jayson Tatum was not only back, but playing well.
Momentum and expectations were rising. In the seemingly up-for-grabs Eastern Conference, the Celtics, who had already been good, added a superstar with Tatum’s return.
The Bruins were excited too. After last year’s bottom-out, they were thriving in Marco Sturm’s system and in position to make the playoffs.
Jeremy Swayman was performing like a star goalie again. Fresh off winning a gold medal, Charlie McAvoy was having the best season of his career and David Pastrnak was on pace for 100 points again. They weren’t a favorite for a deep run, but they looked like a difficult opponent for anyone who drew them in the playoffs.
Advertisement
On that day in Miami, Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony hit a home run in the World Baseball Classic semifinals to lead the United States to a win over the Dominican Republic.
It felt like an announcement. Anthony looked set to fulfill all the predictions and break out as a superstar.
Anthony anticipation, mixed with last year’s playoff appearance, fueled hope for the Red Sox.
Back then, the Patriots were still aglow from their unexpected breakout season and Super Bowl run, and Mike Vrabel was basking in the reverence. Dianna Russini was that reporter who people forgot didn’t work for ESPN anymore.
Advertisement
Hopes were high and times were good.
It's been a rough few weeks for the Celtics, Bruins, Patriots and Red SoxThe Associated Press
That seems like forever ago now. Fans woke up on Sunday wondering how things went south so fast.
Vrabel went from an example of the ideal modern football coach to being dragged down by scandal. With his personal life clinging to the rails, he skipped the last day of a pretty important draft for the Patriots to address the fallout of Russinigate at home.
TD Garden needs an exorcism after two eliminations in just over 24 hours.
When the May 24 Bruce Springsteen concert at TD Garden went on sale in February, fans were warned: It might get moved because of Bruins or Celtics playoff games. Instead, Springsteen could host weeks worth of shows on Causeway Street if he so chose. There’ll be no games or glory days there for a while.
Advertisement
During the 2025-26 NHL and NBA regular seasons, the arena was the site of one of the best home-team advantages in all of American sports. Its home teams combined to go 59-22-1 at the Garden. No other building in America was more conducive to home success.
But in the playoffs, the Garden was barren, maybe even cursed. The Bruins and Celtics combined to go 1-6 there. They were each eliminated at home on back-to-back nights on Friday and Saturday.
The Bruins were the underdog in the best of seven series against the Atlantic Division-winning Sabres. But they outplayed Buffalo in Games 1 and 2 and came home with real optimism about advancing to the next round. Instead, their offense went silent, their home ice advantage disappeared and their season ended on Friday.
It was worse for the Celtics. They had a 3-1 lead on the Sixers, a team that’s been barely more than a speed bump on their recent deep runs of success. The 18-time champions had never blown a 3-1 series lead before. It obviously couldn’t happen against Philly. Could it?
Advertisement
First, the Celtics gave away a lead in Game 5. In Game 6, they never quite got in rhythm and Tatum was injured.
Even without him they had a chance to win in Game 7. The Celtics trailed by a point, 99-98, with 3:49 left in the fourth quarter, but gave up eight unanswered points over the next 3:34 and the once-promising season was over.
They’ll head to the offseason hoping Tatum’s knee injury isn’t serious and the team’s commitment to enhancing the roster is. Joe Mazzulla, who added to his collection of weird coaching moves during the playoffs, will start 2026-27 with a seat that is a lot hotter than it was before the playoffs started.
That leaves the Red Sox, who are last in the American League East, with no signs of life and 128 games to go.
Advertisement
Ownership and Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow hoped making Alex Cora the fall guy would pull focus away from their poorly constructed roster.
Instead fans are in revolt. Somebody paid to have a plane fly by Fenway pulling a banner that read “ Fire Craig, Sell the Team.” Their anger is only likely to get louder without the Celtics and Bruins to distract the growingly frustrated fan base.
There isn’t much to look forward to this summer. There is soccer. The Revolution are improved, the Legacy are in season one, and there will be seven World Cup games at Foxborough for anyone who can afford a ticket and transportation to get there.
But for anyone not into the beautiful game, it could be an ugly summer filled with meaningless games, draft speculation and wondering if the Red Sox can get much for Aroldis Chapman or Trevor Story when they inevitably sell at the trade deadline.
Advertisement
The Patriots don’t even know who they’ll play on the second weekend in September, but it doesn’t matter. It can’t get here fast enough.
More Matt Vautour Columns
-
The Bruins took a big step this year, but to contend, bigger ones await May. 2, 2026, 6:18a.m.
-
Celtics’ feel-good season is one loss away from becoming a legacy-staining disaster May. 1, 2026, 5:00a.m.
-
After embarrassing loss, Bruins face character test to keep season alive Apr. 27, 2026, 5:00a.m.
-
Alex Cora should be relieved - The Red Sox mess is somebody else’s problem now Apr. 26, 2026, 5:00a.m.
Read the original article on MassLive . Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
