Current sports

Saturday 11/8/25

Somehow the Bruins are 9-7, which is better than one would have expected in all probability through that many games. They have won three in a row, lost six in a row, and are currently on a five-game winning streak. In other words, streaky.

My hope for the team heading it this year was that they were competitive and fought for a playoff spot, perhaps grabbing one of the last two Wild Card spots. To do so, I figured they'd have to be a pain to play against. Play a pesky game, win a bunch of low-scoring affairs, play a heavy game, just make for an unpleasant night for the opposition, win or lose. A team of discipline, physicality, structure, because the roster is pretty talent-thin. And have players develop over the season.

The team did what I had mentioned I thought they'd do in these pages with who got the call in net over the last two games. My guess is that Swayman--who played last game--will get the start tonight. Normally someone is weaned off of something; I think the Bruins are trying to wean Swayman into being the starter for sixty-five to seventy percent because of the money they foolishly committed to paying him. But they're seeing how that goes. And if it doesn't take, I think the team is open to more or less going with a platoon. So a game like today is important for Jeremy Swayman. Allowing that he gets the start.

The Patriots have what should be a good test tomorrow against the Buccaneers in Tampa. I should be at the Brattle for a screening of Pickup on South Street, so I'll likely miss a big chunk of that, but I'm curious to see how they do against a stronger opponent than the ones they've been facing.

I think it's interesting that Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard sit one and two at the top of the NHL's scoring leaders. Cutter Gauthier is tied for goals with Sidney Crosby, both of which things are also interesting. Crosby's amazing. Historically, I don't think McDavid is at his level now or ever reaches it. I just think Crosby is more...significant. Plainly, in my view. I think Celebrini is going to be a real star, and Gauthier has rounded into form faster than I would have expected and is showing out better than I believed he would. And perhaps Bedard is becoming the player that he was touted to be.

Last night I tried to come up with a list of the teams I thought could win the Super Bowl this year, which I was going to include here. But you know what? After a few teams, I don't have a good feel on that. Certain teams look okay on paper, record-wise, but I'm very dubious about their quarterbacks.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but what I do know is that I would have the Patriots in my initial group. I think it takes less to win a Super Bowl right now. The league is down, no one is dominant, it's a year for sleeper teams and surprises. Drake Maye is the mid-season MVP. Or maybe Matthew Staffford. If Maye gets better at not getting hit and exposing himself to hits, and keeps progressing, he could wield real influence in terms of how the rest of the season and the playoffs shake out.

Barring an about-face, the Patriots will almost certainly make the playoffs, which would be a massive step forward after the last two years. The final Belichick season was terrible, of course, but it was last year that might have been even more disheartening. When you're as bad as the Patriots became, you want to see progress, and 2024 was like some grim appendix to 2023. I know I've said this a bunch of times, but Maye needs to protect himself better. I feel like they've been lucky to date that he hasn't gotten hurt yet, and the longer you push that luck, well, you know.

Stayed up to watch the Celtics last night to see if they got back to .500, but despite getting close--and tying the game in the third after trailing for most of it--the Magic pulled away pretty comfortably in the end. Another good shooting night from Jaylen Brown, though. I'm surprised how well he's shot the ball thus far and I wonder why he's doing markedly better in that department than last year.

Is some of that the difference between being the number one instead of the number two option? Like you have a better pick of shots? I think that could have something to do with it. There's a ripple effect, though, that's obvious with the team, where guys who were good in a given role have been bumped up and called on to do more, and the fit isn't right because that just might not be who they are or are ever going to be. But I still think they should be above .500 without Tatum. Maybe things are still being figured out and it's just going to take some more time.

Trevor Story opted in with the Red Sox. He struck me as the kind of guy who wouldn't be all about the money, especially if he was in a situation that worked for him and where he believed in the team and where he was a leader. As I've written here, I think he's the closest thing to the leader of the Red Sox--in terms of players--that the team has. The thing with him is, he needs to stay healthy. You can't lead from the IL. He doesn't have to put up the numbers he did last year, and I wouldn't expect him to. I didn't expect him to be what he was in 2025. But he needs to be an everyday player and at least average to have that other kind of intangible value.

Jarren Duran signed a one-year contract with the Sox that makes it easy for them to trade him mid-season. I saw various online comments saying that Wilyer Abreau is better than Duran. That's the consensus.

People are now so lazy and complacent with being ignorant--underline that phrase--that they don't even type in a few words on the internet or visit a site to get more information. Because if you looked at the numbers, you know--for all of my criticisms of Duran in these pages--that he's a much better ballplayer than Abreau.

Granted, Duran is bad in the outfield and Abreau isn't, but offensively? Abreau is never going to come close to having a season like the one that Duran had in 2024. Duran can at least get in shouting distance of it. And last year, despite the big dip, he was still a potent offensive player. He scores runs, he hits lots of triples and doubles, he drove in runs. He's just much better.

People in Boston have no idea how old he is. They call him a "kid" like he's an up and coming prospect. Duran is closing in on thirty. He's a not a kid--he's a legit veteran by baseball standards. I think it's a good contract for the Red Sox. Maybe Duran excels, maybe you move him for someone who makes you better in the summer. Feels a little weird to be talking about the baseball summer now and has made me think back to summer on the Cape and being happy and reading the box scores here on this rainy November 2025 morning.