Heartbreak has befallen both the fans of New England sports and the foes of it, but what are the five best moments that unfortunately still came to no avail? After careful consideration, one from each of the Boston teams was found, except two for the Patriots, totaling to five moments.
NUMBER 5: The Boston Bruins 2013 Playoffs “Bergeron! Bergeron! Bergeron!” chanted Bruins radio play-by-play announcer, Dave Goucher, as Patrice Bergeron jumped into the excited arms of his teammates after the incredible 3rd period and Overtime Game 7 comeback over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Everything had looked gloomy with about ten minutes left in regulation, until Bergeron’s Bruins scored 3 goals to tie the game at 4 apiece and sent the B’s onto the next round and eventually onto the Stanley Cup Finals. Unfortunately, this great upset led to no trophy for Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane’s Chicago Blackhawks took only six games to take home the title over Boston. NUMBER 4: The Boston Celtics 2002 Eastern Conference Finals Versus the New Jersey Nets, the Celtics made possibly one of the greatest single game comebacks in NBA history: down 84-53 at the end of three quarters, Game 3 hopes looked grim for Celtics fans. Fortunately, Paul Pierce led his team to a 41-16 fourth quarter which ended in a 94-90 Celtics win. This was incredible, although the Nets took Games 4, 5, and 6 to win the series and head to the NBA Finals. NUMBER 3: The Boston Red Sox 1975 World Series Game 6 of the 1975 World Series versus the Cincinnati Reds’ Big Red Machine is what led to the left field pole on the Green Monster at Fenway Park to be called the “Fisk Pole.” The thriller of Game 6 began with future beloved Bruins singer of the national anthems of the United States and Canada, Rene Rancourt belting out the Star Spangled Banner, it got interesting when Red Sox’ outfielder Bernie Carbo tied the game in the eighth inning, and it ended when BoSox’ Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk swung his arms above his head, waving the ball fair, and hit a walk-off home run. The next game, Game 7, ended with Redlegs’ center fielder, Cesar Geronimo jumping in midair after catching the Carl Yastrzemski fly ball that finished the ’75 series. NUMBER 2: The New England Patriots 2015 Super Bowl XLIX When Russell Wilson tossed the ball to Jermaine Kearse, it looked an awful lot like the ball had hit the ground, but in actuality, the Seattle Seahawks receiver had kicked the ball up before taking control of it. Seattle then took the ball from the spot of the lucky grab and drove down to the Patriots’ one yard line where head coach Pete Carroll told his quarterback to pass the ball instead of handing it off to great running back Marshawn Lynch. Fortunately, this has a happy ending for the Foxboro based franchise because with about 20 seconds remaining in that quarter, which happened to be the fourth, young and unknown cornerback Malcolm Butler made the biggest play of his career and intercepted the ball in the end zone to preserve the Pats’ 28-24 lead and win the 49th NFL Super Bowl. NUMBER 1: The New England Patriots 2017 Super Bowl LI Apart from losing the 28-3 lead, the Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback, Matt Ryan, tossed a seemingly impossible throw to future Hall of Famer Julio Jones, but he miraculously caught the projectile over the out of bounds line and slammed his feet into fair territory before falling out of play having gained the dearly needed yardage. Without that highlight reel play, Atlanta would not have made it into field goal range. Once again, to the delight of all of New England, the Patriots’ opponents would befall great misfortune: after several yards lost due to sacks that would push the Falcons out of field goal range, a Matt Bosher punt to the nine yard line, a Julian Edelman catch that seemed to transcend the realm of human ability, a Danny Amendola touchdown, a two-point conversion, an Overtime period, a James White touchdown, and a Tom Brady MVP Award, with a score of 34-28, the Patriots rendered the incredible Jones play redundant and secured the greatest NFL comeback in Super Bowl history. There have been many incredible plays in New England Sports history that tragically or joyfully did not come to ultimate fruition, but these are the obvious top five. Despite the misfortune that might meet the great city of Boston, it is important to keep in mind that they did win at least one championship in each of the Big Four sports in under ten years. Jesse A. Cook “Five Heartbreaking Failures From Great Plays In New England Sports” June 26, 2017
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Ever since the Cleveland Cavaliers knocked off the Boston Celtics, there has been a whole ordeal about how Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant’s Golden State Warriors will have the City’s third thriller with Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love’s Cavs. Here’s why that shouldn’t have happened:
The Celtics had a shot to beat the Cleveland Crew, but their fans were so obsessed with how they were facing the “King,” himself that they didn’t realize how real their chance was. Sure, the Cavs played possibly the best offensive game for one team in NBA history in Game 2. In Space Jam, the Monstars led at the half 66-18, which was thought of an impossible score for one game, but the Cavs led Game 2 at the half with a score of 72-31. Sure, the deficit was slightly more in the Michael Jordan and Looney Tunes film, but it’s still a pretty incredible (or pathetic) achievement. The Cavs took that game 130-86, but believe it or not, the Cs had a shot to win the series. Game 1 was another example of Boston winning the second half, but unfortunately, that was not enough to overcome their fantastic halftime deficit. You know the story with Game 2, but Beantown took Game 3 111-108 in Cleveland to become the only team to have beaten Cleveland in the playoffs. Game 4 was a story of heartbreak for Celtics nation: Without Isaiah Thomas, due to a hip injury, and leading 57-47 at halftime, the Green team looked forward to tying the series and becoming the first team to even up the Cavs. Unfortunately, Kyrie Irving had other plans… In the third quarter, Boston scored an as per usual 23 points, yet Irving scored 21 by himself. The 40-23 third quarter put the score at the Cavaliers leading the Celtics 87-80. Now, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, and Al Horford’s Celtics, without their all-star point guard Thomas, had to climb back in the fourth quarter after leading all game. The Celts kept closing in, but losing it at the last moment. Finally, Cleveland broke free and became the first team to go up three games to one on Boston. If Boston could’ve strengthened their defense in the paint, they would have tied the series and headed back to Boston with some major momentum. Game 5 was barely a trifle for Cleveland: scoring 43, 37, 34, and 26 points in each quarter to total 135 points to Boston’s mere 102 ended the Eastern Conference Finals. Now, it was the Golden State Warriors’ daunting task to take LeBron back off his throne, but it may not be so daunting for the higher seeded Warriors. In Game 1, Kevin Durant unleashed a monstrous 38 point game; not only did he collect 8 rebounds, but his shots drained from every corner of the court. The thing that shut Boston down was how Kevin Love could defend Al Horford in the paint and from three-point range, the same for Kelly Olynyk; but the Cs excelled when they had both men on the court because Love could not guard both of them simultaneously. Love doesn’t have such problems against Golden State’s Durant (I mean, he’s just one guy), but KD still took the Cavs down. If Steph Curry and his fellow Warriors can continue to relax while Durant drives, this will be the easiest sweep in NBA history! One of Boston’s tactic throughout the season was having the point guard (either Thomas or Terry Rozier) drive to the hoop, but dish the ball outside the three point line at the last moment. Having drawn all the defenders in towards the paint, the shooters were usually open for a easy shot. It was extremely helpful and beneficial to the Celtics that they could have a good shooting big man, such as Olynyk or Horford, ready outside. What this would do is bring their lumbering opponent outside, and unable to play defense at the top of the key and around there, the defender would have trouble keeping up Beantown’s athletic big men. At this point, there would be no hulking shotblocker to snatch the ball away from Thomas or Rozier and no hotshot forward to keep up with Horford or Olynyk. This made scoring extremely easy for the top seed Celtics. Unfortunately, Kevin Love, unlike the Washington Wizards’ Marcin Gortat and Chicago Bulls’ Robin Lopez of the first two serieses, is just as athletic as Horford and Olynyk, which ultimately made that go-to tactic of Brad Steven’s team moot. Boston might have had a chance if Horford and Olynyk could have driven or hit outside shots against Love, although they would have had a better chance if IT had stayed healthy. Anyways, despite Boston’s getting trounced by the LeBron Squad, Golden State has one of the easiest jobs in the world. Jesse A. Cook June 2, 2017 “How Boston Could've Won And Why The City Will” |
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