Volume CXXXI, Number 21 April 12, 2002 f

New hope for Boston fans
GIL BARNDOLLAR
STAFF WRITER

There was a time, just a few years ago, when the Boston pro sports scene was a virtual wasteland. It may seem like a distant memory now, with the Pats bringing its Super Bowl victory tour to Portland two days ago, the NHL and NBA playoffs approaching, and the Red Sox season just starting up. But, for the last few years, it was a pretty dismal time to be a Boston sports fan

The Patriots, of course, surprised almost everyone this year in going from worst in their division in 2001 to Super Bowl Champions in 2002. Almost everyone picked them to be the worst team in the AFC East once again. Instead, after starting 0-2 and losing franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe for most of the season, the Patriots rallied and won 11 of their remaining 14 games. Driven by Bill Belichick's unpredictable defense and the solid play of backup quarterback Tom Brady, the Patriots won their division, tore through the playoffs, and shocked the world by upsetting the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. It was a far cry from the Pete Carroll Era of poor drafts, off-field incidents, and underachieving teams.

The Bruins, meanwhile, have had almost as great a turnaround as the Patriots so far this year. After finishing second-to-last in their division and missing the playoffs last season, the Bruins are poised to win the Eastern Conference behind a great young team. This after a five-year stretch in which they missed the playoffs three times, while the closest their fans got to the Stanley Cup was watching vicariously as Ray Bourque hoisted it for the Colorado Avalanche in 2000. Now the Bruins have a border-line MVP candidate in Joe Thornton, a top-flight goalie in Byron Dafoe, and a collection of great forwards. Even the trades of Anson Carter and Jason Allison, dismissed as cheapskate behavior typical of the organization, worked out for the best, netting the Bruins two of their best players, Bill Guerin and Glen Murray. For the first time in maybe a decade, the Bruins have a legitimate shot at the Stanley Cup.

For Celtics fans, the resignation of head coach Rick Pitino last year should have been reason enough to celebrate. After taking over for M.L. Carr following the team's franchise-worst 15-67 finish in 1997, Pitino only ran the Celtics further into the ground. While the Celtics managed to get All-Stars Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce, mostly through sheer luck, "Trader Rick" got rid of any semblance of a supporting cast. Danny Fortson, Ron Mercer, and Chauncey Billups, all good players, were traded away for duds like Vitaly Potapenko, Kenny Anderson, and Tony Battie. The Celtics never played .500 basketball in Pitino's tenure, even in an Eastern Conference devoid of any great teams.

Since assistant Jim O'Brien took over as head coach last season, the Celtics seem simultaneously more relaxed and more intense. Great defense, a concept Pitino preached but never saw in Boston, is now one of their hallmarks. Driven by the shooting of Pierce and Walker, the Celtics have already clinched their first playoff berth since the 1994-1995 season. While it's difficult to see the Celtics going deep into the postseason, there will be playoff basketball in Boston for the first time since the immortal Dino Radja was roaming the Garden floor.

Lastly, we come to the Red Sox. A playoff team in 1998 and 1999, the Sox don't exactly conform to my theory about the recent awful state of Boston sports. But even here, the last year has brought only improvements. Dan Duquette was fired, ending a tenure more remarkable for its incredible lack of humanity than any achievements on the field. Duquette fired coaches and cut players without a thought, and didn't seem to mind when Carl Everett grabbed his crotch and spit at an opposing pitcher on Family Day at Fenway. In trying to improve the roster, Duquette stripmined the Sox farm system and traded away most of the team's viable prospects.

So as spring begins, Boston sports fans have much to look forward to. Though in this era of free agency and salary caps, professional teams can experience dramatic changes in their fortunes in just a season or two, there is no denying that in the last year three of Boston's four major teams have experienced dramatic resurrections.