With the exception of the Celtics, Boston Sports has been through a rough patch – NBC Sports Boston

With the exception of the Celtics, Boston Sports has been through a rough patch – NBC Sports Boston

Why can’t three quarters of our teams get out of their own way?

The Patriots are headed for the worst record in football. The Red Sox are entering the sixth year of an endless rebuild. The Bruins magically turned two All-Star goaltenders into one.

It’s a malfunction everywhere you look, and we’re leaving the defending champion Celtics out of this discussion because they’re the only team in town that’s holding it all together. And they are for sale. As Gob Bluth would say, “Come on!”

And so Title Town collapses, not through a spectacular crash, but through a series of stumbling blocks. The negative momentum increases until our demise feels as inevitable as the wonderful years that preceded it.

And let’s face it, we’re long overdue. Thirteen championships since the start of the century make us the envy – and scourge – of every other fan base. Maybe it’s just karma.

The Patriots have had to take steps backwards after an unprecedented two-decade run at the top of the NFL, but it’s breathtaking considering how much the entire operation has been exposed since Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady took his talents to Tampa brought.

Bill Belichick trained himself right out of the league and now has to endure the weekly humiliation of Pat McAfee and his braying asses. Recognizing their own infallibility, the Krafts believed that those six Lombardi Trophies owed as much to their inherent greatness as Brady’s right arm. You own whatever comes next, and it isn’t pretty.

By over-committing to overmatched head coach Jerod Mayo and assembling the NFL’s worst talent base, they are limited to the hope that an over-manned quarterback can save them. Please don’t be Zach Wilson, Drake Maye.

At least the Pats made their choice on a potential franchise player. The Red Sox have virtually not played in the last six years and have only made the playoffs once, although the expanded field meant more than a third of the teams qualified. They herald a .500 season as a step in the right direction while insisting that there is hope at Triple-A. Meanwhile, her brand continues to circle like a tuft of hair down the drain. You might want to fish this out.

Then there are the Bruins. They seem to have built a really good team this summer, with one disastrous exception. Realizing that paying entry fees to two goaltenders was impractical, they traded former Vezina winner Linus Ullmark to Ottawa. That left restricted free agent Jeremy Swayman, last year’s breakout postseason performer, as the starter. No worries. It was a good plan.

Except that Swayman misjudged B’s assessment of the market – namely, that he wants to reset it. So now we’re in this ugly argument where President Cam Neely sneers that Swayman has 64 million reasons to play and his agent says, “That’s the first I’ve heard of that, and by the way, go.” . “eff yourself” and now the marriage seems to be on the way to divorce.

The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa joins Boston Sports tonight to share what he’s heard about the Jeremy Swayman contract dispute

Despite signing in the 11th hour, Swayman has already missed training camp and there is resentment all around. From the deepest goaltending tandem in the league to the shallowest, this is a trick that even David Copperfield said couldn’t be done.

And that takes us into unknown territory. If Maye can’t play, the Patriots won’t compete again for at least five years. The Red Sox continue to wait for prospects who may never arrive. If the Bruins truly intend to open the season with Joonas Korpisalo between the posts, they will get what they deserve.

That’s not how sports should work in Boston. We used to pass the baton from one contender to another as the seasons changed, now there’s a clatter along the track as we point the finger that we’ve missed our window.