Last night on FSNE's Sports Tonight, either Greg ****erson asked someone, or someone asked him, "Are the Patriots turning into the Bruins?" Which got me thinking...
To some extent, the answer might be yes. And you can lop the Red Sox into that category. It looks like the Patriots, Red Sox and Bruins are all into the "frugality" game, managing the team carefully and not overpaying for anyone.
Now, how might this make you all feel better?
Simple. In reality, the Patriots are not turning into the Bruins. The reason why no one should worry about the Patriots is that they have a management team in place who has a definite long term vision and short term plan as to how to run their team. Their philosophy is strong, and their ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl. Between Bob and Jonathan Kraft, Scott Pioli and Bill Belichick, these men can make the "frugality" game work.
You could lop the Red Sox in this category also. The Red Sox are trying to become the Patriots, and to some extent, they have. Like Kraft, John Henry is incredibly smart and filthy rich, money gotten from his business acumen. Larry Lucchino, Theo Epstein and Terry Francona are taking the right baseball approach with the Sox and are making it work. In the long run, the Red Sox will be WS contenders for a long time to come.
OTOH the Bruins aren't like these two teams because all they have in common with the other two teams is a rich owner. Jeremy Jacobs made his millions in concessions, and is clearly more interested in the bottom line than a winning hockey team. I know Harry Sinden has been around practically as long as Eddie Shore and Tiny Thompson (being somewhat facetious here), but Sinden is no Pioli or Epstein. Mike O'Connell is a joke, plain and simple. And there is zero coaching continuity in the Bruins (since Don Cherry, only Pat Burns could be considered a good coach, all the others were mediocre to terrible). The Bruins will never contend for a Cup as long as 1) Jacobs owns the team, and 2) you don't have management that knows how to put a winning hockey team together. As long as you buy Jacobs' hot dogs, he's okay.
So don't worry about all these Patriots leaving. Much as I hate to see WillMac go, and Adam V as well (being presumptious here, I just don't see him staying), I trust that BB and Pioli know exactly what they are doing. I have the same trust for Epstein and Francona.
To some extent, the answer might be yes. And you can lop the Red Sox into that category. It looks like the Patriots, Red Sox and Bruins are all into the "frugality" game, managing the team carefully and not overpaying for anyone.
Now, how might this make you all feel better?
Simple. In reality, the Patriots are not turning into the Bruins. The reason why no one should worry about the Patriots is that they have a management team in place who has a definite long term vision and short term plan as to how to run their team. Their philosophy is strong, and their ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl. Between Bob and Jonathan Kraft, Scott Pioli and Bill Belichick, these men can make the "frugality" game work.
You could lop the Red Sox in this category also. The Red Sox are trying to become the Patriots, and to some extent, they have. Like Kraft, John Henry is incredibly smart and filthy rich, money gotten from his business acumen. Larry Lucchino, Theo Epstein and Terry Francona are taking the right baseball approach with the Sox and are making it work. In the long run, the Red Sox will be WS contenders for a long time to come.
OTOH the Bruins aren't like these two teams because all they have in common with the other two teams is a rich owner. Jeremy Jacobs made his millions in concessions, and is clearly more interested in the bottom line than a winning hockey team. I know Harry Sinden has been around practically as long as Eddie Shore and Tiny Thompson (being somewhat facetious here), but Sinden is no Pioli or Epstein. Mike O'Connell is a joke, plain and simple. And there is zero coaching continuity in the Bruins (since Don Cherry, only Pat Burns could be considered a good coach, all the others were mediocre to terrible). The Bruins will never contend for a Cup as long as 1) Jacobs owns the team, and 2) you don't have management that knows how to put a winning hockey team together. As long as you buy Jacobs' hot dogs, he's okay.
So don't worry about all these Patriots leaving. Much as I hate to see WillMac go, and Adam V as well (being presumptious here, I just don't see him staying), I trust that BB and Pioli know exactly what they are doing. I have the same trust for Epstein and Francona.
