Jam-Packed Sports Weekend

Pats, B's, Sox and Revs all garner headlines

Remember those spring days not too long ago when all four sports teams would be “in action” on the same day? For the Patriots, it meant taking part in the NFL Draft; for the Red Sox, it was regular-season games; for the Bruins and Celtics, it was always playoff games. This year, things were a little different. The only day of the now three-day NFL Draft in which the Red Sox and Bruins were also playing was Saturday, also known as most anti-climactic day of the draft. As for the Celtics, well, they didn’t play too many big games this year, and they never had a chance of playing games in May. Nevertheless, from Thursday to this past weekend, the other three major sports teams were in the news, and there was unlikely noise from a fourth team. Here’s a quick rundown on all four:

Boston Bruins: Something almost seems amiss if the Bruins aren’t playing with their backs against the wall in the playoffs. Trailing 2-1 in the series, they won two straight to take a 3-2 series lead. Of course, Bruins’ forward Shawn Thornton, who squirted PK Subban in the face with a water bottle, overshadowed all of this. Maybe it fires up the Habs, or maybe it’s forgotten in 24 hours.

New England Patriots: Perhaps it was a sign of the Patriots being really happy with their team before the draft this year (they signed guys like Patrick Chung and Will Smith late in free agency to fill out the roster a bit more), but they ended up with a class that could either be a big bust or a huge windfall. First-round pick Dominique Easley has Top 15 talent, but injuries from college could be a factor in the pros. Second-round pick Jimmy Garoppolo might fade off the roster in the way Brian Hoyer has, and Ryan Mallett seems destined to. Offensive linemen in later rounds are hard to predict, but the Patriots have done well at that position late in the draft in the past, and took a few more this year.

Boston Red Sox: One game above .500 without any one position player actually exceeding expectations this year, provides hope that the Red Sox have plenty of upside. Still, it’s hard not to get one of those bad feelings about this year’s team, as the bullpen and the rotation haven’t synched up too much this season (the relievers were awesome in April, but are less so in May; the opposite is true for the starters) and they’ve dropped a few heartbreakers and they took forever to get over .500 again this season. It’s too early to tell what needs they’ll even have at the trading deadline.

New England Revolution: All eyes were on the Revs as they opened the season with one win in their first four games. But they’re now riding a five-game unbeaten streak, with the latest win being a 5-0 win over the mighty Seattle Sounders. The Revs doing well in a World Cup year might really drum up a lot of interest. The only downside to that theory: None of the players were picked for the U.S. men’s team.


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