Zo & Bertrand: The State Of Boston Sports
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's a very interesting time in the Boston sports scene.
The Red Sox are back to being terrible, the shine of the Patriots' Super Bowl win a few months ago has been befogged by the whole DeflateGate mess, and the Celtics made a quick trip to the postseason while the Bruins didn't make it at all.
Just how bright is the Boston sports landscape right now? 98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak and Bertrand discuss the four teams on Tuesday's show, with Zolak much more optimistic than Beetle.
"We're year-round here, which makes it good," said Zolak. "The Red Sox, everyone keeps saying they could win 5-of-7 and be in the mix here, maybe get Cole Hamels at the trade deadline. Maybe they'll get in and we'll see what happens. The Patriots should come out flying, the Bruins should be better, and the Celtics will keep getting better. I think we're in a pretty good state right now."
Beetle on the other hand isn't feeling all that great about the local sports scene.
"You are definitely a glass-half-full guy," Bertrand said to Zolak. "The expectations here have changed, and in fact, I feel some of the town has gone soft.
"If you asked me if Boston [sports are] trending up or trending down, I'd say trending down," said Bertrand. "I think people are feeling too good about the town, sports-wise."
Here's what the duo had to say about each team:
Red Sox
"The Red Sox are the Red Sox; there is always going to be interest in baseball here in Boston," said Zolak. "The scary thing is, where the hell are they going without making a change? Ben Cherington and their philosophy have to go."
"The Red Sox are terrible; terrible to the point where people don't even want to watch them anymore," said Bertrand. "That doesn't feel good. There is nothing about the Red Sox that feels good right now."
Patriots
"The Patriots are always good and they're always going to contend," said Zo.
"The Patriots just won the Super Bowl, which is phenomenal, but now their offseason has been marred with DeflateGate," said Bertrand. "Did Brady cheat? Did he break the rules and what did he know? What is the punishment going to be after the appeals process? The fun of winning the Super Bowl and enjoying the offseason has been taken away. It's like the air was sucked out of the room.
"On top of that, if that didn't happen, by the way they lost Darrelle Revis this offseason," added Bertrand. "You've lost one of the most important players on your team, and now, they don't have a secondary. In terms of what's happening with the team, they're trending down, and they're not the same team that won the Super Bowl in February."
Bruins
"The Bruins have a pretty damn good base," said Zo. "I would put the Bruins maybe second with how you feel OK about a team."
"They're sitting at home right now, watching the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks be the teams they wanted to be in this era. This was supposed to be a dominant era in Bruins hockey, where they were competing for the Stanley Cup every single season. What are they doing instead? Watching other teams do that right now."
Celtics
"The Celtics, in one of the most unique things in the NBA, have a coach [in Brad Stevens] that some people are starting to say free agents may want to come to Boston to play for him," said Zo. "There is a GM in Danny Ainge who will do anything to get players here, and I like that.
"It's going to be exciting to watch them push this together and build it," said Zo.
"Yes, great little story and Brad Stevens is a hell of a coach," said Beetle. "Right now, sure, I have all kinds of optimism. I know that Danny Ainge and the Celtics are going to do everything in their power to try to make a trade. I have faith in the Celtics to put in the effort and have a philosophy and a way of doing business. But here's the problem: whether they execute their plans and hopes is out of their hands.
"At the end of the day, it's the results you feel good or bad about. It's not about the effort," said Beetle.
*We should note that the New England Revolution are currently tied for fourth overall in the MLS standings with 21 points.
