Madeline Hubbard ’19 | Sports Editor
The Beantown Beatdown continues as Boston Sports teams dominate their competitors this fall season. The Patriots are first in the American Football Conference (AFC) East division, and the Red Sox are first in the American League (AL) East division, heading to the World Series for the 13th time. The Bruins and Celtics are also heading into their respective seasons looking strong. The Celtics are fifth in the Eastern conference with two wins and one loss. The Bruins are fourth in Atlantic Division with four wins, two losses and two overtime losses.
The Patriots started their regular season in September and have lost one game since. Tom Brady is back for another year as the Patriots Quarterback, looking to collect another ring and become the most decorated QB in NFL history with 6 Super Bowl wins. Joining Brady on the field, Julian Edelman is back in the wide receiver position after an ACL tear in preseason and Rob Gronkowski is back at tight end. Some other key players for the Patriots this season are Stephon Gilmore at cornerback, Patrick Chung at safety and Sony Michel and Rex Burkhead as running backs. The Pats play the Bills Monday at 8:15 p.m., hoping to continue their four-game winning streak.
The Celtics have a promising season ahead of them with 20-year-old returning rookie Jayson Tatum, who brings more confident and aggressive play to the team, and Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart are still holding down the fort as point guards. Gordon Hayward is back and ready to play after an upsetting leg injury in the beginning of last year’s season. Some other key returning players include power forward Al Horford and Small forward Marcus Morris. The Celtics handily beat the 76ers in their season opener last Tuesday 105-87. The Celtics also beat out the Knicks on Saturday but fell to the raptors in the 4th period on Friday. With LeBron traded to the Lakers and the Western Conference, the Cleveland Cavs are currently last in the Eastern Conference, smoothing out the road to Playoffs for the Boston team. The Celtics play tonight against the Thunder in Oklahoma City at 8 p.m.
The Bruins came out in their season opener to lose 7-0 to the capitals — an appallingly large score for ice hockey. The Bruins picked up steam, winning the next four games against the Buffalo Sabers, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers. They lost the last two games in overtime to the Vancouver Canucks and the Oilers. The Bruins have a roster full of returners, including notorious hothead Brad Marchand, Captain Zdeno Chára and Goalie Tuukka Rask. They also have key centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, with winger David Pasternak and defenseman Torey Krug. With Chára getting older, the Bruins are looking to get one more chance at the Stanley Cup before the defense is left behind without Chára’s wisdom and experience on the ice. Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo are looking to step up and fill Chára’s skates. If the Bruins can win the Stanley Cup this year, it will be the seventh Cup the team has won and the first time in seven years. The Bruins play tonight at 7 p.m. at TD Garden against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Red Sox are on fire this season, heading into Game 3 of the World Series tomorrow against the Dodgers at 8:00 p.m. The Sox crushed the Yankees in just four games, thereby eliminating them from the Semifinals, with one of the games a 16-1 win for the Sox. The Red Sox went on to crush the Astros as well, winning four games in a row. Now, the Red Sox are in their 13th World Series appearance, looking to win their 9th World Series title. Their opponent, the Dodgers, are back for the second year in a row — a surprising turn of events given their mediocrity as a team in years past. This year, the Sox owe their success to big hitters Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, JD Martinez, Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr and, of course, senior second baseman Dustin Pedroia. The Sox will need the whole team firing on all cylinders for the next three games in Los Angeles to overcome the home team advantage and make it back to play the rest of the series at Fenway Park.
