Most people trying to predict the future in the fickle world of professional sports do so at the peril of having egg on their face.
And, let’s be honest, most end up being wrong. Most of the people who purport to be expert prognosticators do so for clickbait or ratings spikes.
If you’re taking the word of sports talk blowhards on the television or radio and heading to a casino in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New Jersey or Vegas (but heaven forbid not in Massachusetts) to place a sports bet, I hope you are doing so with disposable money.
Instead of trying to guess what might happen in absolutes as we turn the calendar to 2020, this will be an exercise in what we know for certain will happen in Boston sports in the new year, with some possible outcomes.
Fact: The Patriots are in the playoffs. Again.
Possible outcome: The Patriots face the Titans on Saturday night. Many people across the country see this as the beginning of the end of Patriots dominance. People said that midseason last year, too. And the year before that. And… You get the idea. The Patriots will probably win Saturday, allowing the conjecture to continue for at least another week. If they lose, though, the next scenarios below will be accelerated.
Fact: Tom Brady’s contract is up, teams are interested in Josh McDaniels as a head coach. Their futures in Foxboro are in question.
Possible outcomes: Brady retires. Brady plays elsewhere. Brady returns. McDaniels coaches elsewhere. McDaniels remains with the Pats. These are all self-explanatory, yet we’ll continue to discuss them ad nauseum, with no more facts that we currently have. The real stories out of all of these scenarios will be the dominoes that fall after these decisions are made. But until these things happen (or don’t), the speculation will rage.
Fact: The Red Sox will begin spring training in about 40 days, with or without some currently rostered players on the squad. They will also play a 162-game schedule, and finish with a win total that will be unacceptable to a large number of area fans.
Possible outcome: The “will-they-or-won’t-they-trade-Mookie” machine is in full grind. There are compelling arguments to be made in both directions. And Mookie isn’t the only player with questions surrounding him. David Price, Chris Sale, Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr. have all been mentioned this offseason. In 2020, it’s very likely that at least one of these players will be wearing a different uniform. And to the number of wins: Straight odds are against replicating their 119-win World Series run of 2018, and a true bettor would probably shy away from predicting a playoff berth this season. But that will all be predicated upon the first half of this entry, and the actual makeup of the squad come April.
Fact: The Celtics are in a much better place to start 2020 than they were to begin 2019, and optimism is greater.
Possible outcome: The unfortunate part of the C’s being in a better place is that many teams in the East are also in a better spot. Making the playoffs is all but guaranteed, but winning even one round will be tough, given the rise of the Heat, the resurgence of a healthy Pacers team, and the continued overall solid play from Philly, Toronto and of course Milwaukee. Green-Teamers won’t be satisfied with a one-and-done playoff scenario, but it certainly is a possibility. The opposite is, of course, true as well. The C’s could easily make it to the conference final again, given their penchant for team-oriented play and stingy defense. This certainly bears watching in 2020.
Fact: The Bruins are going to make the NHL playoffs.
Possible outcome: There is no doubt the B’s will get in. The likeliest scenario is the top seed in the division, though that’s not a given, especially if they can’t earn extra points when afforded the opportunity. But whether the team — and specifically Tuukka Rask — can catch lightning in the playoffs again is to be determined. The “will-they-make-a-move” chatter has begun and that bears watching, and will impact not the “whether” in the playoff talk, but the “how far.”
Fact: The Boston College football team will have a new coach this season.
Possible outcome: The school went out and got a head coach with an NFL and major program (Ohio State) pedigree, Jeff Hafley. Herein lies the rub: People need to be patient. It takes a few years in college sports for coaches to put a stamp on a program, and success or a turnaround won’t happen overnight. Hafley will no doubt do good things for the Eagles and there is reason for optimism.
Fact: The Revolution will play a full season under Bruce Arena.
Possible outcome: The Revs completed a remarkable turnaround a year ago after Arena was hired to run the team’s soccer ops, climbing from deep in the basement to make the MLS playoffs. With a full season under Arena to come, along with the benefit of a full offseason at his direction, there is plenty of optimism surrounding the franchise, perhaps more than in the past decade.
Fact: The PGA returns to greater Boston; Pro tennis back for the first time in 21 years.
Possible outcome: The best golfers in the world will return to TPC Boston in Norton for the first leg of the PGA playoffs. There is no contract beyond this year, so there’s no telling whether this will be the final time this tourney exists here, but it’s at least one more go-around. And the Laver Cup pits Europe’s best against the best from the rest of the world in pro tennis. TD Garden will host that in late September.
With infinite space, we could keep going. The Boston Pride of the NWHL will make a run at the Isobel Cup. The Freejacks will begin play as Boston’s professional rugby team. Boston College hockey could make a serious run at an NCAA title. The Boston Marathon could be run in better weather, and again, God willing, without major incident.
Boston is home to so much activity, it’s hard to miss it even if you’re trying.
We don’t know how things will turn out this year, for any of these teams or players, but we do know it will be fun watching them, writing about them, and uh, discussing them, with our readers.
Happy New Year, and all the best in 2020.
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January 02, 2020 at 06:31PM
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What to watch for in Boston sports in 2020 - Boston Herald
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