 2023 was not the year many had hoped for in Boston sports. The Celtics and Bruins falling short of expectations in the playoffs. At least they made the playoffs. Red Sox managed dead last and the Patriots will likely join them. This is where we begin today guys with Tom Giles during the conversation. This is our second to last show because we are preempted by Celtics coverage on Friday. Penultimate. Yes, penultimate show of the year of 2020. Don't look at that with the big words. The year of 2023. So we're going to take a look back. Best word, Tommy Giles, to describe Boston sports in 2023. Well, I was going to say incomplete because of what you saw from the Celtics and the Bruins. Incomplete. You know, the mission was to win championships. When you look at that list, oh man, sporadic comes up for me because you're all over the place. Patriots are down. The Red Sox are down. Can't even remember them. They're so bad. They are forgotten. That is that. They deserve to be. The New England Revolution went on with them and Bruce Arena like everything. It's very sporadic year of 2023, but incomplete would be the big one. Unfulfilled. Like the Celtics fail. The Bruins definitely fail, obviously in the first round, but even the Red Sox and the Patriots, they were so unfulfilling. This year, remember, if we go way, way back, Bill O'Brien's coming, Mac Jones is going to be better. There's going to be some positive momentum. You're feeling better. Nope. None of that worked. Even some of their best players, Judon and Gonzo. You feel great about Gonzo. We finally nailed the first round pick. Been a while and he's hurt. So it's just unfulfilling for and then the Red Sox might as well change their name to unfulfilling. So my word is unsettled because I feel like other than the Celtics who I feel like we know which direction they're going, I don't think there's going to be a lot of change there. The other three organizations, it feels like you don't really know what's on the horizon for them. We don't know if the Patriots are going to retain Bill Belichick. They may move on from their hall of fame head coach. The Bruins have now lost nine of their last 14 games. And I was reading an article today from Kevin Paul Dupont that pointed out other teams in the NHL that have gone through skids like this. They've gotten rid of their head coach. You don't know what that team's going to look like if they're going to be the team they were at the start of the year or what they've looked like the last 14, 15 games. And then you have the Red Sox who just, I mean, we'll get to, we'll get to my anger about them. But like, is, is, is Alex Cora going to be here next year? Hasn't signed anything? Are they, who are they going to be? I don't know. So it's very unsettled. This is like a time where we don't really know what to expect from any of the teams. Okay. So speaking. She said sucky. We should have slummed it. Sucky. Yeah. It was a sucky year. But it wasn't completely. Wait, aren't we trying to win championships? You had two last places. So they're, they're regular season stunk. And then the other two teams looked like they got our hopes up and then. All right. That's the new word sucky. 2023 was sucky for New England sports. Okay, Andy. So since we're on the trail of sucky, what was the biggest disappointment for you last year? The biggest disappointment for me would have to be the Boston Reds. Well, the biggest disappointment. Sorry. That's the Celtics because I bought into them. I don't know. Am I all over the map? I don't know. I just wrote on mine so I can remember. I wasn't prepared for the assignment. No, I would say the biggest disappointment overall is the Red Sox, but the biggest disappointment in the last year was the Celtics because I bought into it. I'm a green teamer. When I come in these doors, I kind of transform into a member of the green team and between Brown, the biggest Jaylen Brown defender in the world and between Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, I bought into it and then, well, you didn't. Well, you didn't. Yeah, but to me, it's, it's the Bruins. You went out, you had a historic regular season. And understandably, things happen in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but in the opening rounds, you go seven games. You got the lead in game seven and you give up the tying goal late and then you lose an overtime. I mean, and just it was maybe the way to watching it with a bunch of friends at the airport coming off a vacation. So, you know, you're already experiencing what's going to be kind of like down. Yeah, right. And then they lose an overtime and the way that went down. So that was the biggest disappointment for me. So my biggest disappointment is online with Andy, which is the Celtics losing in the Eastern Conference finals to the Miami Heat. I mean, the door was open for them when they beat the 76ers, when Milwaukee was knocked out by Miami unexpectedly. The path opened for them. They had home court advantage. They had the stain of losing to the Warriors the year before and coming back in this big rallying cry. And then they lost. And that, to me, is a huge disappointment because I think a lot of us believe that they really had the talent to win the title last year. But that is not what made me most angry. So our next category is what angered us most in 2023. I am most angry about the Red Sox. Absolutely. Because I think that Boston is a big city. I was just home in Milwaukee for the holidays. There's like nobody around. You know, the Brewers are slashing payroll. They're signing like 20 year old kids to record contracts. They don't have any money. That team has money. That team has money. And I come back and I find out that Jordan Montgomery is going to cost too much. And you were never really in the Yamamoto sweepstakes. And you certainly weren't in the sweepstakes for Shoei Otani. I've said this once. I'm going to keep saying it until it happens. John Henry, if you don't want to own the team, sell the team. If this is not what you want to do anymore, sell the team. This used to be a baseball town. This used to be a place where I'd like to go on a sunny Saturday afternoon and go watch the Red Sox play. And it was an event. Now we can't even remember to be mad at you because we don't even, you cease to exist in our mind. That's what made me the most angry. It's absolutely the Red Sox. And the most amazing thing, unless they're preparing to sell, that's the only logical path that we are seeing. So maybe our anger leads to the sale, but they're not entertaining during the season. They're not entertaining during the off season, even though they're going full throttle. And you said there was uncertainty. Well, usually we say, well, get rid of the GM and bring somebody else. They did that. They got rid of the GM and brought somebody else in. And same, same as my buddy Rich Keith says, they just brought in Heimbloom with a curveball. There's no difference. There's no spending. There's no going to get players. And the old days, they ruined Yasama. Now they just ruin you around. They're almost irrelevant. Like they almost are. You kind of forgot about them. Like what's that for? Yeah. Sorry. What's that for? No, it used to be a baseball town. You still play in Boston. You're still a big market team. You're not supposed to be. You're not handcuffed with limitations. You have Fenway Park that brings people in America's most beloved ballpark. But at some point, the team is not talented. There's no reason to watch the Red Sox. Charles, I'm not going to lie. I went to the Boston Pops for the first time and, you know, they have like a local celebrity read the night before Christmas. It was Linda Henry. And I had to sit and keep my mind. I wanted to scream, sell the team. Sell. Like that's how angry I am. But that's all that makes news now is booing and heckling the owners. So, but here's the thing with the Red Sox. I guess I'm just, I'm resigned. You're not angry about them? Sounds like he doesn't care. This is who they are now. They've been telling us this is who we are. This is what we do. So who makes you angry, Giles? What made me angry was that the Patriots went out and decided, you know what, we don't need Jacobi Myers. Let's let him go. Let's bring in Juju Smith Schuster. We don't really need to address the wide receiver position outside of that. We don't need to address the tackle position, the offensive line, the roster construction of this team, which again goes back to the off-season, the middle of the off-season. Everyone looking at it saying, you know what, this wide receiver group is not very good. Nope. Mike Giardi could have told you that. And we could have told you that even before then. Stinks stunk. The offensive line we knew was not going to be good enough and sure enough, it was not good enough. Okay. So that angered me more than anything because, and I realized now it probably didn't matter, but coming into the year, it was all about hope. What do you got in Mack Jones? What do you really have here with this quarterback? Now we found out the answer, but I think the answer probably was somewhat a result of the fact that they didn't surround him with much or enough. And now you have a broken quarterback and you're looking at four wins. I like to think of this as a positive show. So let's send them a happy note. What made you happiest in 2023? It's the last few months of watching the Boston Celtics because coming off of what we saw and the playoff run that they went out there, they made moves and it's fitting together. They look like the best team in the NBA. Adding Kristaps Porzingis has been a good move. Adding Drew Holliday, it just feels like everything's fitting together. Absolutely. It's the Celtics because in juxtaposition to what we were just talking about, the Patriots not going out and seeking talent and filling holes. And the Red Sox not doing a damn thing. And who would have thunk? Like we make Funaheim Bloom or Breslow, how they sound, how they look. Brad Stevens is the badass in town. Like Brad Stevens is the guy who's like, oh, we lost? Oh, you don't think I'll go get this guy? He basically admitted he didn't care what it took to get Porzingis. He wanted him. This is the type of leadership that I think the modern fan wants. Like be all in. Yes, we play fantasy football. We play fantasy sports. It's about collecting talent. You have two good stars. Doesn't mean you can't have a third. Make it happen. So the Celtics have been exciting. The opposite of the Red Sox. They're exciting in season and they're exciting out of season. So year round sports fan. I'm also the Celtics because the Celtics weren't afraid to do what it took, right? Like everybody liked Grant Williams. People loved Marcus Smart. We know Chris Forsberg has an undying love for Robert Williams, but that didn't stop Brad Stevens. He looked and said we need Drew Holiday. We need Chris Steps Porzingis. It's going to hurt to get rid of guys that we thought might be part of our future. Patriots, Robert Kraft, are you listening? It's hard to let go of people who have been with you for a long time and have brought you, you know, a level of success. But sometimes you just have to part ways and Brad Stevens was not afraid to part ways of those guys. And having a bunch of mediocre players, the Bill Belichick way might just be dated in all of sports, not the football. Maybe you just need the best four or five players on a team. Go. Last, but certainly not least. Do you think 2024 will be better, worse, or about the same as 2023? Well, it has to be better, right? Because we all think the Celtics are going to win the title, correct? Yes. So there's a title right there. We all think the Bruins won't fall on their face in the first round or hope me. And then the Red Sox and the Patriots, they got to be better, right? Like there's literally no place to go but up. They're in dead last place, as you put it. Dead last place. Dead last place. Yeah. Cheryl Crowe, a change will do you good. I think that the Red Sox could be worse than what you saw a season ago when they won like 78 games somewhere around there. What's below dead last place and $1 Yankees tickets? I don't know. I mean, that place is relegation. I think it could be even more empty than you think. And then of course, the ticket prices are going to go up. I think it'll be better because I like the hope with the Celtics. You're going to win a title. You're going to have a parade. Yes. But the Bruins aren't what they were a year ago. I guess the Patriots are hoping that the change is good. Yeah. Yeah, you're going to get a quarterback. Jayden Daniels is coming. I think it's going to be better. I think that the Patriots are going to start a rebuild. It might not be great at first, but you're going to see some sunshine on the horizon. The Celtics are going to win a title. And the Bruins, they're also sort of like in a middle area where they're kind of getting used to some young guys. You get some young guys that are bouncing back and forth. It's just the socks that are going to stink. And you know what? Maybe the Henrys will sell the team and then everything looks better and up from here.