Advice From a Bruins Fan
It’s now been three days since the Red Sox completed one of the greatest collapses in baseball history and the pain isn’t any better. It’s still raw and numbing knowing there will be no October baseball for this club, a club once titled as “the greatest team ever.”
With the postseason underway, it will be difficult to watch the Yankees and Rays compete to be called the best team in baseball for the 2011 year. And it will be a long winter full of questions and speculations surrounding the Red Sox. So will this heartache ever get better?
I thought this would be a good opportunity to ask someone who went through a similar collapse in 2010. Remember when the Boston Bruins held a 3-0 series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup playoffs? Only to collapse and lose four straight and the series en route to becoming just the third team in NHL history to do so.
I asked Steve from the Boston Bruins Fansided network – Causeway Crowd what to expect, how Red Sox fans move forward and when this will get easier to deal with. Caution, Steve doesn’t sugarcoat anything and in fact he’s not overly happy with the Red Sox organization right now. I can’t say I blame him either.
Q: How similar was the Red Sox collapse to that of the Bruins in 2010 against the Flyers?
A: In both cases, the leads seemed insurmountable. The Red Sox had a nine-game lead with less than a month to go, and the Bruins held a 3-0 advantage. The difference would be the Bruins probably should not have held that 3-0 advantage. Each of the first three games could have gone either way, though losing four straight is difficult to swallow. The Red Sox have one of the highest payrolls in MLB, yet their bench and bullpen were awful. That’s on the GM. I guess the other difference is, as Bruins fans, it was expected that the team would eventually fold because that’s what they always did. It used to be that way with the Red Sox, pre-2004. Sox fans now are a bit spoiled, much like the GM and management group and some of the players.
Q: What advice do you have for Red Sox fans on handling this collapse? How do you recover?
A: It is a long process. For many Bruins fans, the recovery was not complete until the Bruins beat the Flyers in 2011 to advance to the conference finals. As a fan, you live and die with every game. It is important to keep in mind that the players do not see it that way — they see it as a long race, and the long-term goal is more important than the short-term. I’d say vent as much as possible, key on the good moments and players who work hard (Pedroia, Ellsbury — this season at least, Scutaro, Papelbon, etc), and watch for the team to address the issues. I have little doubt there will be some changes at Fenway.
Q: The Bruins went from a historic collapse in 2010 to a championship the following year. What did the team do to ensure they not only rebounded from the collapse but learn from it and win it all?
A: To the fans, it did not seem like much. There were no major changes, and the team on opening night was pretty much the same team that blew the 3-0 lead. As the season pushed on, it was clear that staying pat was not a bad thing. Players spoke often of the importance of learning from their mistakes and working as a unit. Peter Chiarelli made a few key moves down the stretch, namely acquiring Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley, and the team came together with Tim Thomas backboning the way. The Bruins were the best TEAM in the end — and that came from going through the adversity together and coming back and battling together. The Bruins showed heart — even in blowing that series — no one really questioned their heart. Last season, the heart and the talent came together on an incredible run.
Q: Where would you put this Red Sox collapse in the all time Boston collapses?
A: It has to be near the top. Everyone forgets the 1978 team won its final eight games, won 99 games, and were in an AL East that featured five teams well over .500. The losses in 1975 and 1986 were one-game situations where anything could happen, and the Bruins dropped a 3-0 series to a better team in Philadelphia. This Red Sox team was difficult to root for — arrogant front office, a manager that never got excited, and a bunch of players that never showed heart.
Q: Speaking for other Red Sox fans, I’m feeling anger, shock, disbelief, just to name a few emotions today. When will this get better and is there anything we Red Sox fans can do to speed up the process?
A: I do not think anything can speed up the process. It is likely someone will be the scapegoat (likely Tito Francona, though in my opinion, Theo Epsetin should go as he put this awful combination of players together and never got pitching help, even though he admitted in spring training the pitching was thin). Hopefully fans will see the team make some moves to improve their weaknesses (bench, bullpen, starting pitching, minor league depth) as well as change the culture of entitlement that seems to permeate the team.
Q: After the Bruins lost to the Flyers, did you watch anymore of the playoffs? If so, who did you root for and what level of gratitude was there when Philly was eliminated?
A: I am also a hockey fan, and the Stanley Cup playoffs are the most exciting time in sports in my opinion, so it is hard not to watch! I did nto really root for anyone since three of the teams left (Philly, Montreal, and Chicago) are rivals of the Bruins or the Red Wings (where my friend Jim Bedard coaches). In the end, it did not matter to me that Philly lost in the finals. I guess it was good to see an Original 6 team in Chicago win for the first time in ages.
Q: With the above question, will you watch the MLB postseason? If so, who do you recommend Red Sox fans cheer for?
A: I will be honest, I do not watch much baseball any more. The games are too long and everything is so drawn out. With the culture the way it is at Fenway, it is difficult to root for that team. They remind of the Fat Cat Yankees teams of a few years ago — too many guys with talent but no heart whatsoever. If I had to pick a team, I’d go with Tampa Bay or St. Louis. The Rays are filled with guys who aren’t that good, but work hard every play of the game. St. Louis is home to some of the nicest fans in baseball, so let them enjoy it!
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