At the end of December 1965, the Boston Patriots had 4 wins, 8 losses, and 2 draws, tied for the fewest wins in the American Football League.
They were beaten twice by the Bills, with two of those wins coming on the road against the Jets and Broncos. Their top punt returner was veteran Ron Burton, who played college ball at Northwestern University.
Fifty-eight years later, the Patriots have won four games and are about to be blown away by the Bills. Two of their wins have come on the road against the Jets and Broncos, and their games are covered by Ron Barton’s son, Steve Barton. He played college ball at Northwestern University and is currently the anchor of Channel 4’s “Patriots All Access.” The legendary Bill Belichick has less job security at this point than Mike Holovak did in 1965.
Curious what the Red Sox were doing in the winter of 1965?
It felt kind of the same as it does now. The 1965 Sox finished 9th out of a 10-team league with 62 wins and 100 losses. Only 12 year old kids like me cared about them. I thought things might improve once Dick O’Connell was promoted to general manager, but there was no talk of it this offseason.
And those Sox didn’t tell us they were developing a top prospect (no word from Tom Yawkey about going “full throttle”). O’Connell’s big move over the winter was trading shortstop Eddie Blessed to the Mets for outfielder Joe Christopher. The Sox hadn’t played .500 ball in seven years, and by 1966 they were about to fall to ninth place again.
Fifty-eight years later, the Red Sox have slowed down. They have finished in last place three times in four years and six times in 12 seasons. Team president Tom Warner promised the team would go “full throttle,” but so far that has been a joke despite the appointment of new baseball manager Craig Breslow.
The remaining defenders of the Red Sox style cite “four World Series championships,” but that’s ancient history. 2018 may be the same as his 1918. Those days are over. The Sox are far from winning. Today, they mostly cause anger or apathy among fans.
In ’65, all we had was the Celtics. The 1965-66 Celtics were seeking his eighth straight championship, his ninth in 10 seasons. They were a showcase of their sport and featured games played on the parquet above the station.
The 2023-24 Celtics don’t have a stellar recent history (one championship since 1986), but they have reached the conference finals in five of the past seven seasons and have the best record in basketball. Their success is expected. He is scheduled to play in the NBA Finals in June. They are once again the league’s showcase team.
Happy new year.
(Sorry, Bruins fans. I wish I could compare the 2023 team to the 1965 team, but there’s no resemblance.) The Bruins of the mid-1960s were basement dwellers, teenage Bobby They were waiting for Orr to lead them into a golden age and become king of the New of England.)
▪ Quiz: Name the five Bruins leaders in career penalty minutes (answers below).
▪ Several people sitting in the pouring rain at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Wasabi Fenway Bowl (Boston College defeated SMU 23-14 in front of an announced “crowd” of 16,238). When I saw the lost souls, it occurred to me that this might be the case. It will be the premier sporting event to take place at Fenway Park for the next nine months. Really sad days.
▪ NCAA President Charlie Baker, who was on vacation as a bus driver during the epic Wasabi Jousts, no doubt enjoyed the obligatory rendition of “Sweet Caroline” in the fourth quarter. Hmm.
▪ There was also more cricket coming out of Foxborough after Jets owner Woody Johnson told the New York Post that he would bring back coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas.
▪ Look at the record: Bailey Zappe has a 4-2 record as a starting quarterback in the NFL. Tell me again, why did Belichick cut him in August? Oh, who else heard the raspy, humble voice of young Elvis when Zappe took to the podium after the game? I keep waiting for him to curl his lips and say “thank you.” thank you very much. “
▪ Charlie McAvoy would have been an excellent contact hitter had he played baseball. Wednesday in Buffalo, McAvoy skated behind Jeremy Swayman and hit the puck in the air against the edge of the net to protect the Bruins’ 3-0 lead and ultimately give the Sabers a 4-0 lead. I won with 1. McAvoy looked like a left-handed hitter wasting pitches in counts 0 and 2. Great stick control.
▪ In his outstanding essay on dunking in The Athletic, Tim Cato reports that 67-year-old Marques Johnson, who started dunking at age 15, still throws a first down every year on his birthday. ing. Johnson’s son captured the moment on video for posterity.
Johnson, who was named Naismith Collegiate Player of the Year at UCLA in 1977, had a stellar career in Milwaukee and still provides television analysis for the Bucks. These days, it sometimes takes more than six tries to complete a dunk. He had hip surgery over the summer, but he told Cato he thought he would be able to dunk again by the time he turns 68 in February.
When I texted Cedric Maxwell, who is already 68 years old, to wish him a Merry Christmas and ask if he could still dunk, Max replied, “No way in this world.”
▪ In January 1968, national champion UCLA played back-to-back games against Holy Cross and BC at Madison Square Garden. The Bruins were led by 7-foot-1 center center Lou Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Holy Cross was coached by Jack Donahue, Alcindor’s high school coach at Power Memorial in New York City. BC was coached by Bob Cousy.
The event was a homecoming for Alcindor. Alcindor had just suffered his first collegiate loss a few days earlier at the Astrodome against Elvin Hayes’ Houston Cougars. Against Holy Cross, Alcindor was guarded by captain Keith Hochstein, 6-4.
“We played them man-to-man, which was pretty ridiculous if you think about it,” Hochstein said. “There’s not a lot of strategy when a 6-4 year old covers Alcindor. I think it’s stupid to get in front of him. I played behind him. He still does skyhooks. He didn’t invent it, but he still had a very effective inside game.”
Alcindor scored 33 points in a 90-67 victory in front of a crowd of 18,106. Hochstein scored 22 points for the Crusaders. One night later, Alcindor & Company defeated BC 84-77.
Years later, Hochstein and his son went to an Abdul-Jabbar book signing near Copley Plaza and stood in line to get the book signed. As the two moved to the front of the line, Hochstein showed Abdul-Jabbar a photo of the two men fighting in 1968. Abdul-Jabbar said he remembered Hochstein, but he had no intention of signing the photo.
“I’m just here to sign the book,” the Lakers center said. Wandering.
▪ Are you impressed with the Celtics’ home record (15-0)? Let’s take a look back at 1985-1986, when the greatest NBA team of all time went 50-1 at home (including the playoffs and three games in Hartford that counted as home games). Their only loss came on December 6th, when they lost 121-103 to the Portland Trail Blazers, also known as the Flying Burrito Brothers.
▪ Take it easy on the great/underrated Patriots defense. Through the first 15 games of the season, New England allowed more points than any team in the AFC East (322). That includes the Jets (315 before Thursday night’s game against the Browns).
▪ Tony Romo on seeing Jack Jones selected No. 6 against the Chiefs on Christmas: “What a great decision to bring him in!” Rumbles. Alert Las Vegas Airport Security. I mean, what team wouldn’t want a player like Jack Jones?
▪ Over-promotion of Werner/Wick Grousbeck’s new comedy Extended Family caused sports programming to be interrupted last weekend.
First, Wyc and actor Donald Faison dominated the airtime on NBC Sports Boston, promoting the new show during Saturday afternoon’s Celtics-Clippers win in Los Angeles.
Later, when the game was promoted as a subscription-only product on Peacock, it was teased that soccer fans across the country would be watching the Bills-Chargers on NBC. After watching five minutes of the Bills vs. Chargers pregame (including the national anthem), NBC abruptly canceled Tom and Wick’s feel-good divorce sitcom at 8:05 p.m.
A disappointing launch. Many supporters of Tom and Wick’s sports teams are upset by this bait-and-switch.
▪ The 2024 MLB season will be a great development for the American League, marking 70 years since the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore. Don Larsen would play a perfect World Series game with the Yankees in 1956, but in 1954 he went 3-21 (54-100) with the seventh-place Orioles.
▪ Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Jack Leonard from Weymouth, who passed away before Christmas at the age of 88, leaving behind a lifetime of love and compassion for others. A proud Double Eagle and Jimmy Fund Champion, Jack touched thousands of lives and will be missed by all who knew him.
▪ Quiz answers: Terry O’Reilly, Mike Milbury, Keith Crowder, Eddie Shore, Ray Burke.
Dan Shaughnessy is a columnist for the Globe. Contact him at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com.follow him @dan_shaughnessy.