Can You Smell October?
Summer is winding down, and I know that makes a lot of people upset. Me on the other hand, couldn't be happier about the fall coming. It's the best time of the year when you enjoy life the way I do. There is nothing better than breathing in the crisp fall air wearing a sweatshirt with shorts on. It's every fat guys favorite time of year, get to hide the man boobs and still be cool enough by getting the breeze on your legs. Besides that, it means the leaves are changing, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and sports are at their best. You have all four sports happening in the month of October and their is always that one Sunday where their is a World Series game, an NBC hockey game, a big time NBA game, and obviously a full day of football. It doesn't get any better than that.
Now I know everyone out there that likes sports has their favorite and there are a good amount of those people that don't care for baseball. While I'll never understand this crazy notion that baseball is boring, these people have no reason to hate October baseball. Can you name a better time for it? You can go to the games and not sweat so much that you stick to your seat, the air just smells different, and the energy is at an all time high. I've been lucky enough to see a postseason game at Fenway for the past two years. Well I don't know if I'd call it lucky because I saw David Ortiz cry on the mound after he played his last game and it was emotional, then I saw the Sox show life for a day just to get my heart ripped out of my chest the next day watching on my couch. Either way, I've never felt Fenway so amped for a baseball game before in my life. Granted I've been to Opening Day, but that energy is more like being excited baseball is finally back. The postseason is more of not being able to sit down, living and dying with each out, and getting way too excited for strike one to every batter. While you feel this, there is so much more to the atmosphere at the park that is just indescribable and I hope every baseball fan has the opportunity to experience that one day. Not to mention the Sox have a great shot at winning it all this year, being the best team in baseball. I'm so ready to see Chris Sale dominate this postseason and have JD hitting piss missiles all over the park.
And while baseball is the best part about October, it isn't the only part. As a fan of all the Boston sports you have so much to follow during this time, mainly because it is the best sports city in the world. October is the time when you can really start separating the contenders in football from the pretenders. The first four games are always the "feeling out" stage of the season. Wouldn't be shocked if the Pats go 2-2 during September, because they do a lot. When they do that it normally means good things for their record at the end of the year however. So October is when us Pats fans stop having heart attacks every weekend thinking, "this is the year it's finally over". Guess what as long as you have the best QB of all time, the best head coach of all time, and arguably the biggest mismatch in football with Gronk, it's never over. Belichick will figure it out every October and come up with the best game plan for the Patriots going forward. While football is back tonight, real football is back in October if you ask me.
Now while baseball is winding down and the football season is heating up, the Boston Celtics will be just starting their season. While last year was highly anticipated with the signing of Hayward and the trade for Kyrie, this year is even more exciting in my eyes. They had expectations last year to be good, this year they have expectations to be great. Obviously Lebron is out of the East so by default it is the Celtics conference to lose. They have one of the deepest teams in the NBA and are probably going to be the second best team in the league behind the Warriors. You can save that "but the Rockets" for somebody else because Carmelo stinks and makes his teammates worse. I mean come on, the Celtics are going to either have Jason Tatum or Jaylen Brown coming off the bench (probably the later), Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, and either Marcus Morris or Aaron Baynes. Not to Mention they have Daniel Theis back this year, and while he isn't a big name, he is a solid role player. That is depth. You have three guys on the bench that can realistically start for 60% of NBA teams. I can't wait for them to come out and just take it to other teams this year. Some people will say they have too many mouths to feed, or that there is only one ball to go around. You can get out of my face with this. Brad Stevens is the best coach in the league and he will be able to get everyone their shots and have this team buy into the whole "team over self" mentality. I'm predicting a 64 win season for the Celtics and a Finals appearance.
And last but not least is the Bruins season getting underway in the best month of the year, October. They might actually be the least in Boston sports this year because every other team has a legitimate shot of winning the championship, but I just can't see it with the Bruins. They lost to Tampa Bay last year in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in what looked like a murder. They just weren't on the same level as the Lightning and now the Lightning are better. Oh yeah, and the Maple Leafs got a guy names John Tavares. Not sure if you've heard of him, but he's pretty damn good. So that means the Bruins are the third best team in their division and will probably be bounced in the second round by Toronto. While they have a great young core, Don Sweeney hasn't done anything to make this team better. If anything they will take a step back. Either way it will be exciting to see the young guys develop more this year and who knows, maybe they will make a move at some point during the season to help them take that next step.
So that is why October is the best month of the year. Disagree if you want, but you're wrong and apparently don't love sports.