Massarotti: What We're Thankful For In Boston Sports
BOSTON (CBS) -- This late November, as always, we give thanks for most of the good and even some of the bad, because there is always value in both, because balance is often the key to everything and because you simply would not appreciate success without at least some failure.
We give thanks, first and foremost, for Tom Brady and his never-ending quest for excellence, because the career of Bill Belichick and the history of New England football changed forever the night Brady jogged onto the field to replace a fallen Drew Bledsoe, the purest example ever of something seemingly bad proving to be something so very, very good.
And we give thanks that Brady, unlike Peyton Manning, has remained in one piece and relatively healthy, that he has not yet been confronted by the inevitably – the harsh reality – that we will all come to know in some way, shape or form.
And that is age.
We give thanks for Deflategate, no matter which side you are on and what you believe, because it is important to remember that to be human is to be flawed, no matter what, and that we all possess a little of everything; from arrogance to humility, to smarts and stupidity, to self-importance, insecurity and simple cluelessness.
And that anyone who forgets that is missing the point, which we all do at some point, too.
We give thanks for Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts, for the promise of something better than last place in the cluster of years to come, because it has been a long, long time since the Red Sox had a seeming nucleus this young, that they grew from the ground up, that didn't feel like just some short-term big money fix.
And we gave thanks, ahead of time, that Dave Dombrowski did not screw it up.
Right?
We give thanks that the Bruins have seemingly recognized the error of their ways by giving up on Tyler Seguin far, far too early, independent of what Seguin does or becomes, because the Bruins should have been able to integrate a talent like that and because Don Sweeney knows it, and because the Bruins now seem intent on becoming younger, faster, more skilled, particularly in a hockey world that continues to change.
Because, sometimes, you have to sacrifice some of your identity for the greater good.
Because that is called adapting.
And is called growing.
We give thanks for the impatience and irrationality of the Brooklyn Nets, who gave us all those draft picks for all that old furniture, because the Celtics can now try to at least compete on the floor and in the lottery, at the same time, and because watching a team like the Philadelphia 76ers right now would be positively terminal, and because the Celtics are remaining true to the first rule in sports.
Which is that you have to try.
We give thanks for the ever-increasing advantage that is Bill Belichick, who continues to have the Patriots more prepared than any other team in sports, who continues to be right far more than he is wrong, and for evoking memories of Mona Lisa Vito, who was one of the sauciest, smartest and sexiest characters in modern American film.
Because Marisa Tomei hit that one out of the park.
We give thanks for the relentlessness of Malcolm Butler, who plays every down like he played the Patriots' final defensive snap of Super Bowl XLIX.
And for Jamie Collins and Rob Gronkowski, who are the definition of physical freaks, albeit in different ways.
And, yes, for Stephen Gostkowski, who continues to kick with the precision of a laser surgeon.
Because even the most stubborn Gostkowski observers – ahem – know excellence when they see it.
We give thanks for a 14th year with David Ortiz, whose humanity has always been among his greatest qualities, right there with the clutchness, because Ortiz has never been afraid to show us what he truly felt, from the childishness and selfishness to the compassion and warmth to the silliness and comedy.
Because Ortiz is the perfect example of how we are all of those at different times, and because he has been them all while finishing first, last and in between.
We give thanks for the intensity that Larry Lucchino brought to his job on a daily basis, good and bad, because everyone's strength can be everyone's weakness, and because Lucchino was tireless and competitive, and because there just aren't that many people anymore who challenge things the way he did.
And because we should never, ever overlook the importance of that.
We give thanks for little guys who continue to prove that attitude means everything, from Isaiah Thomas and Torey Krug to Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and Dion Lewis, because sports aren't just for the big-bodied brutes, they're also for the crafty, shifty, big-hearted beavers who would bite through wood if they had to.
Because we all appreciate a good effort.
We give thanks for owners who have all delivered a championship within the last decade, from the Jacobs to the Krafts to Wyc Grousbeck, Steve Pagliuca, John Henry and Tom Werner, because we could just as easily have been the Cincinnati Bengals, forever owned by the Brown family, who are the definition of make money first, win later.
Or never.
We give thanks for any athlete who has ever worn a Boston uniform, whether mentioned here or not, because to do so is a responsibility as much as it is an honor, and because every person out there represents us on some level, as silly as that seems, because that is what sports are all about.
And we give thanks, heartfelt and sincere, for continuing to live and work in the greatest sports town in the world, during the good years and the bad and the middling, because there is always the sense that the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox are at least building toward something, that they are never, ever coasting, because everything now is aimed at the next championship and because the people here would never, ever really allow it.
And so thank goodness, especially, for that.