The Original Boston Sports Dynasty

Bobby Orr was at the center of a golden age in Boston sports. (NHL)

It's a weird time to be a Boston sports fan. The Red Sox are coming off their second last-place finish in three years and have a franchise-defining offseason ahead of them. The Patriots haven't won a playoff game in nearly four years and are still trying to find their way in the post-Tom Brady (and now post-Josh McDaniels) era. The Celtics are carrying on without the coach who led them to the NBA Finals a few months ago, while the Bruins also have a new coach but no longer have Zdeno Chara.

There's a lot of uncertainty these days around the Hub. Are the Red Sox going to keep Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers? What's the deal with New England's new coaching staff? Is this Bailey Zappe kid for real? And what sort of terrible things did Ime Udoka really do? 

It's enough to make us pine for a simpler time just a few short years ago, before the Mookie Betts trade and before Brady left. Back when Boston was at the top of the sports world, rather than just another sports town. 

It's hard to imagine Boston's glorious run from 2002-2019 ever being replicated, let alone topped. The Patriots ripped off three championships in four years during the 2000s, then tacked on three more during the 2010s for good measure. The Red Sox went to four World Series and won all of them after going 86 long, painful years without a title. The Celtics and Bruins both chipped in a trophy as well, adding banners to the Garden rafters in 2008 and 2011, respectively. 

It seemed like it would never end, until it suddenly did. The Red Sox blew up the greatest team they've ever had, the Patriots let Brady walk out the door, the Celtics couldn't get past LeBron and the Bruins kept coming up short. 

We're in a new era now, one that hasn't produced a championship in nearly four years. The Celtics are the only team with a reasonable chance of winning one any time soon, and if they do it'll be great. Nothing will ever compare to that magical run, though, at least probably not in our lifetimes.

I was trying to think if there'd ever been a similar era in Boston sports where all of the city's teams were good at the same time for a sustained period. There wasn't, of course, but Boston's best stretch before the 2000s was probably a 10-year run from 1967-1976.

Carlton Fisk became a New England folk hero with his Game 6 heroics. (The Boston Globe)

1967 is a watershed year in Boston sports history, perhaps the most important aside from 2004. When the year started, Bill Russell was in his first season as a player-coach for the Celtics (making him the first black head coach in NBA history) and Bobby Orr was an 18-year-old rookie for the Bruins. That summer, the Red Sox finally emerged from the second division after eight consecutive losing seasons, capturing the hearts of New England with their Impossible Dream run. The Patriots were bad, but they'd only been around since 1960 and weren't very popular yet. 

The Red Sox lost the battle in the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals that fall, but they eventually won the war. The team's unexpected success in '67 gave birth to Red Sox Nation and kicked off a run of 16 straight winning seasons -- the longest stretch in franchise history.

The Celtics continued to dominate through the end of the '60s, winning back-to-back championships in 1968 and 1969 before Russell called it a career. Then it was Orr's time to shine, as he led the Big Bad Bruins to Stanley Cup victories in 1970 and 1972. 

The Celtics re-emerged in the mid-70s with a new core, winning titles in 1974 and 1976. Those triumphs were sandwiched around the epic 1975 World Series between the Red Sox and Reds. While the Red Sox lost again, Carlton Fisk delivered a moral victory with his iconic home run in Game 6.

The Patriots were mostly terrible during this time, but in 1976 their fortunes finally changed. They went from 3-11 to 11-3 and made the playoffs, starting a streak of five straight winning campaigns. 

While it wasn't as great as the golden era of the 2000s or 2010s, it was still a pretty good run. All four teams made the postseason at least once, with every team except the Patriots making multiple championship appearances. Boston won six titles during an nine-year stretch from 1968-1976 and they were well-distributed, with championships in 1968, '69, '70, '72, '74, and '76.

Those years were turbulent ones for the country as well as the city, marked by Vietnam, race riots, Watergate and social unrest. But for Boston sports fans, at least, they were pretty good.

San Francisco's Sneaky Dynasty

Watching the Giants win the last game of the season has become commonplace

It took the Giants 53 seasons to win a World Series after leaving New York following the 1957 season. The drought, snapped in 2010, has been followed by a deluge, as San Francisco has won two more championships since, all under the guidance of future Hall of Fame manager Bruce Bochy.

The Giants have done it with solid all-around teams. None of those title teams had a 30 home run hitter or a 20 game winner, but they were all deep and balanced. Kudos to GM Brian Sabean for building winning rosters year after year.

The first of those teams--the 2010 edition--was a good one. The '10 Giants won 92 games and the NL West, scoring nearly 700 runs while allowing below 600 for a strong run differential of +114. They were middle of the pack offensively but fielded an elite pitching staff that led the National League in ERA and strikeouts. Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum fronted a rotation that included a 20 year-old rookie named Madison Bumgarner. The bullpen featured Brian Wilson at the peak of his powers (48 saves, 1.81 ERA) along with a pair of dominant relievers in Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla.

Minus Bumgarner, the pitching staff was largely comprised of players in their prime. The starting nine was an odd mix of young (20 year-old Buster Posey in his rookie season, 23 year-old Pablo Sandoval in his third) and mostly old veterans and cast-offs (Aubrey Huff, Aaron Rowand, Pat Burrell, Edgar Renteria). But pretty much everyone could hit for some power and get on base, and so the Giants cobbled together a surprisingly effective lineup. They beat the Braves in four in the NLCS, toppled Philadelphia in six for the pennant, then glided past the Texas Rangers in five games for the championship.

After missing the playoffs with an 86-win season in 2011, the Giants won their division again in 2012. Though they won two more games than and outscored their 2010 predecessors by 21 runs (thanks almost entirely to Posey's MVP-season, Melky Cabrera's PED-fueled outburst, a career year from Angel Pagan, and Hunter Pence's late-season contributions), their pitching wasn't as good and their run differential slipped to +69.

Looking back, it's hard to believe how that lineup scored more than 700 runs when only one guy (Posey) hit more than a dozen home runs and only three reached double digits. Similarly, only those three exceeded 60 RBI, with Posey the only one over 65. But while the Giants did not have much power, ranking dead last in home runs with 100, they did excel at getting on base and getting hits. With many of the veterans from the 2010 squad gone or phased out, San Francisco was a younger and more athletic team (as evidenced by their 118 steals).

The key to that team's success was a rotation that remained remarkably healthy. The starting five of Bumgarner, Cain, Lincecum, Barry Zito, and Ryan Vogelsong started all but two games that year. Lincecum went off the rails (10-15, 5.18 ERA), but the rest of the rotation was formidable enough to compensate. The bullpen was still led by Casilla, Romo, and Javier Lopez though Wilson had become irrelevant. Jeremy Affeldt, a member of the 2010 outfit, emerged as one of the team's best relievers to give San Fran a strong relief corps.

Those 2012 Giants were lucky to even reach the World Series. They went the distance against the Reds in the NLDS and prevailed over St. Louis in Game 7 of the NLCS. After that it was smooth-sailing, as they swept the heavily-favored Tigers in the World Series.

2013 was a nightmare season for San Francisco, which lost 86 games and was never really in contention. The Giants were better in 2014, good enough to make the playoffs but still not a great team. They earned a wild card berth with 88 wins and a +51 run differential mostly because of torrid second halves from Buster Posey and Jake Peavy.

The lineup, as always, had few standouts but was solidly constructed, overcoming significant injuries to four of the nine main contributors. Of the 10 players with the most plate appearances on the club, all but one (Brandon Hicks) had an OPS+ above 100. Like the 2010 version, they could all get on base and hit for a bit of pop, which goes a long way. The speed from the 2012 team was absent, however, as the plodding Giants swiped just 56 bases and finished last in the NL.

With Cain hurt and Lincecum ineffective, Bumgarner was the clear-cut ace. He had help in the form of Tim Hudson and, in the second half, Peavy, but San Fran's rotation was pretty thin (as exposed by the weak-hitting Royals in the Fall Classic). The bullpen was still headed by Affeldt, Romo, Lopez, and Casilla in addition to Jean Machi. Like the rotation, it was neither great nor terrible, which explains how San Francisco was so average.

But while this year's championship edition was the worst of the three, it had the easiest run up to the World Series. The Giants cruised past the Pirates in the play-in game, washed away the Nationals in four games in the NLDS, then upset the Cards in five games. They stumbled in the Fall Classic, nearly going down three games to one before rallying to win Games 4, 5, and 7. They may have needed plenty of help from Mr. Bumgarner, but at the end of the day they still got the job done.

Spurs Hammer Heat

The Spurs wrote the latest chapter of their dynasty by beating the Heat in five

There will be no three-peat for the Miami Heat. For the fifth time since 1999 but first since 2007, the San Antonio Spurs are NBA champions.

I said it three years ago when the Mavs brought down the Heat, so I might as well say it again: all is right with the world.

It only took five games for the Spurs to dispatch their star-studded opponents, who appeared thoroughly overmatched in the final three games of this series. The Heat barely put up a fight, losing by 19 and 21 on their home court, then getting blown out of the AT&T Center in a must-win Game 5. They were steamrolled by Greg Poppovich's finely tuned machine, which was firing on all cylinders and outplayed Miami in every aspect. San Antonio had the edge in rebounding, passing, defense, outside shooting, post play, and depth. Top to bottom, the Spurs were the superior team, and it showed.

It was evident during the regular season, when they won 62 games and had the NBA's best record. It was confirmed throughout the postseason, as San Antonio outlasted Dallas in seven games, then Portland in five, and finally OKC in six to earn another trip back to the NBA Finals, where they were defeated by Miami in seven games last year after blowing a five point lead late in Game 6, the basketball equivalent of Mookie Wilson's grounder scooting through Bill Buckner's legs.

It took the Red Sox 18 years to get back to the World Series after Buckner's gaffe. It only took the Spurs one year. Motivated by their soul-crushing defeat, they stormed back for retribution and redemption, hushing any whispers of decline and closing championship windows along the way. San Antonio possessed the drive, desire, and determination necessary to survive a grueling regular season and two-month postseason, asserting their dominance at every turn.

Which is not to say Miami wasn't driven to three-peat, something that hasn't been done since Phil Jackson coached the Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant Lakers to three straight titles from 2000-2002. But the Heat clearly coasted during the regular season, winning eight fewer games than the Spurs and settling for the second seed in the East, biding their time until the postseason rolled around. Sure enough, they kicked it into high gear once the playoffs started, sweeping Charlotte, breaking Brooklyn in five and edging out Indiana in six. The Heat seemed to be hitting their stride at the perfect time and were favored to win their rematch with the Spurs, even though San Antonio had home court advantage*.

Speaking of home court advantage, Miami did not lose a playoff game on their home court this year until the Spurs came to town and blasted them by 40 points in the two games combined. So much for that.

The most shocking outcome of this series was that Miami was outscored by 76 points in the five games (15.2 per game, including their Game 2 win). I can't imagine anyone saw San Antonio's aging Big Three outplaying Miami's Big Three to such a degree. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker were all at the top of their games. LeBron James, cramps aside, was the best player in this series (as expected), but Dwyane Wade crapped the bed and Chris Bosh was merely good. All too often it felt as though James was taking on the entire Spurs team by himself, and as great as James is he proved with the Cavs that he's incapable of winning a championship without help. Nobody can.

But what really doomed the Heat was the stellar play of Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs' complementary players. The Finals MVP obviously had an exceptional series on both ends of the court, but he had plenty of (somewhat unexpected) help from the likes of Patty Mills, Danny Green, and Boris Diaw. The Spurs gelled, and it was truly magnificent to watch. Nobody seemed afraid of the moment and everyone stepped up when needed.

The Heat, however, received no such heroics from their own role players: Norris Cole, Mario Chalmers, Rashard Lewis, and Chris Andersen were nonfactors for most of the series. Ray Allen hit plenty of shots, but not enough to sway the final outcome. San Antonio's depth was too much for Miami to handle, and so the Heat were done in by their dearth of quality options off the bench. Say what you want about Erik Spoelstra's coaching ability, but he was outgunned and outmanned in these finals.

So when the Spurs executed as flawlessly as they did and played great basketball for long stretches of time, the Heat couldn't compete. Their flaws--poor interior defense, iffy outside shooting, lack of depth--were exposed and, as the lopsided scores of Games 3, 4, and 5 indicated, became painfully obvious. From the start of the season to the end of it, San Antonio was the better team. And, as is so often the case in team sports, the better team won.