👴🏽👦🏽 Old School vs. New School

Good Morning, Boston.

On this day in 2021 … The Patriots outlasted the Buffalo Bills, 14-10, in an unholy Orchard Park blizzard on Monday Night Football to win their seventh straight game. With 50-mile-an-hour winds swirling around Highmark Stadium, rookie QB Mac Jones only attempted three pass attempts in the win. In hindsight, maybe that was a red flag about Mac, but … a win’s a win!

WHAT’S ON TAP TODAY:

The “Gravedigger” strikes again

The next title in Titletown?

Mayo’s 2025 makeover?

LET’S GET INTO IT…

LEADING OFF

This … or that?

Celtics legend Paul Pierce opened up a fun debate. The Celtics Hall-of-Famer just claimed the 2008 C’s team would “break” this most recent C’s championship squad. (Seriously, break this guy?) We’ll never know now, of course, even if Kendrick Perkins still probably thinks he’d crush Jayson Tatum in the paint. But because barbershop sports talk is so fun, let’s pit some Boston championship teams past and present against one another. (That means no 2007 Patriots or 2023 Bruins.)

‘08 Celtics vs. ‘24 Celtics. The older Celtics had plenty of star power and attitude with Hall-of-Famers Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. But even if Garnett locks down the paint, who’s stopping that 3-point barrage? And what’s stopping Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown from putting the plodding Perkins in a blender every possession? Factor in Joe Mazzulla coaching circles around Doc Rivers, and let’s say the 2024 squad wins … in seven. “Let’s see them beat the ‘86 Celtics before we crown them,” Shaquille O’Neal says, probably. 

‘72 Bruins vs. ‘11 Bruins. Let’s bring in our own Conor Ryan for this line change:

Much like the ‘11 Bruins with Zdeno Chara, Mark Recchi, Milan Lucic, and Patrice Bergeon, the ‘72 B’s had plenty of veteran mettle and snarl with John “Pie” McKenzie, Derek Sanderson, Johnny Bucyk, and Dallas Smith. But even though Tim Thomas had an insane Cup run in 2011, good luck stopping prime Bobby Orr (117 points in 76 games) and Phil Esposito (66 goals, 133 points in 76 games). "Jesus Saves! Esposito scores on the rebound!" was a slogan in Boston for a reason. '72 Bruins in six.

‘04 Sox vs. ‘18 Sox. Both teams were stacked, but the ‘04 squad had: superior hitting led by David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez; more experienced starting pitching with Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez; the better of the two closers between Keith Foulke and Craig Kimbrel; and the tougher road to win the title, having to walk down that incredible Yankees team after being down 3-0. Give me the Cursebreakers in six. No shots of Jack required. 

‘04 Patriots vs. ‘16 Patriots. This is tough. The ‘04 defense led by Richard Seymour, Tedy Bruschi, Ty Law, Mike Vrabel, and Rodney Harrison was insane, and Tom Brady (28 TDs, 3,692 yards) had come into his own by then. But 2016 Brady in his “FEA” year coming off the “Deflategate” suspension was a man on a mission. Call me crazy, but … I’m taking 2016 Brady over his younger self. How can you count out the guy who led the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history?

POLL

🤔 Which Old School vs. New School matchup would you want to see?

BOSTON SPORTS

Quick hits & headlines

♥️ Deatrich Wise Jr. earns a prestigious nomination. The Patriots nominated Wise for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award to celebrate his exceptional community work in Boston. The veteran captain gave away 6,000 pounds of fresh food and free haircuts at his annual Block Party in Mattapan this October. You won’t find many better or more humble men in the Patriots locker room than him.

⌛ The end of the Juan Soto sweepstakes is near. The star outfielder will reportedly make his decision on where to sign within the next week, and the Red Sox are still in the running with an offer rumored to be greater than $600 million. If nothing else, the Sox certainly kept their promise to throw their hat into the ring.

⚰️ The “Gravedigger” catches another body. We might as well keep a tracker of Jaylen Brown poster dunks. This time, he stuffed Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart, who’s one of the NBA’s more hardnosed players, into the rim to set the tone in the chippy victory Wednesday night. He’ll also probably get hit with a fine for the gesture he did after the fact. 

🤨 Bill Belichick interviews with … UNC?? For some reason, the ex-Patriots coach reportedly spoke with the Tar Heels about their head coaching vacancy this week. Aside from knocking off some rust before interviewing for the NFL coaching jobs, what in the world would he do that for? Trying to find out why his Drake Maye scouting reports were wrong?

🥅 Brad Marchand sticks it to TNT. Analyst Paul Bissonnette and the Bruins captain have engaged in some good-natured chirping on TNT’s hockey shows lately. But Marchand had the last laugh Wednesday, scoring two goals to lead the B’s over the Chicago Blackhawks on TNT. Naturally, neither he nor the Bruins could resist trolling Bissonnette again.

ASK A FAN

Who’s got next?

“The Celtics aside, which of the other big 3 teams will win the next championship? Pats, Sox, or Bruins?” — Michael Supernor, X.

Thanks Michael.

Give me the Red Sox first, whether they sign Juan Soto or not (but especially if they sign him). If they add at least one righty power bat and boost the pitching staff — not to mention the young talent on its way up — they’ll be good for a while.

Then, I’ll take … the Patriots! Why? Because I think Drake Maye is that dude, and the Bruins still have some things to figure out.

Will Mayo make a leap?

GAME … SET … MEME

“Left tackle, please”

🫡 This meme’s about to break your feed. Whether you follow Mike Kadlick or any other Pats personalities who love NFL Draft SZN, prepare yourself for every prospect to be a Patriot here soon. Especially Will Campbell — unless the team thinks his arms are too short to play tackle …

🗞 That’s a wrap. I’ll be pre-planning my trip to the NFL Combine two months from now to report on Will Campbell’s arm length.

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