Matt Fitzpatrick reacts after a putt on the 13th hole during the final round of the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. Fitzpatrick won the tournament on Sunday by one stroke. Julio Cortez/Associated Press
Once again, Boston was the hub of the sports universe over the past week.
We had the U.S. Open golf tournament on one side of town, the NBA Finals on the other and an important Red Sox season right in the middle.
The Celtics saw their season end Thursday night at TD Garden. It was a stunning end to the NBA Finals with Boston losing three straight games — two at home. The fourth quarter of Game 1, when the Celtics outscored Golden State 40-16 in San Francisco, is now a distant memory.
Modern-day Celtics fans are a notoriously optimistic lot. They point to the youth of this team as evidence that the best years of this group are yet to come. Jayson Tatum is 24. Jaylen Brown is 25. They are the best team in the East, and there’s no reason that should change any time soon.
Of course, history shows us how fleeting these opportunities can be. When the Boston Bruins hoisted the Cup in 2011 many of their most important players were 26 or younger. Patrice Bergeron was 25, Brad Marchand and Tuukka Rask just 24.
Bergeron and Marchand are still looking to get their names on the Cup a second time. Rask has retired.
Let’s hope Tatum and Brown learn from this run, and get the chance to put those lessons to work soon. If they don’t, we’ll look back at 2022 as an opportunity they didn’t seize.
On the day the Celtics season ended, the U.S. Open was beginning just a few miles away at The Country Club. The venerable home of Francis Ouimet stole the show, bringing many of the top golfers in the world to their knees.
Matt Fitzpatrick knew exactly how tough it would be to win on a cold, windy Sunday in Brookline, Massachusetts. He won the U.S. Amateur here in 2013, and his shot for the ages out of a fairway bunker on the 18th hole gave him a one-stroke U.S. Open win.
The golfers appeared to love their time in Boston. Many went to Fenway for a game, and still more made it to the Garden.
“Any time you get to play a tournament in Boston, it’s electric,” hometown hero Keegan Bradley told reporters after finishing tied for seventh. “The fans are the best.”
As if Thursday wasn’t a big enough day in the history of Boston sports, it was also the day we learned that the FIFA World Cup will be coming to the Boston area in 2026. The event has grown exponentially bigger since it came to Gillette Stadium in 1994, and the House Bob Kraft Built will be in the center of the global soccer world once again when it hosts an expected four to six games in four years.
With so much coming and going this week it was easy to overlook the Red Sox, who were locked up in a weekend duel with the St. Louis Cardinals. These teams met in the World Series in 2004 and 2013, with the Sox winning each time.
Having feasted on bad teams in recent weeks, the Sox knew they were facing a real test with the first-place Cards. They passed it, taking 2 of 3 from St. Louis. Tanner Houck, the newfound closer, saved both games and is now 4 for 4 in save opportunities.
Newfound Boston closer Tanner Houck picked up two saves over the weekend against the St. Louis Cardinals. Steven Senne/Associated Press
Hosting three major sporting events in the same week — in the same day — leads to congested roads. Traffic was the worst many of us have seen around Boston over the past 20 years. And that’s saying something. It was a reminder why Boston pulled out of its bid to host the Olympics in 2024. This is a world class city, but it doesn’t feature world-class roads or state of the art mass transit.
You think Draymond Green was the victim of harsh language during the Celtics-Warriors series? You should’ve heard drivers on Storrow Drive on Thursday.
With life getting back to normal Monday, the Red Sox have the limelight to themselves. Manager Alex Cora said “the stage is ours, let’s have fun with it” after Friday night’s win.
Winning 13 of 17 games entering this week’s series against the Detroit Tigers has brought the fun back to Fenway Park. They’ll have to keep winning to live up to the excitement of the past week in Boston.
Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
