Bob Lobel: The Dark Matter of Boston Sports

By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

One of the great mysteries of the universe is the dark matter that seems to hold all things together. 

Here on this part of the planet we are very unaccustomed to dark matter, which is now surrounding our boys in Boston uniforms. I mean really. It's crazy how the Bruins and Celtics seem to have mirrored each other in their front office building plan. Seems like their theory has been taken from the Red Sox handbook.

Chapter one: Throw money at the problem. 

Show the fans you care by acting like this was part of the plan all along, when reality shows us there are just too many teams and not enough quality talent to stock them. This was not an issue for the fans of Boston Sports Nation in the past. One team or another would somehow step up and carry the banner.

Also, what could possibly take so long in the Brady fiasco, that resulted in a 10-hour meeting with no information, other than a decision will be forthcoming? Ok, bring it on. Who gets hurt the most? Brady, Kraft or Goodell? 

Certainly, a four-game suspension is no guarantee they will lose those four games. If he is out for four, I say they still win all four. And, if they don’t, so what? The division awaits. 

Goodell, on the other hand, may not come out of this easily. I say it's more him on trial than anyone else. "Off with his head,” say the wicked owners that hired him in the first place. Take your $40 million and count yourself as one of the luckiest people on the planet. 

Rodger Goodell isn’t the only one with Brady in his sights. The Country Club in Brookline is trying to figure out if they want to share a clubhouse and golf course with him. Why would they say no?  Because they can. I'm betting in the final analysis, they will bring him aboard. 

It's not fun being rejected by country clubs. Paul Fireman was. I was blackballed when up for membership at Brae Burn in Newton. Can't say it was a bad decision on their part, but still, someone had to say, “we don’t want that stiff.” 

The clubs have other problems now. Membership is declining. Golf is not in the popularity stratosphere it once was not so long ago. A great friend and hairdresser, Diego Messina, had a great line about it 20 years ago. “Golf was the drug of choice in the 90s.” Boomers have moved on, and Millenials aren’t exactly flocking to the game you can never own. 

So, we are in a holding pattern.

The Red Sox win three in a row and we start to get crazy about the possibilities. The Patriots will present a great challenge, not only for other teams as usual, but for themselves. They really do represent the only real threat to themselves. Only they can beat themselves. 

It's happened before. So, dark matter has moved in. 2024 is pounding the front pages of those that stand to profit the most. Personally, I can't see it. It's not my style to say no, but to say ok, lets do it. 

This is different. 

The Olympics have morphed with the media of the last century. There is just something about it now that doesn’t work in bringing the world together in one great closing ceremony. In fact, they should hold the closing ceremony now, before this crazy idea takes shape. 

Dark matter lurks with the Olympics. It's our responsibility to hand it to some other place that wants to be that country.