Good riddance, 2023! You were a no good, bad, terrible, rotten year. I can’t get rid of you fast enough.
You were a disaster on so many fronts I don’t know where to start. The Washington Bridge closure? Wait! This is a sports commentary, so let’s lead off with sports. You gave us:
Providence College – The Friars won nine in a row for a 14-3 record on Jan. 7 then faded to 7-7 the rest of the regular season. They lost to UConn in the Big East quarterfinals and to Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The 21-12 finish was decent but a lot less than we expected after that 14-3 start.
And then coach Ed Cooley, the Providence kid who “done good,” bolted for Big East rival Georgetown three days after the Kentucky loss. Talk about eroding 12 years of good will in Friartown in a weekend.
URI – Phase One of the Archie Miller Rebuild ended last March with a 9-22 record. The struggles continue this season. Rhody is 5-7 and has lost its last two to Delaware on the road and New Hampshire at home. UNH? At home??? The Wildcats had won only three times in 59 visits to Kingston going back to the old Yankee Conference days and had never won in five tries at the Ryan Center. This 10-point shocker prompted Miller to apologize to anybody listening. Can’t wait for A-10 action to start next week.
Boston Celtics – They started the 2022-23 season with a few hundred question marks after management suspended coach Ime Udoka for inappropriate behavior with a female staffer and put untested rookie coach Joe Mazzulla in charge. They responded with the second-best record in the NBA and played their way to the Eastern Conference Finals. Instead of a title run they faltered against Miami, fell behind 3-0, battled back, forced Game 7 on the parquet and choked, losing to the Heat, 103-84. No duck boat parade for this team.
Boston Bruins – All the Bruins did was win 65 games and compile 135 points, NHL records, and build a 3-1 lead over the Florida Panthers in the first round of the NHL playoffs. Then the wheels fell off the Bruins Zamboni. They lost two games in overtime, including Game 7, and went home. Florida, which finished 43 points behind Boston and barely qualified for the playoffs, skated all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. No duck boats for the Bs.
Boston Red Sox – Pathetic. Last in the AL East again. A no-name roster recalling the disasters of the early 1960s. Remember first baseman Dick Stuart? Stonefingers? Dr. Strangeglove? At least he could hit home runs. The ’23 Sox had no star power. Wait ’til next year? Why?
New England Patriots – Pathetic. Last in the AFC East. A no-name roster recalling the dismal days of the early 1990s. No star power.
Stories focused on how Belichick has to go, NFL draft position instead of playoff position, where has all the offense gone, wait ’til next year? Are you kidding?
URI Football Rams – A 6-5 finish after consecutive 7-4s, but a 38th consecutive season without a playoff appearance.
Mount Saint Charles Academy – This charter member of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League (1932) and home of the late Bill Belisle’s hockey dynasty is leaving to join the prep school ranks.
College sports – Where to begin? The quest for more television dollars ripped apart the Pac 12. NCAA president Charlie Baker appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee and weeks later called for a reorganization of major college programs and athletes to be paid $30,000 a year. Florida State sued the ACC to leave. Athletes are receiving tens of thousands in NIL payments.
Passages – Providence Journal colleague and superb columnist Bill Reynolds. Brown professor of 49 years and old tennis buddy Ed Ahearn. Red Sox knuckleballer and all-around good guy Tim Wakefield. Red Sox 1970s relief ace Dick Drago. Westerly High School and URI basketball and baseball star Dave Stenhouse, who went on to pitch for the Washington Senators in the early 1960s. Brooks Robinson, the incomparable Baltimore third baseman. Russ Francis, former Patriots tight end. Bears linebacker Dick Butkus.
Politics – For president of the United States: An old, unpopular incumbent versus an old, bombastic and divisive former president. We can’t do better than that? A Congress that would rather go home for the holidays or conduct hearings on college sports than deal with really important issues like mass shootings, immigration, education, poverty, housing, declining international influence in the face of Russian, Chinese, and North Korean aggression. Israel, Hamas, Gaza. Disgraced retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, conspiracy theorist, election denier, liar to the FBI, and recipient of a Trump presidential pardon, elected to the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. Unbelievable!
A few bright moments
URI women’s basketball — Coach Tammi Reiss led the Rams to a 26-7 record and the Super 16 of the WNIT.
Kim English — The new PC basketball coach has the Friars 11-2 and ranked No. 25 with a victory over No. 6 Marquette.
Army-Navy — The greatest rivalry in college sports delivered spectacle and a dramatic finish at Gillette Stadium. Army won, 17-11.
“My Home Team: A Sportswriter’s Life and the Redemptive Power of Small-Town Girls Basketball” — In this memoir by Dave Kindred, the big-time, award-winning sports columnist retires to his small-town Illinois roots and starts writing about the local high school’s girls basketball team. Those girls, their coaches and parents welcome the writer and his wife Cheryl into their family, and save Kindred after Cheryl suffers a debilitating stroke and dies five years later. Beyond touching.
“It Ain’t Over” – Beautiful documentary about Yogi Berra, the Yankees Hall of Fame catcher and American hero on and off the baseball diamond. His granddaughter Lindsay Berra shines the spotlight on the greatest champion in baseball history.
Read “My Home Team.” Watch “It Ain’t Over.” You will feel a lot better heading into the New Year.
