Although the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots failed to raise more banners this past year, they have all at least won championships this decade and therefore I cannot complain about them not doing so in 2009. The Bruins, on the other hand, swept their arch nemesis , the Montreal Canadiens, in the first round of the Eastern Conference quarter-finals before going on to lose to the Carolina Hurricanes in the semi-finals and ending their season short of winning the Stanley Cup. Seeing the Bruins choke in the playoffs and letting their fans down again is definitely my worst sports memory of 2009. My best sports memory of 2009 was seeing the Kevin Garnett-less Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls in the quarterfinals that turned out to be one of the best playoff series of all time. While the Celtics did not repeat as champions, they competed and showed heart throughout the postseason while playing without their dominant big man.
-Mike Giannattasio, Journal Staff
The worst sports moment of 2009 for me was watching Jonathan Papelbon blow the save in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and then eventually having to watch the New York Yankees celebrate their 27th World Series title. The best sports moment of 2009 for was either watching Jesus Christ (also known by his human name, Roger Federer) beat Andy Roddick in the finals of Wimbledon, or, being a Connecticut native, watching the University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team go 39-0 and win the National Title. Oh, and one more “best moment” from 2009: finding out that A-Rod took steroids back in 2003-2004.
-Alex Mellion, Journal Staff
It was late February, and Kevin Garnett went up for an alley-oop against the Utah Jazz. He came down awkwardly, straining his right knee in the process, and single-handedly ending any chance the Boston Celtics had of winning back-to-back championships for the first time since the Bill Russell and Bob Cousy days of 1955-1956. Garnett’s injury left a gaping hole in a very talented 2008-2009 Celtics team that was primed to battle the likes of Clevelend, Orlando, and Los Angeles for the title. Unfortunately, we never got to see a healthy KG battle Dwight Howard and LeBron James, and instead the Lakers went on to win their 15th championship in franchise history.
-Matt West, Assistant Sports Editor
2009 was a year of resurgence for the hometown hockey club, the Boston Bruins. My favorite sports moment would have to be the first round sweep of the hated Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. 2009 was like the complete opposite of 2008 for the B’s: in 2008, the Bruins didn’t beat the Habs at all during the regular season, and then
fell to them in seven games in a playoff series for the ages. In 2009, the B’s lost to the Habs in a shootout in their first meeting, and then won the rest of the games, including the four playoff games. The series was filled with great moments, like the blast from Zdeno Chara to win game one and Patrice Bergeron dropping Josh Gorges with one left-handed punch in game two. Game four had to be the best though: Milan Lucic knocking out Mike Komisarek, only to have Komi come back, cross-check him in the face and get kicked out of his last game as a Canadien; Carey Price, the Habs’ Golden Boy, getting ridiculed by the crowd and mockingly acknowledging them in the style of Patrick Roy; and finally, a monologue worthy of Shakespeare from Jack Edwards to cap it all off, as he somehow related the 2009 Boston Bruins to the American minutemen fighting the British in the Revolutionary War. If you don’t remember the “rag tag band of farmers” speech, then you can’t be a real Bruins fan.
-Dan Ryan, Sports Editor
