The Leaves Are A-Changin'

We're into October and although the weather still has a summer feel to it, Boston is definitely in the fall spirit. When I last wrote, the Red Sox were in midst of losing the biggest September lead ever in baseball history and I predicted that they would pull it out in the end. Well I was wrong obviously, and the aftermath was worse than what anyone expected. Terry Francona was let go as manager, then published reports suggested he was having serious issues in his personal life, which may had affected his managerial performance. Beckett, Lackey and Lester became fried chicken eating and beer guzzling fools in the clubhouse prior and during games. There was complete disarray amongst the players, manager, and management. Fast forward to today, where even Theo Epstein is leaving to become the GM of the Chicago Cubs, hopefully he will succeed in erasing their 103 year old championship drought.

So what's next for the Sox? Ownership has become a pariah among the public that loved Francona. People are not pleased that the fun-loving "Idiots" of 2004 have turned into egotistical and overpaid complainers, and ownership has a lot to do with creating a organization that puts statistics first and team chemistry last. As the teams currently in the playoffs illustrate, it's all about camaraderie and care for one another, not the "25 players, 25 cabs" mentality that exists here. There's no word on who will replace Francona because the Sox first must replace Epstein, and the man do that job will most likely be Epstein's right hand man Ben Cherington.

Now onto a sport where the players work their tails off, hockey! The Boston Bruins opened up their 2011-2012 regular season at home against the Philadelphia Flyers. It was an exciting night because the team brought out the Stanley Cup, the 1972 Stanley Cup team, and then raised the championship banner to the rafters. As for repeating, the Bruins aren't heavy favorites as most of them reside in the Western Conference and experts still love the underachieving Washington Capitals. Most of us fans are worried about the Cup "Hangover", which means that the Bruins will not play as hard or care as much because they are still in celebratory mode and satisfied from winning the Cup in June. They played a solid game against Philly, but they came up short losing 1-0. They're next game against Tampa Bay, they played very well winning 4-1. Over the last two games though, they've played sloppily and have lost both games to subpar teams, Colorado and Carolina.

Obviously it's only been four games, but the Bruins will break out of the funk because of their goaltending and spitfire players such as Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand. I expect the team to get back in shape and eventually take over the division by early November.

Boston Bruins tickets are everywhere and especially cheap during the weekdays, whereas the weekend is a bit more money but not as expensive as they will be come post-holiday season. My advice is to buy them up now because the demand for presents will send the prices skyrocketing on the market. The best place to find Bruins tickets is TicketsofBoston.com, of course, or you can call us at 617-787-2370 where we'll gladly find whatever seat and price your looking for.

The New England Patriots have once again come out the gates strong into the first quarter of the NFL season. The Pats currently sit at 4-1, with big wins over the Dolphins, Chargers, Raiders and Jets, but losing only to the upstart Buffalo Bills who are also 4-1.

The Pats take on the erratic Dallas Cowboys this week at 415PM. You gotta feel for Cowboys QB Tony Romo, one minute he's loved by everyone for playing through a broken rib and leading the team to victory, then the next he's hated for throwing three interceptions and blowing the game against Detroit, and so on. Dallas' main strength will be their pass rush duo of Demarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer so the Pats' tackles better be ready for an aggressive attack. If the Pats protect Brady then they'll win easy, if not then expect the game to be closer because of the Cowboys are very able to score a lot of points. Pats win 31-17.

Not many tickets available for this game, although prices will decrease because the game is very close and there's still a good amount of tickets on the market to suffice a drop. The best priced games will be the KC Monday night game, Indianapolis, Miami and Buffalo, as they are later on in the season when its colder out.