There is no joy in Mudville — er, Boston — Thursday morning. A quick recap of what happened in sports the night before:
The Bruins finished the regular season with the best record in the NHL, but looked lackluster in a humbling Game 7 defeat at the hands of their hated rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. If you're unfamiliar with the rivalry, read this beautiful, thorough story about it. Or if you don't have time for that, think Red Sox v. Yankees, on ice, with more punching.
Not only did the Bruins lose, but forward Milan Lucic reinforced the stereotype of Boston fans being whiny and entitled when he threatened to kill a couple of Canadiens during the customary post-game handshake.
Meanwhile in the NBA playoffs, the Miami Heat — who alley-ooped all the nails into the coffin of the Celtics' Big Three days — bounced the Brooklyn Nets from the playoffs. Former Celtics heroes Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett now play for Brooklyn, so the loss was a proxy defeat for Boston fans who treated the series as a continuation of the old LeBron James/Celtics feud.
Making that loss worse, the other piece of Boston's championship-winning triumvirate, Ray Allen, now plays for the Heat. But Allen left Boston on miserable terms — Garnett says he still won't talk to him — and many fans consider him a turncoat for joining James in Miami.
So pour out some Sam Adams for Boston fans, please. And Boston fans, take heart: At least the Red Sox are playing well.