Michael Felger

As we near the flipping of the calendar for the 2016-17 NHL and NBA campaigns, local fans are facing an ominous question: Are the Bruins and Celtics looking at lost seasons? It's obviously way too early to rule anything out and there's still plenty of time for both, but the early signs aren't great. A quick look at each: * The Celtics problems late in games against quality opponents, unfortunately, extend beyond the recent loss of Isiah Thomas or the early-season absence of Al Horford.

As we near the flipping of the calendar for the 2016-17 NHL and NBA campaigns, local fans are facing an ominous question: Are the Bruins and Celtics looking at lost seasons? It's obviously way too early to rule anything out and there's still plenty of time for both, but the early signs aren't great. A quick look at each: * The Celtics problems late in games against quality opponents, unfortunately, extend beyond the recent loss of Isiah Thomas or the early-season absence of Al Horford.

Chris Sale brings with him to Boston some attitude. He also brings a measure of defiance and, perhaps, a little bit of crazy. All of which the Red Sox starting staff just may need. And if Sale pitches as he has for much of the past five years, he'll probably be celebrated for it. I still wonder how it will all play here, especially if he underachieves. What would we do to him locally if he refused to pitch because he didn't like a certain kind of uniform variation the team was going with?