The people running Fenway Sports Group, a Boston operation to the bone, love their Bostonian brethren Mike Sullivan. That's been the case since they bought the Penguins in 2021, it was still the case when they signed Sullivan to a three-year extension in 2022, and it's still the case right now.
Until it isn't, of course.
I won't carry this concept too far, but suffice it to say that I've been told the one thing that could catch Fenway's attention would be for these final dozen games on this now meaningless schedule to show a collective quit. A complete collapse. Or, to maybe phrase that in a more accurate context, a continuation of the already-in-effect collapse that's currently at 3-9-2 over the past 14 games, including a catastrophic collapse unto itself in blowing a four-goal lead in falling to the Avalanche, 5-4 in overtime, yesterday in Denver.
I mean, yeah ...
... that's about as brutal as it gets. The score's 4-0 with four minutes left in the middle period, all that's needed is a period and change of the most boring approach possible and ... poof.
Sickening stuff. Stomach-turning.
And yet, afterward, this was Sullivan's assessment of the effort at hand: "Thought we competed hard, you know? That's one of the most explosive offenses in the league that we played against. We knew they were going to push back. We competed hard all night.β
No.
No, they actually didn't:
COMEBACK COMPLETE! π³
β NHL (@NHL) March 24, 2024
The @Avalanche erase a 4-0 deficit and win this one in @Energizer overtime! pic.twitter.com/euJoK8hPBw
There are three angles in that clip of Jonathan Drouin's overtime winner. Don't watch Drouin. Don't watch Alex Nedeljkovic's needless poke. Watch nothing but Letang and his body language in the moment that Drouin passes him in the Pittsburgh zone.
As Drouin himself would word it to Denver reporters, "I just saw Letang kind of flat-footed. ... I thought I could beat him wide."
He normally wouldn't dream of it.
That's not OK. That's not competing remotely hard. And take into account, please, that this comes from someone who immensely respects Letang the player, Letang the person, Letang the everything that he represents.
That's not OK. And neither is the nosedive we've all witnessed since shortly before the Jake Guentzel trade, regardless of how awful the actual transaction was, regardless of how emotionally wrought it made Sidney Crosby and other veterans, regardless of any other factor. This is professional sports, where any sustained stretch of abysmal effort needs to be called out.
Not by me. Not by the fan base. But by those in charge, and chiefly the head coach.
Sullivan might want to start speaking up, lest those over his head interpret his silence as being part of the problem.
β’ There's also this: Sullivan's extension, which kicks in next season, is believed to cost $5.5 million in each of its three years. With every penny guaranteed. That'd be rare air to fire someone who's owed that much money. In 2019, when Bob Nutting cleaned out the Pirates' front office -- Frank Coonelly, Neal Huntington, Kyle Stark, Clint Hurdle -- it cost him $17.2 million in actual cash, and that was extraordinary for reasons well beyond who was executing it.
β’ If nothing else, this should result in a shakeup, if not an outright overhaul of everyone on the coaching staff except Andy Chiodo, who's done terrific work with Tristan Jarry and Nedeljkovic. And where Todd Reirden's concerned, it's inconceivable that he'd keep his job based on the power play alone.
β’ Not to be forgotten, imagine being the general manager charged with building a roster around Sid, only to see Sid putting up a goal and three assists and losing because his supporting cast's been exposed as being this bankrupt. It's almost as if Kyle Dubas had the exact same problem for years in Toronto.
β’ Next up: Jake Guentzel's back in Pittsburgh tomorrow night. He's got 10 points in his past seven games for the Hurricanes. That should go well.
β’ I'm feeling even-keeled about the Steelers adding Justin Fields, equally aware of both his still-awesome potential and his propensity for handing the football to the other team.
But I'm also not eager to see him be buried by yet another Mike Tomlin anointment, which is why this statement from him about Russell Wilson's starting status yesterday at the NFL Annual Meeting in Orlando, Fla., had me a bit cringy: "We've been very transparent about the pecking order, at least to start. I just think that provides clarity for all parties involved. Russell's a veteran, man. He's got a proven process of readiness. He's been in this league a long time. He's capable of rallying troops, receivers, tight ends, running backs, etc. He's just got a lot of experience in terms of what it takes to be the guy over the course of a 12-month calendar. I just think that that's something that a younger guy like Justin could learn from."
Or, and hear me out on this, he might be better. That's not a prediction, but it's a possibility. Nor am I advocating, in the moment, that Fields starts ahead of Russell. That'd be silly based on what's known. But all involved, Tomlin in particular, need to be open-minded ... for a change.
β’ Tomlin's use of "transparent" as applied to communication with his quarterbacks is outright hilarious. He had to have known that as he spoke it.
β’ It's tough to corroborate Tomlin's striking statement that Diontae Johnson didn't ask for a trade with Johnson's palpable and public glee at having been traded, but OK.
β’ Our coverage from Orlando.
β’ The Pirates' Grapefruit League finale's today, 1:05 p.m., against the Blue Jays in Bradenton, Fla., before which Ben Cherington's expected to announce the final roster. Most prominent among what's still unknown are the statuses of Henry Davis, who absolutely should be the starting catcher, and Jared Jones, who absolutely should be in the starting rotation. It's absurd that anyone's had to deliberate this to the final day, and it speaks volumes to how non-competitive they are.
β’ Crazy thought: Just once, prioritize winning the game being played right in front of your nose.
β’ Our coverage from Bradenton.
β’ One final congratulations here to Keith Dambrot on a first-class career and to the Duquesne men's basketball team for a long-unthinkable Atlantic 10 Conference championship and a far more unthinkable NCAA Tournament victory. They did both the city and the school proud.
β’ Our coverage from Omaha, Neb.
β’ Johnny Ray days till Miami.
β’ Thanks for reading.
β’ And for listening:
