OBF: All dynasties come to an end, and so has ours

New England’s Score of Supremacy © ended Tuesday night. It was one helluva journey. Twelve titles across four teams during a 19-year span.

Some dynasties fared better. Others, not so much.

The Roman Empire held steady from 27 BC until 476 AD.

Not a bad run, especially if you get into the weeds and add the nine-plus centuries of Eastern Roman rule between the abdication of Romulus Augustulus and the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Lilibet Windsor, also known as Queen Elizabeth II, is the Tom Brady of monarchs. She has held the reins of United Kingdom and its related Commonwealth since Feb. 6, 1952. At age 94, she shows no signs of yielding authority to Prince Charles. That poor schlub has been warming up on the sidelines since Harry S. Truman was president.

The Third Reich, thankfully, fell 988 years short of its stated goal. Declaring war on the Soviet Union and United States in the same year was the 20th century’s version of pulling Blake Snell after just 73 pitches in Game 6. And neither Stalin nor FDR was throwing a two-hit shutout in the sixth inning of a World Series elimination game.

The metaphorical plug was pulled on New England’s 6,856-day span of success at 11:28 p.m. ET Tuesday. It was Mookie Betts who would finally settle this Score. He and the Los Angeles Dodgers finished off the Tampa Bay Rays. The 3-1 victory clinched the Dodgers’ first World Series title in 32 years.

Betts wasn’t the first athlete to leave Boston and claim a championship since the Tuck Rule Game that launched the Score of Supremacy © on Jan. 19, 2002. But he was the best and most impactful.

By a mile.

His World Series title with the Dodgers gives us a clean break from these past two decades of domination.

The unforgivable and coincidental exits of Betts and Brady within a five-week span triggered the falls of Foxboro and Fenway in much the same way the marauding Visigoths and Vandals guaranteed Rome’s demise.

Rome had bread and circuses to entertain the masses during its peak of imperial power. New England had banner ceremonies, duck boat parades and gluten-free pizza and beer at Red Sox games.

Rome had rotted from within economically before its final whistle was sounded. A different sort of financial threat faces the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins.

All four teams have been decimated financially by the coronavirus pandemic — as has much of sports and the real world (save for certain government types and Jeff Bezos).

The Red Sox lost a projected $337,685,548 in revenue in 2020 because fans were not in attendance for 81 home games, according to Team Marketing Report. Things are just as brutal for Robert Kraft and the Patriots. The six-time Super Bowl champions will end up with $376.54 million in projected ticket revenue losses, according to data provided by Ticket IQ, if fans do not return to Gillette Stadium. NBA and NHL teams took a double hit. They lost home playoff ticket revenue — nearly all profit — while their respective leagues shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars to run successful bubbles.

We’re not here to mourn the balance sheets of Messrs. Henry, Kraft, Jacobs and Grousbeck. Each has created a financial fortress to ensure their descendants will never go without food, shelter or a monthly trust-fund payment. But they’re all in the business of business.

Right now, pro sports is a money-loser. Play calls echo throughout empty $5 billion stadiums. There remains a burgeoning flow of TV revenue to pay players. Major-league organizations in those states wise enough to have allowed sports betting are enjoy revenue from sponsorships with legal books. But sold-out venues and the hard cash ticket and concession sales they generate may not return until 2022. Teams are cutting staff. Budgets are lean.

A tremendous amount of short-term financial serendipity blessed Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick after they greased the exit ramp for Brady’s departure by not locking him into a two-year deal after Super Bowl 53.

After all, what team would be crazy enough to guarantee a now 43-year-old QB $25 million for two years? If your city happens to be playing host to the Super Bowl, it might be worth a shot. You might bring Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown aboard, too.

At last check, Brady surpassed Drew Brees with his 559th career TD pass. That record fell nearly simultaneously as the Patriots capitulated 33-6 against the 49ers.

Brady had been teetering on Max Kellerman’s cliff since July 2016. Kellerman did not arrive at crest of Tom’s Peak alone. He was supported by Boston drive-time radio hosts, NFL National State Run Media, the Twitterati, and eventually, Belichick and Kraft. Kellerman finally relented his foolishness on Monday. The Patriots don’t have that luxury. They instead squirm as Cam Newton relearns the quarterback position. Now Stephon Gilmore and/or his house are on the market. New England may be “Tanking for Trevor” or “Failing for Fields” after all.

Augustus launched Rome’s empire and governed for 41 years. Pax New England has saluted Belichick for 21 seasons. But this time, the emperor has no Hoodie.

Ditto for the Red Sox. Who cares if Betts was poised to be the face of your franchise for another decade? Or that he was a talent drafted by the organization who became an All-Star and MVP? The Red Sox — so we were told by dutiful members of the Red Sox media establishment — offered Betts a long-term deal before the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Of course, no deal met his apparent market value, so Betts passed.

Then the Red Sox actually traded him. The Brilliant BBWAA Blue Checks assured us the Red Sox were wise to deal Betts and received good value in his return.

History mocks them today.

No empires can survive amid such self-deception.

This one was no different.

The Score of Supremacy © is over.

I hope you enjoyed it much as I did.

Bill Speros (@RealOBF) can be reached at bsperos1@G    

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/37Ph2LI