Tony Branco

I have been a Boston sports observer since the 1980s. I have seen the highs and lows of all the local sports teams and athletes.

Patriots' draft: Spotlight on Eliot Wolf

It has been a long three months of watching everyone’s mock drafts and anticipating this year’s NFL draft. It has also been a long time since the Patriots have drafted this high. Usually, we are reviewing twenty or thirty different scenarios for when the Patriots draft in the

Where will the wheel stop for the Patriots on draft day?

The NFL Draft cannot come soon enough. This Thursday, all the speculation and mock drafts will be done. Thank God. The Patriots will, finally, make their first round pick. Most likely it will be the number three pick overall. There is a chance the Patriots may have two first round

It is now or never for the Celtics

No more messing around for the Celtics. Their time has arrived. The time is now. No more excuses. The team has pretty much been on cruise control since the end of January, but it is time to put it all together and step on the throttle. The Celtics went 27-7

Gambling will continue to ruin sports

Call me old (you wouldn't be wrong), but I have never been able to wrap my head around how readily accepted gambling in sports has become. As I write this, I still shake my head at the thought, just like I do about the acceptance and legalization of

Devin Carter bids farewell to Friartown

It was only a matter of time before Devin Carter made official what almost all Friars’ fans knew was bound to happen. Last week, Carter announced, via Instagram, that he was declaring for the NBA draft and would not return to Providence for his senior year. Devin Carter is hoping

Patriots have taken care of their own, but done little else in free agency

Free agency began well for the New England Patriots as they took care of re-signing their own important free agents like offensive tackle/guard Michael Onwenu and tight end Hunter Henry. Things went downhill from there, though. Patriots’ fans were sold a bag of goods that they were going to

Providence Friars wake up too late, lose to Marquette, 79-68

The Providence Friars played their third game in three nights and it showed. The Friars were playing for their NCAA tournament lives the last two nights. They had an emotional win over Georgetown and their former coach, Ed Cooley, on Wednesday night. Thursday night, the Friars beat nationally 8th-ranked Creighton

Providence keeps NCAA tournament hopes alive and advances to Big East semifinals

Providence used a complete team effort to upset 8th-ranked Creighton, 78-73, in the Big East Quarterfinals. The Friars now get ready to play Marquette Friday night for a chance to advance to the Big East Finals. Providence squandered a 13-point lead in the first half, but survived a back-and-forth second

Patriots

Wolf on the prowl for talent

The NFL combine was this week and the Patriots were very eager spectators. The Patriots got their first chance to meet their most likely draft picks, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye. Both players didn’t participate in any drills, but both took a few minutes interviewing with every team. Both

Calm down on Mahomes

When people ask me who am I rooting for in the NFL playoffs, I say, “Whoever is playing Kansas City?” Why? Because of what is happening right now. I knew it would happen. I just knew it. It is a commentary on society today. People have always had short memories.

Carl Weathers: Too likable to be a villain

The older I get, the more used to hearing of celebrity deaths I get. But there are some that hit harder than others.  When I woke up yesterday morning, I laid in bed a little longer than usual. I grabbed my phone off its charger and mindlessly began scrolling through

Baseball Hall of Fame voting: Chasing a dream

It seems like the announcement for the newest Baseball Hall of Fame inductees always sneaks up on me. The 2024 inductees were announced earlier this week and the newest members are Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton, and Joe Mauer. Billy Wagner came up just short. Beltre led the pack, receiving a

Patriots' week that was: Thunder hopes to catch lightning in a bottle again

It has been a hectic last couple of weeks in Foxboro. One day the Patriots are parting ways with perhaps the greatest head coach in NFL history. Then before the dust is even allowed to settle, the Patriots announce that they have already found their new head coach.  The days

The Brady-Belichick era shouldn't have ended like this

It’s easy to say in hindsight that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady should have rode off into the sunset together after winning Super Bowl LII against the Los Angeles Rams in 2019.  It was their record sixth and final Super Bowl they would win together. Not too shabby. But

Week 18 preview: End of an era?

The Patriots host the Jets at Gillette Stadium in what, ordinarily, would be an irrelevant, quickly forgotten, final game of the 2023-24 season for both teams. The Patriots come into the game with a 4-10 record and are vying for a top five draft pick. The Jets came into the

Providence College Friars lose more than just a game to Seton Hall

The Providence College Friars went into their game Wednesday night flying high. They had beaten 6th-ranked Marquette, fairly easily, and Butler in a thrilling overtime victory in their previous two games to start the Big East schedule 2-0. They had won 46 of their last 49 games at home. They

Sale away

In a surprise move last week, the Red Sox traded one-time ace, Chris Sale, to the Atlanta Braves. The surprise to me is that the Red Sox and new director of baseball operations, Craig Breslow, found a suitor for the oft-injured Sale. The Red Sox acquired 22-year-old minor league middle

Ranking the Patriots' players

Recently I listened to Tom E Curran's "Patriots Talk" podcast in which he was joined, as he usually is, by Phil Perry. The gist of the podcast was to rank the top twenty Patriots' players. one of the thoughts behind the exercise was to see

Week 17 preview: Sometimes when you win, you lose

“Sometimes when you win, you really lose. And sometimes when you lose, you really win. And sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie. And sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. Winning or losing is all one organic mechanism, from which one extracts what one needs.

Providence College Friars continue their home dominance; beat Butler in OT, 85-75

Ed who? It hasn’t taken long for the 2023-24 Providence College Friars and new head coach, Kim English, to forget about Ed Cooley. It may have taken only one Big East game. If that didn’t do the trick, the second Bog East game surely did. The Friars beat

Week 16 preview: Broncos having the type of season the Patriots were expected to

The good news is the Patriots only have three games left in this nightmare season. The bad news is the Patriots still have three games remaining. These could be the last three games Patriots fans have to see Bill Belichick patrolling the Patriots’ sideline. There have been conflicting reports as

Week 15 preview: Can the Patriots do anything right this year?

The Patriots’ offense woke up, out of nowhere, in the first half last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bailey Zappe, who has been released by the Patriots just before the season started (and no other team claimed him), looked like the second coming of Brett Favre as he threw three

Week 14 preview: Will the Patriots score this week?

The Patriots visit Pittsburgh Thursday night for a prime time "showdown" against the Steelers. Long gone are the days of Tom Brady vs. Ben Roethlisberger. The once great Patriots-Steelers rivalry has been reduced to Bailey Zappe vs. Mitch Trubisky. Bill Belichick and Mike Tomlin are the only things

The Patriots continue to lose at a historic pace

New quarterback, same story, and the same result. Actually, the result was somehow even worse. Mac Jones has been a lightning rod for all the problems with the Patriots’ offense this year. Nobody could blame Jones for the Patriots putting up zero points against the worst defense in the league

Week 13 preview: Patriots hoping for something different

The season that never ends continues on Sunday for the New England Patriots when the Los Angeles Chargers come to Gillette Stadium. In some ways, it could represent the beginning of a second season for the Patriots. All indications are that Bailey Zappe will be the new starting quarterback for