Idle chatter while waiting for the other shoe to drop with this weather ? we’ll probably get a snowstorm in May ?Does everyone feel better about the Red Sox? I do. Eleven wins in a row do wonders for your morale.A friend said to me the other day that life just seems much brighter when the Red Sox are doing well. I know what she meant. This streak – and the mess in which the Yankees’ pitching staff finds itself – is sweet music to anyone who was walking precariously close to the ledge a couple of weeks ago.It would almost appear that the Patriots have written off this season. They have a brutal schedule this fall and a defense that is, collectively, older than Methuselah and slower than the two turtles in the Comcast commercial.So, if they were ever going to blow up this defense and start over, this was the year to do it. I say there’s no way the defense they put on the field last year could ever contend with the teams they’re playing in 2009.Obviously, coach Bill Belichick feels that getting some new, younger blood in the house, and allowing these players to take their lumps, might help build them into a cohesive unit for the future.At some point, Belichick is also going to have to overhaul the interior offensive line, too. The Pats are OK at skill positions, but that line was exposed at times last year, especially while Matt Cassel was finding his rhythm. And it was practically stripped naked in the 2008 Super Bowl, when an injured and immobile Tom Brady couldn’t escape the New York Giants’ pass rush.If the Celtics lose this series against the Chicago Bulls, let’s not hear about how it’s because Kevin Garnett couldn’t play.While no one could ever argue that the Celtics aren’t a better team with Garnett, Glen Davis has done a great job starting in his absence. In fact, Davis has grown by leaps and bounds as a player since taking over for the injured Garnett.Don’t overlook Leon Powe’s injury, which turned out to be significant once Kendrick Perkins fouled out in Sunday’s loss.But the bottom line is this: Paul Pierce hits free throws, both in Game 1 and Game 3, and this series is over in four. Pierce has yet to approach the type of game he had routinely in the playoffs a year ago. And one does have to wonder if Garnett’s secondary value to the team – beyond his defensive leadership – is to scare Pierce into playing like the superstar he says he is.Just a thought.There was a time, and not too long ago either, when a sweep of the Montreal Canadiens would be celebrated with more joy, and more passion, than playoff victories over either the New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Lakers.Go back to the 1970s, when the Bruins could beat everyone except the Canadiens, and you’ll understand.Actually, the odd rivalry out in this little troika is the Celtics-Lakers, as history is clearly on Boston’s side in this one. But Boston-Montreal, taken in historical context (and taking into consideration your love of hockey vs. baseball), is every bit as intense as Red Sox-Yankees.There are few things in my life of being a sports fan that I’ll never get over, and one of them is the 1979 “too many men on the ice” penalty in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup semifinals against Montreal. The Bruins were up by a goal with 74 seconds left, courtesy of a fluky Rick Middleton goal, when they were caught with too many men on the ice on a shift change.Guy Lafleur tied it on the power play, and Yvon Lambert won it in overtime.Awful. Just awful. And every bit as awful as the Bucky Dent homer in 1978 and Aaron Boone’s homer in ’03.But not quite as awful as Bill Buckner in ’86.