One Year Later: Chronicle of Boston Marathon Bombing and the period of healing that followed it to be published in 48 hours before exact anniversary

1 year ago, our city was attacked.

Attacked by faceless criminals who lacked compassion or even a single acknowledgement of human life. These criminals, one of which is now dead committed a brutal act of terrorism that left 3 people dead upwards of 15 without limbs and hundreds of others riddled with muscular and skeletal trauma caused mainly by an assortment of metal projectiles inserted into the bombs. On April 15th 2013, at just after 2 Pm, the Tsarnaev Brothers tried to tear our city and our most unique sporting and cultural event of the year apart.

But we did not let them. After they massacred and maimed the people of Boston with indiscriminate weapons then turned the streets of Watertown into a late night warzone as they fired upon heroic police officers and SWAT team members who tried to stop them we in Boston proved that we were and still are strong.

Sure we needed help and sure there was sadness, times of great greif and anger over what had happened and that will never be forgotten nor diminished. But at the same time, we responded to this tragedy the only way that we in the birthplace of the USA could. Strong.

We never quit, we never asked for pity. We remembered and we we respected the victums of the bombing while working towards a state where nobody on earth may ever have to deal with this kind of brutality, this kind of truly unnecessary attack ever again.

As we approach the 1 year anniversary of the attacks, Go Titletown will publish 5 articles remembering and chronicling the period of healing and strength that followed the attacks.

Furthermore, in symbolic action, the last of these posts will be posted as the point in time exactly 6 seconds after the 1 year anniversary of the first bombing and 6 seconds before the 1 year anniversary of the second bombing. That moment will be 2 hours past noon and 49 minutes and 14 seconds.

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Thoughts on Bruins vs. Redwings first round series: Important statistics, opinions and roomers about the series

On the same night that Bruins fans celebrated their team's clenching the Presidents Trophy for the first time in over 20 years, their spirits were dampened by the fact that they also were told of their first round opponent in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Ever since the Bruins' stunning 14 game point streak back in March vaulted the Bruins to the top of the NHL's standings, Bruins fans have been able to legitimately consider a best case scenario as actually being a probable reality. As the best team in the Eastern Conference, the Bruins would play the worst team inside the playoff structure. That worst team would be whoever held the second wild card and for almost a month now, only two teams have been in the running for that. Those teams are the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Detroit Redwings.

Now the best case scenario referenced earlier is obvious one you take into consideration the relationship the Bruins have with these two teams. Even in one of their worst seasons in recent history, the Detroit Redwings are one of the few teams in the hockey world that can beat the Big Bad Bruins at their own game. Starting from the back, they rely on strong play in net on a nightly basis while defending the blue line and fighting hard in physical board battles. Guys like the terrifying Nicklas Kronwall, lead that physical assault in Detroit, banging bodies down with yard sale body checks that more often than not leave Kronwall himself down on the ice and the victim of his check making sure all of his bones are still intact before moving again.

Though they have had the fewest fights in the entire league this season, the Redwings will not stand for any physical transgressions against their team and will not hesitate to finish checks relentlessly once someone on their team has been harmed. Also, their entire team has been taught the wonders of selflessness as despite their scoreing more goals than almost half of the Eastern Conference, the Redwings do not have a 30 goal scorer. Instead their balanced attack has spawned 6, 15 goal scoeres and a list of 15 players who have found the net more than 5 times in the season.

They get under your skin, they draw penalties and they ruthlessly back check as all of their forwards play like Selkie Trophy Finalists. Sound like the Bruins? Yeah and in a way, they are even more Bruin than the actual Bruins.  

In the 4 games they have played together, the Bruins have won just 1 game losing thrice to the Redwings all in regulation. What is even more terrifying is the fact that the Bruins have not beaten the Redwings in their own building since 2008.

But we have been here before. Now I will not go as far to say that a Presidents Trophy winning team will be an underdog in a series against the worst team in the playoffs but what I will say is that in series labeled as tough the Bruins have surprised us before most notably last year in the Eastern Conference Finals. Do not worry Bruins fans, we definitely a chance. 

Now logistically, while the actual schedule for the series will not be released until later this week, it is suspected that the series will kick off with a 7:00PM Game One in Boston on Thursday night. As for Game Two that one will be largely influenced by the time constraints of NBC's schedule and will most likely be locked down as a Saturday afternoon manatee in Boston. 

So now it is time to wait.

The Eastern Conference Quarterfinals will begin within the week and no matter the opponent, the Boston Bruins will go into the season with one of their best chances for a Stanley Cup in years.

Cheer loud and cheer proud Bruins fans because it is time for playoff hockey!

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The Inaguration: Bruins win Presidents Trophy in brutal clash with Buffalo

The NHL first awarded the Presidents Trophy in 1985 to the Edmonton Oilers. Since then, it has been given annually to the NHL team with the best regular season record and yet, though they had been given 27 cracks at taking home the shiny trophy, on just one occasion had the Bruins won it.

Instead, in the first 27 years of the trophy's existence, teams like Detroit, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary dominated the regular season and by default dominated ownership of the Presidents Trophy. The Redwings won 6 times in the 13 seasons between 1994 and 2008, while the Oilers, Flames, Chanuks, Avalanche, Stars, Blackhawks and Rangers all won twice. Sandwiched in there were solo Presidents Trophy wins by the Sennators, Rangers, Penguins, Blues, Sharks, Capitals and Sabers.

Prior to today, the Bruins were included on that list.

But now, after a triumphant but brutal at the same time 4-1 victory over Buffalo, the Bruins 101 point Presidants Trophy winning 1989-1990 season no longer stands alone as the highest seed the Bruins have ever achieved going into the playoffs.

Having already played 80 games out of 82, the Bruins came into Saturday's game with Buffalo with 115 points and the knowledge that a win of any sort would give them a 5 point cushion on the Ducks for the number one spot in the league. Basically, it came down to one simple fact, if the Bruins won, they would be the Presidents Trophy winners.

But for a team that has spent the entirety of its 6 year, Claude Jullian coached string of dominant seasons, they could easily be labeled one of the most regretful recipients of the Presidents Trophy in the Award's history. All season long they have villinised individual accolades never getting to high and never getting to low. Even during their run of 14 games without a regulation loss, the Bruins were constantly muttering about how they could get better and how their game still was not good enough for the playoffs.

Even after they won Saturday, humility was almost involuntary within the Bruins locker room.

Also they say it starts with the top. “The Presidents' Trophy identifies a team that’s been good for the regular season; the other thing is, it also guarantees home ice as long as you’re in the playoffs,” Head Coach Claude Julien said “So those are two things we’re really proud of, but that’s where it stops.”

“The next step is we still got to do some work here in order to get the trophy that we all really want here.”

1st line center David Krejci also had things to say about not saying anything about the win and what it gave the team.“It is a nice achievement, that’s for sure, but that wasn’t our goal going into the season. So one thing that’s good about it is as long as we’re in the playoffs, we’ll be starting at home, so that’s good. But we’re trying to accomplish something different, so we have one more game tomorrow, and we need to play a really strong game and feel good about our game going into the playoffs.”

For a few frustrated reporters who should have known better than to try to get some Presidents Trophy oriented quotes out of the Bruins, they quickly realized that the only thing the team would elaborate on was the list of players they lost in game. After scoreing his 30th goal of the season, hugely successful Bruins center, Patrice Bergeron failed to get back in the game in the 3rd period. 

And yet his worrisome departure was not the worst thing that happened to the Bruins and the bodies of their players in the final period of the game. 

Just over 7 minutes into the 3rd period, Bruin 4th line winger Danial Pallie turned up ice with the puck and failed to see Sabers defenceman Jake McCabe barreling towards him. Though he was not carrying much speed up ice, Pallie lunged forward in an attempt to launch a targeted pass to one of his line mates. As he did so however, McCabe delivered a massive but clean hit on Pallie launching him back onto the ice and halting play immedealty.

As Pallie pealed his dazed figure off the ice, two Bruins rushed in to give McCabe a piece of their mind while still more gathered around Pallie to see that he was okay. He was not. Though he tried to get to his feet on his own, Pallie lost all balance and fell backwards only staying upright because of the 4 players and referees around him who grabbed his body before it fell back to the ice. 

Pallie who has already suffered 2 concussions this season while scoring 9 goals on the crucial Merlot Line, was by far the biggest casualty of this game and the Presidents Trophy that was rewarded at the end of it. He will be sorely missed and will remain a huge question mark going into the Bruins first round series with Detroit. 

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Mid-season form: Grady Seizmore stuns Sox with early season play.

In his first 5 full seasons in the MLB, 6 foot 2, 200 pound center fielder, Grady Sizemore served as one of the few bright spots on a Cleveland Indians team that to this day still has not consistently made the playoffs for the better part of the last decade. After being drafted right out of high school by the Montreal Expos, he was soon traded to the Indians.

There, he very quickly developed into a role as one of the most promising center fielders in the league. He hit lead-off as a rookie and managed to compile 22 home runs, 81 RBIs and a batting average of.289. Also his speed which was very quickly evident on the professional level made him only the 2nd player in franchise history to log more than  20 doubles, 10 triples, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a single season. As a result of his play in that season alone, he signed a 6 year 23.45 million dollar contract with the Indians all before he even played a game in his sophomore season.

From there, he logged a career year in 2006 logging starts in all 162 of the team's games, with 28 home runs, 53 doubles and a batting average of .290. He was named to his first all-star team as a result of his play that season.

Over the next 3 years, he would make two more all-star games and bring a vow of consistency to the Indians team that in modern day baseball is very had to find. 4 times he was a member of the 20/20 club that listed all players with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases while his work in the field never spawned more than 3 errors in a single season. In 2006, he logged 7 assists from the outfield and committed just 3 errors.

And yet, at the height of his career, when all seemed good and Sizemore closed in on the conclusion of his 6 year deal with Cleveland knowing a huge payday was around the corner, he got injured. After starting 382 consecutive games, in the previous 2 seasons, Sizemore lost his impressive streak when he missed a game on April 27th while rehabbing a sprained ankle. Though he would come back and his 30 home runs and steal 30 bases later in that season, the ankle injury was the first in a long line of setbacks that would bite the star over the next few years.

He pulled a groin during spring training of 2009 and missed almost a week at the beginning of the year. 4 months after that, he began speaking about pain in his elbow and with 1 month to go in the regular season he had surgery on that elbow to prepare him for the following season. Unfortunately for him, doctors discovered a need for additional hernia surgery in his lower abdomen during his hospital stay.

That procedure effectively wiped out his plans for spring training the following season. But that was only the start of things.

Just 33 games into 2010, he blew out his knee and needed micro-fracture surgery to repair it. While he rehabbed that well after that, he re-injured his knee in 2011 and went under the knife once again for yet another hernia surgery.

The Indians neglected to pick up the option for the 2012 season and allowed Sizemore to basically stew without a team for the next 2 years.

But finally, having not played since 2011, the Boston Red Sox swooped in at the beginning of last off-season and signed Sizemore to an incentive heavy 1 year 6 million dollar contract. In the void left behind by the signing of Jacoby Ellsbury to the New York Yankees, Sizemore came to the team knowing that he had a chance to log some serious playing time in his natural position, center field. After Jackie Bradley Jr. struggled in spring training and Sizemore stunned with quite a few miraculous catches in the outfeild, the team named him their starting center fielder going into 2014.

Since opening day, he has been absolutely fantastic. Seizmore has played 9 games in Boston committing 0 errors and logging 14 putouts. Offensively, he has hit at a .333 clip with 4 RBIs and 2 doubles. He hit a home run on opening day in Baltimore while smacking a huge 3 run home run in the 6th inning of a game against New York just this past week.

All and all, Grady Seizmore has arrived in Boston with a huge pile of history and the capabilities to return to that level of greatness once again.

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Red Sox receive World Series rings: In final day of reflection on 2013, the Red Sox act like champions

The sights and sounds buzzing through Fenway Park were of excitement, appreciation and a dash of that lingering pride in the fact that less than 6 months ago, our team, the Boston Red Sox were the first team in the history of baseball to go from last in their division 1 year to World Series Champion the next. 

On this day, April 4th, 2014, the majesty of that triumphant World Series win however was very rapidly melting out of the present and into the past. We had seen the post-game interviews and celebration on October 30th of last year then cheered in delirious unity a few days later when the Championship Parade wound through the streets of Boston raising us up and emphasizing the importance of this season that had possibly been the most important season in Red Sox history. 

And after that we still refused to forget these bearded brothers who had taken over the city in which they lived. We half-jokingly, half actually cried when Johnny Gomes shaved his beard prior to Spring Training while we celebrated when Mike Napoli resigned with the team and promised that his beard would do the same. 

You see, there was something about the 2013 Sox that went beyond dominance. It trumped the dynastic reign of the Patriots and shamed those Celtics fans who revel in the fact that their team has won more championships than any other team in the league even though 11 out of 18 of those championships were won in an era where the NBA had just 9 teams. It makes the Bruins fans of the eras of Bobby Orr and now Claude Jillian rethink the magic of their own respective championship runs and even makes people still bragging about the 2004 Sox title ask the question, was this 2013 title above all the rest?

We look back on the 162 games of 2013, 1 of which bears the emotional astrix denoting it as the game erased from out memory by the terror resulting from the Marathon Bombing on April 15th, and see how this team grew as one and really found out what they were as a result of that day and the support their city demanded from them after it. Their beards defined them but their camaraderie made them great. 

Stories of this clubhouse unity brought to the table by unknown guys like Johnny Gomes or forgotten stars like Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino erased those of Chicken and Beer that grew out of the doldrums of the 2011 collapse while stunning displays of dominance by those same players made us forget even about the game before. At the end of the season while they were not the stand alone best team in baseball they were close to it. They tied with the Cardinals for the top spot come years end but went above and beyond the rest of the league in offence while not once losing more than 3 consecutive games.

While for 4 years Sox fans felt a burning jealousy for the Yankees and their constant mantra of victorious play, the tables were turned in 2013 when the Sox rapidly became the do all say all owners of the baseball world. As the Yankees dealt with the fallout from the Biogenisis scandal and were hated for their part in it, the Red Sox were completely clean in 2013 always getting forgiven for their few unlikable moments (namely David Ortiz's phone smashing incident in Baltimore) and actually praised for moments that should have been unlikable but were not in Boston (namely the Ryan Dempster/Alex Rodriguez bean ball incident). 

This team was loved for what they did in 2013 and while many fans would never like to have to deal with finding space for new memories among all the great ones that team gave us, baseball does go on and on this day, April 4th, 2014, the 2013 Red Sox went from present to past while the 2014 Red Sox went from future to present. But as we knew this, as we prepared to cross that threshold to be felt when the first pitch a 2014 Red Sox pitcher threw on home turf was thrown, we also knew that there was one more chapter to this year of celebration, one last hurrah for the 2013 Boston Red Sox. That chapter, that last hurrah is and was the Ring Ceremony conducted this afternoon. 

“It’s going to be pretty cool,” pitcher Jon Lester said prior to the presentation of his 2nd Championship Ring for his work in Boston. “Just from what I remember from ’08, being able to be a part of that in different circumstances. I think this one means, obviously they all mean a lot, but this one means a little bit more. It’ll be pretty cool and I’m excited for it. You sit around all offseason thinking what the ring’s going to look like, so it’ll be pretty cool to go out there and get it and celebrate one last time, and after today we move on for good and think about 2014.” 

“Opening Day for me is one of the best things in baseball,” backup catcher David Ross said. “It’s probably at the top of my list, especially home openers and then you’re talking about a home opener with a World Series ring -- that’s a goal for a home opener. I’m just excited and looking forward to all the festivities. I’m looking forward to getting the ring and then getting the game going. We’re excited.” 

Ross was ready to turn the page, ready to get over the 2013 Sox and start biting his nails again as this city watches their 2014 team go for 2 straight titles. 

And yet for some that will not happen. Ryan Dempster, Jaocby Ellsbury and Jarrod Saltalamaccia all left the team after last season and as harsh as it may seem, Ellsbury and Saltalamaccia were all but ghosts who were not present at today's ceremony. Ryan Dempster however was there and at one point, just by his presence on the same diamond as new comers like Grady Seismore or AJ Piyrsynzki represented fully this acknowledgment of both past and present of Red Sox Nation.

Au revoir 2013 Red Sox hello 2014 Sox. Let us make this season just as special as the last. 

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Dominance redefined: In a superior month of March, Jarome Iginla helped distance the Bruins from the rest of the NHL

In a resurgent season that had already featured 18 goals for Jarome Iginla, the month of March was just plain dominant.

At the beginning of the year, March was earmarked by many in the Bruins following as the biggest obstacle the team would have to overcome this season. Those people cited its ravenous schedule of 17 games in 31 days combined with there being a road trip of 3 games in 3 time zones that once completed gave way to a week of games against a list of teams that included the Blackhawks, Canadians and Capitals. These people saw the month of March, a month that I point out has been one marred with the struggles of the Bruins in recent years, as a month the Bruins would just have to grind through and hope that it would not diminish their playoff positioning too much.

Instead, the Bruins exploded out of the mid February, Olympic Break finding their groove as these March games got under way and slowly but surely climbing to the pinnacle of NHL regular season excellence. As the Penguins went 7-7-4 in March for example, the Bruins went 15-1-1 earning 31 points in the standings, clinching the Atlantic Division, soaring away from the Penguins for the Eastern Conference lead and jumping 3 points clear of the Blues for the number one spot in the entire NHL. Furthermore, with 110 points accumulated so far, the Bruins have already eclipsed each of their points totals in the past 4 seasons and were just 6 points shy of topping their output from 2008 (the largest points total since 1971).

Their defense has helped win them games just as their goaltender has. Those arguments are fairly defended solely by the team GAA average of 1.94, that the Bruins posted in the month of March coupled with the 3 shutouts (2 by Rask and 1 by Johnson) during the same span. But as we look back on this stretch of superiority, it is the offence that has played the biggest role in these 15 wins.

The Bruins have averaged scoring 3.58 goals per game. Among the list of 61 goals scored by the offence, Jarome Iginla and Patrice Bergeron have accounted for 13 and 11 goals respectively with Iginla basically doubling his scoring output for the season in one month and Bergeron solidifying his case for the Selki Trophy awarded to the league's top defensive forward. Iginla and Bergeron both nabbed "3 stars of the week" honors from the NHL during the month while Iginla also finished the month with the number one star.

Iginla's work in March helped lock up his 12th career 30 goal season while also boosting his season +/- to an immaculate +34. He was also clutch as in 4 different games he scored 2 goals against opponents that included the Capitals as well strong goal-tending teams like Phoenix and Minnesota.

But most of all he has been more consistent than any other player in the sport scoreing in 9 of the 17 games in March.

"It's an honor," Iginla said of the award. "It's been an enjoyable month. For our whole team, we've had a great month. There have been a lot of guys who had great months, great streaks. You look at [Patrice Bergeron] -- he's been as hot as I've seen. So it's been good.

"It's been fun, but it's one of those things you don't really expect. I've gotten some good bounces, some great passes from my line mates, and as a line we've had some fun. But bigger than that it's been a great month for our team and we've all benefited from that."

All and all, Iginla has played with a kind of passion this season that even he has not shown in a long time. 

Mighty Jarome Iginla, with all his brilliance has never won a Stanley Cup and he sees this season in Boston as one of his last chances to change that. 

"I definitely feel blessed that this has gone as well as it has," Iginla said. "I was given a great opportunity to play with Krejci and Lucic right from the start. We had some hiccups during the year, even as a team we had some spells and stuff, but we've been able to work through them. I haven't been on a team in my career where you're battling at the top of the standings for pretty much the whole year, and it's fun. It's a different type of pressure."

"I probably enjoy more battling at the top of the league and preparing for the playoffs. I do feel fortunate to have experienced that this year. I knew it was a very good team I was joining."

As has been well documented this season, Iginla has greatly elevated the play of his line mates. The Bruins first line has scored 67 times this season up increasing their consistency and creating momentum better than any other line in recent Bruins history.

In one month, Jarome Iginla has shown the league that he still has it dominating the hockey world and helping the Bruins become the best team in hockey. 

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We do it for the money: Thoughts on David Ortiz's taking money from Samsung in exchange for yesterday's selfie with the President

Selfie-gate? 

Sorry, I admit that was a bad pun that needed to be made but anyway, just 1 day after making their season debut in Baltimore on Monday, the World Series Champion Red Sox made the customary trip to the White-house to be congratulated by the President of the United States. 

While going into the visit, the big story was that speculating weather or not we would see a repeat of the Manny Ramirez or Tim Thomas no shows in 2007 and 2011 that Boston sports has generated by these meetings with the Commander and Cheif, a "spontaneous" selfie alongside the president posted on David Ortiz's Facebook page soon stole the show. 

At first people just smiled at the picture laughing at "the state of technology" but by this morning, it was said that the selfie had been no ware near as spontaneous as people thought. As it turns out, David Ortiz picked up a promotional contract in exchange for his taking the selfie. The deal was worth an undisclosed amount of money but was handed to the superstar DH from Samsung, his telephone provider. 

In a statement made through ABCNews.com, Samsung said "We have a relationship with David and the Red Sox. We partner with people who have like-minded values and fit with who we are as a brand," 

The photo sure got plenty of attention (all be it, not so many people actually knew the name of the phone which was out of the picture) as on top of the some 600,000 Ortiz followers it was sent out to, the photo was re-tweeted 39,577 times while being favorited 45,989 times.

As for the other people in the photo, most notably, John Farrell, Shane Victorino and Koji Uehara, none of them knew about Ortiz's plans. 

"At the time I didn't know it," Farrell said on the Boston sports radio station WEEI. "No one can get closer to the president [than Ortiz was]. When David was on stage and kind of put his arm around [Obama] and put up a phone, it was only a moment that David Ortiz could seemingly pull off. I read about it this morning that this was maybe a little brought along by Samsung. ... That didn't take away from a pretty special day."

All and all, there is no reason to get all bent out of shape over a money hoarding superstar doing what he has grown to do (sorry David but after this off-season and all the antics it involved, you are a money hoarding superstar) so therefore, this situation seems to look more like one made to seem ridiculous by a story starved media than anything else. 

My opinion on all this is simple: come on people, it’s time for the home opener, this is absolutely nothing. 

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