If you're a fan of a Boston sports team that wears red, white and blue, there's a good chance that you're scratching your head after this past weekend.
Alex Cora, who was in his second stint as manager for the Red Sox, was unceremoniously fired Saturday after leading Boston to a 10-17 record and last place in the AL East.
Not to be outdone, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was absent from his duties Saturday as he took time away from the third day of the NFL Draft to attend counseling following the recent scandal involving multiple photos of him and former NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
Those photos, which appeared to show the two embracing in a less-than-professional manner, caused an uproar. Russini ultimately ended up resigning from The Athletic following the release of the pictures.
All in all, it made for a messy stretch for two of the city's most important franchises.
Speaking Sunday after the team fired Cora, Red Sox president Sam Kennedy described the day they let Cora go as "painful."
"We felt it was a necessary move, and we felt it necessary to take decisive action to achieve the goal of a fresh start for the 2026 season," Kennedy said.
Cora, who led Boston to the 2018 World Series title, resigned in 2020 following the revelation of the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal that he was involved with when he was a coach on that team's roster. He was eventually suspended for the 2020 season, but Boston re-hired Cora when he was reinstated.
Scott Kerman, who was walking outside Fenway on Monday, felt it was about time the team parted ways with Cora.
"There were great expectations this year and nobody was performing to their level except, maybe, just a couple of players," Kerman said. "And, yeah, of course it's management's fault the kind of players he got. But he didn't look engaged as much as he has in the past."
As for Vrabel, the Patriots coach was on the PR defensive last week, giving a surprise press appearance on Tuesday that had a general air of contrition without getting into the details of the "private and personal matter" in question.
"And what I can promise you is that my family, this organization, the team, the staff, the coaches, everybody, our fans most importantly will get the best version of me going forward," Vrabel said.
Vrabel gave another press conference ahead of the draft on Thursday where he once again promised to give that best version of himself.
Kerman believes most fans aren't too concerned about the scandal. And the fact that Vrabel just got done leading the Patriots to a Super Bowl appearance probably doesn't hurt.
"But, look, the fact is, if Mike Vrabel was a poor coach and if he had had a 4-13 season, people would be looking at this a lot different," he said with a chuckle.
That's two big hiccups for two of Boston's premier franchises. But not everything is grim. The Celtics have a 3-1 lead over the Philadephia 76ers in the first round of the NBA playoffs and the Boston Fleet start their playoff run Thursday against the Ottawa Charge.
Copyright 2026 GBH News Boston