Hurricanes, earthquakes, nuclear threats, riots, Obamacare debate … As the world churns, we always have sports to turn to take our minds off of the tragedies and political disagreements happening daily. Here in New England, we are lucky to have successful pro sports teams and this summer and early fall, there has been a lot of good news.

The Boston Red Sox will always be a main topic of discussion – win or lose – and as the regular season draws to an end, their success in 2017 has been both surprising and a pleasure. Despite the injuries and sub-par play of some of their highest paid players, the Red Sox have all but wrapped up a playoff spot. Thanks to players like Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Andrew Benitendi, the Sox have kept our interest over the summer.

The New England Patriots picked up some position players over the summer and have rebounded from a season-opening loss by defeating the New Orleans Saints last Sunday. The Brady/Belichick era continues. You know the history and let’s enjoy it while it lasts.

The Boston Celtics have retooled their roster with the likes of all-stars Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving, and drafted a top recruit, Jayson Tatum. The season starts next month. It will be interesting to see if Coach Brad Stevens can mold these new players into a winner.

The Boston Bruins gather perhaps the least interest from New England sports fans. Truthfully, I might watch a handful of games each season. It was great following the team when they won the Stanley Cup in 2011 – their first since 1972. Let’s hope they will be competitive again this year.