To Recap the Year of Boston
November 24, 2007 Leave a Comment
After what can largely be viewed as the year of sports for the city of Boston, I’m forced to reprint an article I wrote during the summer about the five best sports cities in America. The criteria was very straight forward. It didn’t matter how great your fans were, or the atmosphere in the city itself. Wins and loses are what I looked at, and as it turned out, the city I hate most came out on top. I can already see Barney’s face when he reads this. Keep in mind that I wrote this in August and so the information relates accordingly.
The
leading candidate for this spot could have been assumed by the prelude
to this entire series. I got the idea to formulate my own list of the
best sports cities when the KG trade to the Celtics went down the other
day. It got me thinking: Is there a more dominant sports city than
Boston right now? And the answer to that question is…no…there isn’t
one.
I’m not saying that the Celtics are going to win the NBA title, because
they aren’t going to. Unless they pick up some quality role guys (which
they can’t afford because they’re way over the cap) or savvy veterans
(which they can’t support either) they don’t have a shot at competing
for a ring this year. But simply looking at the talent on that team
makes your knees quiver with fear. I mean at least for me as a Knicks
fan, my first reaction to the news that this deal actually happened
was "crap, my boys have another legitimate team to contend against".
The Celtics matter again for the first time in a while.
Even without the draft day pick up of Randy Moss (for something like
25 cents on the dollar I might add), I’d say that the Patriots were one
of the few Super Bowl favorites for the upcoming season. This is a team
that missed the dance last year because of one poor throw by their
Hall-of-Fame quaterback. Saying the Pats are the team of the decade
would be redundant and obvious. They have the best coach in the game
Bill Belichick, and since the hooded sweatshirt mastermind took over in
2000, he has transformed this rag tag bunch of athletes into winners.
Those Super Bowl teams that the Pats have been producing this past 7
years have always had amazing coaching, an excellent QB, and a
dependable Running Back. The one thing that Brady and Co. lacked that
most teams in the league had on them was a definitive game changing
play maker at the Wide Out spot. They never had anyone that they could
just bomb the ball to in a 3rd and long situation. Now they have two of
those guys: Moss and Donte’ Stallworth. As a Jets fan I’m already
scared.
No more "1918" chants. No more Bambino slurs. None of that. It’s all
gone. You know why? Because the Red Sox are winners again. As much as
that pains me to say, it’s the truth. They currently own the best
record in baseball, along with the game’s best staff and bullpen. Is
there a better 7th,8th,9th inning combo than Okajima, Gagne, and
Papelbon? This squad is flat out scary from their mitts in the field to
their bats at the dish. After shocking the baseball world in ’04 by
coming back from a three game series lead in the ALCS to the Yanks, the
Sawx went on to win it all and have cemented themselves as a formidable
powerhouse in Major League Baseball ever since.
Crowd Noise