I was listening to some sports radio this weekend while I was in the driveway taking the winter tires off the car and putting on the new summer sneakers. (Spring really is here.) Sports radio for the rabid New England sports fan is akin to eating candy corn. It seems like a good idea when you start, but in short order you realize that you've had way too much.
Anyway, a caller from Denver was making a point about the current state of sports in Boston and how lucky we are to have all of our sports teams performing at a high level. "I hope you realize how good you have it."
We do.
Unless you are under ten years old and for your entire life the Red Sox and Patriots were always contenders, you've lived with good times and bad. We've gotten over the 86 years of Red Sox heartbreak, but we won't forget it.
Similarly, we don't even want to think about the Patriots in the 70's and 80's. (Ok, we thought we had a good team in 85/86, but the Bears showed us what a good team on all sides of the ball really was.) Even this past year, despite going 18-0, was crushing. After living on aural candy corn for every second of January, I had to go on a total sports radio moratorium for three weeks after the Super Bowl, just to reclaim my life.
Last night the Bruins lost game 7 in a playoff with the Habs, the most life that they have shown in decades. It is an amazing turn around considering that I was ten the last time the Big Bad Bruins held the cup aloft. It hasn't all been bad (the Ray Bourque years gave us hope) but it has been ugly lately.
The Celtics are the latest Phoenix story in Boston. After a miserable twenty years, there is life in the Garden. The C's walked through the Hawks in Game 1 of the play-offs and the wearing of the green is back.
Heck, even the Revolution did well.
I guess my point is, we don't take any of it for granted. A few injuries and bad breaks and the team that was on top can slide to the bottom. We've seen it and we've lived it. We won't easily forget it. Plus, we live this stuff. Stop a random person on the street and ask them who is starting today for the Sox and I bet you'll get the correct answer. (Beckett) They could probably even tell you about the Infield fly rule.
We love this stuff. We appreciate it. And we're not taking any of it for granted.
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There are Boston fans, and then there are Boston fans. What, pray tell, is the difference? The former are the same as fans everywhere. When their team is winning, they jump on the bandwagon, but when the team is down, they retreat into the woodwork. But the latter, the real Boston fans, they are something special. They are the ones that show up at the (Boston Garden, Fleet Center, TD Banknorth Garden, insert your best guess as to the next name here) regardless of the standings. They brave the cold, endure the humiliation, suffer the indignity because they know that someday, the glory will return. The B's might have lost this series, but they proved all the critics wrong and garnered incredibly valuable playoff experience for a bunch of talented young players in the process. And best of all, they have reminded the people of Boston that in addition to the other sports, it is a hockey city.
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