Being a Boston Sports Fan

Ok it was only a matter of time before I was going to write about this. I have lived in Boston my whole life and these past few years have been the best time to be a sports fan in Boston. We have seen six titles since February 2002. We have seen three Superbowl titles, two World Series, and now the Celtics. (I actually say there is seven: I count the comeback against the Yankees in 2004 as a title win). In addition, the Bruins made it to the playoffs this year. They took Montreal to game seven. The Revolution (MLS) have been to the finals the last three years. There are many college titles and great runs in the New England area including a college hockey team, not to be mentioned, that has won two national titles since 2001.

Sorry, but the parades do not get old. I am lucky; the parade route goes by the building I work at so I have a prime seat. I work in the same building shown on the TV show Boston Legal so we watch from the balcony that Denny and Alan smoke their cigars at the end of a tough day of legal work……Just kidding there is no such balcony but I do have a prime seat from the building. In my opinion the 2004 Red Sox parade was the best, even if it was a cold and rainy day.

The problem is some of the younger kids here in Boston don’t know what it is like to go through bad sports times in Boston. With the Red Sox, "Wait 'til next year” was our famous saying and you could actually get tickets to the game. What about the Patriots? Remember when home games were “blacked out” in the area because the home games were not sold out? As for the Celtics, the death of Len Bias and years later Reggie Lewis was the beginning of the end of a great run. And finally, the Bruins: well they have always had a loyal fan base through the good times and bad.

Yes, we had a similar run in the eighties. The Patriots had the miracle run to the Superbowl only to be blown out by the Bears. The Red Sox went to the '86 World Series and all is forgiven, Bill Buckner, it was never your fault; it was a team lost. We all forget that in the next game, game seven, you went 2 for 4 and scored a run. The Celtics' win in '86. The Bruins made it to the Stanley Cup finals in '88 only to lose to the Oilers. This was also a great time because it was unexpected…other than the Celtics.

As Boston Sports fans we are a little spoiled. We now begin to expect that the Sox will make the playoffs, the Pats will make their Super bowl run and now the Celtics could be a dynasty. All that is left is the Bruins, so who knows if they will join the title party. I hope so!

All I know is it's great to be a Boston sports fan. We should enjoy the run because as history has shown us the run will end and all we will have are the stories of the great times as a Boston sports fan.