A team-by-team look at
Boston’s pro sports franchises
by Josh B. Wardrop
If during your visits to our fair city you’ve ever been cornered by a Boston sports fan with an opinion to share, happened upon a sports radio station on the dial or just observed the sheer volume of grown men and women walking the streets of the Hub clad in team jerseys, you’ve likely stumbled upon Boston’s not-so-secret secret: we’re a sports town. Bostonians can’t hide their love for the Sox, the Pats and all the rest—in fact, they do just the opposite, fanning out across the country to join their teams at away games and sharing their exuberant love of the Hub’s star athletes sufficiently enough to make nicknames like “Yaz,” “The Chief” and “Big Papi” part of the national sports lexicon. Here in 2008, there’s never been a better time to be a Boston sports fan—the Celtics’ 2008 NBA championship just the latest in a recent run of successes helping to stoke fan fervor. Here’s an up-to-the-minute “state-of-the-state” examination of New England’s pro baseball, basketball, football, hockey and soccer teams during this, the veritable Golden Age of Boston sports.
Boston Red Sox
These are the good old
days for Boston’s beloved Olde Towne Team,
as decades of frustration, crushing defeats
and talk of “curses” have given way to World
Series victories in 2004 and 2007, playoff
appearances in five of the last six years
and a Major League Baseball record 468-game
sellout streak. Red Sox Nation has expanded
across the nation and around the world, as
players like Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan
Papelbon and Kevin Youkilis led the team to
a 95-67 record this season, resulting in the
team winning the American League Wild Card.
This being the Sox, it hasn’t been a
drama-free year: the team dealt with
injuries to core sluggers David Ortiz and
Mike Lowell and key pitchers like Josh
Beckett and Curt Schilling (who never threw
a pitch in what was supposed to be his swan
song with the Sox), and in July they bid
adieu to ever-erratic slugger Manny Ramirez,
trading him to the L.A. Dodgers. Still, at
the time of this writing, the Sox are about
to take on the Tampa Bay Rays in the
American League Championship Series in the
hopes of booking their first back-to-back
World Series appearances since 1915–1916.
 HUB SPORTS HISTORY ON DISPLAY If you’ve always wanted to see Larry Bird’s sneakers or Tom Brady’s game jersey—but drew the line at breaking into the jocks’ bedroom closets—there’s one spot in Boston guaranteed to thrill you: The Sports Museum, located on the 5th and 6th floors of TD Banknorth Garden. Established in 1987, the Sports Museum is a repository for all things pertaining to New England athletics: everything from memorabilia and artifacts associated with pro sports franchises like the Red Sox and Celtics, to exhibits dealing with the region’s many collegiate, Olympic and Special Olympic heroes dating back to the turn of the 20th century. “The Garden is a great home for us,” says Associate Curator Brian Codagnone of the museum’s base of operations since 1999. “People can not only see the exhibits, but they can get a bird’s eye view of the Garden floor—see the parquet, or maybe the ice. It’s exciting.” Codagnone considers the Museum’s standout pieces to include the actual old Boston Garden penalty box (loaned to the museum by ex-Bruins player and coach Terry O’Reilly); the amazingly lifelike wooden sculptures of Bird, Carl Yastrzemski and Bobby Orr carved by artist Armand LaMontagne; and the seats in the Boston Garden Theatre, all authentic folding chairs from the old Garden itself. “The assortment of cool stuff we have is just endless,” he says. “The original home plate from the old Boston Braves field…the actual ball that hit Tony Conigliaro in the eye... we even have one of Paul Newman’s racecars—but there’s no room here to display it!” Visitors can witness the full historical scope of Boston sports not just through the authentic artifacts, but also by viewing original artwork. Two separate murals depict sports heroes from Babe Ruth to Bill Russell to Doug Flutie, and one prominent wall display features three-dimensional works that bring classic Boston sports moments to life, aided by an interactive display that allows fans to hear the actual annnouncers’ calls—like Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most’s unforgettable “Havlicek stole the ball!”—at the push of a button. It’s the kind of exhibit Codagnone expects the Sports Museum to develop more of as it continues to expand and attract Boston sports fans from the unlikeliest places. “We get Australians coming here to see the parquet floor,” he says. “Slovakians who want to see where [Boston Bruins captain] Zdeno Chara plays. We have people from around the world, and from our backyard—little kids and the ‘Gallery Gods’ from the old Garden. We really think we’ve got something for everyone who love sports and what it stands for.” |
Boston Celtics
After two decades of
diminishing returns, the NBA’s winningest
franchise returned to a place of prominence
in 2008, as the Boston Celtics won their
first NBA championship since 1986 in June,
defeating their longtime rivals, the Los
Angeles Lakers. The key ingredients for the
title run were forward Kevin Garnett and
guard Ray Allen, both acquired in trades by
general manager Danny Ainge to team with
Celts captain Paul Pierce as modern-day
successors to the Green Team’s “Big Three”
of the 1980s (Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and
Robert Parish). During the summer, the
Celtics lost key sixth man James Posey to
free agency and veteran backup center P.J.
Brown to retirement, but retained key role
players like Eddie House and Tony Allen,
while adding youngsters like Patrick
O’Bryant, Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens to a
solid core that includes breakout starters
Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins. Coach Doc
Rivers and the Celtics raise championship
banner number 17 to the rafters and kick off
their title defense at TD Banknorth Garden
on October 28 against the Cleveland
Cavaliers.
New England Patriots
Things with the New
England Patriots have been so good recently
(Super Bowl victories in 2002, 2004 and
2005) that one had to expect a stumble was
coming—and when it came, it came
spectacularly. First, in February, the Pats
lost Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants
in the game’s closing minutes, coming up
just short of the NFL’s first perfect 19-0
season. Then, when the team reconvened over
the summer, the Pats went winless in four
pre-season games played without star
quarterback Tom Brady, who was nursing a leg
injury. Finally healthy for the season
opener on September 7, Brady lasted roughly
six minutes before suffering a hard hit that
resulted in a season-ending knee injury
which put the Pats’ fortunes in the hands of
rarely-used backup Matt Cassel. Despite the
huge setback, the Patriots have started the
season 3-2, and still look likely to be in
contention for a return trip to the
postseason. The next obstacles in their way?
The Denver Broncos on October 20 and
the St. Louis Rams on October 26,
both at Gillette Stadium.
Boston Bruins
A 35-year drought between
Stanley Cup wins (and an 18-year drought
between Finals appearances) has sapped some
of the popularity of Boston’s once-proud ice
hockey team—one of the NHL’s “Original
Six”—especially with the recent
championships won by the Hub’s other pro
franchises. However, last season offered
signs that the Bruins may be on an upswing.
After missing the playoffs entirely in
2005–06 and 2006–07, the B’s took their old
rivals the Montreal Canadiens to a full
seven games in the first round before being
eliminated. With a roster of talented
players like Patrice Bergeron, Phil Kessel,
Marco Sturm and team captain Zdeno Chara,
Bruins fans are confident that the team is
close to a return to greatness, beginning
with the 2008–09 home opener against the
Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Banknorth Garden
on October 20.
New England Revolution
It may only get a fraction
of the ink that its longer-pedigreed sports
peers receive, but since its inception in
1995, Boston’s Major League Soccer
franchise, the New England Revolution, has
been steadily winning more and more American
converts to the world’s most popular
spectator sport, soccer. What hasn’t hurt is
that the Revs have assembled a roster of top
players—ranging from forward Taylor Twellman
to goalkeeper Matt Reis to midfielders Steve
Ralston and Shalrie Joseph—who have brought
the team close to the promise land, if not
all the way there (MLS Cup runner-ups the
last three seasons). This year, the Revs
wrap up the regular season at Gillette
Stadium on October 25 versus the
Kansas City Wizards, and have clinched a
playoff berth for the seventh consecutive
season, meaning that when the playoffs begin
October 30, the Revs have the chance
to finally get over that hump and bring New
England its sixth major sports championship
in the last five years.
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