With championships by the Patriots and Red Sox, and even a resurgent
Celtics, Beantown is getting that winning feeling
by Christine Celli
and Scott Roberto
Oh
what a difference a year makes. Already known to be a
sports-obsessed city, thanks in large part to the fanbase of its
luck-less baseball team, 2004 saw Boston grow to be the veritable
epicenter of professional sports. A hint of things to come could be
felt as early as opening day at Fenway Park in April of last year.
Red Sox fans, still weary from seeing their supposedly cursed team
come within five outs of a trip to the World Series before bowing to
the New York Yankees, watched as the New England Patriots emerged
from behind a gigantic American flag strung from the Green Monster,
2004 Lombardi Trophy in tow. Perhaps it was the presence of pitcher
Curt Schilling on the roster—the first time the team had a
legitimate second starter in recent memory—but even as the Sox went
on to lose the game to the Toronto Blue Jays 10-5, a change in
attitude was somehow palpable throughout Red Sox Nation. This year
would be the year things would change for Boston sports fans. And it
was. Not only did the Sox finally claim their first World Series
trophy since 1918, the Patriots, once the laughingstock of the NFL,
won their third Super Bowl in four years in February, claiming what
many refer to as dynasty status. And now as the NBA post-season
approaches, the Boston Celtics—dynasty of old—are showing glimmers
of their past winning ways, holding tight to first place in the
Atlantic Division, rejuvenated by the return of former co-captain
Antoine Walker. While the Bruins were forced to watch from the
sidelines when a labor dispute cancelled the National Hockey League
season, the rest of Boston’s professional sports teams stepped up to
the plate and proved the city is the current Hub of the sports
universe.
BOSTON RED SOX
ON TOP OF THE WORLD
Monday, April 11 won’t
be any ordinary opening day at Fenway Park. Not after last
season, when the hometown team finally put an end to its
86-year-long championship drought. If you were lucky enough to
score tickets to the game, team officials say be sure to get to
the park by 2 p.m. in order
to see the 2004 World Series banner raised alongside the
now-infamous 1918 version. Also part of the scheduled events is
the much anticipated ring ceremony in which members of last
year’s roster receive their rings. Several classic Sox players
plan to be in attendance in full uniform, including Johnny
Pesky, Dom DiMaggio and Bobby
Doerr. And a few players now with other teams—including the
World Series-winning pitcher Derek Lowe—
have
indicated a desire to fly in for the occasion. Ticket-less fans
can get in on the festivities by heading to nearby Boston
Billiards (126 Brookline Ave., 617-536-POOL) where the Dropkick
Murphys perform for free beginning at 9 a.m. The bar also offers
a special menu of hot dogs, burgers and sausage throughout the
day.
RED SOX
SCHEDULE
Apr 11 at
3:05 p.m.
vs. New
York Yankees
Apr 13 &
14 at 7:05 p.m.
vs. New
York Yankees
Apr 15 &
16 at 7:05 p.m.
vs. Tampa
Bay Devil Rays
Apr 17 at
2:05 p.m.
vs. Tampa
Bay Devil Rays
Apr 18 at
11:05 a.m.
vs.
Toronto Blue Jays
Apr 19 at
7:05 p.m.
vs.
Toronto Blue Jays
Many a sports writer theorized that if the Red Sox were to ever end
their 86-year-long championship drought, things would never be the
same. If psychiatry bills didn’t skyrocket from all the displaced
anguish, Fenway Park would surely see a drop in ticket sales. Oh,
how wrong they were. City officials barely had time to clean up the
confetti from the team’s record-setting victory parade before Sox
fans were planning trips to the team’s spring training facility in
Fort Myers, Florida. And tickets for the 2005 season were selling
out before the first official games had even been played (only
scattered seats and standing room tickets remain).
Some things, of course, have changed. The team’s general manager Theo Epstein, who may as well run for mayor based on his current popularity, put the final touches on his new roster, which saw the departure of several team leaders and fan favorites. It’s true pitching dynamo Pedro Martinez has packed his bags for the Mets and post-season hero Derek Lowe started the season with the Dodgers. In the new, “Epstein can do no wrong” version of Red Sox Nation, however, his acquisitions of veteran pitcher David Wells, former Cubs pitcher Matt Clement and Gold Glove-winning shortstop Edgar Renteria (who, coincidentally, was responsible for the last out of the 2004 World Series) have elicited barely a murmur of criticism.
Even when Curt Schilling returns from his infamous ankle injury of last year, it’s fair to say the pitching staff has its work cut out for it. But with the core of the team’s powerful offense still intact—from leadoff hitter Johnny Damon to the one-two punch of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez—there’s little reason to assume the Sox will not once again contend for a playoff berth.
And more changes are in store for the team’s storied stadium as well, including the addition of the Game On Sports Cafe at the corner of Brookline Avenue and Lansdowne Street. But the biggest change of all will take place opening day on April 11 when the team raises the banner commemorating its historic World Series win and receives their long-anticipated rings (see story, above). As luck would have it, the team in the visitors box will be none other than the New York Yankees. And you had better believe the payback will taste sweet.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
The Super Bowl is arguably the biggest sports spectacle in the
world, so by 
now even the Sherpas in the Himalayas know about the
“dynasty” that is the New England Patriots. No sooner had the cheers
died down on February 6 when the Pats defeated the Philadelphia
Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX when the comparisons began to such
era-defining teams as the 1990s Dallas Cowboys, the 1980s San
Francisco 49ers and the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers. Winning three
Super Bowls in four years tends to have that effect.
But it wasn’t always like this. In fact, for a time, the opposite was true. The franchise began in 1960 as the Boston Patriots, a charter member of the American Football League that played many of its early games at Fenway Park, before the team was re-named and moved to Foxboro in 1971. They had some high points in their first four decades as a franchise, but the organization was mostly synonymous with ineptitude.
That is until that fateful day in 1994 when current owner and local businessman Robert Kraft bought the struggling team, saving them from an ignominious relocation to St. Louis. Since then, the Pats have made four trips to the big game (with three victories under super-genius head coach Bill Belichick), built a state-of-the-art stadium (on Kraft’s own dime, no less) and established the modern-day model to which other sports teams can only hope to aspire. Now, Patriots fans are in the same position that Green Bay Packers fans were in back in the days of Vince Lombardi: they not only want to win badly, they expect it. And that’s definitely a welcome change.
BOSTON CELTICS
CELTICS SCHEDULE
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Lately, however, things have decidedly
been looking up. Former Celtics great Danny Ainge, now director of
basketball operations, decided to take a mulligan when he recently
re-acquired old friend Mr. Walker, whom he had traded away following
the 2002–2003 campaign. The Celts promptly went on to win 11 of
their next 12 games, including a seven game winning streak, to take
control of the top spot in their division. Despite recent struggles,
the team could still contend for the Eastern Conference championship
and a trip to the National Basketball Association Finals. Could the
Celtics be the next team to add to Boston’s already impressive
winning streak? Only time, and the NBA playoffs, will tell.
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