Brock Press

Issue date: 1/8/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Joseph Gottli

So the New England Patriots made history recently with the second undefeated season in the history of the National Football League.
To be honest, I don't really care, and I think a lot of people don't. I'm still pissed, actually, that the Dolphins, the first team to run the board - undefeated back in 1972 - managed to win the one game they needed this season to avoid becoming the first team in history to endure a winless season (alas, the jackpot of ironic delight goes unclaimed).
No, what bothers me isn't that Tom Brady is on top of the world (or Gisele Bundchen for that matter - okay, kinda), but that while we sit and watch the Patriots absolutely rip apart and rout any of those who challenge their unfathomable dominance in the game of football, the state of Massachusettes has silently staged an all-out assault on all that is right in the world.
The funny-talking, red sock-wearing, Bostonites have taken a page from ESPN's book and become the worldwide leader in sports. Not just football, sports.
Flash back not even three months ago and it was Kevin Youkilis and his band of merry aces that walked out of Fenway park on top of the baseball world when, for the second time in four years, the Red Sox were crowned World Series champions.
And if that wasn't enough, New Englanders reaped the biggest reward of the NBA off-season in a blockbuster trade for Kevin Garnett.
General manager Danny Ainge and head coach Doc Rivers saw it fitting to mortgage their future for a shot at the present and, as of press time, it has most certainly paid off.
Fresh off of a win against the Detroit Pistons (in what was statistically the third best regular season matchup of all time*) the Boston Celtics now sit on top of the National Basketball Association at 29-3 (not unlike the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls that pounded their way through the regular season to a record-breaking 72-10 record).
It seems unfair in a way, to the rest of the world, and yes I'm talking about everyone on Earth outside the New England area, that one such tiny region in North America can simultaneously lay claim to virtually everything there is worth winning in the world of sports.
Even the Boston Bruins, despite years of disappointment and anonymity (playoffless since the lockout), look poised to make a run for the Stanley Cup playoffs come April.
So how come one city, in one year, can compile so many athletes and accomplishments while the rest of us sit at home and say, "Okay, where is New England again? Way up there, really? It's that small? Wow. Cool".
It's not just the Bradys and the Garnetts though, it's the Randy Mosses and the Ray Allens, and even the Jacoby Ellsburys and Daisuke Matsuzakas that make the city of Boston and the state of Massachusetts the place to be.
Perhaps it's the aligning of the stars, or the proud revival of a once extremely successful sports town. Either that, or maybe, just maybe, Warwick Davis** has learned to use his powers for good instead of evil.
*Based on the combined winning percentage of the two teams after a minimum of 30 games.
**The movie Leprechaun, people!

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools