What a time to be alive and a Boston sports fan. Sportswriters and fans have been saturated in victory to the point that failure has become distant, something that happens only to those other teams. Homes are running out of wall space to hang championship banners, and scrap books are overflowing with newspaper headlines declaring yet another triumph.
Imagine if this weren't the case. Imagine being a sports town in America and having the following as your top story of the week: "This weekend, not only did the Boston Celtics climb to the top of the Atlantic Conference with a stellar 24-24 record, but Paul Pierce was also named Eastern Conference Player of the Week!" Terrifying.
New England has been blessed these last four years.
"The spirit, the will to win and the will to excel - these are the things that endure and these are the qualities that are so much more important than any of the events that occasion them." The immortal Vince Lombardi spoke these words, and today no coach embodies these values more so than Bill Belichick, and no team more so than the New England Patriots. It's appropriate that sports pundits are now declaring Belichick to be Lombardi's successor.
Never before has a city been so dominant in its sporting ability, and 2004-2005 could go down as possibly the best sports year ever for Boston. The Patriots have won three of the last four Super Bowls, only the third team besides the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers to accomplish such a feat in so short a time frame. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years, an event few thought they would ever get to see in their lifetime. And we got to see both in the same year.
Nationally, these teams are finally
getting the attention they deserve. Sports Illustrated covers have been inundated with images of Tom Brady, Tedy Bruschi, Curt Schilling - even Mark Bellhorn graced an issue. Sports pundits across the country are jumping onto the Patriots' bandwagon, and already are talking about four Super Bowls in five years.
It's not just the Pats and the Sox, though. The Celtics are finally coming to terms with Danny Ainge's master scheme, and young guns like Tony Allen and Al Jefferson have the potential to become true fixtures on a competitive Celts team. Even with a less than sterling 24-24 record, they're in first place on top of the pathetic Atlantic Conference and have a real chance at making more than just a symbolic run at the playoffs this year. Getting number 17 might seem improbable, but so was a Red Sox comeback. The way this year has gone for Boston teams, who knows what could happen?
They've become like children to the city, and to all of New England. The Red Sox are the venerable oldest child, loaded with talent, but before this year never able to reach their full potential.
The Celtics have to be the middle child, the team that defined dynasty and success, but were always overshadowed by the Sox, unable to truly gain the respect they deserve in this baseball city.
Then there are the Patriots, the youngest, learning from the mistakes of others, and now setting the bar far, far, far above the rest, accomplishing feats deemed impossible in this age of salary caps and free agency.
And finally you have the Bruins, who are, of course, the black sheep of the family - the child who drops out of school to go backpacking across Europe for a year.
And like children, we celebrate their successes and gloat of their accomplishments as if they were our own. "Oh, your son's a doctor? Ours are World Champions."
Boston fans and sportswriters should give extra thanks tonight, and tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, because this may never happen again. In fact, there's no conclusive evidence that this all hasn't been just a wonderful dream. Either way, enjoy it.
Eventually, fortune will turn her fickle gaze away from Boston. Soon, we could be the city with a hapless basketball team at the bottom of the standings, or a baseball team that blows an unconquerable 3-0 lead in the playoffs, or, God forbid, a football team with a coach you wouldn't trust to work a stopwatch.
But today, be merry, New England. Your Patriots are Super Bowl Champions. Your Red Sox are World Champions. Your Celtics are in first place. All is right with the world.
