Boston: The home of championsIf you live in the Greater Boston area and you are fan of any one of our professional sports teams, you realize that over the past 10 years or so, we've grown accustomed to winning.
It all started with the improbable 2001-02 Superbowl win of the Patriots, and then back to back Lombardi's just two years later. Then of course, we had the down 0-3 Red Sox who defeated their arch nemesis, the Yankees (or Skankees as I call them), only to sweep the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series. Sox did it again in 2007 by sweeping the Rockies. The next year, in 2008, the Celtics brought home the hardware by defeating their arch nemesis, the Lakers, in one of the most exciting finals in recent history (yes, I'm biased).
So if you're at home counting, that's six parades from 2001-2009 and this, my friends, is the reason why Bostonians have major confidence in their sports teams. This is why we are passionante about them winning and pissed off when they lose.
This mentality also makes us a target.
All of my friends, business associates and connections I've made via social networking know that I'm a die-hard Boston sports fan. As a result, it makes me a target, especially now that our sports teams are mostly playoff bound and seriously talked about in terms of being "contenders."
Due to the fact that the Bruins and the Celtics have just started their playoff runs, the trash talking has begun. One of the comments (from my fellow Shamable and Every Other Thursday contributor) is from NY/Detroit fan flip flopper my boy @dbinkowski. He Tweeted, "Expecting to win every time is delusional." And, @ewbh123 agreed, "@dbinkowski @bigguyd Yeah..I'm with you on that. Bostonians tend to exaggerate when they say ALL of their teams are contenders."
Really? Where in the fan rule book does it say we can't expect to win every year? I mean, six out of the past 10 years, we've had a parade. The teams each have owners who are businessmen that realize winning brings in more money. That's fine with me because every year they field teams that are competiitve and legitimately, can make serious runs at winning the championship. Is realistic to think we'll really win every year? Maybe not. But is it possible? Absolutely. Thus, our expectations.
So you Boston sports haters can continue to hate. I've realized that your hate is really just a form of jealousy and that's fine with me.
Bring on the trash talk. In the meantime, we'll keep planning parades.
We like being the target of trash talking. It validates our place as the best sports town in the country.