Growing up a Boston sports fan, I’ve been spoiled rotten.
As if I don’t hear it from my dad and my grandfather enough, the last 25 years in Boston have been the most dominant run a city has seen for its four major sports teams. Six Super Bowls in nine appearances, four World Series championships in four appearances, two Larry O’Briens in three appearances, and one Stanley Cup in three appearances.
The list of players who have represented Boston during this period, no matter the colors on their uniform, would make any fan jealous. The New England Patriots had Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, and Head Coach Bill Belichick. The Celtics brought with them “The Big Three” of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett, followed by the new core of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Their TD Garden roommates, the Bruins, rostered Zdeno Chára, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and Tim Thomas. Finally, in Fenway Park, the Red Sox have had David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Mookie Betts, and Pedro Martinez.
I could go on and on about the numerous memorable moments, from the Red Sox reversing the Curse of the Bambino in 2004 to the Patriots’ 28-3 comeback in Super Bowl LI, but we would be here all day. The sports history made before and during my lifetime has been both a blessing and a curse.
Every fan of every age loves to see their teams win. All of this success has strengthened my bond with my father and grandfather, especially now that they have someone to keep them in the loop about what’s going on every day on teams’ social media. Throughout all the wins and the handful of losses, we’ve been able to share so many special moments that I can cherish for the rest of my life, and I hope to share similar moments with my children and grandchildren.
The success also ultimately led me to become a journalist. Every Sunday morning during football season, I would hear my dad yell at the TV during the Patriots game from my bedroom, and one day I decided to join him. My love for sports blossomed from there, and I knew I wanted to take my knowledge and turn it into a career as a sports journalist. If I hadn’t done that, I might not have joined my high school paper, nor would I be at Emerson.
As I’ve grown older and seen the dominant and consistent eras of the Patriots and Bruins fall, I’ve taken to heart how fortunate I truly was as a young fan. Looking back, the stretch from February 2018 to May 2019 was surreal. The Patriots won one Super Bowl in two appearances, the Red Sox broke the franchise record for wins in a season after going 108-54 and capped it off with a World Series, the Bruins made it to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and the young superstar-less Celtics took LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Some fans dream of having all four of those things happen within a decade, let alone within a year.
While it’s great to have such a standard for winning across all the teams in a city, when the good times stop rolling and you run into poor performances, many fans turn against a team. Ever since Brady left the Patriots, the team’s record steadily decreased until they hit rock bottom. Fans suddenly turned against Belichick and demanded a new coaching staff, and now there is a growing distrust in Team Owner Robert Kraft for the lack of blockbuster moves to push the team back to relevance.
I understand that it’s hard to watch bad teams play. I’ve found myself watching fewer Patriots games, frustrated with the product on the field. However, despite all of these struggles, I still find that truly passionate fan within during the offseason, looking at every move and mock draft to see how the team can improve. No matter how bad any of my favorite teams get, I will still root for them because I was there in the good times, and therefore, as a true fan, I will be there in the bad times.
It will be interesting to look back again later in my life, comparing the current era of Boston sports to the glory I grew up with. I still feel unable to answer one question: How will I be able to compare the greatness of a team from one era to those that I grew up in? Will I become a victim to my nostalgia or can I learn to see how both are great in their own respects?
