“Cue the duck boats!” many Boston fans frantically screamed as the Patriots won the 2015 Super Bowl XLIX. Here in Boston, this means that we are getting ready for yet another championship parade through the city. Lucky for us, we get to do this quite often.
Over the past 14 years Boston has won 8 championships with every major professional sports team winning at least once. Being born in the 90’s I hardly remember a time when Boston sports were not a dynasty. Just about every couple of years there was a parade to attend and new championship gear to buy.
On the other hand, my parents’ generation was not as lucky between 1960-2000. While they were witnesses of the greatest Celtics era, where 16 NBA titles were claimed between 1956-1986, and also saw the Bruins win the Stanley Cup twice, Boston was in no way as dominant as we have been recently.
Our generation has seen some of the best sports moments in Boston’s history. I will always remember when Tom Brady was chosen over Drew Bledsoe to play in the 2001 season Super Bowl (which upset me greatly at the time because I owned a Bledsoe jersey. Who knew that this Brady kid would turn out to be pretty good?) The Patriots won their first Super Bowl ever that season, which would shortly be followed by two more Super Bowl wins in the 2003 season and 2004 season.
Red Sox Nation painfully remembers how in the 2003 season we lost to the New York Yankees in the seventh game of the ALCS because Grady Little left Pedro in pitching. After that the 2004 Red Sox team was determined to seek revenge when they faced the Yankees again in the ALCS championship that year. The Red Sox winning that series after being down 3-0 is one of the best comebacks of all time. To make it even sweeter, the Sox were able to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 and break the Curse of the Bambino. The Red Sox pulled out another World Series championship in both 2007 and 2013.
In 2007 the era of the big three began for the Boston Celtics, which included the trio Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. They were able to lead the Celtics to victory in 2008 against the LA Lakers. That would be the Celtics 17th NBA title and first since 1986.
After years of the Boston Bruins being overshadowed, the team was rejuvenated with new coach Claude Julien in 2007 and a new generation of players, including Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic, and David Krejci. In 2011, the Bruins were able to win their first Stanley Cup Final in almost 30 years.
Even when we didn’t win the title Boston was still a force to be reckoned with. Who could forget when the 2007 Patriots went 18-0 and achieved a perfect regular season record? While they tragically lost in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants, the Brady to Moss toss is still legendary.
The Celtics also sadly fell to the Lakers in a close NBA Championship in 2010 losing the series 4-3. Same with the Bruins in 2013 losing the Stanley Cup to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.
The only thing that is as great as our sports teams are the fans. While Boston has seen great sports moments, we are no strangers to heartbreak. Yes when they screw up we scream at our TVs and get “wicked pissed”, but fans ultimately stand by our teams through thick and thin. What other city has a team like the Red Sox going from worst to first and back to worst again and still cheers them on regardless? We stand as a community and keep faith alive. Maybe we can be cocky, but other cities would be too if they were as great as us.
Hopefully for future generations Boston will still be the city of champions, but my generation knows for sure we will be telling our grandkids stories of Ortiz hitting home runs like it’s nothing, or Brady being the greatest of all time. Yes, there is no doubt we will have more than enough stories to tell.