As I sit here and watch the Boston Bruins versus the Vancouver Canucks in game #7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs, I cannot help but to notice the overall play of Boston pro sports teams (Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox, and Bruins).
Let's get it straight. I am not from New England. I never grew up a Boston sports fan. My main teams (Capitals, Redskins...if you have guessed the area the other two teams I have a heart for. I'll put it that way) often struggle or come up short.
These Boston teams come to play. They are prepared. They are amped up! Am I frontrunning? Not at all. Just look at the results. Patriots prepare like champions and then prove it. The Celtics play hard like it's the last game in the playoffs. The Red Sox come from behind to win or almost win. The Bruins are currently showing us what it's like to overcome adversity (remember they lost four...four...straight games to the Flyers in 2010 after being up in the series 3-0 and leading that game #7 3-0).
So, why can't my main teams or other teams do this collectively? If I were a Bostonian, I would say in a rough and raspy Boston tone "because we're the best". However, my proud non-New Englander self says that "all four major pro sports teams have found there niche and act on it." When it is time to play, it is time to play and go all out. Growing up in the DC area I was pampered with a great NFL football franchise, a budding Orioles team, a consistent yet no cigar Capitals team, and, well, a struggling Bullets team. Now, that I am in the Boston area it is different to experience four pro sports teams that are winning (no pun intended).
Is it possible for other teams to follow suit? Yes. By all means! Why haven't New York, Washington, Chicago, or Minnesota tapped all of their pro sports teams into winning simultaneously? I do not know. But, I can tell you that Boston's success is not luck. It certainly better not follow up with arrogance. There is a consistency that flows through all four teams.
Congratulations to the diehard fans. No other city has ever had all four of their pro sports teams (NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB) win at least one title per team in less than a decade.
To Vancouver: you are a classy city...looking forward to visiting Western Canada one day!
Season is complete,
Derek Arledge, CSCS
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