| Being A Boston Sports Fanby: Jason OConnor | | | | brought the championship home to Bostonians. The |
| Being a Boston sports fan sometimes reminds me of | | | | 2002 NFL playoffs were absolutely awesome to |
| battered-wife syndrome. You get beaten down, but | | | | watch if you were a Boston sports fan. Watching |
| you keep coming back. You're given just enough to | | | | Vinatieri blast it though the uprights in a blizzard to |
| make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, just enough to | | | | beat the Oakland Raiders, and again to win the Super |
| ensure your devotion, but then you're inevitably and | | | | Bowl beating the St. Louis Rams was monumental. |
| sorely disappointed. I don't know why a woman | | | | Thank God for the Pats. They brought respect back |
| would ever go back to a coward who hits her, and I | | | | to Boston. They showed what true grit is, what the |
| often don't know why I remain a Boston sports fan. | | | | word "team" actually means, in a day when |
| The Pats, Celts, Sox and Bruins make you want to | | | | everything in sports seems to be centered on |
| like them, but it's sometimes painful to remain a | | | | individual feats. I loved it when they ran out on the |
| devoted fan throughout all their turmoil. | | | | field together as a team instead of being introduced |
| I grew up in a hockey family and my dad was | | | | one at a time at the beginning of the Super Bowl. |
| particularly faithful to the Bruins. From a very early | | | | Pathetically enough, most people thought the Pats |
| age I can remember him watching Bobby Orr and | | | | would not win it all again. They thought it was a fluke. |
| Esposito skate circles around other teams. By the | | | | The Pats had lost for so long that few had faith in |
| time I was old enough to actually understand what | | | | them. But they won it again two years later and |
| was going on, the Bruins were comprised of some | | | | people started to pay attention. The word "dynasty" |
| more awesome players like Middleton, O'Reilly, | | | | crept up in New England vernacular. When the Pats |
| Pederson, and Milbury. I used to love to watch | | | | won their third Super Bowl in four years, they were |
| Boston play Montreal with my father, but it seemed | | | | finally accepted as a dynasty. These wins will carry |
| like Boston lost a lot more than won. | | | | me for many years. Again, thank God for the Pats. |
| It was great to see Terry O'Reilly beat the heck out | | | | But no good article about being a Boston sports fan |
| of other players, and it was cool to watch all these | | | | can be complete without discussing the Boston Red |
| veterans a few years later skate around without | | | | Sox. What can be said about the Sox? They were |
| helmets while the rest of the players had to wear | | | | the epitome of frustration. They were the Bad News |
| them. I guess it was some sort of grandfather clause | | | | Bears for so long. Of all the Boston teams, they |
| or something. They just looked tough. When Cam | | | | were the most painful to watch. They often had the |
| Neely and Ray Bourque started playing I enjoyed the | | | | talent, they often played well, but they didn't win a |
| Bruins just as much. But after Orr and Esposito were | | | | World Series for 86 years! Between the ball rolling |
| gone, none of these more recent players won the | | | | between the knees of Bill Buckner, and Grady |
| Boston Bruins a Stanley Cup, quite frustrating. | | | | keeping Pedro in against the Yankees during the 2003 |
| But not to fear, The Celtics around this time were | | | | playoffs, every Sox fan was pushed to the limit of |
| hot. Like the Bruins/Canadians, the Celtics/Lakers | | | | what they could endure. Of course there were many |
| rivalry was a blast to experience, especially when the | | | | other less notable, but just as frustrating moments in |
| Celts won. And they did. I remember probably one of | | | | Red Sox history. Any Red Sox fan who remained a |
| the greatest NBA teams ever to exist, Bird, McHale, | | | | fan throughout should be given a gift. |
| Parish, DJ and Ainge. They weren't the prettiest | | | | And what a sweet gift it was when the Sox won |
| bunch of guys around, Bird being particularly funky | | | | the 2004 World Series. Being down 3-0 in the ALCS |
| looking, but they were so fun to watch. It was | | | | against the Yankees, and then coming back to beat |
| wonderful to see them beat the L.A. Lakers in the | | | | them and sweep the Cardinals in the World Series |
| 1983-84 championship and the Houston Rockets in | | | | was one of the greatest professional sports stories |
| 1985-86 championship. | | | | in history. In fact, it's been called one of the greatest |
| Unfortunately the last few Celtics' seasons lately | | | | comebacks ever. |
| have been dismal. They don't even make it to the | | | | All those long years of no championships in Boston |
| playoffs regularly any more. How many more "building | | | | finally came to end with the Pats winning in 2002. But |
| years" do we need? Watching Pierce take off his | | | | after 86 years of no World Series rings, the Red Sox |
| shirt and wave it around his head while being ejected | | | | win was the sweetest of all. 2004 was one of the |
| from one of the playoff games against the Pacers | | | | greatest years in Boston sports ever. A World Series |
| this year was sad. | | | | and Super Bowl win by Boston teams in the same |
| But 1986 was the end of Boston championship teams | | | | year, almost unbelievable. |
| for a long while. In fact, it was sixteen years until the | | | | So I guess being a Boston sports fan is not so much |
| Patriots finally won Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002. That's | | | | like battered-wife syndrome. It's more like being in a |
| a long wait. That's a lifetime for crying out loud. | | | | difficult marriage that has lots of ups and downs only, |
| The New England Patriots were another difficult team | | | | but is worth working at to keep. Being a Boston |
| to watch and remain devoted to. Grogan was a | | | | sports fan is as frustrating as it is rewarding. |
| decent quarterback and many would argue Drew | | | | Patience, loyalty, persistence, and faith will get you |
| Bledsoe was even better, but they never brought a | | | | through. And in the end, it all works out. Just keep |
| championship home. Watching Drew throw numerous | | | | the faith. |
| interceptions and trudge off the grid iron with | | | | Copyright: 2005 |
| hunched shoulders was disturbing. I like to think of | | | | TERMS OF REPRINT |
| Bledsoe as an 'almost' kind of player. He was almost | | | | You have permission to publish this article |
| awesome, was almost a championship quarterback. | | | | electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the |
| He almost won the game. Bledsoe actually drove me | | | | bylines are included and you follow these rules: |
| crazy. He was New England's franchise player, but he | | | | * Email distribution of this article MUST be opt-in email |
| just didn't seem to ever do quite enough to win. It | | | | only. |
| was so frustrating to watch him play. All big and | | | | * If you post this article on a website, you must set |
| gawky, shuffling out of the pocket like my nana. | | | | any URL's in the body of the article and most |
| But the tide turned. Third string quarterback Tom | | | | especially in the Author's Resource Box as hyperlinks. |
| Brady took the place of an injured Bledsoe, and | | | | Please send us the URL. |