When I used to drive to Fenway Park to see Boston Red Sox games, it was easy to walk up for a Yankee game and get tickets in the bleachers.  Not anymore.

The Red Sox were a cause of anxiety in those days.  First there was Bob Gibson.  Then there was Bucky Dent.  Then there was 1986 and the Mets and you know the rest of the story.  While it was a joy that the Red Sox finally got the monkey off their back, it certainly would have been nice for my 85 year old grandmother if Bucky Dent hadn’t hit that home run and the Red Sox won the World Series that year.  She died the next year.  50 years of listening to the Sox on the radio without a World Series.  She was one of many who  didn’t have a chance to celebrate a victory.  Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, but finally it was Papi and a “Bunch of Idiots” who made it happen.

And then there was Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito.  Then 40 years, and boom, the Bruins finally win the Stanley Cup.  Not bad for a city that is enamored with hockey, and like the other original Six in the NHL, a traditional hockey venue.  The kids play on ice in the parks and at indoor rinks.  Bostonians  put on hockey skates when they are 5 and don’t take them off until they are past college.  Even the elite schools – Harvard, Boston College, Northwestern University, Boston University, are deep into hockey.  Hockey is in the blood of all social classes in the city.

And what about the Celtics?  First, the Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, and Bill Havlichek years.  Then it was Bird, McHale and Parrish.  And, within the last decade, we had Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.  Winners all.  And the times in between?  Lot’s of time for complaining and of arguing, but all made right for that one day after the NBA Championship is won.  Then, the next day we’re back to complaining again.

Which brings us to the New England Patriots.  They were pretty poor until Bob Kraft took over ownership and hired some people who built a plan and are now considered to be one of the elite franchises in world sports.  Bill Belicheck is good, but not that good. Especially in the past few years.  Tom Brady is the Patriots version of Ted Williams, except he’s a decent person and he’s won championships. 

And who are the iconic athletes of Boston?  Ted Williams, Bobby Orr, Bill Russell, and Larry Bird are the current icons, but don’t be surprised if Big Papi and Tom Brady are people who will be remembered many years in Boston after they stop playing