Ice Hockey was the spot I played growing up. I wasn't ever great, but I was good enough. And really I have never had a super competitive attitude so sports were always just fun for me. As I have gotten older it is much easier, and sometime less painful (at least physically), to watch sports than it is to actually participate. Obviously curling is an exception here, but you can't really watch curling on TV in the US. I watched the "fist" super bowl in '97 at a college rush party. I still hadn't really caught onto football yet. It seemed sort of exciting. But I really didn't understand the game. It didn't really matter anyway we lost, and I was still getting used to this whole college thing.
I was really introduced to football during the 2001 superbowl championship season. I didn't watch much of the reular season, but I watched all of the championship games and began to understand the excitement of football. Of course it helped that the Pats won and exhilarating game an played in such crazy weather.
I remember the first time I attended other Boston sporting events. I remember my first Baseball Game at Fenway and my first Hockey Game at the old Garden (a birthday present from my parents). I even remember my first Celtics game which occurred much later in life (I was in my mid 20s). My dad and I went with company tickets. Even tough neither of us understood basketball it was really a blast. The one thing I remember, and maybe this is just because of my lack of interest in sports when I was younger, is that we never seemed to get too down on ourselves for not winning. And we never gave up on our teams. I will admit, however, that over the past few years it has been much easier to be a Boston sports fan.
The one sporting event in Boston I have yet to attend is a Patriots game. When I was in scouts we used to head to the stadium for the tailgate parties (it isn't what you think). We would roam around and collect cans an bottles form all of the parties and recycle them. In MA you get $0.05 a can so this was generally a pretty good fund raising opportunity. Of course I was a young'n so this was at the old Foxboro/Sullivan stadium. Mary and I did get a chance to watch a game in the new stadium, we actually attended the MLS Cup championship game in Gillette Stadium in October 2002, right before we moved to PA.
So why all of this silly background info? Well I came across this video today and it made me chuckle. I felt the need to share it with friends.
Of course it digs at the Bruins, which I do feel bad about. But it is just too true for a Boston fan not to at least find the humor here. Especially since hockey was my sport and the Bruins were my team. If you were to tell me when I was in High School (the early 90's). That the Patriots and the Red Sox would be dominate teams and each would have won (even one) a championship before the Bruins would win a Stanley Cup I would have sneered at you and laughed you out of the state.
I'm not shamed to admit it. I am greedy and I think what Boston needs is 2 more championship teams. I am rooting for the Celtics this winter (as much as I can since Basketball is very enigmatic to me). But really what we need for the Bruins to don their bloody soxs (get it :-) )and pull out some victories. I will accept nothing less than the Stanley Cup.
