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Someday we’ll talk about the days when the Empire (State) struck back. But right now, the Jedi Knights are wearing New England uniforms, and the star war is completely one-sided. What is going on sports-wise here in Greater Boston has rightfully been labeled patently ridiculous. And, as if local fans needed even more to boast about, down the pike come additional athletic achievements. In the not-too-distant past, the region’s followers were accustomed to telling tales of woe; with the events of recent years, the area has become deluged with tales of wow. Super Bowl victory. Another one. NCAA men’s hoops title. NCAA women’s hoops title. (Okay, in this context, Storrs, Connecticut, counts as Greater Boston.) World Series title. A third Super Bowl. All within three years. Without exhaustively researching it, it’s unlikely there’s ever been a sports run like this within the confines of one small geographical area. This ain’t New York, after all, or the expansive reaches of LA. It’s not even Miami, Chicago, San Fran, or even Baltimore/DC. It’s all within an hour or so of Boston, and the rich are getting richer, if that is at all possible. Now the Celtics, whom I impugned just a month ago for their mediocre record (yet first-place standing), are now becoming appointment TV (or even worthy of an in-person visit). With the addition of Antoine Walker and the reacquisition of Gary Payton, the Green reeled off four straight wins (before dropping a last-second contest to Minnesota — a Western Conference finalist last season — on Sunday). The Boston College men’s basketball team has won the Big East title — topping a conference that includes the last two defending NCAA champions (UConn, Syracuse). Barring a collapse in the conference tournament this weekend, the Eagles will likely secure no worse than a number-two seed when the tourney pairings are announced Sunday. Then you have the Northeastern Huskies — who? — yep, even those Boston-based mongrels are but one win away from going to the 64-team national field out of the America East conference. And don’t forget Holy Cross, whose Worcester-based Crusaders could very well be the third Eastern Massachusetts school to get an NCAA tourney bid. Phew. That seems pretty impressive — but wait, there’s more. BC is also fifth nationally in the college-hockey rankings, and has to be regarded as an odds-on favorite to return to the Frozen Four later this month. But in the 10th spot, there’s Boston University — and at 11, Harvard — and at 13, UMass Lowell. These aren’t New England rankings, these are national rankings, and four of the top 13 are based within a half-hour of the Hancock Tower. As I said at the outset, this kind of success blanketing one region at one time is preposterous. After all, think about New York City and its surrounding area. Last baseball title? The year 2000. Football? Trudge back to 1991. Basketball? Go back to 1973. And don’t forget, the NYC area has two teams competing in each of those pro leagues. Here’s another mind-boggling statistic: the Patriots have won as many Super Bowls in the last four years as the Giants and Jets have won combined over the 39 seasons the Big Game has been played. The New York/New Jersey area has done pretty well in pro hockey — four Stanley Cups since 1994 — but again, that metropolitan region fields three times as many hockey teams as any other NHL city. And collegiately? Don’t make me laugh. The last college football team based in and around the Big Apple to garner significant attention was the 1946 Army team, and that’s more than a few miles up the Hudson River. Basketball? Well, you’ve got your St. John’s, Seton Hall, and Rutgers teams out of the Big East, but none has been a factor recently, and the last time one of those two teams even won the Big East was when the Pirates took their second straight conference title, back in 1993. St. John’s hasn’t won the Big East since 1986, and Rutgers, well, don’t ask. None of those teams will even qualify for the NIT this season, and not even the likes Manhattan College or Princeton will be able to prevent the City That Never Sleeps from getting shut out on invites to the Big Dance. The closest that New York can come to talking about collegiate-hoops greatness is when it alludes to the Orangemen of Syracuse University, but those upstaters — five hours on the Thruway from Manhattan — are loath to associate themselves even remotely with New York City. It’s safe to say that nobody expects the Celtics, the BC Eagles, or even the Huskies of Northeastern to make any kind of real splash in their upcoming post-seasons, but damn it, they’ve all suddenly become significantly competitive. For their part, the C’s have become quite entertaining of late, and while 31-29 is nothing to squawk about, it sure beats the to-this-point records turned in by the Nets (26-34) and the Knicks (25-34). With just 20-some games left in the regular season, both of the Big Apple’s local teams will likely be on the outside looking in when the playoffs start. The Celtics will almost certainly be in the thick of things should their current style of play continue, and while nobody’s putting in rush orders for a championship banner to be sewn together, Doc Rivers’s lads sure have a helluva better shot at their 17th NBA title than the Nets/Knicks dual entity will have at only its third. Now, we would be foolish to continue with these piling-on antics when the Red Sox are still light-years away from the Yankees as far as MLB titles go. But the present discussion encompasses the here and now, and it says here that the Yankees are nearly five years removed from a title, and the Mets are almost 19, while the Sox currently wear the crown — even though it’s only the fifth in franchise history. What is plain to see, though, is that what we have here is a lopsided wealth of riches. In New York, the greatest city in the world, sports fans have little to be optimistic about unless you’re talking about the Pinstripers and their annual holy war against the forces of evil and financial propriety, or the revamped Mets and their impending return to respectability. Other than those distant prospects, there is nothing in the here and now to whet New Yorkers’ appetites in the sporting world. Meanwhile, while Boston — little, tiny, parochial Boston — currently boasts some of the most sought-after personnel, aura, and glittering trophies ever assembled within one modest tract of land. And the prospects for more headlines and accolades are even brighter in the coming months, as the local collegiate representatives, along with the Practitioners of the Parquet, continue their respective marches to post-season glory. Things won’t always be this way, New Englanders, so by all means, consider this last call for lording it over your New York neighbors. After all, it can’t possibly get any better than it is right now. Can it? "Sporting Eye" runs Mondays and Fridays at BostonPhoenix.com. Christopher Young can be reached at cyoung[a]phx.com |
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Issue Date: March 7, 2005 "Sporting Eye" archives: 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |2002 For more News & Features, click here |
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