E-Mail This Article to a Friend New England’s sports landscape is at a turning point BY CHRISTOPHER YOUNG

We have reached a point with our regional sports teams where circumstances have perhaps irreversibly been altered for the best — and worst. One would be hard-pressed to name any era in the area’s sports history when all its teams were at critical stages in their existence, and when the upcoming months and years would be so crucial to their future development and progress.

While most of the teams stand at a crossroads that bodes well for their evolution, that does not necessarily translate to what’s best for the paying customers who conceivably would be interested in coming along for the ride.

Let’s take a look at this crucial juncture and how it applies to the area’s teams.

• Red Sox. Even prior to their World Series title last fall, the Red Sox were reaching dizzying heights in popularity. In the last years of the Yawkey Trust regime and now with the onset of the Henry-Lucchino-Werner ownership, the organization seemed committed to practically a Yankee-esque way of doing business. Despite the small market that is Boston proper (which precludes gargantuan radio and TV deals) and the limitations imposed by baseball’s smallest ballpark, the local franchise has chosen to spend seemingly unending wads of cash to (supposedly) provide a solid contender each season. The 2004 championship was just a culmination of that effort, but even before that happened, the team was explosively popular — as evidenced by the amazing string of sell-outs at Fenway Park despite the highest ticket prices in the game. Even without the World Series trophy, the Red Sox would have undoubtedly sold out every game again this season (with the obligatory rise in ticket prices), and even their spring-training home in Fort Myers has "benefited" from the team’s aura by selling out every exhibition contest (despite $4.75 bottles of water and ticket prices nearly double those of any other MLB team). What does that mean? It means that the Henry group can better pay off its staggering debt, but it also means that the common person is rapidly getting shut out of opportunities to see his/her favorite baseball team in action. Just try to get a decent seat at Fenway for the upcoming season: you’ll see that a great many games are already sold out, with only the dismal right-field grandstand seats remaining for those that are not (at $27 per). Sure, the team continues to add seating in every nook and cranny, but it can’t keep up with demand, and season-ticket holders continue to lock up the best seats in this cozy venue. Be thankful for NESN.

• Patriots. Since the Tuna was hired by the team in 1993, the franchise has sold out every home game. Sure, a few select seats go on sale prior to each season, but there aren’t many of those. You can get on the season-ticket waiting list for the three-time champs, but the line was 50,000 folks long before the Pats’ most recent Super Bowl triumph, and the only hope folks had of moving up was when existing patrons gave up their seats (as if) or died — because transferring the seats was verboten. Now the team has changed its policy, and fans can kick the bucket in peace without worrying about their survivors having to (gasp!) watch the games at home or at some local gin joint. Now, for the bargain-basement price of (reportedly) $2000 to $5000 per ticket, the seats can be passed down to an immediate family member. How fast will that 50,000-name list move now — especially with little expectation that the team will go in the tank anytime soon? The days of spontaneously dropping everything and heading to a Sox or Pats game are long in the past. The price of success is steep, but it’s proving even more costly to fans who just once would like to see their team play — in person.

• Bruins. Shut out of Fenway or Gillette? Try the soon-to-be-renamed TD Banknorth Garden, where — assuming (and it’s a great leap of faith) the NHL returns to play this fall — the Bruins organization will be doing everything short of picking you up at your doorstep in hopes of bringing fans back to watch pro hockey in Boston. B’s games were already overpriced and under-attended even before the labor dispute that wiped out the 2004-’05 season; now interest in the Bruins and the game of hockey itself has fallen to new lows, and the league’s future is very much in doubt. More than any other team on this list, the Bruins franchise faces a very uncertain future, and that’s a shame, for no sport’s "guys" are more personable and down-to-earth. That was, until the players’ union showed itself to be greedy and unable to face the irrefutable fact that hockey cannot be sustained in the same way that the other sports can. Now the Bruins are without a league and a personality, and the appeal of a game at the FleetCenter is pretty minimal indeed.

• Celtics. Too soon to say whether the C’s are heading in the right direction, but their situation is still light-years better than that of their arena co-tenants, and certainly more promising than that of the Rick Pitino–era Green teams. Does hoops-meister Danny Ainge have a legitimate plan, or will the team remain mired in above-average mediocrity? Hard to say, but lately the Celtics have regained their spark in the eyes of the fandom, and excitement has returned to levels not seen since the 2002 team went to the Eastern Conference Finals. The team need not be overly concerned about either the upcoming playoffs or draft, because Doc Rivers’s squad is built for the future, and shouldn’t be too hampered by bloated salary-cap issues this off-season. Along with a couple of rejuvenated veterans, the Celtics are loaded with up-and-comers, and that bodes well for the future of the organization.

• Boston College. As the area’s only marquee multi-sport Division I entity, the Eagles will suffer a little bit by losing their regional rivals from the Big East Conference, but not too much. By joining the ACC, BC will again see the hated University of Miami return to the Heights to play some high-stakes football, but the greatest improvement for the athletics department will be in basketball. The Eagles will no longer have to contend with fan-indifferent foes like Rutgers, Villanova, and Providence, but will instead welcome to Conte Forum the likes of ACC powerhouses Duke, UNC, NC State, Maryland, and Wake Forest. Those top-level opponents should stir some interest in college hoops again — if not with the BC-student contingent itself, then certainly with the greater sports population in the area. At least one hopes that is the case. BC could become a dominant presence in football right away in the ACC, but its climb in hoops could take a bit longer. Nevertheless, interest should perk up again across the board, if only because elite competition will be coming to town on a regular basis, and that should be a boon for this already sports-crazy town.

• NE Revolution. Yes, even the local pro soccer franchise is facing a turning point, since the MLS has now increased by two teams — which on paper should fan supporters’ interest in the league — but also because the Revs have rolled back ticket prices to 1996 expansion-year prices. That should make games at least more affordable, if not appealing, to non-fans of the game. Still, one has to wonder when all those soccer moms’ kids — whose vast numbers we keep hearing about — will finally get old enough to stake their interest in this solidly underachieving spectator sport.

For better or worse, the times they are a-changin’ around New England, and the luckiest fans in the wide, wide world of sports are looking forward with more than a hint of glee to what in tarnation these locals will serve up next.

"Sporting Eye" runs Mondays and Fridays at BostonPhoenix.com. Christopher Young can be reached at cyoung[a]phx.com