E-Mail This Article to a Friend More New England championships appear imminent BY CHRISTOPHER YOUNG

It’s been a wild ride for New England sports fans the past few months and years. Having the defending NFL and MLB champions at the same time — the first time since the Steel City boasted both titlists in 1979 — has provided a significant boost to our civic and regional pride. But soon that may all be over.

The Red Sox, while in first place in the AL East, are certainly no lock to repeat. And the Patriots’ bid to capture their third straight Super Bowl will be launched against the backdrop of some of the biggest personnel upheavals in team history.

So enjoy these last few months while you can, because it’s possible that the World Series and Lombardi trophies will be handed over to some other deserving city in the not-too-distant future.

But even if the Patriots and/or Red Sox cannot work their magic again, there are plenty of other aspiring candidates who could keep the trophy case brimming and the scent of Champagne lingering in our collective sports clubhouse.

Oh, they probably don’t carry the marquee value of the Sox and Pats (and we certainly don’t want to discount the championship hopes that the TD Banknorth Garden co-tenants — the Bruins and Celtics — harbor as they go banner-chasing this winter), but these lesser-known franchises could provide the-rich-get-richer supplements to the region’s standing and solidify the Boston area’s hold on the Sporting News’s "Best Sports City" ranking.

First, you’ve got the New England Revolution, whose 10-4-6 record is good enough for first place in Major League Soccer. In the past, the Revs got off to a slow start and then inexplicably rallied from the depths late in the season to qualify for a playoff berth; this season the kicksters didn’t lose until their 12th match, and while they’re a mediocre 3-4-2 in their last nine outings, they’re still among MLS’s elite teams.

But that’s just for starters. Perhaps you’re unaware that there’s a pro lacrosse league (Major League Lacrosse). Perhaps you’re unaware that Boston has a team in said league (the Cannons). Perhaps you’re also unaware that those Boston Cannons — the MLL runner-up last year — are a sterling 9-2 this season, and lead their division by five full games. Only Baltimore at 10-1 sports a better mark, but it’s worth noting that the Bayhawks’ lone loss (an emphatic 25-13 defeat at home) was to those pesky Cannons two weeks ago. Granted, there are only six teams in the whole league, but a title is a title, and it appears the Cannons have a good shot at their first.

But there’s even more to brag about around here. In the WNBA, the women’s pro hoops league, last year’s league runner-up and sole New England entity is the Connecticut Sun, who in their third year of existence in the Nutmeg State are off to an impressive 20-6 record — the best in the league. Bolstered by a couple of UConn products (Asjha Jones and six-time all-star Nykesha Sales), the Sun — named after their home-court host, the Mohegan Sun Casino — have a solid five-game lead in the Eastern Conference.

And we’re just gettin’ warmed up.

• The Pawtucket (RI) Red Sox, Boston’s Triple-A hardball squad, are only 58-58 in the International League, but the Portland (ME) Sea Dogs (59-53) lead the Double-A Eastern League’s North Division by two games. While Pawtucket provides the parent club with the bulk of its reinforcements, Portland routinely showcases four of the organization’s best prospects: shortstop Hanley Ramirez, left-hander Jon Lester, righty Anibal Sanchez, and outfielder David Murphy.

• The Lowell (MA) Spinners are tied for first in the Single-A NY-Penn League’s Stedler Division; not too many recognizable names on their current roster, but up-and-comers Ramirez, Murphy, Kevin Youkilis, Abe Alvarez, and Jon Papelbon all got their starts here.

• The Nashua (NH) Pride (15-8, and coached by former Red Sox skipper Butch Hobson) have already clinched the independent Atlantic League’s first-half divisional crown.

• And the Brockton ROX (16-5) sit atop the Can-Am League’s (the independent Canadian-American Pro League) Northern Division. The ROX have been drawing nearly 4000 fans per game, and the team’s success thus far has been aided by a most improbable component: 45-year-old Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, who is 3-3 with a 3.76 ERA as a starter.

The trophies will likely be half as big, the parades will number in the hundreds, not millions, and the news of the championships themselves will likely be buried in the agate type of the dailies’ sports sections, but who cares? Two of New England’s teams currently sit atop the sports world, and many more are waiting in the wings for their own chance to add to the region’s spate of glory days.

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