LITTLE ROCK — With a snap of the finger and the blink of an eye, Boston has become the epicenter of the national sports landscape.
The Boston Red Sox are in the World Series for the second time in four seasons. The New England Patriots, winners of three Super Bowls, might be headed for a fourth.
The Boston Celtics made themselves instant championship contenders with theaddition of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. And second-ranked Boston College has a realistic chance at playing in the Bowl Championship Series title game.
Factor in New York, which is mired in sports retrograde, and this is heaven in New England. It's enough to make a mayor burst with pride.
"It's great to be the city of champions and have so many good sports teams," Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston said. "The spirit of the city, people feel good about the city.
"They have a different outlookabout the way they go about their daily chores, especially when the Red Sox do well; the Red Sox are really the team of the city. When the Red Sox are winning, everybody feels good. When the Red Sox are not doing well, the city doesn't feel that good. Now you have the Patriots, who seem invincible."
You can trace a thick slice of Boston sports through Menino's life. The year he was born, 1942, the Red Sox finished in second place, nine games behind, you guessed it, the Yankees. The Red Sox finished first in 1946, but Menino did not see them finish first again until 1967, when he was 25. Both times, the Red Sox lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
He attended his first Red Sox game in the early 1950s. He remembers that it was a game against the Chicago White Sox because his father caught a foul ball that was hit by Minnie Minoso.He attended Celtics games when he was in his early 20s and remembered watching the Boston Patriots play in Fenway Park in the 1960s. He attended Bruins home games on Sunday nights while he was dating the woman he would marry.
Menino was 4 when the Boston Celtics were formed as a member of the Basketball Association of America; hewas 7 when the BAA merged with the National Basketball League and formed the National Basketball Association. He was 15 when the Celtics won their first NBA championship in 1957.
Then came the World Series championship in 2004 that Menino thought he might not live to see. He was 62 and realized a dream; when the Patriots won the Super Bowl the same year, he declared Boston sports heaven. At the time, he said, "2004 was a great year for Boston!
"The Patriots won the Super Bowl. Boston hosted its first national political convention. And the Red Sox won the World Series!"
I asked him if he planned to attend the World Series. He was incredulous. "Am I going to World Series?" he said. "That's like asking me if I'm going to church next Sunday."
Boston's latest convergence of success, with the Red Sox, the Patriots, the Celtics and Boston College beinggood all at once, and considered in position to challenge for championships, has given the city added vibrancy.
In New York, the football Giants are coming along, but the Jets are drowning on dry land. The Mets and the Yankees are in emotional ruins. The Knicks, for the time being, are adisaster area, with cleanup crews sifting through the wreckage.
Menino said he didn't feel a particular sense of glee because of New York's troubles "because I always had the assumption that Boston was No. 1 and the problem is, New York was always trying to catch up.
"So I have no issues there," he said.
Meanwhile, Boston is off to the races: the Celtics crushed the Knicks by 40 points Wednesday, and the hapless Jets visit Gillette Stadium on Dec. 16.
Last month, the Patriots were caught illegally taping defensive signals against the Jets. The Patriots were fined and have been on a rampage ever since. Menino doesn't think payback will be a factor in their game in December. "It's not a revenge game," he said. "We take them one game at a time until we get to the Super Bowl."
That's what Menino says.
But revenge, directed at New York, is ever on the Boston radar. When I spoke to the Menino's press secretary, we talked about how well the Boston teams were doing. She eagerly interjected, "And wait till we play the Jets!"
What a fabulous time to be a sports fan in New England; just not great shakes to be a fan in New York.
Sports, Pages 24 on 10/24/2007