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Woe is them Boston's bounty is sometimes lost on its fan basePosted: Monday May 27, 2002 2:26 PM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Phil Taylor touches on a Hot Button issue each Monday on CNNSI.com. After you read Phil's take, give us yours. Dear New England fans, It's been a pretty sweet 2002 for you so far, wouldn't you say? First, the Patriots shocked the football world by winning the Super Bowl; now the Red Sox are off to a great start, including Derek Lowe's no-hitter against the Devil Rays last month; and just a few days ago the Celtics pulled off the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in NBA playoff history when they came from 21 down at the end of the third to beat the New Jersey Nets in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final. Congratulations, you're on quite a run. Since things are going so well for you, folks, then perhaps you won't mind doing the rest of us just one favor: You know how you're always telling anyone who will listen about how hard it is to root for Boston-area teams because of all the psychological pain and crushing disappointment it causes? You know, the Curse of the Bambino, Buckner booting the ball, Bucky Freakin' Dent and all that? I think I can speak for fans all across this great nation of ours when I ask that you New Englanders take all that woe-is-you stuff and ... stow it. That's right, take all the laments about the agony of being a New England fan and bury them like they were Yankees pennants or Rick Pitino -autographed pictures. No one is buying it anymore, if they ever did. Granted, the Sox haven't won a World Series since Ronald Reagan was in short pants, but Boston fans still have had plenty to cheer about. The Red Sox have been to four more Fall Classics since 1918 and made many more postseason appearances. The Celtics have had the Bill Russell and Larry Bird dynasties, and the Patriots have that miraculous Super Bowl run. On the whole, it's been a lot more fun to be a fan of New England teams over the years than to be, say, a Kansas City devotee or a Tampa Bay supporter. There are lean years and oh-so-close years and should-have-been years for followers of every team, but you folks in the 617 area code and environs have had it no more or less difficult than most. The difference is that so many of you New Englanders tend to turn every loss into Greek tragedy. Nomar Garciaparra pulls a muscle, and you make it sound like the gods of baseball have conspired against you. Writers like John Updike and Doris Kearns Goodwin wax poetic about the Red Sox, not the Pittsburgh Pirates, so the tendency is to think that there's something deeper, more dramatic to the suffering of a Boston fan. But it's just not true. Never has been. You New Englanders might have had to endure Buckner booting the ball, but you have also enjoyed Havlicek stealing the ball. The Patriots might have taken a 46-10 whipping from the Bears in Super Bowl XX, but they also had that lucky no-fumble call against the Raiders in January that kept their season alive. Admit it, as fans of New England teams, you have had as much good fortune as anyone, and the brilliant fourth-quarter comeback against the Nets is just the latest example. So if the Celtics fall short of the NBA title, or if the Red Sox end up playing second banana to the Yanks again, please spare us the soliloquies about how the lot of the Boston fan is as harsh and unforgiving as a New England winter. Just remember, we all root for our teams, and sometimes, most likely once in a great while, they reward us with a championship. More often, we have to settle for something less. That's the nature of being a fan, no matter who your favorite is. There's only one group of people that tends to feel as sorry for themselves as you New Englanders do, which reminds me: Dear Cubs fans ... Sports Illustrated senior writer Phil Taylor writes about a Hot Button issue every Monday on CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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