Boston is Titletown

Let's face it.  We're spoiled.  Since the Patriots won the Super Bowl in 2002, Boston (with most of New England by its side) has celebrated a major sports championship in every year except 2003, 2006, 2009, and 2010 - and there were two in 2004.

Boston-area teams have also set another record, winning one of each major championships within a span of six years (Patriots in 2005, Red Sox in 2007, Celtics in 2008, and Bruins in 2011); the next shortest span is twety-one years, and that distinction is held by New York.

It goes without saying that I am a HUGE fan of this trend, despite the fact that my devotion to the Bruins, Celtics, and Patriots pales in comparison for my love for the local nine.  However, I think it also goes without saying that we need to be careful how we handle these new found riches.  Like the multi-millionaire who complains about the price of milk, we should probably tone down the crying when one of our teams goes through a minor losing streak.

I know what you're thinking: "HYPOCRITE!"  Yes, I moan about small misfortunes in this space all the time, but I don't honestly think that Boston fans have problems, not when compared to what I've seen my friends from Cleveland go through.

Likewise, I plan to try to avoid bragging as much as possible - after about a week's grace period to celebrate the Stanley Cup - lest I come off like an obnoxious Yankees fan who can't say anything except "TWENTY-SEVEN RINGS WOOOOO!!!1!!1!!!!"

However, since I have a seven-day window to celebrate like the loud and proud Boston sports fan I am, GO BRUINS!!! [And Red Sox since you're the only Boston team currently playing.]

Truck Day > Superbowl

I'm sure you've all figured this out by now, but I'm not the world's biggest football fan. Sure, I watched the Superbowl, and because I'm required by virtue of my New England birth to hate Peyton Manning, I was happy that the Saints won (and just a little jealous of the party in New Orleans that's sure to carry through Mardi Gras next week).

Approximately 10% of this crowd loves the Saints, 2o% are casual fans, 55% are just looking for a good time, 13% hate Peyton Manning, and 2% are simply confused.

To be honest, my favorite part of the Superbowl is that it marks the end of football season (though the beginning of Brett Favre speculation on SportsCenter). To me, the Superbowl means that it's almost time for Spring Training: indeed, Truck Day is this week, pitchers and catchers report the week after, and from there it's a hop, skip, and a jump to Opening Day [night?] on April 4.

Not just a truck, but a cause for jubilation in baseball-starved New England.

This winter has been even more difficult than most, with the Bruins underachieving, the Celtics battling scores of injuries, and the Patriots bowing out of the playoffs in the first round. If you're anything like me, baseball is arriving just in time to save your sanity... so rejoice! Because baseball is nearly here.

Pats v. Sox: No Competition

For some of you, this is a difficult decision. Patriots kickoff is at 1:00, Sox first pitch comes just thirty-five minutes later... What do you watch!? For me, it's a no-brainer. Give me Daisuke's second start after a three month hiatus over Brady and the gang any day. Yes, I know about the smack being thrown around about this game, and I know I'm supposed to hate the Jets. I even realize that there are more Sox games left (if the Sox make it to the ADLS and get swept-which would be the worst case scenario-they have 18 games left) than Pats games (if the Pats make it all the way to the Super Bowl-best case scenario-they have the same number of games).

Football has always been my least favorite of the professional sports to watch, and it's even grown on me in recent years. When I was a younger, I would watch only the Super Bowl... but I would read a book during the play and only watch the commercials. This was during a time that the team was winning, and winning quite regularly. The only season I watched more than a quarter of the games in their entirety was 2007, and that had more to do with boring Sundays at boarding school than the fact that they were relentlessly and systematically crushing every team in the league.

The strange thing is, I like watching football live. Though I've never been to a Patriots game, I enjoyed watching my high school teams play, and I like to watch games at college, but there's something about watching football on television (especially a dorm sized television) that turns me off. Don't get me wrong, I watched last week, and I screamed as loudly as several of my neighbors did during the last six or so minutes... But that was a Red Sox offday. Say what you want, but I'll never skip the Red Sox for the Patriots, no matter how dreamy Tom Brady thinks he is. I mean, the man wears a Yankees hat of all things... doesn't he know where he plays?

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