Superiority complex
Ranking your favorite championships is like ranking your children. You have your favorites. You just don't tell your wife.
No, no, wait, dear, I was just kidding . . . Of course I love all of our babies equally . . . Even what's-his-name, the little pirate-looking fella with the wooden leg . . .
 (NBA.com Photo) |
You see, we're here today to rank our teams' six championships this decade - that's right, SIX championships - and you can bet your Loserville pennant that we're going to enjoy it.
(Editor's note: For today's purposes, we're going to pretend Super Bowl XLII never happened. Because it didn't. Thank you, TATB Management.)
So Yankees fans, you can skip out on us today and surf on over to your other favorite destination . . . what is it again, BronxChixWithMustachesTomSelleckWouldEnvy.com? Sounds right.
Lakers fans, you can stop pretending you care and again focus on your real favorite pastime: bleaching your hair, your teeth, your nostrils, your Vujacic, and whatever else happens to be the Tinseltown trend of the moment. Freaks.
And Philly fans . . . well, I don't even know where to begin with you. Moses Malone isn't walking through that door. And if he did, he'd probably drop 25 and 20 on Samuel Dalembert.
But seriously, enough about you. This is about us. So fire up the duck boats, let the confetti rain, and let's get rankin' . . .
1. 2004 Red Sox: Because it set us free, baby. I trust there are no questions?
2. 2007-'08 Celtics: I'll admit it, this one's almost entirely personal, and I won't bicker with anyone who wants to put the 2001 Patriots here. It's just that the Celtics' first championship in 22 seasons came at a time when, because of my 20th high school reunion, the Facebook phenomenon, and the increased prominence of this wee blog, I've been hearing from numerous long-lost friends lately, and it's appropriate to me that the sentimental flashbacks to whatever semi-Glory Days I might have had should coincide with the Celtics' revival. Basketball was extremely important to me then, so I was surprised to discover that my affection for and appreciation of this Celtics' team rivaled the feelings I felt all those years ago for Larry and the 1985-'86 champs. These Celtics didn't necessarily make me feel young again, but they sure jostled some wonderful memories of when I really was young, and that's plenty good enough.
3. 2001 Patriots: World, meet Tom Brady. Tom Brady, world. This wasn't only the most improbable championship in the history of Boston sports, it's among the most improbable in any sport in any era. Now, you might claim that's hyperbole, to which I'd counter by saying look at the Patriots' wretched depth chart from the previous season, then get back to me. (No offense, Antonio Langham.) Brady's rise, the Bledsoe Empire's fall (complete with stone-like ruins), the Snow Game, whupping the heavily favored Rams, Vinatieri from 48 yards . . . really, had this been a script, even Disney would have rejected the thing as sappy and unrealistic.
4. 2007 Red Sox: Five years ago, I never would have thought the day would dawn when we expected the Red Sox to come through in the big games. But that's the life-altering effect '04 had on us. Even when the Sox were down three games to one to the Indians in last season's ALCS, the clearheaded among us were confident in their ability to come back. After J.D. Drew's grand slam in Game 6, everything that followed was delightfully anticlimactic. I don't know about you, but I like it this way.
5. 2003 Patriots: This title validated the first one, which was perceived by most of the shrapnel-brained twits in the national media (hi, Merril!) as a fluke. Little did they know it was the dawn of a dynasty (yes, albeit one with a video fetish).
6. 2004 Patriots: Corey Dillon made this perhaps the most complete Patriots team yet, at least among those that finished the job. (Whoops, never happened.) Here's hoping their last championship isn't their last championship . . . and with a New England sports fan's arrogance, I tell you I'm quite sure it won't be.
Comment
Permalink
Email
Chad, I have to disagree with you on the 2001 Pats. They should be #2. The Celtics have had the storied history, however before Super Bowl XXXVVI, the Patriots had set the bar for ineptitude.
Remember the Billy Sullivan Patriots and the Victor Kiam Patriots? Those 2-14, 1-15 teams? There was the bizarre Chuck Fairbanks coaching departure, the Zeke Mowatt controversy, the list of 1985 Patriots linked to cocaine, Hart Lee Dykes getting stabbed at a Providence nightclub, Irving Fryar leaving during a game and racking up his car, the almost departure of the team to St. Louis, the Parcells-Kraft fiasco, etc.
Besides, the Patriots SB XXXVI victory put an end to "Loserville"; the 15.5 year hiatus between Boston sports team championships. Times as a sports fan were so thin, the city of Boston embarrassingly had a rally for Ray Bourque's Stanley Cup victory in 2000 (a rally which I attended).
A solid list, Chad, but I would posted the Patriots' 2001 Super Bowl win over a highly touted Rams team as 1B after the 2004 Sox 1A listing. You are probably too young to remember the days of Len St. Jean, Halvor Hagan, R. C. Gamble, Gayle Knief, and Mel Witt, but those of us who had to go through the Rush-Bengston-Mazur days followed by the abyss of the Rust-Coach Mac era when the Pats were the punch line to the biggest joke in professional sports ("Would Bob Gladiuex please report to the Patriots locker-room!"). My late father stated to me the year he died, "The Sox will win one - if not several - before the Pats ever do." He was just stating the obvious at the time.
Consequently, when the Tebucky Jones interception for a TD was called back and the Rams tied up the score in a blink of an eye, who in their right mind would ever have thought that a second-year back-up quarterback at the start of the season would bravely drive them down the field for a winning field goal? When Adam kicked that field goal, only Dave Henderson's homerun fifteen years earlier caused me to go as crazy.
The 2001 Pats Super Bowl victory will be the one game I will watch over and over again until the day I die.
2001 Patriots 1a, 2004 Red Sox 1b. There was no indication up until late November of that year that the Patriots were even going to be a .500 club. They had lost their starting QB, and no one at the time realized that the replacement was "The Chosen One" (i.e., the best QB in NFL history). They went on to win several in a row to end the season, had a truly magical game against the Raiders, and were one of the biggest underdogs in playoff sports history against the Rams. The 2004 Red Sox club was a solid club all year long and had been in the ALCS just the year before. No doubt prior to the 2 seasons, the odds of the 2001 Pats winning the SB were astronomical as compared to the 2004 Sox winning the WS.
Hold up - there is no WAY that the 2007-08 Celts get the nod over the 2001 Pats. It's just not even close. The Patriots broke the city out of a championship funk of epic proportions to the point where people had begun wondering if we'd ever win a title in ANY sport ever again. When the colossally-favored Rams were downed by the blue collar Patriots, it made anything seem possible. I'm 34 and I barely remember the last Boston title in 1986. The Patriots excorsized a decade and a half of bungling and futility on behalf of the entire Boston pro sports scene. The excitement I, and others felt at finally winning a title - and to have the then-perennial-bridesmaid Patriots be the ones to get it done was the icing on the cake.
No question the 2004 Red Sox take the cake in terms of the greatest, but there should be absolutely NO debate about who is # 2. The joy and amazement of that first title in so long isn't something I'll forget for a long, long time.
Came here to type what Jack and TD have posted. For me the 2001 Pats takes the cake. Heck, I'd rate the 04 ALCS over the World Series.
Boston has always and will always be a baseball town and therefore Red Sox Nation coming together for the 2004 World Series Championship is no doubt #1.
2001 pats
2004 sox
2003 pats
2004 pats
2007 sox
2007-08 celts
..................................
2008 pats ;-]
2008 sox ;-]
Born and raised 7 miles from Boston, die hard everything Boston fanatic fan. When the Pats won the SB in 2001 me and my friends and family jumped up and down and screamed our faces off, but when the Sox won it all in 2004 i snuck into my bedroom and cried, tears of joy, tears of relief and sweet tears of redemption.
2004 Sox
2001 Pats
It's not even close. Its the Pats beating the Rams in the Super Bowl. The Red Sox 2004 World Series was so anti-climatic after beating the Yanks down 3-0. Now if the Sox being down the 3-0 vs the Yanks was for the all the marbles then it trumps the Pats but we all know thats not the case. I still get goosebumps watching that those 3 games to glory in Jan/Feb of 2002. That 2002 Super Bowl from the being introduced as a team to Adam's winning kick as time expires. Nothing beats that!
Don't forget the PROVIDENCE STEAM ROLLER!!!! NFL Champions!!!!
2001 Patriots as #3?
Chad Finn is OFFICIALLY a Globie!
The Cetlics title was great but #2? Not a chance. It was not even close to the Pats first Super Bowl.
Chad, You nailed it 1-6! My thoughts EXACTLY!!
2001 Patriots have to be number one.
Let's face it boys & girls - the Patriots started off this entire win decade in Boston based on the way they go about their business.
Great ownership, great coaching, great players and a terrific attitude of team first.
Sorry, but Chad is correct about #1...the Red Sox won, and i may die in peace...everything else is gravy...good to see all of them winning...now the b's just have to remember how it is done!
Nice list, but I'm with the commentary so far: the '01 Pats deserve the 1b status of the second slot. New England is a baseball region first and foremost, and so the Red Sox win the honors, but the Patriots were and still are a team that captivated and stole the emotions and attention of each and every "sports fan" around.
I'm more a football guy than a baseball guy, so this judgment goes against my own personal beliefs. Nonetheless, I believe the preponderance of comments will agree that the '04 Sox go first, '01 Pats 2nd (as 1b), and then the C's of '08 can take a solid grasp on #3.
I'm too young to have a nuanced view on this region's (historical) Championships, but the past 7 years have been the best years to be a New England/ Boston sports fan. Carry on!!
TD:
HUH?!?!? You are an idiot. The 2004 Red Sox pulled off the biggest upset in the history of Sport, coming from behind the Yankees down 3-0. Astronimical with the Patriots? Great year, yes. But 86 years of pain and suffering couldn't have been more victorious with what the Sox did to achieve it. What's better; the Sox passed on a curse to the Dark Side.
I'm a die-hard patriots & football fan. Although I root for the sox and celtics, I would gladly trade any of the world series and basketball titles for Super Bowl trophies. I have not lived in New England (where the red sox are king) for six years but there are Patriot fan clubs in almost every state. Football is such a dominant sport outside the Boston-NY-Philly line, which probably fuels transplant New Englander's passion for the "all things Belichick & Brady".
Either way my personal favorite title is the 04 Super-Bowl which cemented the Patriots, Belichick, Brady, etc., as all time bests.
why have you omitted boston college hockey?
2001 Pats #2. Celts #3. The rest sounds good to me.
I have to strongly disagree with placing the Pats at number 3. In addition to everything TD says here which is all true, no matter how long, or how many generations of fans, the Red Sox had to wait, it wasn't their first one! For the Pats, it was the first one EVER! And of course as TD said, no one expected the Pats to win ANYTHING! Now if there was a Yankee type comeback in the World Series, I might consider it, but the Pats are absolutely number 1.
Gotta have the Pats as 1A or 1B - they changed the entire mood and outlook of New England sports fans. Up until the 4th quarter of that game, I (and many others I suspect) expected them to blow it (hello Willie McGinist holding penalty). After that game nothing seemed impossible.
Chad: It doesn't matter where each championship is listed. It makes one giddy just to have the sublime opportunity to list SIX in one DECADE. I sent your article to my son in Seattle so he can share it with his workmates when he wears his Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics stuff to work. It drives them crazy as it should.
I think the exuberance of last week's Celtics' championship has yet to wear off because, as much fun as it was, I don't see how you can list the Celtics' SEVENTEENTH championship over the Patriots' first. I'd also list Super Bowl 38, the back-and-forth, last-minute victory over Carolina higher than the uneventful, anti-climatic sweep of the Rockies last October.
For me it goes like this 1.Patriots 2001, 2.Red Sox 2004, 3.Patriots 2003 4. Red Sox 2007, Celtics 2008, Patriots 2004. I know there are Red Sox fans that would argue with me but there is no bigger Red Sox fan bigger then my brother who has had season tickets since 1986 and we had this same conversation about six months after the Red Sox won the world series and he even thought the Patriots Super Bowl win in 2001 out did the Red Sox 2004 Championship. Now I’m not taking anything away from what the Celtics accomplished this season because what they did this year was pronominal. Now all we need to do is to be able to add the Bruins to this equation. How about it Mr. Jacobs?????
Totally agree with your list....100%
Have to enjoy these times were living in....despite the economy and high gas prices!
The first two should be the Red Sox and Patriots. One day I think the Patriots because of their history over their 40 years of existence, but then the enxt day, I think the Red Sox, seeing as they should ahve won it on 1986.
In any case, I put the Celtics in third place seeing as they had won 16 championships since the Red Sox won their last one, and more than a dozen since the Patriots were in existence.
All six championships were great for Boston fans.
I say drop the Celts to No. 6 and move everyone else up a spot. It was a great run, but it meant less to me than the other five. Then again, they're all so great it sounds mean to even say that.
Your an absolute joke putting the celtics ahead of the 14 point underdog Patriots of 2001. But I guess without saying something stupid your article doesn't get read.
Its a sad way to write an article but true in this day and age.......
1. 2004 Red Sox ... you are correct, no explanation needed, but I can't really pass on a chance to remind that we came back from 0-3 against the Yankees ... the '04 Sox parade will never be matched.
2. 2004 Patriots .. the best team I've ever rooted for, the insignificant 3-point final margin of victory in SB39 masks how dominant they were .. in consecutive weeks in the AFC playoffs they held the Colts top-rated offense to 3 points, then schooled the Steelers top-rated defense for 41 .. I had more confidence in this team than I did in the 16-0 team.
3. 2008 Celtics .. like the others, as enjoyable team to root for as I could ever ask for .. incredible storylines, great example of team work, perseverance .. and I was there for the clincher (with my son of "9 years old, 6 parades" fame)
4. 2001 Patriots .. easily could be 2 or 1a like many have said, just thought I'd recognize the greatness of the '04 team .. certainly the feeling of Vinatieri's kick going through the uprights will never be matched
5. 2007 Red Sox .. a more complete and better team than '04 and Beckett's performance was legendary .. they just weren't first
6. 2003 Patriots .. to put this team last in a ranking just proves how silly it is to rank such things .. a personal highlight, as I was in Houston to witness it
I'm not sure how the Patriots - however improbable - could rank even or above the 2004 Red Sox. For the most part, pro football was #4 in New England for a loooooong time. As the NFL rose in prominence, so did the Pats profile in the NE sports scence. But a better championship than the Red Sox World Series run? crazy. Anything in possible in the NFL, but history weighs heaviest in baseball. the '04 Sox were a special bunch
I'd go with 1. 2004 Sox 2. 2001 Pats 3. 2008 Celts 4. 2003 Pats 5. 2007 Sox 6. 2004 Pats.
I agree with this list completely. Yes, 2004 really did set many of us free from so many years of loserville! Yes, I do believe that 2001 Patriots win, was a thing of beauty, but with all of the Pats scandals this past year, I too will rate the Celtics higher than the Pats right now. They won the hard way and nobody really thought that they could beat LA. We're getting so spoiled here in New England! Now let's hope the Bruins can win one too! Okay, don't laugh everybody, they can do it, can't they?
Great point by those who said the Pats set the tone for the decade. I hadn't thought of that.
vm, I left BC off because 1) I'm talking pro sports, and more importantly, 2) I went to Maine, where hockey used to be a pro sport.
Brian B, chill out. It's a subjective list. I understand why people put the 2001 Pats second. I don't - the Celts mean more to me, though maybe when the championship buzz wears off I'll bump them down a notch.
BOSTON Sports Fan from my days as an Air Force Brat in New Hampshire, never latched on to the Patriots, though, so I would rank their TWO tainted Championships (They lost to the eventual SB Champ Raiders in 01, I don't care what anyone says) at the bottom. The 04 Red Sox were just an unbelievable team, and their Championship is 1A-1Z,
Chad,
As a long time Boston sports team fan who leaves out of state, I have no qualms with the order in which you have placed the very wll deserved, long awaited for championships.
If only the Bruins (Boston still has an NHL team) and the Revolution (What? MLS doesn't count as a sport? WRONG) could win a championship in the next few years Boston could lay claim (and those of us who live through Boston success) to TITLE TOWN - becoming the only city ever to own titles in the 3 major sports leagues and the two not as major sports leagues.
Also, someone noted I linked to the 2000 Pats roster. I did that on purpose, to show how far they'd come. That team had decent starters and atrocious depth. Anyone remember Rob Holmberg, starting linebacker? Antico Dalton? Jeff Paulk? Shockmain Davis? . . .
Enough with the criticism. Everyone would have a different list (well with the exception of the 04 Red Sox) because different championships are going to mean completely different things to different people. For example a Celtics season ticket holder who sat through all of the bad years is probably going to be more touched by the 2008 Celtics than the 01 Pats. Theres no such thing as a crazy or bad pick, only championships that are more personal than others.
Super Bowl 39 was my favorite. Followed closely by the 2004 Red Sox. The reason is that when the Pats won the first one everyone talked about how great a story it was but they wrote it off as a fluke. They did it again a few years later and still nobody took them very seriously. Most of the talking heads picked against them in Super Bowl 38. It was with the win in Super Bowl 39 that they gained full respect as a team that could do it in any given year. They are now one of the most feared teams in the NFL. Quite an accomplishment for a team that was the joke of it's league for it's entire existence. At least the Red Sox and Celtics had previous success, however long ago it was.
I also gotta go with Adam's 1st SB winning field Goal for my #2 spot...
"it's good! it's good! the Patriots are Super Bowl Champions...the Patriots are Super Bowl Champions!"
I'll always remember slowing sliding from my couch and ending up on my back on the floor as I willed that ball thru the uprights and held my arms out screaming. It seemed like that ball was in flight for an hour!
That playoff run, especially with Adam's "other" kicks in the snow against the Raiders with the "Tuck" rule and everything. Not to mention the post-911 timeframe and Robert Kraft's "today everybody is a Patriot" speech...it still gives me goosebumps thinking about it.
I'm with jacklamabe65...The 2001 Pats Super Bowl victory will be the one game I will watch over and over again until the day I die.
For #3..I would put the 2007 Red Sox there and move the Celtics to #4. I would also move the 04 Pats to the # 5 spot and 03 Pats to #6. (Just for the Jacksonville venue...I was there).
Dead on except swap 2 and 3
Fun idea for a "list column" Chad. My list looks like this: #1 The Next One (Sox '08? Pats '09?), #2a 2004 Sox, #2b 2001 Pats, #4 2003 Pats, #5 2007 Sox, #6 2008 Celtics, #7 2004 Pats.
Born in september 1984 ... i was still in the womb when Bird led the Celtics to their NBA Championship.
Then ... the Pats LOSE to the Bears in 85. The Celtics LOSE to the Lakers in 85. Celtics win against the Rockets in 86. They LOSE in 87 to the Lakers. The Bruins LOSE to Edmonton Oilers in 88 ... and ditto in 90. Pats LOSE to Green Bay in 97.
What a miserable sports history aside from 86, which i do not remember. I grew up assuming our teams would lose because I never knew any other way.
Based on all this, the list you built is perfect. Cause Red Sox 04 will always be number one and ive been waiting for the Celtics to win since i was 2...
when a championship is based on a best of 7 series, its gotta b more meaningful
Hmmm, thanks Mike for calling me an idiot. Perhaps, we can compare # of Memberships in State Bar's (Mine's 2, MA and CA), or perhaps IQ's, or employment or the ability to rationally discuss a subject without calling the other names..and then decide who is the idiot. By the way, you mention "the Curse" as part of your rationale? You do realize that the concept of "the Curse" is largely the creation of a certain controversial sportswriter at the Globe, right? Prior to his book, there was very little mention of a so-called curse. I don't doubt that a strong argument can be made for putting the 2004 Sox #1; however, no matter what derogatory name you choose to type, the PATS 2001 SB was the most improbable, given the respective seasons each franchise had in the year preceding their championships.
In addition to the 2004 Patriots being the most dominant team we've ever rooted for, they also gave us our first "double" coming just months after the '04 Sox. Don't let continued success dull the feeling that gave you.
It would be fun to make a list for all the cities that have won 6 titles in the last decade. Oh, never mind ...
Born and raised and schooled in the Boston area, as a kid we played street hockey in the fall and winter (I even took several stitches to the left eye from a wayward puck on a snowy Easter day) and I loved the Big Bad Bruins (Orr, Esposito, Cheevers, Pie McKenzie, Bucyk, et. al.) above all else. In the 80's, of course, it was all Bird, McHale, Parrish, DJ, Danny, et. al. I was "there" for the '67, '75, '78 and '86 Red Sox, but they never clinched. By the time I returned to the US in 2001 (I'd left in 1997 to live and work in the soccer capital of the world---let's see if any American knows where), I'd lost touch with all my favorite Boston sports teams. Well, 3 out of 4; I was more a Dolphins fan than a Pats fan before I left. Still, only the '04 Sox win has really meant anything to me. (And get this right, the way they won it---4 straight over the Yanks, 4 straight in the Series---was the icing, not the cake!)
Chad, I've forwarded this column to Bernie Miklasz :) Personally, it's the '04 Sox (& yes the Series was non-competitve but I include the ALCS in choosing it as my #1). I still wear a t-shirt every day celebrating that magnificent win.
I have read some of the comments and am amazed that anyone could argue that the 2004 Red Sox WS win is not #1. I realize that the Pats had many, many tough years before rising to the top 1n 2001. But, all you have to say is 86 years. So many heartbreaking close calls. 1946, 1967, 1975, 1978, 1986.....every one of them a gut wrenching, oh so close call. There should be the 2005 Sox at #1 then a long drop to the next 5.....which in my opionion are the 2001 Pats, 2007-08 Celtics, 2007 Sox, 2003 Pats and 2004 Pats. The bottom line, what a GREAT argument to be haveing
this was a great read, but as the article mentions and everyone else here agrees, the 2001 Pats are definitely #2 after the 2004 SOX
Typo----- 2004 Sox. Sorry.
TD - tell me: what were the odds of the Sox coming back from an 0-3 ALCS deficit vs the NYY when they previously couldn't hold a 5-2 lead in the 8th inning against those same NYY's? The odds on the Pats winning the SB that year were in the neighborhood of 100-1; no MLB team had ever come back from an 0-3 series deficit. Because of that, '04 Sox are #1 (or 1a, whatever), and the '01 Pats are #2 (or 1b, or whatever). Tiebreaker should be the level of heart failure each New England fan achieved when the final horn sounded on each of the championships -- though not by too much, my level of heart failure was greater in '04 WS than it was '01 SB...
I think the 01 Pats rates higher than the 08 C's, but just barely. Both were very satisfying but the 01 Pats rates a little higher because there was something special about a team called the Patriots winning the first Superbowl after 9/11. That team was so special, Brady coming to the forefront, the entire team coming out of the tunnel in mass as opposed to being introduced individually... very special game at a very important time.
No way Celts at #2. That Patriot Super Bowl against the Rams was the best. The Sox winning the world series was great, but that Super Bowl and the way they won was a complete shock! Still get chills watching that final drive.
great discussion. but it all comes down to perspective...
1. how long you have been alive
2. how long you have been a boston sports fan (no bandwagon fans here please)
3. what sport you favor
4. the circumstances revolving around the particular championship
5. where you live
im a huge patriots fan but it meant more for the celtics to win in my book
red sox 04, celtics 08, pats 01
above all, ALCS 04... epic win. i lived in boston and 'rioted' in kenmore square and was never the same... im sure most of u agree that u were never the same either
86 years people...It is almost impossible to wrap your minds around. There isn't even a close second. Of course, for anyone old enough to remember what the Celtics meant to this region it is easy to understand why they are second. Back in the dark ages they were the one organization we could count on to bring pride to us all. The 2007-08 championship is filled with nostalgia yes, but the 17th championship reestablishes them as the winningest NBA franchise, a spot the patriots can't approach. That said thier 2001 Super Bowl was an amzing story--something Disney might write.
Renato, my guess is that Rome, Italy is the soccer capital of the world and yes, GO DOLPHINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeff, I agree that down 0-3, and at the time immediately preceding Dave Roberts great steal, the odds were certainly much greater against the Sox. (although the odds against the Pats during the "Snow Bowl with about 1.52 left in the 4th qtr were also enormous). Look, I'm a fanatical fan of all Boston Sports teams - prior to the 1975 season, at the age of 15, I purchased the lowest season ticket plan back then (about $2.50 for a grandstand section seat, row 3 for opening day, holidays and Sundays) and so was present for the 75 WS, the 78 playoff game etc.); so, trust me I love the Sox. Heck I was in the left field stands in Anaheim in 1986, when Hendu homered - my opinion is not based on dislike. I'm speaking of which team prior to the season, was the more improbable "world" champ. And look I don't want to leave out the Celts - I was at the game in 84, among others, when DJ won it at the buzzer - so, what this Celts team did in the space of one year is also amazing, incredible and improbable, given where they were 1 year ago.
Jeff, I agree that down 0-3, and at the time immediately preceding Dave Roberts great steal, the odds were certainly much greater against the Sox. (although the odds against the Pats during the "Snow Bowl with about 1.52 left in the 4th qtr were also enormous). Look, I'm a fanatical fan of all Boston Sports teams - prior to the 1975 season, at the age of 15, I purchased the lowest season ticket plan back then (about $2.50 for a grandstand section seat, row 3 for opening day, holidays and Sundays) and so was present for the 75 WS, the 78 playoff game etc.); so, trust me I love the Sox. Heck I was in the left field stands in Anaheim in 1986, when Hendu homered - my opinion is not based on dislike. I'm speaking of which team prior to the season, was the more improbable "world" champ. And look I don't want to leave out the Celts - I was at the game in 84, among others, when DJ won it at the buzzer - so, what this Celts team did in the space of one year is also amazing, incredible and improbable, given where they were 1 year ago.
From an old-timer (since 1960):
1. 2004 Red Sox
2. 2001 Patriots
3. 1970 Bruins
4. 2008 Celtics
5. 1967 Red Sox (You had to be there to understand how that year was the most important season in Red Sox history)
You forgot to include the New England Revolution .... 2007 US Open Cup Champs. They also have a very good shot of winning the MLS Cup this year as well as finishing as league champions.... and they will never see a parade.
About the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup-Dating back to 1914, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the oldest cup competition in United States soccer and is among the oldest in the world. Open to all affiliated amateur and professional teams in the United States, the annual U.S. Open Cup is entering it’s 95th tournament in 2008.
I too vote for the Patriots 2001 Super Bowl win as the greatest moment I have ever had in New England sports which is 70 years. I almost had a heart attack watching. I thought about it for months afterward. Still think about it. I hope and pray that I can see just one more SB Championship......well, maybe two.
Dude... I must agree with you 100 % for exactly the same reasons...
Truth is Baskeball my first love - Ok, ok, I love the wife and Kids too..
This was the first season my 13 year old took an interest in the game.
We went to the first game with hi hopes and followed the team
the whole season . That is what I will remember - we watched
and they won... Yes - it was tough not to pick the Pats as # 2 - but
hey - this is where basketball was born and the championship
belongs.
I agree with the first 3. The 01 super bowl came out of nowhere, pats were such large underdogs that I wasnt expecting a victory. The 04 sox we were starving for a championship and had high expectations after the 93 win season in 2002 for a championship year in 03, but then Grady little worked his magic and got us knocked in the ALCS. So expectations and needs were through the roof for 04.
Celtics same thing, such high expectations this year and a short window of opportunity considering they traded Al Jefferson who could be a top 5 center the next 10 years for a short term fix with the aging 'big 3'. In terms of wants and desire this celtics team was 2nd only to the sox. I would rank the 03 superbowl 4th the 2007 sox 5th and the 2004 superbowl last. As someone said alot of people said the pats were a fluke and they needed to be vindicated I feel the same way about the sox, the league now looks at the sox as the powerhouse team, they are currently the favorite to win it again in 08.
01Pats were first, and they were great; they lifted a weary football region and 'set the tone for the decade.'
But while the 01Pats turn around is one of the greatest in Boston sports history, the 04Sox victory transcends the realm of sports. It is one of the greatest events in the history of the city.
04Sox
01Pats
08Celts [amazing season and finals, but CF's ranking is still riding the adrenaline, I think]
Its funny in a city of unparalleled American history that the Boston sports fans need to ABBREVIATE their sports history to suit their needs.
Just like leg warmers, hi-tops and walkmen, this Boston phase is a passing fad. Enjoy it now and then plummet back to the mediocrity of NEARLY winnin that equals your pathetic city....
Not to beat a dead horse.
But '08 Celts over '01 Pats..... seriously?
You want nostalgia.... I grew up with the pats being worse than horrible. What they accomplished that season, is remarkable.
I agree with your list 1-6. Granted the Pats had never won anything before 2001, but they'd been in the Super Bowl just a few years earlier. The Celts were the WORST team in their sport the previous year. For me their turn-around was amazing, and put the Celtics back on forefront of the New England sports scene with the Sox and Pats, who had both been there before their championships.
Everyone who is from Boston knows the 2001 Superbowl cannot and will not ever be topped. The media and "Red Sox Nation" assume the 2004 Sox were the pinnacle but we all know better. Everyone knew the Sox would be good in 2004, but the Pats came from nowhere and snapped the 15 year losing streak.
2001 Superbowl
2004 ALCS
2004 WS
2003 Superbowl
2004 Superbowl
2007 WS
2008 NBA Finals
Awesome article. I love the idea of this and the fact that we live in a city where this article can even be written. I posted my list at Wicked Pissa Dude.com and we're going to do a segment about it tonight on Wicked Pissa Dude Radio if you want to check it out or e-mail us your lists and we'll read it on the air. Chad, of course we will give you credit for such a killer idea.
http://www.wickedpissadude.com
For those of you harping on the vaunted "first ever" versus "first in a long time" argument, I ask you to look at it from this perspective:
Was a single one of you alive for the fifth Red Sox championship? Anyone? I know I wasn't. The Red Sox have been around more than twice as long as the Pats. Hell, the Sox have been around since long before the NFL was even conceived. The Sox drought alone was around for nearly forty years before the Pats even came into existence.
As far as I'm concerned, that renders any real "they won it before" arguments completely moot. As far as any of us are concerned, this WAS the first time the Sox ever won it all.
Beyond that, what's really more heartbreaking? Forty years of terrible play (With an occasional flash of brilliance) from a team the region practically refuses to take seriously or eighty-six years of close calls and almost theres from a team that you know has it in them to win it, but just can't seem to catch a break?
Even arguing the probability of it is borderline ridiculous. The NFL playoffs are practically a crapshoot. A team needs to get hot for a scant four games to bring it home. Sure, there are statistical improbabilities, but the likelihood for an upset is there.
A team that barely made the playoffs coming back to take eight games in a row across two best of seven series after being down 0-3 in one best of seven? That's borderline insanity! If you're down 0-3 in a best of seven, you may as well pack it in, because you've got a better chance of getting struck by lightning than beating those odds. Add to that the fact that one of those series is against the most historically successful team in sports history while the other is against the statistically best team of that year (Who, might I add, are the second most historically successful franchise in the MLB)? I sincerely doubt such a thing will ever happen again in any of our lifetimes.
In my mind there really is no competition. The 2004 Red Sox were the most fulfilling Boston championship in history, much less this decade.
2001 pats were big underdog to greatest show on turf and were beat by them in Foxboro on a Monday night earlier in the season not to mention all the other heartbreak teams. That was a huge releif not as big as the Red Sox but #2
As much as I love the Sox and as great as '04 was, the 2001 Patriots will always rank #1 in my book.
In a perfect decade, the Bruins would chime in. With 2 years left (including the 2009-10 season), hopefully they can make magic happen too.
This is as stupid questioned posed by dopes who just find the need to oooh rah their sport.
The most important championship is the next one!
I'll have to agree with everyone else here. You are obviously wrong about the '01 Pats. The fashion in which they one and their consistent underdog status along with the emergence of the Brady Era makes it 1b.
Even some of their subsequent titles could arguably rank higher as for some reason no one in the country ever had faith in Tom Brady until they finally blew the big one this year. All I ever hear was "Peyton this and Peyton that"...
Pats 2001 by far the best title
LET'S GO BRUINS!! Find a way to add to this list!!!
PS. Celts #6. Clearly hired guns. '97 Marlins all over again...
The Red Sox were favored to beat the Yankees in 04 even though they went down 0-3. They were also favored to beat St. Louis which they did in 4. No drama there.
The '01/'02 Pats came out of nowhere and captivated a nation that had just went through 9/11. The won a Super Bowl that they were picked to lose 73-0 by a certain Boston sportswriter. Brady was a no one, no nothing QB that supplanted the "franchise" QB at the time. He led the Drive with 1:17 left and Adam hit the biggest kick on the biggest stage.
The Red Sox win in '04 was relief. The Pats win in '02 was pure ecstasy. Pats #1, Sox #2. Celts #6.
Too bad the absentee ownership of Jeremy Jacobs prevents the Bruins from even having a chance to ever ride in a duck boat! The single common thread amongst the Championships is that each of the 3 team has ownership that cares about the product on the field, not just the profit in the bank!
CF, I'm definitely more of a Celtics fan so I'm down with your ordering, but I can see why some people would want the 2001 Super Bowl to be number 2. Yes, the Celtics had two decades of mediocrity and some very, very tough years, but the Patriots have been bad for pretty much their entire existence and this was their first championship, the beginning of a dynasty, and they were huge underdogs as many have pointed out. Maybe it comes down to whether you're more of a hoops or pigskin fan.
CF, I'm definitely more of a Celtics fan so I'm down with your ordering, but I can see why some people would want the 2001 Super Bowl to be number 2. Yes, the Celtics had two decades of mediocrity and some very, very tough years, but the Patriots have been bad for pretty much their entire existence and this was their first championship, the beginning of a dynasty, and they were huge underdogs as many have pointed out. Maybe it comes down to whether you're more of a hoops or pigskin fan.
Pats 01 should be #2
Patriots 01 was my favorite. Even more than the Red Sox. The Red Sox true glory that year was in winning the pennant. For me, the WS was an afterthought.
TD, you may or may not be right, but don't pull the "I'm a lawyer" card and make the rest of us look bad. Passing the difficult CA bar is an accomplishment but should not be flaunted as a sign of superiority (passing the MA bar is also a feather in one's cap, but I'm sure you would agree it is not especially difficult when compared to CA or NY).
Let us not perpetuate the negative stereotypes surrounding lawyers.
There are only two seasons: baseball season and the dead time between baseball seasons. Therefore, only the 2004 and 2007 Red Sox are valid entries, in that order. I was set free in 2004--born a loser in 1946, turned 21 as a loser in 1967, continued losing in 1975, sitting in Section 23 with my head between my legs on Oct. 1, 1978, sitting in the press box in Shea in 1986 when the ball went between Buckner's legs. Sitting on my couch, crying when Foulke flipped the ball to Mientkiewicz in 2004. Thank you Curt Schilling!
2001 PATRIOTS #1 WITHOUT A DOUBT - FOR ALL THE REASONS PICKED FOR SOX & CELTICS -
Boston has lamented for a championship team since the last Celtics, and BAM!! The Patrtiots lead of the NEW ERA for Boston -
um to frank and to anyone that doesn't have 2004 sox as #1.. how?
we were down 3-0 to the yanks and then came back and won 8 straight and it was the first one in 86 years. I can see the pats 01 as number two but not number one.
Of all of the Championships, the '01 Patriots Super Bowl victory over the Rams was the only game that ended in a pigpile celebration on my friends livingroom floor!!
I totally agree with the list...PS I would say the soccer capital of the world is Sao Paolo, Brazil
I really believe that even though it was for a pennant and not the Series, you've got to call the comeback against the Yankees in 2004 number 1A. I have told a number of people that I really am not sure if I felt as good the day after winning the World Series as I did the day after the 7th game against the Yanks!
I totally agree with the list...PS I would say the soccer capital of the world is Sao Paolo, Brazil
Jeff,
I don't think you can narrow down the Sox '04 season to when they were down 0-3 to the Yankees. Remember, as great as it was to break the curse, that Sox team bought a world series title in every manner that John Henry's Marlins bought the series in 1997. Millions on Schilling, Foulke, etc. As of April 1st they were supposed to win it all. The '01 Patriots were a laughing stock in '00 and rose to immortality with their Super Bowl run.
Pat's '01 far and away the greatest of the great!
I was born in 54. I have fond memories of the Celtics from that era. I relocated south in 80 but remain an avid Boston sports fan and make my friends nutts about it. I rank the Celtics from this year no 2 as well. Nothing could ever top the sox in 04. The moment KG asked Bill Russell if he was proud of him for winning clinches no 2 for me. Your list looks pretty good to me as is.
I've loved the Celtics and Red Sox as long as I've watched sports. I punched a hole in my bedroom wall after the Boone homer in '03 and cried tears of joy after the 2004 World Series. And while I respect the Patriots I'm not a fan (I grew up in CT and Dad was/is a die-hard Giants fan who didn't really care much for sports other than football) so my personal list would probably look very different than most, but I can see the argument for the 2001 Pats over the Celtics. At the same time, the Pats were always at the bottom of the ladder as far as fan bases and were always more connected to Providence than Boston, I just feel that the Red Sox and Celtics have always meant more to New England fans overall and thus their titles have a dearer place in the hearts of older fans.
Ok,,,
04 Sox--Do I need to explain that?
01 Pats--Huge upset, brought Boston out of the funk
08 Celts--Best team in hoops climbs to the top again
07 Sox--Cause it's the Sox!!
04 Pats--Truly great..Back to Back year
03 Pats--'01 was NO fluke
Next year there should be a couple more to add to this list!
Does the 2004 ALCS count? This is just my feeling, but coming back from the Yankees down 3-0 with all the character heroics of Schill, Papi, Mueller and Roberts' steal versus the purse-swapping ways of that fraud, Choke-Rod.
Those of you who put the Pat 01 above the 2004 Sox just think about this - When the Pats won I ran around my house saying I can't believe WE WON !
When the Sox won in 04 I sat down in my chair and cried I can't believed WE WON! and then thought about those in my family who missed it my dad , my mother amd on . . . The Sox changed lives
People usually shoot me a look that says either I'm:
A. A fan of the New York Yankees
B. A fan of the former Soviet Union
C. A hater of all things from Boston
D. A wacko
E. All of the above
when I say that the New England Patriots winning the Super Bowl in 2002 was the biggest moment in sports for New England since the beginning of the twentieth century. That's only because there hadn't been one championship for our football teams that played before that season. While I accept, admit, and agree that the 2004 American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees and the subsequent World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals was a big deal for Boston, it's not the first time in history that there's been a championship for baseball in this city.
Sorry everyone.
1) 2004 Sox
2) 2008 C's
3) 2001 Pats
4) 2007 Sox
5) 2004 Pats
6) 2003 Pats
etc, etc.
Honorable Mention, Trot's 2003 walk-off v. the A's ... Flutie's drop kick and Nomar's triple to send it to game 7 of the '03 ALCS.
2001 Patriots - because of the mood the country was in.. "WE'RE ALL PATRIOTS" the owner claimed at the time when we recieved the super bowl trophy.
2004 Red soxs - because it really did set us free.. Finally we didn't have to take any CRAP from the yankees.. and this one was more especial then any of those 26 world series rings by those stinking yank's.. seriously.
2008 Celtics - Because we've waited so long... This is for Reggie Lewis and all those teams we had through the 90's that didn't make it far.
As far as New England goes, The 2004 Red Sox meant more than any other championship - it was a great time to be a Sox fan. That being said, I personally found the 2001 Pats SB equally as meaningful in my sports-viewing life, but not becase it was their first trophy. The whole year was an amazing story that would even make a great movie. The 9/11 drama, Bledsoe getting injured, Brady gets the nod over Drew when both are healthy, The snow-game, Bledsoe helps clinch the AFC, and finally being a 14-point underdog and winning the SB.
That being said, I wouldn't argue with anyone who disagrees because I know I'm in the minority on this one.
Great list, but I too have to switch 2 and 3. Actually, make that switch 12 and 13. That Patriots run was unbelievable...everyone thought the Celtics would make it to the big show.
It has already been said, but it bears repeating...
When the Sox won the series in 2004 it was anti-climactic, and I could not have cared less. When all of the other Boston Sports teams win a championship, I whoop, and holler, give high fives, and drink for hours.
When the Sox won that year, I didn't cheer or back-slap, in fact I barely drank. I sat down quietly, as tears rolled down my face, and thought about how happy my Grandfather would be. Then, I drove over to my father's house and caught him doing the exact same thing.
If you're not from Boston, you can't understand what a event powerful that was. That is easily the greatest Boston sports moment 1 - 10, all by itself.
Does any other city this century have even 2 championships?? I can't think of any - certainly not in differnt professioanl sports.
2001 Patriots and it isn't even close....
- Picked to finish last
- Belichick was as good as fired after Week 2
- Bledsoe got hurt then came back in one of the all-time great moments and went 3/3 on that drive in the AFC Title Game
- The last drive of the Super Bowl obviously
- COMING OUT...AS A TEAM, something that hadn't been done before
- Terry Glenn was this superstar WR, Belichick didn't need to deal with his ego
- Had one of the lowest payrolls on the entire NFL
- God, the Snow Game deserves a mention or two don't you think? That game is what kids dream about....
This as compared to the Red Sox who...
- Had the second highest payroll in MLB
- Were co-favorites after picking up Schilling
- Granted came back from 0-3, but a four game winning streak in baseball is far more common than in football.
- The World Series was a joke. Game 1 and Game 3 were two classic examples of BAD BASEBALL. Bad pitching. Bad fielding. Just awful to watch.
Anybody who has picked the 2001 Pats as the best championship of the decade needs to jog their memory of what happened in '04. The Red Sox were down 3-0 to the mighty Yankees, and needed two walk offs, one gutsy performance from curt schilling, and a huge game from Johnny Damon to win the series. Yes, they walked over the Cards, but that was unbelievable! This is the Sox we're talking about here!
Agree with the sentiments that as great as the Celtics winning it all this year is, it was expected based on star power and payroll. Don't get me wrong, i love the worst to first story line and bringing back Celtic Pride but that can't touch the Patriots becoming the class of the NFL and BB + Tom Brady becoming perhaps the best coach + QB combo to play the game. That being said, aboslutely nothing tops the Sox coming back from being down 3-0 to the Yanks in '04 and winning 8 straight, especially after the '03 ALCS.
(1) Sox in '04; (2) Pats in '01; (3) Celts in '08
I disqualify myself from officially ranking because I'm not much of a football fan. I never really got into the sport. However, I will say that the 2004 Red Sox postseason were the closest thing to a religious experience that I've endured. It sounds really lame but it's the truth. After 2003, you thought to yourself afterwards if the Red Sox were EVER gonna win and if maybe JUST MAYBE there actually is a curse. I know I thought these thoughts. You may have had the payroll and you may have had been favorites, but there was plenty of doubt. I mean people basically looked at the Red Sox team as "They're the Red Sox, they'll eff it up one way or another". Let's not forget that stigma. A lot of it was more psychological and emotional than logical. I think that's a huge reason why the 2004 Red Sox won. They actually never bought into the whole "Curse" stuff. They never let the stories of the past bother them. Their idiot persona was a lot smarter than most people think.
Okay I'll be quiet now.
Paul R had a great comment about the 04 ALCS. Beating the Yanks like we did, is my 1a, and winning at St Louis is my number 1b.
When I'm cranky, I dig through the Globe's Boston Red Sox 2004 World Series Championship section, eventually finding Leigh Montville's "Joy Know's no Bounds" piece. And then I am not cranky anymore.
2001 PATS
because it setup the 2004 Red Sox
Red Sox did start to act like the PATS org
To me, the major one being left out is 1984-85 Celtics. We'd been dying to get a shot at the Lakers and beat them in 7 crazy games in the greatest finals ever (for a detailed description see Simmons, Bill). So the list should be:
2004 Sox
2001 Pats
1984-85 Cs
2007 Cs
2003 Pats/2007 Sox
'01 Pats!!
They were a 2 TD underdog to a team that was unbelieveable.
Go for it speed reader!!!!!!!!!!!!
I truly never thought I'd see the day when someone would try to downplay the '04 Sox Championship ride with a comment like "granted came back from 0-3" like it wasn't really that impressive of an accomplishment.
For me, the 86 years, coupled with the devastation of what happened in game 7 of the '03 ALCS capping off an absurd amount of tragic collapses through the years, makes the emotions felt when the Sox came back to win in '04 insurmountable. However, I cannot boast the two state bars that the poster "TD" can, so maybe I'm not qualified to comment on this. Do you want an award, buddy?
I'm staright with your list, Chad, but also understand why some would put '01 Pats as number two and have no problem with that. I'm just more of a basketball guy.
To T Brenner who wrote
If only the Bruins (Boston still has an NHL team) and the Revolution (What? MLS doesn't count as a sport? WRONG) could win a championship in the next few years Boston could lay claim (and those of us who live through Boston success) to TITLE TOWN - becoming the only city ever to own titles in the 3 major sports leagues and the two not as major sports leagues.
Amen Brother or Sister . I have this feeling the Bruins will bring it home with in the next couple of years. They are a great team and will get there props and parade.
The Revs come those guys get no love at all They have made the final 4 out of the last 5 years that should count for something right ?
It depends if you are talking a championship game or a championship season. If you are talking a single game then Super Bowls always have an edge because it's winner take all.
However, I believe we are talking about a full season and to me the 2004 Red Sox were the greatest championship for Boston hands down. I know it's a Boston question but consider they were on the cover of Time, Newsweek and everything else. Sports Illustrated Sportsmen of the Year. They were filming Fever Pitch with the season as a background and the victory was so improbable, even by Hollywood standards, that they had to re-shoot the ending.
It came one year after a crushing loss as bad as 1978 or 1986, with Grady Little leaving Pedro in obviously too long as all of New England screamed. Not second guessing, first guessing. We knew. It was like watching someone die and we were helpless.
2004. They bring in the big mouth pitcher who said he was coming there to beat New York and bring a World Series. 21-6 and the bloody sock. They traded their most popular player and leading hitter (yeah, he was hitting .321) at the trading deadline. Down 3-0 to the Yankees. Destroyed in Game 3, giving up 19 runs at home..
The first team ever to come back from down 3-0 to win and they did it against the YANKEES. Behind in the late innings twice, they tie it and take it to extras, and Ortiz wins them both. Back to New York and the Bloody Sock. Game 7 they pound the Yankees in New York. Sure, the 2004 World Series was anticlimactic by comparison. They were proved in the fire of the ALCS and rolled to victory.
One of the earlier posters said it perfectly. When the Pats won, I cheered and had a beer. When the Sox won I wept with joy and relief and thought about my dad. The Pats were a great football story for Boston. The Sox were a great human story for the whole country.
I agree that the 2001 patriots should be 1b to the 2004 red sox 1a, but the 2004 red sox were not good all year long. they were medicore for half the season, playing 500 ball until varitek shoved his catchers mitt down a-rod's throat. it was an improbable run, just like the pats, but even more so since we came back from 3-0 to the hated yankees. all that history and curses were laid to rest after the 2004 alcs....i also agree that the 2001 superbowl is the one game i will watch over and over and over and never ever get sick of it. the 2004 world series was extrememly anticlimatic, but it didnt matter because it was 86 years in the making. bottom line, we in Boston have won 6 championships and I like all of them.
Hey ML, the guy called me an idiot for merely typing my opinion- an opinion with which several others here have agreed.. If someone is going to be rude, and impolite for no reasonable reason, other than to insult, I will respond. Rather than insult him in kind, I presented objective facts to dispute his "claim". If you have a problem with someone defending themselves from another's impolitenss, I would suggest you and he share a like mind.
- Out of Boston's 6 championships in this decade, I would say my favorite would either be the Red Sox 2004 or 2007 world series title. Why?? My main reason is that I'm a huge Red Sox fan, and the fact that I've seen the Sox win two titles under the age of 18 is incredible!! Many fans went their whole lives without seeing Boston once again being on top of the baseball world. 2004 will always be a year to remember in Boston.
- Not only did the Patriots win their second championship in a row(3rd in 4 years), but the sox finally came through and won their first world series title in 86 years. After all the painful memories (Pesky in '46, Buckner in '86), the red sox were the team to beat. They came back from a 0-3 deficit to beat the yankees in the alcs. THE YANKEES!!!! Nice attitude in game 6 A-Frod....
- I disagree with Jake who commented above... Maybe some people didnt find the world series as challenging as they thought, but it certainly was not a JOKE!! Yes, game 1 was a little unbalanced, but the better team won, and it wasnt from anything else except talent. The sox had talent all through the team and all through the series. Bellhorn really came through, as did everyone else. And Manny being MVP was no shock... what a great game 4 he had.
- 2007 was also a fabulous year. After not even making the playoffs in '06, they were once again on top of the baseball world. Additions of Matsuzaka, Okajima, Pedroia, Drew, Elsbury, Lester, Buccholz, and more were key points to their second title in four years. Now..... let's review these new additions:
1. You gotta hand it to the japanese, they know their baseball. They were the winners of the world baseball classic, and it was matsuzaka who led them to glory. The sox spent over a 100 million dollars to sign the classic MVP, and look at the year he's having. Now Okajima. How can anyone find the strike zone with their head turned the other way? Have you seen this guy pitch???
2.Pedroia, last years rookie of the year, had a remarkable season. He batted over .300 where in the end of april he was batting around .160. His glove is as good as his bat, and its a shame he didnt win a gold glove award. Playing with a broken wrist in the playoffs more than prove his bravery. The future is bright for #15.
3. Remeber his no hitter in only his second start in the majors?? I think we both know who im talking about.... Even though he didnt pitch in that many games, he proved that talent accomplishes anything.
4. Elsbury.... WOW!!!! His first game with the red sox and he scored from second on a wild pitch?? He can run from home plate to first in about 4 seconds....
He has a tremendous glove. One thing's for sure, Elsbury is going to be a key element this year. He's already leading the league in stolen bases, i think*.
5. Lester. Undergoing kimotherapy and fighting cancer, he was back after a year and a half, and won the final and deciding game 4 of the wolrd series. He also pitched a no hitter this year. To play baseball, you must have the heart.
6. Drew helped in the alcs. What a slam in game 6. His year may not have been as good as it shouldve been, but check out his stats for 2008. WIth Papi gone, he has stepped in and is hittin homers back and forth. Get this guy in the All-Star game... Papi isnt gone, he just put on the #7 in right field.
- As I'm ending these comments, I have to hand it to the rockies. They knocked the mets our of the playoffs, and had an incredible game against san diego. Being one of the worst teams in the national league last year, the rockies were on top. Congrats, hope to see you in the world series again this year.
2004 Sox parade: 3 million+ fans AND a 33 share in TV ratings. That's unheard of. That Sox team's title easily meant the most to the region this decade.
2001 Pats is a very close 2nd. Ended the title drought since '86 for the entire region and did so in a storybook manner.
2008 Celts is 3rd, but IMO a big reason is because it was LA they beat. This was a back-to-the-future series that made this title so sweet.
2004 Pats is 4th. Best of the title winners and those games vs. Indy and Pittsburgh in January were classics. Cemented the dynasty label.
2003 Pats is 5th. Fifteen game winning streak with several close calls along the way and one of the best Superbowls ever. Validated the 2001 title.
2007 Sox rounds out the list. Pedroia, Ellsbury, Dice-K and Papelbon showed the future is now and that this team might be like the 1996 Yankees, about to go on a great run. The future's so bright...
Chad, I can understand picking 04 Sox over 01 Patriots, although for me (and from reading the comments, I'm not alone) 01 Patriots will always be the greatest moment in Boston sports history. Many others have explained why as well as I ever could (Jake at #105 sums it up pretty well). But picking 07-08 Celtics over 01 Patriots? After reading that, I have a hard time taking anything else you're writing on this subject seriously.
Like I wrote, I have no problem with the Pats second. When the buzz of the Celts wears off, might even feel the same way. But right now, I don't. Again (again, again, again) I think it has a lot to do with what your favorite sport happens to be. Mine is basketball. It has been cool to have my memories refreshed on all the '01 team accomplished. We are absolutely blessed as sports fans.