Newbie’s guide to Boston sports

It is virtually impossible to overstate just how important sports are to Boston, and if you don’t know the basic lay of the sports landscape, well, you’ll just never fit in. We’ve highlighted the key venues, teams, players and historic figures you should learn. Without this info, you may get a few awkward stares from Bostonians after a poorly-timed comment.

While some cities have college sports and professional sports competing for attention, Boston is very pro-focused. The four core teams — New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics — are the talk of the town most of the time.

Red Sox are the center of the universe

Even with the team’s recent decline, the Red Sox are still the most talked about team in New England. When they’re not winning, people talk even more about them—like how long it will be until they win again.

Boston teams are always in contention

Boston sports teams are very successful, as evidenced by its seven pro championships since 2001. The Bruins are the most recent victors, beating the Vancouver Canucks in seven games in 2011 to win hockey’s Stanley Cup. It took the Red Sox 86 years to end a curse of no championships, but in 2004 that streak snapped. The Red Sox won once more in ‘07, the Celtics won in ‘08, and the Patriots won it all three times in four years (’01, 03 and ‘04). The Bruins and Patriots made it to the Stanley Cup Final and Super Bowl respectively last year.

Located at 4 Yawkey Way near the Kenmore stop on The T’s Green Line, is worth a visit if given the chance. It is baseball’s oldest ballpark, serving as the home of the Red Sox since the Titanic sunk in 1912, making 2012 its 100th birthday. Know that the right field foul pole is named after the late Johnny Pesky, “Pesky’s Pole,” and that tall green wall in left is called “The Green Monster.”

Patriots used to be bad, now are a ‘dynasty’

The Patriots as we know them today are a winning football club. In 2012, they are vying for their 10th straight season of winning at least 10 regular season games. But before the 21st century, winning seasons for the Patriots were few and far between. The Patriots’s Super Bowl victory in 2001 was the first in the franchise’s 41-year history, and the first of three in four years.

The Celtics are the most winningest franchise in NBA history. Of their 17 championships, 11 came between 1957-69. The Lakers are a close second with 16 titles, and the Boston-Los Angeles rivalry is among the best in sports.

Located at 100 Legends Way in the North End, the TD Garden is the home of the Bruins and the Celtics. The arena also hosts the college Hockey East Championships and Beanpot Tournament, and has been the location for several March Madness tournament games. Call it “The Garden” or “Boston Garden.”

Bruins are an Original Six NHL team

The Bruins are one of hockey’s most storied franchises, as they are a part of the Original Six, the only six hockey teams that made up the NHL from 1942 to 1967. The other five are the Blackhawks, Red Wings, Canadiens, Maple Leafs and Rangers

Hockey is the top college sport here

While football and basketball are the main revenue sports in college athletics, hockey is the most popular college sport in New England. Specifically, Boston has two teams that are college hockey powerhouses: Boston University and Boston College. BU won it all in 2009, and BC won the following year and is the defending national champion. All four Beanpot teams have sent players to the NHL.

The Beanpot

The Beanpot is an annual college hockey tournament that features the four core Boston hockey teams: Boston University, Boston College, Harvard University and Northeastern University. The Garden has hosted this tournament since 1954, two years after it started. BU or BC has won every year since Harvard won the 1992-93 tournament.

WEEI (93.7 FM) and The Sports Hub (98.5) are the two rival sports radio stations of Boston, and they are where the daily conversation Boston sports starts. The stations feature talk radio shows and pro games. WEEI broadcasts the Red Sox gamess, while 98.5 hosts the Patriots, Bruins and Revolution. When games aren’t on, the talk radio show hosts, such as Tony Massarotti (98.5, left), will dissect anything and everything Boston sports.

Boston is a college hockey town, and college football flies below the radar. But there is one famous football play you ought to know. It was the day after Thanksgiving in 1984, and Doug Flutie was quarterbacking for BC. The opposing Miami Hurricanes had just scored in the final minute to take a 45-41 lead, but it was Flutie’s time to shine. With good pass protection, Flutie unleashed a hail mary pass that was caught by Gerard Phelan as time expired for the win. It is one of the most famous plays in college football history.

Every April since 1897, runners from all over the world race in the Boston Marathon. In recent years, more than 20,000 start the 26-mile road race that has become a bucket-list item for many marathoners. There are divisions for men, women and wheelchair racers, and it is extremely difficult to even get to the starting line because of strict qualifying standards. The recent tragedy has only increased the passion and demand for spots in the historic race.

These are the four biggest sports icons in Boston sports history. Ted “The Kid” Williams (left) is the last baseball player to hit .400 in a season (1941) and is known as the greatest hitter who ever lived. Bobby Orr will always be remembered in Boston for the famous picture in which he looks to be flying after scoring a Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Bruins in 1970. Bill Russell, a 6-foot-10 defensive and rebounding machine, won an unmatched 11 championships as a Celtic. The man who drafted Russell, Red Auerbach, is regarded as the greatest coach in Boston sports history.

The next era of greats. Don’t you dare say “who?” if any of these names comes up in conversation. Bird was a three-time NBA MVP for the Celtics and is one of the sports’ legends. Pedro Martinez defined the word “dominance” while pitching for the Red Sox in the late ’90s and ’00s. He won two Cy Young Awards in Boston and helped the Red Sox to their first World Series victory in 86 years in ’04. Tom Brady, known for his looks and his skill, is the current Patriots quarterback who led the franchise to three Super Bowl victories from 2001 to 2004.

Today’s hottest stars

The athletes making the most buzz in Boston today are Rob Gronkowski, Rajon Rondo, and Dustin Pedroia. “Gronk’’ set NFL records for a tight end last season with the Patriots,, the Celtics’s Rondo is regarded as one of basketball’s best point guards, and Pedroia is a 5-foot-8 second baseman who represents the heart of the Red Sox, grinding out every at-bat.

Pesky used to play for the Red Sox but was known more as an ambassador to the team for more than six decades. The right-field foul pole at Fenway Park was named after him (“Pesky’s Pole”) and he’s the only non-Hall of Famer to have his number (6) retired at Fenway. Pesky died at age 92 in August 2012.

You don’t want to be called this. The term “Pink Hat” was coined for someone who goes to Fenway Park for the social scene rather than the game.

A year after the Red Sox won the World Series, then-owner Harry Frazee sold a great pitcher and powerful hitter named Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1919 so he could finance a broadway play. Ruth went on to become one of the game’s greatest players and it took the Red Sox 86 years to win another title. Frazee’s deal started “The Curse of the Bambino.”

Another moment in Red Sox history that one should avoid discussing came in the 1986 World Series, when a hobbled first baseman, Bill Buckner, allowed a ground ball to skip through his legs in an important moment in Game 6 of the series. The Mets won the game, and then won the series two nights later.