The Week That Was: Recounting, Recuperating and Rebounding

Last week was a tough one to be a Bostonian. (If you're wondering in what respect, every authentic "Bostonian" is a sports fan by nature, or is at least generally aware of the current hoopla surrounding our professional teams.)

For starters, before I delve into the other tragedies, the Bruins severed a painstaking loss to Chicago in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. This distinctly reminded me how I felt back in January, when the Patriots surrendered their season to the Baltimore Ravens (and that chump Ray Lewis) in the AFC Championship game. Which reminded me of just how many damned times I'd felt this way before, prompting me to revisit the intro of a college essay I penned after watching the Pats lose to the Giants in the Super Bowl.

History in Boston often eerily repeats itself...

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February 4, 2008  It's early Monday morning, post-Super Bowl XLII, and I am waking up in my college dormitory in the bustling metropolis of State College, Pennsylvania. Two thoughts immediately storm my mind: It’s time for class, and I have never felt this inclined to hibernate beneath my Pottery Barn down comforter and shun the light of day.



New England Patriot's coach Bill Belichick, the shoddily under-dressed and notoriously dour man of few words, must be feeling around 6,000 times worse. Tom Brady? I can’t even fathom how he's coping, but some pity is lost when I envision him crying on Gisele Bunchden’s flawless shoulder, sulking comfortably in the pristine Frette sheets of the Four Seasons.

Now, being in cow-town Pennsylvania and all, I’m a safe distance from the overwhelmingly depressing atmosphere that must be polluting the halls of my old high school and poisoning the corporate environments of my parents’ Boston offices. But I kid you not; my heart feels broken like never before.



An overly chipper friend is under the
impression I am NOT in a serious dorm-bed coma.

Being a Boston sports fan is not easy--in fact, it's mentally grueling. You pour your heart and soul into more than just a sport or team. You invest in the tradition that surrounds the city. You revel in the brilliant wins and you suffer in the wake of pain-staking losses that each of our precious teams experience.

We pay the highest ticket prices in baseball to watch a game at one of the most historical ballparks in this great Nation. We wait for hours on the morning of the Patriots tickets sale, only to be told “sold out.” We idolize our star athletes and make them out to be larger-than-life icons. These average people with superior athletic talent become famous legends dwelling at the heart of all local-marketing campaigns; they are the spark that ignites our cocktail-party conversations.  Sports are our public forum, the places we come together to celebrate, mourn, and just be downright belligerent with our fellow Bostonians. This is our culture, and whether we like it or not, we live and die by it.

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The mantra has not changed. Considering my allegiance to Boston's teams and subsequent investment in their success, I started to feel quite dour after witnessing a week in which the Bruins lost the Stanley Cup, the Celtics lost their coach and three veteran players, and the Patriots released their all-star tight end in the wake of his arrest on (one to three) murder charges.

But then I realized that, although history tends to repeat itself, I don't think there could ever be a week as rock-bottom as that. So let's look not look back, but look ahead in anticipation that the tumultuous storm we weathered simply has to give way to some sunshine (SANS the humidity, please!).

That said, a few positive perks to keep in mind in the coming months....

Pats…

• Heightened security at Gillette Stadium, AKA reassurance that you will not be attacked by members of Hernandez' gang(s).
• OK, so we suffered the loss of an exceptionally talented tight end. Lest we forget, we now have Tim Tebow! This man use to really irritate me.  However, he, his staff, and teammates have managed to keep relatively mum and quell most media surrounding his addition, which semi-convinces me he is focused on football. In the case that he is not, who CARES? That locker room could really use a god-fearing mentor to recite the Ten Commandments on a daily basis. Preach if you must Tebow, pound it in your teammates' thick heads: Thou shalt not kill!

• Also, I (we ladies) can finally succumb and admit our attraction to Tebow, a man that makes football even easier to watch, which leads me to my next point…
• Tom Brady. ‘Nuff said.  (P.S., Belichick is still a boss; Kraft a king.)

Sox…

• First team in the American League to make it to 50 wins, a title we clinched in walk-off fashion.
• Karma is on our side. Someone surely owes us something for the strain Bobby Valentine inflicted on the unity and spirit of our clubhouse last year (we had 69 wins the entire SEASON).
• Big Papi is still cranking homers. Juice away, big fella! (Thank god some people get better with age. It was getting so tiring to watch such a large, formerly powerful man strike out so many times.)
• Right before the All-Star break, Vegas has them tied for third as winner of the 2013 World Series. I am okay with this. (Let’s be serious, did any one really believe the Pats or B’s would make it to finals? I’ll take the underdog pinning any day!)

Celts/B’s

• Totally TBD. (Cough, cough, rebuilding and/or hopeful revenge.)
• Let’s focus on the many task(s) at hand…and remember, don’t look back! To quote Nietzsche (NOT to be mistaken with KANYE),  “That which does not kill you, can only make you stronger.” And we are of course, Boston Strong.