Being a Boston Sports Fan is Rough

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January 20, 2013 by mark81186

Living in New England, its pretty much in your DNA to be a Boston sports fan and, to some extent, its no different for me (except I don’t like the Celtics. Fuck the Celtics).

For much of my life Boston sports teams were the lovable losers. The Patriots weren’t very good, the Bruins would be one and done in the playoffs, and the Sox would go year after year of not winning the World Series. At least I had the Chicago Bulls. Six NBA Finals victories, YES!

Then the early 2000s happened. The Patriots upset the heavily favored St. Louis Rams and the Red Sox finally won the World Series. Boston was in uncharted territory: They were a champion. Now we are spoiled. The Celtics and Bruins eventually followed suit and won a title of their own.

I became a nervous wreck during big games. I had weird superstitions that I had to do before every game and sometimes even during the game. During the Red Sox 2004 playoff run, I held an unlit candle during games. I was going insane.

Then something happened. The Patriots lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants a few years back. Sure, I wanted the Patriots to win, but I suddenly realized, “What the hell am I doing?” I’m getting crazy over this. I do love the Pats, Red Sox, and Bruins, but I was turning into a lunatic. No matter if your team wins or loses, you will wake up tomorrow and it will be a whole new day.

When the Patriots lost to the Giants again in last year’s Super Bowl, my Facebook was flooded with pissed off fans and I just couldn’t post any angry statement about the Pats. Was it awful that Wes Welker dropped at pass that he has caught numerous times in his career? Yes. Am I going to lose sleep over it and curse the world? No. Its weird coming from a huge sports fan and sports writer like me, but there is more to life than sports.

Boston sports fans are a lot of things, but one thing they aren’t are rational. You can never win over every Boston sports fan. Everyone is a critic. The drinking water in Boston is making people crazy about sports.

The Patriots play the Ravens tonight for a spot in the Super Bowl and I’m expecting the Ravens to win. Sure, I’d like to see the Pats win, but it is not the end of the world. That being said, I’m preparing to shave my playoff beard. I’m still working on the superstitions.