August 01, 2007

How Beantown Took Over Sports

I remember when Boston was a sports backwater (i.e., most of the time I lived there, from '96 to 2000.) Those were the days when they stuck Doug Flutie on the cover of Boston magazine, rather than any player on a Boston team. It started to change when Pedro Martinez came to the Sox (in '98), and now the transformation is complete. Here's Tony Massarotti:

Given the choice, they all do the same now: They come to Boston. They sacrifice their trade protection or maybe take pay cuts, all to join what has become the greatest collection of stars since “The Godfather.”
So, welcome to town, Mr. Kevin Garnett. Say hello to Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Bill Belichick and Richard Seymour. Presumably, you’ve already met Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Over there are David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, just behind Josh Beckett. The guy acting like the mayor is none other than Curt Schilling [stats].
As for the rest of Sports America, we hate to break the news to you: You’re now playing for second place.
Could this happen in Philly too? I suppose. But the fans just have to not turn against their own superstar players. That shouldn't be too hard, right?

Then there's Minnesota, as an e-mailer to TrueHoop pointed out this morning:

If norm green killed hockey in Minnesota, then Glen Taylor just killed basketball. The Wolves are COMPLETELY irrelevant in Minnesota now. Suddenly, cheering for Tavaris Jackson sounds awesome.

First we lost Kirby Puckett. Then Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper fell from grace on their way out of town. Now we lose Kevin Garnett and there's a damn good chance Torii Hunter says goodbye this summer.

Welcome to Minnesota ... We'll get your hopes up only to gut your sports fan soul.

And... now Johan Santana's complaining! The good news keeps on coming!

And speaking of Daunte, he signed with the Raiders today. Funny that he would agree to go there, right after they traded his ex-Minny teammate Randy Moss. Just as Kevin Garnett agreed to go to Boston, after vetoing a previous deal, once the team got rid of his Wolves nemesis Wally Szczerbiak. I just hope this doesn't lead, in 2012, to Joe Mauer signing with the Yankees, just because they finally dumped Justin Morneau.

Posted by Stephen Silver at August 1, 2007 05:29 PM
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