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What a time to be moving to a new city … Especially for me, with this sports business-focused blog, to go to the mecca of sports, America, and more specifically, Boston.
“Titletown, USA” as some Boston locals have already remarked to me, referring to the city’s insanely successful sports teams in the last twenty years or so. Moving to Boston is not an easy thing, but at least I’ve plenty of sport to enjoy while I’m here.
Every major sports team in the city has won a major championship/cup within this time span.
I’m hoping not to be a bad omen for the city, as my arrival coincides with some of the biggest upheavals in Boston’s sports in more than twenty years.
All change in Boston
With the iconic Tom Brady off to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New England Patriots suddenly look less than invincible, especially with the Buffalo Bills stacking up with talent in to challenge them in the AFC East.
Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox are mired in an alleged cheating scandal. The club is alleged to have won the World Series in 2018 thanks to using their video replay room to steal signs from opposing teams, as alleged by The Athletic.
Things are a bit rosier for both the Boston Celtics and more specifically the Boston Bruins who have had the best record in the NHL.
Boston: A true sports town
Despite being here for under a month, I’ve already had a distinct feeling of just how important Boston’s sports teams are to Bostonians. They take them really seriously.
The day Brady’s departure from the team was announced, every major TV network had rolling, day-long coverage, which rolled into additional days during the week. This news even overtook the ongoing and devastating COVID-19 pandemic.
Brady’s own TB12 brand even has a flagship shop in one of Boston’s most upmarket areas.
In every guidebook I’ve seen, they specifically talk about their sports teams, in every bar I’ve been in, Boston’s teams have been on the screen (even if it was just a reply of a previous game).
Going up to the venerable Fenway Park for the first time is a pretty incredible experience. You can’t avoid the stadium, or the area. It is really a blast back in time in some ways with the roads that surround the stadium.
I’m used to city’s taking their sports seriously, especially being a Glasgow Celtic fan, where the city is very much divided along the Celtic / Sevco lines, but Boston seems even more fervent with its sports than anywhere else I have ever been.
It is quite an interesting time to come to Titletown USA which such radical challenges facing some teams, and some looking like they could add more championships to their impressive hauls. I may even finally learn the rules to baseball being here.
The COVID-19 pandemic rightly puts sports into second place, yet I’m hoping to get to see each Boston team in their glory when, hopefully, everything can return to some sort of normality. Stay safe – stay Boston Strong.
