Boston Sports Time Machine

Living in the “Hub” of sports aka Boston, you are immersed in sports. The Patriots, Sox, Celts, and Bruins are all meeting in a perfect storm of sports success. The city and region has experienced six championships since 2001 with only the Bruins missing out thus far on the bubbly (I have a feeling they may be drinking beer out of Lord Stanley’s cup this year!).

It’s a good time to be a Boston sports fan!

I have always listened to my share of sports radio and watched sports shows such as Comcast Sports Tonight, ESPN, NFL Network, NESN, and NECN to get my daily sports fix. However, now it’s part of my job/passion/hobby.

I am currently out of work. Some say things happen for good reasons. Days after being laid off, a few opportunities fell in my lap.  

Friends have always said that I had a great knack to write (must have been all my blogs about nightmarish dates that I have been on). That gave me the confidence to blog for numerous sports websites (Trufan.com, Rootzoo.com) and help launch a new Boston sports site called Boston Sports Then and Now.

This site is unique because it doesn’t just report on current news on the Beantown sports scene but also on stories from yesterday. There is no greater thrill as a sports fan, but to relive those great memories that brought tears of joy to your eyes and quenched your sports thirst. I have written stories about 50 years of Patriots Football and classic games that I have attended.  All the memories come rushing back and they always seem to bring a smile to my face.

It is a perfect balance of everything I love. Marketing. Writing. Sports. History.

I have grown new respect for players before my time, like Ted Williams and Gino Cappaletti.  When you research these players/games, it’s like going back in time.  You are bringing yourself and your readers back to a time that they were too young to remember or not even born yet.

There are tons of fans in New England that don’t even know the pain that everyone born before 1980 went through.  The Sox lost multiple World Series in ’67, ’75, and ‘86(Stanley! Schiraldi! Poor Bill Buck). The Patriots went to Super Bowls but never got the bounces to win. The Bruins had talented players like Neely and Bourque but could never win the Cup (Damn you Edmonton!). And the Celtics were the only bright spot in the gloomy sports skies that swirled over New England.

Times are a changing.

Remember where you were when the Sox won in 2004?

I do.

Remember where you were when Adam’s kick beat the Rams?

I do.

I hope you get to walk down memory lane with me. It’s okay to look back. Enjoy the good moments and try to forget the bad things in our lives for a little while. Sports are our escape. 

Embrace it.

It’s part of who we are. 

Joe Gill is a featured blogger for Boston Sports Then and Now, Rootzoo.com and Trufan.com