Red Sox-Yankees, Patriots-Jets, Celtics-Knicks: 10 Reasons Boston Beats New York
Let me start this column by saying that I am extremely biased on this subject and have allowed that fact to infiltrate every aspect of this article. This piece, for the most part, focuses on sports and is an opinion column that reflects my opinion. I know the fuse will be short with a lot of people out there who see this (read NY fans) but just take a deep breath before lighting it and blowing me up on the comment board. OK enough disclosures let’s get to the good stuff.
Why only ten reasons, surely there are more? Well, I decided on the ten because a line had to be drawn somewhere or I would just be going on forever and nobody has time to write and read forever do they? Well maybe the Yankees fans will be able to fit that into their schedule, what with all the time they are going to have in October 2011.
Arguably The Best Ever
1 of 10
Tom Brady. I could elaborate but even a New York Giants fan must admit that given the choice they would rather have Tom Brady at the helm of their beloved football team over Eli Manning. Yes the Giants beat the Pats for Eli’s only Superbowl win but Brady has three rings and is working on his fourth this season.
Eli will be busy participating in “Oreo licking competitions” during this year’s Lombardi Trophy game. No, I didn’t forget about the J-E-T-S’ Mark Sanchez. He has really good potential but is very young and has a long way to go. He will be a very decent signal caller one day but there are very few QBs that will ever come into this league with the ability to reach the level that Tom Brady has.
Style
2 of 10
Bill Belichick. Aside from being a fashion icon (you’ve got to love those sweatshirts) he is arguably the smartest coach in the NFL. Let all of the comments about the Jets video taping scandal begin but keep in mind that every team tried to get an advantage and it was a NY teams coach, Eric “the Penguin” Mangini (nickname courtesy of then Jets receiver Laveranues Coles because of Mangini’s waddle), that decided to tattle on his old mentor.
Mangini felt spurned after leaving New England. He knew that he never had a shot at being half the coach Belichick is and thus decided that being a whiner was the next best route. Thank god the Jets manned up and got a real coach in Rex Ryan. I like Ryan. I like his style and I like his approach. He was a great choice for a coach and made watching ESPN’s Hard Knocks a lot more interesting.
Ainge The Architect
3 of 10
Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, an amazing trio for the Celtics. The new “Big Three” were assembled by a man that received quite a bit a flack throughout his NBA career. Maybe this one should be more about Danny Ainge than the players he put on the parquet.
As a Celtics player with titles, and in 2007-2008 a Celtics executive in search of a title, he pulled off the single greatest team turn around in NBA history. He did it by keeping Paul Pierce happily in Boston and bringing over KG and Ray Ray. “The Truth” was written all over the walls the following season when Ainge finally lifted the trophy as the architect responsible for making that elusive 17th banner a reality.
Danny Ainge and the new “Big Three” don’t even compare to NYC’s equivalent, the New York Knickerbockers. But in the Knicks defense they did go out and get Amare Stoudemire. He’s a great player, to be sure, but he is only one piece of the puzzle. The Knicks execs seemed to let the other puzzle piece jet on down to Miami. Ainge wouldn’t have let that happen. But the Celtics don’t bother worrying about the Knicks; their beef is with LA and the Lakers who are nipping at their championship banner heels.
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Rajon Rondo Is The Reason The Celtics Work
4 of 10
Rajon Rondo. I could have included him in the section with Danny Ainge and the “Big Three” but Rondo deserves his own ranking. He went from being cheered by Ashley Judd for two years at the University of Kentucky to being drafted by the Suns and traded to the Celtics to being arguably (as all of these points are) the best damn point guard in the NBA.
The argument can be made that the Celtics do not win the 2008 NBA title without Rondo as their point man. More definitive though is that they wouldn’t have even gotten to the NBA finals against the Lakers last year if not for Rondo. Every year this cat gets better and better. He is an assist king and has the hands of a master thief. You think you’re out of his reach and the next thing you know he has the ball and is taking it the other way for two. Comparatively Raymond Felton is a very good point guard and is coming into his own but given the choice Rondo wins every time.
You Just Can't Argue With This
5 of 10
Lobster and Clam Chowder beat pizza all day long. Though I will hand it to NYC, they do have the best pizza I’ve ever tasted. There is only one joint in Boston that can even come close to comparing (and it’s not Regina’s) but it falls just short.
New Yawk
6 of 10
The accent. I know this to be true because every fall Boston is infiltrated with annoying New York accents that make the drive up to Beantown to see the topic of the next slide.
You've Got Leaves In Your Own State
7 of 10
The Seasons. Nothing beats autumn in New England. If you don’t believe me ask the thousands of New Yorkers who are walking the Freedom Trail checking out New England’s fall leaves. How do I know these leaf peepers, are from New York? Their accents.
Marcus Camby at UMass
8 of 10
College sports. Boston has Boston College’s football and hockey teams and Boston University’s storied Ice Hockey program. Heck even UMass has a decent team every once in awhile. Remember when Marcus Camby was there?
How is Columbia University's football program doing? Is NYU making a run for the National Championship this year? They make a bowl game? With all of the CUNYs and SUNYs you’d think that there would be one college sports event worth going to in NYC. As an aside I am only speaking of sports programs at these universities. I am aware that NYU and Columbia are prestigious academic institutions that provide fine educations but wait, Boston has MIT and Harvard and even the Crimson take pride in their sports.
There Is Only One Fenway Park
9 of 10
Fenway Park in Boston has the history, the Green Monster, the Red Seat, and it’s the oldest park in major league baseball. The Yankees had the house that Ruth built and they tore it down for a brand spanking new home run derby building.
Where is New York City’s sense of historical value? Even the old Yankee stadium couldn’t hold a candle to Fenway Park’s tradition and now with the new one, it’s not even close. They can’t even fill their new lazy-boy type seats that sit behind home plate.
When Bostonians go to the Park they don’t want creature comforts and barcaloungers. They want Fenway franks and hard seats built before the dawn of time. Seats so small that the fat chick next to you oozes through the slats of her chair into yours (OK nobody wants that but at least that fat chick knows her baseball).
We want to have to know the layout of the ballpark so we don’t accidentally scalp tickets behind a post. We may not have the massage chairs of the new Yankee stadium but we go to Fenway to watch a baseball game not get pedicures while a server takes our order and feeds us grapes during a hot towel facial and mud bath. Hands down Fenway Park is a much bigger draw than Yankee Stadium.
Not Their Fathers Yankees
10 of 10
John Henry and Theo Epstein, the Red Sox brass. The Yankees may have had Boston beaten in this category for several years, in fact, several decades. I was willing to admit defeat in this area until the passing of the late George Steinbrenner.
The man knew how to run a Championship winning baseball team, and the Yankees spanked the Red Sox all over the place for many years. That however has ended with the changing of the guard to brothers Hal and Hank Steinbrenner. Together they cannot fill the baseball shoes that their father wore and it is beginning to show this off-season, the first where they are truly on their own.
Look at the acquisitions by John Henry and Theo Epstein and then look at the acquisitions by the Steinbrenners and Brian Cashman. The Yankees, missing out on Jason Werth, Carl Crawford, and Adrian Gonzalez (I realize that they didn’t need all of these guys. I am just pointing out the caliber of players who were available) put all their eggs in the Cliff Lee basket and then were left holding the yolk.
I dare say that Hank and Hal’s father would have never let Cliff Lee sign with any other team this off-season. If the Yankees were still run by the man who knew what he was doing, who knew baseball then Cliff Lee would be wearing pin stripes come spring training. Though hats off to Hank and Hal, I hear they came to an agreement with Russell Martin. Looks like Yankees fans can check that one off their list of big moves to make this winter.
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