The Capital of Massachusetts is Titletown

For those of you that don't know, I am originally from the Pittsburgh area and now reside in Erie, PA. My heart, however, belongs in Boston. Boston is undisputedly my favorite sports town, my favorite vacation spot (at least in the continental US), and my favorite city in general. I'd be living there if it wasn't so damn expensive.

Long ago, my interest in the Steelers and Pirates fled for the greener pastures of Boston area teams. My passion for the Patriots and Red Sox and my consequential disinterest in the Steelers and Pirates are one thing that my friends, coworkers, and my father, in particular, can neither fathom nor can they stand about me.

It's not a matter of the chicken vs. the egg because it was the Patriots and Red Sox who had prompted my original visits to the northeast.

People person? Then hop on this bad boy at Park Street an hour before any Sox home game. But please remember to wear your deodorant.

From there, the aura of the city itself sucked me in for good. Whether it's catching an act outside of Quincy Market, or shopping at Fanueil Hall, or picnicking in Boston Common, or jogging along the Charles with a view of Cambridge on the other side, or throwing together some random concoction of raw meats at Fire and Ice on Berkeley, or taking in the history while strolling through the Harvard campus, there is never or should never be a feeling of homesickness. The town encompasses you and makes you feel like you belong there.

What is most impressive to me, though, as a sports fan is the sports environment. Bostonians hold their athletic teams in such high regard and follow them with such extreme passion. They can chew a team up for faltering, but can also immortalize a team for its successes. During my visits, almost exclusively during baseball seasons, I can't walk a single block without seeing 27 people wearing a Sox hat. I love it! Climbing onto the Green Line an hour before game time is something that even the most chlostrophobic of individuals can enjoy because of the buzz and general anticipation of the first pitch.

This post is really less about the city of Boston than it is about the sports town of Boston. As a fan of the Patriots and Red Sox, I've come to both admire and appreciate the success that the city's sports teams have had over the past calendar year. It's truly remarkable. To borrow a source from The Angry Fan from about five and a half months ago, Frank Deford of SI dubbed Boston the Sparta of America. That's fair, but I'd like to think of Boston as Titletown.

The Red Sox and Patriots alone have accounted for five championships between them this decade with the Sox being the most recent World Series champion. That's better than 33% of the championships in both sports combined. And while this is true, I'd like to narrow the time frame down to the past 365 days. Although the championships haven't rolled in in the numbers that were expected at times, the success that this one city has had in one calendar year is beyond ridiculous.

Let's take a look.

The Red Sox, as previously mentioned, are the defending World Series champions after sweeping the Colorado Rockies in four games. It was their second title in four years, and the Sox became the first multiple winner in the new century. The win came after an improbable comeback against the Cleveland Indians who had the Sox down three-games-to-one in the ALCS with Carmona and Sabathia still to pitch. In addition to the World Series win, the Sox boasted a Rookie-of-the-Year winning second baseman in Dustin Pedroia and a pitcher who should have won the Cy Young award in Josh Beckett.

Despite the Super Bowl meltdown, the Patriots can still be considered among the greatest teams of all-time. They became the only team to complete a regular season at 16-0. They set new records in points and touchdowns scored. Tom Brady was one vote shy of unanimously winning the MVP after his record-breaking season. Likewise, Randy Moss broke Jerry Rice's old single-season touchdown mark after hauling in 23 Brady bombs. And the Patriots accomplished all of this with exponentially mounting pressure and adversity.

The Boston Celtics have just finished off their third best regular season ever with a 66-16 record on the shoulders of a superstar cast including MVP candidate, Kevin Garnett. The Celts coasted to a #1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs where they recently beat down the Hawks in Game 1. Not only are the Celtics the favorite to represent the Eastern Conference, but they should be the favorite to win their first NBA championship since the 1985-86 season.

The Bruins complete the quadfecta(?) in that Boston has had a representative in the playoffs of each of the four major sports over the last year. Currently, the Bruins are trying pull what the Red Sox did against the Indians in the ALCS last season by overcoming a 3-1 series deficit against the Canadiens. A Bruins win would cap off an even more remarkable comeback that what the Sox pulled off; the Bruins snuck in as a #8 seed, and the Canadiens, obviously, are the top team in the Eastern Conference. Game 7 goes down tonight in Montreal.

How fitting that the best college QB plays in the best sports town in America.

How about the Boston College Eagles football team? At one point, the Eagles held the #1 overall national seed. They would ultimately succumb to the pressures of an undefeated season and lose out on the ACC crown to Virginia Tech. But they did win the Citrus Bowl Champs Sports Bowl over Michigan State, 24-21, en route to their eighth consecutive bowl win. They also turned out a mid-season Heisman candidate and likely the top quarterback to be taken in this week's draft, Matt Ryan.

Speaking of the Boston College Eagles, the Eagles hockey team was recently anointed as the top team in the world of college hockey after knocking off Notre Dame in the finals, 4-1. To get there, though, BC had to beat #1 seed - and #2 national seed - North Dakota. And beat them they did; the Eagles handed North Dakota a 6-1 smack down.

Sticking with the college theme, the Harvard Crimson won the Ivy League football championship outright by dealing Yale its only loss of the season.

Finally, the New England Revolution of the MLS can boast two championship appearances over the last year. The Rev lost, 2-1, to the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup, but defeated FC Dallas, 3-2, to claim the 2007 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

From the college scene to soccer to the major professional sports, Boston sports teams have experienced an incredible amount of success. If Boston is not deserving of the "Titletown" tag, then I don't know who would be. And there is no fanbase more deserving of this recognition than those of the sports town of Boston.

And, just for a little added benefit, Boston has totally and completely dominated the city of New York in respect to the topic of this post. Aside from the Giants fluky Super Bowl win, where has the New York representation been this year? Where has it been the entire decade? The Yankees have been a major disappointment. The Knicks are a joke. The Mets are still recovering from their historical late-season meltdown. The Rangers are in the midst of the NHL playoffs, but the Islanders were awful. And what about the college teams? NYU? They can have the rehabbing Olsen twins. I'm sure BC is content with Matt Ryan.

As Boston is a much better city than is New York, Boston as a sports town obliterates New York - and all others - as a sports town. It's Titletown, Massachusetts.