By Cullen McIntyre, Sports Editor
Winning has become a culture for the city of Boston. Since the year 2000, Boston has watched four of their major sports teams lift a total of 12 championships. The most coming from the New England Patriots dynasty, who have won a total of six Super Bowls since their first in 2001. The Patriots sixth win came in February of this year over the Los Angeles Rams for their sixth Lombardi Trophy.
The Boston Red Sox are the second highest contributor, with four since 2000. The first coming in 2004, breaking the 86 year “Curse of the Bambino” left by Babe Ruth. The most recent being the World Series win last October over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Boston Celtics and Bruins have each contributed one championship since 2000, in 2007/2008 and 2010/2011. Both teams have extremely successful histories, but have failed to do much in the 21st century.
With the Patriots and Red Sox having already won their respective championships, and the Celtics and Bruins currently competing in their sports playoffs, the city of Boston may witness something never seen before in sports, all four teams winning a championship in a year.
Knock on wood, do everything superstitious, anything to keep it alive after reading this, but it is entirely possible. The Bruins finished in second place in the Eastern Conference in the National Hockey League, only below the Tampa Bay Lightning who were swept in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets. With a team hungry for success and a deep playoff run, the Bruins have the talent to go all the way and lift the Stanley Cup.
The Celtics have a larger challenge ahead of them, as they have had a much less successful season in the NBA, finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association, below the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, and Philadelphia 76ers. Boston’s first round is against the Indiana Pacers, who are without star player Victor Oladipo who has been out since January. After the Pacers, the Celtics would have to match up with the Bucks in round two, and then the Raptors or 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
As challenging as the battle through the East sounds, the Celtics would face an even more impossible challenge presumably against the reigning champion Golden State Warriors, led by their all-star lineup.
But as impossible as the Celtics’ road ahead seems, they are full of talent and depth to go all the way in the playoffs this year. With star point guard Kyrie Irving leading a young core along with veteran big man Al Horford, the Celtics have an exciting team that wants to forget their poor regular season performance.
Should the Celtics and Bruins win their respective championships, the city of Boston would be witnessing something no city has ever seen in sports. Discounting soccer, which is heavily on the rise in the United States, no city has ever witnessed four championships in a year from their professional teams. Though should Boston reach this feat, they will still be below New York City’s total of 55 championships in all major sports.
The closest a city has come to this feat is Detroit in 1935 when the Lions won the Super Bowl, Tigers won the World Series, and Red Wins the Stanley Cup. At the time, there were no other possible championships as the Detroit Pistons did not form in the NBA until 1941. But since then, no city has won more than two in the same year, with Boston having done that twice.
There is the possibility that the Boston Celtics and Bruins could go on to win their respective championships, and I fully believe each team has the talent and capability of doing so. Each team has experience and depth in their lineup, and the Boston mentality of winning.
Should the feat be accomplished, 2018/2019 will go down in history not only in Boston but in the history of the sports world. It is an accomplishment that is nearly impossible, as the chances of having four teams from the same city in the playoffs is slim to none, and even lower to have all of them contending for championships.
We will not have an answer to this until early June, when both of the playoffs will be coming to an end. But Boston would truly claim the nickname they have earned since 2000, ‘Titletown.’