Boston Sports

Bostonians, some of the most intense and loyal sports fans in the country, have gotten used to living a sports purgatory. Blessed with arguably the most successful franchise in professional sports, the 16-time NBA champion Celtics, Boston is also home to the laudable legacy of the Red Sox and the infamous "curse of the Bambino."

Boston Baseball
In 1918, the Red Sox won their fourth World Series in seven years. Their hero was a young left-handed pitcher named Babe Ruth, who had set a Series record by throwing 30 consecutive scoreless innings. But, beginning a long-standing Sox tradition of shooting themselves in the foot, their owner sold Babe's contract to the Yankees in order to finance production of a Broadway show.

As the history books make plain, the Yanks and The Babe went on to great things, and the Sox... Well, Babe's curse reigned over splendid Fenway Park for years, even resisting a 1992 exorcism performed by Father Guido Sarducci of Saturday Night Live fame. It wasn't until 2004 that, despite some admirable attempts in the in-between years, the Red Sox finally achieved baseball's greatest glory again.

Can they do it again, or will it be another 86 years before the ultimate victory is theirs again? To find out, a trip to Fenway Park is a must if you are visiting Boston between April and October. Built in 1912, the stadium is the smallest in the Major Leagues and that means tickets are correspondingly pricey and hard to come by. You can call the ticket office in advance at (617) 267-1700 to see if they have seats available, or take your chances with the scalpers or the box office lines.

In selecting a seat at Fenway, you'd have to try very hard to go wrong. The worse you will run into are the seats at the top of the grandstand underneath the roofed boxes. It's a bit claustrophobic up there, and you might just find a steel girder partially impeding your view of the field. To avoid that and the high ticket prices, you could always sit in the uncovered bleachers in right field. The view of the game isn't quite as good, but the feel of the park is just as impressive. Plus, the fans are normally more fun -- unless it's raining of course.

The ballpark opens an hour and a half before the first pitch, so that you can head down early, check out batting practice, and try to snare a few balls. Or if you'd like to see Fenway from the inside out, call (617) 236-6666 to take an entertaining hour long tour of the stadium.

The 'T' is the best way to get to Fenway, as there's very little parking around the stadium. Take any of the green lines to the Kenmore stop, walk a block west down Commonwealth to Brookline Ave. Turn left on Brookline and the park is over the bridge on your left.

As celebrated as it is, Fenway may not be around for much longer. The small number of seats without a possibility of expansion means less income for the ownership, and that means trouble for the fans. However you feel about baseball, the opportunity to see one of the last classic parks is something that should not be missed.

Basketball & Hockey
Another historical experience has already been lost to those who never saw a game in the storied Boston Gardens. In 1995, both the Celtics and the National Hockey League's reasonably successful Bruins moved from the old Gardens into the flashy, modern FleetCenter. The faithful were less than happy about the change. Sure, the FleetCenter is more comfortable (there are no rodents and it actually has air conditioning), but to the history conscious, it isn't the same. The glittery and sterile Fleet just doesn't seem to go with the blue collar Celts and Bruins.

The parquet floor, which was originally made in 1946, is still getting pounded on by the NBA's big bodies, and the rafter is still filled with championship banners and legendary numbers. Just look up and maybe you'll feel like you're back in the old Gardens with Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, and Larry Bird.

Even given the public's dissatisfaction towards the new "entertainment complex" and the poor form of the Celtics and Bruins in recent years, tickets are generally still tough to get.

To get to the FleetCenter, take the 'T' green line eastbound (the Lechmere train) out of downtown to the North Station 'T'-stop. It's right there in front of you when you get off the train.

Football & Soccer
After putting down some serious dough on the Red Sox or the Celtics, why not budget yourself with some cheaper tickets to see Boston's newest franchise, Major League Soccer's New England Revolution. The Revolution share Foxboro Stadium with original tenants, the New England Patriots.

Normally, getting tickets to see the Revs isn't a problem. And since they only sell tickets to the lower sections of the stadium for soccer matches, getting a quality seat shouldn't be a concern either.

More worrisome might be getting to the stadium. Foxboro, MA is a small town forty-five minutes south of Boston, halfway to Providence, Rhode Island. To get there, you can either take a commuter train from South Station to Walpole, which will get you within four miles of the stadium, or -- if you value traveling ease -- you can drive.

Don't ask why the stadium is where it is, but here are the directions: Foxboro is on Route 1, and you can take that south out of the western part of the city all the way. A faster course might be to get on 95 South; get off at exit 9: Route 1 and head south for 3 miles. Either way, Route 1 around the stadium is going to be a mess both coming and going. Also, expect to pay at least $15 in parking.

The Revolution play from the end of March to the beginning of October, and the Patriots play from September to December. Getting to a football game is considerably easier because the powers that be run a rather haphazard bus that goes from the commuter rail station to the stadium.

Even before the Pats embarked on their undefeated 2007-08 season, getting Patriots tickets is a trick Houdini would drool over. To get seats at all will probably require either vast sums of cash or a little season ticket nepotism. But, you can call Ticketmaster at (617) 931-2222 far in advance just to make sure there are no available tickets.

Whatever the game in whatever venue, you'll be sure to enjoy the passionate Boston crowd. Sometimes, they make the show.

by Brendon Hanley

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