March to Sea: Boston Sports Sink to an All-Time Low

In the wake of the tragedies of the past ten days, it is difficult to generate excitement and interest in the sporting world. Final scores of games played for entertainment have little meaning when juxtaposed against last Tuesday’s events.

It is certainly an odd feeling in this area. Boston is known to be a city gung-ho about its sports teams. The Red Sox are everyday front page news. The Patriots usually sell-out home games during the football season, and the Bruins and Celtics are glorified dynasties in their respective athletic organizations.

Yet, the reason why sports’ interest is almost non-existent in Beantown may not be directly related to the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers. Rather, it is possible that Boston fans are just sick of sports.

This is the worst time in the history of Boston sports, bar none. Never have Boston teams—across the board—been this futile. The Red Sox are the laughing stock of Major League Baseball. The entire team is in disarray. Jimy Williams is already gone, and Dan Duquette, John Harrington, Carl Everett and perhaps Joe Kerrigan are soon to follow. Pedro Martinez and Nomar Garciaparra have expressed their disgust with the team in recent days, only adding fuel to an already out-of-control fire.

The Patriots lost to the Cincinnati Bengals last week. Indisputably, the Bengals have been the worst team in the National Football League over the past five years. No matter how poorly the Pats finish the season, the team cannot be any worse than it is at this moment. Losing to the Bengals is embarrassing—two weeks ago, it may have even been called tragic.

The Bruins have not made the playoffs in consecutive seasons. To put that in perspective, the Bruins made the playoffs every year from 1968-1996. That’s 29 straight seasons with a playoff appearance. The team’s recent absence in postseason play is directly related to owner Jeremy Jacobs’ stranglehold on the team’s budget. His reluctance to spend money has resulted in a drastic fall-off in production. If things could not get any worse, Jacobs is now a leading candidate to become the new owner of the Red Sox. Let the parties begin.

Finally, we arrive at the Celtics. Once the most dominant team in sports, the Celtics have not made the playoffs since the 1992-93 season. That’s eight consecutive seasons with a losing record. Obviously, the Celtics have never been this bad in the team’s storied franchise history.

Is there hope on the horizon? Probably not. Since Bill Buckner’s error and Len Bias’ death in 1986, no Boston team has won a championship. This from a city that craves professional sports on an almost unparalleled level.

Yet, Boston sports fans will not give up. WEEI, the local sports radio station, recently found itself number one in ratings among all radio stations in afternoon broadcasts. In other words, more people were listening to sports radio than any other station.

Boston’s athletic misery does not compare to last week’s sorrow. Fans should be thankful for life and loved ones in these grevious days rather than shaking their collective head at athletes, coaches, and owners.

But I’m a sports fan and cannot forget. Maybe I’m just pessimistic, betrayed one too many times by recent failures. Maybe Boston will rise again sooner than I think. But for the time being, there has never been a more depressing time to be a Boston sports fan. Where have you gone, Ted Williams, Bill Russell, and Bobby Orr? A sports nation turns its lonely eyes to you.