Late Blogust PT 1 “Region of Champions” August 29, 2007
Posted by boydzone in : points, sports , trackbackI recently returned back to Pittsburgh from a quick weekend trip to Boston to visit some friends. While breaking my vegetarianism in order to buy a $6 roast beef sandwich at the advice of Rick Sebak at Kelly’s on Revere Beach, I noticed a grandmother wearing a pink “City of Champions” ball cap. In addition to this slogan, the hat also had the Boston Redsox and New England Patriots logos on it. While gnawing on my sandwich, I never doubted if I should have spent the extra $11 to buy the lobster roll, but I did wonder about the validity of this hat’s claim.
One of my favorite articles of clothing is a mustard yellow t shirt that I bought at the Monroville Goodwill in 1999. It features a crude illustration of three logo/sports equipment merged monsters. One is a baseball with a peg leg, one is a football with a hard hat, the other is a hockey puck with a ducks bill and a tossle cap. These three figures are of course supposed to represent the three predominant sports teams in Pittsburgh and are all comfortably situated among the words “Pittsburgh, City of Champions”.
So, which city is the true City of Champions, Pittsburgh or Boston? Is this title something that only one town can claim ownership to, much like the Stanley Cup of the NHL?
In recent years, I suppose the Boston area has had some success in professional sports. The New England Patriots won three Superbowls in the early part of the 2000s and the Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 2004. As impressive as this is, the Patriots actually play in Foxboro, MA and are supposed to represent all of New England. At least Pittsburgh had the smarts to avoid this arguement by annexing the city that their stadiums are now located in.
Comments»
you make a good point, sir, regarding the complicated nature of concepts like “region of champions.” I, too, have struggled with the question of whether I am allowed to harbor the same sort of feelings toward my beloved new england championship teams as pittsburghers do toward theirs.. here are my two cents: though the pats play for the whole of new england, a) they used to be the boston patriots and b) new england is a cohesive unit, much the same way southwestern pennsylvania exists. most people living within 200 miles of pittsburgh (including west virginians?) probably tell folks they’re from pittsburgh when they travel abroad or speak with someone who isn’t “from around ‘ahr.” most of new england is found within that radius of boston, too.
although, I can’t really suggest boston is a region of champions again until the goddamn bruins get their act together.