@missy @rambo @lyxzen I used to follow sports a lot more than I do now. Football and tennis are the only ones I seem to get excited for anymore. It hasn't always been the case though. New England sports did indeed have a great impact on my life for many, many years. Mostly for futility, until the 2000's started. My teams seemed to have a penchant for choking when it came down to the wire. Enter the Red Sox.
How many times did they dash my hopes and dreams? And still I came back for more every year. Some of my favorites personages over the years, Wade Boggs
Roger Clemens
It still kills me that they later played for the Yankees. Jim Rice
Nomar
But the one who most epitomized those years is Bill Buckner (who by the way, was playing his ass off the entire series, playing hurt, and in no way deserved all the flak he got)
Not ashamed to say I cried. For football I always had 3 favorite teams. My third was the Dallas Cowboys. Too Tall Jones.
I had this poster on my wall for over 30 years. My second favorite team was the San Francisco 49'rs. And that was all Joe Montana.
My first team was obviously the New England Patriots.
Mind you, this was all the years that they sucked up until today. Tom Brady
Tedy Bruschi embodied the spirit. And can you come up with a better name than Bruschi?
Oh yeah, Gronk.
For hockey, there was only the Boston Bruins. Ray Bourque was THE defenseman!
When, after 20 years of being a Bruin, Ray left to pursue a Stanley cup I cheered him on. Nothing but respect, and I cried when he finally got it playing for Colorado. My team for basketball was always the Celtics.
Larry Bird was a genius on the Boston Garden floor.
This is still my favorite lineup. Parish, Bird, McCale, Ainge and DJ.
For tennis, I always followed the great American players. I was more of a McEnroe fan than Connors, except when Connors was making his last great run around 92, I think. But my favorites were the next generation of players. Agassi, Sampras, Chang, Courier, Martin. They were always fantastic to watch play. Agassi was the favorite though. From his flashy youth when he was all about style
to his rebirth as a rejuvinated veteran.
And no matter how poorly or great Sampras was playing, he always brought his A game when playing Andre. Always.
The year that Agassi finally won the French Open, I think I cried just as much as he did.
It's funny how much our favorite teams and players can have such an impact on us.