Name Calling

Forget Manny, I’m sick of Papelbon being Papelbon; Brady being Brady; Matt Ryan being Brady; and I’m already tired of KG being, well, KG circa 1994 and his senior year at Farragut Career Academy. How the hell did this happen? When did Boston become Mecca for US sports? Did Ben Affleck sell his soul? Is this retribution for John Kerry and Michael Dukakis? Tea Party Part Deux? Seriously, what is going on in chowda-town?! Actually, I rather not know. I just saw a few clips of celebratory Sox fans in the streets of Boston and my heartburn just made its way past the Prilosec.


Matt Ryan does his best Tom Brady impression

This is truly a landmark day for Boston sports. I can only imagine the internal struggle amongst Halloween goers in Beantown – what jersey do you wear come Wednesday? And how about the sports editor at The Globe. Cleary the Sox are the lead story on Monday, but Colts Week began at about 7:15 PM Sunday afternoon – at what point does the cover story switch back to the Pats? Oh yea, the NBA season tips-off this week. Can you imagine if Garnett, Pierce and Allen drop 30 points-a-piece on the Wiz this Friday? Bill Simmons’ computer might start smoking.

Okay, enough venting. I’m man enough to admit that the source of this script is pure jealousy. I grew up in the New Jersey Metro and New York sports have always been a dominant force on the national stage. But even when the Knicks and Rangers swapped game seven stories in 1994, only one team came out with a title and both were upstaged by OJ. A-Rod did his best to pull a White Ford Bronco this afternoon by announcing that he was opting out of his contract, but the sad part is that Red Sox Nation will probably opt for World Series MVP Mike Lowell instead – and who could blame them? I’d choose a head first slide over a hand first slap any day.














So tonight I watch in awe of all that you’ve been able to accomplish this fall. Hopefully by the time you roll into Baltimore December 3rd, your luck, and all the beer in Boston will have run out. But one thing is for sure, even though Cheers closed its doors more than a decade ago, everyone now knows your name (AD). And they’re sick of it.