2007 has been a great year for sports fan in Boston, with the city's national sides in all of America's major competitive sports tasting a degree of success, from baseball to soccer.
The Boston Red Sox have quickly become America's favourite baseball team, outshining their east coast rivals, the New York Yankees. The Sox topped their Eastern Division, and then beat Central Division champions the Cleveland Indians by four games to three in the American League Championship Series play-offs; before storming to victory in the World Series, defeating National League champions, and World Series rookies the Colorado Rockies. The Red Sox won the Series in four games, sweeping the Rockies to collect their second World Series championship in four seasons and their seventh overall. It also marked the third sweep in four years by the American League champions. In the process, the Red Sox became the first team to win the last two World Series they had appeared in since the New York Yankees who achieved it in 1998 and 1999.
Not to be outdone, Boston's football team, the New England Patriots, recorded another successful season, being crowned Division Champions for the fifth season in a row. If their current form continues through the play-offs, they could well find themselves in the 42nd annual Super Bowl in March 2008 as American Football Conference Champions.
Things are also looking promising for Boston's basketball team, the Boston Celtics, who hold the record for most NBA championships ever with 16. After a disappointing 2006-2007 season, which saw them play to a 24-58 record, the second worst in all of the NBA, the Celtics are once again sitting at the top of the Atlantic Division, having won twenty games and lost only two so far this season, and are almost certain to make it to the play-offs.
Another team improving on their fortunes after a disastrous 2006-2007 season is the Boston Bruins, Boston's ice hockey team. They finished bottom of the league last season, but have fought their way to serious championship contention this season, currently sitting in second place of their Northeast Atlantic Division.
The NFL, NHL and NBA seasons are all still in full swing, and anyone wishing to catch Boston's teams in action on their home turf can book into a hotel in Boston.
Although they don't play in Boston itself, the Foxborough-based New England Revolution soccer team represents all of New England. Up until their 3-2 victory over FC Dallas in the 2007 US Open Cup, the Revolution had never won a major trophy in Major League Soccer in their thirteen-year history. They were one of three teams in MLS that date back further than 2005 to have not won one of the three major titles in MLS (MLS Cup, US Open Cup and the MLS Supporter's Shield). They came close five times, reaching the US Open Cup final in 2001 and the MLS Cup finals in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
There's never been a batter time to be a sports fan in Boston, and those fans will be hoping that trend continues for some time.
