It’s Stanley Cup Final Eve. The night when Lord Stanley comes to visit houses and deliver to children…okay not so much. But game one between the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks is tomorrow night and game two occurs on Father’s Day Eve; so that should be a party. I know you’ve never heard the term Father’s Day Eve before.
But people in Boston and Chicago don’t need to invent fake holidays to have an excuse to drink. Insane sports fans in both towns drink heavily enough as it is. And that’s just one of the many similarities between the cities of Boston and Chicago.
So today I feel the need to re-publish an excerpt of an essay I wrote about the city of Boston and it’s similarities to Chicago in 2007.
Sporting Interests
Like Wrigleyville, the streets surrounding Fenway Park have a plethora of sports bars. The oldest stadium in baseball, Fenway is just like Wrigley Field, one of very few MLB parks located in a real city neighborhood. After two World Series titles in four years, the Boston Red Sox bandwagon grew at a “wicked fast” rate. However, the genuine breed of Sox fan is better depicted by the historical ethnography Now I can Die in Peace written by my media role model Bill Simmons. I blogged about my visit to Fenway experience and I as told it was a ‘Wicked Pissah’ of a read.
Boston fans share our passion for the home teams. My polarizing Halloween costume of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is one of the best outfits I’ve ever had. In the years I had it my social media profile pic, Patriots fans from all over cyberspace rallied out.
Higher Learning
Boston seems to value education and intelligence more than ‘The Chi.’ Cambridge, with M.I.T. and Harvard, is nicknamed ‘The Left Bank of Boston’ and attracts many visitors, tourists and locals alike. The University of Chicago and Northwestern, two schools in the same top tier, are located in parts of the city that very few people glamorize, let alone frequent. (Yeah I know NU borders Chicago, it’s not in the city limits, but close enough so deal with it) I know girls from the U of C. who proudly wore t-shirts reading: “University of Chicago: where fun goes to die.” Really. I’ve spoken with people who’ve lived in both cities, and they seem to think that intellectuals are usually treated better in Boston.
Politically Blue Streak
If you watched the 2004 presidential election on television, you might recall Illinois being the first “blue state” on the electoral map. With Haymarket Square, Upton Sinclair, the Weather Underground and the Daley Dynasty’s Democratic dominance, Chicago has a political tradition bluer than a Smurf. Boston has similar socially progressive values. From the days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the Same Sex Marriage amendment, they’ve been way ahead of the rest of the country on sociopolitical issues. Massachusetts was the first state to outlaw slavery in 1783, almost a hundred years before the Emancipation Proclamation. It’s also home to America’s ultimate dissidents, our most glorified “left-wing” of freedom fighters- the patriots who started the revolution in the 1770s.
Overall, home really isn’t about your mailing address, or where your teams play or what region produces your favorite entertainment products. It’s more about the state of mind than the actual state. Home is the place where you can be surrounded by the people who share your interests, values, and ideals.
To read the rest of the Boston essay click here
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net. (“Quasi-endorsed” by Philadelphia Eagles Coach Chip Kelly) He’s also an author who also contributes regularly to MSN, Fox Sports , Chicago Now, Walter Football.com and Yardbarker
Banks has appeared on the History Channel, as well as Clear Channel, ESPN and CBS radio all over the world. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@PaulMBanks), like him on Facebook