Boston the best sports city of all time?

[Phishfan]

Yankees + football Giants + Rangers + Knicks (i.e. the senior NY clubs in each sport) puts NY at 36.  Try again.

How did you determine these to be senior? As an Isles fan, they have just as many cups.

[Guru-In-Vegas]

^^^ I think he just meant to pluck one team out of every sport in order to debunk the "NY has 2 of every sport" point.

[Spider-Dan]

The senior team is the team that existed first.

[jtex316]

What's a "2nd city mentality"?

[bsmooth]

So NY vs. Boston is a pointless argument, but let's try something a little more innovative:

LA vs. Boston

Boston has a significant advantage in that like many large northeast cities, Boston is old.  In many sports, LA didn't even get a team until 20-30 years after Boston.

If you start the clock after both cities had a team in each major sport (1968, when LA got the Kings), the count is:

LA- 16
Boston- 16

(keep in mind that LA hasn't had a football team for over 15 years)

Since MikeO has breached the sunject, do you count NCAA titles too? Boston vs LA in NCAA titles  woud be interesting too

[MikeO]

What's a "2nd city mentality"?

A term used for a fan who KNOWS their team is inferior to another team so they go above and beyond to prop their team up by whatever means necessary. So as not to come off as 2nd best.

The original term was that Chicago was/is refered to for years as the "2nd city"....size wise to NYC. Then they lost that title to L.A at some point in the past as LA grew population wise and went past Chicago. And Chicago people were furiou about being passed by and tried to hold onto thier "2nd city" nickname and they got upset when another city (LA) was refered to as the "2nd city". Hence, "2nd city mentality". Chicago was unable to accept they were passed by.

It's a term that carried over into other walks of life over the years. Sports being one of them. Some "fans" just can't accept being anything less than #1 in anything. Hence the term "2nd city Mentality".

It REALLY picked up a life of its own in 1969. When the New York Mets overcame the Chicago Cubs 9 1/2 game lead and New York’s mayor, John Lindsay, stated that, "Chicago is still the second city."

[MikeO]

Since MikeO has breached the sunject, do you count NCAA titles too? Boston vs LA in NCAA titles  woud be interesting too

Well UCLA Basketball blows everything away. And USC Football (even if you don't count the tainted championship recently).

In Boston you have nothing. Boston College is a fine school, but they have won almost nothing major. And the fans in the Boston area really don't care much for BC sports. It is a distant 5th behind all the major pro teams in the area.

[Spider-Dan]

I think even UCLA football and USC basketball are better than BC?  Can't say I care enough to be sure.

edit: Here's the answer:

Basketball- UCLA is best ever by a mile, USC and BC are comparable (BC leads in NCAA appearances 18-16 and many more 8/16 finishes, but has never made Final Four; USC has been in Final Four twice)

Football- USC is significantly better than the other two, UCLA is significantly better than BC (17 to 1 in conference titles, 1 to 0 in national titles)

Baseball- USC is best ever by a mile (they have twice as many nat'l championships as the next closest team), UCLA is slightly better than BC (BC leads in CWS appearances 4-3 but UCLA leads in NCAA appearances 17-7)

In football/basketball/baseball, it would be hard to argue that is LA is not the greatest college sports city of all time.

P.S. MikeO, UT is Austin, not Dallas (Austin is ~200 miles away from Dallas).  Dallas' university would probably be considered SMU, or maybe Baylor (but Baylor is ~100 miles away).

[Phishfan]

A term used for a fan who KNOWS their team is inferior to another team so they go above and beyond to prop their team up by whatever means necessary. So as not to come off as 2nd best.

The original term was that Chicago was/is refered to for years as the "2nd city"....size wise to NYC. Then they lost that title to L.A at some point in the past as LA grew population wise and went past Chicago. And Chicago people were furiou about being passed by and tried to hold onto thier "2nd city" nickname and they got upset when another city (LA) was refered to as the "2nd city". Hence, "2nd city mentality". Chicago was unable to accept they were passed by.

It's a term that carried over into other walks of life over the years. Sports being one of them. Some "fans" just can't accept being anything less than #1 in anything. Hence the term "2nd city Mentality".

It REALLY picked up a life of its own in 1969. When the New York Mets overcame the Chicago Cubs 9 1/2 game lead and New York’s mayor, John Lindsay, stated that, "Chicago is still the second city."

I have never heard of LA as "second city". That title is still Chicago's as far as I know.

[TonyB0D]

F boston and new england, i'm so sick of them winning everything and having to live up here during this run of dominance.  please go back to sucking terribly at sports again

[Jim Gray]

But I will make a comparsion of a region. City of Dallas, 20 year stretch (1991-2011) using a MAJOR college team as well as they draw more fans to games than most pro teams so I count it in my book

3 Super Bowls from 92,93, 95
Stanley cup in 1999
UT 2006 National Champs in Football
Mavs 2011 NBA Champs
UT Baseball 2002, 2005 National Champs

That's not counting a stanley cups they lost, a world series they lost, and a final four they lost. That city has had a nice run of getting to the "BIG GAME"

P.S....FOR THE RECORD, nobody is or was knocking the city of Boston either, so get off your 2nd city mentality and get over it!

You can't count UT wins for Dallas.  UT is in Austin, 180 miles from Dallas (about the same distance between NYC and Boston). 

[Spider-Dan]

As I said, SMU (or maybe Baylor) would be the local university for Dallas.  I'm sure there are UT fans in Dallas (just as there are UF fans in Miami), but UT is not really Dallas' local team.

edit: TCU is also within the DFW metroplex.

[Pappy13]

I'm sure there are UT fans in Dallas (just as there are UF fans in Miami), but UT is not really Dallas' local team.

I wanna see you convince UT fans in Dallas of this.

[Jim Gray]

UT is not a Dallas university.  Sure, there are plenty of UT fans in Dallas, along with plenty of OU and Nebraska fans.  Having a big fan base in a city doesn't mean it's the same "sports region".  Before the Marlins, the Braves were the "local" team for S. Florida; but you wouldn't expect Miami claim them as a team. 

Austin and Dallas are as far apart physically and culturally as New York and Boston.  Austin is a major city in it's own right (14th largest by population in the US), with a greater population than Boston.  I've lived in Austin for the past 15 years and find it insulting to be grouped in with Dallas (no offense to the posters from Dallas, just standing up for my adopted city).   I can see grouping Dallas and Ft. Worth together, and considering TCU the local team.   Beyond that......nope.

[Pappy13]

^^I'm really sorry that you're insulted, but I think you may be insulting a few people as well. I'm not one of them, so I won't argue with you, but I know there are people who would in Dallas. Just saying.