This year has been a fantastic year for any Boston sports fan. In the past 7 months, two Boston teams have won two championships. In October 2018, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series for their ninth all time championship. In February 2019, the New England Patriots won SuperBowl LII for their sixth all time championship. These two championships are the latest evidence of why Boston is the city of champions.
As Boston sports teams have won two major league sports consecutive championships, a storm is brewing and its centered in Boston. With two championships in the books, the city is waiting on two more teams to see how they stack up in their respective playoffs. Both the Boston Bruins and the Boston Celtics have advanced to the second round of each of their championship roads.
The storm that is brewing is the storm of the banners. The city of Boston is equipped for all four major professional sports teams to win the championship in the same year. No city has ever completed the sweep of all four leagues; NFL, NHL, NBA, and the MLB. Only once has any city won three championships in one year. That city is Detroit in 1935-36. The Detroit Lions won the NFL Championship (before the NFL and AFL combined, thus before the SuperBowl era), the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup, and the Detroit Tigers won the World Series. As this was during the Great Depression, this was great news for a manufacturing-heavy city.
Flash forward to 2019, the city of Boston has stolen that crown. Boston was the first city to win a championship in all four major sports in the 2000s. Boston is also the only city to ever have won a championship in all four major sports within a 10 year-span. The city of champions is now Boston, and that title has no end in sight.
As of May 5th, 2019, the Boston Bruins hold a 3 games to 2 lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second round of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. Game 6 of that series will be held on Monday, May 6th at 7:00 PM. If the Bruins win Game 6, they will have punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals and will play the Carolina Hurricanes. IF they lose Game 6, the Bruins will head home to play Game 7 in Boston on Wednesday, May 8th if needed.
As of May 5th, 2019, the Boston Celtics trail the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the 2019 NBA Finals. The #4 seed Celtics trail the #1 seed Bucks 2 games to 1. The Celtics will be playing at home also on Monday, May 6th at 7:00 PM. The game times conflict between the Bruins and Celtics, so switching channels will be necessary. In Game 4, the Celtics wish to even the series to 2-2. The Milwaukee Bucks were the best team in the NBA during the regular season. The Celtics have their work cut out for them if they want to win the series. Celtics guard Marcus Smart is also active for Monday night’s game, as he has been missing from the active roster during the first and second round of the playoffs. The Celtics hope that he can make a difference on stopping the Bucks’ offense.
If the Celtic and Bruins win their championships this year, it will be the first ever major league sports sweep by any one city. The Red Sox and Patriots have already completed their goals of championships. Now it is up to the Bruins and Celtics to win theirs and place the city of Boston atop the major league sports pedestal. With that being said, good luck to both teams and we hope to see two more banners hanging in the TD Garden next fall.
