The Sports Museumoffers an excellent introduction to Boston's favorite pastimes. Since the museum is housed inside the TD Banknorth Garden, visitors get the bonus of sneaking a peek inside the playpen of the Bruins and Celtics and gazing up at the teams' championship banners. Naturally, the city's four professional teams feature prominently in the museum, but there are also memorabilia, photographs, and interactive exhibits devoted to soccer, boxing, golf, horse racing, high school and college sports, and the Boston Marathon. A series of Armand LaMontagne wooden sculptures depict the city's sporting gods in familiar poses, but the statue of Ted Williams in a fishing vest and waders proudly displaying his latest catch will have visitors doing a double take. Museum artifacts include home plate from defunct Braves Field, an autographed pair of shoes worn by Adam Vinatieri when he kicked the winning field goal for the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI, and one of the penalty boxes from the old Boston Garden.
A short walk from the Garden is the statue of Red Auerbach, the legendary Celtics coach, clutching his signature stogie and holding court from a bench outside Quincy Market. Rub the shamrock on Red's championship ring for some luck of the Irish. Flanking Red are the bronzed Converse sneakers of Celtics legend Larry Bird and the running shoes of Bill Rodgers, four-time winner of the Boston Marathon.
Boston Common has been a proving ground for some of America's favorite sports. Baseball and football pioneers who played on the Common's parade ground in the 1800s shaped the development of their sports and drew thousands of spectators. Sports such as lacrosse and hurling were first introduced to Bostonians on the Common. In the Common's northwest corner is a monument to the Oneida Football Club, considered the country's first organized football club. The team played the "Boston game," a mix of soccer and rugby, on the Common between 1862 and 1865. The Oneidas were Boston's first sports dynasty, never scored upon, let alone defeated.
