“We’re not like some towns which haven’t won anything,’’ Brian Codagnone, associate curator of the New England Sports Museum, said yesterday in a bit of an understatement. Cities like Chicago (think Cubs) and Toronto (Maple Leafs) still have their own excruciating title droughts to deal with, but Boston has hereby forfeited its right to moan about choke jobs, ghosts, and near misses.
Should local fans mourn the loss of a true title drought? “Which would you rather have,’’ asked Codagnone with a chuckle, “championship teams or the right to complain?’’
Vancouver fans might say that’s a no-brainer. But around here, the right to complain stands alongside the right to jaywalk through Kenmore Square on game night. This is a city where fans write off their baseball team after an 0-6 start and call for the Bruins’ coach to be fired every time they trail in a series. Can the Boston sports fan really put on a happy face? Or will they now just take to flaunting all their titles in the faces of rival fans?
All over the city and across the region yesterday, bleary-eyed fans were still drunk with giddiness, as they celebrated the Bruins’ exhilarating Game 7 triumph.
At TD Garden’s pro shop, where crowds lined up to buy Stanley Cup title memorabilia, Dan Giatrelis, 48, of Middleton, was shopping with his wife, Tammy, and daughter Meredith, 11, and son Nick, 8. Giatrelis, a Bruins season ticket holder, was wearing a Milan Lucic jersey, but he said his family follows all four major Boston teams avidly.
Was he worried about Bruins fans losing their edge now that the Cup was finally theirs? “No,’’ he replied, “because when you finally win a championship, you should embrace it.’’
