Sports in the City
On one of my recent trips from Hogtown to Beantown, my landing to Logan was 'enlightened' by a series of baseball fields across the city. You don' t really notice it from the ground, but on that evening, from up in the clouds, there seemed to be a baseball field in every direction. From the vantage point they looked to be no more than 4 inches apart either - and for as far as the eye could see. "Wow - can a city really be THAT into baseball?" I thought.
Yep - they can be and are. Sports are what people live and breathe in this city, from all parts of the region and all social/economic classes. Clearly sports can bring diverse groups together. Now I'm frow a town known to be crazy for hockey (although really I think Montrealers win that one - we don't riot after games the same way they do), but nothing could have prepared me for the total enthusiasm for sports. I had also heard that Boston was a hockey town - compared to most of the US that might be true, but the sport really takes a back seat to two other sports that rule around here.
Baseball and football. Bostonians seem to be side-swipe-shocked that neither team made it through the playoffs this year, and have resentfully watched Chicago, Pittsburgh and Seattle sweep to glory in 'their sports'.
What does this sports obsession have to say about the place? Well I think its representative of the competitive attitude among Bostonians in general. They do get all fired up for games, and bring a lot of that same intesity to their places of work. Its quite popular to use the sports analogy of 'playing to win' in the board room, and success is spoken of as 'wins', 'victory' and 'scores'. Does it make them more successful? Yes, I think so. If you don't settle for second, you play to win. At home an attitude like that is sometimes spoken of as not being 'accomodating' enough to those with 'other advantages.' The problems is, we play at the international economy games to - but are we in it to win?
And the hockey thing kinda has me bummed - I mean I thought the fact my dad grew up in Parry Sound, around the corner from Bobby Orr would win me some brownie points! Most people just say "Bobby who?" when I tell 'em.
On one of my recent trips from Hogtown to Beantown, my landing to Logan was 'enlightened' by a series of baseball fields across the city. You don' t really notice it from the ground, but on that evening, from up in the clouds, there seemed to be a baseball field in every direction. From the vantage point they looked to be no more than 4 inches apart either - and for as far as the eye could see. "Wow - can a city really be THAT into baseball?" I thought.
Yep - they can be and are. Sports are what people live and breathe in this city, from all parts of the region and all social/economic classes. Clearly sports can bring diverse groups together. Now I'm frow a town known to be crazy for hockey (although really I think Montrealers win that one - we don't riot after games the same way they do), but nothing could have prepared me for the total enthusiasm for sports. I had also heard that Boston was a hockey town - compared to most of the US that might be true, but the sport really takes a back seat to two other sports that rule around here.
Baseball and football. Bostonians seem to be side-swipe-shocked that neither team made it through the playoffs this year, and have resentfully watched Chicago, Pittsburgh and Seattle sweep to glory in 'their sports'.
What does this sports obsession have to say about the place? Well I think its representative of the competitive attitude among Bostonians in general. They do get all fired up for games, and bring a lot of that same intesity to their places of work. Its quite popular to use the sports analogy of 'playing to win' in the board room, and success is spoken of as 'wins', 'victory' and 'scores'. Does it make them more successful? Yes, I think so. If you don't settle for second, you play to win. At home an attitude like that is sometimes spoken of as not being 'accomodating' enough to those with 'other advantages.' The problems is, we play at the international economy games to - but are we in it to win?
And the hockey thing kinda has me bummed - I mean I thought the fact my dad grew up in Parry Sound, around the corner from Bobby Orr would win me some brownie points! Most people just say "Bobby who?" when I tell 'em.
posted by Jen S. @ 6:11 PM
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