We're No. 1 (And No. 2)

Keeping with my recent theme of greatest seasons, I just saw that Sports Illustrated has a blurb (I'd link to it, but I can't find it online) listing the greatest sports years for whole cities. They came up with a simplistic formula for the four major sports, awarding five points for a championship, three for a conference title and one for a division and deducting one to three points for having the worst record in a division, conference of league.

I don't have much invested in this (I don't live in Boston, don't like most of the Philly teams and don't care about sports other than baseball and football). But it is interesting that on a list of championships, Philly and Boston would rank 1 and 2 (14 points for Philly's 1980 and 11 points for the great '04). And that the worst year was New York's 1966. Find me another list of championships topped by Philadelphia and Boston and ended with New York.

With much ado about the recent Boston sports mecca, the current championship run won't crack the list. It counts the calendar year for football, but playoff year for hockey and basketball. So, that's 5 points on the board for the Sox, at least 3, probably 5, for the Patriots, which could likely result in a tie for third. But the Celtics and Bruins were awful last year and have three deduction points.

I'm having a personal mecca. Since I don't follow hockey and basketball, I'll count my four teams as the Sox, Phils, Pats and Giants. That's 14 points for me this year.

In other sports: For the second straight week, I backed the home teams and got only half right. For the second straight week, since one upset involved the Giants and the other didn't involve the Patriots, I'm happy.

But now I've got buyer's remorse. The Giants (who knew they'd figure out how to be good in the playoffs?) are a joy to watch, and I have a greater connection to them. But I also like the Patriots and want to do away with all this '72 Dolphins nonsense.

Last night Christine called me a sellout when I said I'm favoring rooting for history over a team to which I have longer connections. {Yep, I think that basically sums up a sellout. My rooting is more black and white, no gray areas. I always pull for my team and would not be swayed for a chance at history. I would want my team to be the spoiler and ruin history for the other team. In the end, I know Greg will be rooting for the Patriots on the 3rd while wearing his Giants jersey. I'm curious how he'll react if the Phillies and Red Sox ever meet up in a World Series. He has already expressed a bit of ennui concerning the most recent championship, so would he root for the Phillies? Guess we'll find out in October.}

It's going to be a tough two weeks until the game's over. I'll say right now, I'm going to pick the Patriots, but I have no clue who I'll be rooting for.