Comments on: Washington is a “Football” town; what’s yours?

By: Todd Boss

Todd Boss — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 18:07:45 +0000

Coincidentally, for those of you who thought this was a useless topic, here's a couple links to major writers who have done the same. Craig Calcaterra on NBC's Hardball blog posted last week, and now super-baseball writer Joe Posnanski has done the same.

By: Todd Boss

Todd Boss — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:50:31 +0000

I just find it amusing that such a throw-away article caused so much reaction. If i had added a caveat somewhere in the article that said, ” keep in mind this is how things are viewed today, not in all of history” would that have mattered? I mean, there was no other pro sports BESIDES baseball for most of the 20th century, so why not just say that EVERY city used to be a baseball town (to your Pittsburgh referecne)?

For me the interesting takeaway of the analysis (even if you don’t necessarily agree with it) was the specific cities that I listed as being Baseball first. New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Boston and Cincinnati. The teams in those cities date to (in order) 1901, 1876/1901, 1882, 1901 and 1882. Only Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have teams that date that old which have stayed in their original cities, but these cities have seen the rise of other teams overtake Baseball while the Phillies/Pirates have floundered.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 03:37:59 +0000

Todd, I’m not writing for DoD any more, I’m commenting as a fan who has studied this issue for years. The Cubs are an aberration, but not completely. They’ve made the playoffs quite a few times since 1984. My point is that teams become “fill in the sport” towns because of winning. After Ted Williams retired, baseball was a joke in Boston and Fenway was considered a dump….then 1967. And Boston has had maybe five losing baseball seasons since. Baseball was king in Pittsburgh until 1972. Since then, the Steelers have, like three losing seasons and six rings. Pirates one since then. When the skins made the Super Bowl in 72 there was no other sport in town. None. And only the Bullets have a ring since then, but as soon as the Caps and Nats won, fan interest spiked. I didn’t mean to insult you. But it’s all about winning, with, maybe, the Cubs as an exception. If the skins stink for the next decade and one of the other teams brings home some titles, the tide will shift. Fans around the globe like winning. That’s why I think trying to name towns as one type of sports town or another is pointless. It makes for a fun debate, but has little basis n fact.

By: Todd Boss

Todd Boss — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 17:45:29 +0000

Fair enough. Its a similar story to Baltimore; if you asked in 1996 its a baseball town all the way. I guess I should have made that distinction in the article. This article was something I wrote on a whim nearly 2 years ago and threw it out there to publish some quick content. Perhaps not my best work

By: Luke Erickson

Luke Erickson — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 17:11:23 +0000

Now, you would. Twenty years ago? Hell, no. I can only speak from having lived in New England for 30+ years, the last nine in the City of Sin (Lynn, where you never come out the way you came in). Prior to that, if you’d asked about Boston football, they’d make a reference to Doug Flutie.

By: Myrubberarm

Myrubberarm — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:59:58 +0000

Today’s WP quotes Nat’s Rizzo about wanting to make DC a baseball town. A nice wish and good PR statement, but it ain’t gunna happen. DC is a football town period. Redskins have now sucked for many years (excepting this past season) and dominates sports talk/news all year long, every year–even when Caps were pretty good.

By: Todd Boss

Todd Boss — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:57:59 +0000

Miami, Atlanta and Phoenix seemed to be the hardest to “assign” in this little inane activity. I agree on all counts that “none” may be a better option than assigning a sport.

In the 2004-5 timeframe, I worked with a guy who was a huge Houston fan … and they were in the playoffs against the Braves. We were astounded to learn that Atlanta wasn’t selling out for playoff games … and were on our way to booking flights and buying tickets when a family issue came up. But that’s still pretty amazing; they were so spoiled by the Braves success that winning divisional titles became passe. Maybe they’ll recover now that the Braves have been supplanted at the top (the one-game playoff oversold Turner field’s capacity by nearly 3,000 seats …)

By: Todd Boss

Todd Boss — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:54:31 +0000

You can probably make the same argument about Green Bay vs Milwaukee honestly. But, if you asked a Boston native whether or not they claimed the Patriots as their team, you’d likely hear “yes.” So for the purposes of “assigning” teams to cities I took the easy way out.

Boston is a tough one to really classify. I think it comes down to the Celtics or the Red Sox. No other city with such a long baseball history also has a basketball team with comparable history. But I just get the impression that it still all comes back to the Red Sox. You don’t see movies being made surrounding the mystique and aura of the Boston Celtics.

By: Todd Boss

Todd Boss — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:49:56 +0000

I disagree; The Cubs havn’t won a world series in a century … but I think the heart of Chicago sports belongs to the Cubs.

Why insult me by saying “this article is ridiculous?” I don’t log into your blog and insult you.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 01:09:30 +0000

This is nonsense. Towns get into teams that win. Period. If the Pirates win
Six World Series over the next 12 years it will become a “baseball town.” Fans support winners plain and simple. DC would already be a hockey or baseball town if the media didn’t buy into the all redskins all the time claptrap. Please, this article is ridiculous.