Drubbing the Hub

Hey, did you know it was New York bashing season here in Boston?

First, Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe wrote a pathetic column last week trashing New York fans and teams, especially the Knicks and the Rangers.

Then, Sunday and Monday nights, Channel 4's Bob Lobel decided it would be cute to say something to the effect of "Wouldn't it be nice if both the Knicks and Rangers lost their current series?"

Ha,ha,ha!

I guess they have nothing better to talk about, since the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins are practicing their golf games or starring on cruises right now.

I mean, these guy haven't had so much free time this part of the year since the season before Larry Bird became a Celtic.

Chicago also got trashed by these divine preachers. As we all know by now, Scottie Pippen refused to play the last 1.8 seconds of Friday's game since the play wasn't going to him. However, the Bulls fans gave him a standing ovation before Game Four.

Now these Bostonians claim that a standing "O" would never have been given to a Celtic who did that and that the citizens of Chicago are stupid.

Yeah, right. If your team was on the brink of playoff elimination and your star player was in a controversy, you don't think you would support him, even if that guy was a moron.

Imagine Bird being booed off the court at the Boston Garden with his team trailing 2-1 in a playoff series.

It wouldn't happen.

And Bostonians must have fallen off the bandwagon regarding the Red Sox. Hey, they were so great when they were 20-8. People were claiming they would win the World Series.

But after a three game sweep by the New York Yankees and a five-game losing streak, the Red Sox aren't the main story in Beantown any-more.

However, let's not get into a war of words here. I mean, we didn't ask you to get rid of Babe Ruth or make Bill Buckner and Bob Stanley blow Game Six of the 1986 World Series.

Bostonians and Boston sports writers, just take a look and admire what New York's teams have done, not trash them.

If you are jealous, then keep it inside, because it only makes you look very unprofessional when people read or hear your material. And yes, a good percentage of your viewers and readers do come from New York and places others than Boston.

The Knicks, even if they fall to the Bulls for the umpteenth year in a row, made it to the second round despite not having too much talent and injuries to key players like John Starks.

Pat Riley should be praised for his coaching. A guy who had the likes of Magic and Kareem got stuck with the likes of Anthony Mason and Greg Anthony and still has led his team to two straight divisional titles.

How about the Rangers?

They haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1940 (22 years later than the Red Sox last won a World Series), but they have a great shot at winning it this year, even if they lost of the first game of the Stanley Cup semifinals to the Devils

And at the trading deadline--with a team holding the best record in the league--Rangers coach Mike Keenan and general manager Neil Smith pulled off several trades to make their team that much more solid.

Hey, they might not win the Cup and New Yorkers realize that. However, if you followed the words of Mr. Shaughnessy, who also happened to trash the city of St. Louis when he though they would steal the New England Patriots (zero Super Bowl wins), you would think all New Yorkers were talking about the Rangers as already having won the Cup.

So guys, lay off the New York jokes because it can become a very nasty situation. You wouldn't want other people coming in and saying that Boston is just another suburb of New York. With whiners like you, New Yorkers wouldn't want to be associated with Boston anyway.

(Editor's note--Dave: Get used to it. It's ALWAYS New York bashing season in Boston. Besides, Bucky Dent can break Boston's bones, but words never seem to hurt the Big Apple--DMK)