Greg Meyer

BRADY AND PATRIOTS TRANSCENDANT

/ Toni Reavis / Leave a comment

 

 

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The Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy – author of The Curse of the Bambino, no less, a book about the Boston Red Sox – suggested in his Super Bowl lead today that the New England Patriots’ improbable, cataclysmic, can-you-effing-believe-it! 25 point comeback win over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51 may be the greatest moment in Boston sports history.

So much emotional weight was freighted onto this Deflategate Revenge Tour finale in Houston, along with the possibility of Pat’s quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichich winning their unprecedented fifth Super Bowl title, that the game rose above any of the previous 50 Super Bowls, which on its own has become the national sporting event of the year. But the best moment in Boston sports history? Let’s consider the rivals in the three other major professional sports and our own minor one of running. Continue reading →

SPRINGTIME IN BOSTON AND THE SAPS ARE RUNNING

/ Toni Reavis / 3 Comments
Springtime in Boston?

Springtime in Boston?

Boston, Ma. — It’s springtime in New England, where the opening of baseball season and the running of the Boston Marathon bring the promise of warmer days ahead.  And this morning with the thermometer stuck at 39F and howling east winds blowing in off the Atlantic, the 27,000 marathoners heading to town must have been wondering what Mother Nature had in store for them this year come Marathon Monday.

Weather has been the big story the last two years in Boston.  A zephyring tailwind led to record performances in 2011, while a blistering heat scorched the course in 2012, leading to a men’s winning time over nine minutes slower than 2011.  A check of the forecast does show a warming trend heading toward the area for Monday’s 117th Boston Marathon, but close observers of New England weather always know to hold their predictions. Anything, as we’ve seen, can happen. Continue reading →

FIVE BOOMER CHAMPIONS RETURN TO BOSTON

/ Toni Reavis / 16 Comments
When Running was KIng

Boston Billy after 1978 at the center of the whirlwind

Man isn’t just a pattern-seeking animal, he is a goal-setting beast.  From breaking the four-minute mile to putting a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth, we have constantly striven to outdo our forefathers.  Accordingly, we have seen the standards of excellence mount with an almost linear progression through the course of time.

Today, the marathon performances of the Running Boom champions seem almost quaint by today’s standards, as far from world class as the exploits of their own predecessors seemed during their time in the sun.  At this year’s 117th Boston Marathon, five of its greatest champions from the Boom era will return to celebrate the anniversaries of their winning moments. Continue reading →