Boston, Massachusetts, is the modern day Athens, with its two universities located in the city, Havard and MIT, producing the modern day equivalents to Athenian greats Aristotle and Plato. However, it is not just academically that Boston evokes memories of Ancient Greece but in sport to. Sport has a similar cultural importance in Boston similar to the Ancient Olympia that was found in Athens. It is this melange of sport and academic prowess that really sets Boston apart from its American counterparts.
Boston is a mecca for sport and for those who love American sports should definitely take a pilgrimage to the Athens of America.
If Fenway Park was in Britain it would be a listed building. This 101-year-old baseball ground is the home of the Boston Red Sox, one of America’s most beloved team, and the oldest ground in Major League Baseball. Despite it being the second smallest baseball ground in the league, Fenway is certainly one of the more deafening and absorbing grounds. Assuming that you are a baseball fan there should be only one place that you want to be, sitting amongst 43,488 others, at America’s oldest stadium, cheering on one of the most historic sides in the sport. Bostonians love the Red Sox and they love Fenway and with the side one of the favourites with www.betfair.com to go to the World Series expect the entire city to be cheering Red Sox in unison. It’s a place where the hairs on your neck really do stand up.
Whilst baseball may be the cities first love, football comes a very close second. The New England Patriots, who are the Boston team, find themselves situated out in Foxborough, a half-hour drive from the city centre. The 70,000 capacity Gillette Stadium sees fans a little further back from the turf which means fans are more vocal in trying to get their points across, effectively screaming. When the Pats are rocking, which they usually are, (Betfair have them as second favourites for the AFC Championship), the whole place is reverberating and even the executive boxes seem to shake. A stadium which trembles from the fans roar is an experience that every sports fan should experience.
You are spoilt for choice if you go to TD Garden, the near 20,000-seater is called home by both the Boston Celtics, the most successful team in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Boston Bruins, who have six Stanley cups and are the favourites with Betfair to claim another this season. Like the football and baseball stadiums TD Gardens is a hub for Bostonians and a place that is always rammed on match night.
The Massachusetts capital is also one of the founding places of the sports bar, so if you cannot obtain a ticket you can still absorb the unique Bostonian atmosphere in one of the 1,000-plus sports bars in the city.
Sport and Boston are synonymous; there is no city in the world that can match the sporting atmosphere present in Boston, so if you like sport you will absolutely adore Boston.