Celtics Fourth In Boston Sports and Not For Sale

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                                [The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
                                [Boston Globe Online / Sports]

                               
                                The numbers are in: Local nine still first

                                By Will McDonough, Globe Columnist,
                                08/28/99
                                <snips>
                                The Red Sox are still No. 1
                                according to local sports fans.
                                Asked to name their favorite pro team, the
                                latest numbers show Boston's baseball team
                                still holding a slim lead over the
                                Patriots, with the Bruins a close third
                                and the Celtics a distant fourth. On
                                behalf of ESPN, Chilton polls fans across
                                the country each week on national and
                                local issues.

                                The last time around, in April 1997, the
                                numbers were approximately the same, with
                                the Red Sox holding a 17.5 to 15 percent
                                lead over the Patriots. This time, after a
                                year-long poll (July 1998-June '99), the
                                Red Sox are still in first (21.2 to 19.8)
                                ahead of the Patriots.

                                According to Chilton, the only time the
                                Red Sox have given up the lead came after
                                the 1995 baseball player strike, when the
                                Patriots held a 19.4 to 18.5 lead over the
                                Bruins, with the fans apparently so mad at
                                the time, that the Sox finished third
                                (13.8).

                                However, the most interesting aspect of
                                this survey is the way the Bruins have
                                separated themselves from the Celtics, and
                                are closer to the top than ever.

                                In this opinion, there were several
                                surprises in the overall poll. For
                                example, one would think local NFL fans
                                would probably vote either the New York
                                Jets of Bill Parcells and many ex-Patriots
                                as their second-favorite NFL team. Wrong.
                                How about the New York Giants, who have
                                had such a great following here dating
                                back to the 1950s, prior to the birth of
                                the Patriots, when they were the only show
                                in town? Wrong. Local NFL fans chose
                                Denver second. The Jets? They didn't make
                                the top five. And the Giants slid to
                                fifth, after the Green Bay Packers and the
                                San Francisco 49ers.

                                A similar result with local NBA fans.
                                After the Celtics, you would almost
                                guarantee that Larry Bird and his Indiana
                                Pacers, would be the second local
                                favorites. Wrong. The Chicago Bulls took
                                that spot. The Pacers came in fifth,
                                behind the Lakers and Knicks.

                                How about this - when Boston fans were
                                asked to name their favorite overall
                                professional athlete, none of our own won.
                                Michael Jordan finished first, ahead of
                                Drew Bledsoe, Ray Bourque, Doug Flutie,
                                and Nomar Garciaparra. No Pedro.

                                In fact, Martinez didn't get a sniff when
                                the local major league baseball fans were
                                picking their top five. Nomar finished
                                first ahead of Mark McGwire, Mo Vaughn,
                                Roger Clemens, and Cal Ripken.

                                The
                                Celtics' Richard Pond says the team is
                                definitely not for sale, as reported
                                recently in an Atlanta paper. ''There was
                                nothing behind the story,'' said Pond.
                                ''The guy that wrote it was guessing that
                                since we didn't spend the money to sign
                                Ron Mercer, we must be trying to trim the
                                payroll to set up a sale. Although I think
                                that if someone came up to Paul Gaston and
                                said they wanted to buy the club for $400
                                million, there might be some interest.''

                              
                                Will McDonough is a Globe columnist.

                                This story ran on page G1 of the Boston
                                Globe on 08/28/99.
                                © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.