Playoff Fever in Boston

The NBA and NHL are, quite frankly, relatively boring sports to watch on TV during the regular season. NBA teams, probably more so than NHL teams, seem to go through the motions for many of the games. Little defense or energy is exhibited until the last five minutes of the game, and even at that point the game becomes reminiscent of an AND-1 mix tape than actual basketball. For whatever reason though, when the playoffs roll around in each sport the games become exponentially more exciting and intriguing, especially in Boston.

When the C's knocked off the Lakers in the 2008 NBA Championship, all of Boston, even those who do not following the Celtics or NBA closely, were on the bandwagon. The tension-filled series against Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat that featured an entertaining scuffle that saw Kevin Garnett throw an elbow at Quentin Richardson has an entirely different feel when compared to the regular season. The players genuinely seem to want to win and will do seemingly anything to do it. Defense and unselfish play, rather than much of the token defense and one-on-one play that the regular season features, are the norms in playoff basketball.

Similarly, myself and many others give a token following to the Bruins during the regular season, but I find myself looking forward and watching them in the playoffs. Watching the drama-filled series against Buffalo and the overtime victory over the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday has certainly garnered my interest.

Boston is a city that loves a winner. I am willing to bet that even if Boston had a WNBA team that was in the playoffs, there would still be an overwhelming amount of support for them. That is really saying something because the WNBA is one of the most boring sports one can watch, but I firmly believe Boston would still show support for the ladies.

I will admit 100% that I am a bit of a bandwagon fan when it comes to the Celtics and Bruins, but attending a school in Holy Cross that is a mere 45 minutes outside of Boston, it is hard not to become caught up in the playoff fever that is Boston sports right now.