Reality Bites by James Norton

How to survive the Winter 2005 depression-– become a sports fan in Boston.

Some people think I always kick the crap out of myself in these pages. Not today! Every once in a while I like to gloat. Oh sure, I also like to make fun of Pod People too, but not today – today it’s all about the white stuff. Ok stuck in the 80’s jerks, I don’t mean cocaine – damn.

I’m talking about the lovely wet white stuff that keeps on piling higher and higher every week and making street parking in the city the new battleground for Tough Man competition. If you have somewhere off street to park and/or an SUV, it probably doesn’t matter much to you whether it’s a snowy winter or not – but I can assure you there are many down sides to it, and not just from a depression viewpoint.

Snow removal costs a lot of money for the city. Kids being home can create problems in a household where both parents work. School aged kids will have to make up lost school days in June. Getting to work on time can be tedious and stressful. The number of auto accidents increases dramatically, which in itself creates a whole series of ripple effecting the insurance industry. Ok, now I am getting depressed.

For all of the bad things, there are a few good things.

Spending a day or two off from work can be relaxing. Being able to enjoy some more time with the kids can be enjoyable. I can’t think of any others. Now that’s really depressing.

It’s hard to live in Boston and not be a sports fan, especially over the past couple of years. Two Super Bowls and a World Series in 18 months is quite a feat for any sports town, even more so for Boston. To think that opening day for baseball is less than a month away is awesome. Where we would be without the Red Sox and the Patriots?

After this past winter and what it’s dumped on us, I would imagine that without the windfall of recent sports success around here, that the number of depression related incidents would have been staggering.

Oh come on, I am not being overly dramatic. Over the years, I have seen statistics showing numbers of suicides, overdoses and other incidents related to depression and the trends that they follow. One of the most influential is weather patterns. That’s about as “external” as an influence can get I would imagine.

Sports have changed forever around these parts. Oh sure, the tickets to get into Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium are now the most expensive in the country – but who really cares? It’s worth every dollar.

Hockey? Who gives a crap if they ever play again, and if they do, it needs such an overhaul it might not even be the same sport if/when it comes back. Don’t even get me going on that whole mess.

Basketball – now there’s another bright shining jewel in local sports. Not the dynasty of old, but you have to have some faith in Danny Ainge’s long term vision. Being an important member of the Celtics of the 1980’s, he knows what it takes to win both short and long term goals in the changing NBA.

Have you watched a recent Celtics game? With Antoine Walker back in the lineup to compliment Paul Pierce and Gary Payton also back from his brief departure playing as strong as ever with Raef LaFrentz as Center? They just might make Boston and New England the only sitting triple champions in all of sports history.

How’s that for fighting back the depression of a snowy winter? I’ll take it any day.