To begin my final analysis, I just want to again thank everyone for their input over the past week or so. I became aware of a lot more fun facts about both the Rangers and Bruins that I never knew and a lot of what people had to say impacted my decision. If you're a fan of my #2 team don't get angry! My choice was not to spite or piss anyone off. I made the decision based on a variety of things that I will soon get into, but at the end of the day I felt like one team was just slightly a better fit for me than the other. Where there was a Bruins fan like Chris Fontaine, Drew Guarino, or GTNTC listing reasons for me to like the B's, a Rangers fan like Jenn Dice, Kat McCarthy, or Chris Wystepek would counter with a reason to pick New York. It was a classic battle of Boston v. New York, and that's where I'll begin.
City
The geographical location of a team means very little to me, as evidenced by my other favorite teams, but it's something that I factored into my decision. Both Boston and New York are big time cities with tons of people, tall buildings, cool things to do, and so on. At first thought they're a wash, but then I thought on it a little more. I've been to both quite a few times and both have good areas and bad, but if I had a choice to visit one over the other, 9 times out of 10 I'm going to Beantown. The city is cleaner, people on the streets are nicer, it doesn't smell like dooty, and the overall vibe is just better. Don't get me wrong, I have a ton of fun when I'm in NYC (probably had the best time in New York the last time I was there - WHAT UP A-TEAM), but I would have more fun in Boston. Granted, I somehow spend significantly more when I visit Boston (holy hell was the weekend leading up to and including New Year's expensive), but it's worth it. Also, if you read this blog you'll know that I experienced a DEEP FRIED RICE BALL for the first time there. That alone gives Boston the edge in the battle of location.
Fan Base
I'm not in the business of telling lies here. Do I lie? Absolutely. If you say you don't lie then you're a liar and should never be trusted. Why did I say that? Well, I'm a Boston Red Sox fan and I know how Sox fans are and how they treat visiting fans. The answer is not good. Boston fans are some of the biggest assholes in the world. If you're not with us, you're against us. Nothing wrong with that mentality, but Boston fans take it too far sometimes. I can think back to a few years ago when a young chap (no idea why I'm using "chap" here) named Timothy Ezekial Terenzi and I ventured to Boston through a blizzard and a half to watch a Sacramento Kings v. Boston Celtics game. It was the 3rd quarter and the Kings were getting embarrassed to a point where very few starters for the Celts were even in the game. Neither Tim nor I acted out at any point during the game (mainly because our Kings were getting crushed), yet we were heckled. That's fine. Heckling is part of defending your home court, but was it necessary to throw ice cubes, popcorn, change, and whatever else you could find at two quiet Kings fans when their team was down by 30 points? Where's the class in that? New York is not much better, but I actually felt safer wearing my Papelbon jersey and Sox hat into Yankee Stadium (I believe I was with the legendary Spencer Griffin) for a classic Sox v. Yankees game. Neither fan base has a ton of class, and yes I know a few bad apples spoil the bunch, but I shockingly have to give the edge here to NY. At the same time I just want to agree with 95% of the people who contacted me in regards to this decision and say that Philly fans are the worst. Granted, if I was a Philly fan I would be accepted by them, but it wouldn't be worth it to associate myself with them. The NY fan base is the best of a bad situation.
Venue
When comparing the TD Garden and Madison Square Garden I started laughing. For some reason I never made the connection that they're both referred to as "The Garden". First off, does everyone know what a garden is? It's not a place to play hockey I can tell you that much. If my grandfather opened the screen door at the back of the house and saw people playing hockey in his garden he would do three things. First, Pop would swear and say something like "son of a bitch". After that he would mutter a bunch of this and that and end it with "I'll fix those bastards". Lastly, Pop would reappear with a shotgun, fully loaded, and get everyone out of his garden. Looking at the facts, MSG is bigger, allows for more people to see a game, and has a ton of history on its side. At the same time that makes it older that the Boston Garden which holds close to the same amount of fans and is in a much better location in its respected city. I really want to pick MSG here because of the legendary games that took place there, the high profile boxing fights, the concerts, and the fact that my Aunt Maryanne took me to see Jordan in his prime play the Knicks in the playoffs when I was younger, but I have to side with the TD Garden. Again, I'm not all about the past or the history of the teams or what happened with the stadium or players before this year because that's prior to me becoming a true hockey fan. I'm living in the HERE and NOW and the more up to date and better located Boston Garden gets the nod.
Coaches
Now I can start looking at the teams and coaches instead of the other aspects of the Bruins and Rangers. Let me get this out there right now. John Tortorella is a BOSS. 100% definition of a BOSS.
I knew very little about hockey a few weeks ago, but even I know Tortorella is a BOSS. Nothing against Claude Julien, but Tortorella is my favorite coach in the NHL regardless of my decision. If I'm a Rangers fan, that's awesome. If I'm a Bruins fan, I have a massive amount of respect for him because he speaks his mind and is not afraid to get AGGRESSIVE with it. So the nod here goes to NY.
Players
I think everyone can agree that each team has a ton of talent. The Rangers seem to have more "superstars" on their team, but the Bruins seem to be more of a complete team. Henrik Lundqvist (tough name to spell) seems to be the unanimous #1 goalie in the league, Gaborik, Nash, and Richards, amongst others, seem to be some of the best players on the ice, and who doesn't love Ryan Callahan? The Bruins counter with a pretty decent goalie of their own in Tuukka Rask (absolutely hate that name), a guy who seems to be the best defensemen in Zdeno Chara (respect to a fellow giant), and a ton of good to great guys in Bergeron, Krecji, and Marchand. Although I love superstars in sports like Adrian Peterson for the Vikings, Durant for the Thunder, and even a throwback to Michael Vick back when he was on the Falcons, I'm more of a team guy. The Bruins embody what it really means to be a team in my opinion. As pointed out by GTNTC in his essay/short story and by Professor Guarino when I asked him, the Bruins use 4 lines on a consistent basis. One line might be better than another, but they're a very balanced team and I can dig it.
Future
In terms of future success, both teams will have plenty of that. As a new fan, I'm interested in aligning myself with a team that has some new faces. Looking at the Bruins, two guys stick out by the names of Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton. Seguin seems to be a stud on offense who could produce goals like a stud and Hamilton seems to be a rookie who will learn a ton from Chara and become known as a great defensemen one day.
The Rangers counter with Chris Kreider who, unlike the Bruins players, is an AMERICAN. I'm shocked it took me this long to say the word AMERICAN or some form of the word AMERICA, but here it is. The Bruins only have two American born players on their team and one of them is Tim Thomas who will be MIA while the Rangers have a plethora including the Boxford, MA native Kreider. That's neither here nor there, but this kid seems to have a ton of promise as well. But last time I checked, two is greater than one. I'm no mathematician, but I have to give the edge to the Bruins here with their two young guns in Seguin and Dougie.
Jerseys
The next few things might seem silly to some, but I did my best to think of and evaluate everything when deciding what team to root for. My plan was to make an investment in a jersey as soon as I settled on a team and I still intend to do so. You can see the jersey for the Bruins in the above pic of Dougie. I actually really like them. Nothing wrong with a little gold and black and we all know the B in the center stands for Brian. Love the drawstring at the collar and just think it's an overall cool jersey.
What about the Rangers? Well my friends, they are none other than RED, WHITE, and BLUE masterpieces.
That's just a nice picture of the various styles that New York has, but my personal favorite would be the following:
AMERICA. When I look in my closet I see a ton of different colored shirts and pants, but I love wearing red, white, and blue at the same time. Is it because I love America? Yes, yes it is. Why do you think I became a Red Sox fan? Ok it was for other reasons than their colors (I still have to say thank you to Gary Payne and Sean Casey for accepting me into the fold and holding a ceremony to make me a Sox fan), but the point is I love that combo. I can see myself in both jerseys, but I can't deny the red, white, and blue!
Miscellaneous
This is my catch all section. Instead of going into details about this or that I'm just going to rattle off a few things about each team that I made a note of when making my decision.
- The Rangers are from New York and I have never liked a New York team.
- Blades is the name of the Bruins mascot and the Rangers DON'T HAVE A MASCOT???
- Jenn Dice really really really likes the Rangers and really really really wants me to be a Rangers fan so we can watch games together during travel.
- GTNTC (also known as Gary St. Amant) wrote me an essay on why I should be a Bruins fan and Chris Fontaine has an adorable pup named Izzy who also likes the Bruins almost as much as she likes me.
- I love Jeff Velleca and whenever he decides it's time to play in the NHL, my loyalty will be to him and whatever team he plays for. I'm never not a Team Velleca fan.
- Lucic is an absolute monster. I can't get enough of his fights and actually just saw him fight in this Bruins v. Carolina game.
- Did I mention that John Tortorella is a BOSS?
- I actually really hate the Rangers jerseys that have the face of the Statue of Liberty on them.
- What technically is a "Ranger". If it means like an army ranger than that's pretty awesome. If it means ranger like Power Ranger then WOW. Red Ranger (my favorite), White Ranger (he had a talking sword!), and Blue Ranger... boom. But really, no idea what a Ranger really is.
- I love America.
- I'm shocked and appalled that none of my friends have bribed me with bacon to become a fan of their team.
- I really wish hockey tickets weren't so expensive.
The Decision
Enough beating around the bush here. It's time for me to make my decision. After a week long search process that took countless hours away from more important things, I have decided to take my fan-hood talents to none other than the Boston Bruins! To all my friends that are Rangers fans, I love you and hope I don't receive any death threats. But me being a Bruins fan just means we'll have plenty to talk, discuss, argue, and fight about! Thanks again for all the input from everyone and hopefully the Bruins and I will have a long and healthy relationship that stands the test of time!
I should probably go and buy that Lucic jersey... LET'S GO!!!!
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