There hasn’t been a better time to be a Boston sports fan.
The Bruins won the Stanley Cup last week, completing a recent pro sports superfecta. Since 2001, Boston sports fans also have had the pleasure of enjoying:
» Four trips to the Super Bowl and three championships for the Patriots.
» Two trips to the NBA Finals and one title for the Celtics.
» Two World Series appearances and championships for the Red Sox, who had been denied since 1918.
There is a generation of Boston sports fans growing up spoiled. The Red Sox’s “Curse of the Bambino” once defined Boston sports — even with all of the Celtics’ NBA titles — but all that pain is long gone.
Washington fans who came of age between 1978 and 1988 have an idea of the good times Boston fans are experiencing. That was the definitive sports era of this region.
The Washington Bullets kicked off the decade of excellence when Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld led the franchise to its only NBA title. And fans were treated to a second trip to the NBA Finals the following year, though the Bullets lost to the Seattle SuperSonics.
In the 1982 season, the Redskins won home playoff games against Detroit, Minnesota and Dallas, then claimed the franchise’s first Super Bowl championship against the Miami Dolphins.
The Redskins returned to the Super Bowl a year later, only to lose to the Los Angeles Raiders. In January 1988, Washington won its second Super Bowl behind Doug Williams’ historic performance against the Denver Broncos.
It also was the glory era of college basketball here. John Thompson’s Georgetown teams went to the NCAA championship game in 1982, 1984 and 1985 and won one national title. The area teams were dominated by star power: Patrick Ewing at Georgetown, Len Bias at Maryland and David Robinson at the Naval Academy.
There were no Washington Nationals during that 10-year run, but the Orioles became a regional baseball franchise under the ownership of legendary Washington lawyer Edward Bennett Williams and won two American League pennants and the 1983 World Series. That trophy was displayed for a time at Duke Zeibert’s restaurant in the District.
Add in the area’s boxing franchise — Sugar Ray Leonard — and his two fights against Roberto Duran in the 1980s, his battle against Tommy Hearns in 1981 and his comeback win over Marvin Hagler in 1987, and there was no better time to be a D.C. sports fan.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
