This Is Our City: Four Teams, Twelve Championships, and How Boston Became the Most Dominant Sports City in the World

by Tony Massarotti

Overview

This Is Our City is a celebration of two decades of sports success in Boston from the cohost of the #1 sports radio show in New England, Felger & Mazz.

In Boston, sports loyalty—and passion—runs deep. With one team in each of the four major American professional leagues, the Red Sox, the Celtics, the Bruins, and the Patriots have long commanded undivided attention. But for much of the 20th century, the records of the local teams were mixed, with some victories but also heartbreaking losses and endless talk of curses. And then, things changed. Over twenty years, Boston was blessed with an extraordinary run of success, including 12 championships, 7 runners-up, and many more years of heated contention. In the 21st century, Boston became the hub of the sports universe.

According to Tony Massarotti, a longtime Boston sports columnist and host of the #1 sports radio show in New England, this is not a coincidence. This Is Our City paints a portrait of 20 years in Boston sports, showing how one team’s success has led to the next—how they have fed off one another, tried to one-up one another, and supported one another. From Brady and Belichick to the Celtics’ Big Three, from Big Papi to the Big Bad Bruins, this was a special time. And Boston’s run played out against major events such as 9/11 and the devastating Boston Marathon bombing—which led to a memorably profane speech by David Ortiz, who declared, “This is our f@#king city!” Massarotti’s This Is Our City is a valentine to Boston sports and a comprehensive story of a remarkable run.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419753596
Publisher:	Abrams Press
Publication date:	08/22/2023
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	408,521
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Tony Massarotti is an award-winning Boston-based sportswriter. He is the cohost of Felger & Mazz, the #1 sports radio show in New England, on 98.5 The Sports Hub, and the author or coauthor of four previous books, including Dynasty: In Inside Story of How the Red Sox Became a Baseball Powerhouse; Knuckler, with Tim Wakefield; and Big Papi, with David Ortiz.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

Chapter 1 The Seeds of a Dynasty 11

Chapter 2 Burying the Past 45

Chapter 3 A Changing of the Guard 70

Chapter 4 Higher Standards 88

Chapter 5 The Perfect Nightmare 103

Chapter 6 Green Days 124

Chapter 7 The Puck Stops Here 138

Chapter 8 Broken Windows 170

Chapter 9 Marathon Monday 185

Chapter 10 Boston Rises 203

Chapter 11 Darkness and Defeat 222

Chapter 12 The Empire Strikes Back 239

Chapter 13 The C's Rise … Then Fall 260

Chapter 14 Same Old Bruins 276

Chapter 15 Costly Mistakes 296

Chapter 16 Out with a Bang 321

Chapter 17 Starting Over 343

Acknowledgments 359

Index 363

Editorial Reviews

"This blend of memoir and history, written from a fan’s perspective, is a love letter to the city of Boston and the four major sports teams that call it home. In a meticulously researched of the Beantown teams that dominated their respective sports in the early twenty-first century, Boston sportswriter and radio talk-show host Massarotti details how these franchises, at one point mired in mediocrity, managed to rise to championship level. Much of the book focuses on the Patriots and the Red Sox, but the Celtics and Bruins also get their fair share of analysis and breakdown. It would be easy for Massarotti to skip over the ugliness that has occasionally hung like a dark cloud over the city and its teams, but he isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, even when discussing the city’s reputation for racism. Casual sports fans will remember some of the teams celebrated here, but this book is best for Boston diehards, who can be found across the country."

Booklist

I played in Boston, I was an executive in Boston, and there’s no place like it. Someone needed to tell the story of the city and its incredible run over the past few decades, and I’m so glad Tony Massarotti did it. This Is Our City is an entertaining and astute account by a guy who saw it all.

Danny Ainge

While some of these moments will never leave the consciousness of a true Boston sports fan—‘The Steal,’ ‘Anything Is Possible,’ Malcolm Butler’s interception, to name a few—there are plenty more that readers will be thrilled to re-live here in these pages.

Boston.com

If anybody is qualified to riff about Boston sports in the last twenty years, it’s Tony Massarotti, and boy has he got plenty to riff about! Championships all over the place and the envy of every major sports city in the country. This wonderful book will bring back all those great memories. The B’s, Pats, Celts, Sox, and Massarotti! What’s better than that?

Chris “Mad Dog” Russo

Boston sports fans have been America’s luckiest in the new millennium. There have been twelve championships to savor in the first twenty-one years of the twenty-first century, including one dazzling run of seven years in which the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins each won a title. And now Tony Massarotti gives them a chance to relive it all in This Is Our City, which refers to, of course, the famous David Ortiz declaration in the wake of the 2013 Marathon bombings. Tony has done the work, and we get to enjoy the fruits of his phenomenal labor. For those of us who have lived through it all, this is our story, too. Thanks, Tony.

Bob Ryan

Boston sports fans have been America’s luckiest in the new millennium. There have been twelve championships to savor in the first twenty-one years of the twenty-first century, including one dazzling run of seven years in which the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins each won a title. And now Tony Massarotti gives them a chance to relive it all in This Is Our City, which refers to, of course, the famous David Ortiz declaration in the wake of the 2013 Marathon bombings. Tony has done the work, and we get to enjoy the fruits of his phenomenal labor. For those of us who have lived through it all, this is our story, too. Thanks, Tony.”—Bob Ryan

“If anybody is qualified to riff about Boston sports in the last twenty years, it’s Tony Massarotti, and boy has he got plenty to riff about! Championships all over the place and the envy of every major sports city in the country. This wonderful book will bring back all those great memories. The B’s, Pats, Celts, Sox, and Massarotti! What’s better than that?”—Chris “Mad Dog” Russo

“I played in Boston, I was an executive in Boston, and there’s no place like it. Someone needed to tell the story of the city and its incredible run over the past few decades, and I’m so glad Tony Massarotti did it. This Is Our City is an entertaining and astute account by a guy who saw it all.” —Danny Ainge

"This blend of memoir and history, written from a fan’s perspective, is a love letter to the city of Boston and the four major sports teams that call it home. In a meticulously researched of the Beantown teams that dominated their respective sports in the early twenty-first century, Boston sportswriter and radio talk-show host Massarotti details how these franchises, at one point mired in mediocrity, managed to rise to championship level. Much of the book focuses on the Patriots and the Red Sox, but the Celtics and Bruins also get their fair share of analysis and breakdown. It would be easy for Massarotti to skip over the ugliness that has occasionally hung like a dark cloud over the city and its teams, but he isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, even when discussing the city’s reputation for racism. Casual sports fans will remember some of the teams celebrated here, but this book is best for Boston diehards, who can be found across the country."—Booklist

“While some of these moments will never leave the consciousness of a true Boston sports fan—‘The Steal,’ ‘Anything Is Possible,’ Malcolm Butler’s interception, to name a few—there are plenty more that readers will be thrilled to re-live here in these pages.”—Boston.com

From the Publisher