The Bobby Orr statue outside TD Garden is a must-stop along Boston's "Championship Trail."
The Bobby Orr statue outside TD Garden is a must-stop along Boston's "Championship Trail."Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff
Welcome to Boston, college class of 2029. Most of you are scheduled to be here for the next four years and some of you might stick around considerably longer. Maybe forever.
The last week, we’ve seen your out-of-state license plates on the Mass. Pike and Storrow Drive: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Michigan. Hope you’re comfy in your new digs and enjoying the stimulus and fast-paced living of our cities and suburbs. Keep your heads up and ears open.
Warning: There’s a chance you’re going to become a Boston sports fan. Don’t be surprised if you adopt the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins while you’re studying and playing in your college homestead.
It happens all the time. Out-of-towners live the Fenway, Gillette, and Garden experience and carry it into adulthood. We see (and hear) them when the Sox, Pats, C’s, and B’s play in Baltimore, Charlotte, Tampa, and Texas. Boston teams are supported at venues across America and much of it comes from folks who fell in love when they lived and studied here from the ages of 18-22.
I went to Holy Cross with a kid from Metuchen, N.J.; he was all about the Yankees, Knicks, and Giants in those long-ago days. But he married a young woman from Bristol, R.I., raised his family in Newton, and today lives on the Cape, where he follows all Boston teams religiously.
This also happens with a lot of pro athletes when they play for Boston teams in their early 20s.
Celtics legend Larry Bird grew up in rural southern Indiana, rooting for the St. Louis Cardinals. He played for the Celtics from 1979-92, won three NBA championships, had a second career as coach and general manager of the Indiana Pacers, and today lives in Florida.
“I never root against Boston teams,” Bird told me in 2015. “There’s no sports town like Boston. I don’t care where you go. They talk about Chicago and Philadelphia. No. They don’t even compare to Boston. I mean, there’s ladies in their 90s and they can name every player on the Red Sox and Patriots … I even rooted for the Red Sox in those [2004, ’13] World Series. That one took me to the dirt because you know I love my Cardinals.“
A few suggestions to assure you’re getting the full Boston sports experience:
⋅ Forget the statues on the Freedom Trail; instead tour the Championship Trail. Start on Causeway Street, where you’ll see Bobby Orr flying through the air after winning the Stanley Cup, then walk over to City Hall, where Bill Russell stands proudly, preparing to throw a chest pass. It’s a short walk from there to Faneuil Hall Marketplace, where Celtics coach/GM/visionary Red Auerbach sits on the bench, cigar in hand, just a few dribbles from Bird’s bronzed size-12 Converse All-Star sneakers.
Hop on the Green Line, ride west, and jump out at Kenmore to see Fenway Park’s perimeter street statues of Yaz and Ted Williams, lovingly placing his cap on the bald head of a Jimmy Fund kid, plus “The Teammates,” a four-figure homage to Teddy Ballgame and his legendary pals, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr, and Dom DiMaggio.
Jump back on the Green Line to Boston College and find bronzed Doug Flutie uncorking his Hail Mary in the Miami Miracle. If you can get a ride to the Patriots’ opener Sunday in Foxborough, admire the new Tom Brady statue at Gillette. Let me know if you think Tom’s head is too small.
⋅ Try to sneak into Fenway when our Olde Towne Team returns for a weekend series with the Yankees on Friday, Sept. 12. Hang around outside the park before game time and go for standing room or a single seat in the bleachers from the “secondary market.” It’ll be unforgettable. You’ll be hypnotized by the cult of “Sweet Caroline” and find yourself chanting “Yankees suck” next time you attend a wedding or graduation.
Don’t buy a pink Sox hat. Not cool.
The Red Sox and Yankees renew their rivalry for a three-game series at Fenway Park starting Sept. 12.
The Red Sox and Yankees renew their rivalry for a three-game series at Fenway Park starting Sept. 12.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
⋅ Tour the spectacular Sports Museum inside the Garden.
⋅ Don’t ever call this “Beantown.” Nobody here calls it that.
⋅ Hang around a bar near Causeway Street when Brad Marchand and the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers play here Oct. 21.
Former Bruin Brad Marchand and the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers visit Boston Oct. 21.
Former Bruin Brad Marchand and the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers visit Boston Oct. 21.Nathan Denette/Associated Press
⋅ Next time you’re heading west on the Turnpike, gaze to your left as you pass Allston/Brighton, look up at the Celtics’ practice facility, and see how many of the retired numbers in the rafters you can identify. I never drive by nodding to Bob Cousy’s No. 14 hanging from the ceiling.
⋅ Learn the significance of the Jason Varitek vs. Alex Rodriguez fight photo, which adorns more than half of the barrooms of New England.
⋅ Watch “Celtics City” on HBO and “The Comeback” on Netflix. Read Seth Wickersham’s “It’s Better to Be Feared” and David Halberstam’s “The Education of a Coach.”
⋅ Watch “Good Will Hunting.” And “The Friends of Eddie Coyle.”
⋅ Pay no attention to big-time college sports. Nobody here cares.
⋅ Tell everyone you love Don Orsillo. Zolak, too.
⋅ Hate on the Lakers, Canadiens, Colts, Steelers, and Jets. Whatever goes down with the Bruins, blame Tuukka Rask.
⋅ Complain about Boston’s team owners, even if you don’t know their names. You’ll fit right in.
⋅ Read everything ever written by Bob Ryan, Peter Gammons, Will McDonough, Leigh Montville, Ray Fitzgerald, and Bud Collins.
The next two months are going to be fantastic. You’re getting our best weather, the Red Sox will be in the playoffs, the Patriots are new and improved, and the Celtics and Bruins will be playing again before Halloween.
Enjoy. Your allegiance to the teams you left behind is about to be tested.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.