Okay, maybe it is a tad overstating it -
but there is no denying that BOSTON is indeed
THE CITY OF CHAMPIONS now,
what, with 7 championships in 11 years
- my, that's got to be the best 7-11 of all time!
;-)
Too bad the video doesn't have more Bruins content though
- especially pertaining to championship #7 indeed
which the Bruins brought to the city
after winning nothing less than three
seven-game series and sixteen extra victories
on top of their great season totals, in the playoffs...
(the required number in order to win it all, really!)
It is true that, overall, in the last decade
the Patriots won three times
the Red Sox twice
and the Bruins are tied with the Celtics
with a championship apiece.
However, historically,
the Celtics have the most titles
followed by the Bruins now
and then the Red Sox
and, finally, the Pats.
There are lacrosse and soccer teams in Boston, too,
but they haven't won a title yet.
Winning isn't everything though:
and before you quote that crazy guy who said
"it's the only thing" -
well, think again!
All the accolades, the cheers, the joy
- all that glory -
is very ephemeral.
There were so many truly GREAT players,
great athletes and great individuals
(no matter what they did in life)
that NEVER got to taste such "glory"
- and nowhere else is that better understood
than in BOSTON.
In the above video, we see several greats
that were never part of a championship team:
chief among those would be Ted Williams.
There were TONS more, in Boston:
and yet they are there, on the video.
And the Boston Bruins of 2011 are not.
That is due to two things, most certainly:
probably this video was done before 2011
and whoever made it understands like Boston does
that one can achieve glorious moments
even in defeat
or apparent defeat...
Another GREAT that could have been there
part of this glorious montage
would have Boston Bruin Normand Leveillè:
another site of Bostonian Remembrance
recently chose him as their "vintage athlete of the month"
and it was one of the greatest choices they could have made!
Léveillé's story is one of tragedy indeed;
but it is interesting to note at this time
that his name literally means "the awakened"
and perhaps it was in the tragic unraveling
of the promise of a brilliant NHL career
that he did awake to greater things...
Some will say it is just lost opportunity
others will focus upon the tragic destiny
of an unfulfilled tremendous potential
but all will agree that there still lies
a GLORIOUS accomplishment there,
as Léveillé's path resonates with all who know it
and from his tragedy came true glory and a greater cause:
Even so, even after all we've said here
Normand Léveillé himself would agree
that the 'City of Glory' video above
could use much more Bruins footage
which consists of beating adversaries
and beating them up!
;-)
Normand Léveillé's short biography reads as follows, courtesy of BST&N:
ReplyDeleteBST&N has chosen former Bruins forward Normand Leveille as the Vintage Athlete Of The Month. The story of Leveille is one of lost opportunity and tragedy.
Norman Leveille was born January 10, 1963 in Montreal, Quebec. Leveille was highly touted prospect coming out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He broke the century point mark with 101 in his last year with Chicoutimi Saguenéens. The 18 year old scored 55 goals and tallied 46 assists in 72 games.
The Boston Bruins chose the gifted teenage in first round, 14th overall of the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. Levielle had a very promising start to his professional hockey career. As a rookie with Boston, Normand had 33 points in 66 games with a plus 16 +/- ratio. The sky was the limit for the talented winger from Montreal.
“Norm Leveille was a star in the making” said hockey broadcaster and writer, Stan Fischler.
Leveille’s star dimmed prematurely. Just nine games into his sophomore season, a the Bruins budding star was hit into the boards by Vancouver’s Marc Crawford. During the first intermission, Leveille who still was learning English told Jean Ratelle that he felt dizzy. The Bruins team therapist and the Canucks doctor took a look at the youngster. They noticed something was very wrong.
Leveille was rushed to surgery. It was discovered that he had a defective blood vessel since birth. This defect was a time bomb that went off because of the thunderous hit. The nineteen year old suffered a major stroke, putting him in a coma for three weeks.
The stroke/coma caused major brain and motor function damage. His bright hockey career ended before it began.
“He was destined to be a really, really great player” said Bruins GM Harry Sinden who drafted Leveille.
The Bruins made it all the way to the Wales Conference Finals in 1983 and many thought their run was fueled by Leveille.
Normand Leveille has remained part of the Boston Bruins family. He attended the “Last Hurrah” at the Boston Garden in 1995. There was not a dry eye in the house as Bruins greats Terry O’Reilly and Ray Bourque helped Normand skate on the old Garden ice one more time.
“100 Things Bruins Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die” By Matt Kalman was a resource used for this article.
BST&N has such a wealth of choice for their monthly Vintage Athlete feature - and the most telling thing about it is that most of those guys have not won the Stanley Cup... Or the Super Bowl... Or any other major championship, be it in the NBA, MLB or NLL...!
ReplyDeleteAnd yet ALL of those guys deserve the accolades, the mentions, the honors - the glory.
All of them - and many more who won't get it!
Such is our lesson of the day, here, as we explored what it means to truly achieve any kind of "earthly glory"...!
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...and, of course, over time (not to be confused with sudden death overtime) the video... disappeared.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if you search on YouTube, you will find it - yet again?
OR... try this: https://youtu.be/HiJPnNbAsFk
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