AL TDAMIIAELEMN^ STROHMANS (REYER (CELTIVERA) ICS FANS); DAVID E.^ KLUTHO (BRUINS FANS); SIKIDS.COM /^21
The Charmed Life
Put aside the Celtics’ 1960s dynasty: Not even
your parents were around to remember that
one. You Boston kids are still the luckiest
youngsters reading this magazine: six Patriots
Super Bowl wins under Tom Brady—three
of which you might remember—two recent
Red Sox titles, and the 2011 Stanley Cup.
Even though you were an infant during the
’07–08 Celtics run, the team has still been
competitive your entire life. A wild-card loss
from the Pats after a stellar rookie season
from Mac Jones counts as hardship for you!
Do you even know the Red Sox used to be
considered cursed?
Exit Sandman?
The word luck gets thrown around too much. A
team trading a star for an unheralded prospect
who turns out to be even better is perhaps a
little lucky, but it’s also a credit to the scout
who lobbied for that player. Luck is when an
executive is about to be on the losing end of
such a trade and something intervenes to stop
him. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner
didn’t feel comfortable going with a rookie
shortstop in 1996, so he pushed for a trade that
would’ve sent a reliever to Seattle for
Félix Fermín. The rookie shortstop he was
worried about? Derek Jeter. The reliever he was
ready to trade? Mariano Rivera. Fortunately for
the Boss, his employees talked him out of it.