Late in the third period, the sellout crowd chanted ``Let's Go, Bruins," and to hear that again on Causeway was to hear an echo from a long-forgotten past.I appreciate the point he was trying to make, but "Let's Go, Bruins" is not "an echo from a long-forgotten past." It's an abomination.
"Here we go Bruins, Here we go! (clap clap)" Now that's an echo from the past. "Let's go, Bruins" is just another obscene New York-ism (like Macy's and the New York Times) that has taken over what used to be a Boston tradition.
When I was growing up, if you turned on the radio and caught a Bruins-Rangers or Red Sox-Yankees game, you could tell who the home team was just by the chant of the fans. The New York fans sang "Let's Go, Rangers (clap, clap, clap clap clap)" while fans in Boston cheered "Here we go Bruins, Here we go! (clap clap)." Whether it was the Bruins or the Celtics, the Garden would absolutely sing. If there was a trademark Boston cheer, that was it.
But sometime over the last 15 years, Boston lost it's cheer.
I'm guessing it has to do with the success of the New York teams in the mid-to-late 90s. My generation grew up with the Celtics championships and year after year of Bruins playoff teams. Every big game I saw on TV while I was growing up was from the Garden. Every night, you'd hear the crowd roar "Hear we go, Bruins/Celtics, Here we go!" while John Kiley played along.
But the generations that came of age since the Bruins and Celtics fell off the map grew up with great New York teams and learned how to be "fans" watching them. It's not that they grew up fans of the New York teams, but when they see the Rangers, Devils, and Yankees in the Stanley Cup or World Series year after year, and they heard "Let's go Rangers/Devils/Yankees!" over and over and over again night after night, they just assumed that's the way it's done.
It's not. And it's cringe-inducing. No respectable Red Sox fan should ever cheer "Let's Go Red Sox (clap, clap, clap clap clap)." Yet it's all you ever hear. For God's sake, that's the same cheer Yanks fans use to call out their lineup before every game ("Der-ek Je-ter" clap, clap, clap clap clap "John-ny Dam-on" clap, clap, clap clap clap)!
30 years ago that cheer would have got you beaten in Fenway Park. Had you run a "Lets Go, Bruins" in the Boston Garden in the 70s, Mike Milbury would have come into the stands and beaten you with your shoe.
So please, in the name of Bunker Hill, the Boston Pops, Brigham's Ice Cream, Dunkin Donuts and all that is holy, let out a good "Here we go Bruins, Here we go!" next time you're at the Garden. Leave the baby New York stuff to Philadelphia (I hear there is a lot--a lot-- of culture there).
Tags: Boston Bruins Red Sox Celtics New York Yankees Rangers Devils
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