It's Good To Be The King

Here's Shank's annual take on the state of the local pro sports teams:

The Patriots may no longer be dominant, but football remains king, and that’s all that matters

Happy New Year, Boston sports fans.

The Patriots at long last play their first game Sunday afternoon at Gillette against the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles.

There was a time, not so long ago, when April’s Red Sox home opener represented the first day of our annual sports calendar. That was when baseball was king and the Sox were an irresistible 12-month soap opera. That was before the Sox rendered so many Septembers meaningless and before the mighty NFL emerged as America’s inarguable national pastime.

That was before Tom Brady . . . who returns Sunday to remind New England and the football world of how everything changed after the turn of the century. Brady will be in the house Sunday, evoking memories of all that was once great about Bill Belichick and the Super Bowl champion Patriots. Our Sports New Year appropriately comes one weekend after Allston Christmas, another cherished Boston custom.