Bean: The Revs are in the midst of a deep run, and it's time to take notice

Share

I don't know enough about soccer to be writing this as a condescending fan pushing his sport.

I'm simply saying it as a dummy who likes watching good teams: the Revolution are the most exciting team in Boston right now and they deserve a hell of a lot more attention than they're getting.

If you haven't heard -- which is very possible given Major League Soccer's scheduling and the Revolution's low standing on the popularity totem pole in the region -- the Revs are in the Eastern Conference Final, which will be played Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, roughly an hour before the Patriots and Chargers kick off.

I could rant about the stupid scheduling forever, but it would defeat the purpose of a "let's pay more attention to the Revs" column if I spent the entire space talking about something else.

Arena: With Revs' success comes more support from ownership

First, a quick recap to their season: They have the most accomplished coach in the league in Bruce Arena, the best goalie in the league in Matt Turner, one of the top players in the league in Carles Gil and an electric scorer in Gustavo Bou, also known as "La Pantera," which, as nicknames go, is the freaking nipples.

Gil was hurt for much of the season, then Bou was, and big-ticket offseason acquisition Adam Buksa had an up-and-down first year in a new country and league. All of those things combined to give them the No. 8 seed, though it stood to reason that if everyone got right, they'd become the title contenders they were expected to be prior to the season.

Now, why they're the most exciting team in town: Because everyone did get right, and the team has been mowing through the Eastern Conference since. After a play-in win over Montreal, the Revs easily knocked out the No. 1 seed Philadelphia Union with a 2-0 victory in the first round.

Last Sunday, they grabbed a 3-1 win over Orlando City SC. In each of their official playoff games, they've jumped out to 2-0 leads in the first half hour.

I don't know soccer. I don't follow the other leagues. This is not a soccer guy telling you about soccer. It's someone who didn't care about the sport being hooked by a very watchable league and likable team.

So I like the Revs, and I probably qualify as a fair-weather fan given that I didn't start watching them until they got Arena and Bou midway through last season.

Really, though, we're all fair-weather fans in this town, and that's not a bad thing. All Boston has come to care about over the last 20 years is winning championships, because that's the bar that's been set. When a team is pushing for a championship, we're more excited about them than we are about the others.

Yet we -- that's fans, and that's me and my colleagues in THE MEEEEEDIA -- are not talking about this run as much as we would a run of one of the other teams. It's understandable as to why.

A: If on-air people aren't into something, they shouldn't be forced to pretend they are. B: The Revolution don't have the following or the spotlight of the Patriots, Celtics, Bruins and Red Sox. They play in a younger, less popular league. They don't have the "my grandparents loved them, then my parents loved them, now I love them" tradition of the others.

To that I say this: You didn't hear Bruins talk dominate shows until Michael Felger decided he didn't care what was deemed popular and unpopular. He was passionate about the Bruins and they were more interesting than whatever else was going on, so he decided to talk about them and connect with their fans. I feel comfortable writing this because I know he won't read it, but Michael Felger did a wonderful thing for the Bruins in this town.

It's not an apples-to-apples comparison, of course. The Bruins had a longer history and larger fanbase in say, 2009, than the Revs do now. Hockey is also a huge regional sport, so there was more of a built-in audience.

Still, a lot of people wanted to ignore the Bruins for a very long time, but it changed. When it did, the team's popularity grew.

If there were ever a time for it to happen with the Revs, why not now, when the Patriots are in a fruitless season, the Red Sox stink and are in the offseason, basketball hasn't started yet and hockey is seemingly in purgatory?  

I wouldn't be writing this if the Revolution stunk. When the Red Sox stink, we pay less attention to the Red Sox. When the Bruins stink, we pay less attention to the Bruins. The Patriots are really the only team in town that will be a top story regardless of what they do.

But the Revolution don't stink, and if any of those other teams were in their league's conference final, they'd be a top story.

Time to at least give this title run the time of day.

Contact Us