World champion Boston Red Sox hold "rolling rally"; many more could be on the way

October 31, 2007 The Boston Red Sox baseball team, back in Boston today, fresh off their sweep of the Colorado Rockies, paraded down from the venerable Fenway Park onto Boylston Street in Boston making their way through the heart of Boston's Back Bay until reaching the Boston Common where they then made their way up Tremont Street to Boston's Government Center where the rally ended at City Hall.

The event was a "rolling rally", a term coined to describe the Red Sox victory parade in 2004, which had seen the Sox win their first World Series in over 86 years. The current players of the their team made their way up the road, with current team owners John W. Henry and Tom Werner and president Larry Lucchino, who were followed by General Manager Theo Epstein and Manager Terry Francona, both of whom had their own boat.

The rally chugged along, as airplanes carrying banners congratulating the Red Sox flew over, with the duck boats filled with the team and it's supporters and even one for the Red Sox players of yesteryear, Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky. Kyle Snyder held up the trophy for all on Boylston Street to gaze at the reward the Sox fought so hard for. Catcher and team captain, Jason Varitek waved a sign encouraging team management to re-sign third baseman and World Series MVP, Mike Lowell. The crowd greeted this with enthusiasm leading to cheers of "Re-sign Lowell!" However, Jonathan Papelbon was not on a duck boat, he was on a flatbed truck playing air guitar with a broom with local Celtic punk stars, the Dropkick Murphys, who first gained notoriety in 2004, with a reworking of the old Boston Red Sox fan song, Tessie, which became the rallying cry for the 2004 season. The band gained either further recognition when their song I'm Shipping Up to Boston, which based on lyrics written by Woody Guthrie, was featured in the soundtrack of the Academy Award-winning Best Picture The Departed. Papelbon chose the song as his to play when taking the field and became a huge hit with the crowd after performing a Irish step dance to the song after winning the AL East title in the beginning of the month and performing it again after winning both the ALCS and the World Series. Papelbon was joined by fellow pitchers, Hideki Okijima and Mike Timlin.

This may not be the last rolling rally Boston will see this year, currently the Foxborough, Massachusetts based American football team New England Patriots are currently undefeated in the NFL and appear at this time to be headed to another Super Bowl and possibly to becoming the second NFL team in the league's history to go undefeated an entire season. The other team that went undefeated was the 1972 Miami Dolphins team.

In college football, the Boston College Eagles are also undefeated and are currently ranked number two in the NCAA. Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics who seemed to have lost another chance after drawing 5th in the NBA draft lottery are currently doing very well with their two new stars, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett both acquired in trades. Even the lowly Major League Soccer team, the New England Revolution are in the running for the MLS Cup this year. The year also seems to be going good for the Boston Bruins so far. However, the Bruins' center, Patrice Bergeron suffered a serve concussion after being checked and sent into the boards, Bergeron had to miss a dinner in honor of him due to the concussion.