The Sports Museum of Boston is here?

I walked by the Sports Museum of Boston at least a dozen times in my life.  I've sat in the club seats to see the Bruins and Celtics numerous times (By invitation of course).  I've sat in the luxury boxes here and there over the last 10 years.  In fact, I've walked by the Sports Museum many times over, without ever really noticing that I was in the midst of New England Sports history.

I had always wanted to go to the Sports Museum - even when it was housed in Cambridge.  I thought it would be interesting to see the history of Boston Sports - including the Marathon and the Beanpot tournament - without some of the fanfare that one got at the Patriots Hall of Fame, or even in Cooperstown.  I was looking for something that focused on history and not on flash.  So when we ventured to North Station the other day, I thought I would be going into the catacombs of the Garden into a room or two of Boston history, just like I thought in my mind.  I even said to C and G that we were going to a place that is off limits for most people unless you get a ticket to the Sports Museum.  Maybe even Paul Pierce hadn't been here!  The kids were intrigued.

Little did I know that I was right.  It is for the few privileged, but for reasons different than what I thought.  We purchased tickets at the box office and then were told to go around the corner and someone would meet us to let us in.  LC investigated a door like structure that looked like a secret doorway.  It was an early Saturday morning and no one was around the Garden or in North Station so it was a little disconcerting.  Were we in the right place?  But when someone greeted us at the door that actually leads to Legends, I did a double take.  Are we going one level above the luxury boxes?  Is there some sort of room behind concessions that I had never noticed before?  The kids were excited but also a little wary.  Museums are not really their thing, so if I showed any apprehension, that was going dampen spirits and raise the stress.

When we got to the 5th Floor Luxury Boxes, the woman told us that we could go around the fifth floor and sixth floor and not to go anywhere else.  Use the giant picture of KG as your guide.  So you mean I have walked by this museum all these times without noticing a thing?  I then took notice of all of the jerseys behind glass cases and all of the pictures hanging on the walls.  I never noticed these historical items before.  The kids started to run around, maybe stopping and seeing a Gronk jersey or a picture of David Ortiz, but just soaking up enough to answer my quiz after we were done.  I have never seen the Garden like this.  Except for this one woman and a janitor, we were the only ones in this place...the entire place.

I look around and enter one of the sections to see what the Garden looks like when it is COMPLETELY empty.  C follows me and immediately yells "Hello" to hear his echo.  I see a stair case that could take us from our spot all of the way down to the floor.  Maybe LC could distract the "curator" while I take the kids down to the floor to take a picture at half court.  That thought was fleeting however as the woman looks up a couple of times at us (mostly for all of the noise that the kids were making chasing each other around).

So we start to look more closely at all of the artifacts.  The Museum is currently undergoing some renovations, but most of the artifacts are still behind the glass cases on these two floors.  They are split into each of the four major teams, then the Museum also has exhibits on the Boston Marathon, the Beanpot (and other college athletics).  I think C's favorite part was sitting in the obstructed seat that is adjacent to the group of seats from the Old Boston Garden.  G's favorite part of the tour was seeing the empty basketball court.  He was psyched to see that point of view.  In about an hour we were out of there and on with our day.

Then G caps it all of really nicely as we were waiting at the KG elevator to leave. 

"I'm going to have my jersey hung up here too, Dad." He states matter-of-factly to me in a hushed tone.

Maybe...you never know.