Both Ray Allen and Kevin Youkilis were Boston sports icons
for the last several years. Youkilis
spent about 8 and a half years with the Boston Red Sox while Ray Allen spent 5
years with the Boston Celtics. As I’m sure most of you know, neither Youk nor
Ray are with their former Boston organizations anymore. Ray went to the Miami Heat (still not
entirely forgiven) and Youkilis was traded to the Chicago White Sox. Both players wrote letters to their
respective Boston fan-bases. I just
wanted to take a moment to share these letters with you guys and see what you
think.
I’ll start with Ray’s because it’s… well quite brief:
 |
| Keepin' it brief |
“Dear Celtics Fans,
For the past five
years, my family and I took great pride in calling Boston Home. We have loved living in this city, being
members of the Celtics family and being part of your community. These memories will be cherished forever.
From my heart, THANK
YOU Boston for this incredible Journey.
Ray Allen #20”
Is this kind of half-hearted or is it just me? Nowhere does he take time to talk about the
Boston Celtics fan base or the organization.
Just ‘Ray Allen #20.’ Yeah I’m
still mad that he signed with the Heat but this is pretty lame… isn’t it?
To put things into perspective, let me show you the final
paragraph of Youkilis’ page-long letter to the Red Sox organization and Red Sox
Nation. Keep in mind; this is after several thank you paragraphs and well wishes.
“And, last but no
means least, to all the Red Sox Nation, the home of the most dedicated and
knowledgeable fans in baseball, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. That final game at Fenway was the most
emotional day of my life on the baseball field.
It could not have been scripted any better. And to all those kids out there in Red Sox
Nation, I can give you my Dad’s advice.
‘Life is like a throw to first base, always aim high.’
I love you all, and
thanks,
Kevin Youkilis”
 |
| His last game at Fenway |
Man what a classy way to address the fans and the city of
Boston. I won’t lie; I had never been a
tremendous Youk fan. But I gained so
much respect for this guy and wish him all the best. The guy is a class act. His last paragraph was longer than Ray
Allen’s entire ‘letter’ to Boston! And
as you read the letter from Youk, you can just tell how much heart he poured
into it. Seriously, kudos to Youk for
being extremely classy towards the city of Boston despite all of the problems
he had with Bobby V and the organization in his last year. He was one of the Red Sox most scrutinized players this year and you can see that he still had his heart in Boston. If you want to read
the full letter, and I highly recommend you do, click here.
So Ray vs. Youk… I think Youk wins by unanimous decision
with a TKO. I really thought Ray loved
playing in Boston but with all of the recent events and this letter, I’m
beginning to doubt that. I’m sure he
enjoyed it, but I’m just seeing a lack of heart right now. Am I being too critical on Ray? Perhaps.
But when you compare these two guys and how much they loved playing for
their city, Youk takes it no questions asked.
I mean… how can you not love this city?
