With all of us preparing to board the train to blackout city this New Years, I thought I'd take a stroll down memory lane to recap the decade in sports and remind us all just how dominant Boston-based sports teams were.  After tireless research looking at one website while watching Spongebob Squarepants ruin everyone's day in Bikini Bottom, I've come to the realization that we have all witnessed arguably the best decade in Boston sports history.

In case you forgot, for all intents and purposes, the Patriots used to be the Raiders and the Raiders used to be the Patriots.  Up until this decade, the Patriots were always circled as a win on opponent's schedules.  A new ownership, three rings, and an undefeated regular season later, the Patriots are one of the most prominent franchises in the NFL.

In 2006, I can distinctly remember rooting for the Celtics to lose in order to get the best lottery chance the next year.  In my eyes, the only way to get better was to get worse.  Do the math.  There are two things I'm not proud of in my life: admitting to watching Jersey Shore and rooting against the Celtics that year.  Even though I still consider it warranted, cheering for your team to lose is just un-American.  Anyways, you might remember the Celts trading for a couple decent guys and winning their first banner in 20 years.

And then there was the Sox.  I've never seen a team play worse or better in one series like the 2004 Red Sox did against the Yankees in the ALCS.  I was at Game 3 (final score: 19-8) and left a great deal of my dignity at Fenway that night.  I remember pretty much the only guy who wasn't looking on to next year was Kevin Millar.  Constantly reminding people to not count the Sox out, the old cowboy pretty much called the outcome.  A lot of Boston fans already know that there will never be another championship as special as the 2004 run.  Oh yeah, they added another one in 2007 just to prove they were legit.

And, who knows, maybe the Bruins will take home the cup this year to add on to the greatest decade in Boston sports history.

UPDATE: Heres a list of all the championships won this decade in the four major sports divided into region.

Arizona - 1 (Daimondbacks)

Baltimore - 1 (Ravens)

Boston/NE - 6 (Patriots-3, Red Sox-2, Celtics-1)

Carolina - 1 (Hurricanes)

Chicago - 1 (Cubs, oh wait, sorry, I meant White Sox)

Colorado - 1 (Avalanche)

Detroit - 4 (Red Wings-2, Pistons-2)

Florida - 4 (Marlins, Heat, Lightning, Buccaneers)

Indianapolis - 1 (Colts)

LA/Anaheim - 6 (Lakers-4, Angels-1, Ducks-1)***

New York - 3 (Yankees-2, Giants-1)

New Jersey - 2 (Devils-2)

Pittsburgh/Philadelphia - 4 (Steelers-2, Penguins-1, Phillies-1)

San Antonio - 4 (Spurs-4)

St. Louis - 2 (Cardinals-1, Rams-1)

*** - Even though both Boston/NE and LA/Anaheim are tied with 6 titles, Boston gets the edge because men here don't like plastic surgery as much as sports.