Byline: Matt Swenson; The Washington Post
In other sports, the big-city rivalries usually come to a head in the playoff round before the championship. Here, though, the cities that love to hate each other are going for it all. Does Beantown or Gotham City hold the edge going into the Super Bowl? We make the call.
LANDMARKS
Faneuil Hall vs. Empire State Building
The New York skyscraper is taller and more visited. But being way up in the sky gets old in a hurry, and the $20 cost just to reach the 86th floor is steep. Faneuil Hall has the edge in history (dating to 1742) and has good food to boot. Advantage: Boston.
SCORSESE MOVIES
'The Departed' vs. 'Gangs of New York'
Martin Scorsese hitched his wagon to Leonardo DiCaprio with 2002's 'Gangs,' but the pairing didn't hit its stride until four years later with 'The Departed.' Daniel Day-Lewis overshadowed DiCaprio in 'Gangs,' but Scorsese's go-to star held his own opposite Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg in 'The Departed.' The later film worked so well that Scorsese -- the most iconic of New York directors -- won his only Oscar for a mob movie set in Boston. Advantage: Boston.
FOOD
Chowdah vs. Pizza
You can just sense New York's jealousy with its Manhattan clam chowder, a gross tomato-based product that is a shell of its older brother. You don't see Boston making up its own bad pizza style. Advantage: Boston.
PRESIDENTS
JFK vs. FDR
Sadly, John F. Kennedy (who's technically from Brookline, Mass.) never got to finish his first term. Roosevelt died in office, too, but not until he'd helped defeat the Nazis and the Great Depression. Advantage: New York.
BASEBALL TEAMS
Sox vs. Yanks
Now it gets serious. Boston has Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice. That's nice, except when compared with Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig. Need further evidence? Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs, two Boston legends, won their only titles in the Bronx. Advantage: New York.
CAPTION(S):
Kathy Willens / AP: The Empire State Building: It's no Faneuil Hall. (0311738230)
Copyright (c) 2012 Seattle Times Company, All Rights Reserved.
