Visit the Sports Museum of New England in Boston

Is there a city in America with more dedicated sports fans than Boston? For generations, sports fans in New England lived and died with their often long-suffering teams. In the last decade, however, the Boston teams have rewarded the faithful with a pair of World Series wins for the beloved Red Sox, three Super Bowl titles for the on-again-off-again Patriots, and a return to championship glory for the storied Celtic basketball franchise.

So the idea of a museum celebrating the history of sports in New England seems like a natural. In fact, those associated with the Sports Museum of New England tell the story, perhaps apocryphal, of the cab driver who once said that "a sports museum in Boston is like an art museum in Paris."

The Sports Museum of New England was actually founded in 1977, but its history has been as spotty as some of the teams it celebrates. For twenty years, it was located at a mall in nearby Cambridge, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Boston. Finances for the museum were never a sure thing, and it was actually forced to close in the late 1990s when higher rents forced it out of the shopping center.

For a time, there were plans to relocate to the historic Custom House building along the Boston waterfront. Again, a booming economy and high real estate prices scuttled the plan, and the Sports Museum found itself homeless. Fortunately for New England sports fans, the operators of the newly-opened arena where the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics played their games - known then as the Fleet Center and today as the TD Garden - stepped in.

For the past decade, the Sports Museum of New England has occupied two levels of the arena, with a half mile of exhibit space inside the building. Visitors can relive great moments and players in Boston sports history, including all-time greats such as baseball's Ted Williams, hockey's Bobby Orr and basketball's Larry Bird. Those three, plus local heroes Harry Agganis and Carl Yastrzemski, are immortalized in unique life-sized wooden sculptures by renowned New England artist Armand LaMontagne.

There is much more on display at the museum as well, including memorabilia, trophies, historic uniforms and equipment and a vast collection of photographs and films. The museum chronicles both triumph and tragedy, with the shoes worn by Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri to boot a Super Bowl-winning field goal and the baseball that struck promising young Red Sox slugger Tony Conigliaro in the face in 1967, nearly killing him.

Despite - or maybe because of - its location within the TD Garden, the Sports Museum of New England pokes a little fun at the historic old arena that once stood next door. A special recreation of the hockey boards and glass, the hard wooden seats, and the vantage point from the original Boston Garden's much-maligned "obstructed view" seats is on display.

Fans of every Boston team will find something to excite them at the Sports Museum of New England, from the lockers of both Williams and Bird, to the actual hockey penalty box from the old Boston Garden and a display of items from the Boston Redskins, who played for the NFL title in the 1930s.

Admission to the Sports Museum of New England is $6 for adults and $4 for children. A family rate of $15 for up to five people is also offered. The TD Garden is located on Causeway Street in Boston, adjacent to North Station train station, where both the Green and Orange subway lines stop.