How does Boston do it?

Since 2007, the Redsocks have won three World Championships, five divisional titles and reached the playoffs seven times. 

Since 2001, the Patriots have won five Super Bowls and 16 divisional titles. Tomorrow, they might win their sixth.

The Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011, and the Celtics ruled the NBA in 2008.

Since 2002, the Boston Revolution has played in five Major League Soccer finals (though, nyah-nyah, they haven't won any, nyah-nyah!)

Meanwhile, a short train ride to the south, New York City's pro teams consistently offer up minor league entertainment. Take the Knicks, (please.) How can a team become so horribly, fundamentally wretched? If it were run by barnyard chickens, it could not do worse. The Giants and Jets? Putrid, with no sign of change. The Mets? Dear God. And the one traditional source of pride, the Eco-Yankees - our "fully functioning Death Star" - has tucked its ball-sacks into its wallets and settled for wild card flags. We'll likely hit opening day with a payroll about $20 million below the Redsocks'. WTF? Why, why, why?

Truth is, I dunno. A million reasons, maybe. On this Super Bowl Eve -the holiest of days on the American trivia calendar - here's what I got:

1. Boston pro team owners have been more analytical and cutthroat. For example, the Redsocks long ago perfected the art of tanking. Between their two recent championships, they twice finished last. (That's how they drafted Benintendi.) In those free-fall seasons, they cleaned house - Lackey, Lester, Buchholtz, Sandoval, etc. The Yankees, on the other hand, have chased every wild card like a golden retriever running down a mail truck. And the staggeringly horrible Knicks - an affront to humanity - seem to always believe they are one aging star away from a championship. It's contagious. The Giants this last season drafted a RB, thinking they could go from 3-13 to a title. What hubris! What stupidity! 

2. Boston teams have consistently chosen youth over age. Several times, the Patriots not only finished first, but then entered the NFL draft with multiple first round picks. The Knicks, on the other hand, traded practically the next century of draft picks for fading Carmelos and Marburys. (Wow. I just realized the chasm between the Patriots and Knicks; it's like one of those 100-mile high mountains on Jupiter. It may be the starkest description imaginable of heaven v. hell.)

3. New York's one advantage - market size - is carved up into fractions - Yankees/Mets, Giants/Jets, etc. - while Boston unites under one franchise per sport. Meanwhile, the socialist rule structures of major pro sports has undermined whatever financial advantage a New York team could have. Take away the extra money, and - frankly - NYC simply offers more distractions. What are the Bruins going to do on a night out in Boston? Visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum? 

4. The old-money, inbred aristocracy of New York's owners - the Steinbrenners, Dolans, Maras, Tisches, etc. - is as sorry a bunch as has ever soiled a country club happy hour. Their priorities include horses (Steinbrenner), trophy wives (Tisch), Hollywood (Mara) and the achievement of absolute zero mediocrity (Dolan.) Winning teams are mere icing on the cake. What's important is to eliminate awkward situations. The Yankees had Derek Jeter batting lead-off to the very end, long after his stroke went south. The Giants will go with Eli Manning until he's on Medicare. Why change? Nobody wants to create a messy evening. Good grief, their kids attend the same schools. 

There are other reasons - the sportswriter communities, the craziness of celebrity status, etc. - but make no mistake. Tomorrow, it will be a battle of the coasts. And on the East Coast, the power center is Boston, as it has been throughout this millennium. New York is the Second City.