"Maintaining a friendly Roslindale-West Roxbury rivalry" by Billy Baker | Globe Staff August 09, 2014
The trash talking began early, before the first beers, which is very early when this crew gets together each year.
They were gathered on a hillside at George Wright Golf Course early one recent morning, 80 blue shirts and 80 black, for a group photo before the beginning of the Parkway Cup. As they squished to fit in the photographer’s frame, one of the Roslindale guys in black began complaining that the West Roxbury team in blue was taking up too much space in the photo.
“That’s because they need the extra space for their heads,” one of the Roslindale guys shouted.
It was on.
In the long history of interneighborhood rivalries in Boston, the friction between West Roxbury and Roslindale — neighbors in the city’s southwest corner who have shared the Parkway youth sports program for generations — can be simplified to this: Roslindale natives tend to view West Roxbury as full of “rich” snobs in single-family homes who believe they’re better than them, while West Roxbury long treated Roslindale like its gritty younger brother, a neighborhood full of three-deckers and “Rozzie rats.”
“What it comes down to is they had two toilets and we had one,” said Doug McClure, 54, a proud “Rozzie rat” in a black golf shirt.
Like most rivalries, this one is largely friendly, slightly adorable, and mostly ridiculous. But for those who have grown up in it, it is unquestionably real. Or at least it was.
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It is that same competitive drive that makes the trash-talking at the Parkway Cup ruthless, the classic Boston take-’em-out-at-the-knees sense of humor that rules on the street corner and in the locker room but can’t be printed in a family newspaper.
Which must be why you are here, dearly beloved readers.
It was all, of course, in good fun. The rivalry, most say, has been dialing down for some time, but like many rivalries, what feels real in youth disintegrates in adulthood. Many of those at the recent golf tournament went to the same high schools and held teenage keg parties together in the Arnold Arboretum, which was considered neutral ground....
No big deal, huh?
God help 'em if they smoke a joint, though.
By 10 a.m., the young woman who was driving around the course with giant coolers full of beer returned to the clubhouse with a wad of cash, empty coolers, and a look that said she was seriously impressed.
“These guys can drink,” she declared.
If I didn't know better I would say the Globe is promoting alcoholism. I have several friends who find the combination of the two isn't serving them well and is a risk every time they hit the links.
But at the bottom of it all, one thing was very real: Both sides wanted to win the tournament....
And knock a few back. I think that is first priority.
--more--"
Also see:
Tuesday Golf Game
Slow Saturday Special: Hitting the Links
Slow Saturday Special: Golf Game
Globe gets routine after a while, if you haven't noticed.
I think I will be hunting some big game this afternoon. Be back later.
UPDATE: I cleared the trees but got lost in the rough.
