By Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and  do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff  or publishers)

Boston Strong. That phrase has resonated throughout our community these past six months. It echoes from the Boston Marathon finish line at Copley Square, down the corridor of Boylston Street, into the baseball cathedral that is Fenway Park, down the Pike and beyond. The unceasing refrain has carried through the Red Sox season, ever since a senseless act of violence marred one of the greatest days in New England, a day when people gather to cheer athletes from around the world as they push themselves to strive for greatness, for an achievement summed up in three simple words: finish the race.

Last Wednesday, the Red Sox finished their own race with a world championship. In doing so, they lifted a community that has come together after an attack on an event that embodies the best of Boston, Massachusetts and all of New England. Marathon Monday is our day. The temperature is starting to rise as we anxiously await the blossoming of spring and our sidewalks are filled with cheering crowds. There are no politics or divisions. There is only a spirit of unity and celebration of sport at its best.

It’s easy in today’s cynical age to cast a skeptical eye on the use of “Boston Strong” in reference to sports victories. It’s also understandable. Should we know better than to use a phrase coined to express solidarity and conviction after a deadly terrorist attack as a rallying cry for winning what’s only a game? Have we lost our perspective?

No, we haven’t lost our perspective. The point of Boston Strong isn’t that the Red Sox won a championship. This may sound blasphemous, or perhaps a bit easy to say after a World Series victory, but ultimately it didn’t matter whether the Red Sox won the World Series. Boston Strong is about the way this team played the game.

This year, we had a team filled with players who formed a true bond with one another (with hirsute visibility) and with our community. The camaraderie on the field was matched by players, without any prompting or publicity seeking, visiting bombing victims in hospitals and carrying the weight of those victims’ stories with them when they’d run out of the dugout for each game. It’s a team full of grinders, dirt dogs, guys who leave everything out on the field and fill their dugout—with the Boston Strong 617 jersey hanging behind them in that dugout—with unceasing support for one another. Like the Marathon runners, the Red Sox are our players from around the world. There are Red Sox from the United States, Dominican Republic, Canada, Venezuela, Japan, Aruba and Puerto Rico, but to us, they are from Boston. We hope that the way they play the game reflects something about the best in all of us.

Our pride in them mirrors our pride in the Marathon. On Patriots’ Day, every runner is embraced by our community in a spirit of camaraderie. Each runner grinds it out, through sweat and aches and pains. We cheer on their strength and conviction to finish the race. It doesn’t matter which state or which of the 90-plus countries represented in the Marathon that they come from. For that one day every year, they belong to Boston. We hope that their determination in running a grueling 26.2 mile course reflects something about in the best in us. For thousands of marathoners, it doesn’t matter what place they come in. The goal isn’t to come in first. It’s being able to go home and tell their family and friends, “I ran the Boston Marathon.” It’s to finish the race.

It’s only sports. It’s only a game. We know that and have that perspective. We also know that it means more than that. It’s these shared experiences that can bring together our diverse community and make us all feel part of something bigger—Patriots’ Day, the Marathon, or a Sox game—and also have the runners and players take that spirit of camaraderie home with them. Sports, at their best, are where politics, race, creed and color don’t matter. The only thing that truly matters is how you play the game. Our Marathon runners and our Red Sox symbolize that ideal and what we hope is the best within us. We come together to cheer on strength and conviction. We rise. We finish the race. Boston Strong.