This is how it used to be. Late April. Red Sox winning early season games. Bruins winning playoff games. Celtics winning playoff games. Non-stop action day after day, weekend after weekend.

It hasn't been like this in these parts since the late '80s. Back when Boggs and Greenwell and Clemens performed for the Fenway faithful. Back when Bird and McHale and Parrish patrolled the parquet. Back when Neeley and Bourque and Moog skated around the Garden ice.

For too many years, the arrival of spring meant that the sneakers and skates would be put in the garage until the fall. The green uniforms and the black-and-gold sweaters would go back in the closet until summer came and went.

Spring became a four-letter word for the sports fan, used only in conjunction with anger-inducing phrases, such as spring cleaning or spring ahead (when we lose an hour of sleep). We'd have the Red Sox once a day and the occasional NFL nugget about the Patriots. And that would be it.

Once in a while the Bruins or Celtics would make some waves. The Celtics actually made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002. But every fan knew that an appearance in the NBA Finals would have made them the punching bag for the far superior Western Conference entry. And the Bruins finished first or second in their conference three times since 1992, but lost in the first round all three times-twice to their division rival, the Montreal Canadians.

But this year is unlike any in Boston sports history. The Red Sox-the most beloved and formerly most cursed of Boston franchises-are the defending World Series champions for the second time in four years. And many pundits expect them to challenge for the title again this season. Through 21 games they have the best record in the American League (14-7) even after starting the season in Japan as part of a seven-game road trip.

The Celtics set the record for the best single-season turnaround (42 games) in NBA history, finishing the year a league-best 66-16 (the 3rd best record in the franchise's storied history). Even though they play in the "weaker" of the two NBA conferences, their 12-4 record against the Western Conference playoff teams is seen as a sign that the Celtics will be a force to reckon with in the playoffs. The trade that brought Kevin Garnett here has reinvigorated the team and the fan base. Some are already searching the rafters of the Garden for a spot for championship banner number 17.

And then there are the Bruins. This once-great franchise has won just one playoff series since 1995, getting bounced in the first round 6 times while missing the playoffs entirely on 5 other occasions. The fans have been loudly critical of the team's penny-pinching owners, and the game of hockey is a distant fourth (or worse) as the sport of choice in the city of Boston. But one more win would go a long way toward changing (or at least improving) their standing as a fan favorite. And as recently as two years ago, an 8th-seeded team (the Edmonton Oilers) advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. Could history repeat itself once more?

In the last six years, the Patriots have won three Super Bowls and the Red Sox have won two World Series. Meanwhile, the Celtics and Bruins have sat on the sidelines, also-rans to the big boys. But now they have thrust themselves into the spotlight.

Since Thursday the Red Sox have won 5 straight (including back-to-back come-from-behind wins on Saturday and Sunday and this morning's win in the annual Patriots' Day game), the Celtics won their playoff opener in a laugher over Atlanta, and the Bruins have won back-to-back must-win games to force tonight's Game 7 against Montreal.

Every day there's one or two big games on for Boston fans. Some nights feature remote-testing-channel-flipping the likes of which we haven't seen in a long, long time. The Red Sox announcers talk about the Celtics while the Celtics announcers talk about the Bruins. Red Sox players show up at the Celtics' game to show their support. The good old days are here again. It's almost enough to help us forget that the undefeated Patriots lost the Super Bowl to the Giants.

Even with that painful loss to the Giants in February, it's been an embarrassment of riches for Boston fans lately. I often wonder how fans in places with only one team cope with the end of the season. If you live in San Antonio, who do you root for in the summer months? And in Green Bay-is there anything else after football? And yet the Boston fan must choose between a Bruins playoff game and the Red Sox on TV on the same Saturday night!

There was a time in the not-so-distant past that our professional sports teams were in historic championship droughts. The Red Sox went 86 years between World Series championships and the Patriots spent the first 41 years of their existence watching other teams win the biggest game of all.

But we've enjoyed six years of unparalleled success, which leaves us wanting even more. The Super Bowl XLII loss and the previous year's AFC Championship Game loss to the Colts hurt just as badly as they would have if the Patriots had 0 Lombardi trophies in the closet. And when a Red Sox player or manager does something that angers a fan-it's as if it's been 186 years since the last World Series win and not 186 days.

So we Boston fans will be pulling with everything we have for the Bruins tonight. After all, it's been 36 years since they last won the Stanley Cup. And we'll be rooting for the Celtics in the coming weeks. 1986 was the last title for them. The Red Sox and Patriots have done us proud, but we're itching for more championship hats and T-shirts and DVDs to add to our collection. We've been to the mountaintop with our other teams, and we want to get back there once again.

Springtime in Boston. And the weather is fine.