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By Bill Contz
For the Mirror
Well sports' biggest single-day spectacle, Super Bowl LVII, is now in the rearview mirror with Kansas City's Chieftains reigning supreme over the rest of the NFL.
Personally, my neck is still sore after watching both offenses go up and down the field for what seemed like the entire night. Edge-of-your-seat entertainment? No argument from me there.
Now on to more pressing matters -- namely has anyone been paying close attention to the phenomenon taking place in eastern Massachusetts?
And no, I am not referring to the aggravation we collectively experience whenever we hear that "yoah cuzzin...frumm Bahhh-stun" line at the end of those irritating Sam Adams beer commercials.
Don't look now, but two pro sports teams from the same city are running absolutely roughshod over their competition and it's taking place over what has to be grueling, 80-plus game regular seasons.
The benchmark in this particular category is, without question, Michael Jordan's 1995-96 Chicago Bulls who laid absolute waste to their opposition by posting an unheard of 72-10 regular-season record before dominating the playoffs with another 13 wins in 16 attempts to waltz off with the NBA crown.
The Bulls' combined 85-13 record that season equates to a jaw-dropping 86.7% winning percentage, a mark I highly doubt will ever be surpassed.
This year, the Boston Bruins, despite dropping three of their past four games during their grind-it-out five-game road trip prior to the all-star break, have exited the ice victorious 41 times in 54 tries so far this season.
That translates to a stout .759 winning percentage, a blistering pace by hockey standards.
Under Jim Montgomery -- in his first year at the helm after two seasons in Dallas -- the Bruins started the season white-hot, winning 10 of their first 11 and 32 of their first 40.
They are presently second in the NHL in goals scored (201) and lead the league with a stingy 115 goals surrendered.
You have to go back a full decade to the strike-shortened 2012-13 campaign to find other such hockey dominance. That year the Chicago Blackhawks posted an impressive 36-7-5 record to capture Lord Stanley's Cup in a 4-2 series win over -- surprise -- Boston.
Chicago went 16-7 in the playoffs so the Blackhawks' 52 wins in 71 tries gave them a .732 winning percentage that season.
The highest winning percentage for any NHL team playing a full 82-game regular season was .713, courtesy of Wayne Gretzky and his crazy good 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers, who set the record for regular season wins (57).
Number junkies throughout this parish will quickly point out that this year's Bru Crew need 18 more wins in their final 29 contests to set a new standard here.
Not to be outdone, the Celtics, under first-year coach Joe Mazzulla, currently own a 42-17 record. That equates to a very tidy .712 winning percentage and makes them the lone NBA contingent to exceed the 70-percent win threshold.
I could be wrong here, but Boston may be the only sports town in history with two pro franchises simultaneously playing marathon, 80-plus game schedules and boasting winning percentages at or above .700.
Since both are past the halfway point into their respective seasons, it is difficult to predict some team other than one from Boston reaching their conference finals.
Neck pain notwithstanding, that is enough to aggravate anybody.
Contz was a starting offensive tackle on Penn State's first national championship team in 1982 and played six NFL seasons with New Orleans and Cleveland. He published a book in 2017, "When the Lions Roared: Joe Paterno and One of College Football's Greatest Teams." He resides in Pittsburgh.