Scotland's Boston love affair one for the ages

There has been some haggis controversy this week. On Wednesday, a video of Governor Maura Healey swept social media with her signing a declaration stating the Scottish dish was now legal in the state of Massachusetts. It looked like the Tartan Army's mission in Boston was not simply to drink the place dry of beer, inject fun into baseball matches, or donate generously to charities, it was to liberate the haggis from its 55-year American exile. That was until the bomb was dropped on Governor Healey's Instagram account 24 hours later.

"I have received countless messages from Massachusetts residents, Scotland supporters, legal experts, and at least one very concerned sheep," she wrote. "After careful review by my office, I am prepared to clarify that this was, in fact, a joke."

Ah, let's just lob the whole trip in the bin. What's the point? Why does Scotland's McGinn do goggles celebration? What are Clarke's big calls for Morocco? And who would you pick?

Embracing the Tartan Army

While Scotland's supporters did not manage to free some banned food stuffs, they have blown open the hearts of Bostonians who have embraced the takeover of their city in the last week and a half. Just as well, because you cannot get away from them. There is not a statue left in the tri-state area that now does not have a traffic cone for a hat, nor is there a sidewalk in Boston that has not had an unfortunate view up a kilt.

There has been — quite rightly — so much said about the tartan takeover of Fenway Park on Sunday night as the toiling Boston Red Sox were celebrated all the way to a limp 6-4 defeat to the Texas Rangers. An on-screen proposal was done to the backing vocal of 10,000 Scots singing about John McGinn, a row of Sox fans had their view obstructed by two men doing the Gay Gordons in front of them, and organist Josh Kantor kept the hits coming while displaying a "No Scotland No Party" sign while on screen. Jings, a Scot even managed to scoop the 50/50 draw jackpot. What a night he will have had.

Two days later, thousands of Scots returned for Pride Night as the Toronto Blue Jays fluttered into town. There is now talk of thousands descending on the Miami Marlins game next week in south Florida. At last, all those games of school rounders are paying off.

A Sister City Proposal

But the love affair here has gone way beyond baseball, this has been a glorious embracing of two cultures. A point underlined by the news Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has declared a sister city application with Glasgow. Fittingly, she did so in a Scottish pub wearing a Scotland football jersey.

Tens of thousands of football fans swarming to a city for a major tournament is nothing new, but it is the manner of the revelry here that has set it apart. At the time of writing, there has not been one arrest of a Scotland fan either in Boston or Providence, another nearby stronghold of the Tartan Army.

Building on a Bavarian Foundation

The ground work for this Boston bash was laid two years ago in Bavaria. At the last European Championships, Marienplatz felt like it held more Scots within it than Motherwell. Again, Scotland fans were lauded for their behaviour, generosity and patter. Alas, the football did its best to ruin the party. That is perhaps one key difference to this shindig, apart from the obvious step up in excitement from a Euros to their first World Cup in 28 years.

What mood the Tartan Army would have been in if the opener against Haiti had turned into a disaster we will never know. Although, I would say it would not have made a dent. The team on the pitch have done their bit to keep the party in full swing and a point against Morocco on Friday could trigger a tidal wave of celebration flooding back into Boston that night the likes they have never seen. The best way to describe it is this has been the trip of a lifetime for people who are still in their 20s.