All of a sudden, Boston has become the sports capital of America. No matter what the code, every team coming out of Beantown seems to be on some sort of scintillating run. Last Sunday night, the Red Sox won the World Series for the second time in four seasons. This afternoon, the New England Patriots (three Super Bowls this century) put an unbeaten run on the line against the Indianapolis Colts amid feverish talk they might just be the best team ever assembled. Throw in the revitalisation of the Boston Celtics, Steve Nicol's New England Revolution making their annual bid for MLS Cup glory, and there's no doubt something is in the air in Massachusetts.

The change in fortunes is all the more startling given what went before. Far from being contagious, winning used to be plain hard to come by in these parts. The Patriots were never one of the NFL's glamour teams, the Red Sox had almost trademarked their historic penchant for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and, once Larry Bird retired, the Celtics turned into one of the NBA's most risible franchises. Now, there is an outside chance all three could become national champions within the same calendar year. The Red Sox have already showed the other two the way forward.

Having finally ended their legendary 86-year drought back in 2004, they are being seriously talked about as the dominant baseball club of this still-young century. Once regarded as hexed by the curse of Babe Ruth (sold to the New York Yankees in the prime of his career), today's Sox are consummate professionals rather than paranoid lunatics obsessed about the perceived malign influence of long-dead icons. Between the two titles, they revamped the squad, stacking it with young pitchers and establishing the type of line-up that should figure in the Series shake-up regularly over the next few years. No sooner had their victory parade ended Tuesday evening than words like dynasty were being bandied about to describe them.

The Patriots are familiar with this kind of thing. They have been so impressive in winning their first eight games that a national debate is ensuing about the morality of some future opponent potentially taking out their all-conquering quarterback Tom Brady (right). Peeved that the Pats have taken to running up the score late on in blow-outs instead of withdrawing their starters and playing reserves, traditionalists contend a season-ending cheap shot to Brady's knees might teach the team's famously belligerent coach Bill Bellichick to show more respect for lesser outfits. The very existence of such a discussion sums up the breathtaking level the team has been playing at.

Truth is if the Patriots get past Peyton Manning's also-unbeaten Colts today, they are expected to be the first side since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to go through an entire campaign without a loss. Apparently peeved at being exposed earlier in the season for using video cameras to spy on opposing team's signals, the Patriots are on a mission to prove they can win without the illicit use of technology. As they seek to embarrass the rest of the league along the way, Brady looks certain to shatter the record for most touchdowns in a campaign.

By the time Brady makes it to the Super Bowl next February, the fate of the new, improved Celtics will be much clearer. Having suffered through more than a decade of complete irrelevance, they went for broke this past summer by signing two bona fide superstars in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to complement their current franchise player Paul Pierce. In a sport where two greats can carry a team to the play-offs, a triumvirate of this calibre instantly turns them from pretenders to contenders.

Talk of winning a title may be a tad premature but they are already favoured by many to be the Eastern Conference's representatives in the finals.

The Celtics play at the TD Banknorth Garden, a facility they share with the city's ice hockey representatives, the Bruins. The worst team in their NHL division last year, the Bruins have inevitably caught the prevailing mood and made a winning start to their still-young season too. If nobody is talking just yet about them bringing the Stanley Cup to Massachusetts for the first time in nearly four decades, they are certainly doing everything in their power to do so. Last Thursday night, they even invited the Red Sox owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner to participate in the honorary dropping of the puck before the Bruins took on the Buffalo Sabres.

The Red Sox contingent brought along both their World Series trophies for the fans to admire and while it's too early to tell whether their success will rub off on the hockey club, the Bruins did down the Sabres in overtime. Some people might call that a sign.