Forbes listicles are a guilty pleasure of mine.  I see one of those Forbes top ten list links on my Yahoo! or MSN homepage, and I've got to click to it, mostly just to see file photos of the dreadful American skylines of cities like Des Moines and Dallas.  Even if it's a "Top Ten Cities in Free Fall"  or "Ten Worst Cities for Asthma" listicle, it can easily double for "Ten Worst American Skylines", since they always toss in random file photos of the cities in question.

And while I would never include Boston in a "Ten Worst American Skylines" listicle (even with the recent addition of the Back Bay Buttplug Building which totally obliterated the '70s retro-futuristic  Space:1999  moonscape austerity of the Prudential complex), our fair city is, not surprisingly, a regular on listicles of all sorts. 

It's usually a pithy reference based on well-worn cliches rather than any semblance of reality.  This morning's "Make a neighborhood love connection"  slideshow ("Forget about throw pillows and accent walls for a moment. If you really want your home to scream, 'This is me,' think beyond the walls — think in terms of neighborhood!") was no exception.

The list has Boston's Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood as The Place for "sports buffs," presumably because of the ball park, which was pictured ... er, um, not.   

Yeah, that's, um, not Fenway Pahk.  Obviously.

Which is fine, because the rest of it's more or less hogwash, too.  I mean, you can walk to TD Garden (or whatever they're calling it now) from my place, but it's a hike, especially for your typical fat-ass sports fan. I mean, have you see some of these slobs?

The other problem with Boston as a haven for sports buffs is that you actually have to be a fan of Boston's sports teams, because otherwise your life here will be an utter living hell.  Count on it.  

But it's a listicle.  And a file photo of some nameless ballpark should certainly serve whatever purpose listicles are for.  Truly, it's a journalistic niche product  that serves the need for content without substance.  I mean, honestly, do we really need to know the 15 different typographic mustaches?  Or the 10 Strangest Songs from Superhero Movies?  or The Top Ten Defenestrations? Probably not.

Even ostensibly relevant listicles like Forbes pumps out, about, say, the Top Ten Worst Cities for Rats (#7: Boston) — well, I doubt you'd pick up and move based on something you read in a listicle, even if you were a rat. 

Sports Buffs: consider yourselves warned.