Naptown vs. Beantown in 20 key categories

Boston Harbor vs. the Downtown Canal. Fenway Park vs. Victory Field. Faneuil Hall Marketplace vs. City Market. OK, so when it comes to certain categories, Boston and Indianapolis just can't compare. (And how could they? Massachusetts' capital city was founded almost 200 years before Indiana's.) But in the areas that truly matter -- comfort food, he-man actors and notorious criminals -- Indy can certainly stand its ground. Before Naptown's Colts go head-to-head with Beantown's Patriots on Oct. 18, we assess the playing field.

1. Meat dish

Boston: Shepherd's Pie. Traditionally British dish -- made of cooked meat and veggies, topped with mashed potatoes and baked -- is a staple at Irish pubs across the city. 
Indy: Tenderloin. Breaded, fried, served on a bun unworthy of its handsome girth, the pork tenderloin is such a Hoosier favorite, it even has its own "Tenderloin Trail" and PBS documentary.

2. Celebrity your youngster knows

Boston: Pop singer Meghan Trainor topped Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with 2014 single "All About that Bass."
Indy: Author John Green wrote the books "The Fault in Our Stars" and "Paper Towns," which became major motion pictures.

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3. Worthwhile walk

Boston: Stops along Freedom Trail include Faneuil Hall, Old North Church, Bunker Hill Monument and site of the Boston Massacre.
Indy: Completed in 2013, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail connects Fountain Square, Mass Ave., Indiana Avenue and White River State Park.

4. Signature sculpture

Boston: The Boston Public Garden is home to "Make Way for Ducklings," a bronze sculpture that pays tribute to a 1941 children's book of the same name.
Indy: The Indianapolis Museum of Art is home to the original "LOVE" sculpture, made by Robert Indiana and known for its tilted "O."

5. Famous criminal

Boston: Boston Strangler. State mental health patient Albert DeSalvo confessed to sexually assaulting and murdering 11 to 13 women from 1962 to 1964, though investigators now believe several people were responsible for the killings.
Indy: John Dillinger. Public Enemy No. 1 eluded capture so many times that FBI director J. Edgar Hoover started to take it personally. The charismatic crook (played by Johnny Depp in 2009's "Public Enemies") committed a string of bank robberies across the country in the 1930s before being shot dead outside a Chicago theater.

6. Law-breaker in the news

Boston: The 2015 film "Black Mass," starring Johnny Depp, brought increased attention to Whitey Bulger, the incarcerated Boston crime boss/FBI informant who was found guilty of 11 murders, federal racketeering, extortion and conspiracy in 2013.
Indy: In August, former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle admitted to accusations that he had sex with minors and that he received and distributed sexually explicit images of children, some as young as 6 years of age.

7. Behind enemy lines

Boston: IndyCar will present the inaugural Grand Prix of Boston in 2016.
Indy: Indianapolis is home to three Boston Market restaurants.

8. He-Man Actor

Boston: Matt Damon. Cambridge, Mass., native flusters the CIA when portraying Jason Bourne.
Indy: Steve McQueen. Beech Grove native aggravated Nazis in "The Great Escape."

9. Sitcom of the past

Boston: "Cheers" (1982-93). A group of intellectual, pseudo-intellectual and slow-witted boozers gathered weekly to trade bon mots and insults. Made Woody Harrelson famous.
Indy: "One Day at a Time" (1975-84). A divorced mom and her two teenage daughters rode feminism's second wave in an Indy apartment complex. Made Valerie Bertinelli famous.

10. Retired talk-show host

Boston: Jay Leno. The former "Tonight Show" host worked in nightclubs while attending Emerson College and attained stardom by goofing on newspaper errors.
Indy: David Letterman. The former "Late Night" and "Late Show" host bagged groceries at bygone Atlas supermarket and attained stardom 10 quips at a time.

11. "Star Wars" connection

Boston: Natalie Portman, who portrayed Padme Amidala in three "Star Wars" movies, earned a psychology degree from Harvard University.
Indy: Adam Driver, who portrays Kylo Ren in the upcoming "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," attended the University of Indianapolis for one year. Also: Jake Lloyd, who portrayed 9-year-old Anakin Skywalker in 1999's "Episode I: The Phantom Menace" film, graduated from Carmel High School.

12. Food-related mass casualty incident

Boston: On Jan. 15, 1919, 21 people died and 150 were injured when a large molasses storage tank burst, flooding the North End neighborhood with a rushing wave of molasses that was moving through the streets at 35 mph.
Indy: On Oct. 31, 1963, 74 people died and 400 people were injured at the State Fairgrounds Coliseum when propane -- used to keep pre-popped popcorn warm -- leaked from a faulty valve, causing an explosion at the Holiday on Ice show.

13. Iconic author 

Boston: Jack Kerouac (1922-1969). Beat Generation pioneer, "On the Road" author. 
Indy: Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007). Novelist, humanist, author of "Slaughterhouse-Five."

14. Reality-TV champ

Boston: In 2011, construction worker "Boston Rob" Mariano took the $1 million prize for winning "Survivor: Redemption Island."
Indy: In 2014, Indianapolis-based singer-songwriter Josh Kaufman took the $100,000 prize for winning the sixth season of "The Voice."

15. R&B star for the grown and sexy

Boston: After recording hits with teen group New Edition, Bobby Brown found solo success thanks to signature tunes "Don't Be Cruel," "My Prerogative" and "Every Little Step."
Indy: Ten-time Grammy Award winner Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds has worked on more than 100 hit songs as a singer, songwriter or producer. The North Central High School grad's songwriting credits include Boyz II Men’s "End of the Road," which spent a record-breaking 13 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 chart in 1992.

16. Sports switcheroo

Boston: Celtics coach Brad Stevens grew up in Zionsville, attended DePauw University and coached Butler University to two consecutive runner-up results in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
Indy: Colts quarterback Matt Hasselbeck grew up in suburban Boston and played football at Boston College.

17. Larry Legend

Boston: Larry Bird won three NBA championships for the Celtics.
Indy: Larry Bird reached the NBA Finals as coach of the Pacers.

18. Hockey star

Boston: Bobby Orr was the Bruins' great defenseman and a two-time Stanley Cup champion. Against Wayne Gretzky, he might have held The Great One to two goals and an assist in any given game.
Indy: Broad Ripple High School and the Indianapolis Racers were instrumental in making Wayne Gretzky the best offensive weapon in hockey history. Without spending 1978 in Indianapolis, Gretzky merely would have been "The Very, Very, Very Good One."

19. Hoops hero 

Boston: Bill Russell won 11 NBA championships with the Celtics, but it can be argued that Wilt Chamberlain was a better center during the 1960s.
Indy: Oscar Robertson led Crispus Attucks High School to a pair of Indiana state championships in the mid-1950s. As an NBA player, the Big O became the only player in history to average a triple-double for an entire season: 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists across the 1961-62 campaign.

20. Enduring soundbite 

Boston: "There's a steal by Bird!" -- Johnny Most's raspy call of Bird's swipe and feed to Dennis Johnson for a playoff game-winner stirs the soul.
Indy: "Ah -- playoffs? Don't talk about -- playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game!" -- Former Colts coach Jim Mora delivered comedic gold in this post-game rant.

 Star reporter Will Higgins contributed to this report. Call Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.