After the Euphoria

[REPOST from my MySpace blog on Oct. 21, 2004]

It's 48 degrees on a dreary Autumn day here in Eastern Mass. By now, the clean-up crews have tidied up Kenmore Square outside Fenway Park in town (Boston) and a couple of unfortunate merchants have begun to place orders for new signs outside their businesses, after a handful of immature knuckle heads decided it would be fun to destroy some property while celebrating the Red Sox victory. There were a couple of cars overturned in the streets, as well - poor bastards -- is there insurance to cover something like that? Under the title of 'vandalism' maybe?

Anyway, it's almost 1pm and I'm still barely waking up after a couple of weeks of late nights and up & down emotions. I've never been known to be a sports fan. Well, men's sports. Personally, I'd rather PLAY than watch a sporting event. That all changed since I moved to Boston....a bit. This is a baseball city, no question about it. It was easy to get caught up in the excitement of the Playoff's when your hometown boys are fighting ever closer to the title.... but battling the Yankees?!? Sit down, my children. The biggest baseball rivalry in the history of the sport (or just about any other sport, for that matter) is held between the Boston Red Sox and the NY Yankees. By now, that's a pretty well-known fact. Even though I'm still generally not a big pro baseball fan, I have never ONCE liked the Yankees. I think they're arrogant, whether they win or lose a major game, they still get plastered all over the television in their Visa commercials, they pay the highest dollar for the best players in the world and they are USUALLY in the playoff's, if not the World Series. If you ask me, I'd call that pretty unfair. Once in a blue moon, though, the Yankees get their tushies kicked by the underdog, like the Arizona Diamondbacks or the lowest-paid team in the MLB, the Florida Marlins. That's always a joy to watch. Yeah, I know the Yankees pay that much because they "play to win" but give someone else a chance once in awhile, will ya??

On a similar note, Yankees fans are frightening. (present company excluded, if that applies) Not as scary as Raiders fans, but scary nonetheless. If you root against their team, it's like saying something negative to George W. Bush about the way he's handling Iraq. Run fast, run far....and lay low for at least a few more days if the Yankees were to lose a major game or series. Word to the wise, don't start an argument with a Yankee fan - you will NOT win. You'll either lose their friendship or they will whack you. LOL Just be careful, ok?

Back to the subject at hand. The Red Sox made history on Tuesday night by being the first MLB team to force a Game 7 after a 3-game deficit in a series. Last night, they made history yet again by being the first MLB team to win a Playoff after a 3-game deficit. For those of you that have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll explain in plain English: There are 7 games in a Playoff game before you move into the World Series (another 7-game series). In order to win QUICKLY, a team has to win 4 times in a row and then the whole series is over. If both teams win back and forth, the series will obviously last longer until one team wins 4 total games out of 7. The Red Sox lost the first 3 games...badly. All NY had to do was win one more and they were headed to the World Series. The Yankees and their fans were convinced that they would easily win, while Red Sox fans were going in to work everyday moping and embarrassed. Something happened, though, and the Red Sox finally showed up to play some baseball. In order for Boston to win, they had to win 4 consecutive games, period. Guess what? They did! I almost feel a little sorry for the Yankees fans.

So the Red Sox are headed to the World Series this Saturday and we're waiting on one more game to find out which NCLS team (Astros or the Cardinals) are going to play against us in the Series. I know I shouldn't think too far ahead, but IF the Sox won the World Series, it will have been the first time since 1918. That's a long-ass time. So, even if you could care less about baseball, or your favorite team didn't make the cut this year, join us in watching the World Series and root for the underdogs. That's always fun.

GO SOX !!!