Champs

For the second time in 4 years, the Red Sox have won it all. And for the second time in 4 years, my attempt to go to one of the games was foiled. Back in '04, Dunph and I were driving down to St. Louis with tickets to Game 5 in our pocket, listening to Game 4 on the radio. When it became apparent the Sox weren't going to lose the game, we pulled over in Sioux City, Iowa, to watch the end of the game and lose our asses on the craps table. This year, the Rockies' website suffered a crash bad enough that it is currently the subject of an FBI investigation, preventing me from getting tickets to Game 3. So at this point I should probably just stop trying to buy World Series tickets. This photo of the on-field celebration is courtesy of Dunph, who was at both Games 3 and 4:

Since most everyone else is comparing this year's run to 2004, I suppose I can throw in my two cents' worth. The best comparison I can make between the two championships, from a fan's perspective, is that it's like having sex. It's less stressful the second time around, and you can appreciate the ride a lot more, but there's just something about your first time. It's magical, just like the 2004 championship was. I'll never forget how awesome that couple week stretch was. Ducking out of a wedding dance about 42 different times to watch the end of Game 3 of the Angel series, having to be convinced by my buddies not to shut off the TV during the 9th inning of Game 4 of the Yankee series, living and dying with every single pitch during Games 5-7, and then feeling a sense of calm while they were dismantling the Cardinals. All these memories added together to make October 2004 one of the best of my life.

This championship was different. I was still on edge, obviously more so when the Sox were down 3-1 to Cleveland, but I have never felt such confidence in one of my teams as I did with this one. I haven't seen a baseball team put together a better seven-game stretch than the Sox just did. There wasn't as much of a fear of failure as much as there was an anticipation of success. This is a new and pleasant feeling for me while watching sports, as I am about as pessimistic as they come. As I was after the 2004 season, I am a little depressed that the year is over, and I don't get to watch these guys play for 5 months. With the exception of Eric Gagne, I enjoy every player on this roster.

In a related story, last New Years' Eve in Vegas I wandered into the sports book at 9 am after 12 hours of drinking and a 2 hour nap and put down $10 on the Sox to win this year's title. Now I'm no mathmetician or anything, but at 8-1 odds, that should put me somewhere in the $600-700 range. Word up.