Shattered Dreams

Rays 3, Red Sox 1...is there anything more to say.  After one of the most roller coaster playoff series that i can remember, the Red Sox came up just short of another World Series appearance.  My brother and i spoke in short texts after the game. I felt lost. There wasn't going to be another game for the Red Sox in 2008. After faithfully watching, listening and refreshing internet pages for current pitch counts in close to every game again this season, i feel hollow. I believe that every sports fan, or true sports fan goes through this period of angst and anguish after a hard fought battle. But after reflecting the next morning in the shower, i realized that i wasn't as upset as i should be, or have been in the past. And then it hit me..."did the Patriots Super Bowl loss last year scar me so badly that i am unable to feel anymor?" I do not konw that answer to this, but i can tell you that ESPN lost my TV ratings after that Super Bowl for two solid weeks. Still to this day i can't see highlights of that game without wondering...when did Eli Manning stop curling up in the fetal position every time he was blitzed. WHY! WHY! WHY! (I digress...) I don't know if it is the 6 month season or the fact that barring any inclement weather the Red Sox play 162 games from April 1 to September 30 (for those of you that are counting that is 18 days off). Baseball and the Boston Red Sox give the spring, summers, and fall meaning and something to look forward to year after year. So without shedding another tear (I am all cried out) i would like to congratulate the 2008 Boston Red Sox for rallying in Game 5 in (in historic fashion), winning Game 6 and ultimately giving us something to cheer about this playoff series after what looked like a complete stomping.  So to Pedroia, Youk, Papelbon, and others, get healthy and come back hungry. Red Sox 2009! Go Sox!

Post Script - For any nah-Sayers out there who dare to say "You can't win all the time," I respond with this -- You may not be able to win all the time, but you should never go into a game, a season, or a career, without the expectations of success. Between the Boston Red Sox (2 World Series championships 2004, 2007) and The New England Patriots, my sports life has been sheer jubilation since the Pats one their first Super Bowl in 2002. Since then, they have won the Super Bowl 2 other times (2004, 2005) and gone through the entire regular season of NFL undeafeted in which they ended up winning both of the playoff games but the Super Bowl that year wasn't played due to a cockraoch infestation in Phoenix, AZ. Look it up! That game never happened!