Red Sox article on espn.com

[mikech]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...simmons/040929

Being a Mets fan, I despise the Yankees, and since the enemy of my enemy is my friend, the past few years I've become a secondary Red Sox fan by proxy, so to speak. And Bill Simmons writes about the unique romance Sox fans have with their team as well as anyone I've ever read; his post-mortem pieces after the Aaron Boone game last year were hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time. This column is pretty good too, I love the last couple of paragraphs:

[ QUOTE ]
I still remember the minutes and hours after that fateful Game 7 in the Bronx, when I called Dad just to make sure he was still breathing. I still remember the following afternoon, when everything hit me at once -- the residual emotions of the past three weeks swelling up like a killer wave, knocking me right on my back -- and I actually had to leave work early. It was too much. Baseball shouldn't mean this much.



A few months passed. I thought I was okay. Last Friday brought everything back. This isn't about a curse, it's about baggage, the way an accumulation of experiences alters your innate reactions. Like every Red Sox fan, I have baggage. Tons of it. Now we're heading into October with another dicey manager. My guard is up. I can't help it. At the same time, I'm going to spend my entire afternoon monitoring that Yankees doubleheader against Minnesota today. Because you never know.



Everything has changed. Nothing has changed. I don't want to go through this again. I can't live without it. I'm not sure I can handle it. I couldn't imagine any other way.



And if none of this makes sense ... well, you obviously aren't a Red Sox fan.

[/ QUOTE ]
I can't wait for the playoffs to begin. I'm not just rooting for the Yankees to lose anymore--I'm rooting for the Red Sox to win.

[bosoxfan]

I always look forward to his columns to help with my Red Sox grief. I took a different approach with my Dad after last years game 7. I called him and told him I was pissed at him for doing this to me.

[Sooga]

I hate to root against a lovable loser, but I was glad when I saw that Mookie ball, especially after those Sox broke my Angels' heart that year. I suppose though that now my Halos have won, my grudge is over.

[andyfox]

"Baseball shouldn't mean this much."

It shouldn't. But it does to me too. I can't really tell you why. I'm a nervous wreck during the playoffs. When Rivera blew the last game of the 2001 World Series, I felt like I had died. As a Yankee fan, it was easier all those years when they were out of contention (1965-1975 and 1982-1994).

I've never hated the Red Sox. What reason would there be for hating them? Actually, I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for them. If the Yankees get eliminated in the first series and the Sox are still alive, I'll be pulling for them.

[Bill Murphy]

I hate the Yankees...but I hate the Dead Sux even more. Simmons is a very good writer but he got hysterical this time out w/the Mike Myers-WSOB Game 7 on Halloween bit.

[banditbdl]

[ QUOTE ]
As a Yankee fan, it was easier all those years when they were out of contention (1965-1975 and 1982-1994).

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a little different version of this trepidation for the Twins this year. For a while they were just terrible (~1995-2000). Then in 2001 they were lovable and young, full of promise. And the last two years they won the division, but no one, myself included really expected much out of them come playoff time. To a certain extent they were default winners of a crappy division and any postseason success was just a bonus. However, this year it's different. There's a feeling, even an expectation, that they should compete given the strength of their starting pitching, but then there is that dread when you realize it still probably won't be enough.

It's the high expectations that kill you. You expect so much, and get wrapped up in that expectation only to have it all come crashing down. For some sports fans you deal with the dashed dreams every 5-10 years. For the unlucky others, (the Red Sox and Vikings fans come to mind) the dashed dreams become part of their very existence.

[The Dude]

[ QUOTE ]
I've never hated the Red Sox.... If the Yankees get eliminated in the first series and the Sox are still alive, I'll be pulling for them.

[/ QUOTE ]
Good God man! Why do you have to say things like this? All I want to do is blindly hate all Yankee fans, and you say things like this. Can't you just make thins easy on me and act evil and stupid? Please?