Red Sox are the Champs!!

Red Sox
I used to strongly believe that I would not witness the Red Sox win a championship in my lifetime. Considering that my grandfather never got to see the Red Sox win it (they had last won it when he was 2 years old), I figured the same fate would fall upon me. I tried to give up on them before 2004. Even in 2003 when Grady Little single handedly gave the championship away by keeping Pedro in when EVERYONE knew he was toast, I somehow could not get away.

That was a tough night. I was still recovering from my back surgery (titanium rods installed onto my spine) and I was sitting in my recliner (which was very hard to get in and out of at the time). It was game seven in the ALCS. Pedro pitched an excellent game, but his pitch count broke 100. There were established statistics that showed that batters did very well against Pedro when he pitched more than a 100 pitches, yet Pedro was coming out in the 8th to pitch to the Yankees. He had a two run lead at the time. Personally, I would have yanked Pedro before the 8th, but out he came. Maybe Grady knew something we didn't, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. When Pedro gave up two hits to the 1st two batters, it was obvious he did not have it. Out came Grady to the mound, I assumed to say "Thanks for pitching a great game, Pedro" and bring out someone from the bullpen. When I saw Grady walking back to the dugout, I leaped off of my recliner and yelled at the TV (while almost sending myself back into the hospital). I could not believe that Pedro was left into the game. Not only did Pedro give an RBI hit, he was STILL left in to allow the tying run to score. It was mind blowing. It ended up going into extra innings and Aaron Boone ended up hitting a walk off home run against Wakefield. Everyone seems to remember "Aaron Bleeping Boone," or they remember Wakefield giving up the final pitch. Not me, I will always remember Grady. When Boone hit the home run, I just turned off the TV with no reaction. I knew they were going to lose when they tied it in the 8th. I said to myself, "I am done with this fucking team. No more of this crap." I was sick of putting my heart into a team that year in and year out breaks my heart.

I really thought I gave up on them, until Spring Training came and there I was getting sucked back in. They signed Curt Schilling made me wonder. Sure enough, as the season went on I was fully sucked back in. The Red Sox again met the Yankees in the ALCS. The Yankees came right out to take a 3-0 lead in the series. Not only was that awful, they got totally blown out by more than 10 runs in game 3. After game 3, I actually said, "I will not raise my child a Red Sox fan." I thought it would be child abuse to raise a child a Red Sox fan after what they had done to me. I tried to not watch game 4 because I thought they were going to be swept. Fortunately, I had a show in Mankato and I missed most of the game. I did get to see the 9th inning when Dave Roberts stole 2nd in the 9th inning and then scored on a Bill Mueller single. It went into extra innings and I listened to it on the way home and listened as Ortiz launched a walk off home run. Nice, they were not going to be swept. But I was still angry at the Red Sox, because they were sucking me back in and giving me a glimmer of hope.

They ended up going on and performed the greatest comeback in the history of sports and beat the Yankees to go on to the World Series. I had no doubt they would kill the Cardinals and they ended up sweeping them. It was unbelievable. I had no clue what to feel because this was something I never thought I would see. I got a little sad because I knew my grandfather missed it. He loved the Red Sox and he would have loved to have seen a championship, but he died in 2001. It also sucked because it was my 1st year in Wisconsin; I was not able to celebrate with friends.
Fast forward to last week when the Red Sox came back from a 3-1 series deficit to beat the Indians in the ALCS. They then went on a swept the overmatched Rockies in the World Series. It was not near as powerful. When the playoffs started, I EXPECTED the Red Sox to win it all. How odd is that? It is a weird feeling to have grown up a Boston sports fan and be cocky. We were so used to having our hearts broken by all our teams (except the Celtics in the 80's); we are not used to expecting our teams to succeed.

Not only has the Red Sox won two titles in 4 years, they have positioned themselves to continue to win by having a bunch of young talent. Not only do we have one of (if not THE) best pitchers in the league in Josh Beckett, but we also have Dice-K who should pitch better next year after a year of getting used to the US. Papelbon has turned into a stud in the bullpen with Oakajima. Then there are also the young future star pitchers like Lester and Bucholtz. Add in the young talent in the field like Ellsbury, Pedroia and Youkalis and this is a team that should compete for a while.

I love the Red Sox right now. Hopefully, they do not make a play for A-Rod (I think they will sign Lowell). Did you know that Dice-K had more playoff RBI's (2) than A-Rod (1)? Screw you, Gay-Rod.

Patriots
This week is the biggest game of the year in football. The Patriots and the Colts face off in the battle of the unbeaten. The game is in Indy and the Patriots are favored by 5.5 points. Every media outlet is talking about the game and the proper hype is being applied. The only annoying thing is the Manning/Brady comparisons. Even though Manning is great, I still can not understand how people can not have Brady as the 1 QB in the NFL. Brady has succeeded in the NFL with pedestrian WR's while Manning was always surrounded by awesome talent. Now that Brady has equal talent, he is blowing away Manning's numbers. Even when Manning finally won the title last year, he did it throwing only 3 TD's and 7 INT's during the playoffs. He got completely carried by his defense and Bob Sanders (the true MVP of the Colts). How does a QB throw 7 INT's during a Super Bowl run and he is considered on the same level as Brady who has won 3 Super Bowls with less than 7 INT's COMBINED over those three playoff years.

I think it will be a good game and a high scorer. I think the Patriots defense is a little over-rated and the Colts will be able to move the ball, especially Joseph Addai. But I think the Patriots will just score more. Maroney should have a solid day and Moss will haul in a TD or two. Brady will have at least 3 TD's. I doubt it will be a blow out, but damn that would be fun to see the Patriots destroy the Colts in the Dome.

Celtics
Tonight the season kicked off with the new big three. Garnett and Allen were on the court with Pierce and they did not disappoint. They kicked the snot out of the Wizards and all three had good games (including Garnett's 20 rebounds). They should finish near the top of the conference in the end and have a chance at the Finals. I am interested in the Celtics for the 1st time in a while. It will be fun to watch Garnett in green.