Sox win! Sox win!



After a jaw-dropping three-game thrashing at the hands of the Yankees, the most evil team in professional sports (at least, if you live around here), the Sox did what everyone thought they could do but no one really believed they would do and actually came back to win the ALCS by sweeping the next four games, something that not only has no team ever done before, but not even come close to doing. Debate will rage for years as to which is the bigger claim to fame, the spectacle of the Sox improbable comeback, or the depth of the Yankees' collapse.



The last time the Sox were in the World Series, I had only lived here a year and was still basically a Cubs fan, so while it would've been nice to win, their heart-wrenching loss didn't have that much of an effect on me personally. In 1986, after all, it had only been 68 years since their last World Series win, still better than the Cubs, so what was all the crying about? I don't think all this talk of a curse really took hold until the infamous blooper through the legs of Bill Buckner (a former Cub), and although you could hardly blame the whole thing on him, just like you can't blame the Cubs disaster last year on that Bartman guy, it would seem it's a natural inclination to pin a tragedy of this magnitude on a single incident. Last year in the ALCS, it was Grady Little not pulling out Pedro in the eighth inning while they still had the lead in Game 7. He got sacked for it, but would it have made a difference? We'll never know.



So not much chance of getting anything accomplished for yet another week while I spend long hard hours in front of the tv, staying up too late just to see what happens first hand. There will be marathon games and cringe-inducing plays and when things get interesting in the Cardinal half of an inning, I'll have my thumb on the "Last" button so I can flip over to Trading Spaces or something for a few minutes reprieve. Make no mistake, the Yankees were a drop in the bucket compared to the Cardinals, and even with the home field advantage (thanks to homers by Manny and Ortiz in the All-Star game) the Sox have their work cut out for them. Even if they don't win the Series, beating the Yankees in the playoffs exorcised several ancient demons, and it's hard to imagine the euphoria being any greater if they do win it all. But it would be nice to find out.