Red Sox fandom was the way my father taught me delayment of gratification. I’m not sure I know who I am anymore now that they’re winning the series.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Cubs…

I have to ask Red Sox fans…

Now that you guys have become the Yankees, how does it feel?

Do you feel dirty?

jenniebee, you could do what I do and be a Cubs fan and a Mariners fan. Both teams can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with great skill.

Congrat’s Brad.

OT but ya gotta read this from the Michigan State University of Young Americans for Freedom’ s site:

The Little Green Footballs blog decided to condemn MSU-YAF for hosting Nick Griffin. In case you do not read Little Green Footballs, the blog is pro-Muslim, left-wing, politically correct, and basically a front for neoconservative foreign policy (instead of defending their culture, they want to build schools in the Anbar province). They are basically a puppet of the multiculturalists and believe that Islam is not the enemy of Western civilization and Christendom…

LGF and Al Qaeda both have something in common: they hate Western civilization and those who stand up for it.

Ed Brayton from “Dispatches from the Culture Wars” clued me in on this.

By beating the Colorado Rockies, a/k/a God’s team, the Boston Red Sox have proven that they are Satan’s Team.

The team’s chief executive is a born-again Christian. So is the general manager and the team coach. Their two star players, along with many other members of their regular line-up, are not only believers but attend team-organised Bible studies.

The team doesn’t like to talk about it much – mainly because the overlords of Major League Baseball don’t think it’s good for business – but they have an explicit policy to recruit as many Christian ball players as they can.

In other words, the Rockies – uniquely, even in a country as religion-obsessed as America – play faith-based baseball. And, in their view, God just rewarded them – big time.

“You look at some of the moves we made and didn’t make,” general manager Dan O’Dowd said in the only interview he has given on the subject, long before the Rockies’ remarkable ascension over the past few weeks. “You look at some of the games we’re winning. Those aren’t just a coincidence. God has definitely had a hand in this.”

But who or what was in the tub with bradrocket?

shpx.ohfu–

(rubs hands together) Ex-cellent.
And I thought I was against them because the Air Force Academy is in Colorado and is now a hotbed of Xtian recruitment.
Your thoughts now, Dan O’Dowd?

“You look at some of the games we’re winning. Those aren’t just a coincidence. God has definitely had a hand in this.”

Accustomed to just one day of rest, God apparently could not handle the eight day layoff.

Nice guys finish last.

This year’s series was tough! I mean, the shear don’t-give-a-shittedness that overcame us all in waves here in the midwest was quite debilitating.

Happily, at least a single game was managed to be got.

Thanks!

Did Brad wake up with blinding pain in his side, a phone in one hand, and a note in the other telling him to call 911 immediately?

If you wake up fully clothed, you’re not partying correctly…

It was better when Red Sox fans were just annoying whiners. Now that they have a couple of World Series under them, they are intolerable.

Accustomed to just one day of rest, God apparently could not handle the eight day layoff.

ld, don’t you think it’s a little early to win the thread?

I’m a little disappointed at the quality of drunken idiots celebrating in my neighborhood last night. The helicopters circling over the city were making more noise than they were.

I really struggled with not wishing the Rockies ill fortune because of their perky christianity. Let’s just say I am happy that I don’t have to hear that god had a hand in their world series victory.

But you do have to wonder what god’s been doing with his hands since last wednesday…..

Man, now the Boston area is set for the next 172 years. Lucky them.

Hmm, looks like even God couldn’t help the Rockies turn around on Papelbon’s fastball. I think some of the Rockies are STILL swinging.

This series was an extended Bugs Bunny cartoon.

God has definitely had a hand in this.

I think God made it pretty clear, don’t you?

I’m not sure what God was doing through all of this. Personally, I think this man had a hand in the Sox coming back to knock out Cleveland (I mean, look at the timing of it all). Maybe he also went the extra mile and helped the first Navajo player in the major leagues win free tacos for America.

Just reading the words “can cause the brain to pull from its lining” is giving me a throbbing headache.

Congratulations, Red Sox fans!

Marita,

the Mariners had a pitcher who was native american a couple years ago. Bobby Madritsch. He was really good for a very short time. Don’t know that he was Navaho though. Joba Chamberlain and Kyle Lohse are also native american, according to wikipedia….

“The team doesn’t like to talk about it much – mainly because the overlords of Major League Baseball don’t think it’s good for business – but they have an explicit policy to recruit as many Christian ball players as they can.”

Call me nutty, but that sounds a wee bit like illegal employment discrimination.

I have to ask Red Sox fans…
Now that you guys have become the Yankees, how does it feel?
Do you feel dirty?

Honestly, it feels good. But still, we won’t abandon our team when it finally tanks. Look at what the Yankee fans are doing this morning….throwing A-Rod under the bus and sulking. That will never be us.

Also I want to add –

The Red Sox are GOOD.

But the Patriots are pure EVIL.

I realize that now. I have to be honest about my hometown sports teams.

I don’t care what they tell you, that goat had it coming. What? Oh, you mean Brad’s post-WS celebration. Carry on…

I’m a little disappointed at the quality of drunken idiots celebrating in my neighborhood last night. The helicopters circling over the city were making more noise than they were.

Me too. All I could here was the solo champagne cork poppin’ off my back porch. Ah well, we get fiestier when Brasil is playing an important soccer game.

Look at what the Yankee fans are doing this morning….throwing A-Rod under the bus and sulking. That will never be us.

Sure.

I have visited Boston just twice in my entire life. Once, in early October of 2004, and the other time this year in May. Coincidence? I doubt it. Now, I extend the following offer to John Henry: pay me what you’re paying Julio Lugo, and I promise to visit Boston once a year for the rest of my life. On the other hand, if your answer is no, I refuse to set foot within Boston’s city limits ever again. The choice is yours: ensure a string of championships the like of which has never before been acheived in the history of organized sports in America, or endure a repeat of the years 1919 through 2003. America eagerly awaits your answer, Mr. Henry…

But the Patriots are pure EVIL.

Oh, come now Dhalgren. They aren’t pure evil. Scoring a touchdown on a faked spike when you’re already dominating the game is just good fun!

Apropos of the weekend in New England sports (though not Red Sox related), my favorite headline so far was on the Boston.com article about the Patriots’ crushing victory over the ‘Skins: “Washington slapped here.”

And I will be sorely disappointed if I don’t see an article sometime in the next couple of days about the Sox closer, headed “Papelbon’s Cannon.”

Is Rufus trying to get himself kidnapped by Brad, or what?

“Look at what the Yankee fans are doing this morning….throwing A-Rod under the bus and sulking. That will never be us.”

Riiiiiight….I guess you never heard of Bill Buckner. No sulking or under-the-bus-throwing after the ’86 series…none what so ever.

Ah well, we get fiestier when Brasil is playing an important soccer game.

That’s true actually. The Brazilians in my neighborhood were going so wild after the World Cup final in ’98 that I thought they must have actually… won… or something. I was so surprised when I found out they hadn’t.

Here’s my take on the whole “running up the score” thing. Some of the Redskins players complained about the Patriots not running down the clock. But as I see it, you run down the clock because you are ahead and you are worried that if the other team gets the ball, it might score enough to catch up. When there is no chance of that, you keep playing your game. If you throw a pick or two and the other team starts to catch up, then you start running the clock.

I said this last week after the Dolphins game: If you can’t stop a dominating team from “running up the score” on you, start lobbying Roger Goodell for a Slaughter Rule so you can go home and have your mommy give you some milk and cookies.

Riiiiiight….I guess you never heard of Bill Buckner. No sulking or under-the-bus-throwing after the ‘86 series…none what so ever.

Oh, Buckner! I remember him! Is he the guy we all blamed for stuff despite leading the league in pretty much every offensive category? Or did he misplay a ball my grandmother could have fielded cleanly and cost the team a World Series? It’s so hard to keep those two things straight.

I guess you never heard of Bill Buckner. No sulking or under-the-bus-throwing after the ‘86 series…none what so ever.

Actually, Boston fans got over the Buckner thing pretty well:
In 1990, Buckner returned to the Boston Red Sox for his 22nd and final major league season.

On April 9, the baseball season started at Fenway Park: “Opening Day I got a great ovation. Fans in Boston are really good. They really are. They liked me and they were always good to me, and I think they just got caught up in the media. Overall, they were good. That was probably why tears came to my eyes, and it was pretty emotional.”

OK, so I guess I should have read the rest of that article before I posted. Looks like some fans in later years were not so nice to Billy B.

Chuckles noticed that Kyle Bristow character too which is what lead to the post that TomMil quoted. A couple of the lizards took it upon themselves to email Bristow and he responded by posting their email addresses and invited his readers to tell them what neocon garbage they are. He’s got another site loaded with pictures of him and his trademark wingnut party cowboy hat. He seems like the kind of guy who would come over here and keep us all entertained for a while so could he maybe be shorterized or something?

Next year the Red Sox will sign A-Rod and their transformation into the Yankees will be complete.

Next year when they win the World Series, Red Sox Nation will react with a disinterested “Meh.”

For the record, Mookie was going to beat big, lumbering Bob Stanley to the bag no matter what so Buckner’s error was irrelevant.

Oh, Buckner! I remember him! Is he the guy we all blamed for stuff despite leading the league in pretty much every offensive category? Or did he misplay a ball my grandmother could have fielded cleanly and cost the team a World Series?

Game Six was already tied, thanks to the epic suckitude of Bob Stanley, the true goat of the 1986 series. The Sox were finished when Stanley threw that wild pitch.

r did he misplay a ball my grandmother could have fielded cleanly and cost the team a World Series?

Sigh. That was GAME SIX. The Sox had to blow a whole ‘nother game in almost identical fashion (two outs + Bob Stanley pitching to pinch hitter Mookie Wilson = rally) before losing to the Mets.

They forgave Buckner because most people outside the media noticed that the management and Stanley (with assists from the Master of Disaster Calvin Schiraldi) who should’ve been on the hook.

I should also note that, as dumb of an error as it was, most people’s grandmothers could run faster than Buckner that year.

Actually, Buckner beat my grandmother in the 100-yard dash that year by 2/10 of a second. In her defense, she was 97 and had suffered a stroke two weeks before the race…

I figure it like this. ARod has tried the small market south and found it unsatisfactory. So he went HUGE market northeast so he could win, but he couldn’t, and those people are MEAN to him. Now he has plenty of money, and he’s gonna get plenty of money no matter what. So his decision is merely to decide where he wants to play.

And I’m pretty sure he’s going to pick a nice, cosmopolitan place where the fans love their sluggers no matter what, but the people and papers aren’t so frantically baseball obsessed. A place that has a large stable of young star-caliber pitchers, and is only some offense and a bullpen makeover away from contending in the league. A place with a nice, new stadium that sells out every night, a place where, if things fall together just right, he will be remembered in the same light as Mays, McCovey, Cepeda, many all time greats. A storied franchise in desperate need of a world series win.

Yep. I’m stoked.

Oh, and congrats to the Sox. Without a doubt the best team won, and that just doesn’t happen that often…

mikey

A place that has a large stable of young star-caliber pitchers, and is only some offense and a bullpen makeover away from contending in the league.

Saying the Jints are only “some offense” away from contending is like saying that Kucinich needs to pick up “some votes” to catch Hillary. They were 15th out of 16 teams in runs. They were 14th in OBP despite Barry Bonds and his absurd .480 mark. They were last in the league in slugging percentage. Now that Bonds is leaving, they have NO good hitters.

C Molina – blows
1B Klesko – blows
2B Durham – blows
SS Vizquel – blows
3B Feliz – blows
LF Bonds – bye-bye
CF Roberts – blows
RF Winn – okay

Put A-Rod in there and it’s still the worst offensive team in the league. The Giants should have started a rebuilding phase years ago. The young pitching is nice, but that offense… sheesh.

There once was a goat with a very fine coat
And a knack for lascivious winking
Its demeanour was sweet, its harmonious bleat
Stopped rational pundits from thinking

But the goat it was chaste, one hell of a waste
‘Til with aid of sweet buckwheat and oat
Its seed was soon swallowed, and soon reports followed
Of Mickey Kaus blowing the goat

Red Sox won and I didn’t get to see any of it. Norway is not a good place for baseball fans… Anyway, congrats Brad and everybody else who would like to be congratulated!

Do you remember Philadelphia-Colorado game in Denver back in July that got stopped because of rain? The one where the winds were so strong the tarp got flung around and the groundskeepers with it (video)? I was at that game. It was scary. At least one groundskeeper got rolled up in the tarp; another was dragged all the way across the infield. The entire Philadelphia bench cleared when they saw the crew was in trouble. The umpires came out and helped too. No Rockies.

Now, the Colorado dugout faced the storm, the winds were strong, and the rain was coming in at an angle, so for them—unlike the Phillies—being in the dugout was no protection. When the rains hit the Colorado bench cleared early, so everyone was in the clubhouse before the trouble with the tarp began. I was told the home clubhouse is located deep in the stadium, far from the field. But they have TV monitors in there. They can see what’s happening on the field.

The only Colorado player who helped out was LaTroy Hawkins, who came out of the Colorado bullpen and crossed the outfield to hold down part of the tarp. But this was long after the groundskeepers, the Phillies, and the umps had everything under control.

If you wake up fully clothed, you’re not partying correctly…

Unless it’s someone else’s clothes.

The entire Philadelphia bench cleared when they saw the crew was in trouble. The umpires came out and helped too. No Rockies.

It’s sad when you get a team of hired guns who don’t really understand what their city – Philadelphia in this case – is all about.

“Oh, Buckner! I remember him! Is he the guy we all blamed for stuff despite leading the league in pretty much every offensive category? Or did he misplay a ball my grandmother could have fielded cleanly and cost the team a World Series? It’s so hard to keep those two things straight.”

Ummm…I don’t know where you’re going with this, the question was about throwing someone under the bus and then sulking. Buckner was clearly thrown under the bus after the ’86 Series (it was only game six…and I sitll think he has tread marks on his ass), there was much much sulking amongst the chowder heads.

SWEET ZOMBIE JESUS, HELP ME NOW!!!

Also…by your same criteria, A-Rod’s (owner of the richest contract in MLB history) postseason chokery (0-18 with RISP since game 4 of the 2004 ACLS) helped the Yankees earn the 2004 collapse and the first-round exits the past few years.

A-Rod led the Yankees in every statistical category in the REGULAR SEASON. You are not measured by the regular season in NY, especially if you are making $25 million a year.

Still, how does it feel to be the New Evil Empire? Just curious. Dirty?

Also, if some of you Sox fans like A-Rod so much…what would you do if Theo “Not One of the Original Sweathogs” Epstein, Lucky Lucchino and John “Not Even Close to Being a Steel Drivin’ Man” Henry signed him instead of Mike Lowell in the offseason?

Would you rejoice?

I was actually 5 during the ’86 series, and couldn’t have cared less about the Red Sox, but there’s still a pretty substantial difference between blowing an easy play at a crucial moment in the series and slumping in the post-season after being incredibly good all year.

Not that I want A-Rod on the Sox. I don’t think he’d do wonders for team chemistry, and they could get much better value for that money (including signing Lowell). Still, if they do sign him, I’ll be cheering him on. Hell, I even cheer for Schilling to do well, and he’s a complete cobag.

Thanks to shpx.ohfu:

“You look at some of the moves we made and didn’t make,” general manager Dan O’Dowd said in the only interview he has given on the subject, long before the Rockies’ remarkable ascension over the past few weeks. “You look at some of the games we’re winning. Those aren’t just a coincidence. God has definitely had a hand in this.”

You lose, God! Sucker!

Cheering for A-Rod on the Sox would be like voting for Hillary as Dem.

Personally, I hope it never comes down to it, but if it does, I ain’t gonna do so in either case.

throwing A-Rod under the bus and sulking. That will never be us.

Um. You mean, except for that thing where the Sox tried to sign A-Rod just before the Yankees did? And, assuming that A-Rod as a Sawk had the exact seasons that he did as a Yank (tanking in the post-season), there would be no bus-throwing in Beantown when he said, “I’m walking”? I believe the kids say, puh-leaze.

I was 9 in ’86, what’s your point? I still remember it.

“incredibly good all year.”

You forgot that he was incredibly awful year after year in the postseason since game 3 of the 2004 ALCS. All while being the highest paid player in the history of professional sports. A-Rod has been booed, big deal. Now he is getting out of NY so he doesn’t have to hear the boos that hurt his feelings anymore. That is, until the next team he goes to makes the postseason and he chokes it up something fierce for them.

Buckner was run out of town for 18 years for ONE PLAY. Then in 2004 he was “forgiven” by the super-magnanamous Sox fans. How big of you all.

Plus, it wasn’t a crucial point in the ’86 series. It was a crucial point in game six, yes…but not in the series. They still had game seven to win it. Bob Stanley wasn’t doing you guys any favors.

That line of bull is similar to ridiculous Cubs fans who still want to blame Steve Bartman for blowing the Cubs chances in 2003. Immediately after the Bartman deal happened, Cubs SS Alex Gonzales booted a taylor-made double play ball. But you never hear about that.

“Um. You mean, except for that thing where the Sox tried to sign A-Rod just before the Yankees did? And, assuming that A-Rod as a Sawk had the exact seasons that he did as a Yank (tanking in the post-season), there would be no bus-throwing in Beantown when he said, “I’m walking”? I believe the kids say, puh-leaze.”

TRUTH.

Still, how does it feel to be the New Evil Empire? Just curious. Dirty?

Well, I have a better understanding of that Divinyls song now.
But that could be residuals from the Pats’ game.

Buckner was run out of town for 18 years for ONE PLAY. Then in 2004 he was “forgiven” by the super-magnanamous Sox fans. How big of you all.

Feh. He was signed BACK on the Sox in 1990. He sucked, but that’s another story.

Personally, I hated Buckner — but I hated a lot of them back then. Frankly, it was the worst moment of my life (I was 16 at the time), and it was a complete meltdown. They deserved the scorn.

That said, that’s ancient, irrelevant, utterly inconsequential history. It may as well taken place on a field near Ghent for all it matters now. The only people who aren’t over it are the jealous losers who needed the Sox to keep losing in inconceivable ways — Boston sportswriters, novelists/historians and Yankee fans.

I agree that Sox fans sulked. I know I did. But I don’t see how that was somehow unwarrented, unless your town doesn’t have goats to hate.

I was rooting for the Sox, despite not liking them and their $145 million payroll just because I read that article about the God botherin’ Rockies. So I’m reading an article about Jon Lester and this pops up:
“This is going to sound funny,” said Boston reliever Mike Timlin. “But God blessed Jon Lester with cancer just to show a lot of people that you can overcome something that’s so hard in your life you think, ‘I’m not gonna make it.’ He’s going to be able to take his faith in God and the strength God gave him and tell a lot of other people a great story.”
Christ, you can’t get away from the Bible thumping in this sport.

There is a big difference between (a) blowing an easy play, leading to (but not causing) a pathetic series loss, and (b) failing to justify the largest salary in baseball for several years, after which you ditch the team that was paying it to you so you could demand more money elsewhere.

Buckner gets trashed by a small subset of Sox fans who have the brain power of a lump of moldy cheddar, just as Steve Bartman gets trashed by a small subset of Cubs fans for whom moldy cheddar would be halfway to a Macarthur Grant, for grabbing at a foul ball in 2003. In both cases, the number of idiot fans dwindles by the year.

A-Rod, for failing to deliver World Series rings and for betraying the team (dolchstoss!), is going to bear the hatred and sworn enmity of all Yankee fandom for all time. His name may in fact be inscribed on the men’s room floors under the urinals in Yankee Stadium. And if he had been a Red Sox and done the same thing, the same would be true in Fenway.

I wonder if there’s any team in MLB that both needs, wants and can afford A-Rod. I would find it incredibly gratifying if there were no bidding war for him now that he’s kicked the Yankees in the nads.

You know what’ll help the Rocket get over his hangover? Watching Fox’s remembrance of Bush as one of baseball’s great moments!

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/28/fox-baseball-bush-pitch/

“That said, that’s ancient, irrelevant, utterly inconsequential history. It may as well taken place on a field near Ghent for all it matters now. The only people who aren’t over it are the jealous losers who needed the Sox to keep losing in inconceivable ways — Boston sportswriters, novelists/historians and Yankee fans.”

PLEASE, get over yourself. Sox fans wouldn’t be “over” it either if it weren’t for 2004. Ol’ Billy would still be less than a leper in the minds of Sox fans.

Important Note:

The point was made up above by someone that Sox fans would never sulk and throw a player under the bus. I was merely pointing out how that couldn’t be further from the truth. Sox fans have a rich tradition of sulking and throwing players under the bus. I was merely illustrating one example out of the myriad of examples.

Sox fans aren’t above the fray, as much as they think they are.

Thank you.

Oh, and Game 6 of 1986 was the happiest baseball moment of my life. This season pretty much counteracted that, though.

“Oh, and Game 6 of 1986 was the happiest baseball moment of my life. This season pretty much counteracted that, though.”

Met fan?

“This is going to sound funny,” said Boston reliever Mike Timlin. “But God blessed Jon Lester with cancer just to show a lot of people that you can overcome something that’s so hard in your life you think, ‘I’m not gonna make it.’ He’s going to be able to take his faith in God and the strength God gave him and tell a lot of other people a great story.”

Christ, you can’t get away from the Bible thumping in this sport.

I hate the bible-thumping just as much as the next “militant atheist,” but at least this guy was saying that his deity helped someone to be an object lesson in not giving up in times of personal difficulty, rather than positing God as some sort of auxiliary member of the team.

Snarky diamond vision operator catches the Rockies on the road losing big…

WHERE’S YOUR MESSIAH NOWWWWWWW!!!!!!???

I thought maybe after Red Sox fans got a taste of winning that they would stop being bitter cobags.

Guess not.

Red Sox fans, America just isn’t that into you…

But I will say, it’s not true that Red Sox fans turn on their former heroes when they join another team or make a key error. Just ask Mike Torrez. or Wade Boggs. Or Roger Clemens. Or Johnny Damon. Or Luis Tiant. Or Bill Buckner.
No, not true at all.

I think it was Lance Armstrong who speaks for me best. When asked if he thanks God for curing his cancer, he said if I gave him credit for curing the cancer I would have to blame him for giving it to me in the first place.

Do I feel dirty? Well, if we add $40 million more to our payroll that might make me feel Yankee-dirty. Relative to every other team, the Red Sox have long been the penultimate dirt pile. Signing Drew and Lugo certainly made me feel greasier, but not Ellsbury, Pedroia, Lester, Youkilis, Papelbon, or most notably Ortiz (George could have gotten him for a calzone).

I think what makes me feel dirtiest is how much I enjoy all the bitter comments above, especially the moralistic ones. Red Sox fans are obnoxious, like every other fan-base is when their team starts to win. Period. No better, no worse in that respect than Yankees, Angels, Mets fans. Whether Red Sox fan or Yankees fan, the more one attempts to put down the morals of the other, the more ridiculous they become. See you at the rolling rally!

who needed the Sox to keep losing in inconceivable ways

Can we bury this myth right now please? The Red Sox have never lost any more “inconceivably” than anyone else. This “We’re more hard-luck than anyone else, ever” rubbish has been tiresome for years, not least because it happens to be a fabrication.

Just stop. Enjoy ruling every possible sports world, and quit with the menstruating already. Thanks.

PLEASE, get over yourself. Sox fans wouldn’t be “over” it either if it weren’t for 2004. Ol’ Billy would still be less than a leper in the minds of Sox fans.

No shit? Really? Well, that put Sox fans in their place. Of course you could say if JFK wasn’t elected in 1960, nobody would care about Lee Harvey Oswald.

At any rate, I was agreeing with you about the sulk of Sox fans and OF COURSE, you choad, everything changed because of 2004. That said, the amount of whining on this thread about Red Sox fans who whine is reaching irony-impervious levels of a Red State thread.

The Red Sox have never lost any more “inconceivably” than anyone else.

Right. Things like 1986 happen all the time. Nothing at all improbable about that sequence of events, especially given the history of the team at that moment.

That said, who said the Sox were the only ones who have suffered the “inconceivable”? Buffalo has a similar claim about their teams. And Cleveland, for that matter. Boston just has better writers.

Again, the amount of whining about whining is rich.

congrats to the Sadly no Boston fans.

Sure is good to live here in teh Heart of America, where players are loved and sportsmanship is honored, and nobody would hold a grudge since oh, I don’t know, 1985 over a sixth game umpire’s call and the subsequent self destruction of a once proud franchise, and where fans have enough innate royalty that they wouldn’t bring something like that up just to cause pain to the east coast wannabes across the state. Or sumthin.

les, i don’t get it.

If you are a Royals fan you won that Series so what’s your beef?

If you are a Cards fan you have won since then, so what’s your beef?

Let’s just say I am happy that I don’t have to hear that god had a hand in their world series victory.

I vaguley remember a Bible verse we were forced to memorize back when the Brand-X-ian God was inflicted on all public school children: Something about “pride goeth before a fall….”

One thing is certain: You won’t hear that god had a hand in their loss. This is unfortunate; because assuming there is a vainglorious god who demands submission and insists on being the center of their undivided awe, one would think that this is His way of kicking the hubris out of His somewhat misguided followers.

One thing is certain: You won’t hear that god had a hand in their loss.

“We were winning until Jesus made me fumble.”

I’m wondering if Brad Hawpe will have enough nerve to alter the batting stance he models after Gods’ Messenger, Todd Helton.

Poor Brad can’t catch up with Satans’ fastball.

Would it be blasphemous to lower his arms and shorten his swing?

Pray for him…

leo asks a great question: “If you are a Cards fan you have won since then, so what’s your beef?” Dunno; but if any number ending in 5 enters a conversation, Card fans automatically start frothing. Denkinger needs bodyguards to visit St. Loo. Being a (long suffering) Royals fan, I get to just grin.

Ruthie, I’m still waiting for the major leaguer who points down at Teh Hell after grounding into an inning-ending double play.

Right. Things like 1986 happen all the time. Nothing at all improbable about that sequence of events

Not really, no. It seemed pretty straightforward to me when it originally happened, and I was honestly astonished when it became the Fearsome Legend that’s passed from one generation of whiny NE fans to the next. Looking back, I guess that was my first introduction to “We invented paaaaaiiiiiin”.

Again, the amount of whining about whining is rich.

Well played, as usual, Boston Fan. You get to whine, but nobody gets to call you on it.

Card fans automatically start frothing. Denkinger needs bodyguards to visit St. Loo. Being a (long suffering) Royals fan, I get to just grin.

DIE, les, DIE!!!1!!

Bob Stanley wasn’t doing you guys any favors.

Calvin fucking Schiraldi!!

I remember 86, the whole playoffs was nearly as heartbreaking as 85s’ series (in my volcanic hatred of the Mets, I became a Sox fan even though they killed poor Donnie Moore and broke Gene Autry’s soul). So, in 2004, I was happy for the Sox when they beat my team. (How magnanimous is that?) They deserved it, and I was happy they got it even at st. louis’ expense. But now I’m sick of them. The self-pity and sense of entitlement is getting Yankees-fied. Plus, they just aren’t as likable as they used to be in the “Cowboy Up” days. And one more thing, I can’t stand the snot-nosed aspect of their front office. Theo is like the Matt Yglesias of GMs: a more fortunate and intelligent figure than the blogger, but every bit as overrated and privileged and undeserving of his position.

What with the White Sox winning in 05, the only team’s fans who have earned the right to be self-pitying assholes are the Phillies. Or, okay, the Mariners and Nationals and Brewers, too, if we count older expansion teams.

In baseball, too, I’m a socialist: spread the wealth. I can’t stand big market dynasties.

I was born a Mets fan, and you can’t really lose your birthright. Though 1986 was my happiest moment, I certainly wish the Sox no ill-will and in fact rejoice in any pain inflicted upon the Yankees.

Don’t forget, Steinbrenner was convicted of illegal donations to Nixon, and Reagan pardoned him. If you root for the Yankees, you root for Nixon and Reagan.

Right. Things like 1986 happen all the time. Nothing at all improbable about that sequence of events

Not really, no. It seemed pretty straightforward to me when it originally happened, and I was honestly astonished when it became the Fearsome Legend that’s passed from one generation of whiny NE fans to the next. Looking back, I guess that was my first introduction to “We invented paaaaaiiiiiin”.

Seriously? Two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the 10th, up by two and one strike away from a championship, and blowing it, is not an improbable sequence? I’m not even a Red Sox fan, but that’s ridiculous. I think you’re letting your Red Sox hatred cloud your thinking.

Their why-me attitude definitely did get tiresome over the years, but it was also well-deserved. Now, they get to adopt a different annoying posture which is the gloating of a winner. It’s their right as the fans of a dynasty; you’ve got to deal with it, or give up sports and follow something non-competetive like crocheting .

I don’t have any great love for the Red Sox although anything that makes Yankee fans miserable makes me happy so I usually root for them. All that aside though, this is a very likable Red Sox team.

Seriously? Two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the 10th, up by two and one strike away from a championship, and blowing it, is not an improbable sequence? I’m not even a Red Sox fan, but that’s ridiculous. I think you’re letting your Red Sox hatred cloud your thinking.

Hell, not only had they put up “Congratulations Red Sox” on the board at Shea, my dad and I looked at each other and said “I can’t believe this is how their season is going to end.” It was the most improbable comeback ever seen.

It’s their right as the fans of a dynasty; you’ve got to deal with it, or give up sports and follow something non-competetive like crocheting

2 championships in 4 years is a dynasty now?

JobaChamberlain said,
2 championships in 4 years is a dynasty now?

Fair criticism. I will rephrase: it’s their right as fans of the *World Series Champions* to gloat, and criticizing them for gloating defeats the whole purpose of rooting for sports.

But especially when your team was defeated by fucking insects.

Even as a Sox fan, I agree with Joba on the dynasty thing. It has to be at least 3 in 5 years, or 5 over a decade or something. I think even that’s pushing it.

By the way, Joba, tell the Yanks to make you a starter. Definitely. That’s the way to go.

As for us being the new Evil Empire, if that’s true I guess I’m OK with it. During the ALCS, I said to someone that I hoped the Sox came back and thought they could, but if they didn’t they had a great year even if it was disappointing to not win AL pennant and have a chance in the WS. It is a very nice feeling to be able to enjoy your team’s success without feeling as though failure will cause you to have a heart attack.

Actually, thinking about it, I don’t think we’re the evil empire yet, but I think something like it will happen. I actually think the Sox will be better next year than they are this year.

Jesus Tits McGee!

Well played, as usual, Boston Fan. You get to whine, but nobody gets to call you on it.

I wasn’t whining about anything. I’m happy. My team just won the Series again. I wrote that 1986 may as well have happened in ancient times for all it matters now (and was told to “get over myself”). I agreed that for far too long Sox fans did sulk, and anyone who denied that would be utterly wrong.

And I’ll own up to being utterly and completely contented that the Sox won again — and by dint of that I may even be “gloating” (suck it Joba!), but you are whining like a little baby Me and you can call me on my ‘whining’ only if you can go back in time and listen to me after the ALCS in 1999 (by 2003, I expected it).

And to Cynicor, I certainly wish the Mets no ill-will and in fact rejoice in any pain inflicted upon the Yankees. And 1986 was a singular comeback.

As a Yankees fan, I am more upset with Torre getting blamed by the jerks in the front office than by the irritating glee in beantown. And I have to give credit to the Boston organization for developing a great set of rookies and for giving Mike Lowell a well deserved chance to shine. No reason the Yankees could not have done the same, and it is in no way Torre’s fault that they have not done so. Go Dodgers!

And when some Sox fans showed up in blonde wigs after Stray-Rod got caught diddling a blonde bimbo, it was a highlight of the year.

you can call me on my ‘whining’ only if you can go back in time and listen to me after the ALCS in 1999 (by 2003, I expected it).

See, you’re still missing the point.

“By 2003, I expected it“.

I’m not a Red Sox hater, or a Patriots hater, or a hater of any other team. I’m simply tired of the premise (which you take as gospel, and are therefore unable to see it for what it is) that your pain/disappointment/misfortune is somehow greater or more extraordinary, or more “unlikely”, than anyone else’s. To be fair, it’s been a media narrative for so long that you can be (slightly) excused for believing it. Hell, if you grew up in Boston, I forgive you completely.

But it’s still self-pitying nonsense, and no amount of hand-waving will ever change that fact.

Me said…

I’m not a Red Sox hater, or a Patriots hater, or a hater of any other team. I’m simply tired of the premise (which you take as gospel, and are therefore unable to see it for what it is) that your pain/disappointment/misfortune is somehow greater or more extraordinary, or more “unlikely”, than anyone else’s. To be fair, it’s been a media narrative for so long that you can be (slightly) excused for believing it. Hell, if you grew up in Boston, I forgive you completely.

What the hell? Listen, you don’t have to root for the Red Sox, but it’s not a “media narrative”, like “Hillary is a lesbian” or “Social Security is broken”. It is a fact. They went 86 years without winning a World Series. People were born, rooted for the Red Sox their whole lives, and died in nursing homes without seeing a championship. Along the way, they were eliminated from the regular season, the playoffs and the World Series in unconceivably heartbreaking ways. Was the sheer volume of self-loathing articles annoying to an outsider at times? Yes, but it was also well-deserved. Again, I’m a Mets fan, not a Red Sox fan, but the pre-2004 Red Sox had a pretty impressive resume of soul-crushing failure.

Again, I’m a Mets fan, not a Red Sox fan, but the pre-2004 Red Sox had a pretty impressive resume of soul-crushing failure.

And let us not forget that many of those failures were directly caused by, or accompanied by, the success of the team’s most detested and feared rivals. Nothing enhances a soul-crushing defeat like the victory of your worst enemy.