What It Means ...

The Sox did it - one week ago today I can't say I expected to be gearing up for Game 1 of the World Series; it was more wondering whether I'd care enough to watch Cleveland vs. Colorado. But here we are, Red Sox vs. Rockies and I can't wait.

It's funny, I was INCREDIBLY nervous and excited for Game 7 Sunday, had a couple drinks to calm my nerves but really had a confident feeling that Boston would win but until they turned that huge DP off Casey Blake in the 7th, that's when I truly believed it was going to happen. When the Sox blew it open in the 8th it set up for a a very anti-climactic 9th inning, which was a little surreal because the whole game had been so tense that it didn't seem appropriate for it to end so effortlessly and without zero worry. I'm not complaining, but as that moron McCarver said, which is very true, people will look at the final score and assume the game was a blowout, but it was very far from that - I was a nervous wreck for 7 1/2 innings.

So here we are, the Sox - in my opinion - just beat the 2nd best team in the playoffs in Cleveland and now get ready for the Rockies, who have won 21 of 22 games. It's funny, I was saying to my Dad earlier today that 2004 has changed everything - I expect Boston to win now, whereas before '04 I was praying that they did. It will be so cool for Boston to win the World Series AGAIN ... it's weird to even say the word "again" when it comes to talking about Boston and them winning a World Series. It was only four years ago after the heartbreaking 2003 ALCS loss that Sox fans wondered if they'd EVER see them win a World Series.

What 2004 did was give us hope and teach us to believe that we're not always doomed. When Lugo dropped the pop-up in Game 7 we didn't expect the worst, but instead hoped for the best. Also, 2004 did ruin one thing - I know that through my lifetime no sporting event will ever mean as much to me as a fan as the 2004 ALCS and World Series victories did. That was the pinnacle. The ultimate. The best. It could never be topped, and to be honest, 2004 had to happen in order to make 2007 "okay." By that I mean the Sox HAD to go through the Yankees to win; had they beaten another team in the '04 ALCS and won the Series there would've been the obligatory taunts of how the Sox took the easy way out and didn't beat the Yankees, and if '07 had gone down as it has so far, people would've said the same thing. Assuming the Sox win the Series this year people would've said, "Sure, you've got two titles but you still haven't beaten NY" and you know what, they'd be right. It would still be something the Sox had to accomplish; they'd never admit it, but most fans would probably agree. October 17 - 27, 2004 will forever be the best 11-days of my life as a sports fan. It was a Hollywood movie come to life and I still get chills thinking about how amazing that was. Game 4 and Game 5 of the ALCS were two of the greatest games I've EVER seen ... living through that postseason, beating the Yankees while making history at the same time and then beating the Cardinals in four-straight to end 86 years of frustration makes this year so much more enjoyable.

As I watched the Sox win Sunday night I thought to myself, "Is this what it feels like to be a Yankee fan?" Expecting to win, and then winning - it must be - it really felt weird and surreal. Are these my Red Sox? Then I also thought how much the Red Sox winning means to me - I mean, I didn't play one game, I'm not part of the team or organization, and my life (outside of my mood) is not affected whether they win or lose, and I know it's hard for some people who are NOT sports fans to understand how a game can mean so much, and you know what, it's hard to explain. It's easy to understand why parents love their kids, but not so easy to comprehend how one person can love a group of people they've never met so much. But you know what, it's an emotional investment to be a fan and people that are not fans do not have such investments thus it's harder to understand. There is no frame of reference for them. When the season started April 2 I took a half-day to come home and watch the Sox start the season in KC. Since then I've watched almost every game, read articles about them every day and went to see them play in person in two cities. They dominate my summer, so while they don't know me or the millions of other Sox fans, we know them - and we revel in their success and frown in their failures. It's the life of a fan. This has been a 6-month journey that we've been on - the constants in my life the last 6-months have been my family, friends and the Red Sox. They are part of my life, and now it's time to culminate this 6-month journey with ANOTHER World Series Championship ... how cool would that be!