There May Be Some Good in the Sox Losing

Maybe it's for the better that the Sox are not advancing to the World Series.

Ok Boston fans, back off, before you jump down my throat, hear me out.

When the Red Sox lost the ALCS last night I was....asleep (hey I get up at 6:00am lay off). But I have to say when I saw the headline on Boston.com, I felt a mixture of let down and relief (mostly because it meant I didn't have to deal with TBS announcers or Joe Buck and Tim McCarver till next October), but also because, it made me feel good to see the Sox that I grew up with. The Sox that I knew and loved but didn't seem to have luck on their side.

And maybe this is an odd statement to make, but a part of me still cannot shake this self-deprecating mindset that I grew up with as a young Sox fan. I grew up surrounded by bitter Sox fans and learned the mentality very early on that being a Sox fan meant a life time of let down as well as love for the beloved Beantown favorites.

But that all changed in 2004 in the greatest playoffs I think I will ever see in my lifetime. Not only did the Sox make it to the World Series but they beat the Yankees, the unstoppable Yankees, in the ALCS overcoming the greatest deficit in sports history and then going on to win the World Series. It was one of the greatest moments of my life and I still can remember sitting in my grandparents TV room in their uncomfortable wicker furniture (why wicker furniture? I don't know ask my grandma, Bev) surrounded by my entire family and collectively freaking out when they won it all. It was such a gratifying moment and for the next week I wore my Red Sox shirts with pride in my New Jersey high school where no one could say anything to bring me down. We had a World Series ring. I could die happy.

But then, we won again. And to me this was confusing, I was ready to go back into a sulking "being a Sox fan is so difficult" phase that I had grown up with. 2004 was fabulous but 2007 was confusing. We hadn't won a ring in 86 years and now we had two in the matter of 4 years? What was going on here?


Papelbon after the 2007 WS win. Why am I not surprised? Photo from Flickr.com

And this isn't to say that I don't wish the Sox success but two things scared me about the Sox going on a World Series tear and especially making it this year. Here they are:

1. Kids need to know what it means to be a Sox fan. A part of that involves suffering. You can't be a Sox fan if you don't know what it is like to be at the lowest low and honestly, losing to the Rays is pretty low on my radar scale. I can't deal with these 10-year-old Sox fans that don't remember what it was like before the Sox had a 2004 World Series ring. You have to know what it's like to feel Sox grief, so kids, take this time as a learning lesson.

2. I don't want the Sox to be the Yankees of the 90's. Growing up, the Yankees were the gods of baseball. You couldn't beat them. Tino, Chuck, Roger, Andy, Bernie, Scott, Derek, the list of Yankee greats went on and on. They couldn't lose and I can't remember a year before this one where they were not in the World Series. And although it must have been fun for gloating Yankee fans, how quickly the mighty do fall. This year was a mess for the Yanks and they couldn't even make the playoffs. That is hard for me to fathom as well but I don't want the Sox to be the team that everyone wants to kill with fans that are both fair weathered and rude. I want the Sox fans that are die hard, win or lose, they are there for the team.

Ok Boston fans, I'm letting myself out of my bunker, taking off the bullet proof vest, I'm ready for your shots. What do you think? What is your reaction to the Rays beating the Sox for the ALCS title? Do you think they'll really go all the way and beat the Phillies? Leave a comment and let me know!