We Are the Champions
Okay, I admit it. I postponed this post until today so it would count for NaBloPoMo.
That's right folks, the Boston Red Sox are the World Champions for the second time in 3 years. Sure beats 86 years. But it really was a lot different this time. In 2004 I stayed up to watch every game of the Pennant and the Series, sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time. This time (admittedly because I had a couple very busy weeks) I couldn't stay up past the bottom of the 8th for games 2-4. In 2004 I called my brother and my Dad after both the Pennant win and the Series win (I couldn't get through to Boston after the Series win in 2004). This time I still haven't checked in to talk about the games.
So I've been trying to figure out why. Is it because the 2007 team was so much better than the 2004 team, so that victory seems inevitable? Is it because we didn't have to fight the Yankees for the Pennant? Is it because the NL West was so atrocious that there was no doubt that the AL team would win, whoever it was?
An NPR story made a good point. Kids in their early teens now only know the Sox as winners. They don't have the backstory of my generation, watching Clemens' wild pitches leading to his benching and the inevitable slow roller down the first base line. They don't have the disappointment of game 7 in the 1975 series or Bucky Dent's homer 3 years later from the generation before. So the long trial is over. We're just another team now.
Well, not really. I still love the team for the stories, the players past and present, and of course the beloved park. No other park is like Fenway, and no other park will ever be like Fenway. Only at Fenway can you be sure that the entire crowd will rise not just for the last strike of the game, but for a significant strike in the middle of the game. No other park will give the recognition of a good play that goes against our team (grudging though it may be). And no other park has all the wonderful nooks, crannies, and big-ass wall that make for so many interesting plays.
Postscript: The Onion had not one, but two great stories about the series. First, in the "laugh out loud" category:
Second in the "what the fuck was he thinking?" category:
I was completely pissed off when the Yankees stole A-Rod out from under the Red Sox in 2004, but given his behavior since we are well rid of him. This last stunt is just one more thing proving what a self-centered bastard he (or at least his agent) is.
That's right folks, the Boston Red Sox are the World Champions for the second time in 3 years. Sure beats 86 years. But it really was a lot different this time. In 2004 I stayed up to watch every game of the Pennant and the Series, sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time. This time (admittedly because I had a couple very busy weeks) I couldn't stay up past the bottom of the 8th for games 2-4. In 2004 I called my brother and my Dad after both the Pennant win and the Series win (I couldn't get through to Boston after the Series win in 2004). This time I still haven't checked in to talk about the games.So I've been trying to figure out why. Is it because the 2007 team was so much better than the 2004 team, so that victory seems inevitable? Is it because we didn't have to fight the Yankees for the Pennant? Is it because the NL West was so atrocious that there was no doubt that the AL team would win, whoever it was?
An NPR story made a good point. Kids in their early teens now only know the Sox as winners. They don't have the backstory of my generation, watching Clemens' wild pitches leading to his benching and the inevitable slow roller down the first base line. They don't have the disappointment of game 7 in the 1975 series or Bucky Dent's homer 3 years later from the generation before. So the long trial is over. We're just another team now.
Well, not really. I still love the team for the stories, the players past and present, and of course the beloved park. No other park is like Fenway, and no other park will ever be like Fenway. Only at Fenway can you be sure that the entire crowd will rise not just for the last strike of the game, but for a significant strike in the middle of the game. No other park will give the recognition of a good play that goes against our team (grudging though it may be). And no other park has all the wonderful nooks, crannies, and big-ass wall that make for so many interesting plays.
Postscript: The Onion had not one, but two great stories about the series. First, in the "laugh out loud" category:
Second in the "what the fuck was he thinking?" category:
I was completely pissed off when the Yankees stole A-Rod out from under the Red Sox in 2004, but given his behavior since we are well rid of him. This last stunt is just one more thing proving what a self-centered bastard he (or at least his agent) is.
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