you can take the girl out of New England, but you'd have to kill her to get her to switch baseball caps.
disappointed? sure. what real fan doesn't want their team to be the victor? but also realistic. just the fact that the Sox beat the Angels, which, at least on paper, should have been difficult to accomplish, and then scratched & clawed their way to even get to a sixth ALCS game, never mind a seventh is something i am enormously proud of. this team did the one thing i asked of them:
you may go down, but go down fighting. never say die. that is all that i ask.
and fight they did. they did not get obliterated--though they may feel that way right now. Lester pitched a game he likely would have won in many other cases and i am pleased with what he gave, especially having pitched more this season than ever before in his life. that boy has nowhere to go but up. and they went out featuring the one thing that killed them all season: they left the bases loaded in the 8th without a single run crossing the plate. but at least they were getting on, trying.
now it is time to heal. no, not for me, and not for any true Sox fan. in a post-2004/2007 era, Sox fans have no more left to be healed. i am talking about the guys. i'm talking about whatever is ailing Josh Beckett and Big Papi's wrist and Mike Lowell's bum hip--be well in surgery today, oh favorite player of mine! and each & every one of them with their aches & pains & dog-tired muscles. get rested, boys. get strong. there is mending of bodies & some paperwork (i'm watching you, Epstein!) to be done now. in just four short months (that feels more like eternity at the moment), you will be back for a fresh start & we will all be waiting for you with excited cheers. you gave us one hell of a season & there's no other colors i would ever wear above yours.
ps. Lugo? that healing part? and the part about being ready in the Spring? that wasn't directed at you. you may just continue your Matt Clement vacation. or feel free to shop yourself around.
pps. dear bandwagon fans: this is your stop. GET. OFF. you should feel right at home here in Tampa, where eighty percent of that crowd didn't even realize we were playing baseball until August. and those of you tucking away your Boston gear in favor of some sporting sunshines? pppfffttt!
ppps. speaking of Rays "fans." you don't get to whine about how long you've been waiting for this. two months is nothing over the course of a baseball season. you don't get to feel justified before you've ever even watched a complete 162 games. (no joke, i have had "fans" say to me: this is great. i don't know how you watch this stuff for six months every year, but i will definitely tune in every August! uhhhh... right. you do that. that Rays cap come in pink?) there are plenty of other fans i have sympathy for, remembering clearly how it feels to actually *wait* and *endure*. Cubs fans. Orioles fans. Giants, Pirates, Indians, Royals, Padres fans. teams & fans that have been waiting & wishing since before you even had a team to ignore root for in St Pete. in fact, if you go back through my blog archives, you will see i have been hating the Rays for years longer than all but about fifteen of you even knew they existed.
pppps. i do not, under any circumstances, have to be happy for the Rays nor root for them in the World Series. i bleed red & i now root Phillies for the duration of the 2008 season. and i hope Matt Garza slips in a puddle of his own spittle on the mound and falls flat on his ass. (ahhh... that felt good.) now, if you'll excuse me, i have two days to get familiar with the Philadelphia lineup.
13 with their own thoughts:
Dawn, I've really enjoyed your writing the past few days. Very profound stuff. And I'm right there with you on the "bandwagon" fans (for both sides). I know people who say they don't start watching until the playoffs. I shun those people. They aren't "fans." They are casual observers.
I know I made a brief comment about possibly rooting for the "housewives," but, in your honor, I would never do that. Fact is, I'm done for this year. I couldn't care less who wins the Whirl Serious. In fact, I think I'll go dig out my box set of all the '04 playoff games, and last year's WS dvd with Matt Damon narrating. Sigh.
But, I'll say it again (and again and again and again)...I'm proud of our Sox. Very proud.
Shoot. Got tears in my eyes, now. See you later.
Sorry about your boys... :(
They fought well and honorably. Now I will be routing for the likes of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.
I, too, am done watching baseball. Phillies vs. Rays? yawn.
Everytime the camera showed a Rays fan going all crazy, waving their hands and such I would imitate them (looking like a lunatic, I'm sure) and say things like "I didn't even know we had a team in Tampa!" and "Touchdown!".
Foolish bunch of people. My bet is they won't even sell out opening day, especially if they lose.
But hey, don't knock the pink cap wearers too hard some of us are actual fans too, y'know *ducks pink capped head*
:)
Schilling was on WEEI today saying goodbye to everyone and discussing the series. A few days ago he ripped into the hosts for questioning Francona...
Here's a link if you have time:
http://audio.weei.com/
It's on Dennis & Callahan.
Bickley: Thank you. =) Sometimes it just happens. I type & it translates well. You know what really irritated me? Rays fans in the stands CRYING after Game Six. Come *on*. Crying over a team you just started watching a month ago. I'll be watching the World Series, rooting to Phillies red, because I miss baseball too much when it's over.
Stacy: Thanks. It's ok. They gave it a good fight. I'm wicked proud of them. Tough sports day in your house yesterday too huh?
Nichole: I will be studying the Phildelphia roster to familiarize myself. Two days to cram! ;-)
Jenny: I promise I meant that more figuratively than literally, but either way you are exempt. ;-) They won't sell out Opening Day because Rays "fans" don't start watching baseball until after the All Star Break. =P I will have to be on the ball if I want to see the Sox play in Tampa though. Those games always came close to selling out as it was & I like my good seats. I hope I can still afford them...
I can't say I'm rooting for the Rays against the Phillies, but they deserve to win the WS, because they're the best team this year. Ain't gonna watch that crap, though.
When I had no cable on Thursday night, I checked in on the game on the radio, and it was 5-0 in the 7th, about to be 7-0, and I wasn't upset. The Rays were taking it to us, and that happens sometimes. It was OK. It was their year, blah, blah. Then I heard about the miraculous comeback the next day, and nervously watched game 6, and just KNEW they'd win game 7, and was crushed when Iwamura stepped on second, and it was over.
For a moment I thought that it would have been better had they just lost game 5. But after sleeping on it (a little), I decided I'm darn proud of the fight and pride that the Sox showed, and how hard it must have been for the Rays to finally kill off the Rasputin of baseball. Who else but the Sox would have showed that much heart with so many holes (read: automatic outs) in the lineup? And that's without Lugo!
At first I thought, I can't wear my Sox jersey on vacation in Florida next week, DURING THE SERIES, because all the bandwagoners will be sporting their shiny new Rays gear and chortling at me. But now I think, why SHOULDN'T I wear it? I'm darn proud of the Sox.
Rays fans should be proud, too, at least the ones that followed their team before this month. Because their team is really good. And, hey, at least we worked together to keep the Yankees home in October! Warms the heart, really.
As a lifelong Cubs fan (truly-- I was almost born at home because my mother refused to leave for the hospital until the game was over), you have my sincere sympathies-- and a modicum of admiration that at least the BoSox won a few games in the post-season, which is more than my beloved North-siders could manage, dammit.
Lord, have mercy.
Dawn, back in the spring we knew our boys had a shot. And they gave it one more run before they ran out of gas. After the past 4 years, I can honestly say that while I'm sad they lost, I'm not bitter or angry anymore. Bottom line? They got beat by the better team.
Now, that said? I hope the Phillies pound them into oblivion.
I'm rooting for the Rays; it's always good to see a team work themselves up to be World Series Caliber. Their success makes the division exciting, don't you think?
Garza was the bomb last night.
Uber Impressive.
If not us -- why not them? :)
Joe: Wear it proudly. We have nothing to be ashamed of. Let them wear their new gear. Most of them won't even remember to watch in the Spring because they think the season starts in August.
Jane Ellen: Welcome to the blog. =) I feel your pain. I remember all too well & I recall to keep myself humble. Keep the faith! Your turn will come!
Ted: I am not bitter either. I tip my cap. They outplayed us, not by much, but just enough. Still not rooting for them though.
Rebecca: Because I believe in being consistent. With my blog as my witness, I have not liked Tampa long before this year, trailing by only a half-step behind the Yankees. For me to change my tune now would be like rooting for the Yankees in 2003. I won't hop on their bandwagon, even just for the World Series, because instead of just rooting for another team, I would be doing a complete about-face. It's not about being bitter, because I'm not; I have a history of just not liking this team, whether they are worst or first. Garza did pitch a heck of a game, no doubt. But all that spitting is nasty, no matter how well you pitch. =P
Dawn, Sorry about the Sox when I read the headline this morning I thought of you. :(
Seems to me that this is a W.S. for the true fan only.
I'd be happy with a best of seven coin flip.
When you spoke about the changing of baseball caps, I had a vision of you as a kind of Charlton Heston for a second... You were holding your Sox cap above your head and you were snarling, "They can have my Sox cap when they pry it from my COLD. DEAD. HANDS." LOL!
Long live the Red, wherever it may reside: Boston, Anaheim, or in this Series, PHILLY!
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