Pessimism Totally Pays Off

History was in the making last night as the Boston Red Sox, inning by nerve stripping inning, got The Nation to Game Seven.
It hadn't been done before, no, no one has ever come back from the brink of elimination by winning three consecutive games after dropping the first three in the seven game series. I paced my apartment, alternately looking away and staring intently at the TV screen, fearing with each passing moment that it would all evaporate. I stood watch, unable to sit let alone relax as Arroyo and then Foulke tossed the ball over the plate in an attempt to stay for one more set of Nine in the Bronx. So many things happened last night, but one really just gets the ol' hackles to stand at attention. No one seems to have the stones to come out and say it in the main sports media so I'll do it here: A-Rod is Goddamn cheater. His efforts to sheister his way into a wimpy base hit and an RBI by INTENTIONALLY thwacking the ball out of Arroyo's paw inspires pure vitriol in the breast of the Bostonian. He should be brought to trial Ashcroft style and sentenced to stand in Kenmore square with a sign around his neck stating simply: I hate Ted Williams. How long? How about until Spring Training starts...or at least until he agrees to leave the Bombers and go play Single-A ball in Toledo or some such place. He deserves no quarter.
As anyone who also had their heart torn out in the immediate moment after Game Seven 2003 knows well, nothing is sure. For the ardent Red Sox fan, the wounds are still fresh from that injury, that total shock to the system. Keep the Faith? Well, only those who repressed that day in a fit of Post Traumatic Stress would approach this without a hefty amount of cynicism. I was burned last year and was desperate to protect myself from the pain of defeat in this years iteration of How The Curse Gets Brung. And I'm glad. I think it sent the right message to the Diamond Gods. You can't just make us salivate and then leave us without a meal. We're not gonna come to the table so easily this time just because you ring the bell.
I am heartened but wary.