The best article on the Red Sox disaster I have read

[WilliamPitt]

Paradise lost, again
By Bill Simmons
Page 2 columnist

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/simmons/031017.html

Twenty minutes after the Yankees eliminated the Sox, I called my father to make sure he was still alive.

And that's not even a joke. I wanted to make sure Dad wasn't dead. That's what it feels like to be a Red Sox fan. You make phone calls thinking to yourself, "Hopefully, my Dad picks up, because there's at least a 5-percent chance that the Red Sox just killed him."

(snip)

Of course, the TV networks and newspapers got what they wanted: They spent the entire month gleefully rehashing those same "Curse" stories for both the Cubs and Sox, flashing graphics like "RED SOX WORLD SERIES WINS AFTER 1918: 0" and showing so many Babe Ruth pictures, you would have thought John Henry Williams had brought the Babe back to life. It was borderline pathological. Fox even made Boone's brother a guest announcer for the Sox-Yanks series -- apparently, Plan B was one of George Steinbrenner's kids. Well, here's your reward, guys: A Yankees-Marlins series that absolutely nobody will watch. Well done.

(snip)

As for me, I feel like Andrew Golota just spent the last two weeks punching me in the gonads. The A's series sucked up 90 percent of the residual emotion in my body -- it was like enduring a four-hour breakup with somebody, then deciding to get back together in the end. The Debacle That Was Game Three -- Pedro acting like a baby and throwing at Garcia, Manny overreacting because Clemens threw a fastball within four feet of his head, Zimmer and Pedro re-enacting the Clubber-Mickey fight in "Rocky 3" -- took care of the rest of my emotions. For the past few days, I was walking around with one of those weird, Daryl Hannah-like half-smiles on my face, like the lights were on and nobody was home. I was tapped.

Like I wrote last week, the baseball playoffs can do that to you. My friend JackO (a Yankee fan) called me on Thursday to say, "No matter what happens, I'm a carcass right now." That's the perfect word. Carcass. Of course, he doesn't feel that way anymore, the bastard. His team came through. Mine failed. Again. You know it's a bad loss when one of your friends is saying, "I just spent the last 15 minutes reflecting on everything that's good about my life, and I guess I just have to keep doing that for the next couple of days to get through this" (actual quote from my buddy Hench).

(snip)

Anyway, my wife understands now. She only jumped on the bandwagon a few years ago, thanks to me. Now her Sox virginity has been taken; she was near tears last night. "I finally understand why you're so crazy about this team," she kept saying. "I can't imagine going through this for my entire life. This is horrible." Add another one to the list.

...more...

[NewYorkerfromMass]

1. Disaster?

Everything went according to plan.

[WindRavenX]

39. Yup

"The ghosts will come out eventually."

-Derek Jeter to Aaron Boone

Well said, DJ, well said...

[catzies]

2. I miss Bill Simmons' regular columns on Page 2 now that he's

a TV writer. I love how he calls Larry Bird "Basketball Jesus."

[VelmaD]

3. That was...

...words escape me. Thank you for sharing it.

I hope you Sox fans all know you aren't alone with that feeling. The article stated so clearly how a lot of us feel about our teams. (Ask me sometime what it was like to watch the wheels fall off the Dallas Mavericks for over a decade after they came so close and lost in the Western Conference finals to the Lakers in the 80s. Or what it was like to watch the Cowboys go 1-15.)

That we can all keep on having faith and hope even after all the disappointments says something wonderful about people. :-)

:hug: Hugs to all in Red Sox nation. We'll see you next year.

[HEyHEY]

4. The game would have been Boston's Grady just made a dumb mistake

That's my opinion. And I'm stickin' to it.

Good article though, I was getting sick of Fox's pro - Yankee stance. Even on their ads for the games they show the Yankees winning the penant calling it a great sport moment...The D-backs upsetting the Yankees was far greater..but fox is full of shitheads ...so...

[Old and In the Way]

5. Grady will be second guessed forever............

Another surreal moment for the Red Sox nation....

My kids are 16 and 15...this was their 1st baptism into the fate that awaits them as Sox fans. My daughter was in tears last night. Lucky for her, I've got many years of experience in dealing with this recurring nightmare and I have begun to prepare her for a lifetime of torment.

Such is the burden of being a Red Sox fan.

Anyway, it was a great game, a true classic. I really feel bad for Wakefield, those 2 wins will probably be forever negated by Boone's one swing of the bat.

[stopbush]

23. In principle, I don't fault Grady for leaving Pedro in as

Pedro outlasted Clemens. The longer Pedro stayed in the longer the Sox kept up the "your ace is gone, ours' is still working" intimidation factor. It was a good strategy as long as it lasted. But truth be told, Little could have pulled Pedro even earlier - he was getting beat up pretty badly with that string of consecutive hits.

The bottom line is that the Yanks beat the Sox. I'd give 80% of the credit to Joe Torre. The guy is a master. Torre always seems to make the right move at the right time, even when it comes to pinch hitters. Under him, the Yanks never feel it's over. They just keep coming...relentlessly. That's difficult for any team to face, let alone a team (and fan base) that has convinced themselves they're operating under a curse. It all becomes self-fulfilling, doesn't it?

[HEyHEY]

28. Only difference is the "Ace" wasn't working

We all knew it, I was saying in the sixth it was time to pull him. But Grady didn't pull him. A man in the game as long as Grady should know when a pitcher is done.

[Old and In the Way]

45. "I'd give 80% of the credit to Joe Torre."

A great baseball manager, no doubt. I think he is pretty amazing, actually. Given the pressure of working for Steinbrenner and keeping the team cohesive...it's a testement to his character and skill. An outstanding managerial effort in that game...

[markses]

6. Couldn't we just adjust the goal?

The Red Sox are extremely good at losing. The best, in fact. They lose spectacularly, catastrophically, memorably. They lose better than anyone else there is, in any sport, ever, and anywhere. It's actually quite remarkable.

They have actually turned losing into an art form - high tragedy, complete with Pedro's hubris. If losing is what they do, they have taken their highest talent to the limit of what it can do. That is, in fact, quite an accomplishment in its own right. If the focus is on winning, of course the Red Sox are no good. If the focus is switched to losing, however, one can be proud of their incredible performances, time after time - they are, quite simply, the best.

Of course, the main problem is that to be as good at losing as the Red Sox are, you have to be invested in winning. That's what make the losses so invigorating. A true paradox for the Red Sox Nation: How to celebrate your ultimate talent of losing without wanting to negate it in winning? Y'all LIVE in that tension.

At the end of the day, I think Red Sox fans LIKE losing, spectacularly. They may even love it. It is the sole binding glue of their community - and there is no stronger community in any sport, ever, anywhere.

[WilliamPitt]

7. We're quite Calvinistic that way

Pain is good. Pain is prayer. Thank you, Calvin. Golf, bagpipes, haggis and the Red Sox. Pain is good.

[returnable]

9. Calvin?

As in Schiraldi?

Sorry. Couldn't resist :hi:

[markses]

18. The Protestant Ethic and

the Spirit of Red Soxism.

Red Sox in the Hands of an Angry God.

Ah, New England, unable to escape from its past, again, and again, and again....;-)

[5thGenDemocrat]

40. Pretty funny, Mr Pitt

Oh yeah -- Bill Buckner.
John
Have I ever told you I interviewed him in 1986? It wasn't the "Curse of the Bambino" -- it was me. And I'm sorry.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

11. Thanks for pointing out that the Yankees didn't win

but rather the Sox lost.

[markses]

17. How un-dialectical of you

Clever boy.

Judging from your extreme bitterness, your friends and neighbors must be giving you a tremendous riling.

Of course, at the end of the day, it is a distinction without a difference, for the Red Sox are out once again, whether because of their talent at losing or the Yankees talent at winning. They still heading to the golf course, and it ain't no shame in the Yankees game that we gots some baseball left to play. On the other hand, thinking of the Red Sox as excelling at losing may make some folks feel better. Focus on your strengths, NYfromMass!

[Redneck Socialist]

44. No

we do not like losing. We don't love it. Would consistant winning dissolve the ties that bind us together? Perhaps, but I think not.

We desperately, passionately want to win.

The depth of sorrow that many of us feel today is hard to explain. To be a citizen of the Red Sox Nation is to be afflicted with a half joyful, half painful madness. And on an almost perfect fall night this madness brought us together. Whether young or old, Democrat or Republican for an all too fleeting and brief a time we shared the same sorrow and pain.

Like losing? No. No, definitely not.

But our time in the wilderness has taught us a humbleness, and has given us an acceptance of fate that is unmatched. We will endure. We will prevail and when we do our joy will be like none other.

[Old and In the Way]

46. That's why I know there's an afterlife.....

In heaven, the Red Sox will never lose.....and the Yankees will wallow in hell, with Steinbrenner and every damn Yankee fan, condemned to rooting a team destined to finish 2nd for eternity.

:-)

[Devils Advocate NZ]

8. Can someone please explain to me...

why the hell one game is not enough?

Why do they have "playoffs"? What is the justification for playing "seven games? I mean when someone loses a bet it is a joke when they say "best two out of three" so what the hell is the point of best four out of seven?

No, honestly, is there some reason for it besides increasing profits?

[GOPisEvil]

10. The theory is that the better team will prevail over a longer series.

Any team can win 1 game, but taking 4 out of 7 has more significance. Of course it makes more money, too...:-)

[Uzybone]

12. because

it gives the better team a chance of winning the series. It makes zero sense to have a 160 game season and have the championship decided by one game. Its like asking a boxing match to go one round and whoever has the most points at the end of round one is declared the winner.

[WilliamPitt]

13. You don't get the strength of the team in one game

Teams have several pitchers, and the pitcher is they lynchpin of the game. One game cannot test the strength of opposing pitching staffs. Five or seven games do.

The baseball season is 164 games long. Seven more at the end is insignificant, really.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

14. I will respond to you, but I mean it for the others too...

Ok, it makes sense sort of, but I have a counter argument.

Part of being better means being able to perform "on the day" so to speak. If a team is not able to make best use of its abilities druing a single game in order to defeat an otherwise lesser team, then does that team really deserve to win?

Take for example my prefered sport Rugby League (similar to Rugby Union, only tougher :-) ) In the particular competition I follow most closely (the Australian NRL competition) New Zealand has a team called the Warriors. This team is, in my opinion the best team in the competition, but they have had over the last couple of years a problem with performing under pressure.

For the last two years in a row the Warriors have been in a position to win the competition, but failed to perform to the best of their ability on the day (last year in the Final, this year in the semi-final). Now I would love to have a 7 game playoff, where I believe the Warriors would be unbeatable, but if they can't win a game against a team that managed to play BEYOND their normal abilities, then I think that other team deserves the title.

Look at it this way: If the Warriors are always 10% better than everyone else, but only play at 90% of their ability, do they really deserve to be the winner when another team that is normally only 90% as good as the Warriors manages to play at 110% of their ability?

I don't think so. To me, all a "playoff" does is assure that lesser teams never really try to push beyond their limitations. They KNOW that over the course of a series they will probably lose, so why "kill" themselves TODAY, for what will probably turn into a loss TOMORROW?

Still, at least there does seem to be some reasoning behind the "playoffs" that doesn't involve fleecing the fans of more money than a single game would provide.

[ProudGerman]

47. Rugby is violent, much more so than baseball

Except for the pitcher, whose mechanics are the most unnatural motions in all of sports, baseball players can play all day long, almost every day. So why not have more games? You said yourself that you'd like to see a Rugby series.

You're second to last paragraph says to me you missed the Boston/New York series, and that you've completely missed out on the Marlins. The Florida Marlins are a wild card team. They've been the "lesser" team for every series they've gone into this post season, and yet, they are playing for the World Championship. They "killed" themeselves every game they've gone into, and because of that, no one has been able to put them away yet. I'm not 100% sure, but I think they also came from behind for every win they've had in the playoffs.

Personally, I think its the other way around. A playoff series forces both teams to play even harder. A big underdog has more than one chance advance, so they'll play hard in every game. The favorite also can't "coast" through a lesser opponent because of those same opportunities, kinda like you see in the early stages of the NCAA tournament.

[LisaM]

15. I know, I now unfairly HATE Bret Boone.

That was just WRONG, having him there. And then showing his grinning mug; I turned off the TV, and then turned off the other TV when my boyfriend tried to watch it in the other room.

[donotpassgo]

16. Oh...so its the medias fault...SHEESH

"Of course, the TV networks and newspapers got what they wanted: They spent the entire month gleefully rehashing those same "Curse" stories for both the Cubs and Sox, flashing graphics like "RED SOX WORLD SERIES WINS AFTER 1918: 0" and showing so many Babe Ruth pictures, you would have thought John Henry Williams had brought the Babe back to life. It was borderline pathological. Fox even made Boone's brother a guest announcer for the Sox-Yanks series -- apparently, Plan B was one of George Steinbrenner's kids. Well, here's your reward, guys: A Yankees-Marlins series that absolutely nobody will watch. Well done."



on edit: I'm trying to be nice.

[markses]

19. I'm trying to be nice too

And I should say that the vast majority of Red Sox fans here are just awesome: awesome fans, awesome people.

Then again, there are a few for whom it is more than good fun, and from whom the bile is pouring now with maximum acidity. Yes, yes, some Yankees fans would have done the same had we lost. Fine. But then the Sox fans would have been right to excoriate them for poor sportsmanship.

So now the fabulous whine of "bought titles" comes pouring forth. And this new one: The media were against us. It sounds like the paranoid cry of a child, and it is quite embarrassing.

Shame. They sully one of the finest performances in modern sport (ON BOTH SIDES) with their bitterness and pettiness.

[Chovexani]

31. Amen. (n/t)

[jeter]

21. Brett "fucking" Boone

This was Bucky Dent (78) and 86 rolled into one. Pretty devastating. I have to admit, that I used to be a Yankee fan. But switched to the Red Sox this year. I like the underdog. I hate to see the Yankees win all the time. And notwithstanding my name - I can't stand Derek Jeter.

My first experience with the heartbreak.

I think these losses solidifies fandom in Boston. It's weird. I was never a Red Sox fan (although my first game was at Fenway). I was cheering for them, because I wanted them to beat the Yankees. The loss though has crystalized something in me (maybe i'll change my name to Nomar).

We'll get them next year.

[donotpassgo]

38. Aaron "Fucking" Boone

n/t

[Missy Vixen]

20. Last night was not fun

I was damn pissed. First of all, the power went out here at 6 PM PST. I was hunting around on the battery-powered radio for information. The power came back on an hour and a half later, only to allow me the agony of watching a Red Sox loss.

I wanted a Cubbies/Red Sox series more than you'll know. Let's see some underdogs for a change. I am so g-d sick and tired of watching the Yankees win! Yankees win! Yankees win! I can hardly express it.

I was also PISSED OFF at Bret Boone being in the announcers' booth. Uh, Bret? You still play for Seattle -- at least right now.

Suck-up.

In the meantime, I won't be watching one minute of the World Series. I fully expect it to be the lowest rated Series in history.

Julie
another major league baseball dream dashed

[donotpassgo]

22. ratings...why do you care about ratings when you only care about the love

of the game???? The fact is THE RED SOX are in a smaller market and the Yankees like it or not have way more fans.

Oh, and Brett was in the booth the entire series...It wouldn't have bothered you if they lost, would it?

[Missy Vixen]

26. Ooooh, now I'm going to have to mete out the smackdown

>love of the game????<

I very much love the game. Matter of fact, I wouldn't have been watching if I didn't love it enough to enjoy the exploits of 99% of major league baseball.

The Yankees have been in the Series, deserving or not, multiple times in the past. I'm frankly sick to death of seeing them.

>The fact is THE RED SOX are in a smaller market and the Yankees like it or not have way more fans.<

Oh, I see. We should have perpetual Yankee World Series. After all, those other teams are in smaller markets!

Did you not read that 70% of available televisions in Boston, and millions more nationwide, tuned in to watch the Red Sox? The ratings have been through the roof. Like it or not, everyone who's not the Yankees depends on that TV cash to even compete. I seem to remember that there were stratospheric ratings during the Diamondbacks/Yankees series as well; baseball fans nationwide got a satisfying win from the Diamondbacks.

We may see the same phenomena with people tuning in watch the Yankees lose to the Marlins, but I won't be. I'll be awaiting March, when hope springs anew in the hearts of every baseball fan.

>Oh, and Brett was in the booth the entire series...It wouldn't have bothered you if they lost, would it?<

Maybe Bret should spend a bit more time in the training room and less on his burgeoning career (?) as a broadcaster.

Julie

[Bake]

29. In the Series ... deserving or not

Gosh, and I thought you had to WIN to get in the Series!

I guess the Yankees don't DESERVE to be in the Series this year, and smoehow the Red Sox DO??? Plain and simple, you've got to WIN to GET IN! The Yankees won; the Red Sox didn't.

What incredible whining: "I'm not gonna watch it! I hope nobody else does either! Yankees Suck!" They beat you. Your team lost. (Dare I say it?): GET OVER IT.

OK, that last one was flame bait. Sorry.

Bake

[donotpassgo]

30. A feisty girl from WA...love that...

I gotta lot of people in that state, one I don't like to talk about.

But I digress, Everyone who makes it to the WS is deserving, Yankee or not.

2) 40 out of 100 WS have had the Yankees in them. Seems nearly perpetual and amazingly enough baseball is still being played today.

3) Last years non-Yankees series tanked in the ratings.

4) Brett is a lousy broadcaster...and what's up with the frosted hair. I'm no fashion maven, and maybe the folks from Queer Eye would advise me differently, but I just don't think frosted hair is in anymore.

[TopesJunkie]

35. Brett is a geek.

All the way. It's actually endearing in a bizarre way, if you realize that. And, yes, he is a terrible broadcaster.

[Missy Vixen]

41. Channeling Carson Kressley

>4) Brett is a lousy broadcaster...and what's up with the frosted hair. I'm no fashion maven, and maybe the folks from Queer Eye would advise me differently, but I just don't think frosted hair is in anymore.<

I suddenly have a great mental picture of Carson wrinkling his button nose at Bret and hissing, "Who dresses you? Also, was there an unfortunate accident with a bottle of "Sun-In"?"

I'm still laughing over the repeat of the uni-brow guy and Tom's hopeless muttering, "This living room looks like a Toys r' Us crack house!"

Back to baseball <G>.

I realize that arguing with Yankee fans is fruitless, but I do enjoy seeing a non-Yankees series.

Julie

[NewYorkerfromMass]

36. the Yankees have way more fans?

I'll bet it's not that many more, if not equal, and I'll bet the Cubs have an equally large contigent. And of course there's the Dodgers too. Fans in LA AND Brooklyn.
Just more ignorant grandiosity from the bottomless pit of Yankee bravado.

[donotpassgo]

37. Read the polling done by Sports Illustrated

They take a look at the sports of every state. Invariably The Yankees will be RIGHT behind the local teams...and if their is no team they will be #1 or #2. Like, believe it or not, UTAH which had the Yankees as their favorite MLB team.

What team sells the most merchandise?...The Yankees.
What team records the highest profits?...The Yankees.
What team is in alliance with Manchester United?...The Yankees.

Oh, and very few Brooklyn Dodger fans are still alive. Real old timeBrooklynites consider L.A. "Dem Bums"

You just need to "get over it". You all did an endless amount of smack talking and Chicken counting and taunting and provoking and chest puffing. A constant stream of Red Sox player hating and Cowboy up all up and down these posts and how the Yankees are Republicans and evil and when there is a response you all throw back a charge of gloating or arrogance. Its over. The Sox lost. Can't you say good game and move on?

[alarimer]

42. A lot of Cubs fans

Since they are on a national cable network (WGN), I'll bet that there are a lot more Cubs fans nationwide. I hate the Yankees. It is totally irrational but they embody Republican values- they have an air of entitlement that no other team has. And those pinstripes! They even look Republican! LOL. I want to see them beaten badly. Marlins in 6.

[returnable]

27. Say what?

The ratings for last year's World Series, which featured two teams NOT named the Yankees, was the lowest-rated Series ever.

So the rest of the country is not just waiting for some new faces to get into the World Series.

Take the Cubs and their curse out of the equation this year, and the ratings would've been average.

If Boston was playing ANYONE ELSE BUT THE YANKEES, the ratings would've been average.

FOX lucked out with two compelling storylines, one of which the Yankees played a very LARGE part.

MLB's ratings have been tanking for years. And it has very little to do with the Yankees' continued success. If it was all about boredom with the Yanks, last year's ratings would've gone through the roof. And they sucked.

Case closed.

[Submariner]

24. The YANKS just buy the best

Salaries:

Braves Median Salary
..2003 $ 800,000
..2002 $ 600,000

Cubs
..2003 $ 1,125,000
..2002 $ 1,125,000

Red Sox
..2003 $ 2,000,000
..2002 $ 2,287,500

Yankees
..2003 $ 4,575,000
..2002 $ 2,500,000

[MaineDem]

25. "Carcass" is an excellent word

It fits.

[kwolf68]

32. Rooting for the Yankess is like rooting for Brad Pitt to get the girl

I was desperately rooting for the Red Sox and Cubs to make the World Series and was very upset that this did not happen. In fact, both the Cubs and Red Sox with their best pitchers on the hill going for the gold failed. I thought Cubs/Sox would have been wonderful for baseball.

However I have a new take on this. Watching the events of the last few days unfold, I have come to the conclusion that neither the Red Sox nor the Cubbies are cursed. Far from it.

They are performance artists of losing. Each squad brings its own finely defined and distinctive zeitgeist to the business of defeat. The artistry lies in each team's ability to periodically rekindle its fans' hopes only to lead them on to an even more spectacular demise than could possibly be imagined.

Folks, we are witnessing genius.

[Tigerlily]

33. Oh God.

This article TOTALLY describes the pain inherent in being a Red Sox fan. Ugh.

[TopesJunkie]

34. Good piece.

But forgive me if I don't see the big deal about Brett Boone being in the booth. I think folks are taking the touchiness a bit too far with that one.

[FlyByNight]

43. I enjoyed the article

Very good summation, both intellectually and emotionally, of what it's like to be a member of the Red Sox Nation.

I guess it's kind of like having "more guts than brains". Not only was I physically tired from the late night, my Sox lost again in spectacular fashion - a glorious trainwreck in slow motion - to the pro-team I hate the most. Simply a psychological drain. I'm spent.