My favorite Jack Black character is "that character Jack Black plays in everything."
So if you don't know me personally, which means this early on your either meticulously searching for new blogs or you're here by accident, I'm a Red Sox fan. Anytime I say I'm a Red Sox fan and I'm not in New England, I usually get a series of questions which I'll answer now:
1. Are you from Boston? No, but just south in Rhode Island.
2. Did you start rooting for them in 2004? No. I'm not going to claim I suffered through 1986, because I was only two and I understood baseball as well as I understood Big Bird wasn't real and my parents weren't superheroes. But I did live through the 1995 collapse against the Indians, Yankees dynasty1, the 1999 playoff push that got the Indians monkey of our backs, the 2003 Boone home run, and about 5 years of early-to-mid '90s teams that struggled to stay above .500.
3. Do you like the other Boston teams? I'm also a Pats fan, but I rooted for the Whalers so I don't support the Bruins, and I found NBA Basketball to be unwatchable from 2000 to about last year so I forfeited my right to call myself a Celtics fan a long time ago.
But regardless of the few of you that inevitably grumble because I root for teams that have been recently successful and have loudmouth fans who give us a bad rep2, I've been loyal for a while so I've taken my lumps too. And while the recent month with the Sox basically handing the Wild Card to the Tampa Bay Rays has been annoying, I can't sit here and claim there's some curse or have a "woe is me" attitude because, come on, we've been VERY fortunate to root for so many champion teams over the last decade in New England. Don't let a Boston fan pretend this is a tragedy. This team just isn't going to win and that's OK. Letting a Boston fan cry about this is like dealing with Donald Trump whine because he's not going to become president - I think he's gotten enough breaks in the past.
Thanks for the ice cream, Dad! And also the millions of dollars you gave me, that was awesome too.
But watching the wheels come off and coming to the realization that the team isn't championship-caliber has been weird, like taking the blinders off. It seems that our big name players have made us blind to the fact that a couple key injuries could totally knock the team off kilter, a few of the positions are weak, and we have some overrated or uncomfortable players. Basically, we're finally seeing the team come back to earth. While it was fun pretending we were an unstoppable force for 3 months, every team is beatable. Maybe the Red Sox aren't Rosemary from Shallow Hall, but the difference between what the fans expected and what they're getting is monumental.
Your starting right fielder, JD Drew!
Boston fans are, indeed, shallow. It's not our fault, we just expect to win more than lose these days so we pretend its a tragedy to lose when it's just baseball and we're rooting for laundry. Red Sox fans don't hate Derek Jeter the person, they hate Derek Jeter the Yankee. If we ended up with him as our shortstop back in the 90's, JEEEEEETAHHHHH would replace NOOOMAHHHH as the rally cry that probably resulted in a couple bleacher fights in the Bronx, as well as an SNL sketch3.
This is a good team. They still will end up winning about 90 games. They may still make the playoffs. But because the T&A we saw for 4 months is no longer there, we're acting like we went from Kate Upton to Rosie O'Donnell.
I'll insert the Rosie O'Donnell bikini pics here as soon as I find them, assuming my face doesn't melt off like in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Unfortunately, people will look back at this season as a failure. It's fair to do so only because of the lead they gave up, but it doesn't mean this is a bad team. Hell, when they're healthy they have a current or former All-Star at almost every position. They're going to be competitive for at least a few years. They may win in 2012. But the fans need to get back to supporting the team without only expecting a World Series every year. This is why the fans became so obnoxious - that "chip on the shoulder" transformed to a false sense of entitlement. This team has a ton of great qualities, but it's going to take a year for it all to work together.
The fans should use this to come back to earth. Take a team's good qualities with the bad. And remember that you've been damn lucky the past 10 years to win two World Series.
1 - A dynasty is a few championships with a consistency of success, where your dominance controlled the outcome of the league for at least 3 years. The Patriots, Yankees, Cowboys, 49ers, Lakers, Bulls... these teams have all had dynasties in the last 20 years. Don't pretend these didn't happen, everyone who I've heard crap on the Patriots, Cowboys, and Lakers dynasties and say they weren't "actually" dynasties.
2 - I think every team has terrible fans and great fans. I know some very rational fans from New York, Philly, Dallas, etc. and I know some obnoxious Orioles and Pirates fans. It's just that big market teams tend to magnify the negative qualities.
3 - Don't worry, my defense of SNL is coming soon - it's not as much "SNL is awesome," but "You guys honestly think SNL 20 years ago was this amazing franchise? Because it's always been hit or miss and they only replay the best sketches, so you THINK it was amazing." I'm going to find some TERRIBLE sketches for you guys from those days...
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