Sox Thoughts - 18 August , 2009
This season is starting to feel a "bit" familiar.... a feeling we have all felt MANY times over the course of our existence... riding high from Spring into Summer..... brought to the end of our rope during the "dog days".... having the rope cut before our very eyes, strand by strand from summer into fall, until WE fall..... a deflated mass of disappointment.... STILL holding on to that rope... AND.... that dream....
We rationalize with a phrase that became the creed of the Nation itself.... "There's always next year !!!"... a phrase that we learn while still in the womb... a phrase that becomes an unspoken assumption after so many years of heart-breaks by the team we bleed Red for... yet we continue to believe... until the out that becomes the final nail in the season's coffin... until the final nail is driven into our very own coffins... from womb to tomb (and probably beyond) residency in this Nation is predetermined by a higher power... Red Sox Nation... The Best Place on Earth....
For those of you not born into this roller coaster world of Red Sox Nation, I STRONGLY urge you to watch the movie "Fever Pitch". (click here to view the trailer) The passion that burns is hard to put into words.... but this movie explains it all... very.. VERY.. accurately !!!!...
Summed up quite succinctly by an Oakland A's fan that sat behind me earlier this season.... "You fans are CRAZY.... We've heard that!!!" I quickly corrected her uttering but a single word... "PASSIONATE !!!" I challenge the fans of ANY of the 30-odd teams in MLB to try to break the Nation... it can't be done.
Why do we stay ??? Why do we put ourselves through season after season of heart-ache ??? Personally I like roller coasters... but that's not it... we have no choice... we are born into this wonderful Nation... and I wouldn't have it any other way. Win, lose or draw, I am a proud and active member... until the day the put me 6 feet under....
So much changed in 2004... the year of the first championship in 86 years... the year that made it all makes sense.. the year that made it all worth it..... but was it just a tease ??? 2007 proved that theory to be WRONG !!!!
As I sit here on August 18th, our heroes currently out of a playoff spot, I wonder what "life" in the Nation will be like in 2 months or so.... only time will tell.... but either way, I have my rope held tight...
Why are the Sox where they are right now after such a glorious first half ???? If I knew the answer, I wouldn't be typing this blog right now !!!! I DO know that I'm hearing of more and more finger-pointing... micro-managing and micro-analyzing at it "best" !!! That does no one any good...
Chemistry ??? Too many shake-ups in the club-house ??? Too much scrutiny ??? Too many distractions ??? Professional athleticism is obviously much more mental than physical. I beg the media to not be hyper-critical... to let your Nation's blood run wild. No ONE is at fault... the team is 25 players + coaches... win as a team (NATION actually)... die as a team...
So here's MY "pitch"....Suck it up boys... get it together... you've reached the bottom of THIS coaster's big drop.... but there's another hill to climb after the next loop-da-loop.... a climb that begins tonight ... against the Blue Jays... with Beckett riding in the front seat...
It's easy to be a "fan" when your team wins 26 titles year after year...
It's destiny, an honor and a privilege to "live" in Red Sox Nation..... NUF CED
1 comments:
Passionate post, I as a Rays fan know the feeling as I am also a Bucs fan, but with the Red Sox it is 10 times the roller coaster ride no doubt. http:www.saywhatyoureallymean.blogspot.com
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