joel's thoughts

Wow.

What else can I say? Growing up in New Jersey, I’ve long been a Yankees fan. Not the rabid honorary-Bronx-resident sort, but I occasionally check on them through the season, making sure they’re first in the division where they should be ;). When the postseason rolls around I start to pay a little more attention, follow how they’re doing and root for them the whole way through. And true to the New York – Boston tradition, I’ve always had a little bit of guilty pleasure when the Red Sox get their hopes up and the Yanks put them in their place.

But this time it’s the Yankees who will be staying home Saturday night. Granted, they’re not the team they were four years ago, and I shudder to think what havoc George Steinbrenner will wreak this winter. And I confess I’m generally a “revenge-loser”. If another team beats my team in the playoffs, I’ll root for their next opponent to shut them down. But given the almost morbid fascination professional sports has with history and statistics, consider:

• First major league baseball team in history to come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series
• Haven’t won the World Series since 1918, and only had four chances since then (’46, ’67, ’75, ’86)
• Were in this exact same spot last year with their bitter rivals, the Yankees, and lost
• After the momentum turned this time in games 4 and 5, they soundly and clearly won games 6 and 7. No controversy or anything.

No, this time I have to hand it to them. I’m disappointed in my team, to be sure, and the Yankees will always be my team, but I have to say the Red Sox deserved this. They had guts, they put their hearts into it, and they pulled off an impossible comeback against no less than the New York Yankees. Good for them.

And as a Yankees fan, I’m not ashamed to say I’ll be rooting for Boston Saturday night.