- It is time to Fulfill Our Destination, as Manny would say. My beloved Boston Red Sox hold a 5 1/2 game lead over the Yankees for the AL East crown. The Magic Number is now 11. We have the Best Record In Baseball. And as we have come to expect, we have a decisive 3 game series in Boston in September against Those Guys From New York. I could probably produce an entire column on tonight's game alone, and it is the game that worries me the most. Daisuke has struggled mightly of late, posting an ERA of over 12 for his last 3 starts. He faces the always dangerous Andy Pettitte, a guy who understands what this all means. Sure, The Young Man From Japan has pitched some big games in his life, and he has a reputation for stepping it up when those contests come along. But this is the Red Sox versus the Yankees, in September, and there is more at stake here than a Win. As anyone in New England with a pulse can tell you, this is the series that will make or break a Red Sox season. No, they don't hand out hardware based on what happens over the next 3 days but we all know that momentum is one of the intangibles in sports, and regardless of what the standings may say when the weekend is over, the team that claims this series waltzes through the final 2 weeks of the season with a Sizeable Swagger. So Matsuzaka takes the mound tonight with a hefty weight on his shoulders. A Red Sox victory in the first game of the set will set the tone for the weekend. It will change the air in Fenway. The Friendly Confines are different when Sox fans have The Faith. We've been down this road too many times before. A loss tonight will shake the Foundation of the Nation. Doubt creeps in. A sense of "here we go again" pervades New England. So I'm here to tell you, denizens of Red Sox Nation, Keep The Faith. Dice-K will pitch a different game tonight than he has over the last few starts. The Captain will have him mixing his pitches and throwing breaking stuff in fastball counts, keeping the Yankees on their heels. The Bats will make contact, and if it comes down to crunch time, The Man With The Broad Shoulders, Mr. Clutch, Big Papi will carry us over the finish line. This is The Way It Is in the new Red Sox Nation. So after we take care of busines tonight, let's look ahead to how we put this thing away for good. Tomorrow afternoon (don't forget, it is a screwy 3:55 start tomorrow, unfortunately on Fox) we get The Aces. Beckett against Wang. 18-6 versus 18-6. Cy Young in the balance. The Battle for #19. Except Beckett owns #19. It is one of those superstitious sports number treats. And it is, of course, one that clearly plays to our advantage. It is Our Destination. There you go, Game #2 also goes to the Sox. Which brings us to Sunday, Glorious Sunday. Curt Schilling faces Roger Clemens. At Fenway. A Match-up for the Ages. Two of the greatest pitchers of the last 20 freakin' years...both of whom have rightfully earned permanent placement in Red Sox lore. Two competitors at the tail ends of their careers. Both with something to prove. Both Big Game Pitchers, digging in to place one more note in the storied history of the Greatest Sports Rivalry of All-Time. Who will emerge victorious? Well, I leave that to you to decide, I've got to get get my broom...
- Speaking of those guys in pinstripes, I've heard it said several times this week, the New England Patriots "have become the New York Yankees". As nauseating as that thought is, I can understand where it comes from. The Yankees are hated because they were so good for so long that people got sick of hearing about them. Nobody likes a perennial winner in sports, it tarnishes the mystique, steals hope for The Underdog, diminishes competition (real or percieved). It is increasingly hard in professional sports to reach these heights, for reasons of parity, salary caps, thinning of the talent pool through over-reaching expansion franchises and a disolving sense of loyalty between team and player. The Celtics had it in the '50s and '60s, winnig 11 Championships in a row, a feat that will never be topped. By the '80s, as great as those Celtics teams were, we also had the Lakers. The Steelers in the '70s, Niners in the '80s, Cowboys of the '90s and of course MJs Bulls. They all had it, but it is fleeting. But as the Patriots set out to win their 4th Super Bowl of this millenium, they resemble those teams, and of course the Yankees of the, well, last century. And most of those teams were hated by everyone outside of their own fans. Jordan, beloved as he was, might have transcended it a tiny bit but go talk to fans in Cleveland or Utah and you'll see even his shine isn't as bright. So I'll take the hatred for the Pats. It just means we've become one of the all-time great franchises...and I can live with that.
- Of course, now that I've said that, we have to address VideoGate. Bill Belichick and the Patriots got served their punishment yesterday for a "scandal" that is both serious and silly. Yes, my favorite football team cheated. Yes, we'll lose some draft picks as a result, and justifiably so. The Rules are the Rules, and they must be followed. But what I find silly about this is that while the Patriots Haters will cry foul and wish that harsher actions could topple them from this pedestal, everybody steals signs!!! This is common practice, people. The Patriots were just brazen (and foolish) about their execution. When Sunday night rolls around, I promise you Belichick will have staffers again stealing signs from the Chargers coordinators, just as Norv Turner will have his staff stealing signs from the Pats. The only thing that will change is nobody will be out there with a video camera. All I can say to the Haters is take a look at yourself and measure your outrage at the infraction against your loathing for the team. And then let's get back to football (where, by the way, the Patriots will efficiently dispose of the Chargers and continue their journey to the Super Bowl).
- I feel sorry for Greg Oden. The kid shows so much promise, and to be sidelined for what realistically will be closer to 2 full seasons, has got to be eating him alive. I hope he has a strong support structure around him, because he will have a harder time fighting the depression that he will tackling the rehab. But I couldn't help thinking about something. When the Kevin Garnett trade went through, I could imagine the Ghost Of Red Auerbach visiting Kevin McHale one night and saying "Look kid, I MADE you. Now it's time for you to pay me back". Now I have to wonder if ol' Red didn't have a few hands holding down the ping-pong balls in New York this spring, knowing that the Celts need to Win Now wasn't happening with the top pick in the draft. Red always had a way of knowing how things would work our before anyone else did. Training Camp is right around the corner. The Big Ticket, The Truth and Ray Allen have already arrived (voluntarily!) in Waltham and are building chemistry and schooling the young guns. The Quest for Green 17 begins anew.
Recap of the weekend's action on Monday with a full breakdown of Sox/Yankees, Pats/Chargers and some UMass talk, both football and basketball. Remember, 3:55 tomorrow and 8:05 SUnday for the Sox, strange times for Strange Times. Warm up those thumbs, a lot of flipping back and forth Sunday night. It is gonna be a great weekend. Enjoy.
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