My version of JJ’s first post:

A few years back, before we got the monkey off our backs, a few of my friends and I were at Buffs Pub for game 6 of the ‘04 Yanks/Sox series. We had tickets for game 7 purchased before the playoffs began with the anticipation it might come down to this. It sounds like we were really smart but we did the same thing a year before and had to endure a night of wandering around NYC after the Gradyclism that was game 7 of the ‘03 Sox/Yanks series.

After that game we walked out of the stadium and into a town so much bigger than our own..and nobody liked us. I refused to take my Pedro shirt off out of stupid pride. In retrospect, it could have gotten us killed.

It felt like a combination of this video and the eerie feeling a giraffe must get every time it dips its head for a drink at a watering hole.

The night mercifully ended around 3AM when we found ourselves on the border of Chinatown renting a room at a place I can only describe as pathogen-friendly. It was the kind of place where you walk upstairs to get to a bullet proof window that you pass your money through..and then you get a room that you are pretty confident either was or will be prominently featured on the lead story of the 10 o’clock news…this is a place hope and happiness go to die…it is where we belonged that night.

So, back in Buff’s we stood, our hands holding onto wings we had picked up three or four innings ago..unable to put them down because we had decided somehow these were ‘lucky wings’…and they won..so back to NYC we went…and in the parking lot before the game we borrowed a lighter from a Yankee fan and set fire to our tickets from the previous year’s game 7…and then we peed on the fire…and we hoped this would help…seriously.

For me, someone who grew up a Sox fan in the 70’s and 80’s, enduring some of the worst moments a fan can experience, confidence in the Sox was something that never really existed. Yeah, each Spring there was a feeling that things ‘could’ work out this year, but there was always a significant absence of positive mojo. There was always the waiting….

Which key member(s) of the team will get injured?
Why do we always have great hitting but not enough pitching to win in the playoffs?
Why does our closer always have a look like he wishes his Dad had never pushed him so hard?
When will fate take over and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?

It was the exact opposite with the Celts in the 80’s. You always new they would find a way. And even if that year didn’t exactly work out, you knew it wouldn’t be for a lack of effort or poise and you knew they’d be back the next year with a chip on their shoulder. And it’s like that with the Pats right now.

And it is starting to feel like it might be that way with the Sox now…

It’s hard to say this out loud but as each year goes by, the Sox seem to be honing in on a sure-fire plan to make enough smart decisions that the team will almost always “be there” at the end.

They have (and continue to build) a team with a great blend of raw, youthful talent and veteran ‘go to’ guys who take over in the clutch.

They make a few ‘Didn’t See That Coming’ moves each year now too that keep seeming to make sense the more time goes by. The best example of one of these moves right now is obviously Colon. Two months ago the response was, “Huh”…and now…after Colon did this yesterday, he is poised to come into town and add another dependable arm to the rotation that could make us even better. Even if he only lasts the first half of the year, it wouldn’t be a stretch at this point to think he could bring to the table approximately what Schilling would have brought if he wasn’t injured..and given today’s Sox mojo, it wouldn’t surprise me if Schilling comes back and pitches great in the second half b/c he is fresher than he would have been if he had to put a full season on his arm…10 years ago, Schilling would have come back and hit Ortiz with a wild pitch and Manny would have sprained an unknown muscle running in to help. Now, I just assume it will work itself out. The Sox management actually have contingency plans. If Schilling doesn’t work out this season, maybe this ex-23-game-winner who wants to revive his career can do it. If that doesn’t work out, perhaps Clay B can grow up enough to give us solid innings until we get to the post season…If that doesn’t work out, we could give Manny’s best friend another go-round…

And if the stars align we could have:

Beckett as an unstoppable force again
Dice K making the leap to 1a on the staff
Colon dominating (he did, after all, hit 95 on the gun yesterday)
Schilling doing what he did at the end of last year
Lester becoming the new Bruce Hurst
Wake and Bake screwing up hitters timing for all of the above

That would give Clay another year to ferment in the minors (and the option of putting him in the pen for the stretch run as our long reliever)…not to mention removing any fear of over-working his arm.

The point is this: Is anyone really worried about the Sox this year? Really, think about it. They have a solid team. They won’t win it every year, no one does. But you know they will be there at the end.

Drew goes down the day before the season starts? Ordinarily that would be a big, bad omen. Instead, it gives Coco a chance to show his talents in center field for a few weeks to increase his trade value.

And come playoff time, we have a dominant ace, closer, two clutch sluggers, and a supporting staff to help them shine.

What now? Just watch videos like this while Yankees fans worry about A-Rod.