I was poking around boston.com's sports page for the first time this year when I came across this Obnoxious Boston Fan guy:
http://www.boston.com/sports/blogs/obnoxiousbostonfan/2011/09/this_should_set_red_sox.html Oh my God, this guy is ridiculous. He claims that this 2011 collapse has taught a younger generation of fans what it was like to be a Sox fan. This collapse was horrifying and memorable, but it was *not* as bad as the collapse in 1978, or was it as bad as 1986. In 1978 the Sox played in a league where you had to win the division to get into the playoffs, and we *never* were able to beat the Yankees and win the division. We would routinely have the second best record in the American League and watch the playoffs from home. So when we had an insurmountable 14 game lead at the All Star break, this was our chance to finally break through. Then we blew the lead and were 2 or 3 games back with a week or so to play, and then we *came back* from that to force a playoff game that we lost with men in scoring position and Yaz hitting (popped out to third, not that it preys on my mind). In 1986 the Sox had barely escaped Anaheim thanks to Hendu and were about to steal the World-Freaking-Series from a team with 108 wins. 108 wins and we were going to beat them. And then, of course, we know what happened. The Red Sox hadn't seen the playoffs since 1975 and 1967 before that, and every decade we played the decade's strongest NL team for the WS. *That* my friends was collapse. In those days we only made the playoffs when historic and mystical forces combined to create a Black Swan event that rocked our world. This year? Yeah it was bad and frustrating given that we had this all-star lineup. But, really, do we have any doubt that we'll be right back in the thick of it next year? Was this year a fluke that we somehow let slip through our fingers. There was a time when the Red Sox were Tampa Bay and we got in only by the skin of our teeth after God Himself reached down and anointed us. So it seems to me that the obnoxious Boston Fan is being a little self-serving to suggest that he has suffered through anything like real angst. It would take at least 20-years of futility for us to feel that way again. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Red Sox Citizens" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/redsoxcitizens/-/RQojWzLPliAJ. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en.
