hay paul-
sorry about your loss, you seem to be taking it well. i had a question? did you write tonights post as the game was being played? or after?

No, I wrote it all after the game ended. Went to Jake's Dilemma on the Upper West Side, where I saw Game 7 last year. I can tell you the place was much more packed in 2003. Perhaps more people would have filtered in if the game was close.

I don't claim loyalty to either team - but when all is said and done, the Red Sox deserved to win. The team demonstrated two things the Yankees didn't - passion and dogged determination. Maybe the "curse" is lifting or should I say, "reversing."

This post is the reason I was pulling for the Yankees. As hard as it is to admit it, I wanted to see New York win. No blame on a curse, just an admission that you were beat straight up. I like your class Paul.

Thanks. I thought about pulling a fast one, doing a post like "How 'Bout Those New York Giants!" — really just as a joke — but I've been able to keep some respectful discourse on this site, and those who waver from that will just have their comments deleted anyway.

If you wanna post graffiti, do it on some lame message board.

first of all, for someone not tied to either team it has been fun to get your take on this series vs. the sports guy's take. thanks for the die-hard passion and opinions.

as a baseball fan i had a fleeting thought about the anticlimactic nature of the game sometime around the 6th inning. but as a tortured cubs fan who was five outs from the series last year only to watch the f-in marlins score eight runs in the 8th, i know the red sox nation wouldn't feel safe until the final out. so i guess for me, the drama continued all the way through, especially once lowe was lifted and pedro breathed some life back into yankee stadium.

besides, the nlcs has been equally as entertaining and we get another game seven to enjoy tomorrow night. after the cubs let me down again i didn't think i'd watch much of the postseason but as usual, it's been simply phenomenal.

on a side note, what the hell happened to vasquez this year? the guy has been a studhorse with a top five curveball on a crappy team for a couple of years now. then this year he can't even make a suspect postseason rotation? he should've won 20 games without breaking a sweat in pinstripes. then again, wood and prior couldn't even win more games than our old friend jon lieber so i'll just shut up now.

Well said. All in all, it's just a game.

Javy was a mystery. Healthy all year, supposedly with good poise, and it just never came around for him.

He's not alone. The 2004 Yankees was a team of guys who never met expectations, from Mussina to Brown to Giambi to Posada to Bernie and more.

It's easier to list who exceeded expectations: Cario certainly, Matsui a bit, Gordon for a long time but not at the end.

paul-
I was curious about your drink and shooter count tonight as the game wore on.

as for my earlier post,about when you wrote your post i gotta give you "wicked" props opps sorry.

no but really, your the man,maybe i`ll throw a couple pick-em games so you can catch up with the "Georgia trouser Trouts" heheh

Just a bunch of beers tonight. Maybe six in eight innings. What, you think I'm gonna stay for the ninth? That was reserved for a nice walk home in the crisp New York fall.

Got some hot dogs at Gray's, popped a beer at home, sat down to write because that's what y'all would want. Wake up to a new day and look forward to pitchers and catchers to report in February — just like I did for years and years growing up, when we didn't even make the playoffs.

Hmmm... I'm not sure if this post is about Paul being classy (which I'm sure he is, I'm by no means saying he's not!!!)... or more about Paul rationalizing the GREATEST COLLAPSE IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS HISTORY.

Sorry, someone had to say it ;-)

There's NO way the Yanks should have lost this series. They had a 3-0 lead with two games left at home. Forget the curse... the Yanks will now be mentioned every time a baseball team trails 3-0 in a baseball series.

I know, I know... the Yanks fans will continue to harp on the past, hell, it's in Paul's title. But if the Sox win this WS, they'll be able to say to Yankees fans, "When's the last time you won a World Series?"

All that said, I'm a Phillies fan. Playoff baseball no longer matters to me :-(

Statistically it was the greatest collapse, but if you want to know how it resonates with me, you have to look at it from a fan's perspective.

The Yanks have already given me four World Series titles. (Not counting 1977 and 1978 when I was 4 and 5 years old.)

Compare that to when the Syracuse basketball team almost blew an 18-point lead to Kansas in the 2003 national championship. I almost died. I remember thinking how if we blew that lead, I couldn't imagine how I'd recover, since title-game appearances for non-Duke teams are few and far between.

But in baseball, the Yankees are Duke. We'll be back.

The Yankees twice had Rivera on the mound, pitching with the lead (although Game 5 was obviously not his fault), needing just one more win to advance. I think this, more than anything, is why all of this is so surprising.

As a non-Sox or Yanks fan, I still think this was one of the greatest series ever played, and I may never see another like it in my lifetime.

As long as Steinbrenner is the owner, the Yankees will be back every single year.

Sheffield should have kept his mouth shut. 0 for 4 in game 7.

Until there is a baseball salary cap, the Yankees will remain the only team in American sports that can truly look forward to "next year" every year, even if they resemble my beloved 90's Buffalo Bills lately.

I for one would like to see a Houston-Boston World Series, as it would mirror the presidential election. Imagine the curse of the Bambino being replaced by the curse of George W?

My buddy and I were saying and thinking the exact same things that you wrote about the Yanks. True, the Sox MUST win the Series for any of this to mean anything.
I have tread into dangerous waters these past days as I have begun to question some of Torre's moves starting with game 4, something i have refused to do till now.

this series has been a bit tougher to take living as a yankees fan here in boston. i'm not dreading going into work today, but i'm certainly not looking forward to it.

with the game over so early on, it really gave me a lot of time to think about things. and like you, ultimately i found the losing wasn't as bad as i thought it would be.

however, i will say it definitely made me yearn for the good old days. and it made me sorry for guys like jeter, posada, williams, and rivera who have to play with these prima donnas. i love matsui and cairo. but lofton, brown, vazquez, a-rod...these guys aren't yankees to me. i guess giambi gets a pass because they made him give up steroids and then he got a parasite and some weird illness. but i've never really thought of him as a yankee either.

where have you gone, paulie o and tino? for that matter, where have you gone charlie hayes?

oh well.

Hey Paul,

I guess when your team is on the short-end of an epic collapse (yes, it was), you have no other choice than to look back on recent history to ease the pain. But the 'it-didn't-matter-that-much-to-me' tone is beneath you -- was that the booze talkin'?

Don't forget to lump A-Rod into the non-performing mix: lousy teammate (nice Olerud comments) who spit the bit when it counted most. 'Best player' in the League my ass -- Miguel Cairo at the plate instilled more fear in me than A-rod. And I'm no math major, but the inverse of his addition-by-subtraction streak (see Seattle, Texas) seems to be still intact.

Regarding Leyritz, gee, do ya' think? He probably still hasn't bought a dinner in NYC since his career defining clutch World Series performances -- this just in, I think Eruzione still has fond memories of his Miracle Team, too.

(Paul's Response: You're definitely an expert on knowing my true feelings, when something is "beneath me," and "when booze is talking," because I have absolutely no idea who you are. If you're happy now, be happy. Don't be so concerned about me, unless your thrill comes from my pain. In which case, sorry to disappoint you. Yeah, recent history, when it's been the best in any major pro and college sport, eases the pain. And unless you've been standing next to me for 10 straight years of Yankees playoffs, you have absolutely no idea. None at all.)

A very classy post sir--well Done.

I agree with you Paul. I was disappointed but not devastated. I didn't feel any emotional attachment to this team. Its not the same as the days of the hustling Girardi, and O'Neill.

I'm disappointed for Jeter, Williams, Posada, and Rivera. I'm disappointed that their winning ways were not followed by their new teammates. Cairo seemed to jump on the old-guard ship in a way. I thought he did his best to not move out of the way of Lowe's pitch when he got hit before Jeter drove him in. This is a guy who understands what it takes to win and is willing to do whatever it takes.

Well hopefully there will be some new faces around next year.

Really, I can't imagine Yankee fans feeling too tortured about this loss- I have to imagine it's hard to feel THAT bad when in the last ten years, you've won almost 50% of the World Series.

Try not even GETTING into the World Series since 19-freaking-45, then you'll know tortured :)

"The Happiest Team ever down 3-1"

3 outs away from a SWEEP with the "greatest closer in the history of baseball" on the mound and they lose. wow.

Jeter was asked about the team last night, and made a comment along the lines of "this isn't like those teams" (referring to the w.s. teams).

With personalities like sheffield and brown on your team, how could it be. The Yankees did a good job of keeping everyone in line, but those guys are a far cry from the yankees of the world series years.

It is a much different team, and I long thought that the 1996-2000 teams, who won four World Series titles, were gonna be looked back on as an underrated clutch group of players. Because everything that has come after it, different teams winning from 2001-2004, shows how incredibly difficult it is to win four out of five, having to go through three playoff rounds.

Three times in the World Series they beat teams with better regular-season records. And only twice in five postseasons did they even face elimination, losing in Game 5 of the 1997 ALDS to Cleveland and winning Game 5 of the 2000 ALCS against Oakland. Most incredibly: 12 straight World Series wins. A dozen straight against the best the NL had to offer. That's a record (shared with another Yanks dynasty) not expected to be challenged any time soon.

Here's a non-partisan Flyover's perspective, Paul:
Don't sell the Yankees short -- this very well could go down as the most memorable choke in MLB history.
That said, the Yankees are in a bit of a can't win situation. Their ridiculous $190 million (or whatever) payroll is ruining the game. What would a rational paulkatcher.com be writing about baseball if you were in a Milwaukee or a Pittsburgh--a city where the MLB franchise can't even compete. The Yankees *should* win every year. If they don't, they're a colossal, Giambi muscle-sized (while still on the 'roids) bust.
But of course you love your home team...all that crap is not your fault. I actually enjoy rooting for the Yanks' tradition and I can't stand it when Bill Simmons gloats. Glad you didn't slit your wrists and thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts throughout the series.

At first I wanted the Sox to win, then when they went down 3-0 I wanted the Yanks to sweep it. Now that Boston has come back to win it.. all I want is for the Sox to pleasepleaseplease win the Series so we can STOP HEARING ABOUT IT!

I don't want to hear about the "curse" anymore.. I don't want to hear about 1918, or the 26 titles the Yankees have... and I may just put a gun to my head if I have to hear/see another broadcast onslaught of "The Greatest Rivalry In All Of Sports!!" as the myriad sportscasters cum in unison over the fact that the Yankees and Red Sox are playing for the 30th time this year.

Guess what? The rest of the country doesn't care... it's the LCS that gets me fired up, not the Yanks/Sox Rivalry, if the media could just stop kissing their own asses long enough to look around they might realize this. But as long as FOX is in charge of the broadcasts we all know this will never end...

Just bring on the Series. And for the love of God, let the Sox win it. It's our (the rest of the country) only chance at getting a break from this nonsense next year.

What a disappointing post from the guy who was so giddy with excitement last year. Kinda comical, ain't it? Yeah, now you don't care, super Yankees fan #1. I used to respect your passion, I looked forward to hearing your real opinion on the collapse....instead I got this...

Also..

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, MR SHEFFIELD FOR LIGHTING THE FIRE...YUP, YOU'RE RIGHT, THE SOX AREN'T WINNERS, THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT WINNING AND THEY ARE NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF CHARACTERS...

Thank you, Red Sox, for giving us the greatest comback in professional sports history!

How great was it watching all those 'ugly' (your word for Sox fans, don't get pissed at me) Yankee fans looking anxious then nervous then outright scared, then DEVASTATED?

Who's your Papi???>

Of course it's a disappointing post for you. You want to hear how Yankees fans were strewn all over the street, unable to lift themselves up to walk home.

It didn't happen. I can't speak for everyone, so I spoke for myself.

You can find more baseball blogs here:
http://baseballblogs.org/

And perhaps you will find joy in others' misery. I just know they weren't written by anyone I was hanging out with.

Speaking as a Twins fan, having watched The Empire systematically dispose of a fairly decent team with my own eyes, then reading Paul's accurate and fair comments (regarding my club, AND his), I appreciate his honesty.
A nasty, nasty loss last night no doubt, but this is far from the last chapter.
As AL fans, I hope Paul will join me in rooting on the AL to another WS win.

I don't understand something. Some of you are bashing Paul and his comments, yet you seem to be regular readers of his blog. If you are such big Red Sox fans or anit-Yankee fans why can't you find your own web page to go post comments on.

Something I have wondered for a long time, my friend. Why come here at all?

I take it as a compliment, though. I must be feeding some kind of need for them.

Paul--

I like the last quote where you say "Its sports. Its out of your control." It is. But you just have to sit back and say "I enjoyed the ride. Thank you Yankees.". There is a reason why they call it POST SEASON. During the season memories and experiences are carved to help carry fans on to the next season. Yeah..teams lose and win, but getting to where they were(and are at) is half the fun.

This is a good site, and a lot of us enjoy it - but that doesn't mean we can't write our thoughts or call Paul out on it when we disagree with him. You are writing for the public, and when you do that you have to expect people to disagree with you and voice their opinions.

And perhaps you will find joy in others' misery.

Are you joking?

More than a bit ironic that you would write that Paul, given the way you take every possible jab at the sox and their fans. From going on about how the Yankees will be in the World Series this year to how you wished clemens beaned Ramirez to the futility of the red sox or the "crassness" of their fans - you suddenly take the high road when your team shits the bed??

If you spend your days gloating about the misery of the red sox, don't be pissed when it comes right back at you.

I'm not pissed. That's the whole point. Have your fun. I had mine many, many times.

When I say the Sox fans are ugly, it's mostly in jest. Except for this guy, who's sporting a brown blazer over a hooded sweatshirt, over a cap, and with blood all over from the "celebration."

Here's Bill Simmons' take:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/041021

A couple of great lines:

I keep waiting for them to announce that there's a Game 8.

For once, finally, the Yankees have some baggage. Just like every other baseball team.

If anyone is looking for some agony and misery, I've got plenty to spare. Not because of the worst implosion in sports history, but because I took full advantage of my local pub's Wednesday night special-$10 all you can drink from 9-12. While the bar didn't make a nickel on me last, the good people over at Excedrin will be making a killing today. And now, I must call about 50-60 business associates who are all Red Sox fans.

Bucky "F*cking" Dent, Aaron "F*cking" Boone....Johnny "F*cking" Damon?????

I agree 100% with your re-cap of the series, Paul. Last night was disappointing, but not devastating - 2001 was a loss that truly hurt.

And frankly, since most of those guys in Pinstripes last night weren't even Yankees (and I mean real Yankees) it was difficult to really get emotionally involved. I'm glad Jeter recognized (and hopefully the media catches on soon) that this is not the same team it was a few years ago. No O'Neill. No Pettite. No Tino. No Brosius. No Wells. No Girardi. Just Jeter, Williams, Posada & Rivera left to try and keep this team together. If anything is devastating, it's that.

That said, I'm left to root for the Astros. Go Pettite.

Paul:

As a non yankee or red sox fan but a huge fan of baseball here are my thoughts on last night. It was a great series and great for baseball and in the end the better team probably won. If I were a yankee fan I would be embarrassed right now. Not because my team was up 3-0 and lost the series but because of the way the fans who were at the game and the organization handled the loss. The yankees have a great history and are the envy of all baseball franchises with all the championships they have won. However, the way the Yankee fans and organization behaved during these last 2 games was terrible. Part of being a great organization is not only winning with class but more importantly losing with class. The way the fans reacted the last 2 nights by throwing baseballs on the field (mostly in reaction to 2 overturned but proper calls by the umpires in game 6 but also last night in the 9th when it was for all purposes over) was classless. More so, what I found classless was the second the game was over, New York New York was being played over the PA system and it was played over and over again as the Red Sox celebrated on the field. I know its a big rivalry and the loss hurts, but losing with class is the sign of a classy organization. It would be nice to see more fans have the attitude that you have and the organization should take a lead from Joe Torre who, last night, as he always is, was dignified in the way he handled the media after the game. He congratulated the Red Sox and said it just wasnt our year. Kudos to him (and you) but the Yankee organization and most of their fans need to grow up a little.

C'mon people...why has this suddenly become a personal attack towards Paul? I'm sure a lot of you are like I am, you look forward to the new posts that he puts up..and SOMETHING must be drawing you back to the site every day. There's a reason it's a blog... its full of personal opinions. And seriously, if you don't agree, you don't agree. There is no need to wig out!

So respect the players, the game, and for god sakes respect Paul..he's the reason we are able to post here.

Oh and wow to the lack of creativity...having to post your post under the name of a baseball player. Let's have enough big hairy ones to own up to what you feel like saying.

(Oh, and all of this... coming from a Sox fan. Congrats to them, and congrats to the Yankees for a good playoff series!)

Thanks, Suz, that's very kind. I'm never a fan of the annonymous comments, either. I've got a delete button if I need it. I almost never do.

As for the prior comment, I didn't watch the ninth last night. I'm on record against the people who threw stuff in Game 6. That's not the Yankee Stadium I'm proud of.

The "New York, New York" stuff I wouldn't find insulting. I believe we play the Sinatra version after every home win and the Liza version after a loss. I think that's how it goes. Anyway, it loops endlessly as people file out. I don't know if the Yanks did anything out of the ordinary there.

I thought the series was very respectful on the field. A lot of Sox were harsh on A-Rod for the slap, but even qualified that by saying they don't expect that kind of stuff from the Yankees. I'm just glad the series didn't add to FOX's files of knockdown pitches and fights and all that other shit.

I wonder where King Georges axe will swing first, and how fast. He must have blown a gasket.

2001. I understand that would have made history. People would never forget about it. But all of us here in Arizona sure smile every time you weep about that series. Keep it up. :)

We'll see, Danny. We learned last offseason to expect the unexpected — our crappy third baseman gets hurt and we end up with A-Rod.

I guess Torre didn't have the magic this postseason, but who did he really have to count on? I think George has to be most pissed at the players, which may extend to Brian Cashman's signing of them. I can't imagine Steinbrenner wants to see Kevin Brown in pinstripes again. Don't know what he can really do about it, though.

You know what I think the Yanks will concentrate on? Starts with a P and ends with ITCHING. And maybe Carlos Beltran, too. Come April we'll be ready to go.

C'mon people...why has this suddenly become a personal attack towards Paul?

It's not an attack - he made a comment that was extremely ironic given his past writings, and people responded. We obviously enjoy the site if we keep coming back. Basically, he's a columnist, and columnists get their inbox filled up every day by people who disagree but who will keep reading because they enjoy it.

Perfectly put, Paul. You said it all.

I took a poll on ESPN's SportsNation about who was the Yankees' biggest goat. Damn, it was hard to pick one!

I went with Tom Gordon, because he didn't have one bright moment. Neither did Brown, for that matter. Can't even imagine anyone having two worse starts than that. Yet, here were the results:

35.9% Alex Rodriguez
26.9% Kevin Brown
21.7% Mariano Rivera
6.9% Derek Jeter
5.9% Tom Gordon
2.6% Tony Clark

Well if this post isn't the biggest pile of rationalizing BS I've ever seen. The Yankees just committed the single greatest collapse in major sports history.

You want to know why you are more disappointed than upset? Simple: Complacency - Yankees fans and the players thought the ALCS was going to be delivered to them on a velvet pillow instead of working for it. Just a reminder: in a best of seven series, you have to win FOUR GAMES. The players thought after Game 3 that they could phone it in and they wouldn't have to really go back to work until the World Series.

The Yankees the "Duke" of MLB? Try more like the 2004 Oakland Raiders...a bunch of "me-first", high-priced unmotivated choke artists playing on reputation more than talent.

Be back next year? Have you folks taken stock of that desolate landscape otherwise known as the NYY farm system? Oh yeah, BTW: everyone of your 2004 Yankees gets to come back next year because all of them are under contract (except Lieber - if he's smart he'll start looking for the lifeboat now...) and I doubt the Yankees are going to find a team anywhere that will even slow down long enough to take a sidelong glance at their trade offerings during the offseason.

So that leaves you with a barren farm system, a pitching staff that only strikes fear into the heart of Joe Torre, and a team that while individually talented, lacks a leader, desire, heart and soul...Baseball is called a TEAM sport for a reason.

The only thing that might save things is if the boys in pinstripes take this lesson to heart and say "NEVER AGAIN". Good luck.

I've known Paul for a long time, and I'm not at all surprised by his "classy", thoughtful post after a devastating loss to the Yanks' ONLY rival in the AL (possibly baseball, with apologies to the Dodgers).

While Paul never misses a chance to dump a little on my hapless Mets or RSN - it's all done in good humor. Rarely vindictive, and NEVER meant with malice.

Unfortunately, Paul and many of his readers are a rare breed in this Super-Fan rivalry. Of course, it's well documented that fans of BOTH teams are guilty of thuggish behavior. Just this year, Katch and I watched an acquaintance get cursed at and pelted with debris for daring to wear a Red Sox shirt in Yankee Stadium.

But even the non-violent, Yankee fans exhibit a pile-it-on arrogance that has endeared me to my Mets more than anything Tim Teufel or Benny Agbayani ever did on the field.

This mind-blowing series, however, confirmed two things for me: 1) A healthy respect for the character and ability of this Red Sox team. And 2) My love for, and faith in the New York Yankees. Their poise, and humility in defeat on a national stage, over the last couple of years is a lesson fans of both teams should take to heart.

Come on... don't feel too bad for Paul. All of us with blogs know that when we write something, we open ourselves up to anonymous people who will disagree and sometimes insult us.

Paul knows this, too, and could get rid of any comments he feels are inappropriate.

However, he has enough guts, and a thick enough skin to post his thoughts on the game knowing at least some of the response would be harsh. That's something you've got to respect.

Check out this new Nike commercial:
http://www.nike.com/usa/justdoit/v2/index.jhtml

I grew up in NY, went to Syracuse with Paul, and am a faithful reader of his blog. I am also a Red Sox fan after having lived here in Boston for 7 years now (and being married to a life long Red Sox slave). No I'm not a traitor, I was never a Yankees fan growing up in NY - was always more enthralled with the Sox. I too felt like I might hurl last night before the last out. I was completely terrified that they were going to blow it again. Thankfully for us, we're finally getting a drink after living in the desert for far too long.

It's a wonderful day for Boston...my husband's grandfather is 97 years old and last night, he smiled and chuckled for the first time ever in front of me. Priceless.

Like some others that have posted, I do feel that Paul is glossing over this loss just a bit...but that's his perogative and I respect his opinion. We Bostonians know only too well what it's like to lose. It's not fun. And like Paul said, though I don't like it, the Yanks will be back...and back...and back again.

Hope you all had fun! It WAS a great series no matter how you slice it.

I think the haters are just pissed that you won't take the bait, and go down crying. How could they possibly be complaining after such a classy and even-keeled entry as that.

That being said--Go Sox

Paul,

Nice job of whistling past the graveyard. You know a writer's first job is to be honest with his readers and I just don't think you are doing that with your game 7 post.

After reading about how you were running around and jumping on everyone last year after Boone's HR I find it extremely disingenuous on your part to all of a sudden claim perspective.

Quote from your post on last year's ALCS Game 7 with the classy title "Hell. It's Still Hotter Than Shit"
"Hell freezing over for the Cubs and Red Sox? How 'bout monumental collapses for both?"

If that was a monumental collapse last year what the hell was this?

(Paul's Response: Last year was incredible. There are probably two other points I should have made in my post that hint at why a win in 2003 and a loss in 2004 are not a 180 on the emotional scale. I am terrific at enjoying good sports moments more than bemoaning bad ones. If that's a problem for you, what can I say? Bother someone who's crying today, not me. Second, last year was unique, unlike 1999, an even brawl-for-all. And then we did it again this year, and I could tell it won't be the last. How many Armageddons do you want? )

After reading your blog, it is obvious you are a passionate Yankees fan. You cannot be calm after this series. We Red Sox fans were not calm after the loss last year. You would have laughed at any Red Sox fan saying the same to you in 2003.

This series hurts on many levels for Yankee fans. The A-Rod deal, the "who's your daddy?" chants, the foolish curse, etc.

For years to come, every time there is an underdog in sports the graphic will appear on screen describing the big choke. Aaron Boone will long since be forgotten.

The only worthwhile quote from the Fox broadcast: "'It's only a game' was not said by a winner"

Real men who are honest with their feelings DO cry. Please don't insult us with the "I'm calm" BS.

(Paul's Response: What does how Joe Q. Red Sox fan felt in 2003 have anything to do with how I feel a year later? If you're insulted by the fact I was pretty calm and didn't cry, I'll fill you in on some times I have cried. (Hint: nothing to do with baseball.)

In his defense, I know a number of Yankee fans who are surprisingly calm right now. The fact that they had 4 days to think about a potential comeback may have something to do with it, and the other losses in the serires may have hurt more.

Having said that, I still feel the "perhaps you will find joy in other peoples misery" line to be incredibly disingenuous.

but i'll probably be back tomorrow....

(Paul's Response: And perhaps you will find that joy in misery. I'm not saying you shouldn't, to a degree, enjoy seeing a rival fan down. I gave you a link to go find some utterly destroyed Yanks fans. Just won't find one here.)

i agree with the 'erin' poster, who said that for a yankee fan, more depressing than the loss is the realization that we're left with these losers. with the farm system the way it is, i don't see any relief in sight. we look pretty silly with so much money locked up in garbage.

living in boston, however, i also bemoan the loss of the rivalry. if the sox lose the world series, i think it will live on. they will have fallen short yet again, giving us something to remind them of.

however, if they win, it will truly be one for the ages. we'll still have 26 to their 5. but this last one will serve as bragging rights for at least the rest of my lifetime. nothing the yankees could do would possibly one-up a comeback like this, especially given the context of the two teams' history. a regular defeat would have been one thing. this was ugly though.

i don't think paul or the rest of us calm folk are being disingenuous though. it would be one thing if we were whistling by the graveyard after years of getting trounced.

that being said, i'm about ready to win again. and i don't see them doing it with these douchebags. f-arod. purple lips sank our ship.

(Paul's Response: That purple lips line was the funniest thing I read all day. Ain't gonna be a lot of demand for A-Rod jerseys this Christmas. And this is a guy who posted better stats than Soriano and played a huge role against Minny.)

You sure do rile people up! ;-)

Anything short of a picture of me hiding under my covers wasn't gonna satsify people on this site today. I was honest about how I felt. Sad, not shaken. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going out to have a good time.

Everyone is going to call this a choke job, and definitely game 7 they have a point. But a choke job involves losing to an inferior opponent. The Colts losing to the Jets was a choke. Tyson losing to Douglas was a choke. Yeah, the Yankees didn't finish the job at all, but last i checked each team won 2 very close games, 1 blowout, and the sox got game 6, mostly because Curt Schilling was The Man. And no one has mentkioned this, partly because its everything 'wrong' with the Yankees, but a MAJOR assist for this World Series goes to Arizona, who wouldn't trade Johnson. How much more fun would this series have been if it were Schilling vs. Johnson? Oh well, next year will be fun.

PS Best of luck to the Red Sox. I'd say they deserve it, but so did the Yankees last year, and the NL is getting slept on yet again, much like the Whig party in this election.

I know what you mean about the Yankee loss, Paul. I was disappointed, not devastated. And I am not as articulate as you are, but I am telling you when I was at Game 6, I just did not feel the excitement from the crowd. I have been among more jazzed up fans at AAA ballgames during regular season play. Yes, we were standing for two thirds of the game, but I wasn't feeling the LOVE for the Yankees I have felt from the stands before.
Game 7 wasn't anticlimatic for me, because I think I came down watching the two losses in 5 and 6. And I would think there are others out there who feel the same way.
Although I am not a Red Sox fan, it does make me smile to see the fans so ecstatic after a terribly important win like that. It makes me happy to see others happy.
And to all the "fans" dissing your reaction, I just want to say a secure person is a humble person.

I understand why most Red Sox fans can't appreciate what the average Yankee fan feels today. I mean it was a big friggin game/series and they blew it...and if anybody know about blowing big games it's the Red Sox.

When the Sox lose, at some point they must begin to think about how many times for the next year they will have to hear "1918" or "The Curse" or "Bambino". Not exactly how you'd like to spend the next 365 days.

As a Yankee fan when faced with the reality that we were going to lose I'm able to think back (some might call this rationalizing or looking for a silver lining) on 4 World Series victories and 6 appearances in the last decade. Sure I have caught (and I expect to catch much more) shit for the epic collapse, but knowing that they Yanks are the most dominant team in baseball for the past decade (or ever) is a comforting feeling.

It's like the difference between when a homeless guy has a bad day and Bill Gates has a bad day.

I'll just add my two cents, as now that the Expos are moving, my hometown (Pittsburgh) might be the city in the worst baseball situation of MLB teams.

The truth is, I really found myself not caring about this series. I posted on my site that I was rooting for the Yankees to win (and to win the Series for the next 10 years) so that baseball's management might say "Hey, we need to fix this oligarchy with some revenue-sharing." At first I was disappointed that I'd have to wait another year for that, but then I realized the Sox have baseball's second-highest payroll, so David didn't exactly beat Goliath here.

You missed a fun time at your old office today with our Sox-fan boss, who didn't gloat but was in a genuinely good mood (I was hoping he'd hand out raises just for the hell of it). But I can't help but feel that the rest of the country outside of Houston and St. Louis just has a feeling of, "Who cares?" It's a shame baseball can't look to the NFL for some inspiration, where the only variable in a team's enduring success is poor decisions instead of hard economic facts.

Irony of All-Star Game comments: "With home-field advantage on the line for the AL World Series team (which will be the Yankees), I cheered when Manny Ramirez hit his first-inning home run. This was the first, and hopefully the last, time I will ever have to do this. If I'd known the AL wouldn't need those two runs, I'd have instead wished that Clemens brained him."

Yeah, this is a Yankees propagandist site. And all you have to do is read my foray into sports gambling to know I can be (quite often!) wrong. I was wrong again. As for braining a guy, if you (whoever you are) haven't picked up on the sarcasm by now, stick around for while. Or don't. Doesn't matter to me none.

Maybe suggesting that Clemens should have [gone ahead and] brained a batter seems funny, but I doubt that the family of the young woman who died of a head injury sustained during the Red Sox "celebration" in Boston finds it amusing.

Why do some fans feel the need to celebrate so wildly that police have to be present- with pepper sprays and rubber projectiles- to maintain order? What a terrible tragedy- but it certainly isn't the first time a fan has died during the celebration of a victory by a professional sports team.

And that's a shame.

One major consideration is absent in the discussion thus far: the Red Sox still have to win the world series. If they fail to do so, their remarkable comback will lose some of its endurance. Dave quoted here in his post, "For years to come, every time there is an underdog in sports the graphic will appear on screen describing the big choke. Aaron Boone will long since be forgotten."

But if the Cardinals defeat the Red Sox, that graphic will at the very least have to mention the eventual defeat and the Red Sox's continual misery.