WE WIN!

I want this! I am a Wheaties box collector, but this one holds some special allure. ;-)

Well, with the Red Sox World Series victory last night still blearing my tired eyes, and due to the pervasiveness of the World-Wide Red Sox Nation, there's not much to say that hasn't been said, but here's my 2 cents.

1st penny: The 2007 team is better than the 2004 team, but of course the sweetness of their victory isn't as intense. It's just not comparable. The World Series itself was eerily familiar in the sweeping of an inferior National League team. (Who's the "Junior Circuit" now, eh?) But while we did have a stirring comeback in the ALCS (AKA "Where Champions are Made"), we didn't go through New York, and I never really had the sense that the Angels, Indians, or Rockies were real threats. I was fully confident in this team's ability (if not destiny) to win it all, even down 3 games to 1 to Cleveland. Whereas 2004 was about exorcising 86 years of heartache and demons, 2007 is more of a feeling of deep satisfaction and pride of accomplishment. We were the best team, and we proved it on the field. Good. Well done.

And it's hard not to think that we're officially getting spoiled here now, with 2 World Series championships in 4 years. (And the Patriots winning 3 out of 5 -- soon to be 4 out of 6!) Like the self-made millionaire father who rose up from homelessness and destitution, I worry about my children. Do they truly appreciate what they have today and how special this is? Or are we just happy that they have it better than we did when we were little? Where my youth is scarred by Yaz's pop-up and the Bill Buckner Tunnel, my daughter's formative years are all about Manny Being Manny and Big Papi. Wow. Nation, we have achieved cultural shift.

2nd penny: Papelbon should've been the MVP of the Series. Lowell had a great series, a great post-season, a great regular season, and he's a great guy, but almost anybody on the team could've been MVP. It truly was a team effort. My argument for Papelbon is simply thus: What's the value of knowing that when we to get to the ninth, or the middle of the 8th, that the game is over? That's HUGE. Papelbon's dominance as closer effectively shortens the games. He was clearly gassed at the end, either from the long season or the thin air, but he gutted it out. There was nobody behind him if he failed. It was all up to him, and he delivered the goods. In the World Series, he uncharacteristically entered games in the 8th. That alone is enough to throw some closers completely off their games. But not J-Pap! He earned saves in the last 3 games of the series. He mowed down their best hitters when the games were on the line. He walked nobody. His ERA in the postseason was a tidy 0.00. He even picked a guy off for the first time all season! I don't know what more he could've done to deserve the honor. But oh well, it's not like HE cares...

Dance Dance Papelbon!