BoSox: It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!

(apologies to the late R.E.M.)
Before I went to Maine in the last week in August the Sox were on top of the world. While there I watched a few games on NESN, but nothing untoward was noticed. We ruched back to PA ahead of Irene, had to deal with that and then the start of my class, then Lee's remnants and the weeklong loss of internet. As a result I did not pay much attention,but when I did I noticed that things were starting to slip. Of course now the Sox have entered into a September death spiral that's become top news nationwide.

And it doesn't bother me.

As others have noticed,this team has no heart, no fire in the belly. But for me it, a classic Sox collapse may help clear out all the phony fans that climbed onboard after '04. Let me get one thing straight, if someone genuinely got interested in  baseball because of that year and became a Sox fan I have no problem with them.  But in Boston and New England way too many people, particularly college students and newcomers, decided the Sox were the latest in thing. They snatched up all the tickets, covered themselves with paraphernalia and loved to scream "Yankees suck"all the while having no idea why the rivalry even existed. I knew someone from my URI day who back in '95 used to bash baseball relentlessly. Suddenly in 2005 he was Mr. Sox Fan.

The test of a true fan is one who is there through thick and thin and who doesn;t excuse the players when they lie down on the job.  For me then, this collapse is a blessing in disguise.