The Best Part About October

Except for maybe March Madness, the baseball playoffs are probably the best championship tournament in all the major sports. One reason is that it's the only true "series" I can think of, where each of the individual games significantly affects the others.

Like when 2 teams play each other in the NBA finals, for example, the circumstances from one game to the next don't really change. The only thing is whether you're playing home or away, but in either case, you approach it with the same "one game at a time" philosophy.

In the MLB playoffs, you have to manage your pitchers carefully because their arms need an indefinite amount of rest. It's not just "let's play the same team 7 times and see who can win the most times". One day you gotta face Roger Clemens, the next day it might be Brandon Backe. So you end up having to figure out, is it worth starting your ace on 3 days rest, or are you better off just throwing your scrubbier but more rested starter out there for Game 4?

Also, how effective will your closer be, if you pitch him for more than one inning at a time? What if you use him 2 or 3 nights in a row, will he be able to throw effectively on the 4th night?

Other than that, playoff baseball is just awesome because it's like regular season baseball with the intensity multiplied by 100 times. It's already a sport where every little thing is crucial, so when it's a do-or-die series, each individual detail has that much more riding on it.

If only the White Sox and Cubs were involved, I would be in heaven right now.

Unfortunately, I don't really like any of the teams left. I think mostly what I'm rooting for is the Yankees to close out Boston, and then whoever wins from the NL to sweep the Yankees in the World Series. Whether it's the Cardinals or the Astros, I don't really care, as long as the Yankees don't win another title I'll be happy.

But yes, I am rooting for the Yankees to beat the Red Sox. There's probably some bandwagon Red Sox fans out there who are outraged that I want to see the "Evil Empire" beat them, but I don't care.

Why I Dislike Red Sox Fans

Seems like it's the fashionable thing these days to cheer for the Red Sox. Oh, those poor fans have suffered since 1918, and had their hearts broken so many times that they deserve to win. Besides, their archenemy is the Yankees, who are ruining baseball with their rampant spending, so GO BOSTON!!

Give me a break. Okay, so 85 years is a long time to not win a World Series, but Red Sox fans really act like they are the center of the baseball universe, and nobody else has suffered like they have. Cry me a river. In fact, there are two baseball teams in Chicago alone that have gone longer without a World Series win. So if anyone should be whining as much as these Boston fans, it would be us.

The thing is, no matter how much you love your team, and how long you have gone without a championship, there's no such thing as "deserving" to win. In any sport or competition, you have to earn your victories, that's what makes winning so special in the first place. When Bill Buckner makes a crucial error, hey guess what, you don't spend all your time and effort licking your wounds, you go out and fight to win Game 7. If you don't take care of business on the field, you don't "deserve" to win, simple as that.

On a historical note, let's not overlook the fact that Boston was the last team in the major leagues to accept black players on their team. While the rest of the country was moving forward, the Red Sox passed on future Hall-of-Fame players like Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays. So correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this mean that a lot of this team's misery was self-inflicted, as a result of their own prejudiced and intolerant attitudes. With this in mind, should we still feel so sympathetic for their continued losing during those years?

Now, I won't go as far as other people to call the city of Boston racist, but this isn't exactly the most diverse crowd out there. Next time you watch a Boston home game and they show the crowd, see if you can spot one single person of color at Fenway, other than the players on the field or the hot dog vendors. Seriously, I tried to find one during the past 2 games they showed on Fox, and I couldn't identify any minorities there, whether Black, Hispanic, or Asian. It's not necessarily a reason in itself to dislike the Red Sox, but I do get some feeling that the whole baseball in Boston thing is a part of the New England blue-blood elitist identity. And I don't know about you, but I am not particularly inclined to align myself with a bunch of Ben Afflecks or John Kerrys by joining in the Red Sox love-fest. At least in New York, you can ride the subway with some queer with AIDS, deal with bad Asian women drivers, or walk through Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English (just ask John Rocker).

As for the Yankees, no I don't like them either, but it's no reason to root for the Red Sox. It's true that the Yankees spend more than any other team in baseball, but don't forget that the second highest payroll belongs to none other than the Boston Red Sox. Think about it for a second - if there were no Yankees, the Red Sox would be the Yankees.

If you really hate the Yankees, I say just root for your own team to beat them. Or at least pick an organization that is not like them, such as the Oakland A's or Minnesota Twins. Teams that win not by spending as much money as possible, but by making smart signings and developing their talent in a good farm system. The Boston Red Sox as an organization have much more in common with the New York Yankees than they would have you think, and rooting for them because you hate the Yankees is a stupid concept if you ask me.

Lastly, considering how annoying they are when they lose, imagine how annoying these Red Sox fans might become if they suddenly became winners. I think there's a chance we would uncover something that we never thought was possible: a group of people more irritating and cocky than Yankees fans. I don't doubt that they love their team a lot, but so do the rest of us baseball fans (including those New Yorkers). Getting the most worked up when your team loses, or whining the loudest about your suffering doesn't automatically make you the best fans out there. Most annoying? Yes. Most loyal? Not so fast.

I'm not sure where it's from, but I like the saying "There's no crying in baseball". I think it's from "A League of Their Own" but I could be wrong. Anyways, it's clear that the players, management, and fans associated with the Boston Red Sox have all broken this rule by their incessant complaining about the Curse and about the Yankees. Because of this, and the other things I discussed above, I personally wouldn't lose an ounce of sleep if they went another 85 years without a World Series win.