Let me get this straight. The Red Sox just won the World Series ending an 86-year drought. The Patriots just lost their first game in over a year, ending the NFL's all-time win streak at 21 games. And Mo Vaughn filed for free agency. Okay. Cool.
Imagine you've played the Mega Millions all your life. Every Tuesday and Friday night at 11:10 p.m. you check the TV, holding your ticket in front of you and praying. Every night you lose, your friends make fun of you, and you go to bed. But the next day, you go out to White Hen Pantry and buy another ticket, convincing yourself, "Today is the day."
A couple times you've gotten two or three numbers right. Toss in your arrogant, rich neighbor down the street who has won 26 times in the last few years (decades), and that's about where I was.
Then one night you're watching and Dawn Hayes is reading your numbers as they flash up on the TV - all five numbers plus the Mega ball. You just stand there, glance back at your ticket, glance at the screen, glance back. What do you do? You just won $40,000,000. What do you do?
That's sort of where I am right now. I mean, I got the Mega ball too! Is this really happening? Is this a DirecTV commercial?
Part of what makes this so hard to take in is that the World Series was over before it started. The Cardinals never had a lead. The last three games were pretty much blowouts. These are the Red Sox. I've watched them blow games in just about every way imaginable. In the back of your mind, you wonder if they've taken a 3-0 Series lead just to mess with you. Not to mention that not a week before, we had completed the greatest comeback in baseball history.
In my head I keep replaying Edgar Renteria hitting a bouncer right back to Keith Foulke. I can see him taking a few "if I mess this up I'm the new Buckner" steps towards Mientkiewicz at first, as I scream "That's it! That's it!"
I popped the champagne with my parents and friends, called my brother, walked to Kenmore Square and stood watching the city lose its collective mind, and bought a hideous "It was meant to B!" shirt. You didn't really know what to say. There was nothing to say.
Now I realize that there has been the inevitable backlash against Boston sports because of our sudden supremacy. But look at those last few words: Our sudden supremacy. Boston sports are supreme! People are jealous of Boston teams. How am I supposed to know how to react to that?
About the Patriots: No, I don't care that the streak is over (we were playing without Dillon or Law, so it only kind of counts anyway). They won 21 games in a row, have won two of the last three Super Bowls and are still the favorites to win this year. But here's the thing: there's a salary cap in football! We spend the same money as everybody else, yet we've managed to dominate the league for the better part of four years. We aren't the Yankees (or even, I hate to say it, the Red Sox).
I'm not trying to be arrogant. I remember Bill Parcells' sudden departure and the Pete Carroll era all too well. I remember going 5-11 in 2000, Bill Belichick's first year with the team. We scraped by the Bengals at home that year. Yeah, that was a blast.
Since Tom Brady took over at quarterback, the Pats, counting the playoffs, are 45-13 (which, by the way, should count, because winning playoff games is more impressive than beating the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2). During that time, we've never lost an overtime or playoff game, and Brady has become an object of fantasy for just about every woman in the contiguous forty-eight states.
I know it's annoying when people talk about any team too much, but give credit where credit is due. The Patriots, without any actual advantage of salary or schedule, are making a case to join the '70s Steelers, '80s Niners, and '90s Cowboys. Impressive.
About the Red Sox high salary: Yes, the Red Sox had the highest payroll of any World Series Champion (including the Yankees) at about $120 million. But I was livid when I read a column on Sports Illustrated.com about how we should be renamed the Yankees Jr. "Eat me" is all I have to say to that.
First of all, the Yankees payroll this year was $185 million. So, even though our salary is two-thirds of theirs, we're still the Yankees? What about the Anaheim Angels or the New York Mets, whose payrolls were both over $100 million this year?
Second, the Red Sox hit their ceiling. We had to trade our star shortstop, partly because we couldn't pay him. We can't bring back our entire team from this year, because we can't pay them all. Does anyone honestly think the Red Sox could sign A-Rod and play him at third?
The Yankees, on the other hand, are still throwing money around like Tony Montana. This year they had a former All-Star at every position except second base. For God's sake, they signed Contreras and Loaiza just to keep them from the Red Sox! That's a whole different level!
They can pick up the contracts of Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield and Kevin Brown in the same offseason without really worrying about it. That, right there, is in the neighborhood of $40 to $45 million. Basically, the Yankees signed the Cincinnati Reds. All of them.
They're going to trade for Randy Johnson and sign Carlos Beltr??n to a billion dollar contract. Next year, the rivalry will be even more intense as Fenway shakes with chants of "Year-Two-Thousand." I'm so excited I might wet myself.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that this is an unprecedented period in Boston sports. Let me enjoy it while I can.
