Mission: 8W. Sox / Indians sounds so much better than Sox / MFY.

The '07 ALCS starts tonight and I am looking forward to it. It's looking pretty wet outside right now so I hope the game will not be rained out. This first post-2004 ALCS trip for the Red Sox has a much different feel to it for me. Of course I want to see the Sox win the ALCS and get into the World Series, but I'm not feeling that life or death, hyper-ventilating, if they don't win this thing it's the end of the world type feeling that I had when the Sox were going into the '03 and '04 ALCS.

Finally winning the World Series in '04 has taken a lot of the edge off and this is not a bad thing. I feel like I can actually enjoy the game itself a little more now. We don't have to be hyper-focused on how long it's been since the Sox have won the Series anymore and we don't have to worry about waiting in fear for the 'how are they going to blow it this time?' moment.

It is nice to be able to enjoy the ALCS for what it is, your favorite team and a shot at getting into the World Series. Of course there will be stressful moments over the course of the ALCS, of that there is no doubt, but it will be the stress of wanting your team to win and advance, not the stress of wanting your team to win and advance because they haven't won a championship in almost 90 years and HOLY FUCK are they going to do it this time? ARE THEY EVER GOING TO DO IT??

(Cubs fans, I feel for ya.)

I'm not sure if I'm in the minority on this, but I have to say, I am extremely glad that the MFY were eliminated in the ALDS and we are not facing them in the ALCS this year, not because I was afraid of playing the MFY again, but because I can totally live without the drama of 'THE RED SOX / YANKEES RIVALRY' for once. I mean really, thank God we are being spared 'THE RIVALRY' this time around! We won't have the build up, the hype and everything else that would have surrounded another Sox / MFY ALCS circus. I'm sure the people at FOX are very disappointed, but I'm not missing 'THE RIVALRY' a single bit. In '99, '03 and '04 we had to face the Yankees. Enough is enough, don't you think? Red Sox / Indians. It feels like a breath of fresh air.

For some reason I'm not as nervous about this upcoming series as I was about the last one. I'm not feeling the superstitions that badly right now. They were dialed up pretty high for the ALDS but so far it's not that bad for the ALCS. The superstitions are there, they're just not owning me.. yet. That might change as we get closer to the game though. Hopefully the skies will clear and there will be baseball at Fenway tonight.

GO SOX