Finally, Everything Becomes So Much Simpler

Time to break the radio silence.

I've been taking the ALCS in stride.  I know, as Manny does, that life will go on if they lose.  It's not life or death.  So I'm not worried about it.

But I'm now a slobbering, unshaven, and above all else angry, pissed-off motherfucker about this series.  You bastards awoke the sleeping giant... Crazy Playoff Jeff.

This was not the case yesterday.  Way back then, I had nothing against the Indians.  I bore no ill will towards Cleveland as they tore apart the Sox the last few games.  Despite the treasonous nature of the thought, I felt the league would be better off with them winning the Series, should it come to that.  The big picture showed no reason to prolong the city of Cleveland's agony any further.  And having rooted so long for the Sox, I felt a tremendous amount of sympathy for the fate of the Cleveland fan.  (I hate to see suffering take place beyond the confines of the Philadelphia metro area.)  I could see the silver lining on a loss.

In fact, I even told my mom recently that Sox fans didn't deserve a parade, because of their shabby treatment of Eric Gagne.  I believe he's injured, and will be cut open (again) before a single Thanksgiving turkey gets carved.  As such, the booing is both ignorant and undeserved.  Further, he's not showing a single characteristic of classic "gag" jobs (i.e. walks) so the "gag me" business just seems infantile.  Kinda like obsessing over the "poo" in Albert Pujols.  (OK, I'll cop to that one.)  So there's been plenty of Sox-hate going on in my mind lately.

And amazingly, I've calmed down with regard to the appallingly poor judgment shown by the redface wearers.  I don't like it, but it's at least understandable on one level.  It's still the team's logo.  That's the core of the problem just as much as the staggering and impossible-to-miss-by-any-intelligent-person similarity between redface and blackface.  The logo wasn't their idea.  At least there's one defense, albeit a poor one.

So.  What's the defense for this?

There went all my sympathy.  I now hope the Indians make it to the next ten World Series.  And I hope they lose every single one of them by giving up runs in the 9th inning of the 7th game.  On errors.

Yes, Jesse, I'm now with you.  Fuck the Indians.

But more directly, fuck their fans.  Not all of them... just the miserable ones.  The ones who really get angry after the Indians lose.  I hope they keep watching the Indians lose for the rest of their pathetic, worthless lives.

I'm not going to claim that this is isolated behavior.  Most fan bases have engaged in this sort of thing at some point.  And while that may lessen the global impact of this particular instance, the fact that it feels like a fair representation of rabid fandom is saddening, just on a basic human level.  It makes me like sports less and less.  Heck, I thought the Gagne abuse was enough of a reality check.  This just makes me want to turn the television off.  That, or write a book: You Are A Complete Fucking Idiot: Twelve Essays About You And Your Favorite Sports Team Eating A Big, Fat Bag by Jeff Doucette.

If anything, this makes me appalled and ashamed for Sox fans' behavior all the more.  Because you know some Sox fan pissed those neanderthal fuckheads off at some point, right?  Which in turn entitled them (says they) to return fire.  Listen, Sox fans are detested like no other fan base, and dseervedly so.  We (not me) have definitely earned that newfound reputation by invading every stadium in America and starting "Yankees Suck" cheers at totally Sox-neutral games (say, Diamondbacks-Padres).  It sucks.  It's obnoxious, and it's rude, and it sucks.  So guess what... go after us when we act up.  Yell, scream, curse, knock yourself out.  We probably deserve it on some level.  And it's to be expected... again, on some level.

Physically contacting women is not that level.  Neither are "Rice-K" jokes and slanty-eye gestures.  Nor the guy who responded to "go Youk" with "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"  There's a line, and all those things crossed it.

For God's sake, at least get your retribution on the right person.  The girls who got abused so viciously weren't the perpetrators of those people's anger, but they received all the retribution.  That ain't right.

Anyway, as I was saying, yesterday I thought it'd be OK if Beckett lost tonight.  I could have dealt.  Life would have continued.  Not anymore.

And if he does lose, it's made my choice of allegiance for the World Series way, way easier.

It's game time now.  Go Sox.  If not Sox... go Rocks.  If not Rocks... then nothing.

(This goes without saying, but reading what people felt compelled to leave in the comments made me feel even worse.  That was my mistake, but still, the idea that someone not only thought those things but felt compelled to share his thoughts in such a cowardly fashion... I mean, it's repulsive in every way.  And definitely don't read the comments here.  Awful even by Fanhouse standards.)