Rant of a Red Sox Fan on the Brink Scott Broadbent, Fantasy Football Guest Writer Oct 20, 2004 | More

Okay, it's official.  I'm at the breaking point.  I'm about a million straws past the final straw.  I just can't take it anymore!  I'm already sweating and my lunch (which I should have just skipped) is churning in my stomach - I can picture the Alien busting through at any moment!

How have we come to this point?  I couldn't even watch game 4.  Not because I gave up hope but because I just couldn't bear to watch the Sox get swept by the Yankees if they lost.  I just couldn't do it.

Now, three improbable wins later, it's Yankees-Sox, game 7, AGAIN!! 

Now, instead of a quick ALCS exit, the Sox are one game away from the greatest comeback in sports history!!  Is that an exaggeration?  I don't think so.  Talk to me after the game.  If I'm still breathing, I'll know the answer.

Now, it's not the Red Sox who are gagging but the Yankees who could vault to the top of the list of all-time choke jobs.  That's right, on this very night the Yankees could surpass every painful act the Sox have ever perpetrated on its fandom.  Will it be worse than Buckner?  Close call.  That one really, really hurt but teams have had heartbreaking losses in the World Series before.  No baseball team has EVER blown a 3-0 lead in a 7 game series before (in fact, no team has ever let it get to a game 6)...  And let's not forget the kicker.  The Yankess are blowing it to the Red Sox!  THE RED SOX!!  Yes, this would be the #1 worst choke of all time.

My palms are wet and my stomach still feels like I'm in the midst of a never ending drop from the Tower of Terror... and I know it will only get worse until this game - this incredible, improbable game 7 matchup - is finally over...  Either team could win for 100 different reasons...  Either team could lose for 100 other reasons...  This game is a coin flip.  The hand of fate could tip the scale in either direction at a whim.  There can be no prediction.  That, coupled with lack of sleep and constant anxiety, is why I'm feeling the way I am now.

No other two teams in all of sports could generate this depth of feeling and emotion... 

Now, it's a little over 5 hours until two teams meet in the final battle in a war of attrition where history has already been made.  Regardless of who ultimately wins, this series will be remembered. 

Game 7, BOS@NY - This is what it's all about.  Everything has converged to make this a quintessential moment in sports.  No other teams in all of sports could have brought us to this point.  No other series of games could have maneuvered us to this particular level of intensity.  This should be the World Series because nothing after tonight will compare to what these two teams have been through this past week. 

I don't know who will win and I'm not exactly sure how I'll feel when it's over but I'm praying for the role-reversal to continue.  I wish I could just pass out and have someone wake me when it was over but I know there's no sleep in my future.  I keep telling myself these are not the same Red Sox I've died with in the past.  I keep telling myself this group of "idiots" is different.  This "Why Not Us?" bunch is not like any Red Sox team of the past... 

And, heaven help me, I believe...