Dean Christakos« Takes a Licking and Stops Ticking | Main | How to Deal with Those People »
October 28, 2004
I Just Don't Believe It
I was a true-believer in the Curse of the Bambino, despite its dubious origins. The Red Sox had to lose, because, as John Scalzi wrote a year ago, America needed its losers. Not just losers like the Seattle Mariners, who no one worries to much about, but big apocalyptic losers. America needs a team that would break their fans' hearts year after year, not because they were a bad team, but because they were a good team that would inevitably choke as the fans watched their hopes and dreams dribble through Bill Bucker's legs. Granted, I'm biased-- I'm a Yankees fan -- but who wasn't moved by that Nike commercial depicting decades of heartbreak since 1919?
That said, last night, I headed to The Kirkland Cafe with friends to watch Game 4 of the world series in the wake of a lunar eclipse (how did I not see this coming?). Sure, I wanted the Red Sox to win-- after all, they deserve a turn, don't they? At the same time, I really felt that they just had to disappoint their fans. After all, that was their job.
But then I saw them win-- it wasn't even close. The Red Sox out-pitched and out-hit the Cardinals game after game. The Cardinals didn't even have the opportunity for a dropped ball or a slip on the field to work in their favor, since the team never even came close. The entire bar became a center of celebration, and huge crowds gathered in Harvard Square, where the police had cut off auto traffic to allow people to gather. An old man and his wife told me how they had been waiting for this for 50 years.
That said, Boston just isn't going to be the same after this one. The Red Sox have no such thing as a "fair-weather fan"-- because the weather has never been fair. The entire experience of being a Red Sox fans involves being a long-suffering, perennially-disappointed fan who takes pleasure in his inevitable heartbreak. What would they do with themselves if they actually won? Well, they have plans for a parade on Saturday. Then what? What is it going to be like to be a Red Sox fan knowing that they can actually win? After all, Red Sox fans don't really have that as part of their identity. Or maybe some other American League team will take over as America's Loser. Hey, at least the National League still has the Cubs.
Posted by Dean at October 28, 2004 2:17 PM