As the bandwagon gets lighter there’s more room for the rest of us!

This photo was sent to me in 2007. Someone lifted it from Flickr and a quick search has user "StarrGazr" as the photographer. I put it up because it brings a smile to my face and I need that right now.

In a fit of frustration, I wrote this 1000 word entry about how frustrating watching Jonathan Papelbon blow the Red Sox lead and lose the game in the ninth was for me and for everyone.  I pounded the keyboard until my fingers were sore and even considered writing the whole thing in red just to get the point across.  But something odd happened as I finished typing.  I had a fleeting thought.

What if Papelbon read my blog?

Now, I don’t believe for a minute he does, or would.  That really isn’t the point.  The point is, why make him feel worse, even if it’s just virtually?  He just did something lousy.  Really bad.  Gut-wrenchingly terrible.  Do I think he doesn’t know this?  Do I think that by ranting it’ll make any difference?  Do I believe that he left Yankee Stadium and went out and got happily drunk just because he’s in New York?

There is no sugar coating how upsetting the loss is.  While I went into the game expecting them to struggle and then was greeted with the five run first inning everything else that happened in the game gave me hope that they could pull it out.  So watching Papelbon hand the Yankees the win really hurt.  Writing about it made me feel better.  Got all the bad emotions out of my body and into the entry.  But that was energy I didn’t want hanging around this blog.  I’m not going to pretend that it’s all puppies and ice cream and everything is great…Sox lost, Yanks won (and the Rays won too).  Things absolutely suck right about now.  But to rant about one player having one bad inning and putting the blame for all of the woes of the team (lest we forget the pitcher who gave up the first six runs of the game) is ridiculous and flat-out unfair.  Yes, had Papelbon done his job the Sox hit the showers with a “W” tonight.  But if Daisuke Matsuzaka did his job, Papelbon probably wouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place.  You can find blame anywhere you choose to look for it.

No one said being a fan of ANY team would be easy.  Just because we choose to be fans doesn’t mean we should find it so easy to make others feel awful.  If there is anyone who thinks Paps doesn’t feel awful about this game, I have nothing to say to you.  Slamming him in the face with what he did tonight won’t accomplish anything but making you feel better about your small life.

It sucks.  It happens.  And it’s done.

I’ve unfollowed quite a few people on Twitter tonight.  I’ve decided there is no reason to keep people in my timeline who relish in Red Sox losses or who want to get hoards of Red Sox fans on board with all of the team bashing.  Life is too short to surround yourself with miserable people.  I’m not going to be miserable.  I’ll be nursing the wounds of this one for a while but I’ll be back again Tuesday night.  I’m a fan. It’s what I do.