Forgive Me Sox Fans, For I Have Sinned!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Pardon me.

Pardon me for not being excited about the fact that Red Sox pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers tomorrow and that the 2011 baseball season is just around the corner.

I want to be excited. I really do! But I’m not and I think I know why.

It wasn’t too long ago that I couldn’t wait for spring training to begin. I was one of those diehard Sox fans who would actually watch spring training games on TV. What’s the rotation going to look like? How about the line-up? Is this the year? Those were all questions rolling around in my brain once upon a time.

Now? It’s different. I know that I should be excited after the great offseason Theo Epstein and the Red Sox had. Acquiring Adrian Gonzalez from San Diego and signing free agent outfielder Carl Crawford. What’s not to like?

Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy with the moves that were made and I will be watching and rooting for the Red Sox all summer long. But I no longer anxiously await the start of the season.

Some have told me that it’s because the Sox have quenched my thirst for a World Championship. After years of wondering if they’d ever win one, Boston won twice in 2004 and again in 2007.

Maybe it’s like dating. Many believe that the chase is the most exciting part. Once you’ve landed the apple of your eye, the excitement lessens considerably.

Others like to use the Lucy-Charlie Brown analogy. For years the Red Sox were like Lucy holding that football for us to kick. But, just when we thought that they were going to end decades of agony and win a title, they pulled the football away from Charlie Brown. Having won two titles, that is no longer the case.

For me, it’s more than that. My interests have changed.

They say that baseball is America’s favorite past time, and that here in New England that is most definitely the case. I disagree.

Football and the NFL have replaced baseball as America’s favorite sport and that is especially the case for yours truly.

I am more interested in the release of the NFL schedule and the NFL draft each April than I am in the start of the baseball season. Is that wrong? Should I not feel that way?

I am also a college basketball junkie. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I attended a big-time college basketball school – Syracuse – which was a perennial top 25 team while I was there and remains so to this day.

I love March Madness and the David vs. Goliath match-ups it provides in the early rounds. To me it’s the single greatest sporting event there is.

I also love the NBA and NHL playoffs. Unfortunately the Celtics and Bruins were down for many years but both have risen back toward the top of their respective leagues.

Last spring was a blast following both teams in their respective playoffs. While the Bruins broke our hearts by blowing a 3-games to none lead to Philadelphia and the Celtics lost in the 7th game of the NBA Finals, they both provided us one hell of an entertaining ride.

I want more of that this spring. And if baseball and the Red Sox have to wait for my undivided attention, so be it.

So pardon me if I can’t get all amped up for the start of spring training and the upcoming baseball season. There are many other things I would rather pay attention to until we reach the dog days of summer when it’s baseball only.