So This Is What It's Like...

by Ian Tasso

Editorial. Photos by AP News

“They’ll be fine. It’s still early.”

“I’m not worried about it.”

“We’ll come through in the end, we always do.”

Well, we used to.

Watching Jonathan Papelbon in the top of the ninth was like watching the reversal of the past 10-years of Boston sports. We saw it happen with the Patriots when the heavily underdogged Giants upset the undefeateds. We saw it with the Celtics when the Magic, rather than the Boston, ran away with a dominant game seven. And now we finally saw it with the Red Sox, when a team that has been so clutch over the past five years crumbled one out away from forcing a game four.

But hey, at least they didn’t claw back to even the series, and then let us down in overtime…right, Claude Julien?

I’m not ready to completely turn the page here, but for what seems like the past decade, Boston sports have repeatedly found ways to come up big in the most crucial of moments. Whether it was a Willie McGinest sack, a David Ortiz blooper, an Adam Vinateiri 47-yarder or even a Paul Pierce turn-around…it just always seemed like when the game was on the line, someone wearing a Boston jersey would nail the shot, get the hit, or make the save.

But the truth is, it just isn’t always like that. It can’t be.

After years of watching games with my father, who was raised on the sporting foundation of failure, disappointment, and Bill Buckner - I finally think I get it. When the Patriots were tied with St. Louis 17-17 in the fourth, when the Sox roared back and tied New York 3-3 in ’04, and when the Celtics clawed back from down 24 to knot things up in the final quarter against L.A., I heard the same line over and over…“they’ll choke in the end, they always do.”

Now I finally know what he meant.

It originally sounded pessimistic, but now I realize it’s more reality then anything. It’s been fun to expect (and see) comeback after comeback and win after win, but the bottom line is you can’t go on expecting it. You just can’t. Or you’ll continually end up being disappointed.

* [Dissapointed (adj) – see Boston Sports Fan from 1900-2000]

That supreme (over)confidence was at an all-time high in 2009 as the Red Sox trotted onto the field to take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (of Los Angeles). Mike Soscia and his ugly red-headed stepchild of a team was supposed to bow at Boston’s feet like they have years past. But as Sox fans know better than anyone else…curses are meant to be reversed.

When the Red Sox faltered in game one, it was upsetting, but it was still only game one. With Ortiz surging in the second half, V-Mart digging in nicely in the middle of that lineup, and Beckett going in game two, you couldn’t help but like Boston’s chances in the series.

Then when they lost game two, it was a bit more surprising. But still, heading back to Fenway where the Red Sox boast a 56-25 record, grabbing game three was a definite possibility. Then you’re looking at Lester and Beckett for the next two – you have to still like Boston’s chances, right.

Wrong. That’s what denial is called. You didn’t honestly think we could do it, did you?

Well, yeah. Because we’re from Boston. And that’s what we do. Or, did.

For Red Sox nation, it’s the beginning of a long summer with a lot of questions. For guys like Jason Bay, Jason Varitek, David Ortiz, and Jonathan Papelbon, it’s the beginning of what quite possibly may be the end of tenure in Boston. And for Tito and Theo, its going to be a long few months with a lot of tough decisions.

You have to look back on ’09 with sober eyes for a second. In retrospect, it wasn’t a bad season at all. We saw a Red Sox team without its perennial slugger win over 90 games and finish as one of the top eight teams in the game of baseball. There are 20 other teams out there that would kill to be in our position. But here we sit after five months of baseball and act like it was an awfully painful season.

It wasn’t.

But it was disappointing.

But that’s the beauty of baseball. It forces you through a heart-wrenching 162 regular season games so it can all be ripped away in 27 quick innings. And that’s exactly how 2009 ended for the Red Sox. WorstCaseScenario.com. Just yet another emotional roller-coaster of a season for Boston, ending with a sharp turn and a jerking stop.

But after this ride, I can promise you this: I’m as excited as hell for next year’s. What has it been, three years now since our last World Series win? That’s far too long in my opinion.

Just don’t ask my dad.