After the awful AL playoff series of 1999, I thought I would never enjoy baseball again. I actually said that I would never watch it again, but I knew that wasn't true. I still watched it, but I also began to believe that even when teams are pretty evenly matched, the inherent fallibility of umpires -- and the tendency to rule in favor of the stars, despite the umpires' best intentions -- would combine with the self-perpetuating burdens of our narratives of the past to prevent a Sox win, and my enjoyment of the playoffs, for the near future.

That still might be true, except for the part about my enjoyment of the playoffs. I'm having a lot of fun watching this series.

GO SOX!!