It was somewhere around 10:30 on October 17th that I called my little brother, prepared to commiserate in the final few minutes of the 2004 Red Sox season. We stayed on the phone for several hours, and it was when Johnny Damon singled to first in the bottom of the 9th that I actually got back in the believer's mode.

"I think they're actually going to win it," I said. "I think this really is the year."

Then I vigorously knocked on my wooden armrest.

A week and a half and many hours on the phone to Plymouth later, they won. For real.

I've been turning the phrase "The Boston Red Sox, World Series Champions" over and over in my head. It still doesn't sound quite right. But maybe it will soon enough.

For Halloween this year, I was planning on being Johnny Damon. The original plan was to do my best to find a Damon jersey in New York (this proved more difficult than first anticipated) and pair it with a fake beard and cap. Yesterday, I opted against the $79.99 Damon World Series jersey I found in the Champs Sports in Times Square for the $19.95 World Series Champions t-shirt I bought at the Modell's down the block. And a bottle of champagne, just for kicks.

I know there are some anti-Red Sox fans who read my site, and some who are just tired of hearing about them. I apologize to you. But, two weeks ago, I posted a wishlist: that I would get a job, that the Red Sox would win the World Series, and that Kerry would be elected president. If I'd had to wager a guess, I would have supposed that things would fall job, Kerry, Red Sox in terms of likelihood, with the Red Sox falling considerably farther behind.

As of right now, the least likely has happened, which gives me hope for the others. I don't believe in exorcising curses. The only curse is believing you can never win. And they won. So anything can happen. Maybe I can even get hired.

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