Do You Have the Crystal Balls for the Post Season?

Now that the Red Sox have won their division title, Red Sox Nation is off to another post season. It makes me think of the historic 2004 season, of course -- but also of a conversation that happened two years before that between a fellow die-hard Sox fan, a psychic, and me.

The fellow die-hard fan was my friend and co-worker, Juan. Whenever we saw each other, no matter the time of year, we would greet each other with a check-in on whatever recent news there was about the Sox -- the latest trade, the latest rumor, the latest standings, the latest game. The conversation I am thinking of started in much the same way, but then a new co-worker joined us and Juan suddenly turned to her and said, "Ellen, someone told me you are a psychic."

Ellen calmly replied that she was.

And so Juan jumped on the chance. "Can you tell me how the Sox are gonna do?"

Ellen didn't miss a beat. She soberly instructed him, "You have to ask me the question you want answered."

"Okay," Juan said. "Will the Red Sox win the World Series this year?"

Ellen looked at Juan for a couple of minutes in silence and then said, "Do you really want to know?"

Juan blanched a little. "No," he said.

And that is what being part of Red Sox Nation in October is like. The Boys look great, but they held a 12 game lead at one point in the season, that by the end had dwindled to a nail-biting 2. And the post season will be no cake walk.

I begin knitting each September in order to have something to do during these trying times. Depending on how the Sox do, I will have several Christmas presents finished by Halloween.