Red Sox get Carl Crawford! Two can play this evil game!

It's starting to feel a lot like 2003, 2004 and 2005 in here. And your pal Sully couldn't be happier.

As I wrote back in 2007, the Red Sox are an evil empire as well. And MAN it is fun to root for the bad guys!

The Red Sox picked up the best two left handed bats available and didn't have to give up Jose Inglesias,, Ryan Kalish or Daniel Bard.

They've gone from having a rotation of Darnell McDonald, Daniel Nava, Bill Hall and the 14th caller on WEEI in left field to one of the best in the game.

And oh yeah, removed him from a rival.

EEEEEVIL!

Right after they picked up a home town San Diego hero who almost led a band of low paid misfits to the playoffs.

EEEEVIL!

And it is awesome.

I know the Yankees made two big signings, but let's face it: Bringing back Jeter and Rivera isn't exactly addition. It's AVOIDING subtraction.

Now if Cliff Lee can sign with the Rangers, this Red Sox fan will be dancing like Papelbon circa 2007.

Get a healthy Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia. Add J. D. Drew on a contract year. Mix in the new left handed bats of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. And keep in mind Big Papi will be batting 6th or 7th!

And oh yeah, have Lester and Buchholz head up the rotation and Papelbon in his walk year eyeing the big bucks.

Forgive me if I don't care if you hate the Red Sox.
I'm giddy for 2011 to start.

Cue the Darth Vader theme!

(And enjoy this odd video I shot at a John Williams concert in the Hollywood Bowl... lots of Star Wars geeks doing some conducting with light sabers.)

Hey Sportswriters... I GET IT!

Really... I get it.
The Red Sox are the Evil Empire now.
Red Sox fans are obnoxious.
We used to be lovable losers and now we are the big bullies.

I wrote about how the Red Sox are the Evil Empire and that we should embrace it.

But there is the insult that a bunch of these writers and even readers of this blog keep throwing at Red Sox fans and to me specifically which they think is a dagger to our hearts.

"You are becoming just like the Yankees."

As if this is supposed to make us feel like we've sold our soul...
As if we were supposed to feel like Luke Skywalker when he was in the Dagobah cave and saw his own face behind Darth Vader's mask.

We're now like the Yankees?

GOOD!
GREAT!
THIS IS WHAT WE'VE ALWAYS WANTED!!!!!

What do you think all those years of hating the Yankees were based upon?
Disgust?

NO! It was ENVY! Pure and simple. We wanted to be like the Yankees! We wanted to see our teams win the big game!
We wanted to see our team rip some other team's heart out!
We wanted to watch the Red Sox play in October with a swagger!
We wanted to see other teams gulp when the Red Sox show up!

And no... we weren't enjoying all of those years of losing.
No... we weren't thinking "Man, I hope we don't win the World Series because then we'd lose our identity as a team that always loses!"

I for one couldn't WAIT to shed that identity.

Everyone else seems to miss it. This season when the Yankees were creeping up every article said "Is this 1978 all over again" which was absurd because there was no Wild Card in 1978 and the Red Sox remained the best team in baseball for almost the entire summer.

And even last night in the midst of a 13-1 thrashing, FOX felt obligated to show the Buckner error.
As if FOX was begging the Red Sox to collapse again.

FOX... deal with it. The lovable loser days are over!
The Red Sox are the bad guys! They are the Gashouse Gorillas!

Sports Illustrated has on their website a gallery of the most obnoxious teams in recent sports history.
And they list the Bad Boys Pistons, the Testeverde Miami teams, the 1970s Oakland Raiders and Troy Aikman/Michael Irvin Cowboys along with the current Red Sox team.

I know that they were trying to insult the Red Sox and their fans in the process... but I couldn't help but smile and feel pride.
People remember hating those teams not just for their personality but also because they were good!

No team had a worse personality than the 1993 Mets, chucking firecrackers at kids and spraying bleech on reporters. But who HATES a team that goes 59-103 except Met fans.

People hate teams that are GOOD!
Who says "I Hate The Devil Rays!" or "Damn I hate the Columbus Blue Jackets!"?

I also had special pride that three of the teams they listed as obnoxious were the 1986 Mets, the Bash Brothers and Bronx Zoo Yankees... all teams that beat my Red Sox.

You never know when you'll have a team like this again... and I am sure Mets, Yankees, A's, Cowboys, Pistons, Hurricanes and Raider fans don't care you hated their team. They look at their team with pride.

Call us the bad guys!
WE'RE LOVING EVERY SECOND OF THIS!!!