Why I am now part of Red Sox nation

As a child of parents who pastored a church, I had some great babysitters.  One of those babysitters had a son who about two years older than me.  That son turned me toward sports in Pittsburgh, specifically the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I love the Steelers.  I always have and I always will.

But I also like all the other Pittsburgh teams:  The Pirates and the Penguins.  The NBA didn’t support a team from the Steel city, so I, like my father before me, was captivated by the great Larry Bird.

Years go by, and the Steelers, under the “Jaw” Coach Bill Cowher, just kept improving, while the Penguins and the Pirates, just kept stinking it up.  I cheered for them anyway, always with some hope for the future.

About 10 years ago I moved to New England.  The first week I was here, I was grocery shopping and found a box of Wheaties with Larry Bird on the front of the box.  I was in my own personal sports heaven.  But I continued to cheer for the other Pittsburgh teams.  Along the way, I found that New England’s enthusiasm for their pro sports teams was infectious.  Imagine 6 states sharing one team per sport.  And they all focused on the pro teams, because by in large, their college teams are really lousy compared to the rest of the country.  Along the way, I have also begun to cheer for and occasionally watch the New England Revolution, who are frequently competitive in the MLS.

Before I go any farther, let me just say that the day will never come when I am no longer a Steelers fan.  I don’t like the Patriots, and they are one of my favorite teams to hate.  I WILL ALWAYS BE A STEELERS FAN, and probably I’ll always be one in New England.  I’ll always be a Penguin fan too, but not for the same reasons.  Basically I don’t care about hockey enough to change my fanship.  Plus four words:  Mario Lemieux Sidney Crosby.

Along the way though, something has taken place that I can no longer ignore.  I no longer care about the Pirates, who constantly lose year after year because their owners seem to care enough to build a new park, but don’t care enough to put a decent team together since 1993 (see Jim Leyland, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, and Andy Van Slyke).  In that same time, I’ve watched several Red Sox games on TV and at Fenway, and seen miracles of enormous capacity (see 2004 playoff race).

So I’m going to do something that I haven’t done since I was in elementary school in Ohio – I’m going to switch my allegiance in baseball from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Boston Red Sox.  So Pirate Fans (if there are any left), you can hate me, and Red Sox nation, I hope you will embrace me.

Favorite:
NBA Team:  Celtics
NFL Team:  Steelers
NHL Team:  Penguins
MLB Team:  Red Sox
MLS Team:  Revolution
College Teams:  Universities of Michigan & Pitt

And I can’t wait for the 2008 playoff race!

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1. “The Russian’s been cut…”
2. The Art of Losing Well
3. Get hit – Keep going