Here We Go Red Sox

I have finally hit a spot where I feel homesick. There are certain things I'll always miss like all the people back home, but not having sports is starting to affect my sanity. All the ESPN overexposure got to me, and it seems now that I am in withdrawal. Serious withdrawal...like, I have the shakes, I'd pay big money for just one hit of Dale and Holley (sadly enough, sometimes I stay up til 3 just to listen for an hour online and feel like I'm crushing a Dunkin's medium iced coffee with cream and two sugars. Luckily, the internet has allowed me to follow it a good amount, and I am still an absolute force to be reckoned with in fantasy sports which should come as no surprise.

With the Sox starting playoffs, and the Patriots in full gear, and the Bs and Cs getting going, I finally feel like a man without a country. I stay up all night on Sunday to watch the Pats, I scour espn.com for Sox updates, and I ask a majority of my friends for intricate updates on all the teams because I'm most likely missing out on the underlying story lines. I know right, cry me a river, I'm in Australia. And that's true, to a point. However, these are things I have literally never, ever gone without. Missing a Sox playoff game? I quit a job once because they scheduled me during the second World Series run, granted it was the worst job ever, but still, not seeing a baseball game was the last straw; not the poor treatment, or overworking or even public humiliation, but Red Sox.

Now, I'm lucky, because a majority of these games will be played at night, meaning during my mornings, I can get the game online, and that will be vital for my mindset as I try and stay intense for my teams. In terms of predictions, I am seeing a Sox-Yanks ALCS...one that has been long overdue. The Yankees unfortunately look like the team to beat in the league right now, but until they get that monkey of the Sox off their back, I don't see them overcoming their dooshbaggery and beating us. The same goes with the Angels, as it was somehow set in stone that they can't beat the Red Sox in the millennium when it counts, and this year will be no different. It may be close, because that's a damn good club, I just don't think their pitching can matchup, and Papi has started hitting, so watch out.

Speaking of Papi, I think we're going to see the Ortiz of old at some point in these playoffs. He made his name coming through in the clutch, and I bet he knows he can erase this season of PED's and horrid stretches of hitting by dominating for a few games now that there's a huge sense of urgency. JD Drew made up for two seasons of disappointment with one grand slam, so im guessing that if Ortiz does some damage, bygones will be bygones and all will be right on Yawkey Way.

Predictions: Sox in 4, Yanks in 5. Alcs- Sox in 6. WS- Sox in 7 over Philly.

Pats 24 - Broncos 17

Jim Beam 2 - Pete and Davs 0