I had been confident of a Red Sox repeat, because the offseason was so successful this year, but with Dan Shaughnessy on the bandwagon, now I need to be concerned.

Frankly, I was hoping that Shaughnessy, whose entire career has been spent as the ultimate Nattering Nabob of Negativity when it came to the fortunes of the Olde Towne Team, would have the decency to either jump off the John Hancock Tower or ritually disembowel himself after the Red Sox won the Series. However, lacking any sense of pride, dignity or honor like any other scribbler for the Daily Fishwrap, he's back. And now he has the nerve to be cheerleading. It's more than I can stand.

You do realize you've got me and Grady Little to thank for all this. When he walked out to the mound & back again with Pedro still in the game, that was it at long last -- I swore a solemn oath I'd never root for Boston again. Which was obviously the key element holding them back all these years as they've done just fine ever since. So you're all welcome, and thanks Grady! You're a genius, though I didn't realize it at the time.

Come late September, this is going to look like Secretariat at the Belmont in 1973.

I wasn't around then, so help me out: Secretariat suffered cardiac arrest and was overtaken by the other horses running 32 lengths behind?

Even without Boston's tragic history calling the division race this early is moronic. Yes the Yankees don't appear to be anywhere near as good as people predicted and the Orioles appear to be coming back down to earth (as has been predicted the past 2 months) let's wait until Sept to see what's going on.

You ever hear Shaughnessy speak? Look up "arrogant" in the dictionary, there's a .WAV of Shaughnessy.

Just like Larry Bird could only have played for the Celtics, Dan Shaughnessy could only work for the Globe.

Nobody can do the Arrogant Whine like New England sports fans in general, and Red Sox fans in particular.

One day later Cleveland 7 Boston 0