Okay, I'm paying attention now

Anybody get the license plate number on the truck that hit the Boston Red Sox? Several reports placed a man with a grey #14 jersey at the scene.

Wow. Just when I decide to devote more attention to the baseball playoffs, the defending World Series champions are gone. No Yankees-Red Sox postseason drama this year. (Hey, it's not looking so good for the Yankees either.) And I really enjoyed those two teams going at each other the last two years.

Enthusiasm for baseball had been sucked out of me by the choke-and-sputter finish to the Tigers' season. So when the playoffs started, I was only checking the scores, not watching the games. But when the Red Sox fell behind 2-0 in their series with the White Sox, I sat up and took notice.

And now, I'm definitely pulled back in, because there won't be a repeat World Series winner. A new team is going to win the championship. (Okay, if the Yankees win, I won't consider that new. But see above.) Exciting, yes. Yet I'm not sure it'll be as fun to watch.

There are approximately 4,832 Red Sox blogs on the internet, so if you just stretch out your arms and wave around, you're bound to catch one. But if you'd prefer a guiding hand, I'll steer you toward a few of my favorites.

As I write this, Sam at Blue Cats and Red Sox hasn't gotten around to writing about this yet. Either because she's still shocked, she's been wiped out from a week of exams, or more than likely, some combination of the two. But check back, because she'll surely have something to say. Surviving Grady doesn't have much to say on last night's game yet, but he definitely saw the end coming and has been working on concession speeches. Nothing from Cursed to First either. But hey, it's early on a Saturday morning. Normal people are still sleeping. Thoughts are still being formed.

I wouldn't call myself a Red Sox fan, per se, but I've been following them over the past few years, and they were definitely my team of choice these last two postseasons. I envied Red Sox fans' passion for their team and for baseball, something that's been sorely lacking in Detroit for the past decade. I wanted to see their devotion finally rewarded.

And if it weren't for the Red Sox winning last year's World Series, I might have never started blogging. Their curse-breaking victory certainly inspired me. So I owe them some gratitude, even if exposing my narcissism to you was probably inevitable. Once again, I tip my cap to the Red Sox and their fans. There's always next year, right? And we can still root against the Yankees.

(Image by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune)