Okay this might get kinda long so bear with me...
Right now I am completely numb. I have no idea how to express what's going on inside me right now. Even almost two hours after the game I still feel sick. I was almost resigned to this outcome Thursday night, but then they pulled me back in. And once Drew hit that double to win it, I just felt like they were going to do it again. Then Game 6 happened last night and I couldn't wait to watch tonight. And now nothing.... And I go to Carolina, so after watching in person the football game yesterday, and then this. It's like getting punched in the stomach, helped up, then as the guy walks away, he runs back and punches you in the face. I still can't believe the home plate umpire, he calls a check swing strike on Drew, then on an identical swing by Bay with 2 strikes in the ninth he allows the appeal. And then the strike three on Kotsay was three to four inches off the plate. It's just another example of an umpire getting sucked into the moment and wanting to be bigger than the game. Let the players decide it. Anyway, good luck Tampa and your 20,000 fans. To the other 15-20,000 'fans' at the ballpark, the 2007 Colorado Rockies fans are on the line, they said you're bandwagon hopping is a little annoying. Yeah I'm bitter, and right now, I don't care.
To AA, I don't care if you delete this, turn this into a special guest post or whatever. I just really needed a place to let all this out, and this looked about as appropriate as any, so thanks for that. Good coverage as always.

I, for one, am glad the Rays won. What ever happened to cheering for the underdog? Go Rays!

Ed is a bitter litter Tarheel. Good to see the Cavs once again beat you.

Their "long suffering" fans dont deserve this. Go Phillies.

Anyone else hear Joe Morgan's comment after the Rays won?


"They're really piling on top of each other, someone could get hurt."

As a Sox fan I'm disappointed they lost but not a bitter fuck like Ed looking for excuses.

The better team won the series.

The Sox were up against it all year, they should be proud of what they accomplished with no Schilling, they lost LOwell, Lugo, Drew, Ortiz, Beckett, Matsuzaka, Colon, Wakefield and Youkilis to DL stints this season. It was something they didn't suffer in 2004 or 2007 and what killed them in 2006. They refused to give in and they played as well as they could with who even they had and they still won 95 games and were one game shy of the World Series.

It's a bout f'n time that Madden realized that Dan Wheeler sucks and isn't a closer.

Ed, yeah, it was the umpire's fault that you lost 4 out of 7 games. This is why no one likes Red Sox fans.

Boo Hoo Ed. you had won 2 of the last 4 world series.

QQ
TT
CRY ME A RIVER.

And appearently it's also why not a lot of people like Tar Heels fans either (or at least I don't). Crying after losing a regular season game....

Back on topic. Congrats to the Rays for winning the ALCS and congrats to the Sawx for making it this far and giving us one hell of an ALCS and several memorable games.

Phillies and Rays should actually be one heck of a series, even if the ratings won't necessarily indicate it.

Hopefully I won't be the same way as Ed if the Phillies lose...

Ed does not represent the Red Sox fanbase. OR maybe he does, but he doesn't represent me. Congratulations Rays!

Okay just to clear some things up.
I actually don't mind that it was the Rays that won. Don't think I said that anywhere. I like that they proved a small market team can compete. And I know that the Sox could have played better, especially in Games 2-4, heck if Beckett doesn't collapse in Game 2 this conversation probably isn't happening. I just didn't like that in crucial spots in a Game 7 the home plate umpire decided to take the bat out of a player's hands. It should be like when a referee lets guys in the NBA just play the last few minutes of a playoff and 90% of the time swallows the whistle instead of calling a foul. And yes I'm upset about a regular season college football game because, unlike in basketball, you basically have to win every game and unless something crazy happens we blew our outside shot at getting to the ACC championship game, especially after BC beat VaTech. So yeah watching those two games in less than 36 hours was brutal. I apologize to anybody who was actually offended by what I said. I was tired and depressed after going through two stomach punch games, one in person, added to the fact that they reeled me back in after the dramatics of Game 5. If you've been a Rays fan through and through, I wish you guys nothing but the best.

So I noticed this morning that after having the Red Sox Resurrection story up as Simmons' main column on ESPN.com all weekend, this morning it's suddenly the NFL Week 7 picks column. Gotta love it.

i'm so happy that the rays finished the red sux and is leaving the media scrambling for stories and is likely to have low ratings due to the ineptness of fox and espn to force feed us 'their' teams for so long. here's an article explaining the mess they got themselves into: http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2547:raysphillies-world-series-proves-national-broadcasters-need-less-of-the-red-sox-and-yankees&catid=26:editorials&Itemid=39 . i hope this means more variety on games of the week next season.

again, congrats go to the rays for never giving up in this series, when the media and some of the fans said they should have. after seeing them pull off so much this season, i should have known better from the rays, that this isn't the old devil rays teams i watched the past few seasons or a team that quits come playoff time. a world series trophy in philly is the fitting end for this story.

And thus ends an ALCS that brought us the greatest LCS comeback of all time, a wild 11 inning game, one helluva Game 7, and perhaps most important, the resurrection of the career of Steve Harvey.