Red Sox Role Reversal

Congratulations, Red Sox fans. You are now the Evil Empire.

As Steve Buckley points out in today’s Herald, the Tampa Bay Rays are now playing the role of scrappy underdogs, much like the 2004 Red Sox. And your Boston Red Sox will take the part of the Yankees in the 2008 ALCS. A St. Petersburg Times columnist has already dubbed our boys the “final-reel villains.”

Stop clutching your pearls, Sox fans. We’ve been waiting years for this.

Finally, the Red Sox are no longer the default example of sports failures. (Why hello, Cubs fans.) They are a forced to be reckoned with. Many prognosticators thought the Sox would win the division again this year, and we would have too, if it weren’t for those meddlesome Rays.

We say the players and fans should fully embrace this role. Kevin Youkilis should twirl his goatee while maniacally giggling. Dustin Pedrioa can trip Scott Kazmir. David Ortiz can give Jason Bartlett a wedgie. As the Yankees have proven, dynasties don’t last forever, so we should enjoy the good times while they last.