Today's Bill Simmons column mentions a certain Sons of Sam Horn message board thread (found here) describing who the Red Sox should win the World Series for...lots of people mentioned deceased relatives, former players, long gone friends, things of that nature. Now, roughly 1:30 before the first pitch of Game 4, I figure I'd chime in:

--Win it for my grandfather, John Kucharski, born in 1918 (seriously) and passed away last year without having ever seen the Red Sox win the World Series. I'm told I take after him as a fan, namely telling and cursing at the TV a lot. He still is and will forever be missed.

--Win it for my dad, so beaten down by years of Red Sox failure. He's seen every awful Red Sox event of the past 56 years and he still roots for the team, even if he can be a little gun shy about it.

--Win it for my mom, who, despite yelling "Don't spit" at the TV whenever a ballplayer spits, still cracks me up when we watch games together.

--Win it for all the Sox fans I went to Holy Cross with, who had to put up with a phalanx of insufferable Yankee fans.

--Lastly, win it for all the Sox who never made it to the Promised Land.

So, time for a catnap and Game 4.

And now, once more, with feeling...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!