Well, they’ve done it: The Red Sox have sufficiently choked to the point where they are now tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the wild card playoff spot.

I won’t lie: This is heaven.

A reporter for the New York Times alleges that “Yankee fans feel sympathy, for once, for their Red Sox brethren.”

This is a baldfaced lie.

I’m sorry, Sox fans. But we don’t feel sympathy. Just like you wouldn’t feel sympathy for Yankee fans if the Yanks blew the biggest September lead in the history of baseball. (Not that the Yankees would actually do that.) We are enjoying this immensely. This—defeatist, demoralized, degraded, debased—this is the Sox of old. Not those upstarts of 2004 and 2007—that wasn’t Sox reality. But a team that breaks the hearts of its fans in ways that leave permanent bruises? That’s the kind of Red Sox team that a true fan can appreciate.

Think of it as getting in touch with your history….

The Yankees have two more games against the Rays which you desperately need us to win. Go ahead—beg. Maybe we’ll win ’em. Maybe we won’t!

My own hope is that Joe Girardi gives his division-winning starters plenty of rest. They’ve earned it. Heck, try out some rookies! See what they’re capable of.

Remember: You’ve still got the Patriots….