BTSOC

Welcome back, sports fans! That's right, your favorite sports blog has finally made a return. I know, you all probably hate us right now for not listening to your fan mail. Your copious letters pleading for our return have finally convinced us that we ought to make a comeback. The USPS has also asked us to send their thanks, as your letter writing campaign actually made up 42% of their budget over the past 3 years. Impressive, folks. Damn impressive. Without further ado, let's dive right in.

I think this offseason can be summed up by this short story: When the Redsox ownership came to address the team in spring training, they got a standing ovation from the players. Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Bobby Jenks. These guys aren't all-star selections, but just a few of the names currently being sewn on the Red Sox road grays. But first, let's take a little trip down memory lane back to November 2010. Here we find Victor Martinez leaving for the comeback city, Detroit, MI. Red Sox fans are panicking. We've lost the thump in an already thump-less lineup. Adrian Beltre is 31 years old and looking for a mega-deal, while only posting all-star numbers in both of his walk years. We're looking at a tough choice on Papi's option.

Then WHAM! Adrian Gonzalez comes to the Red Sox. Trade of the decade. This might be the happiest baseball moment since seeing Pap throw his glove into the Colorado air in '07. That is, until 11:30 on a work night, when I can't sleep and decide to check Twitter only to read that Carl Crawford, ye of 40,000 steals against the Red Sox, will now be playing 81 games in front of the Green Monster. We stole the stealer from under the feat of the Angels, Rangers, Yankees, and whoever else might have tried to come to the table.

I won't dwell on the other signings, but I will dwell on this point: for how awesome of an offseason the Red Sox had, the Yankees had the exact opposite. A drawn-out, ugly contract negotiation with Mr. Yankee himself, losing Cliff Lee to the Phillies (which may be my actual favorite moment of the entire offseason, including Gonzo/Crawford), and then making a string of signings that would put together a pretty awesome team, if this was still 2005. I'm looking at you, Bartolo Colon. As a fellow blogger put it, don't you think Brian Cashman has the funniest recently dialed list right now? The agents for Andruw Jones, Eric Chavez, quickly followed by his psychiatrist, no doubt. Not to mention the angry text messages from Hank. You know they're there.

Now, all this said, winning the post season is as useful as teeth in a hockey player's mouth. But you gotta think that the injury gods will smile on this year's squad. You wanna know what's driving health care costs up? Probably the 2010 Red Sox team.

Before I close, there are two final things that need to be discussed. For one, I need to come out of the closet... I'm now a hockey fan. The bug has finally bitten me. For those who are skeptical, on the fence, go to a game. You won't regret it.

And finally, BTSOC. To return to our absence for nearly a thousand days, I'd say that's Beyond The Scope of this Course.

-Flig