Inside the collapse of the 2011 Red Sox
 

Inside the collapse-Dedication waned, unity unraveled, and manager lost influence as a once-inspiring Red Sox season ended in epic failure.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basebal...pse/?page=full

Interesting article... I definitely agree with Pedroia's point about how you're expected to win in Boston. We've won more titles in the past 10 years, including at least one in every sport. We're called "massholes" and Boston sports fans aren't well liked for a reason... we're arrogant. Sure, mistakes were made this season. Tito wasn't perfect, and neither was Theo or anyone else in the front office. But I think the bar is a LOT higher than in a lot of other cities, because we, as a fan base, expect that our team is going to make the playoffs every year.
I personally wasn't surprised at all at the downfall. We started the season at 0-6. That wasn't mentioned (I believe) anywhere in that article. Sure, the first few weeks don't necessarily mean the season's going to turn out that way, but it certainly seemed like a red flag IMO.
There are a lot of really great points in there, I'm not denying that at all, but I think more than what's said there contributed to our downfall. I think teamwork and supporting each other through the stretch are extremely important, and we lost that this year. It doesn't have to be a Joe Torre-esque environment, our players certainly are allowed to have fun and be themselves (look at what a caveman and a bunch of self-proclaimed idiots did in '04...) But Johnny and the gang were still all supporting each other throughout the entire season, and I think that lack of community, that lack of brotherhood, definitely contributed to our downfall.

This season definitely had its highs and lows...or more accurately, lows, then highs, then extreme lows. There are so many changes ahead, that I feel like next season should be a re-building year, rather than having a "World Series or nothing" mentality.

I went to 2 Red Sox games this season- the first 2 games of the series at Tampa Bay in September, where the Rays swept the Red Sox. It's kind of a bummer to shell out the funds for baseball tickets and plane tickets just to see your team lose 2 games.

We'll see what next year brings...will be interesting to watch all the off-season news & gossip.

Yeah, definitely. TBH, I know both Theo and Tito made mistakes this season, but it's super hard to see both of them go. Hopefully, as you said, we'll re-build next season, and get back to where we were... We'll see.

I was talking with someone at work earlier about Theo Epstein going to the Cubs. He said that the people of Chicago would actually appreciate a win and would be completely content with one World Series win. I pointed out to him that the Sox and their fans were the same way in '04. And then I said exactly what you pointed out here.. Boston sports fans as a whole are now so used to seeing their teams win that to not make the play-offs is devastating. Well, it's never fun.. But the point is that when you're so accustomed to winning, it's shocking when you lose.

I think that if the Sox had won that '04 series in '95 instead, there would be different expectations placed on the team to perform year after year. But when you're playing in the city of champions, it's not acceptable to fall apart the way the Sox did.

This!

I think the biggest problem the Sox have is now there is an established history of someone in management using the Globe to torch people on the way out. The discussion about Francona (his divorce, painkiller use) is one of the most reprehensible pieces of journalism I have ever seen.

As for the rest, I think it takes a huge assumption to get on a big "this team didn't care about winning" kick. It really doesn't matter, and just adds up to grasping at straws to explain a disappointing end of the season.