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Originally Posted by aj12291
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...
...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.
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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.
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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.
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This!