Here's one good thing about the White Sox -- the only thing we can hold against players are their performances. I'm watching the Bears right now, and I feel like I should temper my enthusiasm for Ricky Manning Jr.'s interceptions because, you know,
he's a felon. I dreaded watching Neal Cotts and Sandy Alomar Jr. go to work, but at least they kept their crimes on the field of play.
Even if the NFL was squeaky clean, it wouldn't fill the six-month-long void that the Sox leave when their season comes to a close. The
last game of the season always hits me hard -- hearing Ed Farmer and Chris Singleton sign off by saying, "Our next broadcast will be on April 2" felt like a punch to the stomach.
At least I was home for it, because the last game of the season is actually worse in person. I went to the Sox-Royals closer in Kauffman in 2004, and after the Sox recorded the last out for the victory, it amplified the emptiness. When the broadcast ends, that's the season, but in person, you can extend it if you want. I wanted to hang around the stadium as long as I could, but then the ushers dropping increasingly strong hints, and the situation grows awkward. It's a fine line between overstaying your welcome and cheating yourself.
Perhaps the strangest feeling after the Sox won the World Series on Oct. 26, 2005, was that there were no more games left. I had seen the Sox play the last game of the season and win plenty of times. However, after those wins, there'd be two or three weeks of baseball left, usually involving the Yankees and/or Braves. The Sox's season would end, but other teams still had plenty to play for.
When Paul Konerko caught the final out from Juan Uribe, that closed the book on 2005-- not just for the White Sox, but for baseball as well. For once, Major League Baseball concluded its season on the South Side's terms.
Now it's back to normal, so to speak, as we carry on the way our kind has for 101 out of the previous 104 seasons, and it's hard to give that up. It'll be even harder when the Sox officially surrender the title of "champions" to whichever team wins the World Series this year. It's been too fun a ride for it to stop.
And speaking of fun rides, I'd like to thank everybody who has read and commented on this blog this season. Even if the Sox season has been a dissapointment, I'd like to think the first season of Sox Machine has been a success.
I'll be continuing on into the offseason, and hopefully setting a new
consecutive days with a post streak in the process. There's a whole lot of wreckage to sort through, speculation to dissect, and if the Bears keep playing like they are, we'll talk some football, too. But for those whose Sox clocks stop with the final out and start when pitchers and catchers report in February, we'll be right here where you left us in 2007.