You would think that watching the Cardinals get swept in the World Series - the World Freaking Series - that I would be bitter and complain non-stop. You'd probably think I'd moan about the lack of hitting from the middle of the lineup for the entire series. Maybe I'd contemplate putting the entire starting rotation on the side of a milk carton because apparently they all disappeared last Friday and haven't been seen since. I thought about doing all of that. But I'm not. I'm going to do something different. I'm going to do what everyone that is a fan of baseball should do. Cardinals fans, Yankees fans, Devil Rays fans - all of us - should proudly cheer the Boston Red Sox. Go ahead....do it. It actually feels OK.

I started thinking about this today after reading an article by Bill Simmons at ESPN.com. He wrote about a thread on a well known Red Sox message board called "Win it For..." The thread, which has reached 50 pages long in 9 days since it started, lists players, relatives, friends, that the Red Sox should win this Series for. Reading a number of the posts really makes you feel how long this curse has gone on and how tormented Red Sox Nation has been since 1918.

I have pulled out a number of the dedications from the thread as well as some from Bill Simmons and am posting them below. Read them. Cardinals fans will feel awful tonight, but St. Louis can't possibly understand what these people have gone through.

Win it for Buckner. He deserves to live a normal life again. Always did. Same with Grady Little. And Bob Stanley. Basically, everyone who ever played for the team but that traitor Clemens.

Win it for Teddy Ballgame, whose dastardly son humiliated and degraded him in the final years of his life (and then even after he died). Not the way he should have gone out.

Win it for my 13 year old nephew who I promised to take to the parade.

The eight year-old boy who is falling in love with the Red Sox for the first time, just like I did in 1986. May his first love not break his heart.

Win it for my grandfather, born right after the Sox won in 1918, and then passed away a week after the loss in '86, devastated and heartbroken at the Sox loss.

Win it for my grandfather, who succumbed to Alzheimer's in 2002. In one of my last conversations with him, he asked me how Ted Williams was doing.

Win one for my mom, Nancy, my most important person for support. She has always been asking me how the Red Sox are doing. Before the ALCS, she was asking me why I wanted the Sox to win & I told her because the Yankees suck. She's been following the Red Sox along with me & when they win, I will hug her for a long time.

Win it for Carl Yastrzemski. While his heart still aches today, may a smile break through his personal storm-cloud this evening. His beloved son, Mike, will show us the way. God speed, number eight.

Win it for my Grandfather (1917-2004) who never got to see the Red Sox win it all but always believed. And for my Dad who watches each and every game wishing his Dad was there to watch with him.

Win it for my 10-year-old son Charlie who fell asleep listening to Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS assuming the Sox would win. When he awakened the next morning, he asked me, eagerly, "Did we win, Dad?" When I told him, gently, No, we did not win, his anguished moan startled me. I knew I had raised him as a Red Sox fan and I began to question whether that was a good thing.

Most of all, win it for James Lawrence Kelly, 1913-1986. This one's for you, Daddy. You always told me that loyalty and perseverance go hand in hand. Thanks for sharing the best part of you with me.

And, yes, it's officially OK to cry like a little baby...even if you're a guy.

It was a great run for the Cardinals this year. It was fun watching them get here. But if the Cardinals can't win the Series, I'm thrilled that the other option was the Red Sox.

From the Peanut Gallery...

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