When I was in school here in Caracas, everyone was a Yankee fan, I became a Red Sox fan without knowing that fate would take me to the Boston area in 1967 where I did my graduate and undergraduate. I basically did my Ph.D. thesis with the Sox on TV, can't forget the year Channel 38 broadcast all the games, the year Fred Lynn and Jim Rice came up (who were these guys hitting double after double?), the $5 bleachers, Fenway franks or the 75 Series. Then I came back home in '78 and have followed them year after year, ups and downs. Today is much easier to follwow, I read the Globe first thing in the morning see what Edes is saying, I have subscribed to MLB TV for two years and if Direct TV does not have the Sox game I can still watch it even if it is jumpy.

The funny thing about the series is that the playoff agaisnt the Yankees was more stressful than the World Series, glued to the TV, everyone at the office is excited for me I am the goofball Red Sox fan who told them we could not lose in four in the playoffs. Bambino does not work like that. Actually tried to get tickets to go, impossible at even expensive prices. I have been so excited, wrote to my Ph.D. adviser at Harvard about the '75 memories (did last year too). We are so close! It's so fascinating, Cabrera, Manny, Varitek, Damon, Schilling, Foulke, Ortiz and Pedro! Tonight I hope we win game four, I will just have to celebrate by myself. I know an american priest is a Red Sox fan too, but how do you celebrate at midnight with a priest? I guess if we win, I will sit here with my wife, drink some wine and watch the post game show until they have interviewed everyone. And I will wonder, will it ever be again as exciting as this? I also think of my father who every September woudl say, "Now you are getting me excited again and they will lose". Well, he is not around and they will win.

I am a Red Sox fan from Australia. Last year after the Aaron Boone home run, I was devastated. It honestly took me a month to recover.

So, I decided to do something about it. I saved frantically and booked tickets for the month of Red Sox games in April this year. I saw Pedro give up a homer in Baltimore (coldest night of my life!) then was able to witness all 4 Yankee games at Fenway and the famous sweep in the Bronx! Life couldn't get better.

My last game at Fenway was the great Patriot's Day victory over the Yankees. After the game, I sat in my seat behind third base and was almost in tears. I didn't want to leave Fenway. It is the greatest place in the world.

Returning home, I settled back into my routine. Go to work early, watch games on the internet, while chatting on Baseball Think Factory. It is the only way I can follow the game in this baseball starved country.

It's been a rollercoaster year. Lots of frustration and yet mainly joyous memories. I love this team so much it is not funny. They are all I think about, sometimes.

My enthusiasm spreads to all people who I come into contact with. The hour after the ALCS win was special as my phone rang off the hook, with calls of congratulations! I wish I could have taped some pf those calls.

I'm writing this as we lead 3-0 in Game 4. I am not celebrating yet, but hope to god we can wrap this up tonight. I need to get back to work!!!

I hope they win the World Series, for all the fans who have supported this team longer than me.

Phil Coorey
Toowoomba
Australia

After going to sleep at 9 or 10 and waking up at 2am for a week to watch the ALCS games against the Yankees, I was exhausted, and it felt like our work was done... I couldn't help it but be sound asleep for the anticlimactic World Series and trust that when I woke up I would see another victory for the Sox... as it was for four straight days! I kept waiting for the day they were going to lose and it never came!!