Red Sox, Bruins, And The Selling Of Souls

Disclaimer: The inspiration for this post came to me after hearing my brother relay a story about a caller to WIP, a local Philadelphia Sports Radio Station, on Friday, who gave soul selling as the reason the Flyers would overcome a 3-0 deficit to beat the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. All credit for this post goes to that caller, whose name I do not know, and to my brother, who is an ongoing inspiration.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines a Curse as 1) An appeal to Supernatural Power for evil to befall someone or something. 2) The evil thus invoked. Ominous definitions for an ominous word. If you believe in such things. And if you do, than you understand that only an equally powerful supernatural force can reverse such an evil. But could something so evil only be vanquished by a more powerful evil? Enter the Red Sox and the City of Boston. Sufferers of "The Curse Of Babe Ruth" for 86 years, Red Sox fans were on the brink of another disappointment in October of 2004. But then something happened. Dave Roberts stole second, and the rest, as they say, is history. But is it? The Red Sox completed the nearly impossible by overcoming a 3-0 deficit to their hated rivals and creators of said curse. It had only been done twice before. Never in Baseball. So how could this have happened? Luck? Law of averages? Or perhaps something more?

Could the City of Boston have sold it's collective soul to the Devil in exchange for an end to The Curse? Close your eyes and you can almost picture it, like something out of a Stephen King novel. A young Red Sox fan, whose Great Grandfather was there to celebrate the last championship in 1918. Whose Grandfather can recall the heartbreak of 1946. Whose Father can recount similar heartache in 1967. Maybe he has a brother whose memories of 1986 are all to real. He sits on the edge of his couch, the pain of 2003 still fresh in his mind. He refuses to have this as his legacy. And so, as the outs are counted down to another failed season, he invokes the name of the only one who can reverse the teams fortunes. But he barters, not with his own soul, but the soul of a city. And so, The Red Sox do the unthinkable. But now the young boy, and an entire city wait for the calling in of the chips.

Flash forward to 2010. The city of Boston is enjoying tremendous success in the sports world. Super Bowls, World Series Championships, and NBA Titles are all commonplace these days. But the one championship that eludes them is The Stanley Cup. Though the Bruins Second Round Series with the Flyers is tightly contested, they have manged to build a seemingly insurmountable three games to none lead. They appeared to be well on the way to their first Conference Final since the early '90s. But the Flyers won Game 4 in overtime, planting the seeds of doubt. A game 5 Whitewashing began to swing the momentum to the other side. A closely contested game 6 proved that this was more than mere coincidence.

Maybe they saw it coming? Maybe not. The Bruins manged to stake themselves to a 3-0 lead in Game 7 and there was finally peace in the hearts of Boston fans. But Satan came for their souls after all, and the Flyers completed the improbable, not only in the series, but also in that Game 7. The Devil had called in his chips, and the City of Boston now knows what it's like to be on both sides of a historic comeback.

But is the Bruins collapse really the part of Moral Sinning? Spiritual believers may find an answer in the form of Karma. For this explanation, we need to take a closer look at the City of Philadelphia. a city not historically known for sports success. Widely accepted as one of the top sports cities in the country, Philadelphia has endured more seasons without a championship than any other city with four professional teams. From 1983 to 2008, 25 years, The City of Brotherly Love went without a parade. And it's not for lack of opportunity. During the dry spell, the Flyers, Phillies, Sixers, and Eagles had combined for 7 appearances in their teams respectful championship rounds, an average of one appearance every four years.

Meanwhile, the City of Boston has historically enjoyed success. The Celtics are one of the most dominant teams in NBA History. The Bruins are one of the six keepers of the NHL's old guard. And, while the Patriots success is more recent. It should be noted that they quickly became one of the most successful teams in NFL history with a dominant decade in the early 21st Century.

But that wasn't enough. They craved that elusive World Series Title. Well they got it. Two of them in fact. But now Karma has come and dealt a swift blow to their Stanley Cup hopes. And how apropos that Karma has lifted a city that is seeking inspiration over one who's greed has gotten too slovenly.

And so, whether you believe it was The Devil, Karma, or something else. The city of Boston has been served a cold dish of revenge. Citizens of Philadelphia and New York... Rejoice.

-Mike Tursi