Hey guys, this is Randy from OverTheMonster.com. I can't not agree more with Jay. He really hit it on the head, and I'm glad this article has been put out there.

If you think all Red Sox fans are arrogant, ignorant, or anything else that ends in "ant," please visit OverTheMonster.com. We are the type of Red Sox fan that gives credit where credit is due. We're that type of baseball fan, really.

I have a great core group of readers that really know their Red Sox and their baseball, so we try to weed out the folks that lack knowledge or common sense. I welcome all Red Sox fans to visit my blog, of course, but if there is the typical "Red Sox fan" quote, the real Sox fans set them straight. However, some slip through the cracks, but ignorant statements never get through without a well-reasoned reply.

I challenge anyone here at Let's Go Tribe to visit Over The Monster and find the typical "troll" comment regarding Sabathia or Carmona. If you can find one, I'll shut up, but if you can't, I hope you'll reconsider Red Sox fans -- or atleast to the point you'll visit OTM over the course of the series.

Thanks guys, and again, great article Jay.

Red Sox fans are THE most annoying fans in sports if you ask me. The main difference between Boston fans and Yankees fans is that Yankee fans realize nobody else likes them.

My two buddies in So Cal at law school, both Tribe fans, invited me to an Angel v. Tribe game back in the mid 90s.  Game was great bc this was prior to Arte and opposing teams could get amazing seats and the place was filled with Tribe fans that particular night in Anaheim.

9th inning, Tribe 4, Angels 4, Angel's batter up 1 out, man on 3rd, I forget who was pitching but most likely good ole Jose Mesa, doing his best goatee d Budda impersonation.  Everyone is pumped at the game.  Drinking cervezas, place is rocking, both sides are having a great time at the game.

1-1 count, Erstad hits a foul ball to Manny's side of the outfield, pretty deep, but definately foul.  Manny catches the ball, 2 outs, the runner at third tags, comes home, scores easily. Manny makes no attempt to throw him out whatsoever.  He thought there was three outs and extra innings.

Game over.

My buddies are just silent, drop their heads and we make for the exit.  Out in the parking lot, still not one word, not a "hey close game, great game", no "well get em tomorrow night", nothing.  

Dead, creepy silence.

Matt, one of the Tribes guys, gets to his car, opens the trunk, pulls out a Hockey stick walks over to one of the over head parking lot lamp that dot the entire lot and smashes his hockey stick about a hundred times until it shatters.  His face is contorted, screaming F*K, FK, F*Kin Manny...  This continues for a good two minutes or until the stick is nothing but splinters in his hand.

Well, I just met this guy about a months ago at the orientation for law school and had never seen such uncontrolled rage.  He was usually studying or reading a book, never bothering anyone.  Hell, until then I had never heard him swear.  

The look in his eyes is best equated to Mel Gibson's stare after that first battle in "Braveheart" and i still have a two hour drive back to the west side in LA traffic.

He walks back to the car, composes himself and says, "Sorry bro, I needed to get that out..."

"I'm a Redsox fan man, no worries."

Best of luck, GO SOX!

I said it over on OTM and I'll say it here. If there was a team I was okay losing to, it's the Tribe. (Maybe the Cubs too, I mean we can sympathize with 'em) You've worked hard and did I mention you have great taste in Right Fielders?

Watching the Yankee meltdown was priceless, and Carmona and Sabathia are undeniably awesome.

That said, I hope to be singing "Sweet Caroline" in the middle of the 8th. GO SOX!

When the Red Sox played the Tribe the last time, it was at the Jake, July 23-26.  Four games.  The Red Sox took 3 out of 4, but man, that was a memorable series for the Red Sox.  Jon Lester made his 2007 debut after coming back from cancer for the first game and beat Jake Westbrook 6-2.  The fourth game was a slugfest.  The Red Sox shelled Cliff Lee, who tipped his cap to the booing fans as he was pulled in the 5th inning.  Kason Gabbard couldn't deal with the prosperity of a 9-1 lead, and was pulled after 4 2/3 innings after giving up 5 runs and walking 3.  Julian Tavarez took over, gave up 4 runs (0 ER), and suddenly it was 12-9 Boston.  The Red Sox got two more runs while the Tribe's comeback was halted by Hideki Okajima and Javier Lopez, who combined to allow 1 hit in the final 2 innings.

But the two middle games were the absolute best.  It didn't matter who your team was - these were two fantastic games.  Game 2 was the Red Sox's annual look at C.C. Sabathia, opposed by Daisuke Matsuzaka.  The Red Sox beat Sabathia, 1-0.  It was a classic pitcher's duel, and you thought it couldn't get any better than that.  Sure, the lack of run support is always disconcerting, but we all know good pitching beats good hitting.  Sabathia: 7 IP, 5 H, ER, 0 BB, 7 K.  Matsuzaka: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K.

So, could it get any better?

Sure it could!  This time it was the Tribe who got the one run the very next night.  Josh Beckett pitching for the Red Sox, with the Sox getting their first look at Fausto Carmona since last season when David Ortiz hit a walk-off home run against him.  Red Sox fans knew though, that Carmona was a much different pitcher this year, but they didn't know he'd be that good.

The only offense to speak of in that game was a 3rd inning home run by Franklin Gutierrez off Beckett.

Beckett:  8 IP, 4 H, ER, 0 BB, 7 K.  It was one of his best performances all season.  Of course, the Red Sox would see his BEST game just over a week ago against the Angels in ALDS Game 1.

Carmona:  8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K.  Red Sox ace against the Tribe's #2, and Carmona just slightly out-pitches Beckett, with a little help from Joe Borowski, closing the game in the 9th.  Fausto opened a lot of people's eyes this year, and that wasn't even his best game.  Just look at ALDS Game 2 agaisnt the Yankees.  He was brilliant.

Neither the Red Sox nor Indians had any idea then that they'd be playing each other in the ALCS, and neither thought they'd share the best record in Baseball.  But they will play each other tomorrow night, and it is going to be a fantastic series.

I'm a Red Sox fan, which made watching the Indians/Yankees ALDS was a real fun experience both in rooting for the Indians and realizing just how formidable a team the Tribe is.  Living in southern Maine, I never got a good look at Cleveland except the games played at the Jake in July (Thank you, unbalanced schedule).  There was a series in May where the Sox took 2 of 3, but those 2 wins featured Curt Schilling beating Lee, and Beckett beating Jeremy Sowers.  Paul Byrd beat Matsuzaka in the third game of that series.

The only relevant games this season from a pitching and match-up standpoint were:  The last game in May (Byrd vs. Matsuzaka), and the first three in Cleveland in July.  The others don't count as well because you won't be seeing Kason Gabbard, Jeremy Sowers, or Cliff Lee.

You take those four games, and guess what?  The Red Sox won 2 of those games, and the Indians won 2.  Amazing to realize the games that decided home-field advantage featured a starter on one or both sides either not on the playoff roster or not even on the team anymore.

The overall point I'm making today is that there is no World Series for either of these teams until the final out is recorded.  This is the Series right here, and it is likely to come down to a Game 7.  Both teams have had terrific seasons, and both teams have reason to believe they are going to go all the way.  I thought Cleveland would be an easier team to go through as opposed to the Yankees, but as I watched them play the Yankees, I realized it might be the other way around.  Needless to say, a series with Cleveland and a series with New York are two very different animals, and I never wanted the Red Sox to play the Yankees and I still don't.  This year, the Red Sox don't need to go through the Yankees to be the best team, just like Cleveland didn't need to.  Boston and Cleveland share the same regular season record, and it will be one hell of a series to determine just who the better team is.

The way it looks right now, the ALCS might as well be the World Series.  In that case, I hope the NLCS will be as good as advertised, and the winner, whether it be Arizona or Colorado, be on their A game when they go to either Cleveland or Boston, because I will be very disappointed if the NL gets swept again.  I want the World Series to go seven games, so in retrospect we can look back at the ALCS as a stepping stone, and not the actual Series itself.

So far, the two LCS match-ups look to be terrific for baseball and an absolute joy for me, a baseball fan.

Helps that I have little but disdain for basically the entire rest of the AL Central, to be sure.