Good morning, good afternoon or good evening friends - whatever applies at the current time. Welcome to the post-ALCS edition of The Gospel According to "L". I would have rather have done this days ago instead of today - but things just did not want to go my way now did they! All I am going to do in this Gospel is send a message to Red Sox fans (including a promise I made) and I am going to send a message to Yankee fans. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement - this was absolutely depressing - and that might be an understatement too. The Yankees had this series won, and then they made all the mistakes we feared seeing them make - a walk to the leadoff man in the ninth in game four, blowing the lead in game five, not being able to hit a lick in game six, and getting b**ch-slapped in game seven at home. This after two dramatic wins at home and a b**ch-slap of the Sox in game three in their ballpark. Well, anyway let's get it going.

I want to begin with a message for Red Sox fans. You've been wanting to do nothing but beat us since God knows when - well you finally accomplished that feat. You finally beat those dreaded Yankees! In my last Gospel I promised if that were to happen I'd be a man and congratulate you - well I'm a man of my word. The Sox wanted it more and the Yankees just couldn't capitalize. The Yankees had this series won, but they stupidly decided to give you new life and you did what you had to do: you took full advantage of that. Your team played more than well, they deserved to win, and they did win! I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart and you have my full respect - believe it or not. Enjoy this victory while you can - because whomever you face in the World Series will be tough. That reminds me - the curse is not officially over or "reversed." Just because you beat the Yankees it doesn't mean you've finished the job. You did make history by coming back from 0-3 down to win the American League pennant. You wore out my beloved Bronx Bombers and were able to beat them for the first time ever in a postseason. However if you do not win the World Series - you will still hear us at Yankee Stadium chant 1918 until you do win a World Series! Until you win those final four games - the Bambino's curse will remain there and it will torment you until you do call yourselves World Champions. So do me and yourselves a favor - beat either the Cardinals or the Astros (I'm writing this prior to game seven of the NLCS) and become World Champions for the first time in 86 years - otherwise face the great torment of knowing that beating the Yankees meant nothing but still ending up with the same pain and suffering. But I know what it's like - I'm a New York Ranger fan and they went 54 years without winning a Stanley Cup. I remember hearing 1940 in arenas every night and it was torment! Once they won the Cup in '94, it was beautiful. No more torment, no more heartache, and no more emotional torture - maybe you'll get the same feeling this season. By the way - I am being honest when I tell you all this. I wish I didn't have to do this, I'd rather be previewing a Yankee appearance in the Fall Classic - but the circumstances didn't come up the way we wanted them to, and there was no way I was going to make excuses or be a sore loser. I once again congratulate you, I tip my cap to you, and I wish you the very best of luck in the Fall Classic - hell, win one for the American League!

All right now I have a message for my fellow Yankee fans. Listen, it's not the end of the world friends. All right we did go through the baseball equivalent of Chinese water torture by watching the Yankees take a 3-0 lead and then lose 4 in a row to the Red Sox of all teams! But we have been more than lucky - we got to see four teams in five seasons call themselves World Champions. We've seen our team in the postseason every year since 1995 - that's 10 seasons in a row! The Atlanta Braves have won 13 straight division titles - but they only won one World Series title in those 13 seasons. The Red Sox are going to the World Series for the first time since 1986 - and they haven't won a title since Woodrow Wilson's presidency! The Mets haven't won a title since 1986 when they beat the Sox, the Cardinals since 1982, the Astros never even won a playoff series until this season - can you imagine? What about the Philadelphia Phillies? In existence for 122 years and they've only won the World Series once - in 1980! One time in 122 years! How about the Cleveland Indians? They were two outs away in 1997 and came up short, and they haven't called themselves World Champs since 1948! Let's also not forget Chicago Cubs and White Sox - the former hasn't won a title in 96 years, while the latter last won a title the year before the Red Sox did. We're very lucky - we saw great teams and winners - other cities and markets can only dream of this. Maybe Washington will soon see a winner with its new team. But you know it's like the saying goes: let the baby have his bottle! Let the people in New England enjoy a taste of what it's like to win the big one - let them all be able to die in peace. Who knows - maybe they'll leave us alone for a while - yeah dream on! Besides - they themselves said this could be their last chance since most of their team will be elsewhere next season - can you just imagine Pedro in Yankee pinstripes?

No matter what happens, the Yankees will still have a far greater number of World Series titles than the Red Sox do. And let me also remind you once again - if the Sox lose the World Series - beating the Yankees will have meant nothing! What good is beating the Yankees when you're going to end up with the same pain and suffering you've been experiencing for the last 86 years? Just ask the 1980 Kansas City Royals! If anything it should be even more demoralizing - the goal should be to win the World Series am I right? The curse of the Bambino will only be broken if the Red Sox win the World Series, not if they beat the Yankees - they did that in 1975 and 1986 for the division. Also remember that having home-field advantage will mean nothing - the 2003 World Series should have proved that and so should this ALCS! I will not lie to you, if the Sox do win the World Series, I will congratulate them again because they will deserve it - even though some of their fans do deserve a severe beating instead. I just wonder what they will do if they do become World Champions - will they have a peaceful celebration or will they riot? That remains to be seen friends. Speaking of which - I would love to line up some of you and shoot you for throwing crap onto the field in game six! For those of you who did do that - what the hell is wrong with you? What goes through your minds? First of all it was the right call - A-Rod has to know that you cannot intentionally knock a ball out of a guy's glove! You just gave the enemy some ammo to use against us! To see the NYPD in riot gear was embarrassing! We're the one city who hasn't rioted after its team has won a championship (1994 Rangers, 1996, 98, 99 and 2000 Yankees,) or even when its team loses big games. Now you gave us a black eye - you lowered us below the level of those fans who like to talk trash against us!

About the series - the Yankee pitching came right back to bite them on the backside! I can still remember, after the Yankees led 3-0, saying to myself they better win game four otherwise things will get bad! Brother was I right! Game four was about to be over when Mariano Rivera walked Kevin Millar to lead off the bottom of the ninth! But you know what - Michael Kay said it best - if Joe Torre starts Mike Mussina in game four, he probably pitches better than the way El Duque did, and the Bombers probably win game four and sweep! I even had my tape in the VCR since I wanted to tape every Yankee celebration this season (I taped the one at the Metrodome). Four times I was denied that chance! They even had chances to win in extra innings in both games four and five, but they couldn't come up with the clutch hit - just like last season in the World Series against the Marlins! Then comes big papi: David Ortiz! He homers in game four to win it and singles in a run in game five and it's murder she wrote! Games six and seven the offense doesn't do squat against Curt Schilling or Derek Lowe, and the Sox offense does its job! Now we see our biggest nightmare - the Sox celebrating on our home field. Not only will the Yankees be now rememebered for winning 26 championships, but they will also be remembered for being the first Major League team to blow a 3-0 lead and lose a playoff series! The Bombers have nobody to blame but themselves - they had this thing wrapped up, but they let it get away and the Sox capitalized as they should have done. I'm not happy about it - but it happened, and all we can do is look to next season. You can't sit around grieving forever.

Let's look on the bright side though - we can now sleep. We have nothing more to worry about and nothing more to torture ourselves over. I'm looking forward to the Jets & Patriots this Sunday - and I am rooting for the Pats - and they better win since I picked them to win in Yahoo Pick'em! I'm a Giants fan so I don't care about the AFC and I care less about the Jets (build the West Side stadium now, get the J-e-t-s out of our home!) But it's New York vs. Boston - so I figure what the hell I'll watch after my G-men finish off Detroit - plus it's a battle to remain undefeated. In any event, our worries are over, Christmas morning has come and gone, and we didn't get what we wanted. Life will go on, maybe we can now get back to our normal lives and worry about real things such as paying the bills, the presidential election, those idiotic reality shows some of you people watch like the zombies that you are (I say that in a loving fashion, don't get offended), protecting your kids (especially if you're a Yankee fan or Jet fan in New England), finding a job, going to work, and I can go on forever. I'm just glad I can get back to a normal life. As for sports, there's no hockey for a while, so I'll follow the AHL, and maybe watch the Knicks this November.

The season is in fact over, and it didn't end the way we wanted it to. No matter what, you have to give the Sox and their fans their props - they deserved to win this series. Being a sore loser is only going to give us a bad name and give them more of a reason to make fun of us. If they can't be gracious in victory like the punks that some of them are, well that just makes us look like the good guys. Don't get into fights, but also don't take crap from anybody. The Yankees are still the greatest franchise in baseball history - no matter what! The Sox can win a World Series title this season, but they'll still be 20 titles behind us. And if they lose the World Series - we'll still have 1918 to remind them of! My friends I'll see you again sometime between October 27 and November 1, 2004 - take care of yourselves, that goes for you too Red Sox nation - enjoy your victory, but prepare for your next and final battle!