Ok, it's not. Screw, Tom Brady.
However, there is a topic that just cannot go ignored anymore and I'm looking at you Yankee and Red Sox fans. No, not the "I don't really like baseball but if I have to root for a team, I'm going Yankees" fans. I'm talking to the ones that really know their stuff. I'm talking to the ones that were resting comfortably on their laurels a week ago and are now anxiously looking behind them.
Brace yourselves, conventional wisdom, the Tampa Bay Rays have closed the gap significantly and are moving in on the wild card spot.
Boston, who was in first place at the beginning of the month, is now in second and just a mere three games ahead of the team that was supposedly dead in the water, the Tampa Bay Rays.
I will only touch for just a second on how dangerous this team can be in the post-season, simply because I hate looking like an idiot. Have you seen their rotation? David Price, James Shields, Jeremy Hellickson, Wade Davis, and Jeff Niemann. Aside from the Phillies, who wouldn't face them until the Series, who can match up with that rotation in a 'best of' series?
I have spent time on it, and I just don't see it. The fact of the matter is, this is a very scary team in the post-season.
If Tampa reaches the post-season, and despite recent success it's still a very big IF, they are a force to be reckoned with.
But they are already a force to be reckoned with, aren't they, David Ortiz? Ortiz promptly pressed the panic button Monday after being destroyed by the Rays yet again.
Ever hear of a bell curve? It's that chart where at the start and the end is really low, but the middle is the fattest. Sound familiar, BoSox? Remember that 0-7 start? Have you seen yourselves lately?
Boston was constructed like a summer blockbuster. They have their moment in the sun and then nobody really cares that they get released on DVD. The Rays are built like the little engine that could, and they are proving it. As September days tick away, the Rays are increasing momentum.
People are quick to forget that in the face of the "Evil Empire" and the "Red Sox Nation" that the team from Tampa has won the division two out of the last three tries. We are not to be trifled with any longer.
Little brother has grown up, and guess what? They're taller than you.
Tampa has a 41 million dollar pay roll. That's second to last, ahead of only the Kansas City Royals, a team that is currently 24 games below .500. Does it matter that New York has the highest pay roll at 201 million and Boston has the third at 161 million?
Apparently not. The Rays are winning because of a very dangerous aspect. They have seemingly embraced the 'underdog' status. They seem to win night after night, simply because, the world doesn't want them to.
If the Rays complete this huge comeback and overtake Boston for the wild card spot, make the post-season for the third time in their history, and prove their detractors wrong yet again--it won't make a lick of difference.
And I'm completely comfortable with that.
I'm a Rays fan, I love the hunger and intensity in their play, and I will be more than happy to let this continue on for as long as possible.
There is talk around the MLB about realignment in the divisions. I would hate to leave Boston and New York. I love our 'little brother' status and I love mucking with history. Every time that Tampa beats Boston and New York, there is a rift in the system. Frankly, it shouldn't happen. But it's happening more and more frequently.
And if it happens just a little bit more, Boston will be out, watching Tampa roll.
